The crowdfunding campaign is up and so is the prototype
(official download here), which contains a dungeon and a boss fight to get a feel for the games combat and gameplay. There's a lot of stuff to be implemented later (additional mechanics to be added to the combat system and other things), but it's very polished and playable already.
First impression from the demo:
Pretty damn good rpg combat.
Basically it's an active time battle system like FF4-9/Chrono Trigger/etc. Each character is controlled by a different button, (ie press a for party member a to attack, press b for party member b), and has several attacks and a special depending on whether you hold down or up during their attack. You can have party members attack simultaneously, and with good timing you can link moves into combos that build more mana/meter.
Meter is used for both specials (ie higher damage, healing spells, status ailment, etc.) and for blocking. Blocking takes away 90% of the damage from enemy attacks, but requires some reflexes. It consumes less meter if you block at the last possible moment.
Overall I think it captures the heavy resource management and choice making of "traditional rpg's", with the more action heavy elements of stuff like Mario and Luigi. I think it sits closer to more traditional stuff though, because you do take chip damage from blocking, so you can't just ninja dodge everything like you would in Mario and Luigi. It's very fast paced though and quick thinking can really turn the tides (just as hesitating can get you killed).
The actual resource management feels pretty clever. You're essentially just juggling time (your characters turns) and meter, but with the whole combo system there's lots of reasons to wait for party member turns to stack for longer combos, conserve meter, go all out, etc. the different moves on each party member also have different properties, from slowing enemies turns to building more meter at the cost of less damage. Lots of choices to make.
Overall like it a lot. The platforming and exploration is fun too.
People have already started speed running it. times range from 50 minutes to 15.
