This week, I got a lot of storyline progress done, I have been predominately working in Saliden Village. I still have some more things to do in there, but we're well on the way story wise. Game mechanic side is on hold while I connect and finalize all the story routes.

No news from Xavier or Zephyr this week and I'm not likely to have any from Zephyr for a little while I eat the cost of fixing my car up.

Now let's get into the meat of this week's devlog, the 'What's Coming' in 1.0.4, Heart of Corruption.

Gameplay Changes and Expected Features

I'll clarify first off that Expected Features only means that at the time of writing, I am interested in making the feature part of the update. That doesn't mean it is guaranteed. This will be in two parts to distinguish what will and will not be absolutely included in the update.

Gameplay Changes

• Total Stats and Combat Overhaul - I have reworked the stats of the game on both Player and Monster side, greatly reducing the HP pool of both sides. This is still in development but the work will continue. Some will remember dealing thousands of damage, that will almost never happen to an enemy equal in status to you. Expect a notable difficulty increase in encounters. 
  • The combat will be overhauled in several key ways, there will be more class skills to learn and use, new armorsets to find and build (yes I said build, more on that in Expected Features), and the Death Curse and dying itself will change mechanically as well (See the next bullet point)
• Game Over Overhaul - Dying doesn't have to mean you're dead, and it doesn't have to suck. What is bare bones implemented but will be expanded on is the Retry system. If you die in battle, you can retry the fight. However, this will not be unlimited. If you remember the Soul Sphere, which is a random drop from some enemies, they serve as your predominate healing item. However, they also serve another purpose in this update - they can be sacrificed to override your death and give you another try at the fight. However, use them up in battle healing yourself, and you cannot revive at the start of battle. Should this happen, you will need to reload a save.
• Meaningful Choices -  The storyline now greatly branches from its original linear path. Characters that met a grim fate might be able to be saved. Horrific fates could await others. All of it depends on you.

• Overworld Bosses - Overworld Bosses will spawn in this update.  Two are planned, the Leviathan and the Goreale. Overworld bosses are immensely powerful roaming bosses that wander specific areas. Fighting them will be necessary to get Post/Endgame level weapons and armor, and you may need to fight them more than once. These will be bosses on par or surpassing Main Story Chapter Bosses in difficulty, which is to say, very powerful, so don't take the appearance of one lightly. Many more Overworld Bosses will be added in the full release of the game as well as the Story Demo. 
• Class Promotions - Class Promotions take a base class and evolve it in a specific direction. Some are story unlocked, while others are ones earned through exploration and deep dives into the lore. Two Promotions will exist for this update, with many more to come in the full game and story demo. Class Promotions give you new skills, traits, and rebalance the character's stat pool to fit their new role. Skills already learned will evolve into new versions fitting the Promotion.

Expected Features

• Currency and Merchant Changes - I'm looking into a concept that will have important implications for the progression system of the game, material currency and gold. Gold is self explanatory, but material currency is a high value item that merchants will use in conjunction with gold to give you an item in exchange. Basically, it is expensive to source iron for armor, dangerous to wander the wild to find herbs, so merchants of these fields will often require you to source them yourself. This will slow down how quickly you can progress, but it also encourages exploration of the nooks and crannies to find these resources and learn where they are.  (Or you can beat up Pito Tunnelers for their ores)
• Boats and Boat License - A miscellaneous feature that will potentially see limited implementation. Boat travel will be available in limited capacity but it will allow for more exploration than before. Enemies on the water may be substantially more powerful than land dwelling ones. This has some handling implemented but may not make the final cut.
• Expanded Sidequest System - The Sidequest System will see additions to some extent, time provided. Existing sidequests will be revisited to ensure quality and that everything continues working.
• Death Curse Changes - In some capacity, Death Curse will be impacted by your performance in battle. The intention is to reward combo completions with a time bonus. This will see some iteration come to pass, but maybe not specifically in this way. Overall, giving the Player more abilities to deal with the Curse is what I want to look into.
  

The Story

The Sacred Valley, frozen and cold, was once bright and warm, full of life. How did it become this way? What began the great plague of demons in the land? Can those lost be saved? 

In this update, you will explore the Blighted Cave, the foul core of the corruption of the land. As you descend deeper and deeper, the full magnitude of what has happened to the land will become clear...

Areas and Art

• Beginning phase of pixel art implementation - The Main Characters and Party Members are getting proper sprites, and the entire Blighted Cave Dungeon will be done in a custom tileset. Monsters will have their own visual appearances.
• Blighted Cave Dungeon - The first proper full scale story dungeon. This dungeon takes you from icy halls, stoney floors, to oozing, pulsating chambers of flesh. Unspeakable horrors and dangers await, and your own soul is at risk of corruption.
• Countless New and Updated Story Scenes - Digitally rendered by AoDLegacy and Zephyr, many new story scenes are on the way!
• Pixel Art Story Animations - New to the story telling arsenal, these short scenes help make the world feel more real and intense, seeing things happen on screen rather than solely in pictures.

What's Next

This will be the final update to the Tech Demo aside from minor changes such as updates to graphics, musical changes, and bug fixing patches. I will be focusing on fully building the game to a 'this is what the game will look like in its near final state, and this is how it will perform and function', and release a final build, the 'Story Demo'. From there, the game will completely go into private development while I work on finishing the first two chapters of the game, which will be released as the first episode of the Shattered Realms: Mortal Tale storyline.

Depending on how long this process takes, I will be starting development on a side project or two. More updates on this matter will have to wait until I know for sure the ultimate pace of the game.

This update is expected to hit in Spring 2021, potentially well into the late part of Spring. Please be patient, and be sure to follow the devlog for more specific updates to specific features as they get worked on. Video logs of these features will be making an appearance as well.

Thanks for your time, and I will be seeing you guys next week with more development news!