Dev Update August 2022 - Caves, enemies, loot and more!

It's been a while since the last update post, so it's high time for another one! Development of A Sister's Journey is going strong as ever, and there's a lot to share about the progress that has been made in the last few weeks! Let me show you some new underground regions, more finished enemies, and some shiny items to grab:

Far below the surface, these seemingly endless waterfall caverns lie waiting to be explored. Or to get lost in.

These maddened Fungal Slimes can cause quite the havoc in numbers, so better plan your actions with care, else you might get overwhelmed quickly!

Loot!

Overcoming challenges and defeating dangerous foes is only half the fun if there's not some shiny loot to grab! You might have already spotted some of these items in other videos, here are some more details about what they're used for:

Power Crystals

Collecting these from defeated enemies will increase the power level of your currently equipped weapon. This is a quick way to become more powerful on the fly, even in the middle of an intense battle - but take care: if you take damage, you'll lose a big chunk of that power again!

Components

These shiny cogwheels can be found all around the world, often hidden in secret areas, or as a reward for good platforming, solving little puzzles, and of course for defeating powerful foes. They are used to permanently upgrade your guns, and with over 100 upgrades being obtainable for the guns alone, it's always worth keeping an eye out for them - especially the rare, golden ones!

Soul Shards

Once reaching a certain point in the game's story, these mysterious shards can be acquired from defeated enemies as well. And while I don't want to reveal much of the later parts of the game yet, you will be able to exchange them for some powerful perks later on!

Crystal Scarabs

These shiny valuables are a special currency used in certain regions of the world, and are often used for purchases or trades. Can't have enough of them!

Health Crystals

These rare and powerful crystals can be used to permanently increase your total health. Rumors are that powerful bosses often have them in their collection, others tell that some of them might be well hidden across the world. Definitely a valuable find.

I hope you enjoyed this small collection of some of the many items you'll find on your journey, and these were only the beginning. Many more wondrous items lie hidden out there, waiting to be found, with the rarest of them granting powerful perks or even complete new abilities. I'm looking forward to show you some more of them next time!

Finally, I want to give a huge shoutout and Thank You to all of you for all your amazing, ongoing support towards the game! I know many of you are eagerly waiting to get your hands on the final game, and so do I!

Originally, I hoped to have the game ready near the end of the year, however I feel that a release in 2023 is much more feasible at this point, and while I'm truly sorry to have you all wait yet a while longer, this feels like the better choice to make. There's still a bit of work to be done, plus I absolutely want to make sure to bring everything in this game to the level of quality where I imagine it to be. I want to take the time needed to deliver the best experience possible with this game, not to rush it, and leave you all with a well-polished, final product to enjoy and have a blast with! I'm sure many of you know that game development requires a lot of hard work, with new challenges around every corner - especially if you're working on all of it solo, and on such a large and ambitious project. I poured many years of hard work and love into this game, so I hope you're bearing with me just a while longer!

The entrance to an ancient and mysterious forest.

On the plus side, I can confirm that there will be a playable demo coming up as well! I heard many of you asking for one, and it's definitely planned to bring a demo out there, and to Steam Next Fest too! The upcoming fest is already around the corner, so it'll likely be the one after that, which should be around February. And with this, a full release hopefully might not be too far off after that point too!

Additionally, my Steam Deck will likely arrive soon-ish as well, which finally means testing and optimizing the game for the deck, getting it verified, and ensuring a smooth launch! I'll keep you updated!

Until next time!