REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM News

Journey into the cruel and punishing land of death and despair as your band of Survivors struggle to fend off the grotesque creatures known as The Infested whom now plagues the kingdom of REMORE. Uncover the mysteries of the apocalypse while using only your wits and skills to keep your party alive to see the next morn's light. ​
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[previewyoutube]Trailer​[/previewyoutube]

[h3]​Changes​[/h3]

• New Contents
  
  • In addition to "Vengeance" and "Suffering", the highest difficulty "Despair" has been added.
    
  • Four additional stages including "Inn", "Barracks", "Grocery", and "Manor House"
    
  • "Recurring Nightmare" and "Iron Will" options added.
    
• New Combat System
  
  • With the addition of the "Armor" system, changes have been made to make battle damage management easier.
    
  • With the addition of the "Counter" system, tactical options are increased and the battle tempo has become faster.
    
  • The addition of the "Pursuit" system strengthens the game’s tension and encourages a greater tactical use of resources.
    
• Battle system and UI convenience improvement
  
  • Added quick slot to instantly swap weapons without opening the inventory.
    
  • Fixed an issue where the battle was unintentionally prolonged
    
    • Once an enemy recognizes a friendly character, the enemy will not sound an alarm again or immediately pursue the character even if the friendly character leaves and comes into sight until the next turn.
      
    • Modified to prevent "Noise" from occurring in unexpected situations such as when opening a door or when a Blister dies.
      
    • Changed the "Grab" effect so that it does not activate unless it is an adjacent square within the crosshair range.
      
  • Improved ease of use of tools such as "Barricade" and "Hook" (changed to rechargeable tools, increased use limit, etc.)
    
  • New Tools : "Pebble Pouch" that can freely drag enemies and "Coin Pouch" that changes sight
    
• Enemy/ally character skills reorganized and new characters added
  
  • Modified basic skills and perks of "Knight Errant William" so that they can be used more aggressively/actively
    
  • Modified the basic skills and perks of "Militia Edwin" to reveal the concept more clearly with a focus on "mobility" / "maintaining position"
    
  • A new infested "Skulker" appears, requiring a new tactical pattern through escape or counterattack.
    
  • A group of "Cultists" appear who have Armor and fight with the same weapons as the player.
    
• Hide out system improvement and new function added
  
  • "Blacksmith Jorgn" "Weapon Modification" system has been changed to a free choice format rather than following a set route, allowing you to customize weapon stats the way you want.
    
  • With the addition of the "Blacksmith Jorgn" "Characteristic Transfer" function, when a newly acquired weapon has better characteristics, it can be transferred to an existing weapon that was modified/refined.
    
  • With the addition of the "Artificer Alldris" "Research" function, you can improve the functionality of tools such as "Hook" or "Barricade" and obtain new tools.
    
  • With the addition of the "Innkeeper Wyvern" "Gathering" function, you can obtain the desired type of resource from a map you have already cleared.
    
  • With the addition of "Trader James" "Trade" function, you can barter items such as weapons/resources you own.
• Modification of commodity balancing
  
  • Increased drop rates of "Iron Ingot" and "Wood" to ensure there is no shortage of repair materials.
    
  • Reduced the repair cost of one-handed weapons that consume more durability to 1 "Iron Ingot"/"Wood".

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Thank you Followers of REMORE for taking the time send us your feedback from our Demo. We tried our best to listen to every single one of them and also did our best to implement them in order to create a better gaming experience. REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM Early Access will have many of these changes implemented and we hope this will increase the overall play through experience.
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We also want to thank everyone in our community who have shown us support. We could not have made it this far without your words of encouragement during development. All the feedback we received help shape the game you will see in Early Access. Thank you all for helping make REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM a better game.​
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So, we ask for your continued support and hope you all enjoy REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM Early Access!​

Thank you,
REMORE

Hello again, survivors. Early Access and the Infestation are almost upon us!

Before you dive in, I’d like to introduce the development intentions and recommended routes for the three difficulty levels - 'Vengeance', 'Suffering', 'Despair' - and the two additional options, 'Recurring Nightmare' and 'Iron Will', that we have prepared for Early Access. We want to make sure the player chooses the difficulty that is best for them!



In the NEXT FEST version, only two difficulty levels, 'Vengeance' and 'Suffering', were available. It was very useful observing the gameplay patterns of players based on which difficulty they chose. It allowed us to directly assess how well the intended challenge level was conveyed and where there were differences between what was planned and what was experienced.

REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM portrays a medieval land on the edge of destruction, focusing on the desperate struggle of the protagonist, Willam, and his companions as they navigate through it. The game was developed with the goal of players being able to fully experience the survivors' struggle not just through the art and story but also the gameplay. Therefore, the game was designed to provide a level of difficulty that is challenging. However, the challenge should feel conquerable and doing so should give a great sense of accomplishment.

However, since players have different ideas about what they consider a challenge, the criteria for judging how difficult an experience is can differ from player to player. Consequently, the development objectives for each difficulty level were centered around providing the most optimized challenging experience based on individual player preferences and previous gaming experiences.



[h3]Which difficulty should I choose?[/h3]

The main difference between each difficulty is primarily how strong the enemies you face are and the amount of health restored when resting in the camp. In the lowest difficulty level, 'Vengeance', a certain amount of health is restored even without eating food, while in the highest difficulty level, 'Despair', health can only be restored based on the food you consume, aligning with our original intent.

‘Vengeance’ difficulty is designed to be manageable for players who understand and utilize the game's basic systems. If you have little experience with grid-based turn-based games or games with high systemic complexity, we recommend starting with the 'Vengeance' difficulty level! All systems except for numerical settings remain the same, ensuring that even at the lowest difficulty, the experience does not feel dumbed down.

‘Suffering' difficulty is a challenging experience optimized for the first playthrough, shaping an experience closest to our intended vision. We recommend this level for players who have experience with high-difficulty Tactics RPGs like XCOM, Battle Brothers, Darkest Dungeon, or strategic games like Hearthstone or Slay the Spire that involve utilizing various skill effects.

'Despair' difficulty is for those who want to overcome harsh challenges and experience a sense of accomplishment. It is balanced with the assumption that players will consider synergy in actions such as weapon modification and special mission selection, in addition to performing all actions with next to no mistakes. If you are not familiar with the game mechanics and optimal tactics, progressing can be tough. We strongly recommend choosing this level for your second playthrough, or even for those who are very familiar with other strategy games.



Beyond the Second Playthrough

If you've cleared the final stage of Early Access, 'Stag Manor,' why not attempt a second playthrough? You could challenge yourself with higher difficulty strategies, experience the unique character perks from different branches of the skill tree that you didn't choose before, or even experiment with weapon traits that caught your eye but haven’t tried.

If you decide to embark on a second playthrough for any reason, I recommend selecting the 'Recurring Nightmare' option. This option unlocks only after clearing the current final stage and is designed to make your next playthrough more convenient and unique.

In the first campaign playthrough, considering it as a learning process for the game, you start with a starting weapon that is intuitive, versatile, and suitable for early encounters. Furthermore, to allow you to explore the full range of the 14 weapons we have prepared, specific types of weapons are assigned to each stage. This ensures that you can evenly play around with various weapons throughout the game!

However, in the 'Recurring Nightmare' mode, you can purchase starting weapons from the wandering merchant 'Jaymes' right out of the gate. Additionally, the types of weapons you acquire during the campaign are randomized.

This allows you the opportunity to experiment with a variety of unique builds like, giving weapons the bleed modifier , leaning into the initial modifier, or specializing in the 'pain' debuff that increases collision damage, using 'push/pull' not as tactical support but as a high-damage form against enemies. The aim was to widen the possibilities for trying out various builds that might be challenging to optimize within the basic campaign.

And if you find that you don't like the selection of starting weapons, don't worry! Jaymes, the merchant, continues to visit each day. This means you still have the option to use the ‘Transfer Modifier' option, allowing you to grant better weapon modifiers to your previously modified main weapon or easily switch to a different weapon build.



In the 'Recurring Nightmare' mode, new unique weapon traits that did not appear in the basic campaign can also emerge. For example, the [Devil’s Temptation] trait which provides a very powerful damage bonus, but once equipped, cannot be removed. While these traits bring both strengths and weaknesses, enhancing the game's diversity, they were designed to appear only in the 'Recurring Nightmare' mode to avoid overwhelming first-time players.

Currently, the number of unique traits specific to the 'Recurring Nightmare' mode is relatively limited compared to our intended goal. After stabilizing the Early Access version, we plan to update and expand the possibilities for various builds or introduce weapon traits that offer 'unusual' enjoyment rather than just 'efficiency’.

Additionally, since the assumption is for the second playthrough, the tutorial is skipped when selecting the 'Recurring Nightmare' option. Events and story dialogue in camp are streamlined into a single journal entry to allow players to focus more on gameplay.

However, in-stage events are integrated with the actual level design, so they are not omitted separately. In the future, we plan to further simplify the progression during the second playthrough, excluding essential elements to enhance the overall experience.



Furthermore, if you’re looking for the ultimate tension, you can challenge yourself by selecting 'Iron Will' at the beginning of the game. Unlike the basic campaign, where you can choose the last checkpoint or the start of a battle as a desired restart point upon death, if you choose 'Iron Will,' the progress of the entire campaign will reset immediately upon the death of even one survivor.

If you manage to clear the game on 'Suffering' difficulty, familiarizing yourself with the game's basic systems, and then choose the 'Iron Will' option in 'Despair' difficulty for another clear, you will have completed the most challenging route we have prepared in the current Early Access version. We have also prepared related Steam Achievements, so we look forward to many players' achievement list screenshots!

The highest difficulty level, 'Doom,' is still in the works. We plan to start its development after reviewing player feedback about 'Despair' difficulty, clear rates, and improvement points based on your feedback

That’s about all for now. We hope you have gained some insight for choosing the difficulty level at the start of the game, and we hope our intentions for the experience after the second playthrough have been shown.

We are particularly focused on ensuring that each difficulty level provides an experience in line with what you expected based on the game's descriptions. We aim for a balance that is "sufficiently challenging and where means of overcoming challenges are well understood and utilized." We can’t wait for you to dive in and as always we welcome feedback through Discord, forums, or any other way you like!

Thank you, Survivors!

Greetings Survivors!

After a long journey, we’re finally at a point where we feel ready to unveil the world of REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM to you through Early access.



[h3]Why Early Access?[/h3]
Until now, our development process was evaluating and iteratively improving the game as players who love this genre, making sure at every point to ask ourselves objectively “how fun is our game?”

We spent a lot of time on making these improvements, with the goal of delivering a polished experience when the game is released and we take a lot of pride in enhancing the overall completeness, trying different foundational mechanics compared to other games in the genre.

After participating in NEXT FEST, we felt it was the right time to continue this process with you, the players. While the game's foundation received overall positive feedback, we observed significant feedback differences between the development team and players in terms of difficulty, UI/UX, and gameplay patterns.

Therefore, we want to unveil the content we’ve prepared so far as an early access version, aiming to receive a more diverse range of feedback.



[h3]What will players find in Early Access?[/h3]
The game progresses linearly from the tutorial—the Guard Post—to the final stage of the Early Access version—the Manor House. Each stage introduces new types of enemies or new level design patterns, requiring the player to keep adapting their tactics!

The difficulty of the stages varies significantly, based on the difficulty level chosen at the beginning of the campaign: Vengeance, Suffering, or Despair. (The final difficulty level, Doom, is still in the works!)



If you haven't tried REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM yet but are familiar with other turn-based games in the genre, I recommend starting with the Suffering difficulty level.

Furthermore, options supporting replayability such as Recurring Nightmare and the single-save permadeath Iron Will mode are available. We plan to provide more detailed explanations about the intended design for each difficulty level and additional options in the next dev note.



In the Early Access version, everything we’ve introduced through dev notes so far will be included. Along with the three combat characters, who each have two unique skill trees, various systems will be unlocked through NPCs like the Cook, Blacksmith, and Artificer who will join the journey as you progress through the stages.

There are also additional NPCs that we haven't yet introduced, but we’ll leave that to you to discover!

Among all these moving parts, the most crucial part, which we will closely monitor and seek feedback on during the Early Access period, is the “weapons” and related systems.



Currently, there are 8 types of two-handed weapons, 4 types of one-handed weapons, and 3 types of secondary weapons, making a total of 15 weapon categories. Through the process of refining, each weapon the tier increases, adding new active skills. Additionally, shields differentiate into a more defensive basic type and an aggressive “buckler” type at Tier 2. (Therefore, a total of 16 weapons appear at Tier 2.)

For each weapon, there is a weapon modification tree and random options called attributes. Using the combinations of these two elements along with the basic archetypes of the character perk tree, there are many strategic builds and combinations to explore! We want to observe whether these builds are used as intended, if enjoyment of them during play is high, and whether there are unforeseen side effects or emerging opportunities for more creative applications!

Based on feedback about these gameplay elements, the primary purpose of Early Access is to determine the design and balancing direction for late-game stages and the highest difficulty level, Doom, in the final version.



[h3]What’s next?[/h3]
Currently, we are fully working on preparations for the late-game stages. New Infested that demand a more advanced tactical approach compared to those encountered in the early stages will emerge. As your journey progresses, the cause behind the infestation that has gripped the land of Remore will be revealed.

In the late-game stages, our focus is on continuously introducing new gameplay patterns, unveiling the Tier 3 weapon refining content, which involves changes in new active skills, mixing up the unique attributes that enhance weapon characteristics, and adding new tools like the “barricades” or “grappling hooks” already seen, that can introduce significant variables to the game.

Furthermore, in line with the spirit of Early Access mentioned earlier, we aim to maintain the overall direction of our plans while actively incorporating feedback in how we convey them. We plan to observe and engage actively through our Discord channel, Steam forums, or any community platforms you use, wherever we can!

Join us on October 30, 2023!

Thank you, Survivors!

Greetings Followers of Remore!​
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The time has finally come for us to make the BIG announcement... REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM will be entering Early Access on Oct 30!​

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]​

[h3]Why Early Access?​[/h3]
​The Community has spoken! After our Steam Next Fest Demo debuted, we received numerous feedback asking for an Early Access version. ​
We believe that player feedback is an important part of our game development principles. Therefore, we decided to launch Remore: Infested Kingdom Early Access to share what we have developed so far and ask for player feedback during our road to Full Release. We want our finished product to reflect the best of both the player and developer’s dreams and passions.​
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We want to thank everyone who have supported us and come to cheer for us as we walked together side by side during our game development. ​
We hope this upcoming Early Access version will live up to your expectations and more. ​

We also want to thank the community all for your contributions to the making of REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM. ​

Finally, don’t' forget to join our Discord and Social Media platforms to get up to date information from our development!​

Wishlist us now and share the exciting news!​

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Hello again, Survivors and greetings from our next Dev Note!

Up to now, the Dev Notes have focused mainly on bigger topics, introducing related content. However, today, I want to showcase some newly added convenience features and gameplay elements.

Addition of Weapon Quick Slots
Currently, changing weapons does not consume WP/TP. This allows players to freely use weapons that fit the situation during combat.

However, previously it was a bit inconvenient as players had to repeatedly open and close the inventory to change weapons. To encourage use of this feature, we’ve added a quick slot UI.

During combat, clicking the equipped weapon button or pressing the shortcut key [Q] displays a list of all owned weapons. From here, players can click on the desired weapon or press the corresponding number key to immediately switch to the selected weapon.

Addition of Enemy Luring (Pulling)
One of the most important features in the combat system is the “Alarm” mechanism, where enemies swarm in when they detect a player. This system pushes players to set up a “favorable formation in advance” before engaging in combat.

However, during playtesting, we observed that players exploited certain advantages, such as “1-tile-wide entrances,” where they simply waited endlessly as enemies approached, maintaining their formation. We felt that if this method was the most effective play, the game would become tedious.

To address this, we have introduced the “Pebble Pouch” tool, which allows players to inflict light damage from a distance and lure enemies towards the player's direction.

This addition enables players to be more actively engaged in the game by luring enemies immediately after establishing a favorable formation. Furthermore, players can creatively use this tool, such as redirecting the enemy's line of sight or dealing with enemies with only 1 HP remaining.

Addition of the Pursuit System
Even with the addition of luring, the problem persisted where players “waited endlessly until enemies approached”' as it was still an “efficient” choice due to the limitations in TP consumption, without additional items.

To solve this, we implemented a system where new enemies appear and pursue the player party after a certain number of turns have passed.

In the early stages, players will encounter a manageable number of chasing enemies. However, as the game progresses to later stages, more enemies will appear, pressuring the Survivors at a much faster pace.

Engaging the chasing enemies consumes Turns, and players could suffer significant losses if they get caught by newly spawned enemies again. Therefore, it is necessary to efficiently utilize the given TP/WP resources, achieve the stage objectives, and escape.

We carefully considered the implementation of the Pursuit system, as it could add excessive pressure to players unfamiliar with the game. Through extensive testing and thoughtful balancing, we managed to maintain a level of tension without making the game impossible, as long as players do not intentionally prolong their turns excessively.

Improvement and Diversification of Rechargeable Tools
The “Grappling Hook,” obtainable at the beginning of the Monastery stage, serves as an important tool, offering a wide range of tactical options beyond simply pulling and attacking enemies. In addition to pulling enemies, it can create “collisions” to defeat “'Blisters” or rescue Allies trapped and unable to move, introducing a variety of tactical variables.

Originally, players could use the grappling hook up to three times in a single stage, and it was designed as a “Rechargeable Tool,” allowing players to replenish its uses without additional resource consumption in the next stage, encouraging active usage.

However, due to the limited number of uses in a single stage, players often refrained from using the grappling hook, saving it for a “more opportune moment,” which frequently led to situations where they couldn't utilize it effectively before the stage ended.

To address this, we significantly increased the Grappling Hook's usage limit to 20 times per stage while changing the cost to 4 TP per use. This adjustment allows players to treat the grappling hook tool like a basic skill, similar to “Shoulder Bash (costs 5 TP, pushes one tile)”, leading to a more engaging gameplay experience, as concluded from our testing results.



Based on these test results, we decided to actively incorporate Rechargeable Tools that can lead to various tactical situations.

For example, the “Barricade” which players encounter as a deployable object in the Monastery Chapel area, becomes a Rechargeable Tool that players can actually acquire and utilize after clearing the stage.

When deployed, it consumes 4 TP, and players can carry up to two of them. It can be used for defensive purposes, blocking enemy attack routes. Alternatively, players can strategically place them in front of allies before luring enemies with pebbles, allowing them to engage the enemy without being caught.

Additionally, a Rechargeable tool, the “Coin Pouch” has been added. Players can use this tool to divert enemy attention, allowing additional abilities of weapons that require “out-of-sight attacks,” or quickly advancing towards quest locations without being detected.

With these tactical tools transitioning from “Consumables” to “Rechargeable Tools,” players can now use them more actively in each stage, significantly enhancing the enjoyment of the game.

Addition of Research and Tool Crafting System
Once rescued from the Monastery, the NPC “Aldris” joins the camp and unlocks the “Research” system which allows further enhancement of these Tools.

Various research is available, such as enhancing the Grappling Hook to pull targets directly in front of the user instead of just 1 tile, reducing the TP cost for deploying barricades from 4 to 2, or increasing the amount of times the “Coin Pouch” can be used.

In addition to upgrading existing tools, research can also lead to acquiring new tools. For example, researching “High Barricades” that can obscure the enemies' line of sight or studying advanced Infested like “Blister” and “Skulker” to create tools utilizing their abilities.

Also, Consumables like Bandages and Equipment Repair Ttools, unlike Rechargeable Tools, can now be crafted directly using materials like “Cloth” or “Rope.”

There are many more new things I could talk about, but I think it’s more fun if you discover them yourself during gameplay!

Thank you, Survivors!
Stay tuned for more updates and one big news coming soon!