Kin
of Embers

An empty Godot project became something you could actually play: one hero, a handful of enemies and a boss, all in borrowed placeholder art.

• Movement and combat. A camera, the first attack loop and safe respawning.
• Skills from data. A ranged right-click skill, cooldowns and a resource bar.
• Growth. XP, levels, stats, item drops, a backpack and equipment.
• The Tollbearer. The first playable class, swinging a bell.
• Enemies. Melee and ranged foes, elites, and a test boss that changes the region when it falls.
• The Shardkeeper. The second class showed up by midnight.

The hero got a home. Hearthrest, the last settlement, gave the world people to talk to and a reason to come back.

• Hearthrest. The Last Hearth, the Chest of Continuity and the first villagers with dialogue.
• Quests. A quest journal, a quest board and the Hearth Chronicle.
• The forest of region 1. The first real map, with hidden caches off the path.
• Crafting. Mining, the Blacksmith, smithing and tempering.
• Animation. Characters started to move, with new attack effects and new enemies.

BeforeAfter

Two days spent on how it feels. Every hit, every warning and every death got a second look.

• Hits that land. Contact sparks, knockback, combo poses and a short step on finishers.
• Readable danger. Telegraphs that say “now it strikes” and a directional damage vignette.
• A story to find. Dialogue, ten notes, forest events, the Trial Circle and a hidden cache.
• Options. Key rebinding, window size, VSync, volume sliders and larger text.
• Settlement life. A training dummy, a bestiary, salvaging, eight gear slots, a house and a garden.
• The forest remembers. Beat the Roadkeeper and the forest changes for good.

BeforeAfter

The day it stopped looking like a prototype. A darker palette of ash, copper and ember went in overnight.

• New art direction. New characters, enemies, tiles and settlement, all in one palette.
• Light. Warm pools of light around the hero and the fires.
• The Roadkeeper. A three-phase boss fight that scales with your level.
• Classes reworked. The Shardkeeper's glass and the Tollbearer's rhythm, with a bell on a chain.
• Interface. A new HUD and one shared style for every window.
• Loot. Behaviour affixes, demo uniques and collectible sets.

MorningNight

MorningNight

Footage recorded that morning, just before the new art went in

The biggest day so far. Region 1 filled up with places, people, choices and things to hunt.

• Twelve zones. Fixed enemy packs, new monsters and campfires to rest at.
• Hard but fair. A new difficulty model. The Roadkeeper calls minions and can be staggered.
• Animation and effects. New animations for both classes, every enemy and the boss.
• New windows. Skills, quest journal, inventory and character windows rebuilt, with rarity frames.
• Choices. Blood Debts: spare or kill, and live with whoever comes for revenge.
• Reasons to roam. Wildfire kill streaks, shrines, the Hoardling, hunting, a farm and a cookpot.
• Small comforts. Sit on the bench by the fire with a cup of Duskdregs.

Clips from this build are up in Gameplay.

Today's build, now in playtesting. Less about new features, more about making everything that is there feel finished.

• A hand-dressed forest. Region 1 redrawn with denser woods, tents, camps and paths that match where you can walk.
• Own sounds. New effects for combat, the interface and ambience.
• Front door. New main menu, pause screen, options and end-of-demo screen.
• A difficulty curve. A gentle start that tightens toward the Roadkeeper.
• The Ash Matriarch. A beast to track down in region 1.
• Professions. Miner, Herbalist and Hunter, each with levels 1 to 10.
• Better loot. A higher rarity is always better, and the compare arrow tells you why.

YesterdayToday

The demo now covers region 1 in three stages: the Ashway, then two trips into the Scorch. This build gave that world things that surprise you, and gave combat more to master than "walk up and click".

• The bell reveals. The Tollbearer's Still Tone sends out a wave that uncovers hidden places, enemies and ghosts.
• Ash echoes. Five ghostly scenes from the Great Burning, waiting to be found across the map.
• Nemesis. The enemy that kills you takes your ember, grows stronger and hunts you. Beat it to win it back, with unique loot.
• Ash storms. Some runs into the forest turn dark: you see only by the light of your ember, enemies hit harder and storm crystals appear.
• Hearthrest comes back to life. As you progress, the settlement grows greener, warmer and gains new huts.
• Combat techniques. Ember Dodge slows time on a perfect dash. Counter, Quench, Rushing Strike and Slam reward timing. Chain them to reach Kindled III.
• Risk and reward. Ash Altars offer a pact for the rest of the run: a curse and a gift. Stage Trials pay out an Ember Medal.
• A new look. Both heroes redrawn in pixel art, a forged HUD console with health and resource orbs, new icons, inventory, a pixel-art minimap and character portraits in dialogue.
• Atmosphere. Dusk, fog in the hollows, drifting ash, footprints in the dust, living tar and water, and shadows cast by firelight.
• Life outside the fight. Farming, a pasture and fishing open from the start, plus a home of your own in Hearthrest.

BeforeAfter

BeforeAfter