Cyrus releases tons of demos, so why can't I?

How many of you remember my last demo for Terminys? I got a lot of comments saying it was difficult. Difficulty sucks, especially so early in the game. The only games I like that can pull off a high difficulty so early are shoot-em-ups.

Terminys, as you all may know, is an action RPG. And this demo will show that you don't always play as that little kid. Remember the sketch I posted here? Yeah, the chick in the robes with the decrepit hands. That's River, the elementalist, and she'll be the playable character for this demo.

I'm taking quite a gamble for making a female playable character. I'm not a girl, and thus, can't do a whole lot inside her head. I'm not J.K. Rowling.

Unlike last time, you have no cutscenes to watch, no tutorials, and no background. This is just a quick combat test with one kind of enemy (an annoying one at that), that actually attacks you, unlike the flies in the previous demo.

Download:

http://www.shaltix.com/Terminys_CombatDemo.zip

This is only hosted on my site because 64Ds file manager is broken.

The file is a little large, as everyone knows. Plus, it does store an MP3 in there, which isn't used in the demo, but the game doesn't like being without it. Because of this, you may need to extract the ZIP. But this is just habit.

Also, you can't leave the room in this demo. There are only two ways to go: a dead end where you start, and an unfinished boss. Yes, River gets to fight a boss. Two, in fact. Lovely.

Controls:

Arrow keys to move.

Z to use your melee attack and confirm in the menu.

Hold X to run and move back a page in the menu.

Hold A to recharge your Ether Points. Taking damage will interrupt you.

S is your ability key. If casting, taking damage will interrupt you.

Q and E cycle through your spells in battle. You can select spells on the map through the pause menu.

Enter brings up the inventory screen on the map, and pauses in battle.

And escape, as always, quits the damn game.

Moveset:

River starts with four moves

Ether Spear is a powerful melee range attack, capable of one-shotting these annoying enemies.

Ether Dart is a fast, ranged ability that deals minimal damage, and is spammable.

Stoneraze is a powerful attack that summons rocks to impale the enemy. Long cast time, high power.

Energy Strike generates beams from the sky to strike the enemy. Medium cast time, medium power.

The HUD:

…Needs work. The cast bar most of all looks god-awful. I understand this. But rest assured that it's all temporary, and I'll be doing an HUD overhaul soon.

If someone has ideas for the HUD (layout, textures), please let me know. If you'd like to help, I might ask for a quick sketch-up. Send me a PM or just comment here if you're willing to set aside a couple minutes.

Also, the battle theme, like the HUD, is temporary. It was much too quiet and lonely without it. It'll stay there until I have time to compose a real battle theme. I wonder what mood to go for as well.

Try out the demo, let me know how clunky the combat system is. It's still a work in progress but I might as well get some feedback on it.