Major Updates and Playtest Number 2!

Steam post image PLAYTEST

Firstly, as of making this post I will be releasing the second Playtest! If you somehow catch this as soon as it's posted it will release very soon spanning from Jan 11th (or 12th if more time is needed) 2026 - Jan 20th 2026.

There is a lot of new content and with that being said I will post a TLDR first. With a more detailed breakdown of changes following it.

TLDR;

• Many combat and UI / UX changes.

• Significant Story and Art Additions, Improvements and changes.

• Death Portals added, (character focused gauntlet's)

• Journal System added

• Cooking added

• Fishing added

• Trinkets added

• The Fountain added

• Fast Travel added

• Map additions and updates added

• Major Dialogue, Sound, and Description Updates added

• Various Bug or Unintended Occurrence fixes

• Various other Features added

• Thanks for 120 Wishlist's!

MAJOR UPDATES.

COMBAT AND UI UPDATE.

• Battle backs (combat pictures) have been added to all fights.

• All enemies have been reframed to help better represent damage numbers and status effect positions.

• New and custom icons for status effects have been added.

• Added damage and healing numbers that appear at the top of the screen to help keep track of individual damage, healing and status effect instances.

• Some enemies have been given additional item drops to help with consistency.

• Most fights have been updated, corrected and fixed if they weren't working as intended.

• Some fights have been moved or added to other areas to better reflect lore.

• The Spirit stat has been added and reflected in systems and gear to indicate it's purpose as a healing modifier.

STORY ADDITIONS

• To avoid spoilers, there are new maps, new characters, more and revised dialogue, lore books and visual storytelling aspects added to the majority of the game.

• Death now sends player to a "Trophy Room." That represents progress made and losses taken, if any, during the previous life.

• A SIGNIFICANT amount of art has been added, reworked, or polished.

DEATH PORTAL(S)

• Death Portals appear when a prophet dies in combat. These are individual experiences that delve into the psyche of a Prophet and intend to be short, emotional and impactful gauntlets with new combat mechanics. Completing them revives the dead Prophet stronger than ever before.

• This is a concept that I have been very excited to create and it all starts with Doctor Obcecar, and continuing to all prophets as future updates release.

JOURNALS

• As an investigator it's expected that you keep notes. A large amount of journals have been added in order to reflect this.

• Game Credits have been added to the journal

• Character journals written from the Investigators perspective have been added for all characters.

• A Combat journal given by Calera will help with understanding combat mechanics as well as give a detailed breakdown of stats and status effects.

• Bestiary entries have been added for all enemies detailing their "Pieces" after battling them.

• Various journals have been added that show crafting recipes. Allowing the player to keep track of components for potions, weapons, armors and other crafting components.

• Clarification for journals and changes have been made for easier understanding.

COOKING

• Cooking has been added to the game via an item called The "Cooking Pot" which can be used at any time from the items menu after acquisition.

• All enemies now have a "Carve" option on their bodies after being defeated, this gives a cooking component.

• Fire starting items have been added to initiate cooking.

FISHING

• Fishing has been added alongside cooking as a way to obtain more cooking components with powerful effects.

• Currently In a very basic form, With future updates seeking to add much more!

TRINKETS

• Trinkets are a new type of equipment that are found only through optional content. They require multiple components to be combined together within the item menu.

THE FOUNTAIN

• Used to upgrade prophets other than the investigator in exchange for a purified soul.

• To reflect this change, enemies can now be absorbed and have fragments of their souls collected and merged.

FAST TRAVELING

• Signs in key areas will allow you to fast travel around the map. Aiming to save the player time and provide more convenience

MAP UPDATES

• Most maps have received polish and changes to better fit the intended designs.

• Many new interactable have been added as well as giving animations to more objects.

DIALOGUE AND DESCRIPTION UPDATES

• All dialogue has been punctuated, colored, positioned, and windowed to better reflect clarity and purpose.

• All Prophets have been given an introduction art.

• Sounds notifications for many dialogues have been added to better reflect what is happening.

• Buzzer has been added when there is a failure to craft an item.

• Gauntlets have received a warning before entry in all instances to help the player be more prepared before entering.

• Items and skills have had their descriptions changed to be more information focused.

• Added various other notifications to help with game clarity and immersion.

BUG FIXES AND MISC. CHANGES.

• Fixed investigators shadows when walking.

• Updated steam page screenshots, trailer and about game section. (Mid December)

• All Prophets now have "Map Events" that require the assistance of a specific prophet to complete.

• Added transitions for many dialogues.

• Fixed abyssal youngling fight in cave to apply evasion debuffs appropriately.

• Fixed an issue where gauntlet 3 could be started before talking to the man in green.

• Fixed an issue where Dobo Handler's Dobo would die even if freed from the Handler.

• Fixed an issue where the "Dobo Ran Away" message would appear in every battle after the first time appearing.

• Guard now prevents character from receiving new status effects, but doesn't remove statuses already afflicted.

• Valeforn now restores himself when he uses his daily party restoration.

• Some items are now actively craft able from their specific item components.

Special Thanks!

• We've reached 120 Wishlist's as of today! I really appreciate everyone who took the time to visit the page or leave a Wishlist. It means the world to me!

GOODLUCK IN THE ABYSS PROPHETS