Gameplay Updates
Hey everyone! We've made a lot of progress and changes since our last post. For this update, we're focusing on showcasing some of the gameplay changes we've made to the playable characters and some enemy interactions. We've also reworked some enemies, and have a few in progress.
System Updates
Our combat system has been overhauled a bit to provide a deeper, more exciting opportunity for players to juggle enemies and perform some fighting game-esque combos. A "Scoop" system was implemented to bridge the gap between hitting enemies in the air and hitting them when they're knocked down on the floor or just shy of landing.
In order to keep a balance true to the nature of the mechanic, enemies that can be scooped up can only be juggled in that fashion so many times before snapping back to their feet and landing. This system provides a simpler introduction to the juggling system, without having to sweat so hard to accomplish what we would consider simple juggles that we think players should be able to perform without deeper knowledge of and experience with the juggling mechanics.
So far, it feels even better to beat up on enemies and work towards long and flashy combo extensions!
Character Updates
First up, we have changes we've made to Red's kit.
Red had a heavy aerial attack, and now he has a follow up that can be accessed by pressing heavy again to detonate his mace in an area around him!
Red's Down + Heavy has been expanded to have a bit more depth. Before, Red would just send out his mace and if he didn't fully charge it, he would just reel back into idle. Now, he has a charge system that lights up his mace with power, and lets him detonate it in either a quick explosion or a full explosion by holding down the button.
Another feature of the reload charge system is that it can be used during some attacks. Up + Heavy is one of those moves, and there's a window where it can be used mid-attack to deal extra damage and consume the reloaded charge.
Red's aerial light attack has been given a follow up! Now he can slam people into the ground and send them flying upwards. This reaction from the NPC is another addition to our enemies' hit reactions. It lets you do some cool fighting game-esque combos!
Previously, Red could use Neutral Heavy to commit to a huge slam. Now, Red can keep pressing heavy attack to perform a full three hit combo. Thank you Red, very cool!
Another part of this gameplay pass was snooping out places that it would make logical sense for a follow up attack to be performed. In this example, Sprinting heavy attack can be followed up with more neutral heavy presses, to complete the heavy string Red has!
Previously, Ela's neutral light attack sent her plummeting to the ground, akin to the heavies of Akardo and Red. Now, Ela's plummeting light attack has been moved to Down + Light attack, and has a new neutral light attack while in air. This move is fantastic for juggling enemies through the air, along with setting them up for the Down + Light attack to bring them to the ground with Ela.
Ela's grounded Down + Light attack has been changed to a more offensive and flashier attack. It works well with bouncing enemies off the ground if they're already knocked down!
Ela's sprinting heavy attack has been overhauled to be a bit wilder and offers some intricacy in that she's in an airborne state during her descent from the attack -- this gives the player an opportunity to use aerial attacks or dashes for a more dynamic experience.
Akardo's down + heavy attack has been shifted over to a neutral heavy combo, and he's received a whole new ability. This ability sacrifices a portion of his health in favor of a status effect that grants him a major buff to his attacks.
The act of the buff slows down time for a brief period, and works well with hit-cancels to give yourself more time to perform attacks. Each attack while under the effects of the buff increases his damage output, and some of his attacks consume the entirety of the buff to add massive damage.
Akardo's neutral heavy now has a three hit combo to it, and it's extremely satisfying to knock up and finally send them flying!
In addition to the system changes with new enemy reactions, crumpling has been added for times where someone gets destroyed by a single attack and it doesn't quite warrant a regular hit reaction.
Enemy Changes
Our Greatsword Fragment has gotten an animation pass and is now a lot scarier. Fear him.
Speaking of enemies to fear -- the Rotten has gotten some new moves and reworked logic. Area of effect attacks are particularly effective at dealing with players who like to dodge, so watch out for that!
We've added a rogue enemy that features lots of dagger throwing and status ailing. Generally, she's evasive and tricky to fight when accompanied by other enemies.
Systematically speaking, all of our enemies have received a new way to enter the play space. Enemies can dissolve in, which gives us flexibility when designing levels and encounters.
To piggyback off of the previous mentions of hit reactions, we've added a grounded fly across for opportunities that involve batting an enemy with a heavy sweep.
Wrap-Up
That marks the end of our gameplay/systems update! Thanks for reading! We plan on posting more frequently to this blog, and are intending on doing smaller, more focused updates (kinda like this post) each time.
We've launched our community discord server for the studio, so if you're interested in chatting with the devs or amongst others, feel free to click here to join!
Thanks again for reading! Catch ya next time.