June 2025 Update

all kemomimi girls' fate is to be fluffed edition

Slightly ahead of DD this time since I've made enough changes and bug fixes that the previous builds aren't really something I want to show anymore. I don't really have an accurate itemized list of everything I've changed, but the changes I still remember are as follows.

Bug Fixes

• When repeatedly deflecting, the deflect window would immediately decay to 0 instead of decaying partially on each activation. 
• General bug fixing for menus. 
• Camera angle now faces correctly when spawning. 
• Footstep sounds now work. (You may have noticed it working on previous builds, but the method I'm using involves modifying assets in a way that gets cleared on restart. This has been updated to use a new method, so footsteps should no longer be dependent on me remembering to run my editor scripts.)
• Fixed a bug in AI system where the target-finding action not being triggered on start. 
• Fixed some input prompt sprites not displaying correctly. 
• Fixed a bug in which locking on and walking to a certain direction would cause the character to move awkwardly. (This may still occur for certain inputs on controller.)

General Improvement

• Animation lock has been adjusted for most player actions. 
• Some animations have been tweaked and improved. 
• When being hit, you can now guard/dodge out of the animations.
• Turning animations have been added, so there shouldn't be as much foot sliding when characters are just standing still. 
• Pathfinding has been upgraded to the A* Pathfinding Project. (This was required for the new level...)
• Deflect and parry sounds and VFX have been reworked. 
• Cutscenes can now be skipped. 
• Other backend changes that are not visible in this build. 
• Upgrade to Yarn Spinner 3, not that it's really visible since the dialogue system barely features in the new Demo Mode. 
• A break meter bar has been added to show you how long is left for stance break.
• Lock-on will automatically be turned on at the start of the fight. 
• Rebinding has been added for keyboard. Not yet implemented for gamepad, since I also want to redesign the UI first. 
• Weapon trail effects have been improved.
• Game file size has been optimized. (Mostly just removing APVs because they take up space without really adding much for my use case)
• The region from which an execution can be performed has been adjusted. Previously, executing from behind when the boss was facing the wall would cause you to be teleported in front of the boss through the wall. 
  • For now, there is no back execution animation, and enemies will simply turn to face you instead to play the usual animation. This will  likely have some alignment issues, but it's better than not being able to execute or clipping out of bounds. 
• Pause Menu has been redesigned. (There are other features planned here, but this is just a non-breaking style change for the time being).

Changes & New Content

• Easy Mode has been added to the Demo Mode: 2x damage dealt, 0.5x damage taken, 2x healing charges (5 -> 10). 
  • This will likely not be in the full release, and just serves to facilitate the demo day format. 
• A training level has been added to the start of the game. 
• Jin (Tutorial Boss) has been entirely redesigned and has been given a new moveset and level. 
• Holy Knight Louise: New moves have been added, and the spear moveset has been completely overhauled. 
• Wandering Vixen Nia's attacks have been entirely redesigned. Almost all of the old attacks have been replaced. 
• Continue/New Game has been removed from this version temporarily while I rework the hub area. 
• Demo Mode has been added, which is just a pure boss-rush with nothing in between fights.
• When parrying attacks, you now get a short but potent stance and mana regen effect. 
• Poise has been reworked. Basically, enemies will always flinch if they're attacked from neutral, but they do use a poise damage system to determine if you can interrupt them during attacks. Please feel free to experiment on your own and see which attacks can be interrupted. 

Known Issues

• Misalignment on some execution animations, especially if it was from the back. 
• (More on UX) The tutorial dismissal screen's close button is disabled initially. Just give it some time while you read through the tutorial and it'll eventually activate itself. 
• Gamepad navigation may still have some issues with the tutorial. 

Future Plans & Project Status

With 3 bosses, this game has reached about the halfway mark in terms of core content. Obviously, there's a lot more to do , 80/20 principle and whatever, but this also means that Nia will likely be the last boss of the public demo. I think getting half the game for free is fair enough for a demo, although I will still need people to test later content eventually. Kind of been too busy devving to do business stuff (would the verb for this be bussing?). 

Regardless, I don't expect to be adding new boss content to the public demo on itch, although I suppose just selling the game (some weird form of early access?) here would be possible too. Unrelated for now, but I've set up a Patreon with plans to eventually start some kind of early access stuff, but there isn't anything there yet. I still plan on updating the demo and participating in DD, but this will only be for any changes to existing bosses, bug fixes, and player abilities. Basically, if the first half of the game should have it, it should also be in the demo. (Barring some story content?)