- Positives (miscellaneous great things that should probably be kept as they are)
- Core gameplay: duh, but also it's very good. Like, really good.
- Story and writing quality
- Dialogues and dialogue boxes (font, size, colors...)
- The ability to channel luck at any point, even right before a card is about to be drawn (and the prompt warning right before a draw)
- The music slowing down and Fortuna appearing when channeling luck
- I haven't touched upon it on my meaty review, but the balancing is surprisingly good, despite looking like a puzzle with only one solution, it's neither too hard nor too easy
- I just noticed now that the card icons are drawings made out of constellations, that's such a nice touch!
- UI
- Improved character portraits, with color (except for the hero boy he's perfect)
- Better background (maybe?? I'm no expert so I don't know what could be better, maybe a different background depending on the fight, or different colored lightings to set up the mood of the situation)
- UX
- Turn count
- A pause menu, with all the command buttons
- An explaination of all the card game rules
- A reset menu (either for the battle, or the entire game, maybe even both)
- An icon showing active buffs (and how many turns they're still active)
- An indicator showing how much Energy is restored each turn
- Remaining cards in deck (ok maybe not since D technically does this but I feel it should look more like a standard card playing game)
- Gameplay
- Give the hero a personality. It's just one trait and a short list of preferred actions, but at least it would allow the players to be able to at least predict their hero's attacks! For example: Cautious would play defensive cards first, Impatient would burn as much cards as possible in a single turn, starting from the cheapest, and Patient will always start with the best buffs, preferably the offensive ones.
- Make Energy matter more, I feel like by only starting with 3 cards and drawing once per turn, Energy doesn't feel like a hindrance and it's hard to capitalize on the fact that the foe gets too much too powerful cards too early and can't play them... maybe have remaining energy stack, but only gain +3 per turn?
- Music
- Add a main theme as well as one or two battle themes (one for lower fights and one for boss, or one theme for each deity)
- Have a proper music loop
- Content
- Sub enemies: rats that just happen to be here, other heroes chosen by completely unrelated gods for totally unrelated quests (the hero of the god of harvest, called upon to pick up the potatoes!)
- Champions: One or two big baddies chosen by the gods of strength, cunning and intellect, having to be defeated before the gods decide to handle matters personally
- Secret/Missable encounters: Either one at the end for some true/secret ending, or a few in-between, bosses that can only be encountered if the player has done specific requirements (maybe the potato god got angried from killing his chosen hero earlier?)
- Breaks via Random encounters: can be a laying chest, a wishing pond, or a humble shop, that would allow the non-vaillant hero, Fortuna and the player opportunities to get new items, heal HP, or trade off cards
- Psst, want to hear a secret?: The random encounters are random. IE, defined by pure luck. Guess what? Pressing D before one of them would allow smart players to choose which event will happen, depending on their current needs
- More cards: cards that allow to draw, or to restore a used card, vried attacks, poison... the possibilities are endless, but a small dozen of new effects would already change the flow of the game and add depth to the strategy
- Change decks: With the addition of shops, players can not only get new cards but also trade others out. Even getting a card that does nothing, or a flaming wooden branch that deals one damage to both the enemy and the player would get a long way in an attrition battle. Not the cleanest strategy but hey, as long as it works!
- Critical hits. Those only appears around once per fight, but wouldn't be great if they were to happen exactly at the time they'd be the most useful? That could raise the stakes, and add a little spice to the battles.
- Endings! Okay, we just want to see Fortuna prevail. Gotta root for the underdog goddess!
- Oh! How about this?
- Asymetrical PVP: How would a seasoned card game player would fare against a completely innefficient hero who happen to have luck on hteir side? Could be a great side mode!