#gameplay thoughts

[avicinda]

Probably something discussed to death and though may be too early to tell how this shakes out in the long run, I currently do believe pivoting Infinity Nikki to be more combat focused is a mistake. The combat system itself was originally simplistic which allowed for interesting puzzle-like enemies and bosses throughout the first year, but archery and its various types are kind of...just a bandaid on this? It is still not very complex, but they make it necessary by adding HP and the shield system. It also feels we are escalating too quickly in the amount of HP.

I also feel the new bosses that are mainly HP sponges are just...not as memorable or interesting as the more puzzle-like ones that actually utilized other ability outfits too.

And it kind of just makes Infinity Nikki as a whole a lot less unique as a 3D open world gacha game. Good for you if you find this combat fun, but where it was largely quick and painless in the past, now it's just kind of tedious and feels like a bait and switch, or even a rug pull where the game is trying to become something I wouldn't have bothered picking up in the first place gameplay-wise

This does also tie into how I feel Itzaland diminishes the Stylist elements a lot too. Where in 1.0 when Giovanni walked on air it was easy to just go "oh that's an ability outfit" but in 2.x if someone did this I would be second guessing if it were an ability outfit or some other magic about to be introduced...

[arsdecader]

I don't even go here, but it's just something I keep thinking about in regards to the latest patch. Wyll is pretty barebones as far as content goes especially with how Act 3 plays out for him (and Karlach), and It's hard to see his charm shine through because I don't think anyone actually uses him in their party because there's a trap of natural progression happening. You get introduced to everyone and their kit and their base subclasses in act 1, and for efficiency sake I'd assume most people won't take the Warlock out despite how powerful they are especially when multiclassed. But that's really the main issue.

I think Warlocks are hard to optimize building around when you start fresh and introduced to the only 2 spell slots even if gameplay wise you'd be clicking Eldritch Blast most of the time. (Nevermind that imo Wyll is a perfect example of how you could invest in a Paladin + Warlock build because it fits his character just right and would fill in the gap with Minthara usually not being around for a Good aligned party)

So it ends up with a player taking someone with more utility instead and not really noticing the value he brings to the table. So he gets very little exposure, you don't hear him banter, even with higher approval his greeting is still the same, and by the point that his build goes online and becomes a machine a Wizard has a more noticeable effect so putting him in a party really is going out of your way to include him. This is despite the fact that narratively he should have much higher stakes that you want him around in your party especially after the reveal that he is the son of Baldur's Gate's Archduke.

Then, not a lot of folks notices the disparity of content for him with the others because no one used him in their party and that's what's really sad about this, I feel. It's also why it's easy for some to forget about Wyll.

Just my thoughts as I was trying out new team comps earlier.

[sunsetconcert]

thinking about B3 again and while im so tempted to scream about what i hate im just gonna ramble about viola because they MISSED A CHANCE to actually show what an umbra witch acolyte is like

cause like viola doesnt have a contract with cheshire yet so the plushie is a focus for him to be summoned easier, you could make a whole stance system out of that with multiple plushies for different demons its not like B3 is afraid of having too many options for bayonetta to wield why not give some more to viola?

am i advocating for viola to essentially be dante from devil may cry? LITTLE BIT, YEAH but it differentiates viola from bayonetta in a meaningful way besides just locking her to one moveset that the game outright isnt designed for

give her cheshire for slow but heavy attacks that mix ranged and melee, diomedes (the SWORD DEMON COME ON THIS WAS SUCH A GIMME) for a dedicated sword moveset with no darts, hekatoncheir for a no-sword no-dart fisticuffs style, and then kraken as a ranged-only moveset that enhances darts with various poison and explosion effects

and then maybe if you HAVE to give her the fairy mode powerup, instead of making it a win button you equip the demons *to* viola like a makeshift devil trigger that, while powerful, slowly drains her hp for a risk vs reward mechanic while *also* demonstrating a lore reason as to why bayonetta and jeanne dont do that but instead use the safer contract demons

[dandylion240]

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I've been thinking about bringing back my Reagan Gameplay rotation back to my blog. I love story writing but it seems to take me longer and longer to get chapters out. Work has really been draining me. Since I haven't posted gameplay in a while I was wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing it? Just curious.

[crescentcrossbow]

The new Magia Record event style goes a long way towards encouraging players to use more of their roster, rather than “steamroll opponents with Ashley, Mami or Mokyu” or “stall opponents with Madoka or Umika.” That said, I do feel like it shows a flaw in how the game is structured.

Namely, the lack of a real reason to use lower-rarity units instead of “you have to because I say so.”

In Magia Record’s sister game, FGO, there is a wide variety of playable servants with different rarities, and unless their kit is absolute trash like Nightingale or Altria Lily you’re going to have an opportunity to use them, a fight where they shine. This is true even of the less “murder you to death in as few turns as possible” servants.

Arash is a 1* who has a pretty strong AoE Noble Phantasm that also kills him, so he gets politely out of the way for a better damage dealer to take his place.

Euryale is a 3* whose Noble Phantasm damage doubles against male targets, to the point of outclassing many 5*s, and is worth taking to fights throughout the game despite her low rarity.

Mash is a 4*, but she’s still one of the best tanks in the game (ignoring her shitty Cosmos in the Lostbelt rework) and a good addition to pretty much any team that isn’t “bring two Skaðis and murder everything.”

Siegfried is a pretty mediocre 3* Saber - until you point him at a dragon at which point he does pretty great damage.

Meanwhile there isn’t really a nice equivalent in Magia Record? For even using a non-natural 4* to be worth it they either have to have a really sweet connect or Magia effect to make up for their worse stats, or have lots of SE which is a really costly system. The only really accessible low-rarity strat I can think of off the top of my head is “bring only Tsuruno and get her to Magia once, evade memes will take care of the rest.”

What I’m trying to say is that we need more niche low-rarity units that don’t fall into the “need to play protect the smol with a bunch of healers” pitfall and work well with no or low SE. I feel like the introduction of a trait system might go a long way in this respect: give a 3* hacker girl mediocre stats but an active personal memoria that makes her deal double Magia damage against [Artificial] enemies and she’d get a lot of use against the more annoying Uwasa.

[timetakillgod]

I know I'm baising my fic series on my Permadeath run, but I have never felt more powerful than when I finally no hit Kallamar when practicing.

[sciopticonexe]

Gameplay Thoughts #1, the first of many

sciopticon is a tool to achieve "absolute knowledge." naturally, as all insight is siphoned from others via soft or hard power it takes the form of a combat interface.

maybe the point is that it isnt discovering, but imposing.

XXXXXX

I think just accepting that the mana system is just cribbing from mtg but leaning into the color philosophy element and bringing to to the fore is correct. and using Structures as a mechanical expression of that because they shape and are shaped by the game players much in the same way as reality (worlds first postmodern tcg)

get rid of memory? its kind of extra and can be trimmed to create more cognitive room for other game systems.

~~~ Memory revamped. Basically anything that would cost memory has you discard that many cards instead, but Memory is still a resource you get.

HOWEVER you still have a Memory pile that you can query cards into. its a facedown stack you can look at at any time but you have to manually place cards there and can use them when you would discard a card to pay for an action in the same way as before. You also get a free one or two at each round start. framing good memory management as upside rather than a core game system also means players are actually incentivized to use it because as it stands the true function of querying cards is kind of obfuscated. It also flattens skill expression so that you wont get absolutely creamed on for playing the eurominigame wrong

also ux point to make abt this where it was a pain in the ass to visually differentiate between the bottom row of the map, the asset zone, and the memory pile. making it just be face down means theres more places for a player to just put it elsewhere, such as on the same row as the asset zone. can also just be put down diagonally for further clarification.

~~~ Attunement is now based on the color of the stucture you're currently occupying (or memory you spend)

Helps reduce the amount of shit you have to track and also provides a solid answer to the "we stand here and beat eachother to death" end state that most sciopticon games have devolved into so far (all five of them!) when you have an interrupt speed Abeyance at any time. It's also extremely easy for a new player to grasp that its good and when you should be doing it without being super oppressive since it basically forces you to expend Memory to counter it so its natural counterplay to memory stacking. Honestly the harder part will just be coming up with a good way to express it in the eventual sciopticon rulebook.

[roguemechanic]

That kid is going places.