Creating a unique and deep combat system was the main goal from the very beginning. We wanted to merge the strategy that turn-based games are known for, with the skill and dexterity that action games can offer.
This meant having a Turn-Based Action system, where during the player's offensive turn, actions are done in real time within a time limit, then once the time is over, the character switches to a defensive state and has to protect against enemy actions in real time as well.
Looking at a lot of games, we took inspiration from a variety of interesting combat aspects, such as the Devil May Cry series, the Final Fantasy series, Octopath Traveler and so much more.
The challenging part was deciding what core mechanics are needed without overwhelming the player too much and keeping only what is necessary to make a deep and expressive combat system. We didn’t want something too mashy, but instead something that would require a bit of thinking and strategizing. A combat system where if you play applying knowledge, the moves are not only more cool looking, they are actually more efficient.
We also spent a lot of time finding a way to make it so that turns do not feel repetitive in action use. With this, we followed the current trend of having a multi goal combat design. As an example, games like modern Final Fantasy use the Stagger system to rotate between different types of actions in order to make all of them useful, in specific moments of a fight and diverging the focus to not just do as much damage as possible mindlessly.
In Worldless, enemies can be defeated to allow progress, or Absorbed to achieve progress but also get skill points for new abilities. Skills have values for damage and Absorption damage, making them useful depending on the moment of the encounter.
Additionally, we created enemy “blocks” that can be broken using a specific type of damage and opens up the enemy to receive even more Absorption damage in a short window of time.
More sub-systems were added to reinforce all of this. For example, if the player Perfect Guards (or Parries) enemy moves, it will gain additional time for their next offensive turn, allowing them to do longer combos.
All of this can be explored further with a variety of skills designed to allow the player to destroy their opponents once all the combat mechanics are understood and mastered, making a learning curve that will surprise you. You may even notice how much different your play style is at the end compared to the early hours.
Of course enemy design was the most important thing for creating interesting variety and pushing the player to explore different actions, combo routes and strategies.
Enemies have different types of “Blocks”, these can change every turn so the player needs to adapt. We introduce new types of “Blocks” constantly, and enemy patterns and gimmicks are unique and varied to keep the player constantly at the edge of their seat.
It was the most fun designing the hardest Bosses, creating surprising multi-phase encounters and making the player improvise and adapt constantly in a fast paced action packed combat where thoughtful strategy is never lost.
Most importantly, we wanted to reward the effort of learning the game mechanics. You can style and demolish enemies in Worldless, and that is not only more fun to do, but the game systems will be rewarding this play style directly. Even if the game can feel a bit challenging sometimes, no need to worry. There’s not a game over situation ever. If you lose an encounter, you are just pushed away and can re-enter the fight instantly, so the pace and fluidity of the game is never slowed down.
Keep a look out for more of our developer blogs!
Worldless will be out on October 4th 2023 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch!
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1898500/Worldless/