In action RPGs, there’s action; a true, hard-hitting revelation befitting an entire sentence.

How that action manifests, though, differs depending on what experience a developer attempts to craft. Whether the player should be frenetic, or methodical, or focused on starting and continuing absurd combos, or some freaky homunculus of all those vastly different ideas, the intention behind the developers is key!

The intention behind Zakumba: Astraia was freedom.

Astraia is a crafty little girl, craftily crafting crafts that serve crafty purposes (Astraia builds a lot of weird tools with a bunch of specific purposes). As such, it felt fitting to “craft” the design of the game around the character. We wanted to grant the player as many options as possible within the scale of our Vertical Slice, and this manifested in a hardware store’s worth of options for dispatching your foes!

Our most basic method is, funnily enough, the basic attack, which allows for a three-hit combo. This is supplemented by a burst attack, a long-winded but powerful attack meant to breach any enemy’s defenses!

“But I’m too cool for physical attacks!” Then why not try out some magic? In Zakumbaland, crystals are but one avenue for magic, and, depending on what elemental crystal you decide to use, they can provide some explosive offensive options OR some “shieldy” defensive ones. No matter what you decide to use, though, it’s sure to be good!

“But I’m too cool for physical attacks AND magic!” Then perhaps you should reconsider how cool magic is. But if you’re adamant, there are also ABILITIES! These provide even more varied methods of tackling combat. Take, for example, Astraia’s Golem Cannon: firing three discharges of energy, it’s sure to atomize any enemy. But such power comes at a cost, forcing you to remain stationary for the duration of the attack. This is but one of quite a few abilities in your arsenal!

“Now this is dandy and all, but I want MORE options, you buffoon!” First, rude. But second, we hear you, and choose to raise you the ace we definitely didn’t have up our sleeve:

Belles.

This reveal means nothing without context, but take every option granted to you thus far, and DOUBLE them. That’s right, our second playable character has her own unique basic attack, burst attack, crystal spells, and abilities! You’ve won the jackpot without even trying!

“But I want MORE! MORE! MOOOOORE!” And, like a mother bird spitting up mushy worm into your hungry mouths, we offer you more! Tools are yet another option you have, and either girl can use them! Do you want to keep your distance with the P.O.I.S.B.A.L.L., or snare enemies with a V.O.L.T. trap? Either is correct, but I’d recommend cutting out the middle-man with the G.O.L.E.M.B.O.M.B. instead.

“GIVE ME MORE! EVEN MORE!” ACCESSORIES! WE HAVE ACCESSORIES! They’ll boost different stats, letting you customize characters how you want—

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOO—” Take heed, my friend, for your thirst for more shall be forever quenched. One of our main reasons for providing such freedom is because it leaves creativity up to YOU! Because of all these unique effects, there’s certain to be some equally unique combos to mix and match! A certified AfroDuck classic is Astraia’s fire crystal, directly into her Gravity Machine, which allows you to rake some helpless enemies over the burning coals of your barbeque!

And there are even more options that we definitely didn’t run out of time to include, so look forward to EVEN MORE when we have money!

And that’s the short of it for combat! Do you feel the freedom flowing through you? All those FRENETIC physical attacks, those METHODICAL tools, and those COMBOS limited only by your imagination?

…Uh oh, maybe we’re the weird homunculus.

Freedom in the Face of Adversity: the Combat Blog