This weekend gives us a two part PinesQuest 2D update! Back in the October Update I mentioned a notable mechanic currently in the demo that was going to be removed completely in the final game, but I would discuss what it as and why it’s being removed another time. That time is right now!

Games made in RPG Maker VX Ace, by default, don’t have the enemy’s health displayed to the player while in combat. After other players started to give me feedback on the early builds on PQ2D, one of the most common requests I got was to add visible enemy health bars. Figuring I should comply with something so frequently requested, I looked up how to add in this feature and implemented it. However, the more I tested the game after this point, I started to realize that because of this addition, the game was now lacking something I initially really enjoyed about the early builds… and that something was tension and excitement during battles.

One of PQ2D’s main inspirations, in terms of its gameplay and mechanics, is a game called EarthBound. If you’ve never heard of EarthBound, it’s one of my favorite RPGs and (along with its sequel, Mother 3) has been hugely influential on many super successful indie games such as Undertale and LISA: The Painful RPG. In EarthBound, enemy health is not shown in combat, probably due to the technical limitations of being a game made for the SNES in 1994. While this has been regarded as a flaw of the game by folks such as James Rolfe, it’s something that I’ve found, especially in my more recent replays, I actually find works a lot in its favor.

In EarthBound, because you don’t know how much HP an enemy has left, you always have to think on your feet. This makes the battles very engaging and exciting, especially during bosses. When you actually know that the boss is going to be defeated with your next attack, you lose that triumphant feeling of surprise victory and relief that you would otherwise have when you win… and as such, it was lost in PQ2D when I added in visible enemy HP.

It has more than its fair share of problems, but to me EarthBound is a masterpiece and there are so many wonderful things about it I aimed to recreate in PQ2D since it is an RPG with a retro, SNES-esque style. So as of the next build onward, enemies in PinesQuest 2D will no longer have their HP visible to the player during battles. I know not everyone will be happy with this change and would prefer to see the enemy health bars, but ultimately I have to go with what I feel best encapsulates what I love about old school RPGs. I hope that regardless, everyone will find the game and its combat enjoyable moving forward!

Tomorrow, Part 2 of this update: Extended Demo Version 0.8, the final update to the demo before the full game release. Stay weird and see you then!