Hey everyone.

I've been hard at work on the full game and what I have planned is cooking up to be quite the story. And as things progressed, some parts of the game were inconsistent with the full story. Here is a patch I made on the side to clear them up, starting from the biggest changes to the smallest.

CHANGES & ADDITIONS:

- Leveling is no longer a mechanic and all enemies had their stats scaled down (explanations below)

- Overhauled the lines, pacing and visual flare of the scene where Tina shows Joe her workshop

- Overhauled the pacing of the introductions after the first shop to not make it excruciatingly long

- Overhauled the scene where Tsuyoshi runs away screaming

- Overhauled the scene where Joe grabs his equipment from the box, which has also been relocated to the upper right

- Added a brief tutorial that gives a better explanation for the weapon mechanics

- The mystery man in the beginning now has custom-made face images and a name box

- "Play/Skip Intro" have both been renamed to "Play/Skip Opening"

- The "PROLOGUE" in the opening has been renamed to "CHAPTER 1"

- Removed the "PROLOGUE COMPLETE" text in the end of the trial version

- All shops now have a fade transition just like the save file selection

- Changed and overhauled some of the animations

- Added some additional plugins and updated the credits

- "Options", "Command Remember" & "Always Dash" have been renamed to "Config", "Remember Commands" & "Auto Dash"

- Many lines, text positions and visuals in scenes and battles have recieved minor tweaks to be more cohesive

- Added new cascade effects for the sewer dump and platform

- The cone rat now moves a step before the first battle starts

- The breathing speed of enemies is now dependant on much of their health is left

- The Makeshift Wrench now deals more damage and shows the correct animation when used

- The Bandage now heals 25% HP instead of 20% HP

- The Metal Plating now has a different description

- The "Goggles" and "Bandana" have been changed to "Jou's Goggles" and "Tina's Bandana"

- Added a new prop in the Junction Slum Center

- Changed the background colors of menu bars

- Joe and Tina now have 0 MP instead of 1 MP

- Small tweaks to menu visuals

- Added a small event to prevent a scene breaking

BUG FIXES:

Fixed a bug where re-entering the Sewer Network didn't play music

Fixed a bug where Jou's Goggles are not automatically equipped

Fixed the timing in the save screen transitions

Fixed a typo where Tina says "northen" instead of "northern"

NO LEVELING?

Normally in RPG's, the player levels up and gains stronger stats. So why did I not include it here?

There are three answers for this...

-   I want the game to be short and linear. This project was never meant to be grand and ambitious, but only something that can fit within the scope of the story I want to tell here. Within that scope -- leveling actually complicates things way more than they should.

-   I want the weapon mechanics to be flexible. When the player's stats rise, the weapons need to adapt. Now there probably is a plugin out there that somehow scales weapon stats but even then; I'd also like to pay attention to how battles are paced while not completely railroading the player into one specific playstyle.

-   I do not want to include grinding in the game. Like I said in the first answer; this game is a linear story. In that kind of framework, I don't have room to design something that just pads out the playtime more than it really should.

With that out of the way, it's back to getting Tina to pay her debt.

Until then,

Wanderer