I'd recommend introducing a difficulty select, or a second partner added much sooner. I say this because I can make absolutely no progress - both the cave monsters and the black cat are wiping me out even with all the strategy I can muster. :S
Hmm, well I've received some feedback about the difficulty, I know all players are different with different playstyles, so I'll try to rebalance it better in the final version or at least lower the difficulty at the begining. All I can say is that don't understimate your support abilities and be sure to use the Special ones. Sell your loot, buy the Jacket to increase denfeses and dont forget to use potions.
Been doing all of that. Except the potions, they're not useful. It takes one turn to heal ~20HP and the next attack takes 50 or 60 HP, so it's a net loss every time.
It's easy to get slaughtered within just a couple turns when the solo hero goes up against one Plague Plant and two Lurker Snakes, which is a lot of the mandatory fights in the Lv5 cave.
I hope in the future you can find a way to rebalance things, give us a second hero earlier, or add difficulty select menu.
Have in mind Potions heals 20+ 10% hp each turn, for a total of 20+30% hp (during 3 turns), you should be being healed at least around 150 hp in total at that point, you can also use them before battle. I would need to see what you have bought and what stats you have boost. Rebalancing without knowing the exact details and how are you playing it may be kind of hard ^^u
Did you buy Heal? or other Skills?
If you are having issues all I can suggest you for now is gaining one or two levels at the forest until the enemies are auto-defeated. One single level can make a difference. The start of the cave also have battles with low quantity of enemies.
As I said I know some players may find the game too hard, so I'll probably lower the difficulty at the begining so it isn't that hard to learn the mechanics.
What you described with the health potions restoring 10% later still doesn't break even when it comes to the damage that these cave monsters deal every turn (not to mention stronger foes later). So I'm using a turn to heal, then losing more health than I gained. It's an objectively net-loss way to use my action.
You're right about using them out of battle, though.
Compare the Heal magic spell, which heals a good chunk of HP, more than the damage I receive during one turn. I've been using that, but when I face 3+ foes, I run out of MP before the fight's over and then I get killed.
I bought the first three badges, I don't have the 5 required to buy any more because I can't win these cave encounters and I'm too low-level for the black cat.
What do you mean by auto-defeated? I'm not sure what that mechanic is, I haven't been exposed to it.
Finally, if your suggestion is to go back to the first level and grind, that is a good sign that your game needs rebalancing, as a rule of thumb. Ideally, a player should be at a decent level to face whatever they come across so long as they clear out every screen they go through (you know, they don't actively go around enemy encounters).
Thanks for the constant feedback.
Before going into the advice I need to clarify that the game will be rebalanced and the Forest and Cave will be relatively easier next update, however, I still intend to not make it too easy. I know some portion fo the players don't want to take it too seriously which is why I will make some enemies weaker next time or give more tools to be stronger.
It is difficult to meassure though. Grinding isn't a necesity, is just an option for players who experience trouble and it is actually disencouraged to do so, since overleveling will insta-defeat weak enemies without granting exp (Forest only for now).
The game can be cleared without needing to refight a monster (it's how I tested it), however, I understand that as the creator I have it easier since I know all the tricks and weaknesses, so I always need to check what the players think.
Since I won't release a patch anytime soon, I'll try to help you with some mechanics and tricks that may be easy to miss, they could or not be your case but I'll point some anyways hoping they may be of use.
- Drinking a potion before any battle will effectively grant you aprox 100+ extra hp (the more Max HP you have, the larger this number will be). Do it before fighting a plague plant will nullify the poison for 3 turns and still heal you some damage.
- TP contains strong skills such Energy Claws being your strongest move.
- TP is built by doing/taking damage, ending a turn or defeating an enemy.
- Guarding recovers 5% of your HP and halves damage, but it will also lets you build the TP mentioned in the process in a tough position, Guarding does more than it looks but it has to be used properly.
- Another easy to miss is Focus and is very important. Doubling your power may look like a wasted turn at first sight since it consumes a turn, however, it's of great use when a skill has a cooldown or uses TP. It will also will empower your Heal since it's based on your Magic stat.
I hope it helps for now!
Wait, drinking a potion *out of battle* actually has the bonus effect kick in when you enter your next battle? That's... that's cool, but it's so contrary to how RPGs work that I never would have expected it. Maybe that could be explained somewhere in-game if there's room for it?
Similar suggestion for Guarding, I don't think I ever read in-game that it heals you a little.
Thank you Quetzalli
The cave monsters don't bother me, they're my only source of grind potential. The plant boss is so tough, I can barely defeat one elite plague plant before I'm wiped out, let alone the Core itself, which only takes damage from Pressure Point. x.x I'm ok with grind, but the sparseness of enemies means it's slow going by design, which isn't as fun. I'd almost want random encounters back compared to that.
Then again this is a demo so maybe I'm being too harsh? i shouldn't really expect too much just yet, for a demo this is pretty great
Edit: I should add I give this 5 stars for a demo since I really want to see more, and so far I am enjoying everything about it. Lovely artwork and cute story <3
alright, disregard everything i finally beat the plant boss at level 10! Also, I think I forgot to comment on what lovely animation the nsfw scenes have. I really like the direction of the game, so I hope you get a ton of support!