I posted this on the tumblr, which you can check out for weekly updates. I'm going to post the bigger game-devvy stuff here, too, though. Anyway:

One of the things I’m pretty excited about for Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is Jimmy’s Imagination abilities. While there is story justification for this system, I want to focus on the practical side of how it works in terms of skill learning/stat progression:



This is the imagination menu. It can be brought up from the field menu any time, and it allows Jimmy to look at the stats of each monster he can transform into. It also allows him to equip his skills. By pressing up and down, you can navigate which skills you want, and pressing left or right changes Jimmy’s form. Here’s what each section refers to:

1. This is just the skill description. Right now, the “Bully” skill his highlighted, so that’s what’s being shown. I don’t like guesswork in skill descriptions, so I made sure that all the skill descriptions have clear effects written out in addition to the more flavorful explanations.

2. This is where you equip your skills. You’ll note a few different icons. The stars means that if a skill is equipped, Jimmy can use that skill regardless of what form he’s in. Since Jimmy will be frequently changing forms both in and out of battle, the starred spaces are very useful. The regular bullet points denote skills that, when equipped, can only be used when Jimmy is in his normal form. Skills are also divided into active and passive skills. For those who don’t know, an active skill is a skill that Jimmy actually uses in combat or on the field, and passive skills work automatically. Some passive skills involve increased stats or the ability to stun all the enemies for one turn at the beginning of a fight, for example.

3. These are the monster stats. The experience listing in this field is dependent on the monster, meaning that Jimmy’s monster forms each have their own levels. As you can see, right now the Low-Level Goon form is selected. Every time he levels, Jimmy permanently gains one luck point that stays with him regardless of what form he’s in. The percentage values beneath that are the stat modifiers to Jimmy’s base stats whenever he’s transformed into a Low-Level Goon.

4. These are the equippable skills that the Low-Level Goon automatically has. When you switch to a Low-Level Goon, Jimmy will automatically be able to use them, but if you want to equip them in a different form, you’ll have to unlock them by making it to the appropriate level with that monster. As you can see, the Grift ability unlocks at level 40, so Jimmy can’t equip that yet, but he can still use it while he’s transformed into a Low-Level Goon. Also, I should note that monsters do not automatically get their passive skills. These don’t show up on the screenshot since you have to have a passive skill slot highlighted first. The only passive skills Jimmy can have are the ones he’s unlocked and equipped, as many are quite good. This is why Jimmy’s normal form might start out weak, but, by the end of the game, he’ll be more powerful than any other form!