Hey I really love the visual design of the game. It was visually more pleasing than some of the classic rogue-like games in steam that I like.
I've recorded the first two playthrough. I've seem to have gotten worse.
1. Does the core loop work for you? Is it FUN? If the game had more content and polish do you see yourself playing it for 10+ hrs?
- Yes it is fun and appealing. I like classic turn-based strategy games.
- However, I'm unsure if additional content would keep me playing for 10 hours if the most frustrating thing is my own heroes stepping on each other's shoes! I struggled to coordinate the three characters. The archer didn't feel long-range enough compared to the map size, so all three behave like melee character and they get into each other's way. The heroes are clustered together in the entrance make it difficult to attack enemies from a different angle. In Into the breach the canon mech has a linear line of sight but has no range limit (also, the 8x8 grid size means it covers a lot more percentage of area ). And the artillery mech is ranged and can shoot over units or buildings. Only the combat mech is closed ranged unit, so they don't get in each other's way. Also, in Into the breach you can place your units on your side of the grid at the start of each level so they are placed effectively from the first round. I'm not saying you have to make Into the breach clone. I like single character turn based games also. I think you can also try to make the game with a single character and triple their stats, and let it grow strong, crazy like Path of achra. (if you haven't played it go play the demo. It's on itch!)
2. Are mechanics easy to grasp and work with? If not, what did you find unclear/confusing?
- Yes, the gameplay UI was beautiful and intuitive. The tooltip showed up where it had to be. But there were some bugs in turn order indication (12min 15s in first playthrough vid)
Beyond that, I'd like to know:
1. How far did you get before you stopped playing?
- The first run went 30 min, the second one much shorder 11 min. It would be great if the game showed at what stage I'm at. And at what stage I died at.
2. What did you like the most?
- I really liked learning the game and figuring out how to kill the enemies more efficiently.
3. What was most frustrating?
- As already mentioned, I think the units are very underpowered on their own, but they don't seem to work as a team.
4. What would you change about this game to work better for you?
- Change the skills of each unit, map layout, turn orders, or even the goal to synergize better, or just have one very powerful character.
- The goal of the level is going out through exit. Killing enemies didn't seem to be encouraged. But sending them to the exit one by one meant the last unit was in a very vulnerable state, and in my second playthroug,h this was how my team got destroyed one by one. In Invisible inc, you can place your character at the exit, but it does not immediately teleport them out. You have to use the character's action to get them out.
- Also, in both Into the breach and Invisible Inc., the turn order lets your character work together better. You play all your units -> then all the enemy units are in play.
Hope my feedback doesn't feel like nagging. I really like the appeal of the game and wrote the feedback, hoping that the game gets developed into my next obsession game.
Good luck!