This is Jin Sang Kim, the creative director of Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch. I am very excited to present a demo of our game just in time for the Turn-based RPG Fest, as we get ready to launch into Early Access.
After showcasing a prototype of the game at PAX West last September we conducted two internal company-wide tests, a Friends and Family test, first official closed beta test in July, and a demo just last August. With each test we ran a survey and gathered valuable feedback from the testers, and implemented various improvements, ranging from quality-of-life updates to significant changes in game balance, music, and art style. All based on the feedback.
The feedback from everyone has been incredibly helpful in refining and improving the game, and we’ve worked to reflect as much of your thoughts as possible for this demo, now open to turn-based RPG fans.
Let me briefly explain the history of our development, the improvements we made for this demo, and the ongoing work that has yet to be implemented.
1. Improvements In This Demo
After going through the closed beta and demo tests in July and August, here are some key changes we made:
[Quality of Life Improvements]
There's been significant improvements to various UI/UX inconveniences. For example, we adjusted the text speed after receiving feedback that it was too slow. Repetitive text during battle now automatically skips after the first encounter. We also improved the UI for Resonance Stones to enhance player understanding of the system. These, along with other UI/UX changes, make the game more user-friendly and easier to navigate.
[BGM Improvements]
We received feedback that the music didn’t match the game, so we contracted Clark, the composer of our first game, Lost Eidolons, to remake the original BGM in a new style. We also added newly composed tracks to fit the game’s tone.
[Prologue/Tutorial Improvements]
We improved the prologue to give more context to the main protagonist's predicament at the start of the game. The tutorial has been streamlined to focus on essentials while ensuring that players still learn the necessary mechanics.
[Portrait Art Style Improvements]
This was one of our biggest challenges. Initially, the game was introduced with sketch-style portrait art, but feedback indicated that it didn’t capture the characters' personalities well. We switched to a more stylized, animation-inspired art style, but the feedback showed that this change made the characters feel generic. After much consideration and effort, we decided to revert to the original art style.
Fans of both the original Lost Eidolons and Veil of the Witch told us that the characters that appear in both games fits better with the previous art style, and this feedback was crucial in making this decision. However, this does not mean we've simply reverted to the original illustrations and we’ll still be working on improving the faces of less distinctive characters. For example, we will make additional changes to the main character Ashe, so please keep this in mind when providing feedback.
In this demo, we also added unique character portrait art that appears when Mythic skills are used, to increase the visual impact.
[New Title Art]
There's now a new title art to more accurately captures the full story and vision of the game, improving upon the previous design that focused too much on the characters and felt a bit plain
2. Things Not Yet Implemented
The most common feedback we received during the tests was about the Altar of Fire. The upgrade options were too simple and didn’t significantly impact the gameplay style. We are therefore currently in the process of completely revamping the Altar of Fire. Unfortunately, this wasn’t ready for this demo, as it requires a lot of UI/UX and balance testing, but we want to reassure you that we are working hard to reflect your feedback.
As for the BGM, not all tracks are completed yet. By the time of the Early Access launch, the music selection will be much more varied, and we will continue to add more to enhance the feeling of variety and depth of battles and events.
Lastly, while many of you requested voice acting, it won’t be available in Early Access. However, we do plan to include it in the final release, once all story elements and hidden content are added.
We are also working hard on localization to support a wide range of languages, and we will announce which languages will be included in Early Access soon.
3. Future Plans
Our main goal with this Turn-based RPG Fest demo is to gather feedback from gamers who love the genre as much as we do. So please try out the demo and share your feedback! CLICK TO TAKE SURVEY
Based on the feedback from this demo, we will assess the current state of our Early Access build and identify areas for further improvement. We will announce the Early Access release schedule soon after.
We hope many of you will participate in the test and provide your valuable opinions.
And I’ll be back with another dev blog after the Turn-based RPG Fest.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jin-Sang Kim
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2530490/Lost_Eidolons_Veil_of_the_Witch/
