itch.io

I do wish you luck in the road ahead.

I have noticed that there are 'flick right stick' controls which simply do not seem to work on my controller. It might be if I manage to fix that, that the possibilities increase a bit.

Alright, some notes:

First of al the game has a decent overall feel to it when in the middle of it. Its basic but has the feel of the physics of the punches mattering a bit.

That said, the tuning of the game is not ideal atm. I can spend *minutes* in a match just waiting to move to or from corners, waiting for my opponent to recover from their concussion, and in other little situational bleeds.

Additionally, I was able to beat up to hard difficulty with no real tactics or concern for what my opponent was doing, or what might be effective -I simply just wailed on them with hooks until they went down, pacing them out at the rate of my stamina consumption (once I realized low meant slower regen as well). I did not block, I didnt even hold the controler so I might be able to.

Your hardest AI has obviously got to be better than this, and I understand AI can be difficult, but if this means you have to make it cheat *a little*, its probably worth it. Part of the joy of this sort of game is the progression of skill, and not needing any is probably a bit too light 

Additionally, as the movement is flat - not having the ability to lunge or weave or mete it out with any obvious extremity,  the skill ceiling is naturally going to be a bit lower here. Its likely worth it to have your first movement in a direction be a bit faster and a bit more stamina consuming - to give the option of repeated tap movement for higher speed, and to allow a bit more varied skill expression.

Finally WRT staying down, its likely going to be worth it to make it harder based around the difference in your conditions. If I am above 90, and they are at 14 max head condition... maybe just stay down my guy. It will save me 30 seconds, and save the virtual opponent another needless concussion.

I do appreciate the work you are doing on this sort of thing, but I do think its going to take a bit more physical interaction and variation to really make it pop.

Core game mechanics are interesting. With relatively little genuine move variety you can make a solid appearance of choice in fights. Overall I think its a strong base for people who like traditional JRPG-style combat systems. It exceeds the majority of those games, though that is admittedly a low bar.

When it comes to pacing though, the game gets into traditional grind issues pretty fast. After you have already demonstrated to yourself you can win a fight every time, but it takes you a few minutes, the fights quickly become a chore instead of something interesting. Simply put, I contend there are too many fights that are not challenging enough, it never feels like I am trying to push my limits with what I can do, it instead feels like I can take an extra 30 seconds in a fight to ensure there is no attrition, and that is an easy choice to make.

Overall, this first demo was easy enough that without leveling beyond killing everything in a line, I was able to get through it at nearly full health the entire time with neither of my guys falling or being at serious risk of falling. Being pressed into interesting gameplay only really comes out when challenged, otherwise easy, safe, and boring patterns emerge as dominant.

Now, to be clear, I am an above average gamer. I was genuinely confused when players had trouble with the difficult on a game that I helped create, with difficulties I viewed as being able to play while asleep, but there were a lot more pitfalls in that game due to higher amounts of choice. I think you can get a higher level of difficulty tuning in this game, with its relatively obvious 'combo' system.

As for specific concerns.. I suppose I can make a short list:

Infinite Sustain in combat by leaving the last enemy alive is too easy, and too boring at the same time. This should be discouraged somehow, even if its the enemy running away if they are alone for a couple turns.

Buff values are too nebulous. I have no indication of their value or duration, making them feel bad.

Might play through again to give better advice, but its running a bit dry at the moment.