Nerfing Willpower, Faith and Courage!

[The Gentlebros]

As the topic suggests, we plan to nerf these three legendaries because, well...they're way too powerful!

Originally, when designing it, we didn't think players would be able to get these pieces so early, because of the skill required, and how hidden some of these pieces were. One of them is also guarded by a level 200 enemy!

However, with the internet being what it is, and some players devising strategies we never thought of(good job you guys!), the most powerful gear set in the game can technically be got really early, thus breaking the balance for the rest of the game!

It's definitely our fault for not anticipating this, but don't fret though! With the new 'Mew Game' update, we're giving players the ability to level up Willpower, Faith and Courage! So you can bring it back to its former glory. Only now, these items will be balanced for first time players of the game! :)

Now, we know nerfing stuff is always a sensitive subject, and hence we wanted to get some feedback on this first! Will you guys be okay if we nerfed these armors and weapons?

[Phantron]

I never liked those three items because once I get them there is literally no point to ever use anything else from that point to the end of the game. While I'm a min-max kind of guy, I do prefer to have some variety in what I use and it seems like a total waste that you got a lot of interesting looking gear you could've use but you got to stick with the sumo wrestler cat unless you want to make stuff harder for yourself.

Ideally I'd want them to be like Dragonsbane where it promotes a certain style (glass cannon in the case of Dragonsbane) though that might not be possible within the limitation of the game.

Also a question, does the Mew Mode allow you to start a new game without losing all your previous progress? Right now I actually want to go back to see some of the earlier stuff but since there's only one save game, starting a new game instantly erases all my previous progress. I'd like to have a save point before battling Drakonth, for example, so that I can do the final battle without having to replay nearly the entire game every time.

[The Gentlebros]

Correct! That is what we are going to do with Willpower, Courage and Faith. We are going to tweak the stats such that they are still powerful, but other weapons are better for certain play styles. These three armors are gonna be the 'jack of all trades' gear.

So Mew Game is going to take up a separate save file entirely, and you will be able to go back to the main game at any time. :)

[Phantron]

So is the regular game mode ever going to have more than one save point? Right now you can't even see the epilogue again without starting over and losing all your previous progress. I guess just starting over (Mew Mode) isn't terrible especially if you retain your levels/gear so you can just blitz through it.

[The Gentlebros]

Originally posted by Phantron:

So is the regular game mode ever going to have more than one save point? Right now you can't even see the epilogue again without starting over and losing all your previous progress. I guess just starting over (Mew Mode) isn't terrible especially if you retain your levels/gear so you can just blitz through it.

We're adding a new mode called Mew Game, which comes with its own save slot....so technically you would have two slots now! :3

[constantcompile]

As someone who just downloaded the Beta branch to try out Mew Game... Ouch.

Going from 777 to 111 for each item more than halves the amount of power and magic I had - at level 100! I agree it makes the other items more viable, but getting to the point where I could steamroll nearly everything at around level 50 made the tail end (ha) of my 8-ish hour playthrough more fun, and made it a lot easier to sit at my computer for 10-minute play sessions throughout my day where I could find the time.

If your aim is for people to do repeated playthroughs, I feel like 8 hours is probably on the higher end of how long you want it to take.

I feel like there's a spectrum here - on one end, you have Half-Minute Hero, where the central gag is that you take a character from level 1 to final boss-worthy in 30 in-game seconds. On the other end of the spectrum you have Bravely Default, where the general consensus seems to be that they required so many playthroughs (which were each too lengthy) to get the "good" ending that it ended up killing the fun.

If there were no Mew Game, and the playthrough I'd just finished were the end of it, I would have given the game a solid 8/10, recommended it, and moved on. But with this new content, I feel obliged to continue playing until I've completed the game.

Finishing a game and setting it down is very different from losing interest in a game and shelving it indefinitely - the former is going to leave you with a much more positive feeling toward the game. I'll definitely still give it a shot, but I am hoping that progression will still be fast enough that it doesn't get boring.

[The Gentlebros]

Thanks for offering that insight!
The plan is to still make WFC strong, but just a little weaker than it is now so players getting it early won't feel the game is too broken.

Hmm, hopefully Mew Game won't be something bad...it is still entirely optional, and just another mode to play if you like the game.

[Dravvad]

Originally posted by The Gentlebros:

Thanks for offering that insight!
The plan is to still make WFC strong, but just a little weaker than it is now so players getting it early won't feel the game is too broken.

Hmm, hopefully Mew Game won't be something bad...it is still entirely optional, and just another mode to play if you like the game.

You might have some people complain about achievements depending on how hard it gets, but it's not likely to give the game lots of bad feedback.

The only time I ever usually criticize achievements is if it's things like "Spend X hours in the game" or other things that simply require an obscene amount of time and don't actually involve doing something/reaching a sensible goal.

But don't worry. If Cuphead is Overwhelmingly Positive even with negative reviews about difficulty, I don't think Mew Game will be bad.

[なかの31]

And then, one may get a level 99 weapon at around level 20 from a blacksmith quest.

[constantcompile]

For what it's worth, I haven't left the game a bad review.

I started Mew Game, and it couldn't hold my interest. My experience in the base game was good, but now that WFC has been nerfed, I know that new players will have a fundamentally different experience than I had for the second half or so of the game. So it doesn't feel right to give the game a thumbs-up if the second half of it is now fundamentally different from what I played.

So for now, I just haven't reviewed it. If I ever come back to it and beat Mew Game, I may, but my free time is limited and there is no shortage of new and interesting games that vie for my attention.

I'm just one guy, so I'm sure this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Cheers.

[The Gentlebros]

Originally posted by constantcompile:

For what it's worth, I haven't left the game a bad review.

I started Mew Game, and it couldn't hold my interest. My experience in the base game was good, but now that WFC has been nerfed, I know that new players will have a fundamentally different experience than I had for the second half or so of the game. So it doesn't feel right to give the game a thumbs-up if the second half of it is now fundamentally different from what I played.

So for now, I just haven't reviewed it. If I ever come back to it and beat Mew Game, I may, but my free time is limited and there is no shortage of new and interesting games that vie for my attention.

I'm just one guy, so I'm sure this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Cheers.

It hasn't fundamentally changed. WFC is still insanely powerful, and will stomp any enemy you find. :)

[Macarisil]

I've cleared the game a few times- and I'm not opposed to the nerf-however- I think the scaling should be slightly different. Magic as is is simply too good in high-level or late game.

Consider :
courage: (old +696 health) This needs to be changed to armor. 696 health is worth less than 30 levels once you break 20 health per level. So, even with a nerf, this is essentially useless.

willpower: At late game, magic is worth more. Cattrap especially if you have enough mp can deal easily well over 1k per second. (purrzerk and flamepurr if you stack them with cattrap make it essentially a one hit combo for the trio. If you can dodge, that means spam). willpower is incredible in your first playthrough. (in mine, it was pre-nerf, so that huge boost was worth it!) Othwerise, melee is mostly for regaining MP.

Faith: Needs to be leveled to be amazing. You're trading health and armor for offensive power with faith.



Therefore: If you can only upgrade each once per new game/New game + -- that isn't going to work! If there's a scaling difficulty for the three areas to upgrade each weapon, that would work. Make them multi-upgradeable (but definitely not with chests!) each playthrough!


Scaled, repeatable dungeons might be the next step in new game + (same for quests) to make the current game playable before hitting catquest 2 (or a huge expansion with the masters)



Thank you for hours of entertainment! I've thoroughly enjoyed your creation, though have still not cleared a game with lv1 and no equip (my goal). I look forward to more cat puns in mewpurr.

[maxi_franke]

i now wear faith, Slashy Scarf and willpower.
I think so all my vaules are really good

[Caradog]

> we're giving players the ability to level up Willpower, Faith and Courage! So you can bring it back to its former glory

How? Through the smithy? Or is this no longer true?

[J's]

Originally posted by Sam:

> we're giving players the ability to level up Willpower, Faith and Courage! So you can bring it back to its former glory

How? Through the smithy? Or is this no longer true?

I beleive it requires you to start a Mew Game with Furry Armored Mod, not absolutely certain though. Since on that mode you can rush the 4 required dungeon after the introduction village... though it may take a while because I might have done it once and got a lev+1 for it...

[kaki_gamet]

Originally posted by J's:

I beleive it requires you to start a Mew Game with Furry Armored Mod, not absolutely certain though. Since on that mode you can rush the 4 required dungeon after the introduction village... though it may take a while because I might have done it once and got a lev+1 for it...

You can go and try it by yourself, but I doubt you will ever bring back anything ; )