4/6/19: Saturday, April 6, 2019
Rolling Out!
Hi! I'm Mookal (pronounced moo-kull), one of Earthbound: Rhapsody's programmers. We're currently hard at work on the game's combat system. It works similar to the other Mother series games. We have the same bashing, PSI, all of the other available actions, and the same party member status boxes. Speaking of which, let's take a look at those, shall we?
Our concept artists drafted these status windows recently, and they're available in many tasty ice cream-inspired flavors. They include Vanilla, Mint, Coffee, Cookie Dough, Blue Moon, Orange Cream, and Strawberry!
Anyway, there are more important things to discuss, like the main topic of this blog post. The rolling HP/odometer mechanic introduced in EarthBound was a really unique feature that allowed players to be both more strategic and a little less careful, making for heart-poundingly exciting gameplay, so there was no way we couldn't include the feature in Rhapsody. It took some blood, sweat, and tears, but we recently finished up the feature, and it's working perfectly. Here's a quick look at the system in action. Keep in mind that everything here, especially the UI, is subject to change.
It's also worth noting that, like in the previous Mother games, defending decreases the speed at which the odometer rolls. This mechanic returns in Rhapsody! Here's a look.
We're also adding a new twist on the Rolling HP system. To add add an extra dimension to combat, the rolling speed is now also affected by the tempo of the song playing! This makes fast-paced battles feel even more frantic, and slower battles feel even more relaxed. Here's a quick look at that in action.
In the battle on the left, Battle Against a Groovy Foe is playing, which has a much faster tempo than the song playing in the fight on the right, Battle Against a Gross Foe.
I hope you enjoyed this preview of what's in store for Earthbound: Rhapsody's combat. That's it for this update. We'll see you in June!
-Mookal