Enex 2 [COMPLETE!]

[KRoP]

  Holy crap that's awesome.  I do hope the crystals have a reason for being there though, and aren't just to fill up space or something like that.

[Ruzu]

I would think the crystals were there for something, not putting anything past that map.

[Erichermit]

Thanks for the compliments =)

what do you mean by "not putting anything past that map?" I apologize, but I often have trouble figuring out the meaning behind expressions that are obvious to most.

The crystals float around and are mostly decoration but they do indeed serve a mild purpose. The dungeon involves traveling to three different sectors, each of which could be a dungeon in itself (You can easily guess the theme by looking at the type of decoration emerging from the pathway). When a sector is solved a crystal corresponding to it will die, which will allow entry to the room where the final boss is.

[Ruzu]

Well I mean by looking at it you can have anything happen the map doesn't even look common, like some maps and so you can have that anything can pop up and the sort.

[Valtier]

It's a very surreal map, yeah.  I expect an epic confrontation there.

[Erichermit]

While redoing the intro cutscene I also decided it was a nice opportunity to try out a puzzle idea I had been thinking about.

Here you play as the main antagonist for a moment as he tried to put this bloodstained puzzle back together for malicious reasons. What the puzzle is supposed to look like it shown above (One piece is missing so as to allow movement). The goal is to make the puzzle by sliding blocks. Block can only be slid into an adjacent empty space. The arrow cursor is used to select a block to slide.

[abigailian]

This is probably obvious, but be careful playing as the antagonist. It's sort of a conflict of interest thing, and the player might feel like really annoyed if they have to be furthering their enemy's designs for too long. Short snippets = interesting, overuse = frustrating.

[Erichermit]

Thanks but don't worry, you only play as him only this very once in the game to solve a single puzzle. Which is optional as well, as hitting Esc will make him solve it by himself (but if you solve it, your main character will receive a reward.)

[Ruzu]

I'll probably give that a try but man am I horrible at those.
I would think that most should play as the antagonist at least once, for we can get a better detail about them. Not just give it out as "You know what, I think I'll burn a village today" kind of thing.I like seeing why my antagonist is as they are, and thats usually easier through their eyes.

[abigailian]

Thanks but don't worry, you only play as him only this very once in the game to solve a single puzzle. Which is optional as well, as hitting Esc will make him solve it by himself (but if you solve it, your main character will receive a reward.)

Perfect. 

[Erichermit]

I'm almost done with the final dungeon now I've finished the first two thirds of it, with the remaining pathway left. Each third has its own really difficult mini boss, which I am reluctant to call mini as they are harder than anything you've fought so far. So yes, valtier can expect an epic confrontation here. One of them has a strange quirk to it, as the boss actually doesn't have ANY offensive moves. But he's still one of the hardest battles in the game.

The dungeon is packed full of little puzzles and reflex challenges, and the monsters are fairly few but extremely poweful. For example, that reaper thing shown in the picture has 999 speed, str, and attack and cannot be harmed by you. It's ability to kill you in one hit is offset by the fact that it misses about 75% of the time. A little bit of strategy makes short work of this monsters though, but not without a likely causality or two.

That part you're seeing is the forest section. Most areas of this dungeon are done on a panoramic floor.

[Reives]

Looking good, the pano floor has an ethereal effect. Will the monsters be random encounter or on touch?

[Ruzu]

That maps look real good, I really like how everything looks different then what most maps looks like.

[Valtier]

Saving all the quirky fights for the final dungeon, humm... interesting.

One of them has a strange quirk to it, as the boss actually doesn't have ANY offensive moves. But he's still one of the hardest battles in the game.

Plauge from FFIV comes to mind, itching to know what the catch here is.

[Erichermit]

@Reives: Thanks =) All monsters in my game are on touch. That's why you can see the reaper I mentioned in the screenshot.

@Ruzu: Thanks. I'm surprised I don't see Panoramic-Floor dungeons used more often. I suppose they have limited usage though, it's only fitting for special ethereal areas.

@Valtier: I'm not sure who Plauge is, but yeah. I seem to have the unfortunate realization of how to make quirky boss battles a little too late. I mean, it's not that I never had any before, but it was only recently that I got some good ideas.

You don't have to get to the end to find quirky fights though, as the optional Hades Spirits (which can be found, but certainly not beaten, about halfway through the game or less.) are pretty quirky. One example of this is one Hades Spirit, Lethe, is "Memory Loss" themed and thus, all your characters lose all their skills (for that battle). The main way to get around this is to make Holy Water using the minigame for it and use that as your primary offense, and find a hidden item that grants memory back to a single unit.

Er, I also have some other quirky styled units in earlier zones in the game too, but most aren't quick as so as the reaper.

I think I might go back and see where I can add more quirks though.