A Unique Diablo Themed Dark Fantasy Death City Roguelite - Heretical

[@VladimirDev]

Woah dude! Thanks for the spotlight! We're still actively improving the game and it still has a long way to go, but you got the hang of it and you understood the assignment! Thanks for playing it and all the feedback :) This means the world to us!

[@MarkDeSade100]

The game looks pretty cool but I'm not sold on the "no inventory" mechanic. Especially in the case of the rings, which seem to be focused on providing elemental resistances. That's something you would really want to hold on to and swap on depending on the enemies you're fighting, plus rings are small and light so it's realistic.

[@BaronNate]

@@MarkDeSade100 or allow rings on all fingers to give us a chance to rainbow resist. I really like this and would play a LOT of it. Looking forward to what becomes of this game. Its got that "gothic" feeling and that sad and lonely feel to it. Like, "where am I, can I get home, where even is home" feel to it that I love.

[@gnice42]

Amazing job so far man, I hope local splitscreen or mulitplayer is in the works. I'd love to play this with the family!

[@pavledin]

Heretical's sound designer and composer here - thanks so much for playing the game and giving us honest and valuable feedback :)! A lot of the game's sound and music design is currently being created and is missing in the demo - all skills included - but we're working hard on achieving that feeling you talked about, it's one of our priorities! It will sound like it should by the time we're finished :)!

[@grabeck666]

So I saw the demo here. Went to steam, installed it, launched the game, started my run and literally 10 mins later I saw "Victory" on my screen. 10 mins! That being said, I've already spent 4 hours in the demo. Multiple runs, multiple fun builds. Game is most definitely engaging and I highly recommend it. Splat complains about dodges, those have set recharge timer and are enough if you use them when you actually need them. Game has huge build potential, I've played warrior with wand, I played hunter with 2h mace, mage with insane attack speed. And thats just in runs that last 15 mins by average. If the guys doing the game will have a chance to 'spread the wings', this game should be super fun.

[@Malrottian]

Checked it out due to your reccomendation. The starting character ignores the first hit so long as their shield cooldown is up. Doesn't have as much throughput DPS as the others but having that extra free hit is invaluable.

[@matthuck378]

Splat finds bow. Splat runs into 5 v 1 melee.

[@anntony5585]

Classic Splat

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

Now this game is more my speed. I have actually been enjoying V Rising, which this is seems a lot like. Also, I love the top down games, because it feels like when I was a kid playing with action figures and army men. I actually had a HUGE civil war set of little plastic army men and structures. I loved setting them up on the fireplace mantle.

[@dinklebob1]

V Rising is soooo good. My buddy and I are gearing up to take Dracula rn.

[@Chaisz3r0]

The tentacle fight triggered when your counter reached 40. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's a mechanic only present in the demo, that limits the duration of a run to killing 40 enemies, thus limiting how far you can progress before putting you in sudden death.

[@jasoncameron3415]

That bar that you saw ticking up that you said you didn't know what it was doing appears to be the counter for the summon of that tentacle fight I think.

[@BigChungus-zg6zw]

That's kind of lame. The game was looking fun until that point.

[@dordrex2266]

And the overtime dmg probably is decay

[@MarkDeSade100]

It definitely is, when he moused over it it said, "The abyss beckons..." and when the gauge filled up he was transported to the abyss. BTW the counter went up each time he killed an enemy. Maybe it's meant to be a DPS check?

[@escepticus]

@@BigChungus-zg6zw I think is only a mechanic for the demo...

[@GarikDuvall]

I like how it's just different enough from all the other similar games to make it seem fun and unique. I will definitely go give it a try!

[@lemusketeer3232]

They made a disclosure on steam about AI art. Every picture on the prophecy cards is AI generated. Video was great, downloaded demo.❤

[@darby2314]

Pulled from steam page for reference: AI GENERATED CONTENT DISCLOSURE The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this: AI-generated artwork used for depicting each of the Prophecy Cards that serve as an in-game achievement system.

[@Slvl710]

I can see a problem if this prevented an an artist sale, but like most pirated games, its usually that person would of never paid an artist in the first place for any amount of money

[@autochton]

@@Slvl710 So you're saying they're cheapskates, then.

[@Kveldred]

@@autochton Word. Sure, maybe our precious artists didn't lose any shekels _this_ time, not due to AI... but what about _all the other digital tools,_ huh? Why, back in the day, you'd hire *hundreds* of 'em to paint every single unit card, over and over. Every possible battle scene was *hand-painted to order.* Sure, it was ruinously expensive - *but* _we _*_all_*_ agreed_ to subsidize art careers with our own paychecks, I'm pretty sure. Now? Now, these greedy game developers _just have a unit card painted once & then use the computer to save & re-use it._ It's disgusting. If the player can create 100 units, then they ought to hire 100 artists. 100 archer unit cap? 100 artist paychecks, baby! Copy & Paste is Art Defaced! NO DIGITAL TOOLS, PERIOD!

[@SilverionX]

@@Kveldred Strawman argument, touch grass.

[@MrDowntemp0]

Definitely needs another coat of polish, but the combination of mechanics is really enticing! Gonna keep my eye on this one.

[@patrickk2273]

I like roguelites. I like the top down hack n slash... I shall try this. Thanks Splattercat for expanding my backlog again.

[@zaddyzeeseburgnutz]

My problem with ARPG's is that they are nowhere near the quality of Grim Dawn. I've played many of them only to drop it and go back to that masterpiece.

[@evilmiera]

Grim Dawn was so good

[@NegativeROG]

Grim Dawn is a great game, but it takes more brain than I'm sometimes willing to allocate. It is absolutely a Top 10 game of all time. Is the DLC any good?

[@bloodtee]

Yeah and a new dlc is coming !

[@zaddyzeeseburgnutz]

@@NegativeROG The DLC is amazing, especially Ashes of Malmouth.

[@leonharte7780]

Grim Dawn easily the best ARPG still. Glad to see another Grim Dawn fan. I feel it goes underappreciated with most.

[@Jedi_Vigilante]

Ironically (considering it is a game "based" on jokes/stereotypes), Dungeonmans actually deals with the range/melee issue in similar games very well. With the structure of the levels and the skills of opponents, many can be right on top of you FAR faster than ranged characters can handle. So kiting isn't really as much of an option there.

[@MarkDeSade100]

I've played Dungeonmans and with any kind of ranged build, kiting is absolutely necessary because one mistake means your character is gone for good. You just have to know how to do it.

[@Xammblu_Games]

Really enjoyed it! Unlocked two more characters and a mess of other goodies.

[@CaptApocalypse]

Def getting a demo download from me. Thanks, Splat.

[@dirtywhitellama]

Looks more interesting than I expected. Might check it out.

[@NewAgeOfPower]

> gets a longbow "ooh a ranged option, lets dump my 2H for the bow" *proceeds to never use it* > sees huge crowd of enemies "lets run in a like a crackhead instead of using bow" *predictably gets killed* 10/10 full splattercat experience

[@wcctfrost]

Gotta have that Zappatee Pow sound

[@Diehardgamer2001]

The demos already so fun, im ready for early access lol

[@smeesmirgol8377]

ITS A BANGER! please more! i hope they give it a good finish. they need to work on the audio- and visual feedback on hits. give tha hits a physical effect like pushing in the direction of the swing and a 0.1 sec stun or sth like that. maybe make the weapon trail a little smaler but more crisp. maybe experiment a little with the weapon trail. im not sure my idea works for it. but the feedback needs work.

[@MattMillerMacLeod]

You hit the nail on the head - melee needs so much work. And ranged characters need to be threatened more. But I liked most everything else I saw in the demo. It will be nice to open up shortcuts and what-not. I also think it might be nice to have an active skill, to break away from the bullet heaven influence a bit. I'm keeping my eye on Heretical though.

[@philurbaniak1811]

Looks pretty cool!

[@Gigusx]

Hey Splat, if you're pointing out the problem with AI art in the game just because of Steam's policies, since I remember that was a thing in some games you reviewed last year, I figured I'd mention that Steam has changed those policies earlier this year. AI-generated assets are now allowed as long as the devs are transparent about their use and disclose everything to the customers. Honestly this game is probably doomed to fail... Hack'n'slash games have the huge problem of needing the combat and sound design absolutely being tight and satisfying since that's what you spend 99% of your time on. No amount of cool ideas and mechanics usually are enough to make up for that if the combat isn't great, and for that you need so many resources that indie games just can't make it happen (not impossible in isolated cases but as you add more weapons, spells, bosses, mechanics, etc it just starts growing... fast). Gonna keep an eye on this though since it's one of my favorite genres.

[@HereticalRPG]

Just a little update on Heretical. :) The game is now in Beta testing, we're in Steam Next Fest, and we're planning the Early Access release for October 22nd, right after the fest ends. Since this video was made, we did A LOT of work on the game, with the current beta providing 25+ hours of playtime (Demo had only around 1.5h available).So, if Splattercat would like to try the significantly improved version of Heretical, we can provide the key. Cheers!

[@SoulReaverVidView]

Cool game! I will have to follow it and see where it goes. Not sure why the hate on AI art. It's like saying using a pen is cheating, only charcoal is an art medium. AI art just lets smaller teams make cooler things. It's great if you can afford an artist to make bespoke art. Though if you're just one dude and have a dream to make a cool game, but have no art skill or money to pay an artist, it's a great tool. People are weird man.

[@smeezer]

pulll the elevator lever kronk!

[@superdork5777]

i see more gauntlet than diablo but i cant wait to try it!

[@Nekoyashiki-san]

Thanks for showcasing. ^^

[@marceldefreitas860]

It's hard to watch you pick up a fancy staff and leave it on your back. Cracked wand does the job as well I guess

[@La-familia-de-Fazio]

Actually looks pretty cool!

[@TUTruth]

Like the idea, needs a lot of work and polish though. Adds to wishlist.

[@thundreturtle]

OOOhhh this is the one from the OTK games show :D, it sounds awesome

[@Ambelghan]

"I am playing with a keyboard and mouse although the game recommended playing with a controller." Well then, you effed up for the umpteenth time.

[@hassonian]

This one seems right up my alley, wishlisted, thanks!

[@Reoh0z]

Now there's two of them, this is getting out of hand! 27:32

[@Shines.22]

Comment for the comment gods, like for the like lords

[@ecbrown6151]

Back peddlers: The Game

[@VladimirDev]

Backpedal simulator, I'm really struggling to make it so people are discouraged to do that

[@ecbrown6151]

@@VladimirDev it’s difficult to balance, you can incentivize forward momentum with buffs/abilities that scale with numbers of enemies surrounding the player etc

[@brightboar4421]

Why are comments off for the Grit and Iron video? (07/27/24)

[@fredquattrone5534]

Looks interesting! Demo obtained!

[@sashamakeev7547]

It looks like there's some auto targeting system which apparently sometimes doesn't a good enough job. Should be checked.

[@Dio-fu3pv]

Your Updates makes my day. ❤

[@pb-bd9iv]

Thanks splat

[@MshadowsenseoC]

I dont understand the reason for the Darkness mechanic? Have a kill count counter and if you exceed it you go and fight an overpowered boss? Whats the fun in that?

[@asterklaster7575]

not bad game but without save/load not impossible for old man ;)

[@trydierepeat8208]

ty for vid downloaded and now completed all 12 achievements for the demo. / also put a splat sent me here 👍 on their discord.

[@roby8124]

I was watching on 2x speed and combat looked sick. Then I realized and went back to normal speed and combat looked wayyy to slow. I suggest they speed up everything (the character, its swings, the enemies and their attacks, etc).

[@gabrielmnt4119]

Played it, liked it!

[@tazbom2470]

Comment for the comment gods

[@Xertion]

game looks cool

[@Ondar007]

Looks interesting. Wishlisted.

[@plumbthumbs9584]

excellent!

[@rudolfopinewood]

once again a good game for me - thank you for showing it

[@VIP-ry6vv]

Splatt splatt splatt, pyre rhymes wirh fire

[@plumbthumbs9584]

it's lit!

[@vforwombat9915]

so does Die-er.

[@PierreM12345]

Cool !

[@seagrey75]

Nice!

[@Adamthegeek70]

Nothing wrong with AI art if you have no artist and are an indie developer. Idk if they are using it or not. Don't care. Anything that needs to be done to get games that are not created by the trash corporate overlords and their consulting firms.

[@mkaleborn]

I share the sentiment. I mean if art is ugly (for any reason), or incoherent then it’s a problem. But we can’t really complain about the tools people use to get a job done. Those tools have been ‘replacing human labour’ for a very long time. If it’s serviceable and lets a creator punch out interesting new games/products, just gotta roll with it.

[@phealtalk]

People against AI art are being elitist pubes. "If you don't have the money to pay an artist than you don't deserve to create" like how posh does that sound fr

[@Syrin23]

100% going to get this

[@highpockets5909]

Nice it has a dodge roll.

[@NegativeROG]

3 minutes in, I see a "Fart" prompt and distant satellite dishes in a medieval setting. SOLD!!! (actually, it had me at Fart button). Another Splattercat recco, another addition to my library/wishlist. Cat, between you and Cult of Mush, I'm not gonna have any money left!

[@vforwombat9915]

is mush any good? the only videos of his i have watched have been steam sale games, and i gotta say his voice and his speaking style don't make me wanna watch more of him.

[@SoulWhite]

What's up with the A.I. art disrespect? Have I missed some new fad or something?

[@mrBadimus]

@Splattercatgaming 07:32 That is not AI art. Easy tell - the bow. AI can't draw some items at this moment. For example: bows, musical instruments, and rollerblades.

[@jonathanpatry]

They actually said that all cards are AI generated on their steam store page. Although I'm all for it, if it makes people with insane ideas in their head able to put them down with a tool, its well worth it. Its like blaming fast food industry from ruining fine cuisine. Yes, a 16 years old with no experience can flip a burger and is only a cheap copy from a fine chef in a 4 star michelin restaurant making the perfect burger but that doesnt bother me at all.

[@mrBadimus]

@@jonathanpatry funny thing - it is impossible to generate an archer/bow with with ai right now. Also, their cards are consistent in style, and there are a lot of them. Maybe they used AI - but there are definitely too much artist hours that were put in. More than the AI. I would not believe them that they used AI at all - if they did - they are genius and only they were able to do that with their own custom dataset. (of course, they used it particularly for refs and so on).

[@mbielcik]

🖤

[@classycasual3910]

Game looks super cool! Bummed to see the AI art though, would definitely check it out otherwise!

[@Xammblu_Games]

They are transparent about (just) the Prophecy cards having AI art, I remember reading this either on the Steam page or in the test environment. Lends me to believe it's placeholder. Just my guess.

[@Kveldred]

People crying about AI art are like carriage manufacturers trying to get people to stop buying cars.¹ What do we prefer: no art/no game at all, or one with AI art that _is good enough it is indistinguishable from "hand-made" art?_ Personally, I'd like to see more people enabled to create, so it's the latter for me. 👌 ------------------------- ¹: i.e.: _"no, everyone else isn't going to subsidize your poor choice of career and/or inability to learn to use AI to your advantage."_ 🤷‍♂️

[@dogtato]

demo is kinda buggy for me, controller just stops working and character runs in straight line. cool game but not playable for me. or maybe i should just ignore the game's urging to use a controller

[@amosb1452]

Comment for the comment god!

[@Cuestrupaster]

Game looks cool but the combat seems pretty... simple to not say boring or bad... I think Ravenswatch made everything else look and feel bad for me, since the game is so good. I haven't played VRising(the premisse isn't really something I like) but the combat looks very good too, and those are pretty much the two games that I use for reference when talking top down arpg.

[@NegativeROG]

The "Recommended (not minimum)" GPU is a 1050. I wonder what an uncapped framerate and a 4090 could do? I'll report back as to what a 6950XT can do at 4K Ultra.

[@no_torrs]

this doesn't look particularly interesting to me, but the level definitely gave me some ds3 vibes.

[@sashamakeev7547]

There's nothing wrong in having some AI art in small game. It just has to be not in your eyes AI. This one looks almost as if its done by artist so its fine.

[@alltat]

It needs to be AI art because they didn't have any money, not AI art because they wanted to save money. No one is losing out on any paycheck if there wasn't any check to begin with.

[@Kveldred]

​@@alltat Word. People crying about AI art are *a)* fighting against the tide, like carriage manufacturers whining about cars... ...and/or *b)* could learn to use AI to their advantage instead of trying to get everyone else to subsidize their profession. 🤷‍♂️

[@vforwombat9915]

@@Kveldred some folks have an issue w AI essentially copying other artists' styles and mannerisms, the things that make the artist unique. if all it's doing is taking another artist's work and putting it in a blender, then the issue isn't solely about stealing someone's income, it's about stealing someone's identity. artistically speaking. otherwise i agree w you.

[@Kveldred]

@@vforwombat9915 Yeah, I've heard that mentioned - but I'm not sure that's really a sustainable objection. Like, is there anything so unique that a single artist has it trademarked? No, probably not¹ - meaning it's okay for other _people_ to copy... which makes it seem like this is less a philosophical issue than a financial one (other people are less competition, so no one had a problem with it till now, in other words). I'm also skeptical of the claim at its core: *is* the AI simply blending other works together, _moreso than its text output is blending other authors together?_ Why would that be the case, right? IMO, it's just easier to see, in the case of text, that there's no "theft" going on. Could be wrong, though; been meaning to make a video on this, but I've had a hard time being sure enough of the technical details to feel confident about it (& the folks at the big companies are about 0 help lol; guess I'm not important enough to get an email reply... _I'LL REMEMBER THAT, YOU ¥¢#&s!_ lol) ------------------------- ¹: _(again, might be wrong, but I've not _*_seen_*_ anyone really point to anything concrete here._ "It uses noticeable brush-strokes for texture sometimes, and III do that!" - _I mean, yeah, okay, but so do a hundred other artists, no...?_ 🤷‍♂️

[@vforwombat9915]

@@Kveldred "which makes it seem like this is less a philosophical issue than a financial one' sorry, my objection here IS philosophical. what is creativity, and can AI ever manage it? if all it is doing is copying,then from a moral standpoint it is objectionable, because it's essentially plagiarizing. we can get deep into the reeds on this, because creativity is not well defined. but i don't care to, because as long as it's not directly stealing, i'm ok w ai art and agree it will become a lot more popular.

[@joe125ful]

And there is no heal...how surprising:) Why not add slow heal regen trinket? No inventory??Strange. Skill tree? Cant block attacks?? Also why dodge is soo limited??? 10:12 Then play Wermitide 2.

[@aynstahh415]

👍

[@chadowen4379]

Hate to make this comparison, but do you want to feel your hits or chase numbers? Diablo 4 feels impactful, and like you're actually smashing demons where another great ARPG last epoch, while great visually, I feel like I'm just chasing numbers and stats. Some people love it, so I don't want want to take away from it, but this game looks like a lack luster of both! They really need to improve the level of quality if they are chasing numbers, or really!! Dial in the combat and make it feel intense if you want to keep a minimal level quality. Can't have whispy combat and just minimal level design when D4 is about to release its next expansion in oct.

[@manolios]

I really love and follow your channel! It would be nice, just for a change from time to time to discover because i know how you love indie, and play some games that are ACTUALLY RELEASED. Not Early Access, not prerelease, not "to be announced". Just hidden , freakin, RELEASED, gem, indie, games! I have a hidden wishlist of about 300 games!!! what is going on with gaming? Thanks!

[@adamforsstrand2048]

I'd rather they'd use "[placeholder]" instead of AI gen images. I'll stay away until they change that. At least they are honest about the usage of AI gen.

[@carolusrex701]

Oh no, it uses AI Art! We are all going to die! God, People just want to complain about the dumbest shit. It's a game, not an Art Installation, chill out

[@ozilir]

love the unending insults flung at game artists "can't tell if it's ai or not." is basically saying it looks shit enough to be ai.

[@shadow5231]

Pretty surprised about your "advice" to get rid of the AI art (if it is AI)...do you think we care if is AI made or not, if it looks ok? Why you say nothing against other generating tools which helps developing games faster, ie. generating whole planets biomes with one click instead of painting yourself every rock, tree, etc. Many ppl are so against AI made art because it was trained by stealing others art w/o their consent, so they say anyway. Even if that's true, I am sure that even if the AI would have paid for every single image they used to train the model, the hate will be the same, because the artist's fear is about losing it's job vs something which does it faster/cheaper(better? who knows..probably later yes).

[@SmellMyPeanut]

Comment for the algorythm?

[@Ricolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

What's wrong with AI art? looks fine to me.

[@jokermerveilles2495]

It's totally subjective but I just can't stand low poly graphics (not only in this game but in general). Love the UI though!

[@myleswillis]

OMG that's AI art! How could you put this on your channel?😆 Do people actually care?Don't worry about it man.

[@hippophlebotamus]

Word is splattercat shoots lightning from his ass and has 8 horns on his head... Or was that some one else?

[@the_crius]

Wow, first 60 seconds and it's an hack and slash with zero impact feedback. Pass.

[@slantythecamel]

I simply do not care if it's AI art or not and I'm supremely annoyed by the incessant complaints about it.

[@Kveldred]

Word. It's like we're back in the 1900s and keep seeing posters from farriers: • _"Say NO to horseless carriages! We want money, so subsidize our inability to get with the times with YOUR paychecks, please!"_ We've already seen a lot of cool games that AI art enabled people to create - people who were otherwise too poor or marginalized to manage the prices artists demand. The prices for art are *already* inflated by artificial minimums imposed by many platforms, and we're supposed to go ahead and protect the career of "dime-a-dozen artist" even *more?* Nah. They can learn to use AI like other folks, or they can remain luddites and see how that works for them, but don't try to make everyone else just as limited, you ¥#$&s!

[@jamesyoungquist6923]

The USSR invested in tech as a means to reduce manual labor needs. Other policies didn't quite pan out, but at least that one was admirable

[@jr8990]

Same. Does it look nice? Is it functional? Did it enable an independent developer who has no graphic design capability but stellar programming and game logic talent the ability to bring their dream game to the masses?

[@KhaosElement]

Ah, more roguelikes. Indies are really stuck with this as their only thing. I really hope they move on eventually.

[@vforwombat9915]

you are on splatt's channel. he reviews indie games. almost every day. and in the 2 or so years i've been watching his videos, the amount of hack and slash games he has reviewed is very small. so idk why you would make that post.

[@8bitSpartan141]

*fart*

[@msolomonii9825]

Soon as I heard "souls"/"fromsoft", nope!, LOATHE that "type" of game. Worst "trend" EVAH.

[@phlipclip5097]

Is Path Of Exile Devs going to try and get this game removed as well?

[@geistmane]

ayo first lol love you splat

[@fletchdub]

A.I. art is garbage.

[@mikerodgers7620]

This is a dumb game. But the graphics are not bad.

[@Freak69Show]

The timer was up... on the bottom right...

[@yeahtube69]

Interesting game so far.. there should be a way to counter the abyss I think. I kinda hate perma death games tho .. just get some good items.. oh .. you died cuz you don't understand the mechanic .. lost all your lewtz.. shame on you for being you. LOL.

[@danielsterling4918]

Brosef Stalin waterrryouDoin 😮 8:45 you buy a new shield that your next quest is gonna replace instead of a cracked skill like "execute" that gives every 3rd attack a huge increase to damage and armor pen... You hurt my soul, brudda 🥲