Hello, I am Shibuya, the developer behind Glaciered at Studio Snowblind.
I have always approached this game as an action game, and that's how I've been portraying it. No doubt, action is the core of this title. However, there are some aspects of the game I haven't talked about as much. Those are the RPG elements.
The term ‘RPG elements’ probably means different things to different people, but for me, it refers to games with 'strong role-playing elements,' like the The Elder Scrolls series, Dragon Age, and Baldur's Gate. In Glaciered, the protagonist is fixed, so the role-playing elements are somewhat limited right out of the gate.
On the other hand, some people think of RPGs in terms of growth elements. That is, having a lot of character progression elements. If you hear 'RPG' and think of progression elements, then this title is definitely an RPG. This brings me to my topic today, the RPG elements of this game.
Inspiration
We touched on this element in the previous Devlog, but today I would like to dive a bit deeper into this element.
When Gray (the protagonist) defeats an enemy or explores a new area, he gains Inspiration points. When these points reach a certain level, he gains Inspiration.
Sleeping at the Base after gaining Inspiration will let you learn new Wings and Mutations. The Wings and Mutations that come to your mind are random, so sometimes you can get an exceptionally strong one. This is similar to grinding for gear in loot-based hack-and-slash RPGs.
As you gain Inspirations, your level of Inspiration increases. A higher level of Inspiration gives you a higher chance of getting rare items, but your Inspiration level gets reset when you are defeated. In other words, the longer you explore and fight without being taken down, the better chance you'll have to gain better equipment and skills.
Adventuring with a large stockpile of Inspiration transforms the journey into a tense, high-risk, high-reward experience. This thrilling core gameplay loop is sure to become addictive.
The Wings and Mutations you get through Inspiration are not always better than your current equipment.
So does that mean that they go to waste? No, you can forget the ones you have no need for. When you forget a Wing or Mutation, the abilities attached to them transform into enhancement items called Brightstones and Mutagen Cells respectively. You can use these items to transfer those abilities to equipment/skills and enhance them. That way, even an unwanted item does not go to waste.
Buffs and Debuffs (Stacks)
The Poison and Paralysis status that appeared in the demo have been revamped into a ‘stack’ system. This system will be familiar to those that play MOBA games. In this system, the more your stack the same buff or debuff, the higher the numbers go and the greater the effect.
There is a new debuff called Corruption. This debuffs makes the enemy more vulnerable to damage, and the more stacks you have the more vulnerable they become, even the tough Diye pictured above will be easy to damage with melee attacks once it has enough stacks of Corruption.
When you attack a ‘Crystalized’ enemy, the crystals explode and deal damage to any nearby enemies. This debuff is especially powerful in group battles.
There are a variety of buffs as well. Resurgence greatly increases your stamina recovery speed and reduces the delay before recovery begins. This will likely be popular with aggressive players that want to relentlessly attack. Stalwart reduces damage taken and increases resistance to being staggered. This will be popular with players who prefer toughness and powerful single strikes as opposed to speed.
The upper limit on how many stacks of buffs or debuffs you can apply is determined by your brain stat. In the full version, it will be well worth allocating a lot of stat points to your brain.
A Multitude of New Mutations
Mutations are passive abilities in this game for Gray. The full version will feature MANY more mutations than what appeared in the demo. Some of these are also related to the Stack system.
Graceful Evade is a mutation to increases your dodge distance while the Resurgence buff is active. Players who prefer mobility will really like this one. Several other mutations also enhance your dodge ability through stacking.
Some mutations help you with gathering resources. Lithotroph allows you to eat stones, and also gives you the material Brightstone Powder when you defeat an enemy afflicted with the Crystallizing debuff. This mutation will be essential for anyone looking to maximize their material gathering.
Numerous New Enchantments
The number of enchantment effects that Gray’s weapons (his Quills) can have is greatly increased from the demo.
Concentration, when applied to Shard Quills, greatly increases the charge speed of special attacks. Great for players who prefer to use special attacks.
Doubled is an action-oriented effect that when a Blade Quill hits, it triggers an extra slash if you input a melee attack at the right moment. If you apply it to Shard Quill, the effect changes: the projectile will have a chance to split into two projectiles.
From the mid-game, you will be able to combine multiple enchantments together. For example, combining Doubled (which increases the number of hits) with poison, paralysis, etc., can create a synergistic effect build that stacks huge numbers of debuffs.
What do you think? There are still other RPG elements I couldn’t fully explain here, but I hope you will find them for yourself in the full version! Countless items, skills, and other unlockables await you in the full release!
Carryover from the Demo
For all of you who played the demo extensively, we have implemented a carryover system from the demo into the full version. When you start a new game in the full version, you can carry over the following:
- Nutrients: Up to 30 of each
- Materials: Up to 10 of each
- Wings: Up to 50
Since Wings with abilities may turn into enchantment materials when dismantled, bringing in a large number of Wings will allow you to enjoy enchanting from the early stages of the full version. It might even be worthwhile to try creating a save file full of loot to carryover for the full release. After launch, if you share your demo save file data packed with lots of items and Wings, other players might really appreciate it…?
FIGS Support, plus Language Mods!
We have been receiving daily inquiries from many of you regarding additional languages, and thanks to all of you, our publisher PLAYISM has decided to implement FIGS (French, Italian, German, Spanish) support. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who voiced your requests, as well as to PLAYISM. For a small Japanese indie game like ours, this support means a lot.
Unfortunately, we cannot support every language in the world, but the full version will include a language MOD system. You can place a translated text file into a specific folder to translate the game into over 30 additional languages. After release, we hope to work together with the community to support the development of many language MODs.
Situational HUD System
In response to requests from players who want a more immersive experience with less on-screen clutter, we have implemented a Situational HUD System. HUD elements will now only display the information you need, when you need it. After you swim out into the vast ocean and a few seconds pass, most of the HUD will automatically disappear, allowing you to become more deeply immersed in exploration. Of course, this feature can also be turned off in the options.
Release Date
As I talked about here, this game contains an enormous amount of unlockables and enchantments. The work of crafting each and every one of them, testing each combination, and pursuing the game's fun factor has required more time than originally anticipated.
As PC hardware and devices become more expensive and affordability becomes increasingly important, we are also focusing on optimization to ensure that as many people as possible can play the game comfortably without stress. Recently, we've achieved stable performance of 50-60fps on the Steam Deck (LCD model). The graphics settings, which previously only allowed preset selections, can now be adjusted individually in the full version, so by lowering the settings, even players with minimum system requirements should be able to enjoy a stable framerate. We also plan to support the latest versions of various upscalers; DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 are expected to be available in the full version.
We have decided to change the release date to sometime within 2026 due to the additional work required for the full version, such as enriching the game's content, implementing the demo carryover system, supporting localization MODs, and optimizing performance.
We sincerely apologize for repeatedly announcing delays. Development is now in its final stages, and the day we can deliver the game to you is not far off. We are working on the game every day to meet your expectations, so we would be grateful if you could kindly wait a little longer.
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