Demo Wotan: A Norse Beat 'em Up Where Choices Matter

R

Rolento

Guest



Currently on Kickstarter!

Download the demo (itch.io)




Wotan is a visual novel combined with gameplay of a classic arcade style beat ‘em up where choice matters and fighting is not the only option. Inspired by old school brawlers, modern day adventure games, and Norse mythology Wotan combines the power of fighting with the power of words in one epic trek across America. Wotan’s sharp and neo-dark world inhabits a cast of colorful characters ready to help or hinder you depending on your choices and actions taken across the entirety of the game. Discover the protagonist Wotan’s troubled past and unleash endless bloodshed or delve into his methodical mind and avoid conflict as you befriend characters or create enemies as decisions are made.




________

The game is still in development anf the demo is very much a prototype but all built in GameMaker. I used the vector importing abilities of GameMaker Studio (so glad this was added!) by designing everything in Adobe Illustrator and then bringing it into Flash for animation, then into GameMaker studio.

Any input is helpful ^_^

 
G

goujosamma

Guest
That is visually brilliant! in every sense of the words. your artistic sense will sell this game. I would suggest putting a bit more love to the back grounds, especially the buildings and perhaps losing the white outline around the characters. Just make sure that you have some game mechanic that makes your game something better than "just another street fighter / ninja turtles clone", which is the impression that your trailer leaves. I'll download the demo and post again later.
 
G

goujosamma

Guest
Yup, that was fun! The only suggestion I can make about the game play in the demo, would be that the collision boxes are probably too tall. if my feet are even with the enimeys head, he shouldn't be able to punch me. But then again, that was a problem with Street Fighter and TMNT as well. Will vote for you on greenlight. hoping for a demo which includes some of the more rpg-ish elements.
 
S

SuperSlim

Guest
I really like the astetic of the protagonist. I'd wear him on a shirt.
 

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
Yup, the visual style really is something unique here! It looks particularly good in motion, but I think it'd look even better if quick motions and punching enemies also left a 'trail' of small triangles in the same color that would slowly move and fade away to kinda add to the paint/color aesthetic. And I'm with @goujosamma about the white outline... it kinda makes characters stand out from the world instead of being a part of it... not sure if that's the intended effect. Removing outlines and adding 'trail' triangles would make the game world feel a lot more integrated, right now it feels really empty and barren as a result of things feeling to separate.
 
R

Rolento

Guest
Yup, that was fun! The only suggestion I can make about the game play in the demo, would be that the collision boxes are probably too tall. if my feet are even with the enimeys head, he shouldn't be able to punch me. But then again, that was a problem with Street Fighter and TMNT as well. Will vote for you on greenlight. hoping for a demo which includes some of the more rpg-ish elements.
Agreed. This is something I'll be fixing as development moves forward.

I really like the astetic of the protagonist. I'd wear him on a shirt.
if you like the shirt, the Kickstarter has some rewards as shirt (planning to add the protagonist as a shirt this week), and also I make shirts in similar designs.

Yup, the visual style really is something unique here! It looks particularly good in motion, but I think it'd look even better if quick motions and punching enemies also left a 'trail' of small triangles in the same color that would slowly move and fade away to kinda add to the paint/color aesthetic. And I'm with @goujosamma about the white outline... it kinda makes characters stand out from the world instead of being a part of it... not sure if that's the intended effect. Removing outlines and adding 'trail' triangles would make the game world feel a lot more integrated, right now it feels really empty and barren as a result of things feeling to separate.
This has been a back and forth discussion in terms of design. I may keep or remove the outlines but I do like your suggestion. I'll see if it works for future builds. Thanks :)
 
T

ToasterTub

Guest
The visual style is awesome! Do you run the images though Adobe Illustrator or something, or just create them from scratch with that style?
 
R

Rolento

Guest
The visual style is awesome! Do you run the images though Adobe Illustrator or something, or just create them from scratch with that style?
It's done all by hand from scratch so the art takes a massive amount of time to create.
 
M

MilkyBrain

Guest
This is super awesome!!!! I like the art style! <3 Will keep an eye on that :)
 
It looks fantastic, I'm digging the setting and style.
From what I saw in the video some of the animations looked a little wooden, like they were missing frames or something.
 
N

nvrogers

Guest
This is awesome! My only suggestion would be to change the sprint controls from double tapping the directional button on the controller to using a direction and one of the triggers (or some other button).
 
R

Rolento

Guest
Thanks for all the kind words from everyone :)

It looks fantastic, I'm digging the setting and style.
From what I saw in the video some of the animations looked a little wooden, like they were missing frames or something.
Most of the animations aren't final and changes will be made for less stiff design :)

This is awesome! My only suggestion would be to change the sprint controls from double tapping the directional button on the controller to using a direction and one of the triggers (or some other button).
I will most likely set that as a player option as old school brawlers with run mostly use the double tap, and others like Double Dragon Neon use a trigger.
 
R

Rolento

Guest
Top