We are participating in Steam’s Turn-Based RPG Fest where we will showcase another demo for Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch! Based on player feedback from our previous beta test and demo this demo will feature some new updates. To read more on our updates, check out our latest dev blog here and our patch notes here!
We hope to gather as much feedback and suggestions as possible through our survey so please leave your thoughts here, on our Discord channel, or on the Steam forum page. As always, our goal is to create a game our community will be proud of.
The demo will be live from Steam Turn-Based Fest and the end of Steam Next Fest
PDT: From 10 AM, September 30 to 10 AM, October 21
EDT: From 1 PM, September 30 to 1 PM, October 21
CEST: From 7 PM, September 30 to 7 PM, October 21
KST: From 2 AM, October 1 to 2 AM, October 22
Please feel free to stream your gameplay with your community and friends. We love to see how everyone handles tactical battles and uses epic strategies. For more updates, follow us on our Discord channel or socials below.
This is Jin Sang Kim, the creative director of Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch. I am very excited to present a demo of our game just in time for the Turn-based RPG Fest, as we get ready to launch into Early Access.
After showcasing a prototype of the game at PAX West last September we conducted two internal company-wide tests, a Friends and Family test, first official closed beta test in July, and a demo just last August. With each test we ran a survey and gathered valuable feedback from the testers, and implemented various improvements, ranging from quality-of-life updates to significant changes in game balance, music, and art style. All based on the feedback.
The feedback from everyone has been incredibly helpful in refining and improving the game, and we’ve worked to reflect as much of your thoughts as possible for this demo, now open to turn-based RPG fans.
Let me briefly explain the history of our development, the improvements we made for this demo, and the ongoing work that has yet to be implemented.
1. Improvements In This Demo
After going through the closed beta and demo tests in July and August, here are some key changes we made:
[Quality of Life Improvements] There's been significant improvements to various UI/UX inconveniences. For example, we adjusted the text speed after receiving feedback that it was too slow. Repetitive text during battle now automatically skips after the first encounter. We also improved the UI for Resonance Stones to enhance player understanding of the system. These, along with other UI/UX changes, make the game more user-friendly and easier to navigate.
[BGM Improvements] We received feedback that the music didn’t match the game, so we contracted Clark, the composer of our first game, Lost Eidolons, to remake the original BGM in a new style. We also added newly composed tracks to fit the game’s tone.
[Prologue/Tutorial Improvements] We improved the prologue to give more context to the main protagonist's predicament at the start of the game. The tutorial has been streamlined to focus on essentials while ensuring that players still learn the necessary mechanics.
[Portrait Art Style Improvements] This was one of our biggest challenges. Initially, the game was introduced with sketch-style portrait art, but feedback indicated that it didn’t capture the characters' personalities well. We switched to a more stylized, animation-inspired art style, but the feedback showed that this change made the characters feel generic. After much consideration and effort, we decided to revert to the original art style. Fans of both the original Lost Eidolons and Veil of the Witch told us that the characters that appear in both games fits better with the previous art style, and this feedback was crucial in making this decision. However, this does not mean we've simply reverted to the original illustrations and we’ll still be working on improving the faces of less distinctive characters. For example, we will make additional changes to the main character Ashe, so please keep this in mind when providing feedback.
In this demo, we also added unique character portrait art that appears when Mythic skills are used, to increase the visual impact.
[New Title Art] There's now a new title art to more accurately captures the full story and vision of the game, improving upon the previous design that focused too much on the characters and felt a bit plain
2. Things Not Yet Implemented
The most common feedback we received during the tests was about the Altar of Fire. The upgrade options were too simple and didn’t significantly impact the gameplay style. We are therefore currently in the process of completely revamping the Altar of Fire. Unfortunately, this wasn’t ready for this demo, as it requires a lot of UI/UX and balance testing, but we want to reassure you that we are working hard to reflect your feedback.
As for the BGM, not all tracks are completed yet. By the time of the Early Access launch, the music selection will be much more varied, and we will continue to add more to enhance the feeling of variety and depth of battles and events.
Lastly, while many of you requested voice acting, it won’t be available in Early Access. However, we do plan to include it in the final release, once all story elements and hidden content are added.
We are also working hard on localization to support a wide range of languages, and we will announce which languages will be included in Early Access soon.
3. Future Plans
Our main goal with this Turn-based RPG Fest demo is to gather feedback from gamers who love the genre as much as we do. So please try out the demo and share your feedback! CLICK TO TAKE SURVEY
Based on the feedback from this demo, we will assess the current state of our Early Access build and identify areas for further improvement. We will announce the Early Access release schedule soon after.
We hope many of you will participate in the test and provide your valuable opinions. And I’ll be back with another dev blog after the Turn-based RPG Fest.
Triple Expedition Wrap-Up: Gamescom, PAX West, and Demo
Tacticians,
This year has been full of new feats, for both our team and Ashe’s crew. For us, we went to our first-ever Gamescom and then forged onward to Seattle for PAX West; for the game, it has been in closed beta and public demo, with Early Access coming in the near future.
The unprecedented triple expedition for us will soon be completed, with the demo closing at 3PM PT today (September 3rd). If you played the demo but haven’t filled out the feedback survey, please do so here, as it will remain open for only a few more days. We are deeply grateful for all the feedback, both from new players as well as those who played the game before (including previous PAX events). We can never emphasize and thank you enough on how your feedback shapes our game.
If you visited our booth, you may also have talked to Jin Sang, our creative director!
For PAX, we also brought some goodies to share with you, per our tradition! This time it was a canvas tote with our studio logo. Instead of trying to remember all 3 game titles, you can just search for us (Ocean Drive Studio) to find all 3 games… and some more ;)
While our triple expedition ended, we are far from being done. We will be working hard to take your feedback, implement them in the game, and bring back a more exciting journey for you with Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch!
We’re coming to PAX West this year! We can’t wait for the opportunity to meet all of you.
We're bringing some amazing content from Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch to PAX where you’ll be able to try out the game. Swing by our Booth: 217 and join us for an amazing time! We’ll also be bringing free swag so don't miss out!
(This image was taken during PAX East, we can't wait to see this again but this time at PAX West!)
Our Creative Director Jin Sang will be lurking around at PAX West. Don’t miss this chance to meet him!
If you are unable to attend, don’t worry, we’ll be sharing our gameplay on our Steam store page, so you won’t miss out on all the excitement. Be sure to keep an eye out for more updates as well.
We have successfully completed our first Closed Beta Testing for Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, YAY!
Thank you for participating and we hope you all had a fun time! Your feedback and suggestions are very important to us in helping us refine the experience. Please don’t forget to complete the survey if you haven’t already.
The survey will be available until:
PDT: 10 AM, August 5
EDT: 1 PM, August 5
CEST: 7 PM, August 5
KST: 2 AM, August 6
In case you missed the chance to play the closed beta yourself, we have created a highlight of our very own stream, where ODS Kangaroo played the closed beta with the mission of beating Karlotta!
Did she complete her mission? You’ll have to watch to find out!
Stay tuned for upcoming updates and announcements as we move towards the next steps. We can’t wait to dive deep into what you all wrote and discussed!
Hope to see your thoughts and ideas soon! We hope you had fun.
We are thrilled to announce that we will be embarking on a grand quest beyond the borders of the US and venturing to the lands of Europe! We will be participating in Gamescom for the first time, and we eagerly anticipate the opportunity to meet all of you.
We're bringing an array of exciting surprises and exclusive content to Gamescom where you’ll be able to try out our games.
Be sure to swing by our Booth: C079 located in Hall: 10.1 and join us on this momentous occasion.
Our Creative Director Jin Sang will be lurking around at Gamescom. Don’t miss this chance to meet him!
If you are unable to attend, don’t worry, we’ll be sharing our gameplay on our Steam store page, so you won’t miss out on all the excitement. Be sure to keep an eye out for more updates as well.
Welcome, Tacticians, to Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch Closed Beta!
We have sent out invites to the first group of players who signed up to participate in our beta. The signup will remain open during the beta, and we will add more testers on a rolling basis so don’t fret if you do not yet have access.
The test schedule is as follows:
PDT: From 2 PM, July 26 to 2 PM, August 1
EDT: From 5 PM, July 26 to 5 PM, August 1
CEST: From 11 PM, July 26 to 11 PM, August 1
KST: From 6 AM, July 27 to 6 AM, August 2
If you have already signed up, you should be able to install and play our Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch Playtest app.
If you have not yet signed up, you can request access by clicking on the Request Access button.
With this beta test, we hope to gauge your impression of the game so don’t be shy about letting us know what you think via the survey, our Discord channel, and right here on Steam.
If you’d rather stream/make videos about Veil of the Witch to relay your thoughts, please reach out to us on any of our various social channels listed below, so we can include them in our review. And yes, this means there is no NDA for this closed beta.
The beta includes:
Work-in-progress prologue
Act 1 in full, including the boss encounter
Most of Act 2 (excluding the boss)
Work-in-progress background music
It also includes the following but are specific to the test only, and will change in the future:
Four ally characters will unlock after a set number of in-game days
All Relics are accessible from the beginning; any one of them could be chosen at random
Hope to see your thoughts and ideas soon! We hope you have fun.
Are you excited about the closed beta starting July 26? To share our excitement, we plan to stream the build and show off the changes that we’ve made to the game so far!
We will be streaming on our Steam page, Twitch, and YouTube on July 26th at 2PM PST! This will be running concurrently with the start of the closed beta!
If you get a chance to play the closed beta, please provide your feedback with us through the survey link within the game! We can’t wait to hear your thoughts and suggestions!
It's finally happening! Closed beta testing for Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is from July 26 to Aug 1, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this with you.
We’re seeking player feedback to assess the game’s fun factor and gauge your enjoyment of its direction. This is a closed beta, so please note that you will be asked to agree to our Non-disclosure agreement (NDA) if you are selected to participate, prohibiting streaming or discussing the game outside of our surveys and our Discord channel.
Thank you for your interest, and we can't wait to hear your thoughts! Follow any social sites below or wishlist on Steam to be notified of more updates.
In the most recent Veil of the Witch stream, we shared some of the changes we made since our first build and even some information on what we plan to change in the upcoming months.
If you happened to miss it, here’s a highlight of the stream! You’ll watch ODS Kangaroo try to get through an expedition as she shares some of the changes made to the game, including UI changes.
Stay tuned to the end of the video where future plans are discussed. Make sure you don’t miss out on that!
Follow our social media to know when we are streaming next or when we publish new content! Feel free to talk and ask any questions you have about the game! We’re always eager to hear any feedback or suggestions you have.
(This image was taken during PAX East, we can't wait to see this again but this time at PAX West!)
