April AMA Highlights

A: We're looking at at least 6 characters at launch. That number could shift depending on how development pace lines up with when we actually ship, but 6 is the floor we're working toward.

A: Evie is indeed actually in development. We're putting together some proper looking elemental magic for her that fits who she is as an elemental mage. We know a lot of people have been wondering, and because her structure is pretty different from the other characters it took us a while before we could bring it up, but yes, she's coming.

And of course, she uses a Staff. All our characters use the Base Weapon they had in the OG.

A: Yes. But depending on the weapon, there might be cases where it isn't used.

A: Definitely Evie. The rest of the roster is built around melee so they share a lot of common ground, but Evie is a mage fighting at mid range, which meant we had to rework level design on combat maps and tune monster logics around her so the structure could actually support that playstyle.

Casting time was also a whole thing on its own. Too slow and you spend the whole fight dodging with no window to cast, too fast and the motions start looking off. Finding the right spot between those two is still something we're actively working through.

A: Yes! New characters are definitely coming, each with their own story, weapon, and combat style. We're hoping to show some of them in the next test, and the plan is to keep adding both original Vindictus characters and brand new ones made for VDF after launch. Your excitement might be well placed!

A: Whether the character existed in the original isn't the starting point, what matters first is whether they fit the combat style we're going for in VDF, and whether the concept lines up with the world we're building. Implementation difficulty plays into it too, and then there's balance and a lot of other moving pieces layered on top.

A: Deciding how we wanted to release our game took a long time, which was why we stuck to answering that the business model has not been decided ever since our Pre-Alpha back in 2024. But we've landed on F2P for the final direction. Main reason is we want as many people as possible to be able to just jump in without a barrier, and on the monetization side we've got people working on keeping it centered on cosmetics.

Something we mentioned last AMA but worth repeating, even just adapting Season 1 of the original with our reinterpretation is expected to take us a while given where development is. So at launch we're focusing on delivering the core of the world and the main story beats, then we plan to expand the breadth and depth of the story from there through updates.

A: We know a lot of people are waiting and not being able to give an exact date on this one is honestly rough on our side too. We recently wrapped up an FGT, and the next test is going to require processes like getting the console build ready and going through platform reviews, so we're expecting that to take quite a bit of time.

We ask for your understanding on why it's tough to lock in a specific timeframe right now, but we're pushing hard on development to get you real news as soon as we can.

A: Things could shift depending on how development goes, but we're pushing for a simultaneous launch on at least two platforms, including PC. We'll share more details on the exact platforms later once things are locked in.

A: Since VDF is built around solo play at its core, a global chat feature isn't something we're considering. We do plan to support chatting between friends and communication within specific groups, though.

As for player-to-player trading or a marketplace system, we feel those don't really line up with the current direction of the game, so they aren't in the plans at all.

A: VDF is being built around each character having a strong, distinct combat identity, so role splits like healer or tank aren't part of the design. The game is solo at its core, but certain content opens up for multiplayer like you saw in alpha, and we're making sure that content plays well whether you go in alone or with a group.

Party size is capped at 4 for now, which was a decIsion we made for combat quality and client performance reasons, so I believe that number isn't likely to move.

A: Multiplayer is leaning into boss fights as the main focus. Where it goes from there depends on what new modes we end up building, so deciding a direction right now would be getting ahead of ourselves.

Personally I do like dungeons with exploration or strategic elements built in, but whether we can actually pull that off in a way that's genuinely fun is something we'd need to take a real look at before committing to it.

A: The way it's set up, main story is a solo experience only, and multiplayer lives as its own separate content rather than being stitched into the story quests, so there isn't really a case where you'd be replaying story progress to help a friend catch up. The solo part is built that way on purpose, we want the narrative to hit deeper when you're going through it on your own.

A: Rather than going down on one specific character, the general feedback was more about the requests coming in across the board.

One of the major ideas were that for the blue and yellow attack reactions, a lot of people felt like after you pulled off the counter action there wasn't really a payoff move to follow up with. Thanks to that feedback, the current build has reward actions layered in so those moments actually land with something satisfying now.

A: Really depends on the character and the situation you're in. Some attacks are built to stack up the groggy gauge faster and give you better windows for finisher actions. Others hit the hardest but are slow, so chances to actually land them don't come up that often.

The way it's designed, just mashing the strongest combo over and over won't be the play for most fights, you'll end up needing to read the moment and pick the right action for it more often than not.

A: Breakoffs will be included as a combat feature, but only for monsters where it makes sense for their design and lore. Rather than requiring specific combos like you mentioned though, the breakable parts will be areas that all characters can easily reach and attack.

A: The structure isn't really about taking one character and branching them into a bunch of different deep builds, it's more that each character comes with their own build that defines them.

So within a single character the depth is going to be narrower than something like a traditional skill tree, but the payoff is that the differences between characters and how each one plays is where we're putting the focus.

A: Leveling is set up pretty differently from the OG on this.

Level itself is a Journey Level that applies across all your characters rather than being per character, and gear and abilities get sorted out through play at a reasonable pace for whichever character you're focusing on. The overall direction is that VDF is meant to be played as much as you feel like playing, not something where you're locked in a grind just to access content.

There is farming in there for people who want to sink more time in long term, but that sits on the side as something for personal satisfaction rather than a requirement for actually playing the game.

A: Character progression isn't just about weapon enhancement. We've got a variety of growth elements in place, like acquiring abilities, crafting weapons, and leveling up your weapon mastery. On top of that, there are separate gear items that boost your stats without actually changing how your character looks.

A: The item, enchant, and enhancement systems are being developed in a completely different direction from the original.

While the original's systems were structured specifically around multiplayer, VDF is aiming for a setup that's much more suited for solo play. We'll share more details on the specific systems later.

A: Yes, but it's less about adding a ton of new body shape options and more about letting you fine tune the ones that are already there. Things like muscle mass can be adjusted in more detail, and stuff that used to apply to the whole character at once in alpha, like skin gloss, is being split up so you can set it separately for face and body.

So overall more control, just in a more detailed direction.

A: We've got a bunch of stuff on the physics side. Long hair that falls below the shoulder, the way it swings across the front and then settles back behind the shoulder as the head turns, that transition reads a lot more naturally now.

On outfits, something like a long coat while you're running, where the fabric shifts back and forth with each step, we cleaned that up so it doesn't flare out as exaggerated as it did in alpha.

And for the body modeling, we went in and made a ton of small adjustments across different curves and details, none of them dramatic on their own but it adds up to a noticeably better silhouette overall.