With Devlog #2 talking mostly about the Soul Chain, it's the perfect time to talk about a similarly important part of the game and something that separates it from its Chained very far cousin - Combat!
While the basics are just trying to kill enemies without dying yourself, it may just be much more than that, considering that I've gotten inspiration from the Souls game (Soul Chained, get it?)
Alright, enough of the intro. Let's get on with it.
Let's go back to the basics - you're in Purgatory. There are enemies - demon-like, monsters. What do you need? Bladed weapons, of course. Check 'em out below.
The Short Sword is the "stamina enjoyer" weapon. It's fast, forgiving, and lets you stay on the offensive without locking yourself into lengthy animations. Individual hits don't hurt as much as the other weapons, but they add up surprisingly quickly when you keep swinging.
Its combo ends with a 360-degree spin that gives you a little breathing room when things get crowded. Kicking a shield enemy also leaves just enough time for an immediate follow-up attack before they recover. The strong combo is a straightforward stab. Nothing too fancy, yet effective.
The Polearm sits nicely between speed and power. It swings a little slower than the Short Sword, costs a bit more stamina, and rewards you with extra damage and the longest reach in the game. If keeping enemies at arm's length sounds appealing, this is probably your weapon.
Its light attacks combine sweeping slashes with quick thrusts. The strong combo starts with a precise thrust before ending in what I can only describe as a very committed golf swing and a drop. While it acts like a "longer short sword", it does have its unique uses.
The Great Sword believes patience should be rewarded with excessive violence. It's the slowest weapon of the three main weapons, drains a bit more stamina, and makes every swing feel like an important life decision. Thankfully, the damage more than justifies the commitment.
Every hit heavily staggers enemies and doesn't bounce off shields, so once the sword gets moving, it's hard to stop. The combo finishes with huge sweeping attacks, while the charged strong attack can be released early for one hit or fully charged for a devastating two-hit slam. Landing both feels fantastic.
The Bastard Blade is less of a weapon and more of a trust exercise. It's a rare pickup with the highest damage in the game, sends enemies flying, and doesn't care whether they're hiding behind a shield. If it connects, you'll know.
Unfortunately, it also refuses to meet you halfway. You can't block, every attack is painfully slow, and the strong attack takes roughly four seconds to charge. Let go too early and you'll stagger yourself instead. It's incredibly satisfying when it works, which is fortunate, because you'll remember every time it doesn't.
Of course, these weapons won't make sense if you don't know how to fight.
Combat in Soul Chained is as simple as it gets. You have 4 main actions to choose from - attacking, blocking, parrying, and rolling. Sounds easy enough? See for yourself.
As you've seen from the weapon GIFs above, there are two types of attacks - Light Attacks and Heavy Attacks. The effectiveness of both depends on the weapon you're holding and how you're executing it. Also, as with any other action (besides traversing & blocking), stamina is expended with every move.
Light Attacks - as the name implies - are light. They're meant as the standard attacks for damaging enemies. They normally don't consume a lot of stamina, and are meant as a "jab" rather than a "straight" - if you like boxing.
Heavy Attacks, on the other hand, sacrifice stamina and speed for more damage output. Take note of the speed sacrifice. Heavy attacks tend to make you vulnerable to attacks, so you might end up sacrificing yourself too if you use it too carelessly.
Now, here's a bit about Blocking. In Soul Chained, you can block attacks to avoid any damage at the expense of a very quick stagger and some stamina. Most common enemy attacks can be blocked, but some boss attacks are unblockable - take note of that for your own sake.
Besides blocking, there's Parrying. This is where the Souls inspiration applies in-game. Place a perfectly-timed block on an enemy attack, and you'll be able to parry them. Parrying - unlike blocking - doesn't expend stamina and gives you good timing for your next action, be it attacks, rolling away, etc. It also staggers the enemy for a bit, allowing for actions that require more time to execute.
Of course, it's not like we all want to get hit trying to land a parry. If you prefer dodging to blocking shots, Rolling would be your go-to. With some stamina and the possibility of getting tugged by a teammate doing it in the opposite direction, you can roll out of the way of enemy attacks, or just let your creativity loose.
Combine all of these basics with the Soul Chain interactions (wrapping, tripping, chain magic, etc.), and you get the Soul Chained combat experience. Of course, this doesn't cover everything about the game's combat, so it's up to you to find out the more advanced stuff.
That's it for the weapons and combat! Tbh, I'm starting to get the hang of writing these. I might just talk about the lore on the next one, or maybe Purgatory and the Tower? Lots of stuff to talk about, but for now, let me get back to work, got a playtest upcoming which I'm hoping you'll join!
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