A Hard Mode Would Be Dope. Please? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Mysterious Maximus]

!WARNING. LONG BOI POST DETECTED. EXCESSIVE GUSHING IMMINENT. WARNING.!

Not trying to be a hardcore gamer stereotype, it's blunt, opinionated honesty. The game's a teeny bit too easy and hopefully at least a few would agree. Some of the platforming hit the sweet spot for me but overall, actual combat specifically, it's tough to actually lose. Grey Kid got me once before I understood it and I believe that's it.

I LOVE this game and tried to take it into my own hands, immediately running it a 2nd time, actively avoiding upgrades. If I didn't still find it too easy with that self inflicted hindrance, I probably wouldn't bother posting this. Thing is, that made me realize the game as intended is even breezier than I thought. And for the record, it's a lot more fun progressing and upgrading than not anyway, hence why I don't want to "tweak it myself" even if it did make the right amount of difference.

There are some genuinely intimidating things to encounter in this game. Designs I'm still inspired by on how to make a threatening enemy and moments that get you pumped, built up perfectly. That world 2 major boss. That end boss. That everything! The initial wow factor's a little trivialized by how below your pay grade any and every fight is...and working for Stitches, what's that, like a handful of cents?

Look, I wouldn't want to change a thing. Just add? If I have kids, I'd not so subtly get them playing this. It's masterful. I don't for a second expect and definitely don't demand for the stakes to be raised. The only reason I'm bothering at all is that almost every random thread I look into has responses from Paper Castle and I expect they'll see this. Might as well share as I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up before (to my knowledge).

Underhero's tone doesn't exactly scream "tough as nails" anyway and I don't think it's supposed to. Inspirations listed as Paper Mario though, TTYD for one can pack a noticeable wallop and CASTLEVANIA I don't need to get into at all.

Underhero comes off to me as "kid friendly" but at the same time, stresses to me that it wants to be taken seriously WHEN it's being serious. Some particularly horrifying, well hidden imagery toward the end for example let's me know we're switching the funnies off for this moment (Even if there's still a goof hidden within the hidden bits I'm referencing). I'd love for that to be reflected in the effort I need to put in to prevail.

No idea how actively Paper Castle's still working on updates, if at all. Maybe you're already working on something new. Maybe you're already working on something...old but new? Know what would be better than Underhero hard mode? Underhero 2. God, I hope for it one day. Still kick myself that steam introduced me to Underhero and not your crowdfunding campaign. I'm on board if round 2 arises.

If it does, just a big ol' fan here with food for thought that'd drastically up his replay value and hopefully others. OPTIONALLY of course. Everyone deserves to see this at their own speed. I want to stay in this world as long as possible and the only reason I don't visit more often is that as it stands, I'm mainly only there to admire the beauty, relive the story and snack on the tasty...TASTY jams.

I'll never stop popping in periodically, with or without more challenge for those reasons alone of course. At 15 bucks, we've all essentially robbed the contents of your beautiful brains. BIG THANK.











TLDR: 10/10, add a checkbox to make it harder plz.

[PaperCastleGames]

Hello!

Thank you for the passionate message <3

Truth be told, we considered a hard mode at one point after release, but ultimately decided against it for many reasons:

First, doing a simple HP and damage buff to the enemies felt like the cheap way of doing a hard mode. A good mode up to our standards would have been re-adjusting every attack animation and hint animations for every enemy and boss, as well as to re-balance health drops and upgrades, and maybe change some enemy placements. This was of course a lot of work, balancing the game as it is now took months of testing and adjusting, doing it again would take quite a bit as well.

Second, at the time we were busy emigrating the team to another country. We decided it was too much work to port the game to the new engine (which took us months) plus a new hard mode. So we concentrated on bug fixing and porting.

Third, we started developing the console ports after the engine port was completed and we launched Underhero V 4.0.0 here on PC, and we are still not done developing the ports!

Fourth, we are now working on a new project! Along side the console ports of Underhero.



I'm sorry if that is not the answer you were hoping, but hopefully being honest with this helps you understand that it was not a decision we took lightly, it just isn't a priority.

Thank you so much for loving the game, it gives us hope for the future of the studio and our games.


tl;dr Hard mode would have been a lot of work on top of a lot of more important work.

[Mysterious Maximus]

Truth be told, any answer was the answer I was looking for.

Knowing that it was already taken into consideration is good enough. I agree wholeheartedly that a hard mode that actually changes the game instead of having everything be tankier/hit harder is the better option 100% of the time. I also understand that it isn't simple to just do that. It's a resource dump and I would've elaborated more on what I was looking for (Which is more or less exactly what you described) if the post wasn't already getting too long.

Last time I checked, there are still some minor bugs that people are finding and it's awesome to see you guys still crossing them off the list. Goes without saying, polish is a top priority. I haven't REALLY sat down with Underhero since playing it to death close after it's release and it's a great feeling to be able to assume most of the oddities I experienced at that time are likely already ironed out.

I must've missed the news that you were working on console ports. That's fantastic! There are a handful of people I've recommended Underhero to that don't have a gaming PC but have a PS4, Switch etc. I'd pick it up a 2nd time myself just because, especially if I could get a physical copy.

I don't know what the new project's gonna be...it's obvious what I hope it is but inspiration for a sequel should come naturally. To be fair, kind of on you for leaving us with big loose ends, lol. Seriously though, whatever it is, Underhero's a strong enough opening statement that I'll be picking it up when I catch wind of it. If the time frame/budget allows, please keep the more masochistic thrill seekers of the bunch like myself in the back of your mind.

Lastly, and I want to stress this, thank you for being such an open and accommodating studio in terms of communication. That's not something you often see. Being able to get some closure on a question that isn't a hot topic or in the cards for a project SHOULD be a coveted privilege in the industry. It's a kind of insurance in itself regarding who you're giving your money to and the kind of final products they'll produce.

[PaperCastleGames]

We can't talk much about the new project just yet, but we can at least confirm it won't be a sequel to Underhero. We simply don't have the resources to develop a 4-5 year game again, but we are open to it in the future if we get to a point where we are ready to tackle a bigger, better game for the sequel.

Again, thanks for the confidence and the words of encouragement! We are happy to respond as much as we can, and we intend to keep it that way as long as we can :)

Cheers!