Howdy, all.

I'm not here to report game progress or anything. It's fine, it's going fine, it'll be fine. Y'know, how it's been for the past six months.

No, you who glance at this game don't need to hear that again until something actually changes. I'm just here to bring up some points I've noticed about this game and things surrounding it. So here's me typing in my natural way and saying some stuff you should know - or perhaps have already noticed, if you look at this game too closely.

A few disclaimers:

• This game isn't cancelled. I still have a lot of ideas and working on it is still one of the few things keeping me sane. It ain't going anywhere in its present state. Whoop de doo.

• This game is still my main project - I'm not starting something new, any other stuff I do is on the side or by request, and I have no plans of putting it on hiatus.

• This game's main social platforms are still in development. It's a smaller project, relatively speaking, but I'm still working on being able to have more to show for it than a Gamjolt page and some Soundcloud tracks. Look out for that.

• I still do not understand Godot, the engine I am using, and haven't had much time to figure it out lately, but am not going to consider an engine switch or getting someone else to do it. There are some things you just gotta hunker down and figure out.

Glad to clear that up.

Anyways, let the rambling commence.

The Maybe Unhealthy Inspiration of 7Fall

First things first: I don't know if it's 7fall or 7Fall, with English grammar rules. Just getting that out of the way, if it's capitalized wrong, sorry.

Anyways, this game probably seems pretty generic, doesn't it?

It's just another (read this in the voice of The Joker from Batman) "vaguely cynical, homemade fantasy RPG with a 'subtle' moral message and wAcKy cHaRaCtErs, boasting a mid-tier soundtrack and big plans for witty puzzles and zany enemy mechanics you've never seen the likes of before!"

Yeah, I wouldn't be interested either.

And in all honesty, it hits all the same beats. I won't lie, yes. This game is primarily inspired by Undertale, Final Fantasy, and various emotional films I liked. Same inspiration pool as every other game of its kind.

Unconventional RPGs are becoming the new survival horror or military shooter. Everyone does them, nobody does them well, and they're kind of a joke. And 7Fall is an unconventional RPG.

I have no explanation and no reason you should follow this game over every other "I can't believe it's not Undertale" flick. My apologies. If you're here for something groundbreaking and game-changing, turn around. Thanks.

Cleanly segwaying into my next point;

What 7Fall Actually Is

I have not actually answered this question.

Is this a JRPG?

A top-down shooter?

A Telltale-style story game?

I actually don't really know what genre it falls into. It's a very vivid image in my head, and the game is being somewhat realized in my occasional Godot session, but here. Some information on the basics of gameplay. I owe it to everyone who cares at this point.

• 7Fall is a dark fantasy role-playing game set in an original world. It has no set laws of magic or physics and pretty much does whatever it wants to be my idea of cool. Think wizards, robots, massive areas, the like. This is pretty basic stuff.

  

• This, as many games do, has an overworld and a battle interface, which you switch between based on current situations. Sprites don't change style, gameplay just radically shifts between exploration and puzzle-solving to swordplay and spellcasting in a turn-based battle system. This is also pretty basic stuff.

  

• A major intended appeal of the aforementioned combat mechanics is that during enemy turns, you don't just take damage - that's lame. You control your character in real time, against the enemy, and battle in a Mega Man-like fast-paced arena combat scenario. You don't get freebies either - all major damage numbers are calculated from who hits who how many times. This makes it possible to clear an entire encounter without taking a single point of damage.

  

• You have a party of two like-minded individuals. They are your companions throughout the game, you command them alongside your player character in battle, and they hopefully are not too annoying.

  

• The game will feature an original world, story, soundtrack, engine, and art by me. With assistance, of course.

  

I hope that cleared everything up. Any more questions, feel free to comment them and I'll answer. If anyone's reading, of course.

Finally,

How I Intend to Make 7Fall More Interesting

This game is kinda boring.

You progress through six areas in a linear fashion, there are occasional cutscenes for the subplots, and you fight some wacky boss at the midpoint and end of every section. The story, buy and large, has a single ending, and while I like to think the areas switch things up and enough unexpected stuff happens, to keep you engaged... maybe I'm missing something?

I don't know what people want, only my personal tastes. I like balls-to-the-walls flashy action scenes, witty banter, and anything that makes you stand straight up and yell "HELL YEAH" at your monitor as if it can hear you. Emotion and great storytelling are also great, but in all honesty, not something typically prioritized in videogames. If I can achieve all of this, I will be happy.

So again, I hate to be like this, but if you all have any idea what kind of thing you like in your games, let me know. Ideas, quality of life mechanics, stuff you saw here that could be changed - any and all criticism is appreciated.

That's what I've been on my mind.

TL;DR: 7Fall is an RPG that is probably boring by other people's standards. I'll try to improve it. Lemme know any thoughts you have.

That's everything for tonight. It's late and I'm tired.

See you all tomorrow.

Stay frosty.