Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Indie
Wraithbinder
Play Wraithbinder's Beta Until April 11
Open play for Wraithbinder's 3rd beta has begun! Enjoy from March 31 to April 11. If you can beat the boss on your first run I will send you a Songbringer soundtrack.
Just click the big green Request Access button on Wraithbinder's Steam page and the game will be available in your Steam library until April 11.
Here's some of the exciting things that have been done since January's 2nd beta:
New boss & improved existing bosses
R-stick aiming allows you to fire the Boomerang or Bow faster
Each time you open a big chest you get to choose between three random relics
Most of the time you discover a new ability you will have a choice between two
The dash ability has been improved for a more tactile, responsive feel
The Boots ability is now more unique. Hold the button to build up speed until you start to do damage to everything in your path.
The Shield ability now pushes back all nearby foes, including bosses
New relics! The Resurrector, Revealer, Buffer and Skybot Blaster
Secret walls!
A host of art style improvements, including dynamic shadows
Cheers,
Wizard
Play the Next Beta March 31 - April 11
Open play for Wraithbinder's 3rd beta starts next weekend! Enjoy from March 31 to April 11.
Just click the big green Request Access button on Wraithbinder's Steam page and the game will be available in your library from March 31 to April 11.
Here's some of the exciting things that have been done since last time:
New boss & improved existing bosses
R-stick aiming allows you to fire the Boomerang or Bow faster
The dash ability has been improved for a more tactile, responsive feel
The Boots ability is now more unique. Hold the button to build up speed until you start to do damage to everything in your path.
New relics!
A host of art style improvements
Cheers,
Wizard
Update Roadmap for 2023
Curious about when you can next play Wraithbinder? This infomagical Roadmap lets you know when the next planned beta will be and all the other exciting goodies planned for 2023. It covers when online co-op will be introduced and even when Early Access launch may be.
If you want to join the beta, just click the green "Request Access" button on the Steam page. When the next beta goes live on March 31st, you will be able to install and play the game with your Steam client.
Note that whenever the Roadmap says "Player suggestions" that also includes bug fixes and feedback incorporation. Incorporating your feedback and taking action on your direct suggestions has led to some of the best improvements to the game, in my humble opinion.
Thanks for playing,
Wizard
Next beta will be early March
Thanks for playing Wraithbinder's 2nd beta and sending me feedback. You are much appreciated and I'm already working on the things you have suggested.
Wraithbinder will have a third beta in early March. Here's some of the exciting things that are planned:
Floors 7 through 11
Multiple new bosses
Lots of new enemies
New relics
New abilities
Art style improvements
And here's some things that are planned for further down the road:
Twitch drops / collectible items
Streamer mode (influence a streamer's run)
Online co-op
Cheers,
Wizard
More time to play the 2nd Beta
The 2nd beta will remain live and playable until Jan 12! Just visit the store page and click the green "Request Access" button.
Cheers,
Wizard
What's New in the 2nd Beta?
The 2nd beta is now live and playable through Monday, Jan 9! Just visit the store page and click the green "Request Access" button. Anyone is welcome to play.
What's new? Unique enemies
One new thing you will discover in this beta is that each enemy has been crafted to have a unique identity. All enemies have specific behaviors that make them feel distinct. There's a shy sneaky enemy, a knight who uses a blade & shield and an archer who hangs back and strikes from the shadows.
In addition, there are now elemental versions of each enemy. These have either fire, ice, lightning or acid attacks. These elemental enemies are more tough than their normal counterparts. They have at least 300% hit points and 200% damage.
What else? Checkpoints
Another new thing is Checkpoint objects. Activating a Checkpoint means that if you die you will wake up aboard the Ship with a portal object. Using the portal gives you a choice to use the checkpoint or start over. Starting over means you start a brand new run. Using the checkpoint means you will warp back to the beginning of the floor where you activated the checkpoint. You will have all the same abilities and relics that you picked up on the previous run, but you will start at player level one. This gives you another chance at victory, albeit with the challenge of regaining your experience and ability levels.
There's more...
There's hundreds of other things that are improved in this 2nd beta version of Wraithbinder, but I will leave that to you to experience. If you are curious, you can always check the Changelog.txt file in the game's root folder for details on every little thing that's changed and improved.
Thanks for being,
Wizard
Play the 2nd Beta this weekend!
Play the 2nd beta this weekend, Friday Jan 6 to Monday Jan 9!
This will be an open beta, meaning anyone is welcome to play. If you are new to Wraithbinder, just visit the store page any time this weekend and click the big green "Request Access" button. You will be automatically approved.
If you've already played the 1st beta, just fire up your Steam client and play this weekend. That's all!
What's new?
So much! lol. Look for another Steam post this Friday for more details on all the juicy new juices.
Thanks for playing,
Wizard
Thanks for Playing the Beta
Thanks for playing the Wraithbinder beta! Over the last two weeks, your feedback was instrumental in making this a more exciting and playable video game.
What Was Accomplished
You mentioned the game was a bit boring without an initial attack ability and dedicated dodge ability. This was improved in the Punch & Dodge Update.
Later, you mentioned that combat could be a bit button-mashey without any indicators that an enemy was about to attack. This was improved in the Combat Precision Update.
In addition to these main topics, nearly 70 other things were improved over the course of the beta thanks to your feedback. There are many things left on my list still to be done and I will tackle them in a prioritized manner.
What is to Come
While the play test is now finished and will soon no longer be playable, I have plans to bring it back multiple times before Early Access launch sometime in 2023. For news on this, please wishlist and follow Wraithbinder.
The general plan is thus:
1. Improve the game using your remaining feedback 2. Run another Play Test or Demo 3. Gather and prioritize your feedback 4. Repeat
Thanks again, person!
Wizard
Combat Precision Update
Hello, person!
Thanks again for your recent feedback. I've prioritized your top comments and updated the game accordingly. More of your comments are still waiting in my notes to work on next.
One important improvement is that enemies now have a warning animation and sound before they attack. This warning is about 0.5s in the first dungeon, then gets shorter as you progress further, making enemies more difficult.
This makes Wraithbinder's combat feel more precise and intentional. It's less button mash-y. The Dodge, Blink and Boots abilities now feel more useful as you can see when an enemy is about to strike and dodge away if you are fast enough.
Also the dodging abilities have been finely tuned in this update. You can now begin holding the button, then press the direction. This makes dodging feel more intentional. You can be facing in one direction, press the button, then choose a completely different direction to dodge in. In addition, there are some i-frames now. You will be invincible for a fraction of second while dodging.
Another notable thing: the game now remembers rooms that you've cleared of enemies and the map that you've uncovered. So if you descend back to a previous dungeon to go for a relic that you now have the ability to reach, you won't have to fight those mobs of enemies that you already did. You will also have the map revealed for the portions of the dungeon that you've already explored.
There's about thirty fixes and improvements in this latest version. Check this post for details or read the Changelog.txt.
Cheers,
Wizard
Punch & Dodge Update
Hello, person!
You spoke and I listened. When you start a fresh run, you will now begin with the Punch and Dodge abilities. This makes things more fun and interesting from the get go.
Punch is a melee attack like your Blade strike. While Punch does less damage than Blade, it has a faster cooldown so you can attack more rapidly. When you find the Blade ability, it replaces Punch.
Dodge is a speed ability like Blink. It shoots you forward and does a little damage on impact. This damage can be used as a skill shot. If you damage an enemy that is low on HP with the Dodge, Blink or Boots abilities it will automatically become a critical hit. The Dodge ability is replaced by Blink or Boots once found.
Elements like Fire, Acid, Ice and Lightning no longer use MP.
When you vanquish all enemies in a room, a little reward item will appear. In addition, enemies will no longer respawn after a time.
Mappings for Xbox controllers have been updated so if you use one of these, please delete the "controller-xxxx" section of your Saves.txt in order to use the new mappings.
