idk I think Bleed is probably the best exploit skill, and drastically overshadows any Destruction skills—especially since Destruction gets linked to elements, which perform very poorly; having bosses with multiple elements or the ability to change elements, without the player being able to change, makes them useless since they are effective for basically one phase and a liability for the others. Smite ends up being *okay* but you're actively incentivized to use it as little as possible, even with high stagger/re-stagger strats. Meanwhile, Bleed hits like a truck, is untyped, and the self-damage won't put you in danger if you are playing around it.
Taunt is also underwhelming, as long as I'm complaining, especially in fights with multiple strong enemies; getting the AI to spread out attacks is much safer than everyone hammering Valentin all at once; they don't benefit enough from the defense buff, in my opinion. going from 70% of their life per hit to 60% of their life per hit does not change the reality that they'll be two-shot.
the game was a ton of fun, but as far as the battle system goes I found much more success in playing against a lot of what is "expected" in the strategy, as far as what specific abilities to equip. the element system just isn't flexible enough to do anything helpful, again especially since the bosses are multi-element. there's no way to really know ahead of time what element is good against road enemies because you can't see what you're going to fight; it's really Nuclear or Bust, and with Control Rod you even lose that option too.
EDIT: I feel like this maybe sounds like I'm being really harsh on the battle system, but I have to reiterate that I really really enjoyed it and I loved the system that was presented. I think one small change—being able to hotswap element—would fix all of my concerns with the strategy. I think ravage stuff and the stagger meter was dope and I liked figuring out the re-stagger strategy, I am very satisfied with that; but changing the element issue would have made the "element trinket" quest rewards feel good instead of feeling like I got rewarded with 3 stickers.
Maybe a dumb question: if I want to support y'all here on itch but also am an achievements nerd sometimes and considering wanting to play the game on Steam for Steam achievements can you install the itch.io DLC on top of the Steam copy (and still get Steam achievements)?
Definitely a bug. Can you send more information about your platform and system specs in an email to support@loveconquersallgames.com? (If you're able to get a screen recording of the issue, that would be even more helpful.) Thanks!
hi!! super excited for this game! i was wondering if this game has any parts that require manual dexterity, like timing or platforming or stuff, in terms of accessibility? thanks for yr time, have a great day! :)
from what i have seen, the game plays with 6 keys/buttons total, and most of the time you'll have to press 4 of them one after the other. timing is important to get the best out of combos, but you can mostly plan ahead. there is no quick-time event, key smashing or super-tight timing. there are also multiple difficulty settings, so getting good combos might not be very important in the lowest ones
the bullet point says “Girls. Just... girls... you know...???” does this mean Val identifies as a girl (they’re described as a boyfriend), or are you just being unintentionally cis-normative?
The description for Angela has me curious from a game-design perspective – does "a completely average fighter by intent" mean (assuming generic JRPG-type combat mechanics):
- She's got less defense than the sturdy party members and more than the fragile ones, vice-versa for offense, and mechanically works in basically the same way as the other characters just with middle-of-the-road set of starting numbers and abilities?
- Instead of normal stat gains by levels/gear/whatever, she's always got her stats at exactly the average of the rest of the party?
- Purely narrative, and she's actually just as specialized as everyone else?
All the progression in the game is equipment-based! So stats-wise she's just locked to whatever items are available at that point in the game. However, her battle abilities are well-rounded by design, as opposed to being specialized—she's the only character who doesn't have any unique abilities, but she's also the only character who can both build the stagger bar _and_ exploit it.
Ah, okay. Option one, more or less; that makes sense. i don't know what the "stagger bar is" beyond reasonably inferences, but that sounds pretty neat.
I was just thinking in terms of "she's deliberately pulling her punches to stay average, so maybe that means she doesn't gain power like the other characters who presumably can't just decide to hit twice as hard if they feel like it." Speculation getting ahead of facts.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Congratulations on the release! I saw the soundtrack is available on Steam; will it be available here on Itch too?
It won't be available on Itch—I recommend buying it directly from Christa on her bandcamp here! https://ohpoorpup.bandcamp.com/album/get-in-the-car-loser-original-sound-version...
Ah, fantastic! Thanks so much :)
Game is cool as hell so far in act I, but I think maybe I missed something but what is the difference between exploit and destruction?
The only difference is that Destruction abilities tend to be more powerful—or more specialized —than Exploit!
idk I think Bleed is probably the best exploit skill, and drastically overshadows any Destruction skills—especially since Destruction gets linked to elements, which perform very poorly; having bosses with multiple elements or the ability to change elements, without the player being able to change, makes them useless since they are effective for basically one phase and a liability for the others. Smite ends up being *okay* but you're actively incentivized to use it as little as possible, even with high stagger/re-stagger strats. Meanwhile, Bleed hits like a truck, is untyped, and the self-damage won't put you in danger if you are playing around it.
Taunt is also underwhelming, as long as I'm complaining, especially in fights with multiple strong enemies; getting the AI to spread out attacks is much safer than everyone hammering Valentin all at once; they don't benefit enough from the defense buff, in my opinion. going from 70% of their life per hit to 60% of their life per hit does not change the reality that they'll be two-shot.
the game was a ton of fun, but as far as the battle system goes I found much more success in playing against a lot of what is "expected" in the strategy, as far as what specific abilities to equip. the element system just isn't flexible enough to do anything helpful, again especially since the bosses are multi-element. there's no way to really know ahead of time what element is good against road enemies because you can't see what you're going to fight; it's really Nuclear or Bust, and with Control Rod you even lose that option too.
EDIT: I feel like this maybe sounds like I'm being really harsh on the battle system, but I have to reiterate that I really really enjoyed it and I loved the system that was presented. I think one small change—being able to hotswap element—would fix all of my concerns with the strategy. I think ravage stuff and the stagger meter was dope and I liked figuring out the re-stagger strategy, I am very satisfied with that; but changing the element issue would have made the "element trinket" quest rewards feel good instead of feeling like I got rewarded with 3 stickers.
This feel like the successor to ffxiii and megaman battle network, but way way gayer, so basically everything I ever wanted?
extremely lesbian reccommended!!!
Maybe a dumb question: if I want to support y'all here on itch but also am an achievements nerd sometimes and considering wanting to play the game on Steam for Steam achievements can you install the itch.io DLC on top of the Steam copy (and still get Steam achievements)?
Yeah, this should work just fine!
Is my walking speed at the rest stop meant to be uncontrollably fast?
Definitely a bug. Can you send more information about your platform and system specs in an email to support@loveconquersallgames.com? (If you're able to get a screen recording of the issue, that would be even more helpful.) Thanks!
I still remember playing this at PAX in 2019. Looking forward to its release!
hi!! super excited for this game! i was wondering if this game has any parts that require manual dexterity, like timing or platforming or stuff, in terms of accessibility? thanks for yr time, have a great day! :)
from what i have seen, the game plays with 6 keys/buttons total, and most of the time you'll have to press 4 of them one after the other. timing is important to get the best out of combos, but you can mostly plan ahead. there is no quick-time event, key smashing or super-tight timing. there are also multiple difficulty settings, so getting good combos might not be very important in the lowest ones
I am too gay to wait for this game.
I love Valentin and I want to be them
Yes, I know the game is not out yet.
so pumped for this game!!!!
please. i need this. i have waited so long
vibrating with disastrous sapphic energy in anticipation for this game
the bullet point says “Girls. Just... girls... you know...???” does this mean Val identifies as a girl (they’re described as a boyfriend), or are you just being unintentionally cis-normative?
No, Valentin is not a girl. They’re non-binary!
OOOOO THIS LOOKS SOOO GOOD !!! Can't wait!
I NEED IT
Woah that looks like new screenshots. Bio-synthetic TRex monster. Cool
so excited for this!
is this still coming
It's still in development, but we're very far along—it'll be out later this year!
Thanks for letting me know, im so pumped for the release!
gosh, girls really are great
The description for Angela has me curious from a game-design perspective – does "a completely average fighter by intent" mean (assuming generic JRPG-type combat mechanics):
- She's got less defense than the sturdy party members and more than the fragile ones, vice-versa for offense, and mechanically works in basically the same way as the other characters just with middle-of-the-road set of starting numbers and abilities?
- Instead of normal stat gains by levels/gear/whatever, she's always got her stats at exactly the average of the rest of the party?
- Purely narrative, and she's actually just as specialized as everyone else?
All the progression in the game is equipment-based! So stats-wise she's just locked to whatever items are available at that point in the game. However, her battle abilities are well-rounded by design, as opposed to being specialized—she's the only character who doesn't have any unique abilities, but she's also the only character who can both build the stagger bar _and_ exploit it.
Ah, okay. Option one, more or less; that makes sense. i don't know what the "stagger bar is" beyond reasonably inferences, but that sounds pretty neat.
I was just thinking in terms of "she's deliberately pulling her punches to stay average, so maybe that means she doesn't gain power like the other characters who presumably can't just decide to hit twice as hard if they feel like it." Speculation getting ahead of facts.
This disaster lesbian is excite af
Looks great, as ever!
Looks great!!! i'll look forward it 👌👀👀❤