Hi everyone!
I wanted to share a short update on the development of The Bleakest Keep. But first, please watch the new trailer!
A lot has changed since I first started working on the game. Originally I wanted this game to be pretty similar to Slay the Minotaur, where there would be 4 sections of a large map, as if there were 4 mazes you would explore and complete randomized objectives before you could continue to the next section.
This has been changed to be a lot more linear. No more objectives stalling you from continuing, the game is now a rush to reach the top of the castle. I decided to make this change because after a few months, it was becoming a bit obvious that it was not fun to play. It was taking too long for players to complete an area, trying to properly balance each area was a nightmare, getting lost trying to find randomized objectives was annoying. It goes on and on. I'm glad I tried it, but I feel a lot more confident with this new direction for the game.
This also applies to the game's horror. I originally wanted the game to be more scary and include more enemies similar to the Minotaur that would actively chase you across the level, but the horror has been reduced in favor of more action, and because the levels are far more linear now, the chasing enemies like the Minotaur were also not making sense to include anymore.
With the new level design, areas and rooms feel more unique and even though the layout of the level will be mostly static like in Slay the Minotaur, many rooms and arenas will have multiple versions to make sure each run still comes with uniqueness, including changing shop locations and enemy spawns.
The Bleakest Keep is also much more focused on ranged gameplay. In fact, there won't be unique melee weapons. All the weapons you can equip will be ranged weapons. However, before starting a run you can change your special attack/ability to fit a playstyle. So if you want an offensive heavy attack, you can equip it before the run begins. Or if you want defense, you can equip a powerful kick attack to knock back and stun enemies.
At one point there was other melee weapons, but I ran into a problem Slay the Minotaur had with its helmets where some melee weapons were clearly better which would make players just ignore all other weapons. Trying to balance this was just making the game less fun because either you have an obvious choice to always pick up or I nerf it and then players never pick up a different melee weapon. With the ranged weapons, I'm sure some will be considered better than others, but because of requiring ammo and how each type of weapon uses different ammo with different drop amounts, it easily helps balance them and should make each come with proper pros and cons.
You can now hold multiple items at the same time. There's a lot more perks. There'll be multiple bosses too! I'm hoping to get a demo out sooner than later (but it may still be a while) and release the game sometime this summer. Thanks everyone for your support and please go wishlist! This game is taking a bit longer than I was hoping it would, but I hope you enjoy it when it comes out!