First off to TheArcadean, awesome job on this game! I started playing this game about a week ago on v0.19.9, and couldn't put it down. The story, though still a work-in-progress, is filled with great writing, intriguing concepts, witty humor, and the 'ahem' you-know-what, that this ranks very highly for eroge visual novels! Words cannot express how much I have enjoyed playing Acts I and II so far, even though the game is still unfinished.
However, I am literally waiting with bated breath for something to be done with the combat system in Act III. It is far too dependent on RNG, and can become an extremely frustrating and downright infuriating experience, so much so that I have felt tremendous temptation to just turn on auto-win and be done with it. (And thank you so much for even making auto-win an option, because a lot of players like myself have ZERO tolerance for hard RNG-based combat systems due to the frustration that they bring.) But because I love this game so much, I decided to deconstruct the combat system and give you my thoughts.
When it comes to ANY combat system with RNG elements, the number one rule is to never let the player feel as if their progress is being blocked by RNG! This is the fastest way to turn off players to a game. There must ALWAYS be some means for the players to make progress. RNG should only be used a a means to either speed up (in the case of good luck) or slow down (in the case of bad luck) the player's progress, but never block the player completely.
I have given my computer monitor multiple middle fingers for giving me many series of crappy rolls while the enemy got superb rolls. My most unfun experience was when the Trainer Goon (the one Jessica first introduces you to for the battle tutorial) beat me 3 times in a row because he kept getting long strings of 3s and 4s against my long strings of 1s and 2s.
Most games rely on some kind of resource and/or stat grinding, but I've seen games have pity on the player if they lose enough times, such as giving them a handicap or simply asking the player if they want to skip the battle. Because this game already has both resources and stats, I say that resource/stat grinding would be the appropriate choice to allow the player to either buy their victory or outstat the enemies. Essentially, grinding allows the player to trade their time for potential future progress. How much time is consumed in grinding is up to you, but I would implore you not to make the grinding time too long. Remember that Corrupted Kingdoms is primarily an eroge Visual Novel, not a JRPG like Disgaea!
And before anyone accuses me of being a gaming noob: Yes, I am aware that the goons uses only physical attacks and uses the aggressive AI. And yes, I am aware that you should never ever place a 1 on Defense against such enemies due to the risk of getting hit by a critical attack. Just trust me that I know my stuff here.
Speaking of the Trainer Goon: This guy is actually one of the hardest fights in the game right now, which may be a big turn off to players who are expecting the tutorial battle to be easy. Unlike Regular Goons, where stat bonuses and troops are available for use, the Trainer Goon denies you these tools. So a new player might think that the Trainer Goon is supposed to be an easy win, but ends up repeatedly getting their ass handed to them by bad RNG, when in reality, Regular Goons and some boss girls are actually easier to beat. Let's talk about the enemies in the game so far.
Regular Goons: These guys use only physical attacks and start off aggressive, but transition to defense at low health. They become extremely annoying if you aren't lucky enough to take them out quickly with two critical attacks in a row. If you do get them down to low health and aren't running Reinforce, then you have to slog through their defense and hope that RNG eventually favors you, which could take a very long time depending on the RNG. Also, you really don't want to lose a clash with these guys because they deal -1 Defense, which is the most dreaded stat down in the game. To note, physical attacks combined with -1 Defense is an extremely powerful synergy in this game, and so this makes Regular Goons more difficult to beat than Noelle and Chelsea. Considering that Regular Goons are supposed to be this game's mooks, the fact that Regular Goons are more difficult enemies than two of the boss girls is a real turn off.
Noelle: She is by far the easiest enemy to beat in the game since she only uses Seduce, which guarantees that she will do at most 1 damage to the player. This means that the player has the option of placing a 1 on Defense in favor of using a higher roll for a critical attack or to win a clash. However, Noelle is easier still because you don't even need to win the clash against her. All she does is deal -1 Seduce, which means no Defense stat down, which makes it safe to lose the clash against her. As one of the first fights in the game, I find the fight with Noelle to be both appropriately easy and fun. However, she does transition to defense at low health, and so fights can drag on if you aren't running Reinforce to break her defense. Unfortunately, this is a common theme for enemies that go defensive, which makes Reinforce mandatory for such battles.
Chelsea: She may have a 1d6 at her disposal, but she's arguably easier to beat than your Regular Goon. Like Regular Goons, Chelsea is aggressive and only uses physical attacks. But unlike Regular Goons, Chelsea doesn't go defensive at low health (only goes defensive when both HP and WP are low), which makes the battle pacing actually tolerable. But what makes Chelsea an easy boss is the fact that losing a clash results in -1 Attack, which means no Defense stat down, which makes losing a clash safe. For all of these reasons, Chelsea is the only boss girl where Scout is actually useful since Reinforce is not necessary for breaking a defense in this fight. Chelsea is an appropriately easy early game fight and is decently fun to play.
Rachel: Now the difficulty is starting to ramp up! She is like a Regular Goon in that she is aggressive and only uses physical attacks, but she also gains a 1d6 die. She also has the dreaded -1 to Defense if you lose the clash with her. But unlike Regular Goons, Rachel doesn't go defensive at low health (only goes defensive when both HP and WP are low). This single difference is what makes Rachel easier to beat than Regular Goons if you are looking to win through physical attacks, since she usually remains open to attacks while at low health. You can get away with substituting Scout for Reinforce for these reasons, and also because she only has one 1d6 die -- otherwise, Reinforce is mandatory. Rachel is probably the most fair of the early game fights, as she presents a decent challenge to the player without the fight turning into a defensive slog. Sadly, Rachel also represents why Regular Goons are too strong at this point in the game, since winning through physical attacks is actually quite easy with Rachel. Also, players can challenge themselves by choosing more difficult win conditions through Seduce or Shatter, which are not choices for Regular Goons. These extra player choices make Rachel a more fun fight than Regular Goons, which are boring and unfun by comparison.
Terri & Tammi: The twins are the first of the boss girls to feature two 1d6 dies, which makes them more difficult than Regular Goons, but not by too much. The reason is because losing a clash with them only deals -1 Clash. That's it. This means that you can safely throw away your 1s on Clash without a care while preserving your higher rolls for more important things. Terri & Tammi begin the fight with the defensive AI, and so Reinforce is mandatory here to match their defense and, hopefully, RNG through it eventually. At low health, they become aggressive, which helps make them more open to your attacks. This is my favorite fight in the game so far, since it is difficult enough to require some tactical thinking on the player's part while not being overly difficult. Once you figure them out, this battle becomes reliably winnable.
Hazel: Here is a massive jump in difficulty over the Regular Goon. Hazel has two 1d6 dies and starts off defensive, making for a long and drawn out slog with seemingly no end in sight. What's worse, losing a clash deals -1 Defense (and also -1 Attack to those who care), which forces the player into using good rolls to avoid losing the clash. This makes winning against Hazel take even longer than it already does. You better be using Reinforce now, because this fight is nigh impossible to win without it. Due to all of these reasons, Hazel is by far the worst fight in this game and should be reworked. It's boring and it takes far too long, making bad RNG an always looming threat that ruins good gameplay and frustrates players into using auto-win and saying screw you to the battle system. The fight is just that awful.
Ophelia: With three 1d6 dies, Ophelia is obviously a broken character when you consider the lack of tools available to the player in v0.19.9. Even with Reinforce and eating the player's personal meal, this is a tough fight. Ophelia starts off aggressive and remains so at low health (only goes defensive when both HP and WP are low), so she will try to kill you as quickly as possible. This actually makes this fight a lot more tolerable than the fight with Hazel. Ophelia fights are quick and decisive, so if RNG isn't going your way, you can lose quickly and try again. For example, if Ophelia wins the clash, then you already know to throw the fight due to her dealing -1 Defense AND -1 Clash (and -1 Attack and -1 Seduce for anyone who cares about that), which is a virtually unrecoverable scenario. Make no mistake -- this is still a frustrating fight that will tempt players to turn on auto-win, but at least the fights are fast enough where the frustration is a lot more manageable. Fights are short enough when the player can easily go through a hundred fights with Ophelia in under 10 minutes (unlike -cough- Hazel -cough-). Save scumming and fast clicking WILL eventually get you your victories against Ophelia through sheer number of tries, unlike Hazel who takes her sweet time in killing you slowly.
And just in case anyone is wondering -- yes, I have beaten Ophelia through Attack Seduce, and Shatter.
