itch.io

I'm really happy with the grapple changes! Grappling was always a big draw of the game (and where some of the most fun content was..), so all the new mechanics and complexity is VERY welcome.

Making progress in a grapple progressive, and possible to undo, could make the grapples feel more dynamic (and dangerous!..) The button mashing and other such really gets the player involved and feels FAR more immersive than before.

Speaking of immersion, having the different minigames correspond to the opponent's tactics was awesome (and exciting for potential..) It just adds extra oomph to know the flavor of your struggle is 'overpowering' your foe and then failing to do just that, or that you're trying to 'outmaneuver' them and they pull a fast one on you. I love that you're trying to flesh this out mechanically and put more player input into the equation.

The spritework is gorgeous too. This isn't to diss your old ones, but WOW, the level of clarity and incredible attention to detail is just on a different level. All of them (especially Grove himself) are a massive upgrade.

In short, the new mechanics were a LOT to learn, but all amazing. In the final build, I feel should be introduced more gradually, layer by layer.  I see you were trying to do this with the different encounters within the nightmare, but I feel there should be more space between them, and more time to practice and familiarize oneself with the newly learned mechanic before moving onto another one.

One way to do this MIGHT be to have some minigames the player can encounter for rewards or such.. which, coincidentally, use the same system. Think, like, Grove is trying his luck on a strength tester to win mythical apule ore for his apule upgrade, so he has to 'overpower' the machine by hammering down 'at the right time.' Or have it be involved in some of the puzzles. Just one of few ways that could help.

I don't know! He seemed oddly convincing..

Seconded on the snake fave!! The small and big snake are my absolute favorites! Especially the smaller one who was unbelievably lovable (with some of the best grapple images in the game)

Would you allow the Subscribestar Halloween test room to be paid for on Itch.io? I don't like subscription platforms but I WOULD pay to buy it

Loved the Kobold additions! Especially for pins 1 and 3. Something about the pin being silly levels of weak for 1 Kobold, and ramping up with more Kobolds was super fun.

Ok this was super fun! I loved the Grove-esque grapple system, and the Undertale attack mechanic is always fun. The art for the fox was really good too. You could even try integrating the QTE system into the grapple one. 

Very excited for the web version! Looks super fun

I could tell it got some extra attention.. and I'm very very glad it did. <3 Good luck with your other development!

OK.

This game's been awesome! The aquatic 'coolant' drone was unexpected.. and probably my favorite encounter so far.

How can you compare this to EA OR ACTIVISION?? GOSH. This is a full experience on release, and REALLY GOOD ONE AT THAT. They're asking for 5 USD, FIVE FRICKIN DOLLARS. That's for a game which is filled with custom art and content for an experience that, I'd wager, is going to be worth a little more than the asking price.

It's not a 'cash grab' it's a 'product' which is being 'sold.' That is called a 'transaction' which is the means of exchange which allow awesome creative people like these developers to make MORE awesome games and have the free time to do so. Also, this is clearly a passion project.. This level of quality is far, far above the soulless competition in eroge, I assure you.

I'm super excited! Your team's always been way too generous giving out GROVE of all things for free. It's about time you get paid; hope it proves very profitable.

There is a BIG shortage of proper praise. This game's awesome! Has fun survival elements, an insane level art direction and character writing, and the combat's pretty satisfying for what I expected.

Rouser plant was a favorite. Suffice to say that soil was thoroughly fed.

Competitive stuff! Game mechanics! Having a genuine struggle between the player and enemy for dominance makes almost any scenario 10x as fun. Especially if the enemy rubs it in if they do win.

Thank you. Your writing was really inspiring here; I don't think there was one character I didn't find endearing in their own way. I was really surprised seeing you portray the dragons in a less noble light, and also your NPC characters were all adorable! If this is some setup for a story path where Grove confronts the less savory parts of the empire and rights those wrongs, I'm all for it. I remember combing that ship cave top to bottom to make sure I didn't miss any fun story hooks either. 

Thanks for the amazing game. Behind all the fun scenes, there's also some REALLY solid world building.

Hey, for the android version, you should try having the left/right/A directionals be on one side of the screen, then the up/down directionals on the other. Then people could use both thumbs to play and it'd be less awkward to control. Cool game by the way!

Alright, and no problem! The way it was worded lead me to think it was an interim stage for an even worse finisher. It was one of my favorites (andro was VERY close second)  and I hope you do more cyberhound stuff aa

Thanks for the quick reply and awesome game!

I think I ran into a bug! At least one of the new enemies seems to have an issue progressing its grapple past the third step or so. Specifically the one in the research lab in the second half of the game (the best one!).