KADO HUNTER – Major Content, Visual and Quality-of-Life Update

KADO HUNTER – Major Content, Visual and Quality-of-Life Update

Vanada shines in a new light! The entire game world has received a visual overhaul, making every map more beautiful, detailed and atmospheric. This update also brings reworked Hunter animations and sword combat, a garden of your own, expanded cooking and farming systems, new stories with familiar residents, and numerous improvements to controls and performance.

Game World and Map Visuals

• Every map in the game has received a comprehensive visual overhaul: outdoor areas, interiors and dungeons have been redesigned with more detailed landscapes, buildings and plants, along with more atmospheric lighting and shadows.
• Duplicate treetops, visible seams and gaps in several map views have been fixed.
• Snow coverage now handles roofs, characters and vegetation more reliably; incorrect rectangular patches of snow have been fixed.
• The appropriate updated map visuals are now displayed reliably on return visits as well.
• Map transitions and returning from menus now display the new visuals more reliably, without briefly showing old map surfaces.

Water, Waterfalls and the Environment

• Water surfaces have more natural movement, reflections and distortion while preserving the surrounding environment’s colors.
• Waterfalls have irregular, feathered foam lines and softer transitions.
• Animations for existing water, waterfall and lava surfaces have been smoothed out.
• Weather sounds better match the visible weather: inappropriate rain sounds no longer continue during snowfall.

Hunter Animations and Appearance

• Extensively reworked character animations for walking, sprinting, standing, unarmed combat, sword combat, blocking, shield movements, grabbing, casting, fishing, cheering, chopping wood and hoeing.
• More consistent body proportions and smoother movements of the arms, legs and cape.
• Clearer dark outlines make the Hunter easier to distinguish against detailed backgrounds.
• Blocking and shield movements have been fixed so animations no longer get stuck when you resume moving.
• Gardening and tool-use animations have been coordinated with suitable movements, sounds and ground effects.

Sword Combat and Combat Effects

• Normal sword strikes chain more smoothly into a continuous two-hit combo.
• Early follow-up inputs are registered more reliably. Unwanted pauses between strikes have been removed.
• The Hunter can continue moving immediately during normal sword strikes and their follow-through.
• Direction changes within a combo respond more reliably to inputs and the current aiming direction.
• A more precise hit area accounts for free positioning between tiles.
• Hit timing and strike sounds are better synchronized with the visible blade movement.
• Dust, ground effects, weapon effects and lighting effects respect occlusion by the environment.
• Confirmed critical hits receive a brief, subtle camera impulse.
• New standard sword technique, Charged Sword Attack: three clearly visible charge levels with matching energy and flame effects. Hold the attack button to charge your strike. The longer you charge, the greater its damage and range.
• The three charge levels deal 2.25, 3 and 4.5 times normal damage and reach 2, 3 and 4 tiles respectively.

Combat Sounds and Game Flow

• New, more varied sword sounds for swings through the air and actual hits.
• A missed strike plays a swing sound; a confirmed hit uses the appropriate impact sound.
• Duplicate strike sounds have been removed. Immediate repeats of the same air-swing sound are avoided.
• Sword sound volumes and tails have been balanced more consistently.
• Monster death sounds have been adjusted.
• Delays and interruptions when rapidly repeating combat sounds have been reduced.

Performance and Stability

• Significantly reduced stuttering during fast sword combos, hits and enemy deaths, especially on large maps.
• Sword and blade effects are rendered more efficiently.
• Removing defeated enemies requires less graphics processing.
• Damage numbers, loot notifications and enemy health bars have been optimized.
• Unnecessary map updates after enemy deaths have been reduced.
• Distant, inactive regular enemies on the large mountain path use less processing time. Ongoing fights and special enemies remain accounted for.
• Looking up character and effect graphics causes fewer repeated file accesses during combat.
• The chat and its background surfaces are no longer constantly rebuilt unnecessarily.
• Scrolling through large, visually reworked maps causes less extra work from hidden map surfaces.
• Loading and reusing map sections have been improved to reduce visible gaps while moving.

Your Own Home and Garden

• The new quest “What Once Bloomed Here” leads to a home and garden of your own.
• Access is unlocked through the quest at Aya and Chiyo’s former house.
• Additional growing areas unlock as you progress through the garden quest.

Growing, Harvesting and Watering

• The farming system includes 30 crops with individual seed, growth and harvest graphics.
• Vegetables and field crops: corn, turnip, onion, carrot, potato, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, eggplant, cabbage, sweet potato, pumpkin, radish, spinach, lettuce, peas, green beans, beetroot, garlic, zucchini, chili pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, leek and rice.
• Fruit: strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, blueberries and grapes.
• Crops have suitable and ideal seasons. In their ideal season, they grow faster and are more likely to yield a larger harvest.
• Growth and prepared soil also account for time spent away from the game.
• Mature crops remain in place until harvested.
• Harvest yields are preserved when reloading a save and are not randomly rerolled.
• Watering magic covers the nine tiles under and around the character, including diagonals. Empty tiles, mature crops and already-watered tiles are skipped.
• Rain waters crops on the current map; snow does not count as watering.
• If your inventory is full, the crop remains in place instead of losing the harvest.
• After harvesting, the soil stays prepared for one hour before it needs hoeing again.
• Selecting a field is more reliable when changing direction, standing near its edges or making small position adjustments.
• Held movement keys remain active while tilling: after hoeing, the Hunter continues moving immediately without needing to press the direction key again.
• Crops, soil and harvest markers have received a visual update. Hints display information including the crop name, watering status and remaining growth time.
• Duplicate carrot items have been unified; older stocks remain usable.
• Harvested produce can be turned into new seeds using the appropriate crafting recipes.
• Gift preferences for the new crops have been added to the Bond menu for Aya, Chiyo, Miko, Shizuka and Nekomi.

Gardening Handbook

• New illustrated gardening handbook with Overview, Crops, Seasonal Calendar and Field Guide sections.
• Crop entries show cultivation information, seasons and matching illustrations.
• Seed selection and stock filters make planning your next planting easier.
• The calendar provides an overview of the crops’ growing seasons.
• The field guide helps you track planted plots, their locations and remaining growth times.
• First harvests unlock crop entries.
• Each crop has Bronze, Silver and Gold mastery levels after 10, 50 and 150 harvests.
• Text, page layouts, navigation and closing the book have been improved for the different input methods.

Cooking and Recipe Book

• “Vanada’s Recipe Book” brings together learned recipes, required ingredients and the effects of finished dishes.
• 27 additional recipes expand the selection to a total of 33 recipes.
• Ten new recipes from Shizuka: Carrot and Turnip Soup, Potato and Onion Skillet, Cucumber and Radish Potion, Tomato and Basil Elixir, Corn and Pea Bowl, Zucchini and Pepper Skillet, Spinach and Potato Cakes, Pumpkin and Sage Soup, Eggplant and Bean Ragout, Vanada Garden Rice.
• Two exclusive quest recipes: Shizuka’s Garden Herb Stew and Zepp’s Riverside Herb Fish.
• After completing “Rat plague”, Selly offers 15 more recipes with stronger healing and buff effects. A personal thank-you introduces the new selection.
• The recipe book has its own visual design with illustrations, page turns and subtle animations.
• Ingredient quantities, current stocks and alternative recipe combinations are displayed more clearly.
• Instant healing and temporary bonuses are clearly distinguished in descriptions.
• Using recipe sheets permanently records them in the book. Recipes already learned in older saves are retained.
• Your first recipe unlocks the book with a brief introduction.
• Cooking takes place at crafting stations throughout the game world.
• Unique recipes you have already acquired do not need to be purchased again. Recipes and other protected learning items cannot be sold accidentally.

Crafting and Consumables

• Reworked crafting interface with more readable recipe lists, page navigation and dark, transparent panels.
• Learned recipes can be selected directly; alternative ingredient combinations are supported.
• Ingredient previews, quantities and the items actually consumed match more reliably.
• Unsuitable extra ingredients no longer leave an outdated or misleading result preview.
• “Craft All” stays on the selected recipe instead of unexpectedly switching to another craft.
• The special quest fish plate can only be crafted once and during its intended quest stage, including when batch crafting.
• Fish recipes explain more clearly when two fish of the same species are required. Internal group labels no longer appear as real inventory items.
• Old recipe variants and stocks related to Shizuka’s Star Meal are merged consistently.
• Temporary bonuses to different stats can be active together. For the same stat, a stronger bonus replaces a weaker one, an equally strong bonus extends its duration, and a weaker bonus does not overwrite a stronger one.
• Remaining bonus duration and HP/MP regeneration are displayed more clearly.
• All temporary-bonus tooltips use a consistent layout with larger text and readable multiline descriptions.
• Healing items that would provide neither healing nor an effective temporary bonus are no longer consumed unnecessarily and do not trigger a cooldown.
• If only the temporary bonus is useful, you are asked before the item is consumed. Needed healing remains immediately available.
• Incorrect error messages or error sounds when using items through the hotbar have been fixed.

New Resident Stories

• Three interconnected questlines involving Shizuka, Zepp and Nekomi expand life in Vanada with a total of 15 stages.
• “More Than a Harvest” connects the garden with Shizuka’s kitchen.
• “A Taste of Your Own” brings together fishing, cooking and tasting different dishes with Zepp.
• “At Home for an Evening” brings the stories together for a shared meal at Nekomi’s.

Dialogue, Quest Journal and Rewards

• Numerous dialogues have been polished, repetitions removed and conversational transitions improved.
• Expressions and portrait positions better match the conversation. Social scenes also use the familiar dialogue controls.
• Available conversation topics and shops are easier to access and more clearly arranged in NPC menus. The option to leave appears at the end.
• Icons better distinguish shops, services, relationships and quest topics.
• Quest and relationship icons can appear side by side. Incorrect displays at the screen edge have been fixed.
• The quest journal explains objectives, progress and rewards more clearly; long entries are better divided.
• Quest XP and rewards have been rebalanced according to effort and quest stages.
• Quest completion is confirmed with a subtle display of the title and XP.
• Quest items, gold and other gifts actually received are shown consistently in the upper-right corner.
• Notifications and inventory additions occur at the appropriate handover point in the conversation. Premature or duplicate notifications have been fixed.
• Rakesh’s Goldcrabby task now counts the correct enemies and shows the appropriate progress in the quest journal.
• Older Vana saves with treasure chests already found can resume their correct quest progress.
• ORIGIN and ALPHA set progress is checked against the cards actually owned and the corresponding quests and achievements, including ticket cards and older saves.
• Interactions with Aya and Chiyo have been repaired for the affected story phases.
• Previously completed tasks and one-time reward entitlements remain accounted for in the reworked sequences.
• Inappropriate rock blockades and magical barriers in the Border Region no longer appear before their intended point in the story.

Equipment, Skills and Balance

• A second accessory slot now allows combinations of rings, bracelets and necklaces.
• Equipment stats match more consistently across the inventory, comparison displays, shops and crafting, including percentages, critical hits, resistances and attack elements.
• Misleading information about additional attacks that have no effect in the existing combat system has been hidden.
• Skills can now be purchased more often from Shizuka and upgraded to Lv10.
• Learning notifications make the new level more visible; the maximum level is highlighted in gold.
• Damage variance has been standardized for the affected attacks and skills.
• Healing and buff effects of several dishes, along with their descriptions, have been rebalanced.
• Spicy Crabbie snack increases maximum MP by 25% for 15 minutes.
• Sale prices of important potions and dishes have been adjusted: Potion 40 gold, Superpotion 250 gold, Sweet fishplate 150 gold, Zanderfilet en carrot 425 gold, Spicy Crabbie snack 100 gold and Shizuka’s Star Meal 6,625 gold.
• Miko’s duplicate exchange costs for 3-/4-/5-star Kados are normally 200/400/800 gold, or 100/200/400 gold with the Heart Bond benefit active.

Kado Viewer

• Individually tuned motion physics let Kado artwork respond to dragging, rotation and interaction.
• Motion intensity can be set to three levels or turned off entirely.
• Physics and automatic movement share the unlock for each card.
• Depending on rarity, regular booster Kados require three, two or one additional copy to unlock. One copy of the card is retained.
• Duplicates needed to unlock: 3x for 3* Kados, 2x for 4* Kados and 1x for 5* Kados.
• Designated special Kados can instead be unlocked for 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 gold. The first Aya and Chiyo Kados are unlocked.
• Unlocks are stored in your save.
• Movements have been adjusted to individual artworks so outlines and image areas hold together more cleanly.
• Local lighting, sparkle and subtle surface effects enhance interaction.
• Card edges, backs and image sharpness during rotation and zooming have been improved.
• A reworked galaxy background with moving stars and subtle shooting stars complements the card view.
• Keyboard controls and card switching have been separated more clearly. Unlock dialogs prevent accidental inputs in the viewer underneath.

Inventory, Shops and Controls

• Numerous new or reworked high-resolution icons for fish, crops, seeds, books, skills, materials, loot and quest items.
• The Fishing Encyclopedia gets its own fish-book icon.
• Shop views display up to 24 items in a more compact grid.
• Selection and scroll position are retained more reliably after purchases.
• Scrollbars, category panels, hover displays and information windows are more readable and easier to use.
• Recipe, learning and food notifications can be moved and closed more reliably. The mouse pointer remains visible above them.
• The gift-preference view in the Bond menu displays portraits and preferences side by side more clearly.
• Escape, Back and corresponding controller inputs close key bindings, favorites and book views more reliably, including after controls have been rebound.
• Drag actions getting stuck after a focus change have been fixed.
• Chat and loot history have clearer date groups, along with corrected names and entries.
• Text, item descriptions, quest objectives and control instructions have been expanded and aligned across the eight supported languages.
• Missing translations for daily, weekly, monthly and permanent Kado Master missions have been added or corrected.

Travel, Companions and Other Fixes

• The teleport network connects the Inn, Central Coast Region, Mountain Pass, Green Valley and South-East Coast Region through the intended travel points.
• Incorrect links and labels on individual teleporters have been fixed.
• The route from the Mountain Pass to Duskwood Lake is no longer incorrectly blocked by a reset temporary story counter.
• Summoning the boat and displaying the boat hint now check the same valid water access directly in front of the character. Water that is only diagonally adjacent is no longer sufficient.
• Companions such as the Dragon and Fenrir can now visit suitable gathering targets in succession instead of returning unnecessarily after every find.
• Companion gathering range and target selection account for the player’s position more reliably.
• Regular enemies regain their full health when reset as intended. Outdated death displays no longer remain visible.
• A map-loading error caused by a missing music file in the affected Colossus areas has been fixed.

Akzu Finale

• The conclusion of the Akzu fight receives a new cinematic sequence.
• The sequence is integrated into the existing end of the fight and then leads into the previous conclusion.
• The decisive hit, brief slow motion, darkness effects and transitions into the cinematic have been coordinated.
• After experiencing the full conclusion once, the sequence can be skipped on a subsequent victory.