Yoinking Sekiro's Combat and Plopping It Into My Game | Devlog 1

[@ricoshred]

I know it might get a higher age score, but putting splashy and sharp blood decals would bring the style to another level. Especially from a top down look where you get to look at the unfolded carnage. The feel of the battles is on point, awesome job man.

[@StudioYarn]

Great minds think alike. Stay tuned!

[@MadeThisStuff]

@@StudioYarn In a similar vein, if you took the route of just making everyone cyborgs you could do dismemberment and sparks instead of blood and keep everything relatively friendly. There's a few more areas for creativity too, maybe make different colored sparks for critical hits. If its not too big of a performance hit letting them interact with the environment for a bounce or two always looks super sweet.

[@voidabstraction]

If you haven't already, check out Kenshi. That might spark some ideas.

[@taymack9725]

@@StudioYarnI honestly watched this on release and came back to give an idea. I think something that may appear to be missing from sekiro like combat is the constant back and forth/ shifting of power during g a fight. You stated that it’s like a dance which is correct (obviously) but from what we’ve seen it looks more like countering and then attacking like most other action games rather than exchanging blows in a duel

[@StudioYarn]

@@taymack9725 this is a fair assessment of the combat currently. I think I’ll address your comment in the next video. I think with string attacks specifically, there is a good back and forth window available between enemy attacks where the player has the opportunity to get a hit in, which leads to “trading attacks”. There are certainly more opportunities to capture that dance like feel, so I’ll keep working at it!

[@panikongames]

A good artist steals good, steals often. Well done!

[@StudioYarn]

Words to live by!

[@sabrina0013]

The dash move should have the player character lowering their center of gravity for a moment, basically bobbing downward for just a few frames to break up the normal locomotion animations. Looks good!

[@StudioYarn]

Oooh good idea. Have to find a balance between enough wind up time while at the same feeling immediate and responsive. Thank you!

[@user-ro5gc6jp9p]

For the trail effect, you can use something like a trail of kicked up dust, dirt, or smoke to contrast the lighting effect of the attacks. Also, you can lengthen the dodge animation towards the end to emphasize a pose/momentum change rather than adding a wind-up animation and slowing responsiveness.

[@NTeKLullaby]

I know I'm a tad late. But here are a couple of suggestions. Regarding Colour Blindness for the String Combos -> Have the Icon chane, by possibly starting with a simpler stripped down version that fills up or even do the reverse where it starts as the full icon and ends up just being the central part of it at the end. Regarding the Dash Animation -> Potentially implement a faint & translucent silhouette that flickers into the electric sparks. For enemies that dash, change the effect to be something that isn't the electric spark but still keep the silhouette effect, as this will allow players to better keep track of where enemies are coming from and going. The effect could be some type of smoke, leaves, kicked up dirt. Anything really to set it apart.

[@jarrettonions3392]

that's an awesome base for a combat system... wouldnt mind yoinking some of it myself :D

[@slimeballsake]

hopefully samantha will appreciate this devlog series 😢

[@StudioYarn]

She’ll love me back one day 😭

[@HighFlyActionGuy]

You inspired me to start making a game. I'm just going over the basics now and it'll be a long time before I can make anything as polished as what you have already, but the attitude of making something because you like something is contagious. Thank you!

[@StudioYarn]

This comment made my day, genuinely. Stick with it and don’t give up! These things take years of experience, but the learning process is incredibly rewarding. Thanks again for the support and your wonderful comment ❤️ you got this!

[@Its_Arbit]

Maybe items like in darksouls or even like super combo moves like if you had a bow if you got 4 shots to h it in a row then you jump in the air and do like a spray of arrows but thats just an idea. Love the game anyway I will be sure to wishlist it!

[@gunrack2514]

The sound effects could be done with vinyl scratches and instrument samples to get that samurai champloo vibe. - i was wrong.. xD wrote this before i heard the sound fx u made. top tier

[@StudioYarn]

Vinyl scratch sounds are definitely on the list of things I want! I think that would really increase the champloo *vibes*

[@rafaelsurubaru-k1w]

Damnn. Nice this is really nice love it don’t give up man

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you! Nice comments like this really help

[@bds8715]

I haven’t played Sekiro but the combat reminds me a bit of other games. Smash bros has a really satisfying rock-paper-scissors system where grab beats shield, shield beats attack, and attack beats grab. That by itself would be too simple. Grab beats attack if the attack is too slow. Some attacks have super armor. Some attacks break shields. And some attacks are safe on shield. And in all of this, spacing is key, which means movement is key. Chivalry 2 has a great system where you can hold block with right click and then left click right as you are hit to perform a parry attack (“riposte”). This helps raise the skill floor by allowing you to hold block and prevent incoming damage instead of requiring you to time it perfectly from the jump. Psychologically, this gives the player a confidence boost because they can approach with a block. This allows the player to get hit with an attack without taking damage, which gives the player information on timing and range, which can then be used to perform parries. Of course, blocking too much can get punished in various ways. I also love the mind games and mix ups both smash bros and Chivalry allow for. Anyway, just some food for thought!

[@StudioYarn]

Good thoughts all around. It’s certainly something to think about, and drawing inspiration from two greats like chivalry and smash bros is not a bad idea! Thanks!

[@lildgamedev6885]

Wow I'm very impressed, this combat looks great already!! That parry is clean

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!

[@maxlastbreath]

Hope to see another devlog! Game looks sick.

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!

[@loveadeola]

This game is going to be a hit! I can feel it already. My only issue so far is the horrendous cover art design I saw on Steam. I'm a professional Brand Designer with 10 years of experience. If you need help with the design side of things including UX & UI design, please feel free to reach out. I'll be happy to help. I'm currently playing Katana Zero, and I love the gameplay mechanics of being able to briefly slow down time. I think it will greatly enhance the gameplay.

[@StudioYarn]

Hey thanks for the feedback! Yeah I’ll commission something once I get a little further in development. Thank you!

[@keyblademonkey12]

Damn, your animations are superb. The way you've crafted the anticipation frames of enemy attacks feels genuinely masterful; I can **feel** the parry timing just looking at a windup animation. This is not an easy thing to get right, plenty of games try to replicate the parry/dodge-focused combat without investing enough in properly rhythmic animations. But wow, like 4:51 is excellent. The way the enemy's body forecasts the attack timing is so good.

[@StudioYarn]

Admittedly I didn’t create the animations, but I did spend a lot of time adjusting the timing and windup frames for each attack, so I’m glad that is paying off. Thank you for the kind words!

[@paulkanja]

Really like the look of this 🤩... I'll just shoot a few ideas: Having a distinction between normal parries and perfect parries. Normal parries could have a larger window while perfect parries have a smaller more precise window to pull off (like 5 frames vs 2 frames). Normal parries could stagger the enemy a tiny bit, just enough to get one attack in, while perfect parries could stun them for longer (they'd also be flashier). This idea can be expanded to the rapid attacks to have a super parry: if the player can exexute three consecutive perfect parries, the third parry stuns the attacking enemy for an entire like 3 seconds and also stuns nearby enemies like a perfect parry (they'd be super flashy, probably what you have now as the parry). Also, a potential solution to the colour-blind accessibility is to show important stuff without colour: 1. Staggering an enemy could cause them to flash white (maybe once) 2. Heavy attacks coukd be signalled by having telegraphed wind-ups, the enemy flashing red instead of turning red 3. And of course the icons could be clearer. They might not look as cool when they aren't as intricate, but trust me no one will care if they look cool if ranged_enemy_01 fffed them unexpectedly

[@monoboy81]

So crazy i chose to finally watch samurai champloo like a week ago and you come up in my recommended with a game inspired by it lol, Glad to see that fandom hasn't died out and very excited to see how you fit similar aesthetics in game form.

[@StudioYarn]

Samurai Champloo will live forever. Thanks for your support!

[@AayoJack]

This video is so cool. I love the calm narration and smooth background music as well as the visuals. It does such a good job of keeping my goblin gamer brain focused on what you're saying. Also I want this game

[@StudioYarn]

Lmaoo happy to hear I can entertain even the goblin gamer brains out there! Thanks for the support man, appreciate ya

[@StaredownGames]

The music, at the beginning. YES. Anyway you could dynamically blend from that (combat) to lo-fi hip hop (exploration)? Also, "Everything can be cancelled" - Studio Yarn, 2024 Also, also, your dash needs a trail of silhouettes. It's a federal law.

[@StudioYarn]

As a law abiding citizen, I wouldn’t dream of committing such a crime. I’m on it 🫡

[@Foxcoder]

awesome, Sekiro is my favorite and combat system is the best part of it, it's very interesting to view your way to implement it, a good start and a long way game dev journey waiting for you , keep it up.

[@StudioYarn]

Sekiro’s combat really is the best out there. Thanks for the kind words!

[@gunrack2514]

Bruh.. I hope you succeed with your ideas and can just keep pushing them. A game like this has been a dream of mine for a couple of years. Have never found anything with this vibe and seems like you got it down perfectly. I tried to get into game dev for this but my brain isnt wired to do it. Closest thing i could do to fill the void was making music for it :D This will be awesome. Please let us run around even when it's not ready at all(in your opinion). Good luck!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you for your kind words! There will be a demo/beta eventually, much further down the road

[@RJmunday]

In regards to your color blind issue for the icons. The quickest and easiest solution would be audio ques. Very obvious ones. Each attack type has its own ques. Now you will have to balance how many enemies can attack at once otherwise it could become very difficult to pick up on those ques but as in all of game dev. It's trial and error until you get it right! For the dash an afterimage could never hurt of the player. It also helps leads the players eyes from where you have come from to where you end up and gives a visual to how far that dash takes you. Will help the player learn spacing. Good luck moving forward and I am eagerly watching this project!

[@StudioYarn]

All good ideas! Audio queues are probably the solution I’ll use. Thanks!

[@shiroite_]

This is the kind of game you see and go "yeah, this is going to be amazing". It's noticeable how much love you're putting into this project, and I would love seeing more of it! If you don't mind, I'd like to offer a few suggestions that I believe could enhance the overall outcome; >When you hit the enemy, give more feedback to the player, by this I mean, such as when the player is hitted or when you perform a parry, that sounds effects, little slow mo time and that kind of things, I think could significantly improve the "feeling" when you hit an enemy with the sword. >About the dash, I think it's pretty fine, but maybe what's "missing" is making it kinda stick more to the floor? I think that's the main difference when you dash with the sword drawn and when you not. It looks a bit weird the dash when it's not with the sword in hand, and that lowering to the floor I think what could be the key. You know when you watch an anime and a character kinda "prepares" to cover a great distance and they start lowering a lot to the floor and then they finally move and cover a great distance in seconds, maybe doing something like that would improve it? Idk, but looks pretty fine to me >The outlines ! I have the feeling that the white outlines when you lock an enemy do not make enough contrast with the rest of the scene and may confuse a bit when dealing with many enemies, I'm not sure how could be improved if it's necessary at all (since maybe it's just in the video that looks a bit confusing), and by the way, you may wanna try putting black or other high contrast color outlines to the icons that pop up to warn the player what kind of attack the enemy is going to perform, I feel it would match better the style of your game. Anyways, I hope you find in this at least a nice feedback comment, otherwhise well, just don't mind it xD. You're doing it great ! I hope you keep going with this project and as some wise old man once said, «If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good, don't let some idiot talk you out of it» - Stan Lee. Have a nice day ! PSD: you should call her

[@StudioYarn]

Thanks for all the awesome feedback! You’re right about the hit feedback, ittl be a big focus over the next couple devlogs for sure. Thank you for your kind words as well!

[@djbolodocaco775]

the sound of sekiro sounds like the plates of a drum a bit distorted, great content btw! looking forward to more devlogs

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you! Appreciate ya

[@hamslice2344]

Awesome devlog! Just want to add my random 2 cents and say that if you manage to somehow work the graffiti aesthetic into the combat effects, you'd really get a constant feel of Chomploo coming across. Not sure how that'd look in practice, probably keep subtle

[@CitizenCoder]

Ive never played sekiro. Now I wanna 😂 I love the idea of parrying more than rolling around so much.

[@StudioYarn]

Please do yourself a favor and play! It’s SO good

[@OxAA00]

Very nice! Looking forward to your progress!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you! Appreciate your support

[@SebastianGraves]

Very cool project. Good luck samurai.

[@StudioYarn]

Thanks Sebastian!

[@jhonm6347]

parry goes katchin! and I'm happy 😆 Man, now I'm invested in this lol. This is already such nice progress. I'm a tiny baby developer that just now got the courage to dive into game dev and it is so much work, holy shit. I have a image in my head of what I want to create, don't know how, some things I don't even know how to search for and when I eventually manage to implement a new step, it's never exactly how I want it. Keep going sir, you seem to have a nice clear view of the project and I'm sure it appeals to many.

[@StudioYarn]

Like all things, game dev takes time, and a lot of it. Just keep at it and you’ll see progress! good luck! And thank you for your support!

[@phoenixwright9651]

The PvP with this design would be next level fun

[@StudioYarn]

Probably not in the scope of this project, but if I have some extra time after release that would a super cool idea to implement!

[@scribdfukkyu9630]

clean, heres a comment to feed the algorithm, good luck my guy ^^

[@StudioYarn]

Appreciate ya man!

[@stephanrobertgames]

for colorblind people u can add a sound, but I whould do it optional. When u think about a "rythm" game maybe u can find sounds that fits perfect to that

[@antdev8837]

man, you're making the game i've benn waiting for yeras, and is looking pretty good. One thing i want to contribute is the effect when dashing, i'd make it like a string of grafitty desings, like to keep that champloo vibes

[@StudioYarn]

Great idea! It’ll be something to think about for sure. Thanks for watching and for the support!

[@PiroGuy-g9x]

the best thing about sekiro for me was trading of attacks between us and the enemy unlike many other games where you wait for the enemy combo to finish and then attack him when he takes a break. Looking forward for this thing in your game

[@ballchen4768]

Amazing! If this plays as good as it looks so far I cant wait to try it out. Sekiros combat is also the inspiration for my game’s combat system. It is so much fun, I totally relate to everything you said about it ❤

[@StudioYarn]

Great minds think alike apparently! Good luck with your combat system and game, we got this!

[@mirketnvm]

One thing immediately cut a swathe on my eye. I know it is also like this in Sekiro but, the heavy attack feels far too good at following the movement of the player. I think I would like an exception for heavy attacks. It seems like dashing provides some fair amounts of invincibility frames, I'd be more satisfied to observe that I have actually dodged the attack rather than knowing that I responded to a certain attack with a certain button. I believe this way it would feel more immersive, and just right. Great work in general.

[@StudioYarn]

Yeah I hear what you’re saying. I did have it this way at first, but it seemed to trivialize the heavy attack and incentivized the player to run away/dodge away instead of dodge towards and into the fray. There’s probably a happy medium somewhere in there - it’s just going to take some time to find. Thanks for the feedback!

[@monethanu]

Combat is looking fresh

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you! Game feel is getting better by the day!

[@Bananenbauer123]

Dang, your game shares a lot of similarities with a kind of game I would really like to make, and you're executing on your ideas real fast, no clue how you managed to get here so fast since the first devlog. Excited to see where this is going!

[@StudioYarn]

If I’m being honest, there’s a bit of movie magic going on here lol. This is about 4 months of progress between these two videos. But yeah, you should make your game and a devlog along side it! Would love to see your progress. Cheers!

[@Bananenbauer123]

@@StudioYarn ohh, I see. Thanks for being so transparent, that is reassuring and makes sense too because I would expect getting the animations right for these kinds of deflection interactions is quite fiddly and requires a lot of finetuning to get it to look and feel right. I made a move to Godot last year and am still figuring a lot of stuff, but getting there. Best of luck!

[@stylishskater92]

This looks amazing. Would you be interested in sharing how you implemented that combat? Did you do the animations and effects yourself or did you use assets (which is totally fine, just curious). Best of luck with your game! Wishlisting it now.

[@StudioYarn]

Hey, thank you for wishlisting! I’m using the Game Creator asset/framework within Unity, which provides a barebones animation/combat system that I’ve built off of and tuned in order to make what you see here! And yes, I am far from an animator, so those are all assets I’ve purchased and reworked

[@gerofltercopter7365]

This looks really promising and sounds exciting as hell. I am ready for the ride to come

[@StudioYarn]

Hell yeah, appreciate ya!

[@vitodany1844]

i have been waiting for somebody to do this

[@StudioYarn]

I’m happy to hear that! Cheers

[@LibertyLegion]

Combat already looks insane, great progress!

[@StudioYarn]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@lupin8876]

for color blinding cant you do what cod does? theres a few options where the colors are switched and just allows the user to select whichever option they want

[@StudioYarn]

This is a good idea. I think I’ll probably go down this route, and also make the icons more different and visible. Thanks for watching!

[@Honzus]

This is shaping up to be a very nice gaming experience. Btw, did you make the animations yourself or did you download them from somewhere?

[@StudioYarn]

Hey! The animations are all from the unity asset store. You do not want to see my attempt at movement animations haha

[@ZacHarvey]

Absolutely love the look of this! Wishlisted, although I'm on a Mac so I doubt I'll get to play tbh. Good luck with with the dev.

[@StudioYarn]

Luckily unity makes it super easy to build to mac, so it is in the plans! Thank you!

[@lucastoica9599]

This looks really good man keep up the good work , it doesn’t matter that it is a lot like sekiro as long as it is a good game 👌

[@StudioYarn]

Thanks homie, appreciate ya

[@nullcoreproject]

Looks awesome, I'm sure this video will blow up soon.

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you for your support!

[@BamaBoy556]

The game looks amazing can't wait to see more of it! I always dream of getting into game making but was wondering did you use unreal engine to make your game? And do you use blueprints or C++? Was conflicted of which to learn

[@StudioYarn]

No this is the unity engine and c#! Thanks for watching

[@ClanWarrior]

looks smooth already dam

[@acousticcallum]

This looks excellently made and super fun. I love games like and including Sekiro so I'm excited to see where this goes and for the final release! Epic job :).

[@StudioYarn]

You and me both, sekiro is the shit! Thank you!

[@crispybacon9917]

One thing I would like to point out, guns existed in japan from the 16th century, so it would make much more sense if the guns weren't modern handguns

[@StudioYarn]

Yeah, I like the aesthetic of having some modern weaponry in a feudal Japan-like environment i.e. Afro Samurai!

[@MrPangahas]

Good stuff.If I may suggest maybe also have the outline on the player when he's locked in on an enemy to indicate they're bonded or something.For the dash, a wind line trail or an after image of the player can work.A different sound cue for the sequence attack successful parry can work for all players, maybe just have it distinctly different fro the normal parry.

[@StudioYarn]

I think I might go with the after image idea! I like that a lot. Thanks!

[@Lgoggigaming]

I think the bloodhound step ftom Elden Ring is a really cool animation for a quick (magical) dash. My suggestion is a dash animation like that!

[@s9070698e]

Ooof~!! the sword parrying and blocks are soooo satisfying. Dayum!!! Down to the FX, the animation, the screenshake...dayum that's satisfying to watch!! Your vertical slice is probably just missing a boss fight and deciding what type of game is it: RPG, Roguelike, Dungeon Crawler, Sandbox, etc etc?? Just an opinion. Looking forward to all your progress deffinitely.

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you! I spent and am still spending a lot of time tweaking everything to feel as satisfying as possible! In regards to your comment, I’ll be going down the RPG road, while trying to keep the systems as simple but still as fun as possible. Cheers!

[@taylandgarrison3743]

Gun sword combo is such a banger weapon assortment, really stands out and is super fun, love to see it. Good work!

[@StudioYarn]

I agree! Guns really do make games 10x better 😂

[@toastyface9619]

great videos ! i think for the dash animation it would look better if the charectar would get closer to the ground before launching forward. like an animated bouncing ball emphasizing the the energy that gets converted. as a fellow samurai champloo fan i am happy to see where this project is going 👍

[@StudioYarn]

Good idea, I’ll fidget with the animations. Thanks!

[@VallelYuln]

On the topic of guns, if you make the gun a musket, you're 100% within the historical frame. Pop culture seems to think samurai didn't use guns, but they absolutely did. They even had a martial art based around using guns. So yeah, if you do the right type of gun (front-loaded musket), it still fits within feudal Japan.

[@tiolsjj]

This shi made me choke on my Coffee you a Real one keep the grind up 👍

[@StudioYarn]

Haha glad to hear it man, appreciate your support!

[@auralitegames3367]

Good job man looks great so far!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!

[@timondalton8731]

The game looks absolutely awesome. Some suggestions to make it stand out more could be to add findable and unlockable powers which can be equipped into limited slots. Stuff like an empowered dash looking like the current one, or a special powery attack. The bosses could even keep and drop these.

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you for watching! I had a similar thought - I like the idea of gaining abilities / ability points / upgrades based on beating bosses. Again, very similar to Sekiro in that way

[@SecondsGuess]

Gameplay looks incredible! 👍

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you so much!

[@TheRopiak]

Already looking great!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!!!

[@nekoashidashi]

Not sure if anyone already suggested this: Use more distinct icons for each of the attacks as well as color-code them. This way, even people with sever color-blindness can still make sense out of what's coming. I am aware you are already using icons, but in my opinion those could be better and more distinct, especially with multiple enemies at one and keeping in mind that the icon moves with the enemies and rotates once they do. Hope that helps.

[@StudioYarn]

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I’ve gotten a lot of feedback saying the icons need work, it’s on the list!

[@tomasrodrigoGameDev]

This looks fantastic!! Keep up the good work!!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!

[@marcelkuhnert2563]

Looks awsome dude, maybe get some bamboo and cherry blossom for the enviroment to add some more samurai flair :D

[@StudioYarn]

Great idea! I have a few different biomes planned, cherry blossoms being one of them!!!

[@voidabstraction]

Looking really good! I'm finding that these kind of combat systems for 1v1 battles are too easy, but challenge starts to come in when you're facing groups that do different things at the same time. I wonder what a good way to improve 1v1 combat could be besides allowing AI to cancel attacks for baiting etc.

[@StudioYarn]

That is the difficulty, especially for making 1 v 1 boss fights difficult/exciting enough. It’s something I’ll have to think about, for sure!

[@Blodyx_]

The game looks really fun already and your edit is simple but hilarious. Also, I think the dash could look better with something like leaving a quick blurry after image of the player, maybe not idk xd. Looking forward to next update!

[@StudioYarn]

I’m glad you liked the editing! And yeah, good thoughts. I like the idea of an after image - I’ll see what I can do. Thanks!

[@018FLP]

5:10 I'm not collorblind, but i like an artist that is, and the lesson i learnt from him is that you have to work on your values and visual language. To test value simply play your game in Black and White, if you can't see something, change brightness till it's clearly visible, with good contrast (and this is good for everyone, bc it make the game more readable) Visual language is icons, particle effects and etc. So, if i was playing in black and white and i saw a Icon of a winged sword, i probably would dodge, thinking that the enemy is trying to use a fast attack or something that would lift me. Maybe you can implement a UI animation of something that cracks and breaks, the player could use this to preview the ammount of attacks in the string, for example.

[@StudioYarn]

Good points, the icons definitely need some adjustments. Thank you!

[@018FLP]

@@StudioYarn Glad to help! Your game is looking amazing, and i def want to see more 😁😁😁

[@meandmythoughts2860]

Looking real good!! Keep up the good work!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!

[@ronnispolski]

Good stuff! Hope to see more videos :) Imo the dash is just missing a heavily crouched position at the start of the animation. I'd also say it's too fast also, kind of reads more like a blink than a dash, but that might be constricted to your game design.

[@StudioYarn]

Yeah a blink is honestly a better way to describe it, but I feel like anything slower would feel unresponsive. I’ll keep messing with it. Thanks for watching and yep, more videos will be coming!

[@domosapien]

Just gonna throw my two cents in here after coming from your other video. The game you're making sounds so close to the game I've always thought about making - a stylized sword based game (primarily feudal Japan based), but with some grunge or hip hop themes - yeah, similar to Champloo. I've had a small backlog of games I've always wanted to use for inspiration, and since I'm never going to get into game dev'ing, figure I'd throw them your way instead. Consider the following games: Tenchu Z (Xbox 360), Wet (PS3), Absolver, and the Arkham games. Tenchu Z is probably one of my favorite stealth games. The gameplay was clunky, and you definitely weren't intended to fight toe-to-toe, but what has always been burned in my brain from that game was the style on the assassinations being reminiscent of retro Japanese films and Kill Bill with things like the blood sprays and the finesse of the blade. Wet was a unique game. Definitely not one that I cared for, but it's often revered for it's theming. It was basically the unceremonious spiritual successor to John Woo's Stranglehold 2 years. Wet certainly has more of the pulpy style that could often be attributed to Quentin Tarantino flicks, and loosely to Champloo. Absolver was a sleeper hit that was marred by a furiously 90-degree learning curve. While I was never able to master the combat, one thing I greatly appreciated from that game was it's sound design being appropriately reigned in. I feel like with a game like you're making, a lot of subtle cloth movement sounds, scabbard rattling, and piercing parries over what I assume will eventually be a soundtrack of nu jazz and hip-hop, ala Nujabes; it would all culminate into an auditory treat. On top of the audio, Absolver was a masterpiece in flowing combat that can often echo inspiration from some of the best animation choreographers from shows like Champloo, Afro Samurai, The Boondocks, Naruto, and the ATLA series. Arkham is known for one thing, and one thing only - insanely fluid combo systems which a lot of games just can't seem to grasp. To this day, I don't think there's been a single game that has attempted to create Arkham's system, but with a blade - and Japanese H&S jugglers don't count. When we're talking about a series like Champloo, or even channeling Nujabes in our heads, the word that almost always comes to mind is 'flow', and Arkham games are full of that. Something to think about. Anyway, like I was saying: I'm never going to make the game I had in my head, but from all the things I see you talking about, and how deep I can hear you go into verbally designing your game; your idea is probably the closest thing to the game I've wanted to make. Whatever the case may be, I'll be watching, and I wish you all the best.

[@StudioYarn]

Ooooh these are some great suggestions. I’ve played Absolver and Arkham specifically, and the combat in those games is particularly smooth and refined. Definitely a source of inspiration for the future! Thank you!

[@CodemasterJamal]

Combat looks super awesome!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@vincentp.8337]

Love it !!!! Can you expend on the animation as well next time, let us know how you get this fluid animation ? Thank you very much !!!

[@BadRayy]

This looks great. Can't wait to see more. Are you modeling and animating these yourself? Maybe make the string symbol silhouette simple and very distinct from the other 2. Easier to see at a glance and better for color blindness.

[@StudioYarn]

Hey! Thank you for the kind words! And no, I’m far from an artist or animator, and I’m much more comfortable on the programming side of things. I may eventually delve into that side of game dev, but I’m going to stick with what I’m good at (for now).

[@solojun27]

looks really cool!

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you!

[@yondo3667]

potential idea: if you slice bullets at the right time, the fragments are dispersed around the player, causing light area damage. would give the player more opportunities with guns.

[@shakylabstudio]

Are you using root motion for the attacks or a nav mesh agent at all? Just wondering how you managed to get the combos to move so cleanly and knowback.

[@StudioYarn]

Hey, I am using root motion for all the attacks! I’m using Game Creator’s animation framework (unity asset) which really speeds and cleans up this process. Honestly it’s just taken a crazy amount of tweaking to make the combos actually look like combos and not singular attacks being done one after another. Thanks for watching!

[@mistermamamia]

Very promising so far, but I wonder if you’re allowed to parry attacks when they come from behind your character. I would personally not allow this, just to make not locking in and either aiming your direction with the right stick or the mouse a potentially fun thing in fights against multiple enemies. I think it could add more depth to your positioning and kiting of the enemies and allow for more engaging spacing and enemy interaction. I do think the one flaw Sekiro has is that the combat only really feels good for single enemy encounters, and a lot of that is the way the parry works. The whole game is about learning timing and they know it’d be annoying if you had to deal with the timing of multiple targets. Here I think your game has a big advantage by being top down, so there can be a much wider focus on group combat, since you have a wider view of the whole arena and probably less ways to run and hide or funnel enemies one at a time.

[@yondo3667]

potential idea: have more weapons for the samurai, such as shurikens, smoke bombs, longer reaching weapon, dual knives, just really give the player as many options to pick a play style they like the most

[@FalconGamz]

yoo incredible, what if u add some impact frames when the enemies die, u know to make it more flashe?

[@StudioYarn]

Stay tuned ;)

[@FalconGamz]

:D@@StudioYarn

[@bradhunt5587]

Hey man, are these assets from Synty by any chance? I love what you've done so far - I keep coming back to the video

[@StudioYarn]

Hey man! Yep, using Synty assets for many of the characters and environment art. They’re so high quality, I’m just hoping I can make the game and art direction distinct enough to set it apart from other games using synty as well. Thanks for your kind words!

[@otaku214]

Look great so far. Is this isometric view with orthographic camera?

[@StudioYarn]

Yep! Thanks for your support!

[@another1118]

can you minimized the vfx of parry ? i can't see shit :D (im a little bit color blind) i really love topdown games

[@StudioYarn]

All good, i think toning down all the effects would be a good setting to have later down the road. Thanks for your feedback!

[@michaelshomade6852]

For the dash, I’m not sure, but I think the sudden stop might be the issue, maybe a descent in speed would be better.

[@ewanito7954]

Looks great

[@_LUD3NS_]

Cool stuff. Looks like a spin of Ronin Trail.

[@StudioYarn]

Heavily inspired!

[@CitizenCoder]

In terms of helping the color blind, sice youre already displaying a color based glow around the enemy, you could just have a small icon for "all attacks have been parried" over their heads or something.

[@paulkanja]

Yeah a "Confused" type thing..

[@gangstermike9796]

it's amazing

[@StudioYarn]

No, you’re amazing gangster mike.

[@baitposter]

Time to yoink your game's combat 📝

[@niuage]

Hey, what do you use for moving the character ? Is it physics based or kinetic? Also just curious, do you use root motion on your animations?

[@StudioYarn]

Hey! The character uses physics, but it’s custom, not unity’s built in physics system. And yeah, I’m using root motion for all of the attack animations specifically. I’ve found it gives the attacks a feeling of weight and momentum!

[@niuage]

@@StudioYarn Ok, ty! I dont really get the "custom" part. Do you mean that you dont use the built in character controller, or literally the physics engine, i.e. no rigidbody, no forces etc?

[@arctiformgames]

Also gives me blue samurai vibes

[@FreshWaffles3]

hes really going for samantha, imma check the next devlog, well see how desperate he is

[@koktszfung]

Have you tried adding a little deceleration at the end of the dash animation?

[@rogercls]

What I don't like about Sekiro is the lack of combo. Having just one button for attack feels really shallow. To be honest, I also don't like the fact you can't dodge. I mean, the game doesn't need to make it a priority (and can also add a cooldown so it is not overused), but it feels nice to have it there for certain occasions. It adds depth.

[@StudioYarn]

Good thoughts! I’m going to let the combat continue to speak to me, I’m not opposed to adding or removing anything. Very subject to change

[@snowflake4108]

about the dash effects you can put some black and white japanese paint style trail instead of the lightning or have different special effects

[@StudioYarn]

That’s a good idea! Maybe I could have it be customizable. Who knows, that might be out of scope haha. Thanks for the idea!

[@statewizard554]

Hey man I know in the first vid you were talking about art direction. If you need anyone to help you with the concept art on the clothes clothes and charcter styles lemme know. I loved samurai champloo and feel like it’d be fun to draw up a thing or too for it

[@squarestar326]

I like the several tones of green u chose 4 the grass.( lately i ve played so many games with the exact same ugly green tone, it ruins the whole landscape! Why do they do that? It sux!) Also will u add an element of sci fi 4 the combat system ? Like magic or retro futuristics weapons that shoot beams or something? Or will it be mainly sword? I have so many questions.u shld stream ur process, plus u cld interact with the chat? I d love to know more about the story too...

[@StudioYarn]

Thank you! I did a lot of experimenting with colors, and since grass will be such a big part of the visual flair of this game, I wanted to get it right!

[@StudioYarn]

The current plan is sword combat with other to be determined abilities

[@s_c_u_m3172]

Yo dude have you ever played FURI?Cause this slightly reminds me of that.

[@StudioYarn]

YES. Love Furi, that game rules

[@vitortaboas1561]

I dont know if this is a good idea, but u could add a variety of weapons with different combos (slowers, and fasters), different times of stagger,

[@huxle1140]

I think to bring more of the Hip Hop mixed with the japanese style you could look at Daemon from the game Bleedinf Edge