This playtest has shown the game grow in promising ways with the new feel of impact through the visual effects, the choice of loadout and the new dodge and charge mechanics. BUT this playtest also adds a few non preferable changes plus some lingering issues that are present in the beta. Speaking from the perspective of someone who absolutely loves the beta and idea of this game.

Firstly the removal of the blood and dismembering effects really stunt the visual response and effect of bladed weapons, the blood effects and clothing tear really help the player know when they can be aggressive and if their strike was successful. with the blood effects removed, every weapon feels like a sylized club.

The player character's tendancy to want to lock into a new guard stance while attempting to strike makes combat much "floatier" and way less responsive, most of the time resulting in my weapon slowly float-glitching into the enemy (very prevelant on overhead downward strikes), the way attacks work in the beta is much quicker and more responsive without the guards than this playtest. mouse acceleration should feel 1 to 1 with weapon acceleration e.g if Im moving the mouse slowly, Im trying to switch guards but if i flick or swipe my mouse hard, I am trying to swing. the playtest acts like no matter how hard i flick my mouse with full sensitivity trying to make a strike, (unless I have perfect alingment with the way the game wants me to swing) my character gets stuck trying to switch guards. The beta felt better because you could make any kind of strike from any guard position but the actual leverage of the physics engine would increase and decrease effectiveness based on the momentum you could gain/lose, this felt far better and more intuitive to add flare to combos.

The biggest lingering issue with the game is the very loose collision of long parts of weapons ( spear and polearm handles, longsword blades). At high acceleration these parts of weapons will clip through both player and non player characters, resulting in missed, obviously clean strikes and weapons leaving the characters hit box leaving them exposed until the weapon gets coaxed back into place by the engine.

The lack of multiple opponents and the wave combat from the beta make it harder to feature test and get a feel for the game but thats no biggie.

I love the work you guys have put in, I look forward to seeing further developments!

This playtest has shown the game grow in promising ways with the new feel of impact through the visual effects, the choice of loadout and the new dodge and charge mechanics. BUT this playtest also adds a few non preferable changes plus some lingering issues that are present in the beta. Speaking from the perspective of someone who absolutely loves the beta and idea of this game. Firstly the removal of the blood and dismembering effects really stunt the visual response and effect of bladed weapons, the blood effects and clothing tear really help the player know when they can be aggressive and if their strike was successful. with the blood effects removed, every weapon feels like a sylized club. The player character's tendancy to want to lock into a new guard stance while attempting to strike makes combat much "floatier" and way less responsive, most of the time resulting in my weapon slowly float-glitching into the enemy (very prevelant on overhead downward strikes), the way attacks work in the beta is much quicker and more responsive without the guards than this playtest. mouse acceleration should feel 1 to 1 with weapon acceleration e.g if Im moving the mouse slowly, Im trying to switch guards but if i flick or swipe my mouse hard, I am trying to swing. the playtest acts like no matter how hard i flick my mouse with full sensitivity trying to make a strike, (unless I have perfect alingment with the way the game wants me to swing) my character gets stuck trying to switch guards. The beta felt better because you could make any kind of strike from any guard position but the actual leverage of the physics engine would increase and decrease effectiveness based on the momentum you could gain/lose, this felt far better and more intuitive to add flare to combos. The biggest lingering issue with the game is the very loose collision of long parts of weapons ( spear and polearm handles, longsword blades). At high acceleration these parts of weapons will clip through both player and non player characters, resulting in missed, obviously clean strikes and weapons leaving the characters hit box leaving them exposed until the weapon gets coaxed back into place by the engine. The lack of multiple opponents and the wave combat from the beta make it harder to feature test and get a feel for the game but thats no biggie. I love the work you guys have put in, I look forward to seeing further developments!