THE WALL OF ATTUNEMENT
So, before I start, this actually is mostly Ford's idea, not mine - but was something I had considered doing in the past, albeit a bit different than what is shown here.
BASICALLY the Wall of Attunement is a way to...nudge...the game's playstyle a bit. For those of you not super happy with the direction I took, I hope that, through this, I may still yet have a chance to give you the gameplay style you were expecting from GTTOD. For instance, if you are someone who wants to just play the game as a movement game, that's actually a thing you can do. Just select "The Rune Of Wonderous Speed" in the Wall of Attunement, and you'll be able to play the game without enemies (although also without rewards).
If you were someone who was more interested in the arena combat (and the Dungeons don't do it for you), soon I'll have the Rune Of Unwavering Defense as well as the Rune of the Blind Dagger to hopefully fill those gaps for you. If you like the gameplay loop, but want it to be a bit more combat focused, soon you'll be able to use the Rune of Boiling Blood to nudge the game in that direction a bit more. Lastly, if you were wanting to play the game as I intended, then the Rune of the Forsaken Balance is perfect for you, as it sets every game modifier to their default settings.
Here's a list of the currently planned Runes, although this will certainly expand as I come up with more receive more ideas:
RUNE OF THE FORSAKEN BALANCE
Resets all game modifiers to their default values
RUNE OF WONDEROUS SPEED
Prevents enemies from spawning in game, but also prevents the player from obtaining any meta rewards
RUNE OF UNWAVERING DEFENSE
Instead of teleporting into The Shatter, the player will teleport into an arena upon starting a run
RUNE OF BOILING BLOOD
While ammo pickups will reward less ammunition overall, enemies will drop ammo from being damaged and killed far more frequently
RUNE OF STEADFAST RESTRAINT
End-level-rewards will always be Jade Vines
RUNE OF INSATIABLE GREED
End-level-rewards will always be Shards
RUNE OF THE BLIND DAGGER
Instead of teleporting into The Shatter, the player will teleport into a flat plane area, and will be cursed with Judgement upon starting a run
Anyway, if you have any other ideas for rune, or have any things you'd like to see added or changed to the existing runes, let me know. This system will be on the super secret branch over the new coming days, although I'm not sure how many runes I'll have done on them by the time it reaches you.
Either way, see you later!
-Andrew, Dev Thing