December 2020 - Update.

Big one incoming so bear with me.

Battle System

First a video.

And now for the break down.

So the game uses what I have effectively called an AATB (action active time battle)  system heavily inspired by FF7Remake.  So let talk about it.

The first thing to note is the health bar are the menu's so lets start bottom right.  First off just above the box we have a simple name, to indicate which character the player is controlling, what I call leader swap mechanic.  What is leader swap mechanic well, it swaps who the player controls in battle.  Pressing "F" will allow the player to switch between Undying and Ghost during battle events.  Pretty straight forward and can't be seen in the above video at 1.07.

In battle Undying likes to fight up close and personal becoming a full on damage dealer while also having tanky defence.  He dishes out big damage from close range.  Ghost on the other hand is weak defensively and fights from ranger with her spirit bow.  She is weak defensively but her added range keeps her safe.  So certain enemies can be fought up close or from distance, certain enemies will need to be beaten down by Undyings brute force while others who move quickly and are hard to pin down will need to be taken out with Ghosts bow.  This offers a nice choice to the player in certain battles but also means the player must learn to play each character well at certain time.

Next up is the HP gauge which simply shows the players current HP again really straight forward, this changes depending on current leader.  Either character dying will result in a game over.

This is followed just below by the atb gauges.  This gauge is split in 2 and fills while in battle.  This is the first area where I feel the real magic of the system comes in and offers.  Getting off melee attacks with Undying or bow attacks with Ghost will not only deal damage but boost the players atb charge.  So again more options, go for the extra damage and atb boost to get enemies dealt with quickly or keep your distance play safe, let your atb charge and rely on abilities and magic to get the job done.

Not only that but again we have choice, with 2 atb gauges instead of 1.  The player can choose to unleash tier 1 or tier 2 skills.  Tier 1 take one atb charge as do items.  They do moderate damage/healing and cast off quickly reducing the chances of taking damage and having the skill interrupted.  Tier 2 skills hit much harder but cost 2 atb and take much longer to charge.  Do you risk your 2 atb slots and charge time to get off that mega spell?  Maybe you want to get off a quick damage spell and use an item.  The choice is yours.

Next up is your standard MP bar, nothing special here and finally just below that a limit bar that is not yet implemented.

Now we move to the bottom left of the screen and we get our actions menu.

First up on this is our unique ability skill.   This skill is activated by pressing the "E" button. 

For Undying his unique ability is his "Sunder" stance, pushing E puts Undying in this stance and pushing again switches out.  Sunder gives Undying a massive boost in attack and damage output but nerfs his defence and movement speed a great deal.  Again more choice in battle.  Risk high damage both received and incoming or stay in regular stance and be fine.  Some enemies may need to be hit from sunder mode to break defence.

Ghosts unique ability is called "ManaWall" and she simply casts a manawall onto the map ala Fortnite styled building that enemies can't attack through or shoot through (though magic can penetrate).  Build a wall, hide behind it and have time to heal, or with Ghost shoot through it to damage foes from safety.  She can even use the wall to pin some foes into tight corners making them easy targets.

So thats the battle system in its current state.  Whether or not I'll stick with AI team mates on screen is debatable, atm its causing more trouble than its worth.

Killable NPC's.

So outside of towns which are well guarded all NPC's can be killed by Undying, is there a merchant that has an item you need.  Don't have the cash?  Why not kill him and take the item...  Of course this comes with reprecussions, what if killing him now means you can't get the sword of 1k truths later?  Well, now thats up to you.

Story Progress.

In order to suit the more open worldy, exploratory mechanics I've reworked the story slightly, minor tweaks but they should lengthen the gameplay and add many more unique boss battles etc...  Don't want to give away too much but thinks are about to get a whole lot more violent in Erin.

Tools and Non Battle Abilities.

Heavily inspired by my love of Metroidvania's tools are now in the game and there will be many unique tools that allow for access too previously locked area's whether its something as simply as a hatchet to chop away fallen logs, or something as mechanically complex as a dash skill that allows the player to dash through fast closing gates etc... this all allows for unique play throughs, exploration, shortcuts and backtracking for rewards that could easily be missed.

As of now the tools and abilities available are:

Hatchet - chopping logs.  Pickaxe - Breaking through weak cavern walls, Climbing Claw - scaling large heights, Protective Boots - Crossing Acidic Floors. Dash - Quickly dash past objects, Perception - See hidden doorways to magically sealed area's and more to come.

General Progress.

Gameplay wise I'm probably close to 30 minutes, level wise I have completed the start Undying Temple area, I have completed the Dead Woods (critical paths only, optional area's still being worked on), The High Roads path's from DeadWoods to Royal Tara city are complete with other pathways open and I have completed the Shanty Town from the outskirts of Tara.  Over the next 8 weeks I intend to finish the Deadwoods and Tara and expand greatly on The High Roads.

The global map or what I call the metroidvania map is 90% complete, this is like a world map composed of boxes that allows me to link area's both via the High Roads and add short cuts from area's.  For example with the climbing claw one can quickly take the mountain path between Royal Tara and the Deadwoods or vice versa without having to traverse the High Roads.  When I have that map tidied up I'll throw a sample up.

Hopefully not as long will the next update.

Stay safe, wear a mask and don't lick toilets.