Own
Moderator
As I see it there's a few really good ways of adding them into Arcade Mode in a way that feels fun and not overwhelming, but there could be other ways.
Method #1: My least favorite. All curses are available from the start to mix and match with at your pleasure. This seems like it would be extremely overwhelming for just about anyone. People should be eased into new mechanics, like they are in Story Mode.
Method #2: You buy curses with Essence. While I'm in favor of Essence sinks, I'm not quite so much for this one. Curses seem like something you dabble in if you want more Essence. Not a fan of this one either.
Method #3: Curses are essentially side-quests. Say, for example, you have a curse that makes all enemies immune to 'flinching' upon receiving damage like Boars, Scarecrows, Yetis and Peckos are. Candy tasks you with harvesting Essence of Elite Boar. Kill an Elite Boar, it drops, she brews it into a Curse of Boarskin that will stop all enemies from flinching when you hit them. My second favorite option.
Method #4: Curses are unlocked in order, as you prove to Candy you're capable of tangling with more and more complex curses. Curses become individual challenges, requiring you experience a small run while they're active in order to be able to activate them at will with Candy. So, you want to select the Curse of Boarskin? First she zaps you with it and tells you to beat Floor 4 of Arcade while it's active, then you get to command it whenever you like. And you can mix it with any other curses you have available. This is my favorite since it makes sure players aren't getting in over their heads and don't just switch everything on, lets them dip their toes in instead of leaping in.
After you beat the Curse of Boarskin, Curse of Slimestep could become available, requiring you beat Floor 4 while every enemy leaves behind a slime trail. And then on to harder and harder ones, like all enemies dropping bombs on death.
Random thoughts:
It'd be nice if the Curse Highscore list were seperate from the Normal Highscore list, just to see how well people do with / without curses. Plus it'd be easier to wipe the Curse list if something broke / got reworked without zapping all the Normal scores.
Maybe unlocking each Curse could award a bit of Essence? Incentivizes people to try them out even if they don't care about score modifiers.
Method #1: My least favorite. All curses are available from the start to mix and match with at your pleasure. This seems like it would be extremely overwhelming for just about anyone. People should be eased into new mechanics, like they are in Story Mode.
Method #2: You buy curses with Essence. While I'm in favor of Essence sinks, I'm not quite so much for this one. Curses seem like something you dabble in if you want more Essence. Not a fan of this one either.
Method #3: Curses are essentially side-quests. Say, for example, you have a curse that makes all enemies immune to 'flinching' upon receiving damage like Boars, Scarecrows, Yetis and Peckos are. Candy tasks you with harvesting Essence of Elite Boar. Kill an Elite Boar, it drops, she brews it into a Curse of Boarskin that will stop all enemies from flinching when you hit them. My second favorite option.
Method #4: Curses are unlocked in order, as you prove to Candy you're capable of tangling with more and more complex curses. Curses become individual challenges, requiring you experience a small run while they're active in order to be able to activate them at will with Candy. So, you want to select the Curse of Boarskin? First she zaps you with it and tells you to beat Floor 4 of Arcade while it's active, then you get to command it whenever you like. And you can mix it with any other curses you have available. This is my favorite since it makes sure players aren't getting in over their heads and don't just switch everything on, lets them dip their toes in instead of leaping in.
After you beat the Curse of Boarskin, Curse of Slimestep could become available, requiring you beat Floor 4 while every enemy leaves behind a slime trail. And then on to harder and harder ones, like all enemies dropping bombs on death.
Random thoughts:
It'd be nice if the Curse Highscore list were seperate from the Normal Highscore list, just to see how well people do with / without curses. Plus it'd be easier to wipe the Curse list if something broke / got reworked without zapping all the Normal scores.
Maybe unlocking each Curse could award a bit of Essence? Incentivizes people to try them out even if they don't care about score modifiers.
