Greetings Survivors of REMORE,
These are the questions and answers that were presented during our Live Stream.
Thank you everyone for participating and for all your amazing inquiries.
Q. When will the new content drop?
A. We're currently working hard on the new content based on user's feedback and it will take some time to finish. We don't want to give a timeframe and then not live up to that, so we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we have a more concrete idea of the schedule! We're also looking at other ways to keep you up to date with the process besides the Dev Notes.
Q. What changes will come with the update?
A. There will be huge changes as we noted on the Dev Note. Overall map changes, new characters, battle system adjustments and more.
Q. You mentioned about 4 new characters on Dev Note, that makes total 7 characters. Is there any chance that you will make it 10?
A. Our plan is to add plenty of characters, so you'll be able to choose the characters and combinations you like! The exact number for full release isn't set yet, but we're hoping for around 12 at least!
Q. The Early Access play time was too short; how long will it be on Official Launch?
A. We're planning on the full run to take about double the amount of time it currently takes for an EA playthrough. And much longer if you want to dive into the replayable features and modes!
Q. Will there be any new weapons added to the update?
A. The type of weapons will be similar, but the system behind them will be changed a lot following the overhaul of the battle system and character addition. You can find more about it in our future Dev Note!
Q. Can we see some more behind the scenes artwork soon?
A. We’re trying our best to reveal more! As we finish polishing the new artwork, you can see them either in the Dev Note, social media, etc.
Q. Will there be a demo/beta/play test of the new content before release?
A. We are considering various ways to show our development progress, and when we find a way to do so we will let you know!
Q. Any details about the battle system you mentioned in Dev Note? “caught” and “Surrounded system” you mentioned.
A. “Caught” was the system in the previous version that prevents the character from moving if they’re adjacent to the enemy. We’ve found that it makes the game feel far more difficult and restrictive than we intended, so now it’s removed.
“Surrounded” is the new addition we’re testing, giving you a strong damage bonus if your characters occupy all the adjacent grid of the enemies.
In addition, the player character has a “Surprise” bonus, which also gives them a bonus when they attack the enemies that weren't aware of player characters.
With this change, we tried to make the game more accessible by removing the penalty, “caught”, but still keep our tactical depth by adding the bonus, “Surprise” and “Surrounded”. Fortunately, the change worked as intended based on the feedback of the latest test.
Q. What is this “Ember” you speak of from your previous Dev Note?
A. Narratively, it is a fragment of the holy symbol “Fallen Flame” that’s worshiped by people of Remore. After the breakout, the people who found the fragment (player characters) noticed that they can “access” the memory of those who died, and “borrow” their abilities.
Gameplaywise, it is a fantasy element that grants the player the ability to “customize” characters in the direction they want. You can bind the memory of a thief to “Shadow Sister” to give her more utility skills like Sidestep, or simply make her Sword Skill damage stronger by binding a Swordsman's memory.
Both in gameplay and narrative, the ember is the core concept of our new direction. The story will be changed with this concept in mind.
Q. You said random map on the Dev Note does it mean it will be changed from puzzle to rogue-like?
A. Yes and No.
“Yes”, meaning that we’re reducing the “puzzle-feeling” that was major feedback in the previous version. We’re currently adding a lot more options to player choice both to strategic and tactical layers.
“No”, meaning that the change doesn’t lean toward making the game as a form of roguelike or roguelite, as we feel that players don’t see XCOM or Darkest Dungeon as a roguelike game.
Random map system will be used to give an option for the player to loot more material or weapons on the journey, but the progression of the game will still be based on story maps. We’ll reveal more in the dev note soon!
Q. It seems like there will be story changes, but will it be a lot?
A. Yes. As we said, the previous story is written on the assumption that the gameplay is linear, so it’s inevitable to make a new narrative plan now that the characters can PERMANENTLY die and pass their memory to next characters.
Also, now that the core element of the game is the Ember, the world of Remore is a bit more “fictional/fantasy” world than before. We’re still trying to keep the authentic medieval feeling than high-fantasy world like D&D, but anyway it’s a different world.
We’re also trying our best to keep the “similar atmosphere in the basic emotion” to help reserve the previous identity. For example: Willam, Diurmuid, and Edwin will have their fixed name unlike the other characters, and their skillset would still reflect the previous design.
We’ll introduce more on the Dev Note about this direction soon.
Q. Will there be other language translation?
A. We have plans for the multi-language translation, though we are not sure for the period since contents goes first.
Q. "Memory binding" seems to be a very important system. Will the memories of allies who died in the last episode also appear? If memories that do not have much synergy with the current state appear, are REROLL or other measures prepared to compensate for the loss?
A. Yes. "Rebonding the memories of dead allies" was the original idea for this system, and it's one of the most important things we're looking at.
However, if we design this system incorrectly, it could lead to "killing allies becomes a superior strategy" or the sense of loss in death and defeat could become meaningless in an unintended way, so we're thinking of introducing it last, after we've gotten the basic gameplay feel down with the NPC memory binding system.
It's going to be very difficult to design, but the goal is still to "structurally allow for the possibility that the player can clear the game without dying once, and feel a great sense of accomplishment when they do," so the system for creating memories of dead allies is something we're going to add in after we've sketched out the big picture of the experience, to account for the "not-so-common" cases.
Whether or not we will introduce systems such as rerolling, as you mentioned, depends on how things are at a later date, so it's difficult to answer "yes or no" directly at this point. However, we can promise you that our internal testers are more sensitive to "unfun game experiences in Remore" than anyone else, so we will choose the direction that makes the gameplay more fun!
Q. Would you ever be interested in creating some kind of challenge mode? I thought it would be fun to have some kind of roguelike mode.
A. Actually, the introduction of the "Recurring Nightmare" mode in the Early Access version was a bit of a nod to that. We're big fans of fast-paced roguelike experiences, and we think our current game mechanics lend themselves to that to some extent.
However, with our current game overhaul, we feel that focusing on "maximizing the main experience" rather than creating "two modes" is the right direction to take.
As we've been sharing in the dev notes, we're already designing the reorganization to be much less linear than the previous story experience, giving players more freedom of choice and increasing the challenge.
In other words, what we're really trying to achieve with this revamp is more of that sense of challenge and fast-paced tempo that you've been talking about in the main campaign.
While games like XCOM and Darkest Dungeon aren't the fast-paced, one-round-after-another type of game that Slay the Spire is, one of the big goals of the redesign is to create a similar feeling of having a challenging experience every round trying to prevent your character from dying.
We hope you enjoy our special REMORE Developer Q&A Live Stream!
We will be back with more updates on our new content on our next live stream event!
Follow our social media for more updates and important dates on REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM.
Thank you,
REMORE