all that tapping makes playing this game like some kind of tap game. why tapping, why not tilting or swiping? what i want to say is that all that tapping has nothing to do with actual gameplay and therefore it is stupid feature. the same is with powering up. what is the sense if you do it every turn anyway. the game has nice concept and visuals but it's just ruined by strange battle design.
I'm going to take feedback to heart and see if I can implement a battle config menu that will allow mini-games to be disabled (you won't have to pay for it!). In the meantime, I'd recommend swapping out the Laserdisc with the Share Bear, as the Share Bear has no mini-game.
I definitely tried my hardest to design the game with player fun as my top priority and I hate to hear that I failed in that regard with some people (it seems pretty polarized in here). The reason I reset the multiplier after each attack is for balance - the way it is implemented now, after three turns you can max out the multiplier (9.9x). If the player was able to maintain that, there wouldn't be any challenge. If I raised enemy HP to compensate, players who don't charge will get frustrated because enemies will be damage sponges. The only way to find a balance with a perma-multiplier would be to lower the amount of boost each charge grants (3 turns might bring you to 3x instead of 9.9x), even then you lose a lot of the risk vs. reward that the current implementation carries. In general, the multiplier is an absolute beast to balance! I think what I will do in an update is allow players to choose between the current implementation or the perma-multiplier idea. As mentioned before, I'm also going to add a toggle for mini-games that will completely remove them. In general, I'm going to seek out a way to make battles snappier, though I'd imagine the folks who didn't like SMRPG will already be long gone. I'll make sure all my tweaks are toggleable through config menus, as I don't want to alienate people who love the game the way it is. It's also not very clear in the tutorial that subsequent multiplier charges build your power up faster. Effective charging will allow most battles to end in just a few turns. One thing to mention: if you charge your multiplier between 4x and 5x, you should be able to take most minions out with your next object attack.
Out of curiosity, where would you suggest using swiping or tilting instead of tapping? Technically, to defend against attacks you can swipe or tap. Swiping to power up would be easy to implement and if that makes sense to you, I'm sure it would be a worthwhile thing to add into the game.
Yep, we talked to five publishers during development - pretty much every one of them was very interested in the game but there was always some one who didn't understand the game - or had some really bizarre feedback that we'd never heard before. Some of the builds shown were way to early in development, so I can understand why they declined to publish - others were near complete and we got offered contracts but they didn't make sense to us monetarily. The funny thing is, none of the five publishers ever mentioned a single thing about the multiplier - which seems to be the point of contention with most people.
Swiping to punch seems like a fun idea. Swipe several times during a certain moment could bring about a combo?
Awesome game! I just got through chapter 1 and wanted to reply that i found it a bit short. Until i saw i been playing 3 hours straight. And i missed an area according to my stats. I was convinced i was playing for half an hour tops,that is a sign of a truly excellent game. Now excuse me,my delorean is waiting for me to replay chapter 1 and buy chapter 2. Radical..
I understand that some folks have trouble with the timing system, and perhaps a bit more variety in the player interactions could be fun, but it should be clearly stated there is nothing wrong with the combat system. In fact, it's the perfect solution to the inherent dullness of single-character turn base combat. It also deals effectively with the leveling-up problem in most RPGs, where as you grow more powerful battles get more and more boring (thank goodness for the auto-attack button). Here even the lamest enemies require your full attention, if only to get that coveted S rating. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is my favorite RPG combat system since ChronoTrigger. To put it another way: I personally suck at music games. I've come to accept that fact and have basically (with some exceptions) moved on from the genre. I think folks looking for a more methodical and slower system should pass on SMRPG and look at more traditional JRPGs -- of which there are many excellent choices on iOS. I don't think the (purposely) thin story and the single-character set-up would mesh well with a traditional combat system. As my good friend Mr. T would put it "I pity the fool who questions the awesomeness of SMRPG!"
If swiping could be an alternative to tapping, are we talking repeated swipes across the screen or just one big one? If it's the former, that's no better than repeatedly tapping on the screen. :/ I'm extremely happy with the game as it is right now, wouldn't change a thing. Also, completely off-topic: squarezero... Y U NOOOOOOOOOOO ACCEPT FRIEND REQUEST?
I wouldn't aim to please everyone. If there's anything I've learned from this forum, it's people have strange expectations and opinions about certain aspects of games. The concern over the battle system seems a little drastic. It's rather fluid and definitely makes sense. It also adds another dynamic to typical rpg elements. I mean I wouldn't shy from making small improvements if they didn't take away too much time from development, but I wouldn't make drastic changes to the battle system. You'll see from reviews and most opinions on here that this is a great game with a really fun and intuitive gameplay and controls. Again, you really have to weigh in all the positive and negative feelings and make a judgment call regarding what to improve, but I wouldn't overhaul anything. People will move on to something else and more than likely wont come back.
Really like the game, but could see where the battle system mini-games could be a turnoff. One thing I wouldn't mind is a change to the mini game where you try to tap at the right time to get a hit/critical hit. A similar system is used in games like Deep Deep Dungeon, but you get to watch it pass over and over before you try to get a "hit". Here, with the one chance thing, sometimes it goes so fast, you don't get a chance to react. Probably just my aging reflexes
Sigh, just saw the STP review. These guys are off base on so many reviews. I still don't understand why they deduct so much because of difficulty. Callliifoooooorrnniaaaaa.
MightyRabbitJosh, I appreciate the fact you are willing to look at the combat system further to help rythym-challenged people like myself... Just make it optional to turn off so that people who enjoy the tapping can continue to do so... This game is slopping over with 80's love that anyone from mid thirties to mid forties can appreciate, and I fit right in the middle of that demographic so I desperately want to enjoy it I'll take a shot at combat with the Share Bear tonight, and worst case I'll keep this around on my iPhone to see what updates happen down the pipe! I can see the amount of love you put into this game. I've been slowly working on my next title for 2+ years now and know it's a ton of hard work... Good luck to you, hope this really takes off!
Gave up on StP after they kept comparing Super Crate Box to Muffin Knight over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (got the idea?) again in their review. *sigh* Never change Slide to Play... never change.
sorry, it was a little bit of sarcasm. what i meant is that requirements of fast tapping is an artificial gameplay mechanic in this kind of a genre, because with the same result you could just add swipes instead of tapping or shaking a device for example and it won't change anything is gameplay.
I just finished the first part and I liked it a lot. Now I have to get a new GC soon to play part 2 I did not find the game too difficult, I could manage without losing a single fight, though in some cases with like 2 health points I hope an eventual review here at TA will do it more justice and that the next updates will be as rich in good ideas
I do like the battle system aside from the powering up. The "minigames" alongside each attack are fun and keep it interesting. It's just having to power up before every single attack which grates very very quickly, and it makes the whole thing less enjoyable so I'm glad to see the dev is thinking about it. I can see where the problem with balance would be, though, it's a tough one.
I disagree. Fast reactions where very much a part of ChronoTrigger, and games like Crimson Gem Saga incorporate reflex-based action in their attack multiplier system. I would also seriously question the distinction between natural and artificial actions in JRPGs. There's nothing natural and obvious about mechanics like limit breaks, or the complicated Djinn system in Golden Sun. It's all about balancing and adding variety and complexity to what would otherwise be fairly boring and linear gameplay. Whether you personally enjoy the mechanics in this game is neither hear nor there. We all have our tastes and preferences.
SMR is just a tap fest. Tap fast to charge, tap fast for the sword item, tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap taptpaptatpTAPTAPTAPTPATPATPTPAPTPPTPATPATPATATPTAT. And what's with the scratch and sniff? Swiping manically at the start of every battle for a boost? I'm sorry, I'm not going to play this game in public. Anyone who does will look like an idiot trying to get 3+X charge. This game has great potential, it just fails due to the bad implementation of swiping and tapping. As others have said, so many other games did it right.
