Dialog seems to repeat a LOT when you have to go back and redo things (like head back to town). The balance is also WAY off, and you can't get proper equipment for your Lighters after the first dungeon (when it really matters).
Suggestion: Use switches for dialog! It helps to avoid seeing the same thing every time you redo an action or travel. Also, tweak the balance.
I'm really not sure how I could have been clearer in the game, but money for new equipment is gained by visiting the treasurer in the throne room and selling the items that you gain from monsters. When you get your initial funds, the treasurer explains this. Another way to get better equipment is to take your Star Fragments that you gain each time you relight a star to the blacksmith on the right hand side of the town. This can be discovered either by talking to the blacksmith, or talking to the man outside of the blacksmith (who complains that the blacksmith won't make him anything because he doesn't have a star fragment.)
Balance was exactly as I meant it to be. It's supposed to be a challenge. You're supposed to have to think about your party composition and which skills to use. I find that many of those who have complained about balance expect to simply charge through the game mashing "Z." Each class is unique. The Star Knights are tanks, Laura is a healer, Fitz is a support character that makes bosses die really easily if used properly, Leah is a spell caster and elemental damage dealer that is great for crowd controlling random encounters once you recruit her. The hardest part of the game SHOULD be the first dungeon, when you haven't really developed your skills. After that, your characters should be around level 5, and totally dominating anything they come against provided you are careful about how you use your skills (especially not wasting your MP, which is limited specifically to force you to think about how much you're using.)
Dialogue... I really didn't mean to make dialogue repetitive. I suppose some things would be that way, though, if you're doing a lot of grinding.
So, lemme clarify my comments, as I don't think you saw the live stream of this
First dungeon was incredibly easy and I could button mash my way through it. Subsequent dungeons took strategy, but there were enemies 1 shotting my characters. This was what I meant by balance. No trash mob character should be doing all or nearly all of my HP in damage as the first strike.
I didn't hit level 5 at the end of the first dungeon. Maybe 3-4 at best.
I also sold items to the guy in the castle. I didn't get nearly enough from the monster drops and had to sell star souls to get equipment.
My equipment choices didn't change from dungeon to dungeon, and the reward of only one "better" item when I have several party members was paltry, at best. Again, it ties to balance.
The game had some interesting points and a different story, but certain things IMO held it back.
Ok, thanks for the clarification. Yes, equipment was extremely limited because I was thinking about trying to keep the game under an hour. Since the story was so short, I didn't include a ton of extra content. I'd say that's one of the things I'd love to update if I had the chance to work on the game more. Until I can afford MZ (which is currently priced at something ridiculous like $70), It'll have to stay as it is. If I ever upgrade it, I'll probably do a lot more, including replacing the 5th dungeon with a real dungeon, updating enemy atk and m.atk to be a little lower (I keep being told about being one shotted), adding consequences if you use Leah to "solve" the second dungeon(this was in the original plans, but was cut to save on runtime since the game had already grown so large), and adding full epilogue scenes and probably adding some small end game content, including some stuff with Vox, the Star Breaker. Oh, and I'd fix the stupid endless loop if you decide to recruit Vox! Still kicking myself over that one...
I'm actually surprised that you were so low leveled at the end of the first dungeon. In my own playthrough, I was level 4 when I faced Leah. I was level 6 by the time I made it out. I mention this mainly because I knew the correct sequence for all the puzzles and where the secret chest was, I honestly expected most players to get much more powerful than me on account of taking longer while trying to solve the puzzles. I'd advise grinding until at least level 5 before the second dungeon as Leah at level 5 makes quick work of the strongest enemies. Not sure which enemies were one shotting you with the first hit, though. Do you have a link to your video, or did the stream not convert automatically into a vid? A tip while grinding: The Stars will heal your party once they're lit, so you could use that as a recovery point whenever you want to grind for money or exp.
I certainly wouldn't advise selling your Star Souls for a little equipment. Since they're a finite resource in the game (for story reasons, as they're produced by the Stars over long periods of time), I'd hold onto them for boss fights.
I advise the following order of purchases: New claws for Fitz for your first purchase (he's almost useless in combat without an upgrade to his attack until later when his skills start rolling in and you begin facing bosses). Then trade your first Star Fragment for the Star Staff for the extra magic power and give it to Leah. With all that Magic Attack, she obliterates anything she hits. After this point, buy armor with money, and Star Sword with your next two Fragments.
