Hello.
About a week ago we've made an official announcement of HWR: Reforged and HWR: Downfall that received some criticism from the community. In my eyes the main reasons for that are misunderstanding and miscommunication that might've taken place. So, with this blogpost, I would like to clarify what exactly are HWR: Reforged and HWR: Downfall.
HWR: Reforged — What will be new?
1. Story
Reforged will properly conclude both English and French storylines adding several new chapters to each of them, introducing a lot of new characters (including girls) and making the game at least twice as big in terms of story content.
On top of that, some of the existing chapters (like Dartford for example) will be overhauled, the number of random quests and events will be increased.
2. New artstyle
Reforged will have a new (way superior in our opinion) artstyle for girls, dialogue character models and all the romance scenes. High-resolution versions of the models will also be included in the digital artbook that will be available together with the game.
3. New gameplay features
Reforged will have a tremendous amount of new features and mechanics (see list below).
4. New items
Reforged will introduce about 100 new items including all kinds of trinkets (some with active abilities), new armor (including leg armor for a dedicated slot), new weapons and new consumables.
5. Localization and bugfixing
With publisher's assistance we will be able to provide a way better localization and also work together with a QA team that will make sure there're no critical or major bugs on release. Considering the big amount of new content this is a very significant moment. This also means that the game might be translated into more languages.
HWR: Reforged, with all of that new stuff, will be available with a launch discount and a discount for those who own the original HWR which will allow you to purchase the game for 50% off.
What is HWR: Downfall?
Downfall is a free-to-play 4 chapter long game that will act as a prologue for HWR: Reforged. Downfall's story will take place before the original game and will expand upon its lore and characters.
Downfall will also have ALL THE NEW GAMEPLAY FEATURES so you'll be able to tell if you like the improved version of the gameplay or not.
In future blogposts I intend to do in-detail overview of some of the new features (like reworked armor system, party management, new weapon mechanics, unique and active-ability trinkets, crafting skill overhaul etc.) so stay tuned for more news.
I would also like to once again say thank you to everyone who supports this project. 1917 Studios is only two people (one of us does all the artwork and the other - everything else), we're not a huge money-hungry company and this is our first experience developing and releasing a game so naturally there're bumps along the road in every possible department. But we have our vision of this project and are striving to achieve it. And once the work is done - we're sure it won't disappoint you.
Cheers,
1917 Studios (literally just two people)
P.S.
The long and incomplete changelog for features (stuff is still being added and tweaked so keep it in mind)
1. Prestige system (items and equipment that you put on your character determine how respectable he looks in the eyes of folks around; dressing like a knight or a nobleman invokes respect, dressing like a dirty peasant makes you laughed at).
2. New difficulty modes: mildly challenging Story mode with quicksaves and quickloads at any time and hardcore Ironman mode with permanent death, Profile levelling and roguelike mechanics.
3. Dedicated slots for gorgets, bracers and leg armor.
4. Reworked armor system.
5. Several types of item repair: cheap but partial (that makes item lose stats) or expensive but full.
6. New camp activities (praying, ritual self-punishment etc.).
7. Scabbards and in-battle weapon swapping.
8. New attacks and mechanics for weapons (including Spear Throw and wounds infected by rust).
9. An obtainable and upgradable chest, where player can store items while in camp.
10. Improved virtue mechanics and new dialogue interactions.
11. About a 100 new items. Including many consumables with various in-battle effects (alcohol, alchemy brews).
12. Tweaks to scavenging mode that will allow the player do decide beforehand what kind of resources he'd like to search for.
13. Huge balance changes for armor, weapons and trinkets.
14. New (and not braindead this time) AI for allies.
15. Hiring and managing a party of allies.
16. More boss battles with unusual enemies.
17. Dungeon system for some battles. Battles have several (usually 3-4) stages with increased rewards for completing each of them but also with increasingly tougher enemies. Player can back out of the fight after completing/surviving through any stage.
And a lot of other stuff!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/687800/Heads_Will_Roll_Reforged/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1903060/Heads_Will_Roll_Downfall/