Greetings lantern wielders. ENCHAIN will release for Early Access on Steam this December 2021. (edit: delayed)
See the announcement trailer:
This release will not be the final release. Think of this release as just the first episode of the full game, with much more to come in 2022.
Why Early Access?
After spending some time developing and improving the game this summer, it was clear to me that I'd want more time to work on the full game. Life obligations were a bit more intense than I expected! My original 2021 release date unfortunately won't cut it. Still, I feel that Early Access is the next best thing.
The great thing about this is that I can take my time on the full game to make it into what I want. If I were to stick to releasing the full game by the end of 2021, I would have to cut many of my planned features. I don't want to rush too much on development. On top of that, I can continue to get direct feedback from you all as I develop the game. This is very helpful for me to fix issues I would miss otherwise.
The downside of Early Access is that this first release will not be the complete experience. When Early Access is near I will be giving details about the state of the game so that you know what to expect. This will hopefully not disappoint too many players, as that's the last thing I want. Please have patience for the full release as always, I'm working hard to make it happen as soon as possible. More Early Access details are on the game page
Roadmap
With Early Access you can expect me to give more detailed updates on the content I'm working on. Over the past few months, I've been testing new mechanics (you can see some in the trailer), and polishing out some issues players have mentioned. Here's a general list of what I'll be making for the Early Access release:
Better tutorials for core mechanics
Improvements to stamina system and clarity
More variety in enemy behaviors, with a dynamic difficulty mechanic
Improvements to boss battle design and gameplay
A few NPCs to meet
More weapons/enemies/bosses/areas, as you would expect
Improvements to movement feel (hoping to make it less floaty)
Player moveset/grapple improvements
Special stuff you can buy with the "lantern juice"
Bug fixes, polish, better options, assist mode, etc.
If I can hit all of these points then Early Access should go fine. If you have any reasonable suggestions beyond these points, feel free to use the Steam Forums and Discord! Anyways, I just want to say I'm really happy with how much the game has grown recently. Thank you all for the activity, it's a strong motivator. Still, the community is already far beyond what I could have imagined, and it's getting hard for me to keep up with it. Between working a job and going back to college soon, I may go quiet from time to time. Just know that Early Access is cooking! Thank you for reading and for your support.