Project Elemental (Rabbit hole Demo)

Project Elemental is a prototype / demo of an RPG game I am developing that plays similar to Paper Mario.

This is a prototype in a very early state of development. Currently, there is no sound, and almost everyone except the player characters do not have any animations (i.e. they are still sprites although they do have front and back sprites). There is also some placeholder text for parts of the pause menu (i.e. the map screen and status screen). Dialogue in general is likely somewhat rough (Writing is not my strong suit). Unequipping your ribbons will not display correctly.

Movement uses WASD, Space to jump, "/" to use weapons, cancel and scroll text fast. "." is used to change the party order and "," is used to tattle. (These controls can be rebound in the Settings menu.).

A lot of information about battles is in the Journal section of the Pause menu. It may be a good idea to skim over most of it, although you do not necessarily have to read all of it unless you want extremely detailed and specific details about how battles work. Some more important details will be explained here.

You can start battles by running into enemies or by attacking them in the overworld. Battles work similar to the Paper Mario games, where your moves have commands you need to do to do the moves properly. You can also block enemy attacks. Most of your skills cost Energy and a second resource called Stamina. Stamina regenerates at a rate equal to your Agility. Your Agility is proportional to your Max EP, although Wilex will usually have a higher Agility than Luna. The character in front will also gain a 50% increase to their Stamina, although enemies will usually target them more often. Using a skill that costs at least as much as your Agility will prevent you from regenerating Stamina next turn (indicated by an "X" appearing in the HUD).

Soul Moves are special, powerful abilities that cost Soul Energy (top right corner of the HUD). Soul Energy regenerates at a rate of 1 per turn, although using the Rest action in the Tactics menu will give you 3 Soul Energy (as well as giving you extra Stamina equal to your Agility).

Badges can give you access to new moves or increase your stats, or apply other beneficial effects to you.

Ribbons give you a different method of blocking as well as adding a new effect that happens when you use Rest.

Different damage types will be boosted under certain conditions (i.e. Light damage will become stronger against targets with a higher HP percentage). More details are explained in the Journal section of the Pause Menu relating to each damage type.

This demo is structured like a roguelike, where you try to go as far as you can in a linear dungeon (the "Rabbit Hole"). Each normal floor contains 4 obstacles that you can open by paying coins or other resources, by defeating an enemy locking the obstacle, or by destroying it using an overworld ability. Rest areas appear every 10 floors, which contain at least 2 NPCs that may sell you useful items or perform other helpful services for you. (These floors also contain a save point at the front.). Rest floors also give you access to new Soul Moves by interacting with the altar in the back.

If you want a harder version of the game, equip the Super Curse badge to make battles more difficult. All enemies have at least 1 change to their moveset with Super Curse active. The other curse badges are stronger versions of Super Curse. It is not likely to be possible to beat the whole demo with any of the stronger curse badges (They are more so intended for the final game, where bosses will be possible with Mega Curse with extreme levels of preparation and advanced strategy)

The final game will be a more traditional RPG, but this demo is focused on showcasing enemies and battle mechanics.

Currently, there is no final boss if you get to floor 100 (although it can still be challenging to reach Floor 100.)

This demo has been tested with the Super Curse badge always equipped. It is not likely to be possible with the other curse badges equipped. The approximate playtime for a successful run is 3-4 hours.

Join my discord server to contact me or to follow the development of the game (https://discord.gg/CStfMNt6QY) to give feedback or report bugs.

(You can also DM me directly at @shadebladedev on discord, but using the server is preferable.)