Hero.EXE Alpha

Wooh boy I took this baby for a ride and despite a few logical issues, I found myself enjoying this more than I thought I would.

For starters, I like how the overworld works as well as the voice acting (which at times is noticeably softer than other lines which ended up in my run being ruined at the end, see issues below) and the personality that Valentine radiates.

I've also always had a fondness for combat card games as well as the Mega Man series (not so much the Battle Network ones but still I'm familiar with the gameplay) so there's that.

Now for the issues and questions I got :

• The shop needs to be reworked in some way. Right now whenever you visit it, you are offered three cards as well as three random pack ones.

  The issue I got with that is that it's kinda bullshit you need to pay so much more pixels for random SINGLE cards (not multiple ones like the pack form would imply) compared to the identifiable ones.

  Speaking of the identifiable ones, it would be great if when you hover over a card, it would not only display keyword tooltips as it does in the deck builder, but also show you how many copies of that card you have in your deck and collection so I don't need to back out of the shop => go to menu => go to deckbuilder => look up card and check whether I can use extra copies.

  Lastly regarding the shop, it would be beneficial towards the game flow if you do not like or already have the three identifiable cards on display, all you need to do to "refresh" the selection is back out of the shop menu instead of out of the shop entirely;

• Ignite, despite having the same wording as Break cards, seem to work differently as the former. They both say they ignite or break any tiles they cross respectively but while the latter does just that, the former only ignites the tile the enemy it hits was on upon impact;

• Why can you have multiple copies of Fade cards in your deck? Seems utterly pointless since the whole deal with those cards is that you can only use them once per encounter meaning additional copies are useless in a battle;

• Regarding the deck builder, it would be far more convenient if you can add cards to your deck simply by clicking on them instead of having to drag and drop them. You already are able to remove them from the deck by clicking on them (on top of drag 'n' drop) so why not make it work both ways?

• Can you add in a control configuration in the next update? As a Belgian keyboard user (AZERTY type), WASD is not intuitive for movement and I would prefer arrow keys instead.

  Similarly instead of needing right click and left click for basic attack and card usage, I'd like to rebind those to, for example, the Z and X keys respectively so I don't need an external mouse as a laptop user;

• The game should do a better job as well in explaining certain attack types in the Deck Builder and Pre-Battle interface.

  What I mean with that is for instance it's not clear to me how Wave and Storm cards work.

  Aside from damage values, does a Wave card go through any enemies on a single lane as opposed to Shot type attacks?

  When a Storm card initially does 10 damage but when the requirement is met does 250, considering it hits random tiles, does that mean it normally hits a single random tile for 10 damage and otherwise repeats said action for up to 24 more times for 10 damage each also?

  Come to think of it, how is a Sweeping Slash style card different from a regular one? I assume it can hit up to two enemies in the same vertical column but is that how it functions? And when it does, does it deal the damage it states on the card or is it split evenly depending on how many foes you hit?

• Bomb cards should mention their throwing range somehow. Sure I found out it's range is equal to it's cost but still it's not a question I should have needed to ask myself in the first place;

• I feel like the few Drawing cards that are in the game so far (the "Welcome the Pain" one and "Code Can Trip") as well as any future ones should cost 0 Action Points as even if it costs as little as 1, it kinda beats the purpose of drawing cards to get more options because the more it costs, the more likely you are to draw cards you cannot use.

  And no putting in weak 1 "mana" cards to offset that "risk" is not a limitation or solution, just my two cents though;

• I like how there seem to be consequences to every decision you make (unless it's a neutral one) but seeing how there is a clear reward for doing whatever your AVA desires in the form of obedience and Story segments, why should we ever consider deliberately "being a rebel"?

  How would disobedience work in the game?

  Is there any point to unlockable Story segments aside from lore and character building?

• There doesn't seem to be a way to get rid of duplicate cards so far unless that is what the currently inaccessible Forge service is for at the shop?

• How come there is no Save function in the game?

  It's the one thing that fucked up my demo run the most in combination with the game crashing (right as I was at the Cathedral Desire boss too) as I clicked my Desktop Start icon to check my system volume because of how low audio some of particularly Valentine's lines are.

• I know it costs a pretty penny to put it lightly but do you guys plan to eventually have every line voice acted?

  Asking because it kinda disconnects my immersiveness when some lines are voiced and others in the same scene aren't.

Anyway that's all I got for now.

Rest assured despite my laundry list of bullet points, I will eagerly look forward to any development this game will have in the future!

Thank you for the free alpha demo! Love the Battle Network series and I’ve been excited to see where this project goes. There’s a lot of area for improvement in regards to clarity and UX, but I understand that it’s still in Alpha and I’m happy that the basic gameplay is all there.

Combat UI

• Change the Stack UI to indicate that the rightmost card in the will be used first. As an American, I assumed the order would be left->right.

• Give a description for the card’s range, or make the icons more clear. I need to know ahead of time that grenades = 3 squares ahead, “sweeping slash” = 3 squares vertical, “lunging slash” = 2 squares horizontal. It took me several battles to notice that the sword icons are slightly different for these ranges, but it would be more obvious if the orange parts were shaped more like arrows or something.

• For cards with boosted effects, add a glow VFX to the card if the condition is being met. I.e. when a Rhythm card in the Stack has another Rhythm card behind it, and when an HP threshold card matches the player’s current HP.

Binder UI

• If there are no more copies of a card in the collection, make the card darker. The “x0” counter is harder to notice when it’s on top of the card’s artwork.

UX

• Simplify all “card dragging” inputs by letting the player drag the card in a direction, instead of needing to drag it all the way to another area on the screen. I.e. in the Compile UI, dragging a card upward by some amount should “throw” it up to the Stack.

• Add right-click as a “remove/unequip” option in the Compile & Binder menus. Right-click a card to remove it from the Stack, or to remove it from your Binder back into your collection.

• Add a “Skip Cutscene” option for all dialogue and story scenes. Essential for boss rematches and replay value.

Combat / Balance

• The timing for Valentine’s charge attack doesn’t quite match her VFX. When she gains the glowing aura, I expected that the charge was finished but I still need to hold it a little longer.

• Projectile & shockwave attacks feel way too slow to be useful from the back column.

• Shockwave attacks pass right through broken squares, I expected that they’d be stopped like in Battle Network. Not sure if this is a bug or an intentional difference.

• Cards that hit random tiles should be reworked and have a clearer description. Having tons of damage isn’t useful when I can’t tell where the attack will land, especially if enemies are moving a lot.

• Boss' combo attack: When she enters your side of the field and uses her combo, it feels overly punishing if you’re trapped by broken squares. You should probably add a windup animation before she enters the player’s side, or allow powerful cards to interrupt her combo.

Feature Requests

• Fully remappable controls. Standard feature, helps people who don’t use QWERTY layout.

• Multiple Binders & Renaming Binders. This was my biggest gripe with various Battle Network games.

• Allow individual cards to be used in multiple Binders at the same time. This was my second biggest grips in Battle Network, lol

• Add Voice Volume option, and normalize the audio levels in some the cutscene lines. Certain lines are way louder than others.

Other

• Improve Loading. There shouldn’t be a loading screens when transitioning between the Overworld, Pause Screen, and Binder Menu. When exiting a battle or cutscene, the Pause & Binder Menus should be loaded along with the Overworld. I know this will be worked on at some point the future, but I felt it should be pointed out.

That’s all I have for now. Keep up the good work, and I wish you the best as you continue development!

Awesome! Loved it, however, there was a glitch that an opponent got stuck on my side of the field in the corner for about 30 seconds. Some voice lines were too low, but other than that, I enjoyed it!

Nice! Can't wait for more

The game its so awesome! I wait for more, sure
In this case i find only 1 bug:
In the store, after a while some of the music started playing in a loop or something similar. And a little spelling mistake

I already had high expectations about this game before trying it, but now that I have played it, I must say that it is much better than I expected! I will look forward to future updates UwU

Keep polishing the game, I'm sure when it is complete it will be a gem! Excellent work!