Just back to give some feedback since I just fully finished the demo for the first time (woo!) and since whoa, it's gotten a little quiet on here!
- You guys must have made combat easier, because I only lost once or twice on this playthrough, whereas I recall losing at least 3 times to Boyd the first time I played. Feels really good. Still feels tough, but definitely more doable for my bad reaction times. I feel like I'm able to get a much better grip on the whole game, and I loved seeing the skills that used tried-and-true attack patterns like in Paper Mario. (That's more of why I got hooked on this, "paper-mario-like combat".)
- I like the way the narrative/text boxes fit together when there's multiple boxes on the screen, it looks cool and is natural to read, as well.
- For me, I gave up playing partway through during one of the first alphas here because I got stuck on the cell block/ladder puzzle ... pretty embarrassing. Today, everything felt pretty easy and nothing felt too hidden, even though I was tempted to give up since I couldn't find the steamy-pipe-vent-tunnel, nor the two tunnels that connected to it until I realized that the 'entryways' aren't exactly explicitly marked. The reason I found the tunnel in the first place was from walking around the Buddy/crate room a lot since I was stumped, and I saw the crouch prompt which really saved my day.
On a more ambiguous note, I'm trying to think of what feels 'less satisfying' about the combat (than paper mario for example), and I think part of it is that in paper mario, perhaps specifically for the jump attacks, the timing comes from matching visual cues in the like 30fps animations, which I guess isn't really as feasible with this pixelated style (and budget, time?)? Just trying to think of what is the difference between the accelerating range-attack/dodge-bar vs. paper mario-esque dodge/attack mechanics. Since the accelerating bar is constant for all enemies, it doesn't emphasize looking at each enemy's unique animation, they're all the same,... yeah, I guess that's the thing.
Well, it makes sense, the choice of using the bar style for the ranged combat mechanics, I guess I just wanted to express that it feels a little underwhelming.
Anyways, this version's combat feels really good to me. The red/orange dodge mechanics felt really instinctive and natural, and understanding the actions enemies are taking and understanding the results of their attacks felt justified and sensible. Really good. Haven't played with controller yet, but I'm assuming it will make even more sense than keyboard, since I feel like the dodge-guard mechanic will be on the bumpers which makes a lot of sense to me.
*oh yeah, i almost forgot. Coming from a paper mario/rhythm action games background, I'm still hoping for some 'rhythm-y' kind of attacks. Right now, combat feels more like trading hits between yourself and the enemy, which is .. well, pretty cool and natural, but maybe the skills will have some more rhythm-styled action sequences? I like the maintenance skill, and the other skills, but maybe even something like earth tremor from paper mario 2 - where you have to press buttons based on a given rhythm or whatever. Not necessary. Just a request. I'm sure you guys have tons of ideas up your sleeves already!
Can't wait for more content! Keep up the good work!