2018-03-06 00:42:40 (edited by Sightless Kombat 2018-03-07 19:20:36)

This arcade-style brawler has hit the Xbox One, Steam and PS4.  However, the developer wants to improve accessibility should they receive enough revenue to do so.

The game is an old school arcade brawler, with sound cues designed to be a core part of the gameplay (though in certain situations, such as the first boss encounter, a necessity for visual interaction to avoid said boss' most powerful attacks can be frustrating as a player with no sight).  For those who might be wondering, currently, there's currently no left/right positioning.  The game is playable though up to a point, with that point really being the first boss at the moment.

There's even an accessible manual found here, rendered in HTML created created by the devs.

The devs would appreciate any feedback that anyone else would be willing to give, I'd suggest sending them an email which as far as I remember is linked in the manual.  OCR isn't fantastic with the menus, but it's learnable to an exten as far as I've seen.  The dynamic difficulty settings help too, putting things on the easiest difficulty allows you to adjust as you go.

If you'd like more information on the game feel free to ask (it's 200mb on Xbox but not sure about other platforms, also not sure on pricing).

I was fortunate enough to be sent a review code by the devs, which is why I'm able to comment on the current state of the game pre-release.

It's an entertaining and interesting game though with a passionate development team who really want to make this playable regardless of a complete lack of vision, though time constraints, revenue and the limitations of the engine they are working with may prevent full accessibility from happening.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2018-03-06 01:21:03

Reading this manual, I can't wait to play this. I will definitely be supporting this.

Take care, it's a desert out there.

2018-03-06 01:24:07

That's a great initiative of the developers. Do you know how they are gathering the feedback? Is there an email address to reach out to them?

2018-03-06 02:07:12

Well the soundtrack is out on bandcamp by ori falconer I think.
At any rate, if the game becomes accessible I will buy it.
I have the soundtrack for the game now it was 10 bucks so at least thats something.

2018-03-06 08:49:06

Hi.
It's awesome to hear that the developers are open to feedback regarding to make the game more accessible.
How have you played the game when it hasn't been released yet?
It would be fantastic if the developers would make support for Narrator to read the menus...

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
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2018-03-06 08:53:16

This gam eis pretty fun, but certainly needs som eaccessibility for blind players if possible. Am stuck after the second enemy in chapter 1. I love this concept though, and the soundtrack is amazing.

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2018-03-06 10:40:49

Okay so. After playing the game for a bit I have to admit it's super fun. After the second fight you walk to the right for a bit, then press r2, or right trigger. This activates the next checkpoint. You then have to deal with enemies which can dash around you which makes you need to face them. This is honestly annoying as with the current audio system you can't tell where an enemy is coming from. Once you learn an enemy's patterns it's easy to block. There are some audio enhancements this game could use. IE. positional audio, and beacons for caches like health and checkpoints. My understanding is that the engine the dev is using may limit what they are able to use for positional audio. Another improvement which could possibly be done on windows of course depending on technical limitations again could be direct access to text to speech or a screen reader to read story text and help popups.
One important thing to remember about this game is that the dev would really like to add enhanced audio cues, but both technical and time constraints could keep this from happening. We're dealing with a dev who actually cares a lot about what players think. Even visually impaired players. If this is a game you end up picking up and you write to the developer, please be nice. Jason genuinely cares and wants to make the game playable if at all possible.

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2018-03-06 20:31:27

@7
the checkpoints, as you've discovered, require sighted assistance to activate.  Other than that, though, the game is actually really solid other than the aforementioned lack of positional audio.  I like what I've played so far.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2018-03-06 20:35:00

I'm really torn on if I want to get this game. Actually let me rephrase. I really want this game, but not if it's going to turn into something I'm going to be unable to play after a certain point.

Silly Gohan, animals don't eat people. People eat animals.

2018-03-06 20:42:49

Made it to the first boss, got wrecked pretty badly, but the game is a blast.

Much less active on this forum than in the past.

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2018-03-06 21:41:50

Hi.
Because of the different time zones, I didn't realized that the game has been released. Lol. I feel stupid.
I'll hopefully get time to try the game tomorrow.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2018-03-07 16:34:06

Hi,
I've tried the game and have also got to the first boss. I am struggling a bit at this point and am not too sure what to do.

2018-03-07 19:39:43

I got to the boss of the first chapter as well and it seems like sighted assistance may be required for that boss in its current form, though I'll give any progress updates I can.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2018-03-07 22:10:52

Yep, you have to get combo bonus on the little guys, and hit the boss with power punches. I daresay impossible without positional audio.

Take care, it's a desert out there.

2018-03-07 23:02:10

I think that stereo is needed for this game.
It reminds me about another very cool fighting game on pc called zombie vikings where the sound is in mono also, but it is playable.
I think that I will purchase that game, because it is nice that developers are open on suggestions.

2018-03-08 00:24:23

Hi,
I am very happy to show support to this dev though, because unlike, say, Thumper, this game is early in it's lifespan so I think there's hope that we can see this thing made even more playable, and that is what makes it so exciting. Add to that, the devs really, really want to listen to feedback, to the point where at some point during development of the initial version, they hired someone as an accessibility consultant, they came up with the idea of a dynamic difficulty system to help with accessibility, and they now wish they'd known about blind gamers much earlier in the development cycle. Another accessibility-related thing is the control settings, even though I won't be changing them myself, I love the concept of this: in this game, literally anything can be mapped to any button. Now, in a game like, say, Mortal Kombat or Injustice, you can't map movement, only the attack buttons. IN this game, for people that need it, they could map the left analog stick to movement, d-pad to player attacks, and left trigger as a super, and boom, someone who is left handed can play the whole game.
I see potential for this to become one of the most accessible games, ever, and that's not jsut blindness here, that's everything.

2018-03-08 03:59:21

Disclaimer - I'm not blind

It may be possible to beat the boss, but difficult, and lots of random chance involved.

As you'll have gathered by that point, for most of the game you can just stand still and enemies will take it in turns to stand next to you to fight.

The boss is designed to mix things up a bit by him continually moving, and occasionally throwing tires at you, which can't be blocked or dodged, you have to move/dash out of the way of them.

There are a number of continually respawning minions on the screen. You need to use them to get your combo bar up, then one you have a combo of five hit the boss with your freshly charged super move.

Fighting the minions is straightforward enough, there the basic type from the start of the game.  Standing by the edge of the screen can help, to prevent being attacked from both sides.

Dodging the tires may be possible, by dashing up or down with the A button.

The really difficult bit is managing to hit the boss with your super punch. He is continually moving, so without stereo it is pure chance really whether you'll manage to hit him with it.

So it may take a long time of many missed hits.

In the plus side he isn't very strong, only takes I think three super moves to kill him.

2018-03-08 08:33:11

Hi.
Is the game a sidescroller where you only move left and right? Or is it a 3D game? I have seen a gameplay on Youtube, and don't hear any footsteps at all.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
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2018-03-08 12:22:31

is the game playable on a pc and how much does it cost?
i agree with death here. idon't want to buy the game yet until i know that i will be able to play the whole thing. if the price tag is low imight reconsider

2018-03-08 12:55:19

First boss is also where I got stuck. I do love this game though. The dev team has been open to suggestions, and that is such a refreshing thing to see. Ori who did sound design plus the awesome soundtrack tuned in to the stream I did, and gave some tips, and took some notes. Let's hope that they are able to incorporate some changes for blind players. I do want to point out one thing. If on the off chance they are not able to make any further changes, please understand it is due to technical and business limitations and not due to anyone's hesitation or unwillingness to make this happen. This group of talented people are probably some of the most caring and concerned devs I have ever ran across. Understand that especially in the mainstream market, there are about a billion other things that go on behind the scenes that we as gamers can't even begin to comprehend. Jason and Co will do the best they can. For now though, if you yourself doesn't want to buy the game, buy a copy of the soundtrack and tell your friends both sighted and blind about this game. Any word of mouth will help them. the more purchases they get, the more likely we are to see updates.

Much less active on this forum than in the past.

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2018-03-08 16:22:08

Honestly I'm leaning towards just purchasing the game. Even if it isn't made completely accessible, supporting these guys is pretty worth the buy.

Silly Gohan, animals don't eat people. People eat animals.

2018-03-08 16:30:13

Game costs around £11 in the UK, so honestly it's a very cheap price and is awesome.

2018-03-08 20:51:41

Bought the game. Hoping for this to become fully accessible, but if it isn't it isn't.

Silly Gohan, animals don't eat people. People eat animals.

2018-03-09 00:20:57

SLJ side scroller, but you can can move up and down (into / out of the screen) as well as left and right. However apart from the bosses you don't need to hunt the enemies down, they take it in turns coming to you.

2018-03-09 08:48:31

ianhamilton_ wrote:

SLJ side scroller, but you can can move up and down (into / out of the screen) as well as left and right. However apart from the bosses you don't need to hunt the enemies down, they take it in turns coming to you.

wow, okay, thanks for your reply. Sounds easier than it sounds like from gameplays on YOutube.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
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