Woah, thanks for all the feedback! That's a lot to unpack and surely was a lot to reflect on and put into words, so, sincerely, thanks a ton for such commitment! I will try to answer all of it to the best of my ability.
> Will realms have unique/exclusive upgrades?
Yep, I was thinking on maybe creating a menu that opens before going to sleep that affects what goes to the pill slot. E.g. we beat Lupina (or, rather, her mini-boss), she gives us the puppy plushie IRL (ignore the nonsense, I'm making those examples up as I go), now the options are to take a pill or to fall sleep hugging a plushie. That probably means that those items won't give you a plain second life, but will each have their own quirks. This idea isn't carved in strone, though, like any that I speculate on but haven't had time to test in the actual game, obviously the ideas that end up not working well gameplay-wise won't get included.
> Is a training room/dojo planned? It could be part of the in-game web, a "dream simulator" website.
Yep, we have a slightly different idea on how exactly that will work, but we do have a very clear idea of what the dojo is going to be like. It will come with different weapon options, though (I mean, 90% of what it does is lets you get the feel of a new moveset), which is not coming terribly soon.
Thanks for the feedback on the Lupina into scene, as you can see it currently cuts halfway, so yep, we will see where that same day goes. We most likely need to introduce Lupina's miniboss in the same "day".
>The player's basic M1 attack is still a bit off IMO...
Never considered alternating sequences and it's probably a little too confusing, but I do agree that stripping away the control for too long is annoying. We might lower the time of that, but the third hit deals x1.5 damage (applied after boons, stacks), so I believe there is still an incentive to use that, you just have to keep in mind that it is very committing (eg don't use on Fin or the Orca since you can't interrupt their attacks, do use it against the Shrimp since you wan't the largest damage per hit and she knockback is huge on her anyway).
Yep, AoE is also weapon-dependent.
I agree that the moan does not replace the smack, we need to add that.
When additional weapons are introduced the katana's AOE might end up migrating to a different weapon and in this case katana would get a different one.
> The way enemies react to hits with knockback is a step in the right direction, but right now feels a bit too floaty IMO and seems kind of like they're on ice.
Yep, I feel like the knockback was too choppy before and now it's a little too smooth. Have to balance that.
A second attack for an orca sounds very interesting, never considered that.
>Enemies popping into reality is also something that might need a visual additional to counter. Like them either walking through the map gateways, or appearing through a cloud of bubbles.
Yep, you can even see an attempt at that, but it doesn't do the main thing (consealing the moment of spawning) as it's been in this fetal state since the jam version. I feel like I do have a vision of how it should be, though, so it just needs time.
We probably should tweak the visibility, yeah. I went super generous on their vision since the previous versions since it was a little too easy to pick them out one-by-one, but sure the balance is yet to be found here as well.
Thanks for the gameplay recording! Sort of my experience with Shrimpie too, the main concern previously was that she could be no-skill shoved in a corner and brutalized there, now both my experience and your recording sort of just shows a player that plays well against an easy early-game boss and wins, which, yep, sounds right.
Fin's moveset is definitely to be changed as significantly as Shrimpie's was. The current idea is stupidly simple: tail swing = run away, not perpendicularly, trident throw = run perpendicularly, not away. I mean, I did see many people panic and try to run away from the tridents, but sure, the gameplay is super simple compared to the current incarnation of Shrimpie.
Thanks for the tail swing recording, it does look like the tail swing reaches a little too far and for too long, this will get fixed.
>As a few others have said, It would be interesting if we can later interact with the characters outside of dreams, like taking them out on a date. Obviously you might have your own plans on how this progresses with the story, but it'll be nice to see how that goes.
One thing I will confirm is that the office is planned to become a playable location but that is probably the furthest of the plans discussed in this exchange.
Once again, huge thanks for a thorough overview, lots of superficial reviews are very important for a more general understanding of what more-works-than-not, but they can't replace a super deep dive like that!