Hello, everyone! Long time, no see! I have good news regarding this project. Due to the recent base version of Shantae and Asha being completed, a majority of focus has been shifted back to Monster World Legends. While an extra content package is planned for the other project, the majority of this year's production will be primarily focused here. There's a handful of things to discuss, so let's get this show on the road!

Engine Update

The very first step to getting this to where it needs to be is by updating the engine with everything I've learned about Game Maker since 2017. One of the biggest reasons why Shantae and Asha was crafted was to create something that forced me to learn the things I was afraid to learn. I was very upset with my lack of knowledge and in result, made Monster World Legends feel off.

Starting very soon, updates will be made to the engine to make it feel and display better in every way possible starting with its physics. My coding style has improved as well, so things should be easier to read from this point onward.

Spiritual Character References

Believe it or not, for those who submitted characters all those years ago, I think about them all of the time. In my head, I can see and hear the kinds of events I want them to go through in this game. Now that there is a definitive cut scene engine for my projects, they'll be able to interact with another more than ever before!

As for who they will function like, if you play Shantae and Asha, the characters I wanted to base them off of are already there. For example, Tatto and Yae are mirrors of Ferkin and Kiki. They will have slight differences and abilities however in MWL. I wanted to learn how to program as many character types as I possibly could in one game, so if you are wondering why there are so many cherry-picked playable characters and forms, it was so that I could gain the necessary experience needed for when I came back to this.

Lore And Materials Gathered For World Building

Simply put, I love the Monster World series as if it were my own IP. I know nearly everything there is to know about it and recently, I've come across a wealth of things that can assist in finally putting this together. This includes design documents of Monster World 3 and 4, sound effects that weren't available before, and much more!

Someone even FINALLY took the time to rip the sound effects from Wonder Boy in Monster World! This means that I have every sound effect, enemy, tile set, and background I'll need. The entire genesis lineup of resources is at last complete. I guess good things do come to those who wait, huh?

Brand New World System

Up to this point, Monster World Legends has lacked direction in what kind of world structure should be used. However, I believe I know what to do with it now. Since it is a time travel-based adventure, it will feature open and linear elements to make sure that it can be as well-rounded as possible.

Battle System Improvements

Thanks to a wide variety of games I've played over the past couple of years, I have become an even bigger battle system nut than before. I can't get enough of it! While I did enjoy the battle system of this game back then, when I tried it again recently, it didn't feel right. So, the game will receive a battle system update that'll shoot to be as clean and satisfying as possible.

Closing Words

While I am sorry that it's taken so long with this project, I can officially say that this game is in very good hands from this point on. For those who are still around, I hope you'll stick around a little longer and thank you for being patient with me. It's definitely not easy to put faith into something that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, but as long as one has the drive to continue, then nothing is truly lost.

Thank you so much for reading and may this be a successful development process from this point on! As a famous, gun-armed man once said, "Ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on, till we get to the end of the line!