Endgame Players Suggestion

[fewRy (Theodore Johnson)]

Heya, so I started playing this game a bit ago and I have to say, with the whole fact I really dislike any RPG that doesn't require intense reactions and hardcore gameplay, I absolutely love this game. Despite the fact only 3 temples are currently out (with the third lacking the ending thus far), I find joy in spending hours grinding and trying to complete every nitty gritty thing this game has yet to offer. But a few ideas and worries arose as I was accomplishing these feats. I couldn't help but notice how absurdly easy each of the enemies became to farm as I progressed through the game and became stronger and stronger. Obviously, this is part of every RPG, but it made me think "There will be a limit to how much enjoyment I can get from this game by means of only one playthrough." Eventually, when the full-game is released, end game characters could potentially have the power to completely obliterate nearly everything they come into contact with, making it a rather boring experience for those who previously found enjoyment in becoming as powerful as possible and attempting to get all of the rare loot. So what I have to offer is the following suggestions in hope to give the players the longest enjoyment possible.

1. Multiple Scaling Playthroughs
Something I happened to very much enjoy from games was the option to start a second life, more commonly popularized these days through Dark Souls. This enables players to endlessly cycle through the games storyline and enemies, but with the added benefit of the enemies being higher leveled, dishing out more damage and the added feature of scaled cards. Now before I go into more depth on that, I would like to note the left hallway leading into the Collector's "Museum" of previously killed bosses. As a feature, you should allow players to change their character between one life and the next at will, allowing players to go into the first playthrough they ever did, the one they are currently on, and all of them inbetween, each of these playthroughs having their own specific cards that you can only use in that playthrough. It doesn't seem like that big of an issue on a small-scale, but imagine how horrible it would be if player's kept on stacking the cards effects over a long-period of time (specifically the green-slime card). I could only imagine how far you could grab items then. On that note, there should also be obvious cards that shouldn't be scaled to the game cycle you are currently on. Things like the Present Card and the Green Slime Card should be left as is, while things like the Mage of Seasons Card should be buffed and scaled to match the playthrough the player is currently on. One of the more satisfying things of grinding in this game is the fact nearly every enemy you kill has the chance to yield the rarest drop that gives a passive bonus to your character. Considering these cards will only effect the current playthrough you are on, it won't make players feel it is absolutely necessary to get these cards just to go into the next game cycle, merely being there as an option for those who love to grind. On the whole, this New Game feature would likely give players a rather increased duration of experiencing the game without having to start all over again with a character that feels rather slow in all aspects.

2. Day Cycles
Something I love about this game is the absolutely wonderful use of color, music and layout of every nook and cranny. But there's always something a little odd about the fact it's almost always daytime. After seeing what night / evening would look like by means of the festival, it reminded me of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with the moody lighting and Hyrule. Part of what made me think of this was that, but I think it would be a nice twist to add two new features: a nighttime cycle and a bed in which to sleep in, putting you into the next day. Multiple games have done this and in nearly every variation I have found it to be rather appealing, but when night comes, hell comes with it. Increased monster spawn rates, increased levels and stats, more money per kill, etc. are what I had in mind when I thought of this. Alongside my above comment about loving the music and setting of some places, as well as the fact players will always be looking for a challenge, it would be very entertaining to be able to go to the previously easy killing fields to fight enemies that can pose a very great threat to end-game characters, just by arriving at a different time. The bed will be more or less used as a means for those lower-leveled characters that aren't quite strong enough to take on such enemies, making it so they don't have to wait out the entire night just to continue through their quest or grind.

Those are just two main ideas that came to mind when playing this game, because to me it is almost perfect in every way with the only problem being its not yet finished (not a problem, more I really love the story and I want to see what happens next ;-;-). These are just suggestions and hopefully, if not implemented, they can at least give you ideas as to what you could potentially do.

-Teddy Johnson, High School Programming Nerd

 

[The G-Meister]

Did you try Hard difficulty? You sound like you enjoy the same things I do, and I've got a lot of enjoyment out of it

I'll add some more stuff when I get home later.

 

[The G-Meister]

Eventually, when the full-game is released, end game characters could potentially have the power to completely obliterate nearly everything they come into contact with, making it a rather boring experience for those who previously found enjoyment in becoming as powerful as possible and attempting to get all of the rare loot.

The main differences I've found with the already implemented Normal and Hard modes are that, on Normal, with a decent build, one doesn't have to take a break from the main storyline to grind at any point. On Hard, it's almost obligatory to stop and grind an area to make sure your gear is up to scratch before you grind the next one. Therefore, on Normal this takes effect, but on Hard you often have most of the gear by the end of the story. That's one of the reasons I'd recommend Hard mode from the general feeling I've got from this post

2. Day Cycles

The game has a lighting engine, so even if basic in functionality I think it would be a great idea for aesthetic reasons, as well as not being too difficult to implement. Dashing through Hyrule Fields on Epona in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess during both day and night was a fantastic experience and definitely improved the atmosphere of that game, so I can see where you're coming from.

In terms of it making a mechanical difference, I'm on the fence. Despite Hard being as lethal as it is anyway, if I'm enjoying a grind, the lazy me says I wouldn't want it to break me out of the rhythm, but the masochist me says MOAR DIFFICULTIE. As for going from easy grinding to hard grinding, I think that's probably a little extreme. I reckon a nerfed form of /beastmode, so slightly increased health and damage, but also more EXP, more gold, and most importantly, slightly higher drop rates. On Hard, that's the main thing that dictates how long you're grinding for, especially if you want two of the same rare drop for accessories.

As for beds, I think a Bethesda-style "Wait" (or maybe a "nap") function might work. Whether it requires a chair or not, it would be a lot more convenient to just take a second out of combat to sit still, press the button (either the hotkey or a button in the menu, whichever is implemented), select how many hours you want to wait, and the screen fades out and back in, with the new time of day and all monsters respawned and the area as clean as if you'd just re-entered it. Or it could repsawn you at the entrance/teleport plate as if you'd just died or re-entered the area.

Either way, good ideas! I didn't comment on the other one as it's been brought up before somewhere in a slightly different fashion. I'm generally not a fan of New Game+, as I love starting over from the beginning in things, probably because I don't get attached to my character, world or gear. The way I see it, a fresh game is a change to experience a fresh difficulty, a fresh look and a fresh set of skills

 

[fewRy (Theodore Johnson)]

The main differences I've found with the already implemented Normal and Hard modes are that, on Normal, with a decent build, one doesn't have to take a break from the main storyline to grind at any point. On Hard, it's almost obligatory to stop and grind an area to make sure your gear is up to scratch before you grind the next one. Therefore, on Normal this takes effect, but on Hard you often have most of the gear by the end of the story. That's one of the reasons I'd recommend Hard mode from the general feeling I've got from this post


The game has a lighting engine, so even if basic in functionality I think it would be a great idea for aesthetic reasons, as well as not being too difficult to implement. Dashing through Hyrule Fields on Epona in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess during both day and night was a fantastic experience and definitely improved the atmosphere of that game, so I can see where you're coming from.

In terms of it making a mechanical difference, I'm on the fence. Despite Hard being as lethal as it is anyway, if I'm enjoying a grind, the lazy me says I wouldn't want it to break me out of the rhythm, but the masochist me says MOAR DIFFICULTIE. As for going from easy grinding to hard grinding, I think that's probably a little extreme. I reckon a nerfed form of /beastmode, so slightly increased health and damage, but also more EXP, more gold, and most importantly, slightly higher drop rates. On Hard, that's the main thing that dictates how long you're grinding for, especially if you want two of the same rare drop for accessories.

As for beds, I think a Bethesda-style "Wait" (or maybe a "nap") function might work. Whether it requires a chair or not, it would be a lot more convenient to just take a second out of combat to sit still, press the button (either the hotkey or a button in the menu, whichever is implemented), select how many hours you want to wait, and the screen fades out and back in, with the new time of day and all monsters respawned and the area as clean as if you'd just re-entered it. Or it could repsawn you at the entrance/teleport plate as if you'd just died or re-entered the area.

Either way, good ideas! I didn't comment on the other one as it's been brought up before somewhere in a slightly different fashion. I'm generally not a fan of New Game+, as I love starting over from the beginning in things, probably because I don't get attached to my character, world or gear. The way I see it, a fresh game is a change to experience a fresh difficulty, a fresh look and a fresh set of skills

Very true for both, tbh with a game like this it would be far more efficient to just rest rather than go all the way over to a bed even though it would take a mere 15-45 seconds at most (people much prefer to just continue playing unless its absolutely necessary to leave). As for the difficulty and Hard Mode, I have been on that mode for an odd twenty levels now and it's gotten to the point where not even the latest and greatest mobs pose a threat anymore. Unless there is a definitive level-cap to the game, one can continuously become stronger and stronger making any mode, regardless of the difficulty a breeze. That doesn't go without saying I never die, I tend to have a more aggressive playstyle and try to stamp out my enemies' presence asap, but even then, I spent a total of 1-2 hours grinding the very last area with the Echoes of Chaos and Monkeys while only dying once. I don't really know much else from that, but it's just a personal opinion of mine . As for the attachment, I tend to not really mind that either, I've just always found great enjoyment of pushing the boundaries of what I am capable of in nearly every aspect. As for now, I suppose I have accomplished that but the lack of a level cap makes me dream of much more.