MZ - Fusion: Hexella Dive [Now in Pre-Alpha 0.14!]

● ARCHIVED · READ-ONLY
Started by YuukiToyaro 11 posts View original ↗
  1. YuukiToyaro
    #1 Source
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    Voyager, begin your new adventure in the world of Astral

    ​

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    Fusion: Hexella Dive invites you to explore a universe shaped by ancient forces and powerful, contrasting energies. As Yato, a young Voyager, you'll uncover a world where the harmony of Hexella and the corruption of Umbrexella vie for control over existence itself. With the mysterious Spiritual Guide, Ace, at your side, you'll embark on a journey through enchanted dimensions and ancestral realms, testing your courage and skills at every turn.

    In this universe, every choice you make matters. You’ll have to decide who to trust, face legendary foes, and unveil secrets that could change everything you know. But beware: the deeper you venture into this world of enigmas and mystical powers, the more you'll discover that your fate is closely intertwined with the forces that rule it.

    Are you ready to dive into Fusion: Hexella Dive and unlock the true power of Hexella while confronting the shadows of Umbrexella? Your adventure is just beginning.


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    Spoiler
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    Experience an epic adventure with an Active Battle System (ABS)
    Obtain new gear through the Synthcrate
    Upgrade your weaponry with an innovative enhancement and weapon perk system
    Learn new abilities through the Skill Tree
    Journey through the world of Astral in a Visual Novel-style adventure
    And much more coming in future updates!

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    Spoiler
    This section will be a brief guide on how to play Fusion: Hexella Dive. Movement controls are the classic WASD or arrow keys (the latter is recommended), Shift to run (if 'always run' is disabled), and Space to jump.
    Press E to attack enemies with your weapon, keys 1–4 are for abilities (right-click on an ability slot to switch abilities), and U is for the Hex ability (like an ultimate, currently only one is available).

    When you kill enemies, they drop particles that restore HP, TP, and Hex (the latter is used to recharge your Hex ability). They also drop Rods (the in-game currency) along with “Synthcrates,” items you can open to obtain random weapons or armor.
    To open a quick inventory menu, just press the I key.
    For now, Rods are only used in the upgrade screen, accessible by inspecting a weapon from your inventory (by clicking on the appropriate weapon) and leveling it up.

    For a better gameplay experience, it’s recommended to follow the on-screen objectives (from the quest info window). If you close it, just click on the arrow to reopen it.

    In the game world, there are several points where you only need to press Enter to interact. Teleports/magic rings in the game aren’t marked with any light on the map, so if you see one, remember to interact with it!

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    Spoiler
    In Fusion: Hexella Dive, you take on the role of Yato, a young Voyager who awakens in the universe of Cryz, a place where balance appears stable, but hidden mysteries lie beneath the surface. What begins as a straightforward mission soon reveals itself to be part of a far greater and darker scheme.

    After a series of events, Yato is transported to the Borean universe, a realm dominated by the opposing forces of Hexella and Umbrexella. Here, Hexella represents pure, creative energy, while Umbrexella is a corrupting force that threatens to destroy everything in its path. With the guidance of the mysterious spirit Ace, Yato must explore ancient realms and face legendary entities that hold the power to reshape the destiny of the universes.

    Throughout his journey, Yato encounters the Goddess Blue, a deity tied to Hexella, and faces off against formidable enemies like the sinister Brood Queen, whose goal is to plunge the Borean universe into total corruption. You’ll uncover the true connection between the cosmic forces of Hexella and Umbrexella and unravel the fate of these universes.

    Your choices will shape the course of events: choose your allies wisely, confront epic challenges, and discover the true power behind Hexella and Umbrexella. Fusion: Hexella Dive will take you on a journey through mystical worlds and legendary battles, where the balance of the entire universe rests in your hands.

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    Spoiler
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    Welcome to the universe of Borean, a world suspended between ancient magic and futuristic technology, where the forces of Hexella and Umbrexella clash for control over the fate of existence itself. Explore lush, fertile lands fueled by the pure energy of Hexella, and cross desolate deserts and regions ravaged by the corruption of Umbrexella.

    In Fusion: Hexella Dive, you’ll journey through towering castles floating in the air, guarded by mysterious, levitating crystals, and ancient ruins that echo a troubled past. Every corner of this world tells a story: a fragile balance between life and destruction, magic and technology.

    You’ll be guided through contrasting landscapes – from the vibrant lands dominated by Hexella to the technological fortresses in the desert, remnants of a civilization that sought to harness these powerful energies. Whether you’re exploring mystical realms or battling legendary foes, the Borean universe will offer you challenges, mysteries, and an endless world of adventure.

    Prepare to uncover the secrets of a universe where magic collides with science, and your choices will shape the future of everything you know. Are you ready to dive into Fusion: Hexella Dive and shape the fate of the Borean universe?

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    Since I don't have an official first dev log, I'll write one on the spot to give you an idea of what Fusion: Hexella Dive is currently about.

    This is the first game from my team, ZenkaiGames, which is a branch of my studio, Zenkaiverse.
    We've been developing this game since 2019, and we've been through all sorts of challenges to get to where we are today; even though it's not much, we are proud of our game (it's like our baby ^^).
    The game is currently at version 0.13 as I write this, and we have many plans for the future, but we are very... very inexperienced—both in terms of development (since it's our first real video game) and in terms of "what the player is looking for," if you know what I mean. But that has never discouraged us from our goal: to tell stories that give our players a unique experience.
    Before this dev log turns into a "dev talk," here's a glimpse of what Fusion: Hexella Dive will offer in the future:
    • Numerous story missions with breathtaking CGs;
    • Various game modes, such as Affinity missions with characters, world missions, and challenges that will put your skills to the test;
    • Animations of all characters and unseen visual aspects (like the Brood Queen);
    • A fully customizable Ultimate skill system called "Hex Essence";
    • Lore books that tell past stories through "cards";
    • Plenty of new perks for weapons;
    • New ways to make exploration more intriguing—both visually and in terms of gameplay;
    • And of course, based on feedback, which we are always happy to hear, we want to give importance to user ideas!
    If you want to follow my progress, check it live on Trello or our server Discord!

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    Spoiler
    ZenkaiGames team:
    YuukiToyaro - Main Developer
    Vortex - English Localizer
    Manuel - Mapper and Lore Master
    Kevin - Playtester
    Farabi Hasan - BGM
    Letssa - CG Artist
    Sketch Studio - UI Designer
    Widya - Logo Designer
    Didik Wahyudi - Logo Designer

    Plugin:
    Arthran
    Biud436
    Cae
    Casper Gaming
    Coelocanth
    CT_Bolt
    DKPlugins
    Effekseer
    FOSSIL Team
    Gabe
    Galvs
    JJMENET
    Maxii1996
    Mokusei Penguin
    Mr. Trivel
    NekoGakuen
    Nerine
    Phoenix KageDesu
    Ruru no Kyoukai (ルルの教会)
    SumRndmDde
    Taaspider
    Unagi Ootoro (うなぎおおとろ)
    VisuStella (and YEP)

    BGM:
    Hatokman
    Joel Steudler
    KADOKAWA
    YouFulca (Wingless Seraph)

    BGS:
    KADOKAWA
    Sound Fishing Bruitages

    ME:
    KADOKAWA
    YouFulca (Wingless Seraph)

    And a special thanks to the RPG Maker Community for helping me with the project up to this day. ❤️

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    Itch: Download page
  2. YuukiToyaro
    #2 Source
    Update 10/27/24: Due to important errors discovered during my playtesting, I have just uploaded a patch that fixes the following issues:

    • Fixed an issue where some audio files were not loading correctly
    • Translation errors for Italian and English languages
    • Checkpoints not activating properly

    Since the game would crash during the 'Everlasting Aster' mission due to missing files, I recommend downloading the new version; if you have already downloaded version 1.0.2, save files from 1.0.3 should be compatible.
  3. ATT_Turan
    #3 Source
    I tried to play your game for the feedback event, but it crashes on boot.

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  4. YuukiToyaro
    #4 Source
    Thanks for the info! Hm this is strange, the file is in the folder, and yes, this error pop out. Though, if I click "retry", it doesn't show up again for me. I must investigate and understand why. Have you tried to click retry?
    ATT_Turan said:
    I tried to play your game for the feedback event, but it crashes on boot.

    View attachment 324151
  5. ATT_Turan
    #5 Source
    No.

    If you're using that file as a part of a evented title screen or something, you might need to add it to the system files for preloading.

    But even then, I'd expect perhaps a delay in appearing, not an actual error.

    I feel like I've seen this kinda recently in a support thread, someone was getting this related to a specific plugin only when deploying the project encrypted. Is that the case for you? Is there no error if you deploy without encryption?

    If yes, you might do a search for the plugin that's using the file, see if you can find the thread - it might be just adjusting one function call to correctly account for encryption.
  6. bgillisp
    #6 Source
    So I played this game for feedback fest. I got farther than Turan as I got it to launch after hitting retry *AND* editing your game directory to remove all spaces. Thoughts in spoiler:

    Spoiler
    First attempt to run it, game crashed to desktop no message. I renamed the folder to meet networking standards, then it ran.

    Still get can’t find file background but hitting retry I get past it and it loads the 2nd time.

    Go to options menu, ESC doesn’t work to exit it, though your prompt says ESC is back. Only way out is to hit the mobile button at the top.

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    During this message I got a lot of popups for items given. Probably should hide those as it is not fitting to have them during a black screen cutscene.

    Opening scene is black screen and a lot of text. Could you consider showing some of it?

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    Seriously you really should SHOW some of this. Not just text like this.

    Noticed you managed to animate Yato standing up. Nice touch. Still would look better if you went back and did that for the rest of the intro.

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    Forgot to translate this line. Also white text on no background? Almost impossible to read.

    That walk speed is AWFUL. I got always dash on and I feel like a turtle could pass me. And I know autodash is working as I hold shift and it is somehow even slower.

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    Should I be able to stand on this? I can also walk on that chair too.

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    Ohhhh what a feeling….when we are dancing on the ceiling….

    Ok I don’t think I am meant to get there. May want to fix that.

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    If you are going to post the demo on itch too you need to make a separate version without that steam access error code. All it does is look bad in the long run.

    Can only navigate your menu with the mouse. Keyboard does nothing.

    For fun I tested a controller. I can move with it, but no other button works at all. Does nothing. This was an xbox360 controller.

    I got shot at by a guard, took damage, game hung up here:

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    You need to test your game deployed and fix these things as having the keys not work on the menu not work at all, getting a background error on boot, and then this when I die the first time should have been caught before release of a Beta. Beta in game dev means all features complete and working as far as we know and it is bug testing time. But a player shouldn’t hit this many major bugs in the first 5 – 10 minutes of the game in any Beta (ignoring the fact that Bethesda has done it).

    I do notice you call it an alpha at the bottom though. Should call it alpha all around (and remove the BETA from the side). That would make sure players know the state of the game better all around. This means you should also update your itch page name and project page on the forums as well so people know it is in an alpha state, not beta state.

    One thing: You can’t have spaces in any name for anything you use in the game. That includes your project directory. I had to remove the spaces from your directory to even play this game at all. You can rename it to Fusion_Hexella_Dive instead, which may help some of the errors.

    Overall: Definitely needs some work, but that’s why we post these games here right? To find out where the work is needed so we can fix them before launching to a bigger audience. I would suggest focusing on the failure to launch errors and the one in the last picture first, as those are more critical right now than making the intro more than black screen with text.

    Hope this helps the game improve! Good luck!
  7. YuukiToyaro
    #7 Source
    ATT_Turan said:
    No.

    If you're using that file as a part of a evented title screen or something, you might need to add it to the system files for preloading.

    But even then, I'd expect perhaps a delay in appearing, not an actual error.

    I feel like I've seen this kinda recently in a support thread, someone was getting this related to a specific plugin only when deploying the project encrypted. Is that the case for you? Is there no error if you deploy without encryption?

    If yes, you might do a search for the plugin that's using the file, see if you can find the thread - it might be just adjusting one function call to correctly account for encryption.
    Thank you. I tested it without encryption, and it worked without an error/crash. I will investigate even further!

    bgillisp said:
    So I played this game for feedback fest. I got farther than Turan as I got it to launch after hitting retry *AND* editing your game directory to remove all spaces. Thoughts in spoiler:

    Spoiler
    First attempt to run it, game crashed to desktop no message. I renamed the folder to meet networking standards, then it ran.

    Still get can’t find file background but hitting retry I get past it and it loads the 2nd time.

    Go to options menu, ESC doesn’t work to exit it, though your prompt says ESC is back. Only way out is to hit the mobile button at the top.

    View attachment 324299

    During this message I got a lot of popups for items given. Probably should hide those as it is not fitting to have them during a black screen cutscene.

    Opening scene is black screen and a lot of text. Could you consider showing some of it?

    View attachment 324300

    Seriously you really should SHOW some of this. Not just text like this.

    Noticed you managed to animate Yato standing up. Nice touch. Still would look better if you went back and did that for the rest of the intro.

    View attachment 324301

    Forgot to translate this line. Also white text on no background? Almost impossible to read.

    That walk speed is AWFUL. I got always dash on and I feel like a turtle could pass me. And I know autodash is working as I hold shift and it is somehow even slower.

    View attachment 324302

    Should I be able to stand on this? I can also walk on that chair too.

    View attachment 324303

    Ohhhh what a feeling….when we are dancing on the ceiling….

    Ok I don’t think I am meant to get there. May want to fix that.

    View attachment 324304

    If you are going to post the demo on itch too you need to make a separate version without that steam access error code. All it does is look bad in the long run.

    Can only navigate your menu with the mouse. Keyboard does nothing.

    For fun I tested a controller. I can move with it, but no other button works at all. Does nothing. This was an xbox360 controller.

    I got shot at by a guard, took damage, game hung up here:

    View attachment 324305

    You need to test your game deployed and fix these things as having the keys not work on the menu not work at all, getting a background error on boot, and then this when I die the first time should have been caught before release of a Beta. Beta in game dev means all features complete and working as far as we know and it is bug testing time. But a player shouldn’t hit this many major bugs in the first 5 – 10 minutes of the game in any Beta (ignoring the fact that Bethesda has done it).

    I do notice you call it an alpha at the bottom though. Should call it alpha all around (and remove the BETA from the side). That would make sure players know the state of the game better all around. This means you should also update your itch page name and project page on the forums as well so people know it is in an alpha state, not beta state.

    One thing: You can’t have spaces in any name for anything you use in the game. That includes your project directory. I had to remove the spaces from your directory to even play this game at all. You can rename it to Fusion_Hexella_Dive instead, which may help some of the errors.

    Overall: Definitely needs some work, but that’s why we post these games here right? To find out where the work is needed so we can fix them before launching to a bigger audience. I would suggest focusing on the failure to launch errors and the one in the last picture first, as those are more critical right now than making the intro more than black screen with text.

    Hope this helps the game improve! Good luck!


    Wow, thank you so much for this detailed analysis! You have no idea how helpful this will be. Also, I apologize for all the issues you encountered during your run; I'll make sure to tackle everything you mentioned step by step. Many bugs/improvements will be rolled out in the next hotfix version of the game—hopefully this very weekend.

    Regarding the missing background.png error, I’ve temporarily fixed it by replacing the encrypted file with the unencrypted one, but I need to figure out why it isn’t loading on the first try.

    I just realized that the ESC command doesn’t work in the menu, even though it’s listed. I’m too used to navigating back with the right mouse button, so I’ll work on resolving this issue.

    About the items obtained during the black cutscene: I’ll make sure to hide them. I already have an idea for how to handle this. Noted!

    Yes... the initial cutscene has a lot of dialogue. Initially, it was meant to be just a transition, but it ended up being much longer than planned. The idea of showing all this through an in-game animated scene is excellent—I'll make it animated in the upcoming 1.1 version (not the hotfix).

    Thank you so much for appreciating the small detail with Yato! This will be my main goal—making the game feel as alive as possible through the sprites. I already have many enemy concepts in the works with unique movements/attacks, and I can’t wait to show them!

    As for the transparent background issue with the text, that’s odd. Normally, the game has a background to make the text more readable. I’ll investigate why it wasn’t present at the beginning—it might have been accidentally disabled.
    The translation will also be addressed.

    The player’s movement at the start was intentionally penalized due to Yato’s mortal injuries. To make it less stressful, I might adjust the movement parameters, though compared to the “standard” speed later on, it will still be slower. I’ll implement this change in version 1.1.

    Many collisions are still off... I’ll fix this in the hotfix—oops.

    As for the Steam warning, that was my oversight. During testing, I was trying to figure out how Steam worked and collect game data, but I hadn’t planned to move to Itch so quickly. It’ll be removed in the hotfix!

    It’s great to know that controllers are partially supported in the game! In the future, the game will fully support controllers (this was already planned!), so it’s normal for some buttons/menus not to work yet.

    That last text issue has also been resolved in the hotfix version.

    Lastly, thank you so much for your review! You’re absolutely right about the Beta label; this game isn’t ready to be considered that yet. I underestimated too many aspects and maybe got carried away with the excitement of the first release, so I’ll reevaluate a lot!
    But that’s what I wanted—a chance to better understand what I was getting into, and only with people like you can I recognize my mistakes. Let’s just say I always aim to learn from my errors! Haha.

    If you ever manage to, I’d greatly appreciate any future messages with your updates.
    I’m very confident this game can capture interest, and I’ll do everything I can to make it the best it can be to tell a fantastic story.

    Thank you so much again to both of you, and I wish you a great day/evening! :kaohi:
  8. RCXGaming
    #8 Source
    I was interested in Hexella Drive thanks to the stellar art that you used for your store page. The Feedback Festival helped push me to make this review, but trust me when I say I would have covered it regardless due to the screenshots that I saw.

    [I did not look at the other reviews on the page when I played the game, so I'm fresh off of my blind playthrough]

    --

    Fusion Hexella Drive Review
    + Very pretty title art! This is what caught my attention. Cool title music too.

    + I do think it's very interesting that you have Visual Novel-type functionality for your text, where you get to:
    * Automatically progress it
    * Skip through the dialogue (even though it's just moving through all of it rapidly)
    * Get to be able to see the log of how much dialogue is spoken
    * Hide it (to look at the pretty CGs?)
    * Save and Load your position (which fits RPG Maker's default behavior of starting where you left off if you save in the middle of an event)
    * Summon the options menu mid-talk (which should be a feature more people use)
    * Or go back to the title (Which... I'll be honest is a bit pointless given that you can already save and load and there's not much to do on the actual title itself, but oh well)

    It's a very robust system.

    + This menu is pretty cool! I like how it looks.

    + You have diagonal movement!

    + I always love it when RM games try to do crazy stuff, like the stealth in this. Very much appreciated that you have lines of sight to tell the player where they're looking.

    + I like that the evil general guy shattered into pieces when you beat him. I like that it happens to boxes too when you break them.

    + The attempt to make Ace have a more natural cutscene (eg. you don't just wait for him to walk forward) when you're in the Ancestral Realm cave was pretty neat.

    = This is the first RPG Maker game I've seen that has a language select! (Even if it did close the game for some odd reason?)

    = I've started seeing social media buttons on RM games now. Neat, I guess.

    = Mouse input for walking seems to be disabled.

    - The first problem I see is that I get a missing file error for "background" every time I load up the game. Thankfully it fixed itself, but that's not inspiring confidence.

    - No keyboard rebinding. But as this is an MZ game and not MV, that is more forgivable. (Still, you should invest in it.)

    - You should really consider adding a black backdrop when the player chooses to see Patch Notes, because it's quite confusing when it just pops up over the title.

    - I do think it's a shame that you have all of this custom art and effort put into your visuals, but you use the same RTP sounds as everyone else...

    - Typos:
    * "The subject is ready to depart, send the messagge already"
    * "Follow me forthwith in the containment rooms without any complain." should be "without any complaints."

    - There is untranslated Italian that is still left in the game. Instances:
    * When you save
    * When you get the prompt about WASD/Arrow Keys when you can start to control Yato
    * When you're asked to fill in your name
    * When you talk to Ace after the first boss fight

    - This intro would be much cooler if it wasn't just text on a black screen! I also think it's odd you show little sidebar prompts for items you obtain, even though your character is supposed to be in a glass tube. You should disable that.

    - "Might as well leave everything in your hands" has "in" get cut off by the edge of the text box.

    - Not using text boxes (even dim ones) makes the text very hard to parse when you're actually on a map.

    - The lack of a cursor (and using the player's actual cursor) made it hard to follow where my menu options were going in the menu. It's also quite finnicky as it can flick over to another menu option even if I don't want it to do that.

    - Why does it say "error null or undefined" in the menu regarding my character's weapon?

    - What is this strange number and icon over my character's head?

    - The game seems quite resource-intensive, as my game could barely break past 15 / 20 FPS at any given moment.

    - Oh wait. The walk and run speed aren't because of the framerate. Yato is just that slow. Oof. Not a fan.

    - I'm not quite sure why you have a soldier that does nothing, but they react when they see you. They turn around for a fraction of a second before looking back down (Which in hindsight is just RPG Maker logic with events, since interacting with them forces to look at you)

    - Oops, I don't think you're supposed to stand here. I can walk over that entire setpiece, by the way. I also think you should make it an Event Touch event as opposed to an action button event, since I guessed.

    - The strange tile behavior also happens on this following map. The mapping in general feels a bit... weak. I wasn't aware we were even on a spaceship until I saw the satellites outside, since it felt a bit too abstract fantasy (with all of the crystal tiles).

    - The Space-to-jump function seems a bit broken, since you can jump onto any surface... including the ceiling tiles.

    - You really should consider making a bigger map so the UI elements don't overlap with your character when you reach the corner of the screen (such as when you have to jump)

    - The bunny hopping with Spacebar is an extremely effective way to dodge the enemies, who shoot too slow to catch up to you.

    - Ace just walks into me and our character gets healed, without much reaction from Yato himself. I thought it was a pathing bug until you said Ace was a "spirit". Like am I missing something here? That seems like it should have more focus.

    - I'm not sure what the point of choices are if you only have one choice, especially since you're throwing a lot of them at me. Yato isn't a mute, so him talking exclusively this way is odd. It doesn't make me invested in the story since these aren't real choices, and would work much better if the character just talked normally.

    - (!) I like that you start with low HP to signify you're weak, but that's undermined by the fact that pressing U will do this crazy regen effect that takes you back to full HP regardless and keep going on for quite a while. It seems quite trivial to get back to full HP with this.

    - (!!!) RPG Maker ABS in general is quite jank, so I was a bit disappointed when I realized what combat in this game would entail. I'm happy that the general guy wasn't hard, but like.

    The way you can spam your sword attack (which itself is very hard to see since it's half transparent and very close to your character, which obscures it) and your special sword technique, combined with how the enemy doesn't really do anything to stop it, made the fight a cakewalk. That 10,000 HP went down the drain immediately.

    - (!!) I'll admit. I have no idea what this game's plot or tone is. You are a supersoldier kept inside of a glass container, and there's a lot of Proper Nouns (Hexella, Organization, Rodyak, Spiritual Guide, Deities, etc.) thrown around and lore implications for a space opera world. But I barely know who Yato himself is, or why HE cares about what's going on.

    - (!!) Ace is also confusing: he says he's your spiritual guide and that you can't perceive him, yet he's making himself solid now to fix that? It makes me wonder what the limitations are.

    Like there's a lot of emphasis on Hexella, and "I'll help you use Hex Energy, since it's a basic element of Hexella" which is like. That and the verboseness of the dialogue makes it quite a lot to dump onto the player in the opening hour.

    - Oh... these graphics do not mesh together well at all.

    - I didn't screenshot it in time, but there was an odd gab window message when the monsters spawned in after Ace spoke. Also, the one after it said: "Hang in there [1]" which I'm positive is meant to be the variable that holds the player's name. So... oops!

    - This lava tile isn't marked as the kind that can hurt you. For some odd reason.

    - So. After you defeat the monsters and let Ace continue his little reading on the statue with the red runes, the game seems to enter into a permanent softlock. Talking to Ace again doesn't do anything, you can't leave the map, and there are no other points of interest. (I tried to click on everything).

    Based on this, this seems to be the end of my playthrough since I quite literally can't go further.

    From the outset I can tell this is a game that had a lot of effort put into it, from the custom art, the custom menu and the large-scale space opera-style setting that you're going for.

    My issue, however, lies in the fact it doesn't seem like it's in the right place yet. The dialogue is very verbose and laden with "lore", which makes it feel like the fifth chapter in a book I haven't read. Ace's explanations didn't help much, since there was a lot of proper sci-fi/fantasy nouns thrown in without much done to help the player acclimate (eg. with proper setpieces or motivations).

    Like I am aware that Yato is some sort of supersoldier with access to Hexella, but what are we doing here? Fighting a shadowy organization? It felt unclear to me.

    The actual combat being ABS (action battle system) felt quite jank. You can practically spam your attacks until the enemies are red paste, and they can hardly do anything to catch up to you (and this is with 1/4th the usual speed, I'm positive it would go much faster if things ran at a normal framerate). It felt quite mindless.

    I was interested in seeing where the game was going, but then I ran into the inexplicable softlock after defeating the monsters in the Ancestral Realm cave. Oh well, I gave it my best try.
  9. woootbm
    #9 Source
    Heya! I played your game for the Festival. You can actually watch it here (if you dare). There will be some overlap with my points made below, though. Also you should watch it for bug reports. I didn't bother to write up all the bugs I encountered and it should be easier to repro just by watching the video.

    I got to the lava area and completed the big fight, but then the game stopped progressing and Ace wouldn't talk to me. Overall, I found myself constantly running into bugs. I recommend you either give players a guide on how to get the best experience, or simply hold off on a demo until it's in a better state.

    Just to warn you, I tend to be one of the harsher critics so... WATCH OUT.

    The review
    • Man, there is a ton of UI work in this game!
    • The character design in the main menu looks strong (although it looks like a sketch).
    • Good touches by editing Yato's sprite to be bloody and limping, as well as eventing to sell him getting up.
    • I love breaking boxes to get loot!
    • Since the player wakes up not knowing anything (and the opening is intentionally not giving us all the details) you could just start the game here. This would make the intro snappier and save on having to come up with more CG's the make the text opening more interesting.
    • Please include key rebinding.
      • Add a tutorial on what the buttons are and do.
      • WASD + E is a difficult combo. I'd suggest moving E to J or something.
    • Is the jump supposed to be this good? It allows bypassing a lot of the challenge.
    • Where's the CG's and character art? The forum/store page feels misleading on this. Was my game broken and things weren't loading?
    • The opening black screen needs CG's to explain what's going on (or just remove it, as mentioned above).
    • These exposition dumps are too long, hard to follow, and unimportant. Focus on the characters and their motives. We only need a little bit on the powers. Spread out the lore so we have stuff to find out about this world.
    • RTP sounds need to be replaced for a unique experience that has more consistent tone/audio quality.
    • The maps need layering and alignment passes.
    • Combat is awkward, unbalanced, and spammy. It needs a lot of work, unfortunately.
  10. YuukiToyaro
    #10 Source
    Thank you both so much for your feedback and for trying out Fusion: Hexella Dive! First off, I want to say that I read your reviews carefully (and in Woootbm’s case, I also watched the YouTube video) and gathered a lot of improvement ideas, which I’ve added to my Trello board to work on.

    I’m glad the game’s illustrations were the highlight for you (although you wondered where they appear in-game?). Well, with only the first mission (and half of the second) available, it’s normal that you haven’t seen any yet... But trust me, they’re coming—I’m very confident about that aspect. As for Yato’s stand art in the menu, it’s still just a draft; I’ll finalize it properly, and I hope to have it done by version 0.20. (there are no AI art)

    Speaking of versions, I’ve decided to follow the suggestions from Woootbm’s video, and in general, to address the confusion that’s arisen. I wasn’t... very careful, let’s say. Now the game’s version is 0.13 Pre-Alpha, and the next one will be 0.14, which will serve as a hotfix and add new code snippets to make the game more robust—hopefully preventing any major breakage in future updates.

    Regarding the RTP sound assets, they’re only temporary, and I don’t plan to keep them in the final game. As mentioned, the game is still in its early development phase, and nothing is finalized yet (apart from... concepts, of course), so any base resource you see/hear now is destined to be replaced in the future (I hope the same goes for the tilesets—I’m not great at drawing, unfortunately, haha... but after all this work and the funds spent on the game, the time will come).

    As I said before, I want to be a developer who listens to every piece of feedback, and since I’m a beginner, I appreciate all improvement ideas and notes on what I might be doing wrong. The next step is to release a hotfix for many of the bugs you reported, so that future testers will have a better gameplay experience.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to try Fusion: Hexella Dive! :kaopride:

    Note: I see that many have had difficulty understanding the game’s initial storyline. This worries me a lot because... I won’t hide the fact that I’ve been working on this for over 5 years (not the game itself, but more of a Web Novel style of writing), so I need to figure out whether I should aim for a different narrative approach.

    I don’t want to take a 'dump everything at the start so that the story is immediately clear' kind of approach—I find that ugly, as it strips away the element of mystery. But at the same time, I want it to be engaging and not let the interest fall off (even though there is a skip button, I hope it won’t be overused, haha).

    I’ll try revisiting the narrative and possibly adjust some scenes (including that initial black-screen scene). However, as I mentioned, in the future there will also be 'lore cards' that reveal many behind-the-scenes events, so I hope everything will once again feel balanced.
  11. YuukiToyaro
    #11 Source
    Update 11/01/2025: Version 0.14 of Fusion: Hexella Dive is now available and brings the following hotfixes:

    • background.png not loading correctly (partially fixed)
    • ESC command not responding in menus
    • Visual novel background not displaying correctly in certain dialogs
    • Various collision fixes
    • Steam login error (not that it was needed for now)
    • Bugged respawn options after death
    • After Step 8 of the Everlasting Aster mission, the game now continues instead of freezing (just talk to Ace)
    • Updated game version (this was supposed to be 1.0.4, but now it’s 0.14) to avoid confusion
    • New feature: when reaching the screen edges, the HUD dims to show what's behind it
    These are the most important bugs I wanted to fix right away. Other feedback will be addressed in the upcoming 0.20, such as replacing the black-screen intro with a proper cutscene.

    If you have a save file after the battle with the Vermillions and still need to talk to Ace, the save remains compatible!