These are the notes from the design team on 11/19/2025 while trying to lock down the gameplay loop and decide on what needs to happen between now and the end of the sprint for the overall state of the game to be where we want it.

Notes

• Event 2: could have guards in the room along with goblins potentially

Current problems:

• Too spammy
• Stay in one enemy all the time
• No real reason to use the de-possess
• Player feels too safe
• damaging currently possessed enemy doesn't matter
• dodging is unclear
• Players need to respect enemies/getting hit
• Clear Focus upgrade should be cut, flat out. It doesn't show what it's doing, if it even does have an effect, and other options are more interesting. Players are choosing it without understanding what it does, we should protect against that.
• Double the amount of health gotten from consume

What should be interesting?

• Combos aren't the priority anymore
• when/who to possess
• when to de-possess
• Who to target
• Which move to use

Potential Solutions:

• Solution 1: a small amount of damage when taken inside an enemy bleeds into Eleth's health, Make the counter window wider/make the notification earlier to be more able to react to it, forcing the player to make the choice of get hit or get out.
  • Award possession meter for leaving an enemy early
  • If you leave an enemy while an enemy is about to attack, it will still hit that old body
  • Move dodge to depossess, eliminating counter possession. This is intended, and possession is now less safe.
  • Enemies should attack more often to make them feel more dangerous.
• Solution 2: Enemies don't instantly die, damage is instead dealt continuously to the player when an enemy is at 0 health.
• If Enemy health is at 0, full damage is also done to Eleth. Overflow damage is not used.
• Grand finale is maybe too strong?
  • Grand finale increases the continuous damage the player takes when at 0 enemy health

Decisions

1. Countering is now a dodge/de possession only
2. We can still chain possess or regular possess
3. Raise amount of hits needed to possess again (from like 3-5 or something)
4. You can still counter possess an enemy about to attack you while in an enemy.
5. Using the de possess move will shoot the player backwards, much like the dodge in Eleth move does

Additional changes apart from gameplay loop.

1. when using the non-lockon attack, the player should push a little bit forward so that you can combo it easier.
2. also on the non-lockon attack especially, rotate to the player stick direction when you start it. it feels really awkward to aim otherwise
3. don't reopen gates to previous room when you clear it

If questions, contact Strider about additional changes above.