Figured I didn't know enough. I had read the notes from a journal and thought that was it, since it mentions a word patients said and I thought it was
organ
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Steam: free playable demo for Chained Echoes, jaw-dropping game inspired by SNES era RPGs
- Thread starter Weltall Zero
- Start date
So....the game isn't starting. A window pops up with an image and a red square with a "!" in it, and then it closes.
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I agree, this is more along the lines of Sega Saturn/PS1 Era JRPGs.
played 30min of the demo and some quick thoughts.
- combat system is pretty solid so far. Not a huge fan of the camera zooms though. can get a bit dizzying at least for me. A turbo toggle would be nice too, but maybe im just spoiled by modern jrpgs :P
- having to wait for your party to hop across an area is a bit odd.
- feel like the waterfalls you pass under could use some transparency.
Otherwise this is promising!
wishlisting it.
- combat system is pretty solid so far. Not a huge fan of the camera zooms though. can get a bit dizzying at least for me. A turbo toggle would be nice too, but maybe im just spoiled by modern jrpgs :P
- having to wait for your party to hop across an area is a bit odd.
- feel like the waterfalls you pass under could use some transparency.
Otherwise this is promising!
wishlisting it.
That was a really cool demo! Wishlisted. Great job, Ark Heiral. Those graphics are definitely way above SNES. This is easily Saturn-level, maybe higher.
A few QoL improvements I could see:
- There's a weird freeze/delay when there's a dialogue choice which makes you think you didn't press correctly (and thus, press again) but then that messes up your choice
- A dash button could be nice. The movement speed is solid enough but if we could move even faster that'd be really dope :D
- The boy's info (for 5g) should be written in the journal
I would also recommend keeping the demo a bit longer. Q4 2021 is still quite far away, it's odd to pull it so early. Unless you plan on releasing more demos?
The ram stomped me the first time though, but I didn't have the gunner girl yet. She makes a huge difference.
A few QoL improvements I could see:
- There's a weird freeze/delay when there's a dialogue choice which makes you think you didn't press correctly (and thus, press again) but then that messes up your choice
- A dash button could be nice. The movement speed is solid enough but if we could move even faster that'd be really dope :D
- The boy's info (for 5g) should be written in the journal
I would also recommend keeping the demo a bit longer. Q4 2021 is still quite far away, it's odd to pull it so early. Unless you plan on releasing more demos?
I didn't even see it LOL. Still did OK and beat it in one try.
The ram stomped me the first time though, but I didn't have the gunner girl yet. She makes a huge difference.
Plz no. Let turn-based be turn-based
Just started playing this... Found it pretty weird that there doesn't seem to be a leveling system or even currency or whatnot dropped after the battles (at least nothing was showed on the screen). The battles feel really pointless for now, hopefully this is not the case for the full game
Any ideas?So....the game isn't starting. A window pops up with an image and a red square with a "!" in it, and then it closes.
Hi everyone! Thank you for the thread! And I'm happy to hear that most of you are enjoying the demo so far.
Keep in mind that this is a demo of a pre-alpha version, so there is still a lot of stuff to add, a few bugs and so on :)
Thanks! Main inspirations for the graphic style were games such as Trials of Mana or Terranigma. Technically it's above that, that's true.
Deck13 plans to re-release the demo on different occassions.
Yep, that's only a demo thing. Main focus is to test the battle system. Please note, that the enemies do drop loot. That can be sold to unlock Deals and get better equipment. Which can be useful against a certain optional boss.
Oh no. Seems like a problem with the Unity engine. I don't have a quick fix, but I'll keep an eye on this problem.
I'm not a fan of this either, that's why the UI in the game actually has the same resolution as the rest (except for the start screen art work in the background I think).
Keep in mind that this is a demo of a pre-alpha version, so there is still a lot of stuff to add, a few bugs and so on :)
Thanks! Main inspirations for the graphic style were games such as Trials of Mana or Terranigma. Technically it's above that, that's true.
Deck13 plans to re-release the demo on different occassions.
Yep, that's only a demo thing. Main focus is to test the battle system. Please note, that the enemies do drop loot. That can be sold to unlock Deals and get better equipment. Which can be useful against a certain optional boss.
Oh no. Seems like a problem with the Unity engine. I don't have a quick fix, but I'll keep an eye on this problem.
I'm not a fan of this either, that's why the UI in the game actually has the same resolution as the rest (except for the start screen art work in the background I think).
It makes me think of a 2D Xenogears kinda.
Interesting! I will definitely check out this demo.
Really like what I've played so far, only problem I have is that my health refills to full after every battle. Feels like there's no punishment for doing poorly and items are kind of pointless outside of maybe bosses (haven't gotten to any yet). Not a deal breaker by any means but part of the fun of entering monster filled dens is preparing to make sure you can make it out alive :D.
Yes this. I love you indie devs but please stop trying to turn every turn based battle system into Paper Mario. It works in Mario because it's an RPG spin-off of an action series. I also find these button prompts often just add extra work for the same effect other RPGs have. Like if I have to make effort to do something at least make it so it feels like it's doing something extra.
Yes this. I love you indie devs but please stop trying to turn every turn based battle system into Paper Mario. It works in Mario because it's an RPG spin-off of an action series. I also find these button prompts often just add extra work for the same effect other RPGs have. Like if I have to make effort to do something at least make it so it feels like it's doing something extra.
When the boss snaps to the forest area, it's behind the adds he summons.
There's 2 currencies dropped. Loot that you sell for money and deals and items to improve weapons (the latter mechanic not being available in the demo for obvious reasons if you try to talk with the weapons merchant :D). Dunno if the characters will have levels, but the skills do (you get SP through combat and choose in which skills to invest them), also disabled in the demo.
Did you try verifying the game files via Steam?
--fake edit
oh Ark is here 0:
I just noticed the new stuff in the menu screen, but is there no hud after battle displaying what dropped or does my demo have a bug? Nothing is showing up after the battles.
That looks phenomenal! Well I will give it a try and they will most likely have a sale at release.
This looks rad. I don't think I want to play a demo for a game that's not out for over a year though?
One of the biggest clashes between really awkward character design/art style and incredibly talented artists grinding it out and making environments i've seen in a while.
It pops up when the enemy is defeated, not in a post battle summary.
Almost done with the demo, what a pleasant surprise. I'll almost certainly end up buying the full game next year. Anyway, a few questions mostly for those who are already done:
- One of the first people you meet as soon as you start mentions two strange people, which I'm guessing are the optional party members. Somehow I finished the demo without finding either of them, but shortly after I found one. Where's the other one? I found a katana wielding lady, and I believe I'm looking for "a girl with a gun" now.
- I'm missing one of the loot items needed for a deal, the "Antenna". Any idea where that might drop? Then again, maybe it drops from...
- ...One last boss is left standing: The Yak. edit: Okay, boss down! Only missing the other two things then.
- One of the first people you meet as soon as you start mentions two strange people, which I'm guessing are the optional party members. Somehow I finished the demo without finding either of them, but shortly after I found one. Where's the other one? I found a katana wielding lady, and I believe I'm looking for "a girl with a gun" now.
- I'm missing one of the loot items needed for a deal, the "Antenna". Any idea where that might drop? Then again, maybe it drops from...
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2nd extra party member I found by dropping down from the hole south of the village without falling onto the platform, which leads you to fall on the water instead. Just kept going until exiting to the grassy area above the beach and the going to the right to a small pond. Ignore the jumping points on the way (it's there so you return to the beach and it's the exit point of the area).
Antennas drop from the crabs at the beach
Me reading the OP:
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I get your excited about whatever this is but let's just keep our expectations in ch-*clicks video*OH MY GOD!!!
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I get your excited about whatever this is but let's just keep our expectations in ch-*clicks video*OH MY GOD!!!
OP
OP
Played a little over an hour of the demo, definitely want to continue tomorrow.
This really is fantastic, I'm pretty much in love with everything. Some things that I found particularly worthy of note:
Only issue I had was not having the cursor memorizing its position in submenus. The main menu does, but if I go to the Accessory submenu inside Equipment, and then back off, it'll default me back to Weapon, making changing every piece of a character's equipment a bit cumbersome.
I'd imagine this is the kind of thing that is either intentional or the developers are already aware, considering how incredibly polished the UI is as a whole.
Fights that you know going in that there's no real threat or risk of dying gain a little strategic element by giving you a reason to mix things up instead of just spamming whatever and getting it done. I'd imagine you'd even create a real chance of dying at battles you shouldn't by staying in Overheat for too long. I imagine for bosses it'll be a key element for survival, and not only an auxiliary system to make it more engaging.
I like the swapping system, and the idea of specific swap attacks is promising. Still not sure of what is the best combination for the demo, but I'm experimenting. So far only unlocked the katana lady, and she's so cool!
Getting fully healed after every fight is interesting, I think I like it. Allows for more challenge in each individual fight, and combats the typical RPG hoarding as well because you know you'll get full HP and TP after a fight, so no reason to hold back on consumables. Surviving the fight is the main goal, no matter what. You don't have to worry about saving things for later as much if getting through a fight is always your number one priority. Don't know if it's final, but I do think it's interesting. I suppose it makes it another thing it shares with FFXIII, which I consider to be a god tier battle system.
Didn't beat any bosses yet to have a strong opinion on them, unless the mimic counts, which brings me to...
The sidequest presentation, at least the two I did so far, which make them feel more like dynamic events you come across in the world, rather than tasks that random NPCs were just waiting to give to some adventurer. Some games hide this better than others, but I like the idea of things just happening, and you knowing about them because you talked to some other character.
And the other would be the bestiary, I'm actually finding it pretty fun to read, and I usually bounce off this kind of stuff very quickly, but the writing is snappy enough and it gives me just the right amount of lore to feel like I'm naturally learning this instead of reading books in WRPGs. The description for the Boxfly entry, for example, gives us a glimpse into a post-war world, and brings the kind of natural issues that would exist due to war, and the natural consequences of it ending. It instantly reminded me of the Koi Carp Machine bestiary entry in Nier: Automata, which gives you this weirdly in depth look into how organic and mechanical life adapted to each other after so many years of the ongoing war.
The Mimic description is just a surprisingly wholesome cautionary tale, I laughed at how adorable it was.
EDIT: Forgot to mention another thing that caught my eye: the camera, that part at the entrance of the goblin cave just naturally made me slow down and walk, it was pretty good framing, actually made me go back and check if the walking was forced, and nope, I just instinctively walked to appreciate it.
This really is fantastic, I'm pretty much in love with everything. Some things that I found particularly worthy of note:
- The UI is BEAUTIFUL, the transitions are sooooo smooth, just opening and closing the menu over and over again like an idiot is enough to amuse me. UI is the kind of thing that usually goes unnoticed if it's good, but is definitely noticed and appreciated if it's better than just good, you know? I think that's the case, even in an early build.
Only issue I had was not having the cursor memorizing its position in submenus. The main menu does, but if I go to the Accessory submenu inside Equipment, and then back off, it'll default me back to Weapon, making changing every piece of a character's equipment a bit cumbersome.
I'd imagine this is the kind of thing that is either intentional or the developers are already aware, considering how incredibly polished the UI is as a whole.
- I'm really into the battle system, the Overdrive management being the core gameplay loop is a really good idea. It kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy XIII and VIIR's stagger system, but in a way that's more suited to a pure turn-based experience, rather than the active real time element of staggering. It just elevates the engagement of battles as a whole by giving you this goal you're aiming for in every battle.
Fights that you know going in that there's no real threat or risk of dying gain a little strategic element by giving you a reason to mix things up instead of just spamming whatever and getting it done. I'd imagine you'd even create a real chance of dying at battles you shouldn't by staying in Overheat for too long. I imagine for bosses it'll be a key element for survival, and not only an auxiliary system to make it more engaging.
I like the swapping system, and the idea of specific swap attacks is promising. Still not sure of what is the best combination for the demo, but I'm experimenting. So far only unlocked the katana lady, and she's so cool!
Getting fully healed after every fight is interesting, I think I like it. Allows for more challenge in each individual fight, and combats the typical RPG hoarding as well because you know you'll get full HP and TP after a fight, so no reason to hold back on consumables. Surviving the fight is the main goal, no matter what. You don't have to worry about saving things for later as much if getting through a fight is always your number one priority. Don't know if it's final, but I do think it's interesting. I suppose it makes it another thing it shares with FFXIII, which I consider to be a god tier battle system.
Didn't beat any bosses yet to have a strong opinion on them, unless the mimic counts, which brings me to...
- There's a Don Quixote windmill boss fight. Yep. You read correctly. Seriously, though, two things related to this that I think are worth mentioning:
The sidequest presentation, at least the two I did so far, which make them feel more like dynamic events you come across in the world, rather than tasks that random NPCs were just waiting to give to some adventurer. Some games hide this better than others, but I like the idea of things just happening, and you knowing about them because you talked to some other character.
And the other would be the bestiary, I'm actually finding it pretty fun to read, and I usually bounce off this kind of stuff very quickly, but the writing is snappy enough and it gives me just the right amount of lore to feel like I'm naturally learning this instead of reading books in WRPGs. The description for the Boxfly entry, for example, gives us a glimpse into a post-war world, and brings the kind of natural issues that would exist due to war, and the natural consequences of it ending. It instantly reminded me of the Koi Carp Machine bestiary entry in Nier: Automata, which gives you this weirdly in depth look into how organic and mechanical life adapted to each other after so many years of the ongoing war.
The Mimic description is just a surprisingly wholesome cautionary tale, I laughed at how adorable it was.
- This is the most nitpicky of all, but it's kind of starting to annoy me how long you have to wait for your party to jump through gaps if you come running from somewhere else. If everyone is already close together, then it's pretty much instant, but having to wait for them to get to the gap and then jumping can feel just a bit too long.
- I think it's needless to say that it looks amazing, but I'll say it anyway: It looks amazing. The battle animations are superb, what a joy to look at.
- Pretty good level design so far, little secrets that are intuitive to find but still make you feel rewarded for exploring when you find them. Some times you just open the map and look at the map layout for a certain direction and you already get the sense of some cool shit about to happen over there. That really encourages exploration.
- I assume the devs are already aware of the Diglett/Jesus glitch? Hahahaha.
EDIT: Forgot to mention another thing that caught my eye: the camera, that part at the entrance of the goblin cave just naturally made me slow down and walk, it was pretty good framing, actually made me go back and check if the walking was forced, and nope, I just instinctively walked to appreciate it.
It's now also on GOG. Grab the offline installer for the demo, and you'll have it in perpetuity.
Didn't hit ONCE
Swapping also seems to cool down the overload bar, which is pretty useful.
Boss fights have a special victory music/animation, you'll know.
So, I'm not finished with the demo, and it does open saying not to expect much story. But I think the biggest thing that stood out to me, despite all the great qualities, is a certain lack of personality. Too many of your party members have too similar designs and personalities. I think the archer is meant to be a cocky rival type but it doesn't really come off that great.
I hope this is just because of what they said, it's just a mechanics demo, but given the character designs are in key art and stuff, I think at the very least the designs might be sticking. Just somethign like using the character portraits from the kickstarter trailer would be a good start.
I hope this is just because of what they said, it's just a mechanics demo, but given the character designs are in key art and stuff, I think at the very least the designs might be sticking. Just somethign like using the character portraits from the kickstarter trailer would be a good start.
Looks nice visually. Not super hot on the character sprites, and I think its partly due to the perspective which makes it look like they're almost standing parallel to the floor plane. SNES jrpg character proportions being much shorter prevented it from looking that way.
Looks spectacular! Even amongst the various 2d indie games nowadays this looks to be a cut above.
Plays pretty snappy and feels very complete already with few minor nitpicks (some awkward dialogue delays, white screen when escaping)
Very nice soundtrack, fits the game nicely.
Love the Grandia inspired battle system but normal fights seem to drag on a bit. Perhaps take some health off the mobs or add an auto attack command a la Suikoden?
Hope the final game can deliver on truly memorable characters and story like the trailer indicates.
Plays pretty snappy and feels very complete already with few minor nitpicks (some awkward dialogue delays, white screen when escaping)
Very nice soundtrack, fits the game nicely.
Love the Grandia inspired battle system but normal fights seem to drag on a bit. Perhaps take some health off the mobs or add an auto attack command a la Suikoden?
Hope the final game can deliver on truly memorable characters and story like the trailer indicates.
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Thank you all for playing!
Thank you very much for the comprehensive feedback. Glad you enjoyed it!
Already reworded the skill info text but apperantly not clear enough. I will try again ;) The skill spreads poison from one enemy to the other enemies. Which means that the enemy needs to be poisoned first! Then use pandamic and it will poison all other foes at once.
As you said, it's mainly a gameplay demo. The characters and their relations don't even exist like this in the full game. Everything is just a placeholder to give you a reason to go through the demo.
Thank you very much for the comprehensive feedback. Glad you enjoyed it!
Already reworded the skill info text but apperantly not clear enough. I will try again ;) The skill spreads poison from one enemy to the other enemies. Which means that the enemy needs to be poisoned first! Then use pandamic and it will poison all other foes at once.
As you said, it's mainly a gameplay demo. The characters and their relations don't even exist like this in the full game. Everything is just a placeholder to give you a reason to go through the demo.
You're getting that info for the full game? Please ignore it then. I'll inform my publisher. The game IS compatible with Catalina.
Thank you for your work on the game and releasing the demo! Only learned after playing that you're apparently the only developer? Or at least was by the time of the Kickstarter? That's crazy.
Yeah, I thought that was pretty clear, really appreciated the guaranteed Poison as well.