Dev Log 5# - Spicing up combat

Yeah, my testers were right. The fights had no crunch to it.

To be honest, they were even a bit boring at times.

Landed attacks caused no feedback. Not for the player, not for the enemy.

If I wanted to just stand around, I'd play an auto-battler, not an RPG.

Alright then. How do we fix this?

My first stop was my inspirations: Secret of Mana (SNES) and Zelda.

The result: after a hit, the NPC sprite should at least flash.

Feedback — check!

Still left with the movement problem.

Hm, effects. Which ones give the best bang for your buck?

*Insert your own list of favorite effects here.*

Crowd control would be great. It forces fighters to actually move.

So that's how I landed on knockback, stun, and skill reload.

In one afternoon, the effects were already in the game.

But WAY too OP. So: Go to the AI and let it build a balancing calculator.

And now the fights actually feel like fights.

I'm curious to hear your feedback!