VXAce - Northwall v1.0.1

Right after that puzzle, there's a boss fight, and after the boss fight, Maestro shows up to explain that Marion died because Tilana's wounds were far deadlier than originally thought. Tilana even picked up an ability during your time at Silth (I assume) called Deadly Wound - which prevents all healing.

Victor cycles through two states - building anger and parrying/counterattacking. His ATK and AGI steadily grow while he's building anger, so he's at his most dangerous when he's furious or hellbent. He will predictably move to the next stage of anger when his current stage has 1 turn left - you can interrupt the cycle by stunning him, though if you stun him too often, he breaks it and immediately becomes hellbent (so you can't just cheese the fight by chain stunning).

I've personally found the most effective strategy is to maintain lunar strength, lycanthropic regen, and deadly wound as much as possible, then generally run piercing strike, vicious bite, and frenzy. Since you can't maintain those buffs indefinitely while in hybrid form, you'll have to pick your moments to revert back to human form and regen some MP with lunar rage - when he switches to parry stance is usually a good time. Also, transforming into hybrid form refreshes all your buffs. Since lunar strength and lycanthropic regen cost 5 MP each and hybrid form costs 10 MP, you can save a turn of time by reverting to human form, then immediately transforming back to hybrid to refresh the duration on everything.

Lunar blur will give you even more AGI and give you good EVA chance, but it can be a risky buff to try and maintain during that particular fight, since Hunter's Mark removes and prevents it.

Also, whenever he uses smite evil, it prevents him from using any damaging abilities for his next two actions, so you have a window to get regen rolling again or use bloodthirst for a more bursty heal. I'd probably avoid running Lunar Madness on this particular fight, since it prevents the reapplication of lunar buffs until it wears off - and regen is pretty vital.

it seems to have issues. when galarand and maestro's teams are fighting, the skills from the witch occasionally fail to update properly, and have had one crash.

I too found that issue of a stuck button: can I ask WHY they need to be toggled? the puzzel seems to work by just touchign once, so why risk bugs by having them set to toggle? just a thought :)

here's how i'd assess the game. By the way, I just need to say first, the below is going to sound very critical, but i really did enjoy the game. On the whole, i thought you did a great job and I really admire your work.

-the story is very strong throughout, except the very end is disappointing because i feel like i wasn't given enough of an explanation for what happened. the whole game was kind of a mystery/cliffhanger, and at the end i didn't feel like i got all the answers that would've been satisfying to get.

-the gameplay is very strong in the beginning of the game, but it starts turning somewhere around Silth. The puzzles in silth are cool, but the battles start to become less interesting. With Elblum, the dungeon is very well designed, but the battles are VERY annoying. The boss battle at Elblum is a good foreshadowing of the frustration that is to follow. There weren't any hints about what the crystals or power source does, so I pretty much had to die a bunch of times / read up on the forums to understand how they worked and then determine my strategy accordingly.
The final dungeon does a good job of building suspense of the story, but I found parts of it very tedious. My personal opinion is that this game has a very strong story and character development, and you shouldn't include gameplay that is too tedious or difficult for players who want to advance in the story. I was glad you made the guilt puzzle easier. Tilana's wing was pretty fun, but the last bridge puzzle was a bit much and...okay, Viktor was too strong of a boss. His level of difficulty is what the final boss of the game should be. Too hard for just a mini-boss, especially since the player is not familiar with tilana's new skills.

The final battle...WAY too hard. Frustratingly so, because it's impossible to focus on survivability while also preventing the enemy from healing all your damage back up.

I feel like the last cut scene with maestro could've been done differently, more compelling...maybe the spirit you killed was the thing that took Galarand's place in keeping most of the monsters bound to the dungeon. Also we didn't get an explanation for why some monsters were able to escape the cave, why they waited 30 years, why only some of them went out, etc.. And I just couldn't believe the switch where you no longer controlled Suven and had to fight him as the final boss. The way the story played out,. it felt like tilana and varsena were ambiguous villains (selling out to maestro), not the other way around..and so it felt weird to be playing as them and not Suven. In an rpg like this, a big part of the experience is getting attached to the main character(s) and then overcoming adversity to triumph against the last obstacle. You did an awesome job of building up all the tension, but then didn't let your player get to experience the climax of the fantasy.

Ok, hope that wasn't too rambly....I REALLY look forward to seeing what you do in the future! Thanks for the game experience--despite my criticism, again, I really enjoyed it.

Which answers would you have liked to seen?

It's interesting that you say you stop liking the battles around Silth, as that's where I feel they finally get fun and stop being beatable with relatively standard "do damage, use heals" tactics.

In regards to there being no information on the Flarus boss - the boss, the power source, and the crystals are all scannable and will provide details on everything they do. You only lose that ability for the 3 final bosses of the game.

I've really labored to make the puzzles and battles fit with the story of the game, they are not designed to just be tedious distractions - for example, Tilana's puzzles are designed to underscore her new role of giving commands (the bridge puzzle) and tactically thinking ahead (the tree chopping).

What in particular about the last puzzles do you feel is "too much" or detracts from the experience?

Victor, Sophie, Chloe, Celandine, Galarand, and Suven are really all the final bosses of the game. Victor isn't a mini boss - he is the final boss for Tilana.

I've tested all the battles with starter gear and lowest possible levels and they're very much doable with good strategy - that being said, I also designed them, so I'm not a good judge of balance. From the feedback I've received altogether, I like the balance of the combat throughout the game for the most part - the things I'd want to change would be anything that victory/defeat hinged on RNG. Not letting it get to a point where RNG was the main factor, like letting yourself get to low health and then hoping the boss doesn't use a damaging ability, but something where, regardless of strategy, it simply isn't doable without fortunate RNG.

If you feel you've encountered that, can you go into more detail about which fights and which specific abilities you feel are in that realm? Knowing what strategies you tried and what abilities you used is also extremely helpful.

For example, I've seen one LP where the player completely ignored the AGI debuffs the boss was applying and did nothing to remove or protect against them - which allowed the boss to do a lot more damage because he got more turns. The feedback I received was that the boss does too much damage, but it was very much my feeling that ignoring major mechanics is not something I should balance for.

However, as a hypothetical, if you're at full health, and the boss has a 10% chance of using an ability that one shots that party, that's not good. That kind of RNG is not something I want in my game.

If the feeling on Galarand, for example, is that Soul Split changing Varsena into anything but Guilt makes the fight undoable, then I either have to look at Soul Split being too powerful, Despair and Rage being too weak, or the player not properly compensating - so the more detailed feedback I get on what should be changed and why, the better.

What would make the ending feel more "compelling" for you?

I think the choice to have Suven slowly shift to the antagonist is one that not everyone will like, but so far most have and is one I'm pleased with. Really, starting at Silth, the transition to Tilana as a primary protagonist begins.

I don't think Northwall really falls into the traditional story arc in a way that it should have a positive ending. Really, it's the story of how Northwall falls - as a structure, as a people, and in the case of Suven, as an ideal - he seems like your standard "good guy" early on, but there is a revelation with him, Marion, and Galarand that crusading for what is "right" can lead down very dark and destructive paths.

I don't want Suven to be the hero of the story - but at the same time, I don't think anyone should be the hero.

I'm curious to hear your in-depth follow-ups - I've kicked around the idea of making an "easy" difficulty for the game for people who just want the story, but the intricate combat was really my biggest focus. I've tried to find a good balance, which is always an ongoing act fueled by feedback like yours, but when one person tells me Victor was their favorite fight of the game because of his difficulty, and another says the opposite, at some point I have to say, "What's the game that I would enjoy playing?"

If I did make an "easy" or "story" difficulty, I feel it would greatly detract from the experience of the game and a vast amount of the work I put in. That said, not everyone wants a challenging game - so I have to decide if I want to say, "This game may not be for those people" or "I'm willing to compromise the experience to make it more broadly appealing."

As always, I greatly appreciate the feedback and the discussion it generates - thanks very much for your time and comments!

So many! I asked you the main question earlier and in the private message, but I want to know

-who that Cleric was in that cut scene that was implied was Galarand, furious at Maestro's betrayal. It seems like it can't be Galarand, since Maestro was lying and apparently Galarand really did die already and the "woman" took his place in keeping the monsters at bay.

-if Maestro was able to come and go as he pleased outside of the cave already, with all those powers of cursing people, etc., what did he need to be "free" from that was apparently his motivation all along?

-Why exactly do you feel Suven became an antagonist in his quest to do 'right?" He was angry with and insensitive to Tilana, but I see that as just normal human emotions rather than becoming corrupted or evil. He was the only one of them who correctly saw Maestro for what he was, and refused to let himself be manipulated again like Tilana and Varsena did.

Yeah, your puzzles were REALLY well designed. The last wing of Tilana's bridge puzzle was just a bit too mentally taxing for me...maybe I only say this because I had to redo the entire game. I think I enjoyed the puzzles more the first time around. Varsena'a boss battle was EXTREMELY tedious for me. I hated having to learn all of the different spells, and even when I figured out the correct strategy to use, the battle took a really long time. I'd rather this battle be more difficult, but take half the time to win once the player figures out the right strategy to use.

Honestly, you're right--I forgot about the scan ability. That's my mistake, but I guess the fact that up until that point I didn't need to use it made me think it wasn't a mandatory skill, and just something for people who are curious what the enemy stats were (which I was, in the beginning of the game). The battles in the first half of the game were more fun for me because if I made a mistake (using a physical attack on an enemy with heavy armor), I wasn't punished too harshly for it--I had the opportunity to try a different strategy. I think the Belzor was a huge difficulty spike, so it caught me off guard, and left me (a little) frustrated. This might be okay, every game has its surprisingly tough bosses which can lead to some frustration the first play through...but you kept raising the stakes! Viktor really bothered me because the "smite evil" ability would do something like 400 damage to me. I felt like I had to keep up lycanthropic regen, but also the skills that gave me MP, because I needed to keep refreshing deadly wound or else he'd heal up my damage.

Yes, you have to make the game experience that you want to give players. I'm someone who was completely taken in by the story, atmosphere, and characters, and my primary motivation for continuing the game was to see what would happen next in the plot. So the "challenging" parts of the game were a source of frustration and not fun for me. And really it was just a few moments of the game...and most weren't even THAT bad. I am traumatized by the final battle though. I really want to see the ending cut scene again, but I don't even want to attempt that battle again, that's how frustrating it was. I would be very curious to see you or someone do a playthough of the final battle with that starter equipment and minimum level to see what I might be doing wrong. Maybe I just didn't have consumables? I never had to use potions or revives throughout the game really, so I never bought any. Also wish I hadn't used my stat boosting items all on Suven, hehe.

I think the game is very well balanced, save for a few battles--and the only big offender in my view is the final battle. Maybe think of a way to make that a tad less oppressive for casual gamers...my suggestion might be to lower the amount of healing the boss can do, or give the heal a high cooldown, so that the party can very slowly make progress without having to keep using deadly wound.

The ending would've been more compelling for me if we saw or learned exactly what happened with Galarand and the monsters, i.e. my questions to you I posted above.

No problem, of course you can't please everyone, and my feedback like anyone else's should just be taken with a grain of salt. I still really enjoyed the game so maybe some of these things I'm complaining about, if changed, contributed to my enjoyment of the game in ways I don't realize.

The priest near the end can be examined. If you do, Tilana and Varsena ask who he was and Maestro explains he is Galarand's high priest, Isk Var.

The woman referred to doesn't really keep the monsters at bay. Neither does Galarand. Galarand's spirit is little more than a puppet or middle man for a greater force (the unnamed female). The implication is that this is not her only focus, but for unknown reasons, she's decided to become active in this area of the game world - channeling her commands through Galarand's spirit.

If you check Maestro's equipment, he has a Mark of Galarand. None of the monsters are literally trapped in the cave - when Maestro says he's free, he means from the compulsion to follow Galarand's orders. There is no longer a force capable of commanding him against his wishes.

He was commanded to do a number of things to weaken the forces of the land, but he found ways to manipulate people within those confines. With Galarand gone, Maestro is peacing out before anyone can shackle him again - and Varsena remarks that the force controlling Galarand may come herself now that he's gone. That's why she goes back to Elblum, and why Tilana tries to warn Aylan before returning to the monsters.

That very last part is implied, but I'm commissioning art to make it more clear.

Suven is wrong because he refuses to accept that Galarand is not the pinnacle of morality and righteousness he believes. By siding with him, he's ultimately falling to the same corruption Galarand's spirit has. He is not doing what he's doing because it's right - he's doing it out of bloodthirsty, vicious vengeance. He is no better than Marion blindly trying to kill Tilana without any thought to alternative solutions out of a sense of vengeance for her acts.

Suven actually puts cure and cleanse on a 3 turn cooldown when he uses either. I might bump it up a turn or two, but I don't want Suven to too infrequently heal - he's been your major healer all game. I want him to act like it (he has a ton of conditional logic guiding his AI). I do think maintaining deadly wound or black flame to reduce healing is something I want to keep. I enjoy the gameplay of having to maintain certain buffs or debuffs while looking for openings to do more - a bit of a callback to skill "rotations" in MMOs.

I'm definitely still open to tweaking the last battle as I get more feedback - ESPECIALLY as I get LP/video feedback, as that gives me the best indication of whether a fight goes the way I intended.

Ok, but to me the difference between suven and marion is...

-tilana was cursed by Maestro which is why she committed those terrible acts. Suven realized this and that killing Tilana rather than saving her would just be more senseless killing

-maestro is evil though. i mean, i realize that in Northwall's universe (and in real life) it's not black and white, characters are ambiguous, etc., but Maestro's pretty far enough on the "evil" spectrum that I think Suven is pretty justified in wanting to kill him. I think trying to equate him to Marion is a false equivalence here and strikes me as naive on the part of Tilana and Varsena. The only possible reason I could see against this is that Maestro is offering Tilana a kind of "home" and purpose now..except, he's just manipulating her, and he's the one who took her original home away in the first place.

Ohh, I didn't realize it really was Galarand, because after winning Varsena I think says "that wasn't Galarand, was it?" and Maestro says "Galarand died a long time ago." But so it was his spirit...Ok. You may want to make that part more clear.

Tilana is fully aware of herself when she goes through the events in the alternate Aylan. She's certainly provoked by Ivan and Eric, but it's an extremely one-sided fight and she is more than capable of escaping combat if she wanted. However, she's quick to solve her problems through violence with her new form and she kills either Ivan or Eric in the heat of the moment.

When Victor calls her out on being more violent than she realizes or lets on, she starts making excuses for it instead of owning up to her behavior. Despite claiming to want to be cured, she even chooses her own survival at the cost of embracing her curse. She knows that the power source in the forest is only going to turn her down a darker path. She decides that Ivan, Eric, and Victor's deaths are worth her own life.

Of course, she then discovers that it was really all just Maestro proving a point to her. Initially, she accepts that there simply is no way back home. Maestro may have done something unspeakable, but Tilana is practical enough to try and figure out what she can do now and not dwell on the past. If she wants to kill Maestro later, she can try, but he really is offering her a way forward in life.

It isn't until she realizes how much she's been strung along, after killing Suven and Galarand, that she decides she's going to go back to Aylan on her own terms and that she can't buy into what Maestro said. We see during the credits that although Aylan's citizens are still hesitant and fearful of Tilana, Victor is much more open than Maestro suggested.

Maestro definitely is evil. Tilana and Varsena originally agree to go into the cave with Suven to kill him because they still think it's the right thing to do. Suven originally presented himself as a champion of "right," but his slowly changing behavior as he loses friends and eventually loses Northwall shows that he's not trying to save anyone any more. Now he's just after revenge. Tilana and Varsena even imply that his quest for vengeance might just be a suicide mission, but they don't have a better plan.

Varsena, of course, is trying to manipulate Maestro as much as he's trying to manipulate her. She's in this whole thing for saving Elblum, but after everything leading up to the final dungeon, she decides to embrace her curse and darkness and use the power of the monsters to force Elblum to cooperate. In the guilt puzzle of her wing of the final dungeon, in the shadow world, there are a number of hints that Varsena has been researching dark magic for some time, even - examining various objects around the room reveals that she'd been studying forbidden magic and using dark reagents.

Suven starts out with his head in the right place, and perhaps if he were given time to heal from his loss, he might eventually see the use of accepting his loss and moving on - rebuilding and helping where he can, instead of deciding that revenge is more important than anything else. He decides revenge is more important than curing Tilana, which he originally promised after returning to Northwall, so he's breaking his promise. He decides revenge is more important than helping Varsena in Elblum. He decides revenge is more important than seeing through the rather obvious corruption Galarand has gone through. He should want to kill both Galarand and Maestro, if it really comes down to it - and I think if Suven had won the final battle of the game, he would've ended up just as corrupted and evil as Galarand has become.