Almost two weeks have passed since the official release, and I have been very happy to watch plenty of streams, videos, feedback, and reviews.
While some people do not appreciate the simplicity and mobility offered by the game, many players have achieved 100% completion and overall enjoy the experience, with speedruns starting rules the game and post new records.
Although I am convinced that each game is different and cannot please everyone, Noreya was designed to be accessible in terms of difficulty and navigation within the world.
The comparison to the two major titles that everyone uses as a reference is enough to objectively compare the relevant points.
In this sense, I will not make hasty changes to please a few peoples, in the first 30 minutes of gameplay.
Noreya will offer you a unique experience (which I believe is very good) but not in such a short time.
However, with the game's release, many interesting suggestions have been made! ANd if you've been reading the dev blogs, you know I like to include player's ideas.
Some are already implemented in this new patch, and others are coming.
Let's talk about it, you know the format (and if you are new here, welcome! I invite you to read the previous ones).
Improving Game Readability
This is the kind of thing that makes the art team cry of pain, but many of you have asked for something to be done. So we have added two things.
- You now have access to a contrast adjustment from the “accessibility” menu, which will affect the background layers.
Here’s a small sample in 3 images.
- All foreground layers are now slightly transparent, which greatly improves readability when certain decor elements pass in front.
Why did we choose opacity instead of redoing all the foregrounds? Because it’s faster, it maintains a sense of “things passing in front” while preserving readability.
In my opinion, it was the best choice to make.
Improving the Beginning of the Game
We have read that the beginning of the game was judged too hard and unfair, and that it didn’t showcase what the game offers.
From what I understand, the quantity of monsters, but especially the presence of ghostly monsters, was problematic because encountering monsters that cannot be defeated is unusual, and many of you were forcing against them.
So, I decided to reduce their number and add “cages” around them to reduce the punitive aspect of the levels concerned.
Also, I even added small rewards for those who venture into that area.
The addition of cages should help new players understand that the game contains new mechanics for later, but also that these monsters cannot pass through.
Initially, this was something reserved for the Ruins of Lemia, but the impatience of new players didn’t allow them the time to get there.
I don’t know if this will be enough; it’s complicated to offer more without destroying the way the world is designed. I remain vigilant to feedback and continue to think about it.
Addition of “atk+” pickups in the world
Just below the hearts and fragments, we have added swords for each boost you have collected in the world.
Note, this does not take into account skills or boss souls collected.
What we will add (in progress)
Without going into full detail, here is a non-exhaustive list of what will be added:
Health gauge on bosses
When the team was working on the project, no one knew if we should add it or not. Based on some Metroidvanias, the team voted no.
With the hindsight of the game's release, and especially because of the “Giant Worm,” I thought it was worth adding a health gauge that will provide a reference point during this misunderstood marathon and an indicator of what needs to be done.
As a player, I have experience with games that offer a health bar and those that do not (without any visual degradation), and I don’t think it’s an addition that will denature the game, so let’s go for it!
Map markers
This was something I wanted to do, but we were already struggling to meet deadlines and release the game without it being a bug party (and there are still bugs).
So this feature will be released very soon!
It will make map exploration easier with the aids that already exist ^-^
Automatic statue selector
This is a feature that has been suggested on reddit.
And no one in the team had thought of: “the ability to automatically select the next available statue to teleport to.”
The only complexity is choosing which button to use because there are already quite a few things ^^’ but aside that, it’s not very complicated to implement.
Controller button binding (and mouse?)
A recurring topic, and it’s not that easy.
Several weeks have already been lost on this subject. I’ll see if it’s possible to try again, this time successfully o/
Why everything requested is not added / “QoL” at the beginning
I have seen too many games become “bad” because the development team followed a few complaints about frustration and difficulty.
Don't get me wrong, it's not an easy topic. And it is important, as a designer, to put things into perspective and be objective.
As you know, I like to share with you the experience of creating a game in all its facets, and a few people have asked us to have several skills “by default” in the game, without spending 1 hour, so let's take a quick tour.
Knockback at the beginning of the game.
The obvious comparison with this one is “Hollow Knight”. Indeed in HK you have it from the beginning, but you also suffer from it, which causes your character to gradually move back, putting you in trouble on platforms.
Also, the HK character is much slower and less responsive than Kali.
Adding this skill at the beginning of the game would make it thoughtless, creating a "run and gun" attack button would be enough to get out of all situations, rather than moving, thinking about the movement to make, and understanding the enemies.
Therefore, it will not be unlocked at the beginning.
Step back, attack again, this is enough to beat the game trust me.
Dash at the beginning
I don’t know if this request comes from the fact that it’s the first skill obtained in Hollow Knight or that some games offer a roll/dodge from the start (with a strong Souls-like presence).
But in Noreya, it will take you about 2 hours to unlock the dash (unless you explore each area as soon as possible), and having it will open many passages.
The dash in Noreya is a movement ability rather than a combat one because the character’s natural mobility doesn’t need a dash against any enemy.
Most of the time moving from left to right is enough to dodge, or a well-placed small jump.
Anyway, offering such a combat-oriented skill at the beginning of the game would ruin almost all the monster patterns, as they were designed around the game as it is right now.
In a game like Blasphemous, for example, monsters were designed with the player’s ability to parry and dodge in mind. If you miss this feature, take a break and analyze the monsters giving you troubles.
You’ll quickly find a solution! (rushing in doesn’t work very well at the beginning of the game btw!)
Change the name of the “normal” mode to hard
In my opinion, it’s the “hard” mode that should be renamed to normal because reappearing at the beginning of the level is clearly not the norm.
You should know that the difficulty modes in Noreya do not affect the monsters or exploration.
Only the bosses’ health, health recovery (via loot in pots), and the purchase of skill points are affected. Everything else is the same.
If you struggle on normal, try the game on easy; you’ll see that there’s no big difference, but you can recover up to 3 hearts at each map transition for free, allowing you to rush more at the beginning of the game without being punished.
After a few hours of play and obtaining automatic regeneration and life steal, no matter the difficulty mode, it’s no longer a big issue.
I’m rather bad as a player, so I designed an easy mode “for myself,” and I rush the game without thinking on easy.
The normal mode requires me to concentrate more, and the hard mode, in my opinion, is the equivalent of Hollow Knight (for my skill at least).
Untouchable monsters at the beginning of the game
The famous ghosts that cannot be killed until you find “the holy skill”.
I understand that this is frustrating, especially in an era where games give you everything from the start, and in my opinion, it would be a total waste of pleasure to give the ghost skill at the beginning of the game.
Sure, it might highlight this original feature more.
But what a loss of flavor, after struggling through so many maps, you get the power to get revenge, and the game reveals itself from another angle (puzzling).
At the beginning of the development, the path to reach the Dark Lady was much longer and without indication! That was really tough.
Over the years, we have always wondered whether we should put this feature at the beginning of the game or not, and although people who test the game for 1 hour (via the demo or purchase before refunding) will never see this feature, it would be, in my opinion, a pure waste to unlock it earlier.
Noreya doesn’t want to play the “wow” card that everyone is playing those days; we want it to take its time, like savoring a good meal.
Also, the rework that I've done to the first area in the Forest should help understanding this kind of monsters, and reduce the frustration hopefully.
From what I remember, these are the main points that come to my mind.
And I know that some people will not agree with what I write here! No problem, we are free to have opinions and respect them ^-^
As a designer we have to take decisions and many time the team was unsure.
I absolutely made sure not to create a Souls-like, as it is trendy, because it’s too hard (for me) and requires too much investment for many people (like parents, yes I am also one of them) who don’t have 200 hours to spend in a game to beat a boss (no the Giant Worm do not requires so much time, yes it is long, bug you can breath in the light as much as you want).
There are frustrating things, but they have a reason to be.
If you don’t enjoy your experience with the game and you chose normal mode, then switch to easy. In this mode, run and gun is much more forgiving.
Some Boss Adjustments
We made a few adjustments to the bosses, beyond fixing bugs.
- Salluste now projects shockwaves on the ground, which reduces mindless brute force attacks!
- The Giant Worm has had its health reduced by almost 20% again!
The other bosses have not undergone changes except for bug fixes.
Improvement of Save and Memory Leaks (again)
Although this topic was addressed before the official release, during very long game sessions and "100%" playthroughs, there are still some issues that we are resolving little by little (thanks to the players who lend us their saves for testing!).
First, the world map exploration has been modified to mark a map as "fully explored" once you have seen a certain percentage of its area.
This will clear all fog history and help lighten the save file.
We have also revised the fog code to make fewer memory footprints, which should help as well.
On the memory leaks side, there were still a few that had little impact in small quantities, but after going through a hundred maps, they became problematic.
And it was mainly the particles that were causing issues! Although there are still and always will be possible improvements, the game will stabilize over time. This only concerns a small number of players who push the game to its extreme corners! But I would like it to be possible to complete the entire game in one go, without a break. So we will continue tracking in this direction!
Upcoming Stream
It's been a long time since I launched a stream, I don't have a specific date in mind yet, but I think I'll launch one sometime in July!
We'll talk about development, Q&A, Kickstarter, and I'll play a bit of Noreya, probably on hard mode, to get my butt kicked (or not), go for a no-death run on hard? Let’s go!
Bug Fixes
The eternal bug fixing! New people report small issues here and there, even though the game is quite stable.
We haven't been idle despite my vacation huhu, here is the patch log that concludes this post!
Improvements/Changes:
- The Start button on the controller now removes the Pause menu
- Reduced the Giant Worm's health (again)
- Bats now bounce on trampolines to avoid getting stuck in them
- Added an option to skip the animation for karma and world change
- Added a contrast option in the accessibility menu
- Added a sliding sound on slopes (it was forgotten D: )
- Dash attack now requires an attack to be activated
- Salluste now projects shockwaves on the ground
- The knockback force was too strong on flying enemies
- A map will be fully revealed after a certain completion percentage to validate that you have seen everything and reduce the save file size
- More enemies are affected by the Golden Widow’s skill
- Modified the entrance/exit of the soul devourer’s map
- Added “atk+” in the interface
Bugs:
- Items on the map are correctly displayed when you have the respective skill
- The value for the number of attack points was “undefined” and not “3” (that’s what happens when you make fixes right before going on vacation… -_- ).
- Strange bug when dying at the same time a door is opened by a Garzul
- No damage taken after defeating the true ending
- Problem with multiple interactions with the forge
- Many sound issues with the Soul Cleaver and the Golden Widow
- Golden Widow getting stuck in some cases / the camera not locking properly
- Fixed a specific FPS problem with Boss 6 in a certain case
- Fixed several bugs with the Giant Worm, notably the Halo not resetting properly
- Improved mouse/keyboard sync for navigating menus when switching between the two
- The final boss door would lock if you quit the game on a specific frame
- The Golden Guardian Boss music not stopping when you die during the fight
- Chakrams could hit bosses from very far away
- The camera not repositioning correctly if you pause at a precise moment
- Basic attack damage should no longer exceed 100 (for new saves)
- Particles still visible after destroying a statue