I've tried with both the Xbox Series X (identified by macOS as "Xbox Wireless Controller" and PS5 controllers (identified by macOS as "DualSense Wireless Controller"). The only steps I've taken are to connect the controller via Bluetooth and start the game.
I'll look into this, but I think the controller library I use may not support either of those controllers wirelessly. If using a cable isn't an option, I've heard Steam's controller remapping is generally pretty successful, so that may also help.
This was so much fun until Chapter 2. The difficulty scales immensely and the combat becomes so incredibly dragged out and tedious even on Story mode. It definitely does not make the game more of a VN as promised.
The introduction of elemental typing in Ch. 2 would have been fine if A) there was some kind of warning that this was coming and B) there was a warning that you'd accidentally heal enemies if you attacked them with a certain element. There's no real way to plan ahead, you never know what you're fighting next and at a certain point, your strongest gear gives you elemental passives whether you want them or not.
Also, understanding your party strength is extremely difficult. Enemies do an incredible amount of damage which is doubled if someone has an elemental weakness. Yes, you can vary your gear with different elements but as you're scrolling through your moves, if you get caught with a weakness, you take so much damage. Staying on one gear set slows down your damage output, making the fights take even longer than they already are. And unless you're hitting the enemies with their elemental weakness, your party does so little damage even with the best gear you can get at the gas station (upgraded) which is always a rank or two below the monsters you encounter. It's discouraging.
And then there's (maybe spoiler?) Gaius. This boss shifts his element so at least one person in your party is going to be healing him at any given time. Not that it matters because your damage output is so incredibly low. You're hitting him for 2 or 3 damage while he hits you for a whopping 90 - 180! His attack speed is fast, so there's no way to outheal him with Sam before someone is face down. Having to pause, use a healing item, unpause and repeat every few seconds is not ideal. In JRPGs, this usually means that the party is supposed to lose, that it's scripted. Here, it's not, and I cannot figure out how to just get it over so I can get back to the charming, funny and fun story. I am literally stuck and no other fight before this was this impossible.
I genuinely do not understand what went wrong here, if I'm missing something about gear and combat or if it really is poor scaling, but I feel as though the frequency of the battles, the difficulty and tediousness of them and the confusing gear system are actively working to keep me from just enjoying an awesome gay quest to defeat evil. I want to finish the game.
If Gaius is doing over 90 damage to you, it sounds like you're trying to fight him with characters who are three ranks lower than him. My advice would be to focus on making sure all everyone's items are at least equivalent to Rank V before challenging him. Hope that helps!
Hi, thanks for your response. It doesn't help because at this point in the game, you only have access to rank 3+ gear from the gas station and upgrades which is rank 4 equivalent according to the menu. The only rank 4 gear I have (which I think I may have gotten from the sidequest bounties but there aren't any left to do) forces passive elements that actively heal enemies if their element is green/nature over every ability, so when Gaius switches his element they're rendered useless and take double damage from weakness. That's an issue that extends to all fights. Are players really expected to run from fights and switch around the gear every single time they encounter an enemy that they're disadvantaged against because of forced blanket passives? Every time?
So if Gaius requires rank 5 gear and rank 4 isn't available in the gas station at this point, how do I get it and do they all have forced passives?
You should have access to Rank V+ (Effectively VI) gear at this point. Chapter 1 caps you at Rank III. Chapter 2 caps you at Rank V. Remember that you unlock the next tier by having everyone wearing 3 trinkets of the previous rank+.
You can also load up everyone with 5 Battle Energy once you're using Rank V+ gear to get an effective Rank VII, which should really drop the damage you're taking if you're still having difficulty.
THANK YOU so much for saying how gear unlocks. I couldn't understand why I was getting rinsed in every fight, even though I was leveling up my gear.
I admit this has been frustrating to play, but that is because I have no familiarity with the FF13 style of battles and I have no idea where the game tells you that you NEED to level up your gear to unlock the next tier at the shop. Fingers crossed I can catch up enough to where I don't have to completely restart!
First - thank you for mentioning the elementals. Was just this morning stuck in a fight where I couldn't figure out why these two bozos (the vine guys) just weren't dying. I had thought that you got the best element out of all equipment you had, but maybe that's not true?
Anyway, I can return the favor - when you run away, the game puts you back right *before* the fight, so you can respec and go back in. (Just swapped my VI grass with a IV fire, and suddenly those two just went down like chumps.)
Only the passive ability "[element] Added " gives you that element on every ability. Otherwise, your element is determined by which ability is active at the time. If you're ever unsure, you can check the status page in the menu, or look next to the character's name in battle to see which elemental affinities they currently have at that particular moment.
i agree with you that things dont feel exactly balanced at chapter 2 and it could use clearer instruction on level up and elemental importance because if you do it wrong it is wayyyy harder than it needs to be even on easy lol.
went from cute and fun to very frustrating and upsetting. but i think i got it now maybe.
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.
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Are controllers supported on macOS version? If so, any guidance for getting one working?
Definitely supposed to be supported! Can you let me know more about the controller that isn't being detected?
I've tried with both the Xbox Series X (identified by macOS as "Xbox Wireless Controller" and PS5 controllers (identified by macOS as "DualSense Wireless Controller"). The only steps I've taken are to connect the controller via Bluetooth and start the game.
Thanks for the help. I love the game!
I'll look into this, but I think the controller library I use may not support either of those controllers wirelessly. If using a cable isn't an option, I've heard Steam's controller remapping is generally pretty successful, so that may also help.
Hello!
I have exactly this problem on macOS.
Controller (XSX) only works until I press any of ABXY buttons, after that it loses input until I press "Start" button - basically unplayable.
Same on Steam and itchio versions. Latest gamepad firmware. Latest game patch. Gamepad works perfectly fine on other titles.
lmk if more info needed!
Sorry about the trouble! Are you using the controller wirelessly or wired? And what happens if you use the Steam controller remapping?
This was so much fun until Chapter 2. The difficulty scales immensely and the combat becomes so incredibly dragged out and tedious even on Story mode. It definitely does not make the game more of a VN as promised.
The introduction of elemental typing in Ch. 2 would have been fine if A) there was some kind of warning that this was coming and B) there was a warning that you'd accidentally heal enemies if you attacked them with a certain element. There's no real way to plan ahead, you never know what you're fighting next and at a certain point, your strongest gear gives you elemental passives whether you want them or not.
Also, understanding your party strength is extremely difficult. Enemies do an incredible amount of damage which is doubled if someone has an elemental weakness. Yes, you can vary your gear with different elements but as you're scrolling through your moves, if you get caught with a weakness, you take so much damage. Staying on one gear set slows down your damage output, making the fights take even longer than they already are. And unless you're hitting the enemies with their elemental weakness, your party does so little damage even with the best gear you can get at the gas station (upgraded) which is always a rank or two below the monsters you encounter. It's discouraging.
And then there's (maybe spoiler?) Gaius. This boss shifts his element so at least one person in your party is going to be healing him at any given time. Not that it matters because your damage output is so incredibly low. You're hitting him for 2 or 3 damage while he hits you for a whopping 90 - 180! His attack speed is fast, so there's no way to outheal him with Sam before someone is face down. Having to pause, use a healing item, unpause and repeat every few seconds is not ideal. In JRPGs, this usually means that the party is supposed to lose, that it's scripted. Here, it's not, and I cannot figure out how to just get it over so I can get back to the charming, funny and fun story. I am literally stuck and no other fight before this was this impossible.
I genuinely do not understand what went wrong here, if I'm missing something about gear and combat or if it really is poor scaling, but I feel as though the frequency of the battles, the difficulty and tediousness of them and the confusing gear system are actively working to keep me from just enjoying an awesome gay quest to defeat evil. I want to finish the game.
If Gaius is doing over 90 damage to you, it sounds like you're trying to fight him with characters who are three ranks lower than him. My advice would be to focus on making sure all everyone's items are at least equivalent to Rank V before challenging him. Hope that helps!
Hi, thanks for your response. It doesn't help because at this point in the game, you only have access to rank 3+ gear from the gas station and upgrades which is rank 4 equivalent according to the menu. The only rank 4 gear I have (which I think I may have gotten from the sidequest bounties but there aren't any left to do) forces passive elements that actively heal enemies if their element is green/nature over every ability, so when Gaius switches his element they're rendered useless and take double damage from weakness. That's an issue that extends to all fights. Are players really expected to run from fights and switch around the gear every single time they encounter an enemy that they're disadvantaged against because of forced blanket passives? Every time?
So if Gaius requires rank 5 gear and rank 4 isn't available in the gas station at this point, how do I get it and do they all have forced passives?
You should have access to Rank V+ (Effectively VI) gear at this point. Chapter 1 caps you at Rank III. Chapter 2 caps you at Rank V. Remember that you unlock the next tier by having everyone wearing 3 trinkets of the previous rank+.
You can also load up everyone with 5 Battle Energy once you're using Rank V+ gear to get an effective Rank VII, which should really drop the damage you're taking if you're still having difficulty.
THANK YOU so much for saying how gear unlocks. I couldn't understand why I was getting rinsed in every fight, even though I was leveling up my gear.
I admit this has been frustrating to play, but that is because I have no familiarity with the FF13 style of battles and I have no idea where the game tells you that you NEED to level up your gear to unlock the next tier at the shop. Fingers crossed I can catch up enough to where I don't have to completely restart!
First - thank you for mentioning the elementals. Was just this morning stuck in a fight where I couldn't figure out why these two bozos (the vine guys) just weren't dying. I had thought that you got the best element out of all equipment you had, but maybe that's not true?
Anyway, I can return the favor - when you run away, the game puts you back right *before* the fight, so you can respec and go back in. (Just swapped my VI grass with a IV fire, and suddenly those two just went down like chumps.)
Only the passive ability "[element] Added " gives you that element on every ability. Otherwise, your element is determined by which ability is active at the time. If you're ever unsure, you can check the status page in the menu, or look next to the character's name in battle to see which elemental affinities they currently have at that particular moment.
That makes sense, thanks!
i agree with you that things dont feel exactly balanced at chapter 2 and it could use clearer instruction on level up and elemental importance because if you do it wrong it is wayyyy harder than it needs to be even on easy lol.
went from cute and fun to very frustrating and upsetting. but i think i got it now maybe.
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 👌👀👀❤