Dear all,
Hello, and nice to meet you.
I'm Sayuri from PLAYISM, the publisher of The Use of Life.
I'm pretty sure this is my first time talking directly to you all like this.
The recent update is one that brings back a lot of memories. Usually I just stand back and listen to what Daraneko has to say in that quirky style of his, but this time I wanted to talk a bit about the past, so I got special permission to post this.
The Use of Life is an "adventure game book-style RPG" with multiple endings, which means it was a perfect game for me, someone who read every single adventure game book in my elementary school library as a kid, and then poured 20 hours a day into the free game Ruina: Fairy Tale of the Forgotten Ruins as an adult. There's just something special about adventure game books and TRPGs.
But then I realized the battles were really difficult.
At first I was like, "Wait, what do you mean the battles are QTE? You mean like the prompts that show up in cutscenes sometimes?" but I tried it out anyway.
As someone who needs 10 seconds to run 50 meters, my reflexes are obviously abyssmal, and so I kept dying over and over again.
But PLAYISM was already on board to be the publisher of the game, so I told myself I had to win somehow...
And so I tried again and again in order to beat the boss of the demo.
As I kept trying, I gradually got the hang of it, and began to understand enemy weaknesses. It was really satisfying to dodge well and then hit back with my own huge damage, and when I finally won, the sheer sense of accomplishment that flooded my brain was incredible. I want everyone to experience it. And so I learned that this game was built on trying many times to learn the enemy's characteristics in order to come up with strategies to beat them with.
"I had a great time then. But once I left the demo and entered the second chapter, I started running into enemies that attacked WAY too many times each turn, and I started struggling to survive no matter what I tried. In case you're wondering, I'm on Easy difficulty. Duh. Why wouldn't I be on Easy?
Anyway, I got beaten up by the boss many, many times, and eventually I couldn't take it anymore and threw down my controller. I wasn't gonna touch this crappy game ever again! (I did.)"
And since I did still want to play the game, I timidly asked Daraenko for some tips on how to fight properly. He gave me some pointers, my first reaction was "well why didn't you tell me that sooner?!" but they did also make me feel much more confident that I could actually beat it. (Boss battles especially are really intense, and the exhilaration after defeating one is insane. PLEASE experience it for yourself.)
"Umm, Mr. Daraneko? Isn't this a bit too hard to get? For people with horrible reflexes (me), this game plays more like torture!" I said indignantly, to which Daraneko replied, "Uh, it's actually all written in the game. Most people don't read it, though." And so I re-read all the in-game text and realized... he was right! Huh! One problem, though, was that the text was really wordy... which is a very Daraneko problem, isn't it?
"Mr. Daraneko, players like me would never read this! We should make it easier to read and understand!" I plead, to which Daraneko replied, "That kind of person should just not play my game then!" Fair.
What lovely memories.
2 and a half years have passed since this game entered Early Access, but at long last, we've reworked the Hints for the Road feature and turned it into an easy-to-digest conversation! Yay! Everyone sign up for Elmaise's class right now!
Even if you get a Game Over, just visit the Hints for the Road and try again! There's no reason to be afraid to die!
I'd like to especially recommend this update to players like this:
- QTE battles are way too hard! Stop adding RNG and action elements to my turn-based RPG! That's the worst kind of game!
- It's impossible to dodge every single enemy attack perfectly, but you gotta!
- Weight? What's weight?
- All of the enemy attacks show up as ??? though!
- The "Are You Ready?" when you start each turn is so annoying! Why is it even necessary?! Get out of my face!
And so on.
The hints will surely give you a pointer or two for things you don't even know you're stuck on. I hope you'll listen closely to Elmaise's useful advice! Then you'll be able to defeat strong enemies and feel that incredible rush! Once you've gotten those pointers in your head, ideally you'll start thinking, "maybe The Use of Life isn't just a good adventure game book kinda game, but also has a really good battle system?!"
And after 2 years, one of 2 major routes, where you choose to travel with Misha, has been concluded, so you can play to the very end. And the end? I cry every time. I'd love to see more players beat the game and read the ending! It's on sale too right now, so why not?
As an indie publisher, we know how much of a miracle it is to see an indie game finally reach completion. Daraneko works on this game almost entirely on his own every day, and though I'm always itching to play the next unreleased part of the game, we simply watch from afar without meddling with his work. We know it's not as easy as it sounds to deliver something of a quality that'll satisfy everyone.
On top of that, Daraneko always tries to come up with better ways to do things, such as changing up the order of certain development aspects so that he can work on the second half of the other route more smoothly. The hint overhaul was also implemented because Daraneko wanted more people to be able to enjoy the game after all.
Your comments and feedback are like nutrients that sustain Daraneko and the development of this game. There's still a long while before the game is finally completed, but we'll use that time to make the game as unforgettable as possible, so we hope you'll continue to support us!
October 3, 2024
Sayuri (PLAYISM)
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