August Demo - What to Expect? (Patreon)

Hello! Boy have I been busy. There's a lot that I wanted to include in this months update and unfortunately it felt like a lot of "one step forward, two steps back" situations where I lost several days to fixing lots of breaking systems. Regardless the demo is officially playable and I'm doing my last runs and tweaks before I aim to launch it here on Patreon for a more extensive round of tests by you guys.So I wanted to take a moment to talk about what to expect with this demo, discussing the way certain features have evolved and changed and all that. First off lets talk about the title. I've been trying to update what I call this to a "Playable Teaser" rather than a full blown demo as I don't want to get expectations too high. To me a demo generally covers a games opening few hours. Thats not what the August build is. The August PT will be just chapter 3 and 4, with virtually no new story content. So what is new? Let's dive in and take a look!

The title screen has received a QOL update. The on screen cursor pointing to selected options is no longer displayed on account of you being able to actually use YOUR mouse to make selections. I'm trying to include more mouse support in general but not everything is updated so be warned.

When starting a new game you will now be prompted to select your content mode. Before it was a blanket statement of no 18+ imagery or all 18+ imagery. With the new settings you can better control things you don't want to engage with. Be warned though this has NOT been extensively tested and some content may have slipped through the cracks. If it has, PLEASE report it like any other bug.

I've talked about the UI updates before but they are finally present in this playable teaser. Enjoy options to skip dialogue, view previous messages, replay voice lines, adjust settings directly during scenes and hide text boxes. A Memory Fragment counter has also been added beneath the clock. This is important but I will discuss it later.

Souls has been added to the games main menu. You can swap equipped souls at any point. Souls have their own stats, exp, levels, weaknesses and skills. You are encouraged to swap souls to better suit your needs. The PT will give you access to the default classes of Lost One and The Fool, as well as The Magician as a bonus upon completing chapter 3.

Choice cards have seen a major QOL update. You no longer have to select a card to understand what it does. Choices are labeled on screen with the appropriate card lighting up for clarity. These have also been upgraded to feature full mouse support.

The Goddess Statues have seen a complete mechanical overhaul. Let's go over things one at a time.1) Offer a Prayer: This is the same as previous builds allowing you to access the Vestal Skill Tree which has not been updated yet.2) Record a Memory: A brand new feature. This is how you save the game. There is no cost. Ritual Candles will have an updated purpose but that is not implemented yet. Goddess Statues will also serve as respawn points. As I'm sure you can tell these are two MASSIVE changes to the gameplay and mechanics. In both cases I simply wanted to reduce player frustration as well as better support the direction that the combat has evolved into.

3) Level Up: A brand new feature. Allows you to trade Memory Fragments to increase Red's stats. Will be looked at in more detail in the following section.4) Offer a Sacrifice: Same as before but the Bloodlust skill tree is inaccessible so useless in this teaser.

5) Life after Death: Not pictured here but tied to the Unknown Goddess is the new Life after Death mechanic. Should Red die in combat you will no longer receive a game over. You may unlock an ending, but you will always be respawned at your last used Goddess Statue with 10 minutes having gone by. In a move inspired by Souls like games Memory Fragments will be lost and need to be collected by returning to the area of your fall, or risk being lost forever. As well enemies once defeated will repopulate the forest. The Goddess will restore Red via her stored memories giving her as many chances as it will take to complete her mission.

Here's a WIP of the level up screen. Memory Fragments are a new resource you can collect from defeating monsters. For every 100 fragments owned, you can increase Red's stats to create your own custom build. This gives you better control over how Red handles and can help you mitigate the disadvantages of some Souls you may wish to use.

Camp Fires have been upgraded to only cost 10 minutes instead of 30. They no longer enable saving, however resting will also cause Enemies to repopulate the forest. Use this feature to level up your available classes or resist it to keep areas safe.

Mirrors have also received a QOL update. You no longer need to go to the Mirror World and find the correct mirror to take you where you want to go. A menu allows you to travel to any unlocked locations. Locations unlock automatically upon entering a map containing a mirror. You can no longer forget to activate a mirror and be punished for it.

There are of course other changes and tweaks to various systems. But what is most worth mentioning here is the complete rebalancing of all items, weapons, armors, classes and skills. Effectively the entire combat experience has been reworked from the ground up.

For now I'm just going to leave it here. A more in depth examination will be posted as a Devlog when the demo goes live. If you have any questions feel free to leave them here and I will do my best to address them. But I've got a little more polishing up to do before I can get this playable teaser safely in your hands so off I go!