Hello everyone it's 2022! So good to see you all again.
I've been working on this patch since before the holidays but they have a funny way of derailing plans right? :D
I've been combing our bug-tracker, and tweaking random things people @'d me on twitter about, and it's lead to a lot of small fixes and improvements that really make the game more fun to play without less elements taking you out of the experience.
But there's some cool feature/QoL adjustments/additions that add to the game as well!
Moveset Customization Menu
As you likely already know, there is a move learner/forgetter in Frobec. When I began development I had a goal of minimalism and fast battles - get in and out quick, as I read that was something a lot of people desired in the genre, however, the game's complexity has grown significantly since then and it's not always clear to players that a new move is available as they level up their monsters.
For that reason, whenever a new move is available (through using Ultra-Rare Berries, Scouting, or Battling) you'll be offered the ability to jump into the Move learner/forgetter on the spot and pick the moveset you want going forward. This should make the earlier part of the game before you reach Frobec a bit more clear and simply be much more convenient overall for everyone.
Monster Riding
Instead of "sitting" on the heads or backs of monsters, your character will now straddle/grip them. This allowed me to add a significant number of monsters to the rideable list, as they no longer need a large sittable part of their body. This has doubled the amount of monsters you can now ride around and smash up over-world random encounters with. Here's the list of new ones:
-Walerus
-Yetowl
-Darwhol
-Rivardien
-Gorgem
-Glossum
-Shagrun
-Griffin
-Vulter
-Tanukrook
-Frigidile
-Gridag
-Stallune
-Aliferz
-Questabock
-Hymeraden
-Migma
-Syleendra
-Panipillr
-Oukochou
-Deuvul
-Putridevil
-Vult
-Tombus
-Glacial
-Alfric
-Salilisk
-Tarasque
-Gyn
-Cangon
-Tigon
Visual Improvements
Several monsters have received overworld sprite touchups to give them a bit more character or clean up lacking ones:
Additionally Windy Province, Mill Town, Crossroads Town, Scarred Province, Humanism and Empathy Kingdom have received tile updates and visual improvements to their color schemes. I think you'll have a lot more fun wandering around and seeing the adjustments.
Next Steps
The first of three free significant DLCs coming this year is being actively worked on and will soon be complete. It offers a slew of new monsters and fun sidequests, some of which are teased in this twitter 2022 message I posted a few days ago.
I've also been hard at work on the Xbox One and PS4 launches, which will have their release dates announced in the very near future.
There will soon be another monster design contest, for a chance to get a monster you designed in Monster Crown as part of a significant QoL addition in an upcoming DLC, expect more details on that soon!
Other fixes
Here's a non-comprehensive list of other fixes, as the total list of small tweaks I made based on people just quickly asking for an adjustment these past two months are a bit much to list:
1.0.43
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+Lost province cave transition adjustment
+Newly cropped up camera issue due to UI resizing during the synergy tutorial and being kidnapped fixed
+Shop menu UI fix that was cutting off some item descriptions
+Wardrobe centering issue
+Found items on-screen display adjusted to be more readable, longer.
+Random encounter frequency increased
+Final quest log entry gets a "check" properly in the post-game to be a bit less confusing