Hey guys,
I've been getting into Castlevania a lot recently and watching a series of Dark Souls II which I'm also enjoying. Then it hit me - what if we made a Metroidvania - style game with a more in - depth combat system?
The difficulty here is the 2D. You can't just have a shield / no shield type of damage block because that would be too simple. So instead, you have three places to shield - angled up (guards head), body (guards body), angled down (guards feet.) The latter two options are also available while crouched.
There are two types of health to worry about - life, which when it reaches 0, you die, and stamina, which causes you to stumble and eventually be stunned / knocked down depending on weapon type. A shield prevents all (or most? not sure yet) (physical) life damage, but only partially blocks stamina damage. Doing an attack DOES NOT use up stamina, but after an attack and especially a combo, there is a brief recovery animation (dependent on how much into the combo you are and your weapon) in which you are vulnerable.
Switching just between shielded and unshielded is a little boring, imo, so there's some other stuff. If you 'time' a shield block perfectly, (i.e. you pull out your shield just as you are about to get hit,) you perform a 'power block' and automatically stumble the enemy, allowing you to get some hits in. There is also a roll - this allows you to pass through enemies and reduces your hitbox to a crouching state, but does NOT make you invincible. There is also a slight recovery animation after a roll (say 0.5 seconds.)
There is also an ability to 'sidestep', where a character jumps into the background briefly (say for 0.3 seconds) that makes the character totally avoid all damage, life AND stamina. It's riskier because you are subject to full damage if you mis-time, but the rewards are greater, including not having to judge where to put your shield. Note that in some areas, like narrow ledges, this ability becomes unavailable, and it's probably unwise if the enemy is breathing a stream of fire or some other constant effect at you.
The world of the game will be laid out much like castlevania, although there will also be a few 'planes' for the character to move between to make the world not feel so 2D. For example, some doors will lead into the screen, away from the player, and likewise some will lead out, towards the player. The world will, until I can think of something better, kind of generic fantasy mush, but without many NPC's and no / one friendly settlement(s). The plot I haven't managed to think up yet, but I'd hope it would involve limited gating on the players' behalf (much like Dark Souls I.)
One of the issues I'm having is wondering how you would swarm the player with enemies. One from each side would be easy enough, but if you allow enemies to pass through each other it could easily make it impossible for the player to find an opportunity to attack.
Many thanks for reading - I've had this on my mind for a few days now and just really wanted to get it out there. I started trying to draw characters for the game, but my art skills are, to put it gently, abysmal.