Making style more practical - Part I

Vernal Edge

Vernal Edge is a 2D action-packed Metroidvania featuring an intense combat system, tight platforming sequences and a powerful story of rivalry, revenge and growth.

In this post we're going to talk a bit about style meters, why Vernal Edge opts to not include them, and how we go about trying to more naturally encourage you to play stylishly on your own. To start, a style meter is usually a letter grade you can see while in combat that helps you evaluate how "stylish" your combat performance is. What exactly constitutes stylish gameplay varies from game to game, but most games look for two things. That you don't use the same moves repeatedly, and that you don't get hit. [img]https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/40469584/f767093625df4c0cb02646b4d18e321ef8540f30.gif[/img] As for ourselves, we prefer to keep your decisions in combat practical (extrinsic motivation for you designers). Being efficient in character action games can sometimes result in gameplay that is far removed from the style the game sets out to achieve. Repeating single actions, using items that lower your style score, etc. We take steps to combat this and make players close to the skill floor of the game still feel like they can fight stylishly. If you want to get all the updates about Vernal Edge, follow and wishlist the game! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1546710/Vernal_Edge/