It's been about 3 months since we opened the demo build on March 19th. During this time, 1,600 players have played the demo through our Steam page and PlayX4 event. We're grateful to have received a lot of feedback, and based on all the feedback we've gathered, we've decided to update the demo once more.
The combat system has been comprehensively added to and improved, and a new mini dungeon has been added. The overall mood of the map has also been improved to create Graytail's unique atmosphere.
Combat Improvements
We received a lot of feedback that combat was monotonous, so we added and improved systems to make combat more dynamic.
In the previous demo, enemies would simply follow the player in a line, making them easy to deal with. In the update, we've modified enemies to surround the protagonist. Also, enemies used to have their attacks canceled when hit, but now once they start an attack, it continues even if they get hit.
In return, other features have been added for the player as well. First is lock-on. When you target an enemy with lock-on, the player character will face the targeted enemy regardless of which direction they move. This makes attacking easier since you don't need to manually turn directions for each attack. We've also added a parrying technique that deflects incoming enemy projectiles. You just need to swing your staff with the right timing.
We've also refined the existing auto-targeting system. While it's basically non-targeted by default, we've modified the targeting rules to provide only slight correction limited to enemies in the player's direction of movement.
New Mini Dungeon
We received a lot of feedback that tension dropped at the beginning of the game because too much of the game's direction was concentrated in the early stages. So we've placed a small mini dungeon that provides about 10 minutes of gameplay after landing on the island, where players can learn the combat system mentioned above and experience the fun of puzzle gameplay.
Mood Improvements
We've worked on improving the overall mood of the game so that our game's identity can be felt just from looking at screenshots, while maintaining the pixel art aesthetic.
First, the game's lighting has been improved. We've made this world feel more vibrant through effects like flowing clouds, sunbeams, and leaf shadows.
The village has been enhanced with broken cars and modern street lamps that fit the story. The protagonist's house has changed from a log cabin to a cool caravan that suits exploration. The chickens in the village, which couldn't be interacted with in the previous demo, can now be caught and thrown or used for gliding.
The atmosphere of the dungeons has also changed. The entrance to the mangrove area dungeon has been modified to feel more like a forgotten temple. The laboratory placed within the dungeon has also been enlarged compared to before, with new objects added.
Other Improvements
Area names now display when moving to major locations. We've also fixed awkward dialogues throughout the game. Many minor bugs have been fixed as well.
Development and Release Plans
As we have been doing so far, we plan to continue working hard on Graytail until completion.
We're changing our release approach from going through Early Access to releasing the complete game all at once. Since it's a story game, we feel that having it cut off in the middle wouldn't be a good experience. This means the time to introduce the game to you will be pushed back a bit. We expect to need about another year of work.
We apologize for the delay in the game's release.
We'll prepare well and meet you with a perfect version.