The Hand of Merlin
Room-C Games Developer
Versus Evil Publisher
2021-05-11 Release
Game News Posts:
132
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
Mostly Positive
(293 reviews)
Public Linux Depots:
- GameBin_Linux [91.57 M]
- Common_Linux [23.65 M]
Dev blog 70 - Upcoming changes
Characters are not unique enough. Hey, I get that. Having a different biography and starting skill doesnt really do it - you want each unlock to really mean something. While we want to keep characters of the same class having access to the same pool of skills, we could offer other ways for them to be different.
Our Plan: We have discussed a few ideas, and we are now looking towards Passive Status Effects for each character, that reinforce specific gameplay styles and provide another piece in your loadout. One tank might reset cooldowns as he loses health, a ranger could behave better when away from allies Things of that nature. We have a few tentative designs and should be ready to implement that this week. More on that at the bottom.
Warriors are being punished too harshly. Melee characters have the short stick! Many of your foes punish being too close to them, like Redcaps Corrupt or Thorntoads Bristleback, and those that dont, are a pain to pursue. That, coupled with lacking base attributes, makes Warrior characters less desirable!
Our Plan: This is going to be big! The introduction of a new abomination in the medium category (with Thorntoad and Cockatrice) that rewards melee strikes will help, but not just that - the entire roster of abilities needs a bit of a tune-up. We are in the middle of the second pass for that, but the Warrior will gain more ways to set up combos, regain AP and reset Cooldowns, and gain more survivability. While these bigger changes will take some time to get right, we can start by fixing a few issues and giving them some attribute boosts, which youll see added pretty soon.
Some abilities, plainly, suck. Hey, I get that. The data is pretty clear, and some abilities or upgrades are just not interesting enough! A great example of something that didnt work well is Raise cover. On top of it being the least picked Mystic ability, its upgrade, Raise Covers, has never been picked by a run that ended up killing the final boss (!!!).
Our Plan: Thats our current effort. We are giving another hard look at the abilities in the game and trying to compare them as a player would. We give a bit more buffing love to those that are the least picked, but try our best to not nerf the ones that are fun to use (Parry and Volley are in my chopping block, though. No promises!). This has led the direction of the game towards a bit more about chaining and stacking effects, the two spheres of gameplay that seem to be having the most traction. We got something solid for the Mystic, and well be looking at the Ranger next. This will take a while since we have to implement them all together, but you should expect to see a major update next month. An example of what were doing: were removing upgrades that change the feeling of the abilities, such as Concoction -> Noxious Concoction. These will be turned into their own abilities!
Metaprogression is a bit lackluster. No rewards at the end of the run, boring prowess unlocks, and lack of a meta-game for the most dedicated and successful players has been on the forums for a while.
Our Plan: This is one of the great things about EA: now that we know more about what our players want, we can start planning for it. Were still in the early design stages, but we want to offer a more complex and engaging meta progression aspect to the gameplay. One poster, Belgium, mentioned the idea of Merlin gold as a currency to spend on persistent buffs to characters. Thats sort of the direction were aiming for, lacing that with Hard Mode for you Veterans out there, and more. Ill have something to show about that real soon, but the other fixes take precedence!
[/olist]
There are other noteworthy things, of course. Well be balancing rewards, guardian encounters, enemy attributes, gear upgrades, and all that good stuff that really makes the game as engaging as it can be, but the above ones are going to be our focus. Because these are all so interconnected, we gotta play our hand carefully. Well do a lot of internal testing, multiple design passes, and stream these updates for you guys to check out as well, hoping that The Hand of Merlin can be as good as it can.
But even this data collection could not be done without your support, so, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!
---
I think the whole team would like to thank our community for the support and feedback. We really couldnt do balancing without people playing the game and sharing their thoughts and experiences, so really, thanks!
Join our Discord server !
MarkoP
https://store.steampowered.com/app/600610/The_Hand_of_Merlin/
[ 2021-05-26 11:36:42 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hey there folks! Our designer Mat wanted this weeks blog post to feature some of the design stuff going on in the workshed, and who am I to deny him that? Heres what Mat wrote. --- Ive been meaning to discuss some of the reviews and feedback that we got so far, and the blogpost channel feels like a good place to start, so let me tell you guys some of our plans. First of all, gotta say, Im very pleased by how descriptive and (often) polite our feedback has been. Players have been pointing out some flaws in our design, and after parsing through some of them, we identified 4 major points. [olist]
[ 2021-05-26 11:36:42 CET ] [ Original post ]
The Hand of Merlin is a turn-based rogue-lite RPG in which Arthurian legend clashes with cosmic horror. Recruit a company of up to three mortal heroes and guide them in spirit on a desperate journey from Albion to Jerusalem. Explore a richly-imagined medieval setting on the brink of apocalypse. Trade with merchants, improve your heroes and unearth ancient relics. Search for the lost fragments of your soul, scattered across the multiverse - and save as many worlds as you can.
Enjoy a compelling story inspired by Arthurian legend, the Matter of France, and the history of Al-Andalus - with an unusual twist. Make choices in interactive encounters that change every time you play. Written by Jonas Kyratzes (The Talos Principle, Serious Sam 4) and Verena Kyratzes (The Lands of Dream, Serious Sam 4).
Master the tactics of squad-based and turn-based combat to conquer both human and demonic foes. Your enemies will be tough and ruthless; make use of cover, set up ambushes and coordinated attacks, harness synergies between different Hero classes and skills.
Carve a path across the lands of Albion, Marca Hispanica and Al-Andalus. Will you take a dangerous route, risking life and limb in pursuit of a legendary relic? Or will you choose a safer path? Plan and prepare. Negotiate, barter, fight. Tackle challenges. Suffer losses. Recruit new Heroes. Earn Gold, Supplies and Renown. Be careful: your choices are permanent, as is death. But don't tarry - evil never rests.
Use Renown to level up your Heroes, and choose between a randomized set of new skills or improved attributes. But choose wisely! Select skills with great synergy and balance your party for the road ahead.
As you jump from one parallel dimension to the next, history is reshaped. Different kings rule the land, changing the encounters, characters, and events. No two worlds are ever quite the same, and each journey will be unique. And should your heroes fall, remember: defeat is not the end, only a new beginning.
Seek out towns to improve your arms and armor, or stumble upon hermit artisans in the wild. With every day that passes, the world plunges deeper into darkness, and you will need all the equipment gold can buy.
From a peasant's humble luck charm to the legendary sword wielded by Arthur himself, items imbued with magical power are scattered about the world. Some you will be able to purchase from merchants and collectors, but others will have to be earned through acts of heroism - or displays of wit.
Rain thunder and brimstone upon your foes! Seek out and gather Soulstones to restore your power and unlock new Spells. Even if defeated, your spirit will retain all of your collected arcane knowledge as you jump into the next dimension.
There are as many worlds as there are stars in the sky. In each stands Camelot; in each there is a Grail. But there is only one Merlin, and his eternal burden is to stand against the horror from beyond. Each world that is saved is saved forever; each world that is lost is lost for good.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/600610/The_Hand_of_Merlin/
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