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The Use of Life News

About the status of development as of March

We've received another status update from Daraneko.
Please give it a read.

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Here's the monthly report for March.

I've been focusing on writing the story and creating events for it, and so the endings are now complete, apart from the battles.

If you gave up your power in the previous chapter, you'd have lost your powers as a Deathwalker... but I've included a whole series of battle-related events to make up for it.

You've already seen something similar in the Gargantua fight, but this time, you'll be the one making and setting up the traps however you want and strengthening them before the battle.











Something like this.

Do everything you can to disrupt your opponent and eventually snatch victory from under their nose, such as by knocking them into a river, or zapping them with electricity. Or both.

At first, I made it so that the traps would be already set up for the player, but then I thought that it would be lots of fun if players could do whatever they wanted with the traps, so I made it this way.

...As a result, there is a LOT of text for this. Help.
I'm currently writing all of that text and implementing it into the game.

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We're still trying to decide on a release date. It's not going to be March, that's for sure.

It depends on how long the wall of text I've imposed onto myself will take to write, but I'll be happy if we can release it by the end of April. Hopefully.

There's still localization and debugging and stuff too, so I'll be working closely with PLAYISM on that.

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And that's all for this status update.
Development is still going strong, so please continue to support us!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1483370/_/

Playism
Visit the Playism Website Follow us on Steam Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord server

About the status of development as of February

We've received another status update from Daraneko.
Please give it a read.

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Hey, it's been a while.
It's time for the February status update.

I've mostly finished one of the two endings that will be added in the next update. The one where you fight the dragon, specifically.
Next, I'll have to write the next route's events, and then code the battles in both routes... at least, that's the plan.
But the other route has around twice as much text as the one I'm almost done with, so I'll have to spend a while on that.

As for the release date, right now I can't say much other than "around spring, maybe...?"
At my current pace, I might be able to finish the game in March, but March is a month where huge releases suddenly drop out of nowhere, so I don't really want to release the update in March.
And the game needs to get localized first too!
I'll be talking with PLAYISM about the release date while I continue working on the game.

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The illustrations are also being worked on, but showing any of them would be a spoiler, so I don't wanna! I don't wanna.
Yesterday, I got an illustration of Misha from the artist, but her chest looked kinda off, so the two of us just kept staring and staring at her chest for ages.
※Turns out, the fur on her chest was the wrong color.
※No we weren't being weird about it what are you talking about... hahaha.

But I can't just not show anything, so here's a map I'm working on.



One of the routes will most likely feature a fight like Gargantua's, where you run around triggering events while fighting at the same time.
(In fact, I made Gargantua as a sort of practice round for this fight.)

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That's all for this month's update.
See you next time~

=================================

And that's all for this status update.
Development is still going strong, so please continue to support us!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1483370/_/

Playism
Visit the Playism Website Follow us on Steam Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord server

About Our Upcoming Development Schedule (And the Steam Winter Sale!)

Hello everyone,
Are you enjoying Chapter 4 of the Misha route?
Now that the Chapter 4 update and bug fixes have settled down, we would like to share with you our upcoming schedule for the final chapter of this route!
Please take a look at the following message from Daraneko.

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■ Future Updates
At the end of last month, we released Chapter 4, and then we released a few updates to patch and polish it up.
And now, the dust has finally settled, so I think I'll stop fiddling with Chapter 4 for now and move on to make the next chapter.
Unless some horrible game-breaking bug appears, there won't be any updates for a while.
I'll leave the small bugs and tweaks to after the final chapter is released.

The next chapter will be the final chapter, and thus the ending, of this route. (Chapter 3 of the Kohaku route will come after)
It's a chapter focused on the final battle, so it won't have a dungeon section.
Get ready to go toe-to-toe with the biggest baddest final boss!

As for the update schedule, ideally it would be something like this...
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I'll work super duper hard in January and February and release it on Valentine's Day along with a Valentine's illustration of Misha!!
And then I'll fix some bugs, and then by March I'll curl up in bed and cackle evilly as I play Unicorn Overlord aaall day...
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Alas, reality is a cruel mistress.

My day job wants me to leave home for around a month or so. At the moment, I can't tell how much this will effect the development schedule.
I'll try my best to keep working on the game even while I'm staying away from home, but... it might take until the end of March or so.
But February and March are those months where gamedevs suddenly drop surprise reveals and then there's popular game series coming out too, which will bury my little game under all the other game news, so I don't wannaaaa! I don't wanna release at the end of March!! Noooooo!!

Anyway, it's really hard to tell when I can release the game until some time has passed and I fully know what my situation will be like.
So... probably sometime in the spring...? That's all I can say for now.
I'll keep writing status updates every month though, so if anything comes up, I'll let you know.

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And that's all for the message from Daraneko.
By the way, The Use of Life is participating in the Steam Winter Sale! Why not try out the game before the upcoming chapter update?

What's more, we've also updated the demo version of the game! You can carry over your save data from the demo to the full version, so feel free to try it out if you're stil on the fence, and then grab it while it's at a lower price to see the Misha route story to its end sometime next spring!

Check out the full Winter Sale lineup at our publisher page:
https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/Playism


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1483370/_/

Playism
Visit the Playism Website Follow us on Steam Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord server

Update : Ver.0.4.05

Hello everyone,

Thank you playing The Use of Life!
We have updated the game to Ver0.4.05. Here are the bug fixes and changes.

◆ Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug where enemies did not have an aura when activating Undying Curse
  • Fixed a bug where if a player changed the game settings when no save files exist and then closed out of the game, an incomplete save data would be created in the first slot
  • Fixed a bug where effects of previously-used Enchant Skills would be added again when a new Enchant Skill is applied in battle
  • Fixed a bug where the number of Retry Chances did not reset to 5 after clearing Chapter 3
  • Fixed a bug where the desert BGM continued to play in Chapter 4 after clearing Chapter 3
  • Fixed a bug where restarting from the beginning of Chapter 4 after clearing Chapter 3 would restart from the beginning of Chapter 3 instead
  • Fixed a bug where closing the game after clearing Chapter 3 and loading the save file would result in a pitch-black screen
  • Fixed a bug where players did not get EXP from opening a certain door from the inside in the desert underground section
  • Fixed a bug where Gargantua's maximum HP appears to be increased in Hard Mode, even though it actually does not increase
  • Fixed a bug where if you died in a battle against Gargantua after using the Paralysis trap and then retried, the Paralysis effect would also be applied to another battle
  • Fixed a bug where selecting "Do-over" after losing against Gargantua would not reset Gargantua's HP and instead reflect previously done damage
  • Fixed a bug where if players successfully rested during the Gargantua battle, the background music would stop playing
  • Fixed a bug that caused the king's battle theme to be played during Vorf's battle
  • Fixed a bug where the Heat attribute was missing from the Swordmage Skill Enchant Thunder

◆ Equipment Adjustments
  • Changed the weight of Stain
  • Raised the P. ATK stat of Baldos' Blade. It now also raises maximum HP
  • Raised the P. ATK stat of Cleansing Blade and lowered its M. ATK stat
  • Added a new piece of equipment with high P. DEF that nullifies Blind
  • Added a new piece of equipment (accessory) that nullifies Paralysis
  • Raised the defenses of Warding Armor and strengthened its resistances to Poison, Paralysis, and Blind Resistance +75%
  • Raised the defenses and Heat and Cold resistances of Great Sage Garb and added Curse Resistance
  • Added physical resistance to Shock-Resistor and adjusted its defenses

◆ Skill/Class Adjustments
  • Added one more turn to the status boost effect of Final Tachi [Moon]
  • Raised the power of Final Tachi [Flash]
  • Adjsuted the Skills and stats acquired by the Swordmage upon leveling up
  • Lowered the CP cost of Phosphorend from 2 to 1, and raised its MP cost from 15 to 20
  • Added the defensive Spell Enchant Earth to the Swordmage
  • Changed the Swordmage Spell Enchant Chaos into an incantation Spell, and strengthened its status boost effect and power
  • Raised the amount of VIT gained by Curseblade levels from 4 to 6
  • Added a Poison effect to Execution Blade

◆ Other Adjustments and Additions
  • Added sound effects to the event in Chapter 2-A when you surround the fish with ice
  • Adjusted the position of the animation for Kangah-Rooh's Hook
  • Adjusted the positions of the Pala Gaya warriors (solo, duo, group, and Elyon) in battle
  • Changed the sound effect for Rancor Blade and fixed the issue where it was quieter than intended
  • Added the dialogue option "Chat" to talk to Elmaise in Chapter 4
  • Players are now allowed to return to the entrance after moving to the throne room. This does not apply to save files where you have already entered the throne room—please select "Last Resting Spot" upon defeat
  • Changed the timing of the number of Retry Chances being set to 10 in Chapter 4
  • Minor text adjustments

We hope you continue to enjoy The Use of Life!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1483370/

Playism
Visit the Playism Website Follow us on Steam Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord server

Update : Ver.0.4.04

Hello everyone,

Thank you playing The Use of Life!
We have updated the game to Ver0.4.04. Here are the bug fixes and changes.

◆ Event Adjustments
  • Added a dedicated event at the end of the Gargantua fight for when you defeat the boss with a device
  • Added a dialogue option that allows you to learn about the big boss before the fight
  • Changed the BGM of the last scene in the Power route

◆ Skill Adjustments
  • Extended the cooldown time of Overdrive and Master of Magic
  • Added a 2 CP cost to Master of Magic and raised the MP cost to 400 (from 300)
  • Adjusted the strength of Master of Magic
  • Added an effect to Overdrive that halves the cooldown of Skills used in its duration

◆ King Adjustments
  • Buffed the king
    ┗Replaced Bowgun Snipe with Toxic Shot
    ┗Replaced Flash Orb with Paraflash Shot
    ┗Adjusted the strength of Royal Strike, which can also now be used without a wind-up action
    ┗Adjusted the strength of various other skills
    ┗Adjusted his status ailment resistances
    ┗Tweaked his stats
  • Changed the final boss BGM to a dedicated BGM track
  • Changed the background for the fight against the king

◆ Bug Fixes
  • Added translations for a previously untranslated Skill (Instant Thrust)
  • Fixed a bug where using Writhing Vines to make a trap during the Gargantua fight didn't use up the item
  • Fixed an issue where Gargantua had the wrong sprite when it overheats

We hope you continue to enjoy The Use of Life!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1483370/_/
Playism
Visit the Playism Website Follow us on Steam Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Join our Discord server