Sure!

In this tutorial image, I show the difference between each one; you'll have to figure it out by playing.

Hi everyone!

It’s been almost 2 months since our last update, and thanks to all the feedback you provided in the previous playtest, the game has evolved significantly. I’ve been hard at work reworking systems, fixing bugs, and polishing the overall experience.

I’m excited to share that we now have a much more stable and playable playtest, and I do love to hear your thoughts on these new additions!

Here is a breakdown of what’s new:

1. New Weapon-Based Combat System (Warrior Class - Eloy)

I’ve revamped the combat for the Warrior class! Eloy can now wield 3 distinct weapon types, each encouraging a completely different playstyle and mechanic:

• Swords
• Axes
• Hammers

2. Soft Tutorial System

To help new players get accustomed to the mechanics without disrupting the flow of gameplay, I’ve implemented a soft tutorial system. Contextual popups will now appear naturally as you progress through different stages of the game.

3. Weapon Durability & Blacksmithing

Weapons are no longer permanent!

• Weapons now lose durability with every battle.
• You can visit the Blacksmith to repair your gear before it breaks or decide to replace it with fresh weapons.

4. Set Bonuses (Warrior Class)

I’ve introduced Set Bonuses when pairing specific swords and shields together. These grant extra stats and passive benefits to reward strategic gearing and will be highlighted on screen whenever a bonus is active or available, as shown in the screenshot below.

5. Balance Tweaks & Bug Fixes

Based directly on your reports:

• Parry Timing: Adjusted the window to feel more responsive and fair.
• Level 1 Enemy Damage: Rebalanced so the onboarding experience feels challenging yet fair rather than punishing.
• Bug Fixes: Resolved multiple performance and gameplay issues for a smooth, stable run.

I Need Your Feedback!

Please jump into the playtest, try out the new weapon types, test the durability loop, and let me know how the balance feels!

• Does the parry timing feel right now?
• How does the blacksmith/durability system affect your pacing?
• Any bugs you stumble upon?

Drop your feedback in the comments below or in our discussion board. Thank you all for helping me shape this game!

JOIN THE PLAYTEST HERE!

Battle speed increased & merchant auto-refresh

• Battle speed was increased 25%
• Merchant auto-refresh items, one more refresh cost 25 coins
• New camera zoom effect on enemy deaths
• Minor bugs fixed
  
  

Thanks for the feedback!

Regarding the level selection screen, I'll definitely look into that pulsing hover issue, that sounds like a UI bug that needs fixing, and I appreciate you pointing it out. I'll also take a look at how we can clean up and simplify the overall interface.

That said, it's a bit surprising to hear that the game mechanics feel complex to you, since the core gameplay really just comes down to pressing the parry button at the right moment when prompted on screen. I'm also not quite sure about the comparison to Brawlhalla, as they belong to completely different genres and play very differently.

Either way, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and help improve the game!

1.UI & QoL Additions:

• Added a new notification popup to alert players when mastery points are available to spend.

2.Combat & Mechanics Tweaks:

• Max HP Items: Picking up an item that increases max HP now heals the player for a proportional amount (rather than fully restoring health).
• Debuff Removal: Removed "reduce parry counter hits" from the Enhance Shield effect.

3.Item Rebalancing:

• Giant Shield: Increased MAX HP value from 40 to 60.
• Chain Shield: Increased MAX HP value from 25 to 40.

4.New Combos:

• Ordinary Cub + Primitive Shield
• Spike Cub + Spike Shield
• Scimitar + Spartan Shield

5.Display & Aspect Ratio Support:

• Added native support for 16:10 and 4:3 aspect ratios.

6.Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where the Blacksmith was success to apply the correct attack bonus.

I have published a new build, everything should work fine. If not, try disabling the tutorial in the pause menu before starting the fight; it might be an issue related to the controller type or the web browser, which I'll need to look into more thoroughly.

I just watched your gameplay, I'm going to fix the bug and let you know.

Thanks for the feedback and for playing Between Gods.

Could you tell me exactly where the combat freezes so I can check and fix that?

I am working on adding more music for the battles.

The filter needs to be tweaked, or at least give the player the option to lower its intensity.

• Adding Mastery pop-up

• Auto-detect system language
• Fixed a bug where returning to the menu and continuing the game caused the traveled path to not be recorded
• I added a delay to the elite enemies' attack after they enter rage mode
• Fix translation errors in pop-ups.
• Bug Fixes & System Improvements
  
  • Merchant Auto-Buy Fixed: Resolved an issue where items were automatically purchased upon entering the Merchant screen.
  • Amulet Max HP Calculation: Fixed a bug causing incorrect Max HP stats when replacing or merging amulets.
  • UI & Menu Fixes: Corrected visual glitches in the Merge menu.
  • Input Navigation: Fixed an issue where ESC would not close active pop-ups.
  • Localization Update: Corrected the English translation for "Great Master Shield".
  Visual & Art Tweaks
  • Bloom Adjustment: Reduced the bloom effect intensity to better highlight and appreciate the character pixel art.
• Give Your Legs a Break! Enemy Low Attack Nerf

I heard your feedback, those enemy low attacks were coming out way too fast to predict. I slowed down the attack speed to give you enough time to react and avoid taking unfair damage.

Could you help me test a developer build so I can check the console logs when this bug happens?

here is the link : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SdEVCXf_Zdg6y8z4EJ__zZECLJ4H_FP8?usp=dri...

I will look into this more thoroughly when I get home. Including you, there are two people experiencing the same issue.

Do you have a joystick connected?

I have a setting that automatically detects joysticks and this affects the input, it could be a joystick that the game isn't recognizing.

Please try disabling the tutorial and let me know if everything is going well

Thanks for playing!

I just double-checked the build and everything seems to be working on my end. In that part of the tutorial, the game is actually designed to pause completely until you press the exact key or button indicated on the screen (just like in this image).

To help figure out what might have gone wrong, could you tell me which browser, joystick/controller, and operating system you're using?

Also, if you want to try again and skip the tutorial entirely, you can just press ESC before starting the battle and turn off the tutorial option in the menu.

It's awesome to hear that the visual mechanics guide worked well for you. I really wanted to skip the dreaded wall of text tutorial and jump straight into the action, so I'm glad the images hit the spot.

Thanks again for taking the time to write such a thoughtful review and for supporting the game. It really keeps the momentum going!

Thanks for the feedback. I just uploaded an update fixing these bugs, along with a few others.

I found the merchant bug! Thanks, I hadn't read your message carefully, but it's fixed now.

I also fixed the HP when merging. I noticed there were issues with the HP when switching amulets as well, so both bugs are fixed now.

Regarding an amulet to guarantee the blacksmith's durability, it doesn't exist yet, but it's on my to-do list.

I wouldn't want to just change lower attack to a block, I need dodges to exist so you get different advantages against enemies depending on the class you use.

new build will be up on few minutes.

I loved your itch.io page! For a second, I thought I was on a different website the quality of your game shows right from the start. I had already tried Beat Baes and filled out the form; I thought it was a really fun and well-polished game, and Tais is definitely my favorite waifu.

As for the wishlist button I added, go right ahead! I copied it from another developer too, haha. I’m looking forward to seeing how your project develops.

Best of luck!

I'm testing A/B ad variations on TikTok right now

Thanks for playing Between Gods and taking the time to share your feedback!

Congratulations on defeating the first boss! It sounds like you quickly picked up on the rhythm of watching the enemy attack animations rather than just relying on the onscreen prompts.

Parry Timing & Difficulty: The tight parry windows and learning curve are definitely a big part of the game's challenge right now. Adjusting the parry timing window and making the difficulty curve smoother or potentially adding a more forgiving mode is something being actively looked at so players can get into the flow without it feeling brutally punishing right off the bat.

Stats and Inventory UI: As you mentioned, inspecting stats with the mouse is currently buggy. Pressing TAB is the reliable workaround for checking your stats for now.

Thanks for playing my game!

Sorry to hear that, the game definitely seems to be a bit trickier for some players

Thanks for playing Between Gods.

You should reroll the shop to get new items. Yes,  the enemies' timing is different on purpose.

Thank you so much for taking the time to play Between Gods.

Regarding the combat: I completely understand why it felt a bit like a quick time event. In an earlier iteration, the pop-ups appeared a few seconds before the attack, requiring players to time their parry manually without on-screen prompts at the moment of impact. While that sounded great on paper, in practice most players got stuck on the very first enemy and felt the game was brutally difficult.

To strike a better balance, I'm considering a few changes:

1. A dedicated parry button: Consolidating all parries into a single button regardless of attack direction (top, middle, or bottom) to reduce input confusion.
2. Dynamic UI indicators: Displaying the directional pop-ups only during the first 2–3 attacks of a new enemy type to help players learn, after which the indicators disappear, requiring players to read animation telegraphs and learn enemy attack patterns.

I'll be running some closed playtests with these adjustments soon to see how it feels in action. Thanks again for the encouraging words and valuable insights—it really helps shape the future of the game!

Yes, I know you can zoom in by clicking, but I think it would be better to increase the text size so you don't have to click on every card and can just scan them quickly. These are small details that improve the overall quality of life of the game.

That's definitely a bug, because you're not the first person to tell me that.

It's my first time playing the game, and I think the concept—deckbuilder + spaceships—is great. I love the aiming mechanics to land a shot, the characters are super unique, and the game's overall aesthetic looks really promising, honestly. The card descriptions are a bit small, though; I had to play in full screen to read them.

Hey! Thanks so much for testing the demo.

First off, the screen issue when returning to the main menu is actually a browser-specific bug—it doesn't happen on the Windows version. To be honest, I haven't had the time to fix that one just yet.

Regarding the lower attacks for the Mermaid and Triton: I'm working on it! They really are the hardest to deal with because they're super fast. You're not a bad player at all—several people have brought this up, so I definitely need to balance it out.

As for the shop bug, that's a strange one—it's the first time anyone has mentioned it! If you tried to equip an amulet without having an empty slot, the game asks you to replace one of your existing ones. In that state, your only options are pressing ESC to cancel or Space to replace. Maybe that got a bit confusing and made it feel like the game was frozen? Let me know!

Thanks a lot for your feedback, I'll definitely keep all of it in mind.

The auto-buy bug is on my list! I just haven't been able to replicate it yet to figure out why it happens, plus it doesn't always happen on the second shop visit—it seems to be pretty rare.

Items that increase Max HP don't automatically heal you because that would make the game too easy. Once you raise your Max HP, you still need to visit a bonfire or use healing amulets to fill that new health cap.

I'm already working on fixing the bug where you can't attack right as combat starts. I'll be pushing an update tonight with that fix alongside several others.

Consumables can't be used from the menu—they can only be used during battle. I need to clarify that in the amulet pop-up message.

Weapon durability can be upgraded at the Blacksmith. Every time you have a successful hit, your durability also increases depending on the weapon type you're carrying (rarer ones like Gold and Unique increase durability by 2 points or more). The Blacksmith pop-up explains how this works.

I definitely need to adjust the low attacks; I'm aware they tend to be the hardest to deal with.

As for the enemy zoom effect, I've already adjusted it in today's update, so you shouldn't run into that issue next time you play.

I'm really glad to hear you finished the demo! I'll take all this feedback into account to keep improving the experience.

Thank you so much for your time!

Thanks for playing it! I'm glad you liked it.

I have an artist I commission for all the art—I've only done part of the UI, like buttons and a few small things here and there, but most of it was done by a hired artist.

The negative HP bar is actually intentional so you can see the overkill damage after you die, though I guess it can give the impression that something is bugged (I'll consider clamping it to 0 later).

The input delay between your attacks is also intentional to prevent spacebar spamming. You actually did exactly what I wanted players to do: timing your attacks and avoiding attacking at the same time as the enemy. The main objective of the game is to focus on parrying. Parries deal 100% of your ATK, whereas free attacks using the Space Bar only deal 25%.

It's not exactly my type of game, I like the atmosphere, excellent graphics.

New Info Pop-ups Added!

I’ve added new info pop-ups across several menus to give you better clarity on items, stats, and choices. You can now find them in:

• Character Selection: Easily view character stats and unique traits before jumping into a run.

• Weapons: Learn about the different weapon types and how each one functions.

• Amulets: Discover detailed breakdowns on how amulets work and their effects.

• Blacksmith: See the exact success percentage for each upgrade and understand how gear enhancements work. Additionally, when an upgrade fails, your weapon now only loses durability instead of losing previously earned attack points!

• How to Parry:

        Mastering the parry mechanic is key to surviving and dealing massive damage. Here is how it works in 3 simple steps:

1. Watch: Pay close attention to enemy attack animations and time your defense carefully.
2. Press the key: Hit the parry button right before the enemy attack lands.
3. Counter Attack: Unleash a powerful strike immediately after a successful parry!

• Merge:

Managing your inventory just got better!

• Items that can be merged now display a distinct icon to easily identify them.
• Requirement: You can only merge identical items.
• Merging will not duplicate the item, but it allows you to free up and reclaim an inventory slot!

Interesting concept, simple but addictive. I'd love to see this game expanded with more mechanics and boss fights.

The video settings aren't loading on browser on purpose. If you're playing in the browser, set a very high resolution, and don't play in fullscreen, the window ends up misaligned, which makes the game look bad. For now, I have it forced to windowed mode at 1280x720p. (I should really disable the fullscreen option in the browser build so players don't feel like something is broken.)

The game really isn't intended for fullscreen in the browser anyway because pressing ESC exits fullscreen mode. I'm going to disable that option until I can fix all these issues.

Keybinding is on my to-do list; I'm well aware that every game should have it.

I completely understand the lack of information on how to play the game. I'm currently working on some pop-ups that will appear in-game as the player navigates through the different menus. About 8 hours ago, I published a new build featuring some of these pop-ups, though I still need to add the ones for the shop and skill tree.

I'm also working on that shortcut so players can access the skill tree directly from the game.

Nice concept

Super addictive, honestly! The shop just needs to be organized and aligned a bit better, and the description text for upgrades should use a different color—it's pretty hard to read right now.

It's very simple. it just needs a few improvements like increasing the difficulty, adding power-ups and different types of enemies, and including a pause menu with the ESC key.

Every time I press "E" to open the menu, the music restarts, which gets a bit annoying—I ended up having to go into the settings and turn it off completely.

The combat feels really good, and I liked the detail that your character moves slower while in the arena.

I loved the puzzles using the Air Wand! That part gave me strong Zelda vibes.

I managed to get the boss key, but I couldn't beat him because I went into the fight with only 1 HP lol.