Warm Snow (by Bad Mud Studio) Pre-order Oct 10th

Looks fantastic we need more games like this why do these type of games come out of nowhere and suddenly boom iOS launch controller support? The game play looks amazing instabuy

 

Thanks for the information I feel confident they will add controller support any release date should we go by the expected release date on the App Store?

 

Looks good!

 

Next week for full release excited to try it out hopefully it has controller support

 

The Chinese style isn’t great for me but it does look interesting. Although kinda looks like a bullet hell too?

Think I’ll wait for reviews on the controls before I go for it but I think it should be like an arpg from the video so they should work fine from what I’m seeing. But more importantly for it to be more fun for me anyone know what’s roguelike about it?

 

Some initial impressions after clearing the game on three different difficulty levels.

Touch controls are fairly good. There’s a bit of a motor control learning curve in reliably pressing dash vs. attack vs. throw, but the annoyance goes away fairly quickly.

If you die, it’s game over. After clearing each chapter, you restock healing potions and have some limited opportunities to buy bonuses and upgrade your weapon.

Each chapter has a mid-boss and a final boss. You clear several stages before each. Each stage is a map with a beginning and an end, with a very linear progression. The maps are well-designed with respect to enemy placement, and are not procedurally generated.

At the end of the stage is a reward and usually a choice of two exits, each annotated with the type of reward for that stage.

Rewards are: Souls, Relics, Healing, Ability Scroll, Weapon
Souls are the currency of the game.
You have 1 weapon slot and 4 relic slots.
The relic system is very clever. There are, I would estimate, 30 different types of relics. Each of these types can be equipped in any slot, but their effect changes dramatically depending on which slot you have them equipped on. Their effects are enhanced at higher rarities.

Gear-Gear synergies and Weapon-Gear synergies can be outrageously powerful. There are a number well-designed archetypes to pursue, relating to a variety of status effects and damage types.

You can have any number of ability scrolls.
At the start of the game, you choose a sect. When you first install the game, only one sect is unlocked. Ability scrolls fall into two categories – general, which are equippable by any sect, and sect-specific scrolls, which align with your sect’s playstyle. All scrolls are indefinite passives. Some have interesting effects, but they’re mostly centered around stat bonuses.

The first sect focuses on mixing up melee and ranged damage for bonus damage. Another is focused on maximizing ranged. Yet another is focused on cold effects. And still another is focused on spraying spirits, igniting them, and then trying to keep a chain of sprays going so you can incinerate the whole damned map.

All enemies telegraph attacks rather obviously, allowing you to dodge on even a small screen. For the most part, I wouldn’t call it a bullet hell, as most threats are melee, but enemies do charge, and some of the bosses definitely do spam the screen with attacks.

Cross-game persistence:
Clearing a game will unlock the next difficulty level.
Killing bosses will give you red souls, which you can spend on permanent perks.
You will (mostly randomly) find lore items that you keep indefinitely. Combinations of lore items unlock perks and gear. They appear to be relevant also to getting the True Ending, which I have not yet achieved.

Last thing to note: Buttons can be linked. Linking the sword and flying sword buttons is effective technique for taking advantage of the first sect abilities.