It's been a while, but I've finally finished a new demo to showcase the first real level of this game!

As mentioned in my last devlog (about ledges of all things...) this level focuses on one of the main enemy types Magli Draelyn will encounter throughout the game: Dragoons--no not the air-riding kind that you assemble piece by piece... These enemies are the generic, low-level lackeys of the Dragon Syndicate, the organized crime group who captured Magli back in the tutorial level. They come in four different types indicated by the color of their suit and hairstyle: Green Dragoons patrol a small area while going back and forth, Red Dragoons stay still and try to snipe you with cigar-fueled fireballs if you get in their line of sight, Blue Dragoons jump when you jump to try and intercept you, and Yellow Dragoons wait for you to enter their sights before chasing you down. If you look closely, you'll notice that the Dragoons' wings are damaged, so they can't really do much in the air at the moment, but I plan to create aerial variants of these enemies down the line that will use their wings to mix up their usual attack patterns!

In addition to the new level, I've also given Magli Draelyn some new moves! The first one is the Ledge Snap which I already covered in the previous devlog, but to recap, it allows Draelyn to skip the pop-up and vaulting step of her wall climb when she reaches a ledge. The next few moves come from a maneuver that I had somehow consciously decided not to add to the tutorial demo despite it being a staple in most videogames and is not even limited to platformers: Crouching. Both Magli and Draelyn can crouch and move to go under small gaps, but while Magli can crouch while in midair, Draelyn cannot; she instead has a Super Jump that is charged while crouching and allows her to jump higher than normal, especially in cramped vertical spaces that Magli can just easily wall kick out of.

I've added unique crouch "attacks" for both Magli and Draelyn. While crouching, Magli can perform a Dodge which allows her to phase through enemies and attacks without taking damage. On the ground, Magli dodges in the direction she's facing, but in the air, she moves diagonally downwards--touching the ground in this state conserves her dodging momentum which could prove useful... In contrast, Draelyn can slide while crouching; it doesn't do any damage, but it's a useful way to move quickly while conserving your momentum! Finally, crouching can also be used to greatly reduce knockback when taking damage, and you can release crouch to parry enemy attacks!

(Is it obvious yet that I was heavily inspired by a certain platform-fighter when making this game?)

That will be all for this devlog. While I would love to try and cover every single change I've made in the past three months, I implore you to try the new demo yourself and share your thoughts about it if possible!