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Everlong

Ok, so I just went and checked their strength levels in the profiles section so I could answer you precisely. Vixen´s number is astronomically high compared to my other physical attackers. She has 7520, whereas all my other physical fighters are between 2500 and 3500 (with equipment). And honestly, I don´t understand why. I removed her equipment to see how much it boosted her, and without it, she still was at 5895. I haven´t been feeding her power sources either, I practically haven´t touched those. It´s also not the main level, I always keep the characters as close as I can (right now, they´re all between 150 and 155). A glitch somehow?
Before seeing those numbers, I would have indeed just suggested lowering the odds of a critical hit, but now it looks like my Vixen is just an outlier, so maybe it´s only my game that has this problem.

Thank you very much for answering my plot and character-related questions. The backstory you´re describing here about Azrael, Altair and Expirius is fascinating. Having Expirius guide Azrael so he can get out of a time loop is an incredible idea rife with emotional and world-building potential. It would be believable, because there are hints in the story about this as is, such as when the 4 heroes mention that they balked at eliminating Expirius´s soul forever because he had undertaken his plan "out of desperation and not malice". Desperation for his kingdom, it turns out, according to what you wrote here. And we´ve seen that Altair is emotionally devoted to Expirius, so him trying to save his former master from suffering by (if I´m following your idea well) becoming a Cirigon high official, engineering the Blackguard program and finally launching an all-out war fits into the mythos and what we´ve seen of him.
I really like that gist, it gives the story a lot more additional depth. It also would have been very interesting to see the backstory between the 4 heroes and Expirius to understand their motivations, why the latter thought he had to make a deal with a fallen god to save his kingdom and what exactly constituted the former´s "betrayal" you speak of.

As for the romantic interactions, the option you´re delineating here, that of simply showing additional bonding scenes between Glen and Meredith, would have worked better, in my opinion. Concerning Justin and Vixen, there are hints of this in the game already, since at one point Justin mentions how loathe he is to see another "princess of great beauty" endangered in their quest. Given Vixen´s political importance (Revirdok being a major world power), however, I personally don´t think it makes sense for her to have a romantic plot at all, besides the fact that Justin had just lost his fiancee, so it would feel very rushed if he were to embark on another courtship in the span of the story. After all, it´s been years and years since Glen´s previous heartbreak.

All in all, when it comes to all the plot changes and rewrites you´ve done, and where you intended to take the story, it feels like the current game is almost stuck in-between, with a bit of a hodge-podge of discordant elements, like the Invincible Four´s identity carrousel you just cleared up for me (you not wanting to have to recalibrate 4 battles makes sense, of course, so I understand why you didn´t modify the sequence). Without having to invest a lot of time, maybe there are some simple changes that could streamline the story a little (for instance a line of dialog here and there)?

But really, you have my thanks for the amount of effort you continue to put into the game, and since you´re encouraging me with my questions (dangerous endeavor, that, although I am truly grateful), I´m curious as to whether it was always intended that we wouldn´t be able to set foot in Revirdok. There are a few other places we can´t access at any point in the game (the dwarf king´s private chambers behind his throne, or the royal chambers in Alveus, if I´m remembering correctly), but those are just rooms, whereas Revirdok is a big city with huge relevance to the plot (at one point Altair mentions that the Eastern kingdoms haven´t been attacked because the archmage of Revirdok has unimaginable powers, clearly singling that individual out as the biggest threat to the Cirigon). Or was there another version of the game in which we could explore the city? Actually, I wondered the same thing about the silver mines in Seraphia (where the guards tell you that only registered workers can go inside, and given that one of the villagers says they´re looking for more workers...), were they meant to be explored in some version?
And another thing, if I may ask, was the Captain Diego who is constantly mentioned in Bridelweld meant to be encountered at some point? Also, does the modern technology we see at different points in the story (Peregrine´s memory beacons, Atlantis, Prodigium Nidus and the mechs) mean that Everlong´s world is linked to ours, happening in the indeterminate future maybe?

Thanks as always, DJC.

Everlong

Just read your reply, DJC. So critical hits amount to triple damage? Wow, that puts things in perspective. As I said, knowing that balance in battle is a really difficult objective, I understand you deciding not to overhaul the system and instead going for careful tinkering here and there.
Your reasoning about not displaying the total number of treasures and preserving fun for all players is very interesting, besides the fact that the amount of chests varies each time as you stated. Thank you for explaining.

I had a few questions about plot points, if that´s okay. First, about the Invincible Four aka the 4 heroes of old. From what we´re told at different points, it´s clear that Laverna (the one with the wings)=Seraph=founder of Seraphia=we fight her at Vanguard, it all checks. Idem with Marowit (the enchantress)=Welana Eridwell=founder of Eridwell=we fight her at the East Tower.
But I´m a bit confused about the other two, Valkyrie and Nergal, because we´re told that Val Veritas (the hero with a beard) founded the North Kingdom near Occultus Gaza, and yet at that location, we fight Nergal, who is entirely clad in armor, which looks more like the one we´re told founded Tyr-Anon? So is Valkyrie meant to be Val Veritas, or is it Nergal?

Also, now that I´m replaying the game, it´s not quite clear to me what´s the deal with the voice that helps Azrael break out of his cell at the beginning of the story. We know that Altair engineers his escape from the Tyr-Anox, so does that mean the voice is Entropy´s? Is it Expirius´s? Given that they´re both sealed in the Void at first, how are they intervening if it´s them, and for that matter, how did they make Azrael a conduit for the Abyss lords, why him, and why wait 1000 years later if Altair´s been around all that time (since we know he was a fool at Expirius´s court)?

Sorry if that seems like a lot of questions, but I´m always interested in understanding the intricacies of a plot! You wrote in other comments that due to time constraints, you had had to cut a lot of moments linked to that and also character development, so I thought I´d ask you here.

When it comes to character development, precisely, I wanted to tell you that I have to say that some of Glen´s interactions with Meredith and Vixen bothered me, because some of his answers are really awful (at one point he derogatorily goes on about Vixen "spreading her legs", quote), and between that, her frequently being insulted as a "harlot", and also the several mentions of rape, it´s relatively offputting.

Everlong

So, just a quick technical note on battle balance. I´m now doing Khaer Magnus, and have encountered those Adamant Golems, and Katana Souls, Quetzals, Gnolls, anyway, the normal enemies. I´m still in Auto mode, and now have the weapons that give you 500 damage (Murasame, Crystal, etc). None of my characters are equipped with the Genji rings that suppress the dual wield penalty. Well, with most of my characters, the physical damage levels are reasonable (Drakeor with Vanir: 5000). But Vixen (and Willis to a minor degree) is just completely overpowered.

To give you an idea, two of her normal hits (non-critical, non-Might, no Fragile inflicted): 14 000 + 18 000. Two of her critical hits (non-Might, no Fragile): 28 000 + 28 000. With Might and Fragile, 99 999 (crit) + 50 000 (non-crit), all approximately of course.
In comparison, using Kurgalaxes: 30 000 for every enemy. Using Beomaust also causes 30 000 damage a piece.
I´ve tried giving her and Drakeor approximately the same equipment with very good strength and magic (I can tell you what, if that would help), and I just find her attacks stunningly powerful in comparison to everything else (Willis with Might, Fragile reaches 60 000 + 30 000).
ETA: even Khaer Magnus himself could not represent much of a challenge for Vixen and her huge amounts of damage.

Everlong

I think I´m not the only player who is amazed by how much effort you continue to put into this game so many years after you first designed it, so it´s mightily understandable that time constraints prevent you from implementing all the changes that you see suggested here or that occur to you. Some of the ideas you mention here (finding armor on skeletons would have been awesome!) or in other posts would have added another dimension to the game, but it´s incredibly impressive as is already, and again, thank you so much for being so keen on seeking for feedback.

I quite like your idea of making rare ingredients necessary to forge the best healing items, and it might even make monster hunting in specific areas a must again, which would mean paying more attention to where you get each item, which is exactly the kind of detail-oriented dynamic I like in RPGs, so I´m all for it. Also, thanks for the Vanir sound thingy.

I looked through my skill shard system, and I do indeed have all the skill scrolls you listed here except for the last one, which is why my stats mention 15/16 scrolls found. I´m a bit surprised though, because that means the 4 characters that are still missing a scroll will use Dispel, and Azrael, Willis and Sammy might sound logical, but I didn´t expect Vetu to be in that group.

What you say about Archangel means I will try to go through that battle again and pay more attention! Unlike other bosses who have obvious tipping points where you must completely switch strategies, I must have missed a clue there.
I will be paying more attention to battles now in Game+ no matter what, so I can tell you if I continue to notice an enormous unbalance between physical attacks and magical ones. I reckon balance in battles is the biggest challenge in RPGs anyway, as your Might dilemma illustrates, so whatever decision you make is both the right and the wrong one, and your customizable system in Options allows players who like difficulty to enjoy themselves but not at the expense of other players, which is leagues better than the alternative (I´m in Auto mode right now, and random encounters are slightly too easy, but not too much so).

As for the Tyr-Anon Castle later treasures, knowing it was one of the earliest places you designed, I understand better now, and your nostalgia makes sense. I´ll just have to explore thoroughly a second time.

ETA: I have two questions about stats. First, when I check how many battles I´ve had and compare it to the sum of victories and defeats, 2 battles are missing. Are those the battles against Altair and Expirius which you are supposed to lose?
And would it be possible to show the total amount of treasures, so we can know how many are missing? Knowing I have 2000 and something is great, but above all I want to know if I´ve got them all! (first I´ve got to complete Khaer Magnus, obviously). Since the description of skill scrolls includes both how many you have and the total number, I´m assuming those are numbers the system has, and that you wouldn´t have to count them yourself by hand, which would be ridiculous extra work.

And another quick question, does the Battle Scars skill stack up indefinitely? Because I´ve had so many battles it inflicts almost the same damage as my full HP, and I´m afraid it could completely overwhelm it later.

Everlong

Well, since nothing can be done about this, I´ll just have to be careful. Thank you for your help. I finished the Abyss and the game, and now I´m looking forward to the Khaer Magnus dungeon. Out of curiosity, are there skill scrolls there? Because I´m missing a few, and I´m quite baffled as to where they could be, given how thorough I try to be in dungeons.

I thought I would tell you some of my observations about the game here, and have my review focus on describing the game for potential new players.

So, in that vein, I must say the game radically changed for me after rebirth, because of the extreme boon brought on by dual wield. Now, reading the previous comments, the engine limitations restrict magic efficiency too much, which is a shame, and so I get it´s difficult to balance physical attacks and magic attacks. And you can´t nerf physical attacks too much lest the game really becomes too difficult (I´ll see how I manage in Khaer Magnus!). Quite the conundrum, I guess. But I can tell you that some of my characters became so powerful (inflicting up to 150 000 damage in one hit!) that no battle after rebirth gave me much of a sweat, with the single exception of the Archangel in Atlantis, since he´s completely immune to physical attacks (I´m leaving aside Kurgalaxes, which is a different kind of battle, and Beomaust, with the very specific and mandatory trick of defending its mega-kill attack). All the other battles became really straightforward, and I know your primary concern was making the battles interesting strategically.

I can think of two factors that contributed to this ease and that might be changed a bit, if you´re interested. First, I reached those 150 000 damage turns with a combination of skills that inflict Fragile + white mage casting Might + criticals. So maybe you could consider making late-game bosses more prone to casting Might is wrong? (I know they cast Dispel, but not often enough to prevent the devastating combo above regularly). Or maybe you could simply lower the odds of a critical hit?
The second thing is that once I gained access to Erus Caminus, I could forge Miracles (the revive all at 100% item) by the dozens, and so every time things were a bit iffy during a battle, I could simply ingest as many of them as were necessary to get out of trouble. I would certainly have had to be more careful if I had had to rely more on the Renewals (those that only revive and restore 33% instead of 100%) and only the scarce Miracles I had gained in treasure chests, leaving them for the most desperate situations only. So a possible measure would be to withdraw from the Erus Caminus forge the items that restore all to 100% and revive all to 100% (for context, I don´t advocate just making them much more expensive because I had unlimited funds at that point, thanks to the Black Jack in Isla del Sol).

These are a few of the thoughts I had after rebirth, when I began feeling battles were too much of a breeze. Although I would perfectly understand if you weren´t interested in making battles more difficult, since there are invariably simultaneously players complaining about battles being too hard and battles being too easy, and the former often leads to players just quitting, which is not the desired outcome at all.

In terms of game mechanics, that´s the one main area of improvement I can see. Two other minor grievances: would it be possible to change the sound of hits with Vanir (Drakeor´s lance)? To me, it sounds a bit like plates hitting metal, and while not unbearable, it´s unpleasant. And would it be possible to have all the rooms and treasure chests in Tyr-Anox castle accessible the first time? It´s certainly the most confusing castle of all, and something like 95% of the treasures are already accessible the first time anyway, I think. It was a bit tedious to go back 60 hours of gameplay later and redo it entirely only to find 3 meager extra unopened chests (unless I missed a whole batch).

I would say you´ve nailed most of the rest. The puzzles, size of the world map, length and complexity of dungeons, frequency of battles, inability to save in certain situations (Nex Cacumen was anxiety-inducing and SO GREAT for that reason!), alternating points of view between the Eastern continent and Imperial continent events, pacing between free exploration and plot, etc, are all fantastic in my opinion.
Extra kudos for the replayability value of the infiltration into Tyr-Anox valley (awesome decision on your part to have 3 scenarii there), the music (generally a very good soundtrack, with songs well-suited to the events and places, and a few outstandingly good songs in particular. My favorite is the one that plays when you have a countdown, such as the escape from Auctus tower), and for me, the single best feature in the game, the penalty system in the Battle Arena, creative and so very addictive (getting Fury against enemies immune to physical attacks is one of the worst and best feelings of the game).

Oh, and one thing in particular, I want to commend you for the final bit before arriving to the White Shrine. For me, it´s the most memorable moment in the game, and ranks very high amongst RPG games. Following the beacons, that long gone professor´s memories becoming progressively darker, him feeling his mind slip away, arriving in that cavern, the earth shaking, knowing the pit is bottomless, the music contributing to our anxiety skyrocketing, the characters stumbling several times with the entire screen shaking, and then, and then! The paroxysm, that gigantic, humongous, ominous eye emerging from the darkness and rising to our level! Pandemonium! ... And after the battle, once you emerge into the light, still shaken, the White Shrine music is eerie, creepy, and so the feelings evoked by what just happened don´t dissipate. Just a master stroke, that sequence, one I paradoxically don´t want to redo again given how perfect and scary it was the first time.

Thank you so much for all the effort you´ve put into the game and for being so available to discuss it with your players.

Everlong

Thanks for your reply, DJC. I had indeed noticed that some enemies in random encounters begin the battle not at full strength, but it´s not been too bad so far. As for the lava tubes not being replayable in Cerulean Silex, given that it´s available in the battle arena, I don´t think this would negatively affect anyone.
As for the 3.31e patch, as I mentioned in my last post, I finally installed it, and it did fix the skill swap issue for most characters. It´s made the game crashes worse when accessing the skill menu outside of battle, however. I can´t enter Willis´ or Keen´s page at all outside of battle, and crashes also occur when perusing the skills of characters who naturally have more than one page (so Drakeor is fine, but the white mages and Vixen´s pages cause crashes if I´m not careful not to go too low).

Everlong

Update since my last post: I downloaded the 3.31e patch, and that allowed me to get that pesky chest in the Cascade caverns. The airship docking function is now straightforward and wonderful, I have to say. However, the characters still have the jumbled skillset, but the real problem is that now I can´t use the healing spells outside of battle. Is that an unintended side-effect, or was it planned, DJC? Anyway, thanks for working so hard on patches and fixes all the time.

Everlong

I recently discovered this game, and I have had a lot of fun playing it. Thank you for creating it and constantly working on it, DJC. Before reviewing it (which I'll do once I finish it), I wanted to ask a few questions and report a few bugs I´ve seen. For context, this is my first time ever playing it, and I downloaded the 3.31 version from the official website on the 18th of February, so it should be the latest version, with all the fixes you´ve outlined on the blog, I think? I had very few issues, which were:

-that chest in the Cascade caverns which makes the game crash.

-Vetu´s level when he joins the party being aroud 60

-the airship docking function is a mess. I read you´ve decided to change that into having mere proximity trigger the docking option, and I definitely agree with that choice. It took me hours to figure it out, because unless I approached the dock from the right direction (different between locations) and put it on exactly the right tile, it didn´t offer me the option to dock. Another issue is that I had no idea where the teleportation tile inside the airship was at first, because it´s not visible until you dock and activate it. All in all, it was very frustrating. May I suggest having a visual marker for the teleportation tile even when the airship is not docked so new players aren´t lost?

-I got the debug message before Altair´s battle.

-Crissaegrim is, from what I read, a double-handed weapon, so it makes sense dual wielding characters can´t equip it, but single wielding characters can equip it and yet retain their arm equipment?

-Dragona´s directions for Kuwadora were wrong.

-after leaving Ignis Castrum down the lava tubes, no direct path between Niveus and the dwarf castle opened up, which means I had to redo the entire Cerulean Silex so I could go back and recruit Peregrine after reforging the Pumice. Is that normal? Given that the 4 aspects of power are said to be doable in any order, I would have preferred knowing that it was best to do the Cerulean Silex after completing Triangle Island and the Phoenix Cave, which is where I found the two Pumice pieces, if I´m remembering correctly. As it stands, Ignis Castrum is the only settlement in the game you can´t reach quickly once you have the airship, necessitating redoing an entire dungeon.

-at one point, about 80% into successfully battling Uber Daemon, the game froze. No crash, but the speed gauges weren´t moving, so the game was stuck. I had to close it, which was a bit frustrating, as you can imagine. I have no idea what caused it, and it´s the only battle where that´s happened.

-the skill swap issue others have commented on. I am pretty sure I noticed it after applying the rebirth option, although I am not 100% certain it´s what caused it (I´ve done the Phoenix cave, and from what someone else wrote, it´s also a possible culprit). So right now, that means only Meredith, Drakeor and Sammy retain their original skills. The other 9 have an interesting mixture, from Azrael having only a few of Vetu´s spells to Julia, Vixen and Vetu having the entire arsenal of another 4 characters, sometimes in duplicate. The reason I think it might have something to do with the rebirth is that the skills I acquired after level 99 were not transferred to other characters (Phoenix for Vixen and Kurgalaxes for Drakeor. Something bizarre happened with Beomaust, because it appeared on the list even before I had defeated it, but I could not really conjure it). Anyway, if it helps, DJC, I can try and remember more details about the way this skill swap is configurated.

-ever since the skill swap issue occurred, if I peruse a character´s skills during battle and mistakenly try to go below the last skill, the game crashes. This happens with Willis and Keen in particular.

-I don´t know if it´s possible, but is there a way to highlight the difference in color between hits that heal and hits that hurt the enemy? This was only an issue during the Kurgalaxes battle, but if I hadn´t read your strategy tips online, I wouldn´t have noticed that hits in his chrysalis state heal him. That light green looks a lot like the normal light blue, maybe especially because of the starlit background.


So going by the latest comments and announcements, since I have the autosave feature and the Scarab amulet, I definitely have at least the 3.30f version, but the fixes that were implemented since the 3.31a version aren´t there for me, despite the recent date of my download. Does that mean the official site doesn´t have the latest version and that I do need to download the latest patch?

Anyway, these are all the technical problems I´ve encountered until now, as far as I can remember (I still haven´t done the Abyss, last place left!). You´ve done a fantastic job, DJC. There are obviously a lot more things to be said about a game this huge! I just thought I would first get the bugs out of the way, and leave other observations for another post.

Oh, and just to get confirmation, the last slot at the bottom of the first page of Battle Arena is for Khaer Magnus, right? Which I can´t get until I do a new Game+ (or was it Continue+)?
Thanks again.

ETA: I had a few more bugs today. First, in Solus Insula, on the way down a battle started, but there was no visible enemy and I was immediately told I was victorious. Secondly, another battle with Uber Daemon got stuck (no movement on the speed gauges). This time, I noticed what sequence caused it. It was putting the Protect spell on a character that already had Might. It looks like the high values involved in this battle might be problematic.
Oh, and something else I´ve noticed: casting Slow on ennemies never seems to work. I´m always told the spell missed, even against regular enemies, whereas casting Haste on my own party members works just fine. Is there something I´m not doing correctly?
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