Devlog 2021-05-24: Combat

Things have been fairly quiet on the MFG38's Average Adventure 2 front lately, but following a re-playthrough of what I have so far yesterday, I'm feeling a sense of reinvigoration as far as the project goes.  With that in mind, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to describe in detail how the game's combat system works.

The combat of MFG38's Average Adventure REDUX, to which this game is the sequel, was sub-par to say the least. Every battle played out in largely the same way. Each character's basic attack could be spammed safely in almost all battles. Rabuf's elemental magic turned out to be meaningless. The enemies you fought didn't have any weaknesses or resistances against certain damage types (with the exception of one, and even then, the difference it made was infinitesimal). 

With MFG38's Average Adventure 2, the combat has seen quite the overhaul. I basically ditched almost everything from REDUX and rebuilt the system with the intention of making it deeper and more engaging. The basic attack is no longer the most feasible option in all battles - which skills you use and when you use them actually matters now. Different enemies have resistances, weaknesses and even immunities against different damage types. Figuring them out and using that knowledge to your advantage is key to defeating the enemies you come across in the most efficient way possible.

There are in all 6 different damage types in the game: Physical, Fire, Lightning, Ice, Radiant and Dark. Physical is the standard damage type, dealt by most basic weapon and other non-magical attacks, though some of the high-tier weapons in the game can offer alternative damage types. While only one enemy in the game technically has resistance against Physical damage, other enemies may have a fairly high DEF stat and low MDF stat, making magical attacks more effective against them. This also works vice versa in some cases.

Somewhat in relation to combat, I also took care to balance the combat encounters in the game so that the need for grinding would be minimal. This is another big change from REDUX in that grinding in REDUX was very much necessary in order to survive the bulk of the battles. The relatively linear progression of MFG38's Average Adventure 2 helped towards achieving this goal; since there's little room for wandering around aimlessly, the player will gain the necessary levels naturally. As long as they don't run from the majority of the battles, of course.

That concludes my rambling for today. Now if I could finish composing the soundtrack so I can get the game out before 2022...