0.8.1 Patch Notes & Epilogue 1 Dev Blog

With the 0.8.0 patch, we released our very first Epilogue Chapter (Epilogue 1). This update was about more than just adding a new stage. It was an important attempt for us to introduce and test a new system with a different tempo from our main story chapters.

While preparing Epilogue 1, we asked ourselves, “How can we make the game more fun while keeping it fresh?” and “How can we show our players the potential of the epilogue chapters?” As we challenged ourselves with preparing Epilogue 1, we were able to try new ideas while identifying areas that needed improvement.

In this dev blog, we’d like to share our reflections as we created and changed Epilogue 1 and share the future direction of the game.

Epilogue 1 Dev Review

Compared to Chapters 1-4, Epilogue 1 has a much faster tempo that centers on creating and optimizing builds with the newly introduced Special Skill System. During production, we had a blast experimenting with a variety of ideas. However, we noticed a few problems.

The most notable issue was the Time-Attack System that we implemented during each boss battle. Compared to bosses in previous chapters, the Epilogue 1 bosses were designed with simpler and easier attack patterns. When we tested the game without the Time-Attack System, players were able to clear Epilogue 1 even with low stats, but the problem was that it took too long.

When players did not fully upgrade Sil and were on a low-spec playthrough, battles dragged on excessively and the game felt tedious. To prevent this, we introduced the Time-Attack System. However, the Time-Attack System also highlighted areas that needed improvement.

Issues with the Time-Attack System

The first issue with the Time-Attack System was that players often did not immediately realize that a time-attack was in effect during the boss fights. Although a clock UI appeared at the start of the battle, it was not very noticeable. So after the player ran out of time, many players did not understand why the boss suddenly used a wipe-out attack.

The second issue was that the Time-Attack System itself did not directly address the core issue that players had on a low-spec playthrough. We wanted to create mechanics that would encourage players to reach a certain level of stats to clear the game, but the Time-Attack System felt insufficient. We now realize that players would have had a better game experience if the difficulty had been adjusted more naturally through learning monster attack patterns, learning how to optimize builds, and improving the presentation of the boss battle.

The last issue was that the base stats required to clear the boss within the set time was set a little too high. When designing the difficulty, we assumed players would have fully upgraded Sil while progressing through Chapters 1-4. In practice, however, many players reached Epilogue 1 without fully upgrading Sil. This meant that players often had to push Epilogue-exclusive upgrades to very high levels, which led to excessive repetition.

To address these issues in the 0.8.1 update, players can now increase their progress for certain achievements while playing Epilogue 1 and the Time-Attack UI has been made more visible during boss fights. We hope these changes will reduce confusion and give players a clearer sense of how to progress.

0.8.1 Patch Notes

• Improved the visibility of the UI that shows the remaining time in the Epilogue 1 boss battles.

• Progress for the following achievements can now also be earned in Epilogue 1:

  • Reach n Cumulative Boss Battle Clear(s)