CryptRat
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2014
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Link : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hymntotheearlessgod/hymn-to-the-earless-god
Link to demo : https://housekeepinggames.itch.io/hymn-to-the-earless-god
Steam Page : https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165130/Hymn_to_the_Earless_God/
The game looks good and ambitious, based on the available tunes the OST might be quite ambitious too : https://soundcloud.com/a-very-long-rope/sets/hymn-to-the-earless-god-ost.
The full Kickstarter page content :
Wishlist and check out the demo on Steam!
Don't have Steam? Try the demo on itch.io!
Hymn to the Earless God is a turn-based RPG with a focus on exploring an alien world called Gloom. Gloom is a dangerous planet inhabited almost entirely by sociopathic, insectoid creatures. It's a cold, hostile world, but it's also a beautiful world, filled with interesting biomes, a rich history, and long-kept secrets.
Players will choose one of four main characters, each with their own full-length story as they fight against unique Calamities that might finally end Gloom. Even though you'll be exploring some of the same locations between storylines, they'll often play quite differently, and you'll find unique bosses, treasures, dialogue, and sidequests in each game. Each character will truly experience a unique adventure!
Pox the Vile is a member of the Verrick Horde, a tribe of creatures that live by the harshest law of nature: only the strong survive. Many tribes fear the Verrick will be the Final Calamity. Just ask the Enoru, who once worshipped the World Tree, which is now just a rotting log that the Verrick have burrowed their fortress into. Though the Verrick are strong and ruthless, Pox was born weak and frail, and it's only a matter of time before Queen Agony casts him aside, as he is not fit to pass on his inferior genes.
But, Pox is no ordinary Verrick. He has more guts and ambition and ruthlessness than anyone. He knows something no one else knows, something he knows the world will one day learn to fear: there's a tyrant inside of him. And, one day, it will devour everything.
Capella is the last of the Sua-Roo. She lives in Dream, a small town in a forest by Dewdrop City. The Ahm that have raised her also revere her. She is the Chosen One, after all. She will give birth to God.
The time of the ritual is almost at hand, so she must begin her journey. Joined by two warrior-priests of the Moonlight Family, she sets off to the Moonlight Temple to perform her sacred duty. However, something inside is pulling her away from her path, away from God: feelings that shouldn't be possible in a world like this, feelings that only she has, for she is the last of a great tribe, a tribe that could feel. She is the last of the Sua-Roo.
On the eve of her ritualistic suicide, Shear, the Wind that Cuts, waits patiently in the snow. She knows that she deserves this. The mating ritual was a failure. Her husband is dead, she is barren. She broke the balance between life and death. The Reiken'O must follow the traditions of their ancestors. It is the only way they've been able to thrive in such a hostile world.
But, something compels her to look up. He is there: her husband, headless and translucent, pointing to the exit of the village. The chains of tradition struggle to reel her back, but she is moving, now, her eyes staring straight ahead, her hand caressing the hilt of her blade, ready to carve a path down the mountain. Ready to sever the chains that bind her.
Phlegm's a Skyx, and no one likes a Skyx. But, he doesn't let that kind of thing get to him. He's just trying to take it easy, hanging out with his deadbeat friends, taking odd jobs if he has to, picking a few pockets to make ends meet. But, when his hand gets caught in the wrong pocket, Phlegm is forced to use his particular skillset under the employ of one of Gloom's richest and most powerful entities. He'll set out on an adventure for the sake of corporate espionage that will eventually lead him to one of Gloom's most ancient and powerful secrets.
At its heart, Hymn to the Earless God is a classic turn-based RPG inspired by the strange, alien atmosphere of the oft-neglected Lennus series, with a focus on rewarding exploration, engaging writing, interesting characters, intricate stat progression systems, and challenging, multi-faceted combat.
As mentioned earlier, there are four separate characters with four separate stories. However, what you do on one character's story might have an impact on the others'. For instance, you might open up new areas, or you might train mercenaries on one game that will give you an advantage on another.
Speaking of mercenaries, there are almost 40 of them to choose from. These are not just faceless meat forms that you throw at your enemies. Each mercenary has their own thoughts, ambitions, mechanics, and story arcs. Taking a mercenary with you isn't just about picking who you think is the strongest; that decision will have ramifications throughout the game. Pick a lazy mercenary? Don't be surprised if they don't get out of bed one day. Pick someone with a short attention span? They might get excited about a prospect and head off on another adventure. Mercenaries might rob you, they might refuse to work with you if they don't like you, they might flee from a battle they know they'll lose, they might betray you if offered enough money, and so on. They might also save you when the chips are down, befriend other mercenaries and form powerful team techniques, or go off on revenge training quests and become much stronger.
The point is, they all have unique personalities, creating a complex web of potentialities as you play the game. In other words, the stories you make as you play this game will be different depending on the mercenaries you have join you.
Gloom is a world guided by the darkest principles of nature; everything is trying to destroy everything else so that it may prosper. So, Gloom has been teetering on the edge of calamity for aeons. This has made the world uniquely beautiful. From the rotting husk of the World Tree, to the ever-expanding arid death of the Crawling Waste, to the den of debauchery known as Scuzz City, to the forest inhabited by the giant, world-threatening Cryospider, there is no shortage of interesting, unique places to explore.
Levels are meticulously crafted, and monsters appear on the field similar to Chrono Trigger. Additionally, as you explore, there's a dedicated attack button, which allows you to trigger combat with an advantage. Each encounter has thought behind it, many able to be avoided entirely, often by paying attention to unique aspects to each level, such as avoiding making noise to wake sleeping monsters, utilizing the right mercenaries to disarm security systems, struggling against the pull of quicksand, and so on. Every level is going to feel unique and interesting, and there will even be differences between the enemies, challenges, and design in the levels that multiple main characters have access to. More than anything, I want to design an experience that players will remember years from now.
It's important to me to have fast-paced but nuanced combat in this game, and I think we've achieved that. Battles are turn-based where the turn order is based on the agility of the combatants. If your agility is high enough, you'll be granted a bonus turn, providing you with precious time to heal up or take out troublesome monsters. Within that structure, I wanted to give the player a lot of control, so both the players and monsters have toolkits that will allow them to manipulate turn order and set up synergies to take down monsters or put a lot of pressure on characters.
Magic is powerful, but spells take time to cast, and a well-timed sleep could put an end to a spell prematurely as well as set up major damage for a future turn. Players will need to think strategically in order to come out on top, especially when facing against the many deadly boss monsters that lurk in the dark places of Gloom.
Also, when you kill your foes, what else can you do when you're a monster yourself? Devour them! Eating a dead monster will provide health in a pinch, and it will prevent the other monsters on the field from doing the same. Of course, you can also intentionally poison a corpse so that another monster won't get any nourishment from it, or, with the right spell, you could turn that corpse into a bomb.
As you explore Gloom and defeat its powerful denizens, you'll come across powerful relics that will strengthen your characters and provide more options in combat. There's a huge amount of game-changing equipment out there, which will allow any of your mercenaries to shine in their own unique ways.
Additionally, every character has a unique weapon. Instead of having multiple weapons, characters customize their existing weapons using the modification system. Want to turn a mercenary into a support character that specializes in poisons, bleeds, and sleep? Some of them have weapons that can be built to do that. Want a mercenary who magnifies their special attacks, casts spells more quickly, or has devastating critical hits? All of those are possible. Each character has 10 possible weapon mods that alter their character, as well as a set amount of points in order to allocate them. You can go to a blacksmith to strengthen your current mods or select new ones. All of this allows the mercenaries to have their own potential niches while allowing the player to fine tune the mercenaries they like the most. Every mercenary has the potential to be a powerhouse!
Magic on Gloom is inextricably linked to the world's biomes. There are four main schools of magic: Magic of the Trees, Magic of the Swamp, Magic of the Mountains, and Magic of the Wasteland. Every character can learn every spell from these different schools, but they might learn some schools of magic more easily than others. Some characters also have unique, rare forms of magic: Magic of the Moon and Magic of the Stars.
Learning different schools of magic will give you access to powerful ways to alter the flow of combat, but pay attention to the biome that you're in. Each biome will give you MP every turn based on how many spells you know from the matching school, and they will also alter the effects of spells that don't match the current field. For instance, casting Sludge Bomb in a swamp will cause heavy single-target damage while slowing the opponent, but it will be weakened significantly in a wasteland, or it will hit a larger area for less damage in a forest, or it will hit for less damage but with a greater slowing effect on a mountain. Players will also be able to manipulate the current field, changing it to a field that more suits their needs.
When I made Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, I wanted to build it from the ground up by myself. It was a very personal project that found a small audience that appreciated its writing, music, and design. With Hymn to the Earless God, I want to build on the lessons I learned from Jimmy. I want to make a game that's bigger and more polished.
More than that, though, I want to make a game that takes design inspiration from the types of games I enjoyed playing when I was younger and infuse new design ideas to make something really spectacular. I want to create a remarkable world filled with surprises, meaningful moments--a world that feels fully considered and will stick with the player for a long time.
Unlike with Jimmy, this time I've assembled a team. As you can see from the trailer, the art is really phenomenal, and now that we have a dedicated programmer, that's really opened up the design possibilities. All of this is to say that we have the tools and know-how to make a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and we want to share that with you.
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass has allowed me to tread water financially, but I don't have the money to pay for the artists for the rest of the game's development cycle. When Jason and I formed Starseed Games, we basically scrabbled together enough money to make it to the demo, but we need help the rest of the way. Crowdfunding is a way for us to pay for the quality of art we need in order to make this game truly special.
If we make our funding goal, all of the money--outside of taxes, merch expenses, and Kickstarter fees--will go to the art. If we exceed that goal, it's going to give us the ability to work on this game full-time, and, if we do really well, we'll be able to hire additional artists to finish the game more quickly. If you like classic, turn-based RPGs and want to witness the birth of a modern classic, please consider contributing.
Kasey Ozymy is the lead developer, writer, and composer. In 2018, he released Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, an RPG about a young boy exploring his dreams. You can follow him on Twitter @KaseyOzymy.
Jason Vanderslice is the programmer and is the other half of Starseed. He's been professionally coding for years.
Cubesona, or Ed as his friends call him, is the lead artist. He's a digital artist with a passion for character design. You can follow him on Twitter @Cubesona.
Innosaryn materialized from nowhere to become our main animator. You can follow Innosaryn on Twitter for the (probably) occasional post.
The pin set will feature the four main characters: Shear, Pox, Capella, and Phlegm. These hard enamel pins courtesy of Fangamer will be about an inch tall and were designed by the game's lead artist.
The plush's design will be based on one of the first encounters in the game: the bite mite! You can see these little guys in action in the demo. The plush will be about 6.2 in x 6.7 in x 7.7 in. It was designed by the game's lead artist and manufactured by Fangamer.
Back:
This special, limited edition functional tin box will be modeled after an SNES box and feature art from the game's lead artist. The dimensions will all be true to the SNES, but instead of cardboard, it'll be made of tin! This unique collectible will look great on a shelf! If you purchase this tier, we'll also add your name to the game's credits to show our thanks!
A Bestiary of the Creatures of Gloom will feature concept art by the game's lead designer, focusing on character and monster art. It will also feature descriptions of the creatures and their behaviors that will provide context to the art and develop on the lore of Gloom. Since the art is actively being worked on, expect the art book to be produced after the game's release. I love this kind of thing and want to go out of my way to make it special, so I promise it will be worth the wait!
Featuring 19 songs from the game's massive soundtrack, the vinyl will give backers a glimpse into the World of Gloom before the game is released. I selected tracks that occur earlier in the game and are representative of each of the four main characters, so there are no real musical spoilers. The vinyl is double-sided and includes a special insert of one of the game's central antagonists, Queen Agony. Listen to a few of the tracks right here: https://soundcloud.com/a-very-long-rope/sets/hymn-to-the-earless-god-ost
There are already close to 40 mercenaries in Hymn to the Earless God, but I came up with some ideas for mercenaries after most of the design was already figured out. Including them would require additional art, dialogue, mechanics, and level design. The stretch goal mercenaries are already characters that exist in the world of Gloom, so they aren't going to be shoehorned in; instead, they would be upgraded from NPCs to recruitable mercenaries!
Grackle is the leader of a group of Zill bandits that rob unsuspecting passersby on their way from Raja Balquar to Hashak. They operate from a cave on the abandoned Interstate-2. Recently, most of Grackle's underlings have left him to follow someone else, leaving Grackle to crow about his glory days to whoever will listen.
As a mercenary, Grackle utilizes the hide technique more than any other character, making him untargetable by most abilities and setting himself up for major damage later. Unlike most characters, he can also go back into hiding after revealing himself, making him stealthy and lethal when built the right way.
Link to demo : https://housekeepinggames.itch.io/hymn-to-the-earless-god
Steam Page : https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165130/Hymn_to_the_Earless_God/
The game looks good and ambitious, based on the available tunes the OST might be quite ambitious too : https://soundcloud.com/a-very-long-rope/sets/hymn-to-the-earless-god-ost.
The full Kickstarter page content :
The Story
Wishlist and check out the demo on Steam!
Don't have Steam? Try the demo on itch.io!
Hymn to the Earless God is a turn-based RPG with a focus on exploring an alien world called Gloom. Gloom is a dangerous planet inhabited almost entirely by sociopathic, insectoid creatures. It's a cold, hostile world, but it's also a beautiful world, filled with interesting biomes, a rich history, and long-kept secrets.
Players will choose one of four main characters, each with their own full-length story as they fight against unique Calamities that might finally end Gloom. Even though you'll be exploring some of the same locations between storylines, they'll often play quite differently, and you'll find unique bosses, treasures, dialogue, and sidequests in each game. Each character will truly experience a unique adventure!
Pox the Vile is a member of the Verrick Horde, a tribe of creatures that live by the harshest law of nature: only the strong survive. Many tribes fear the Verrick will be the Final Calamity. Just ask the Enoru, who once worshipped the World Tree, which is now just a rotting log that the Verrick have burrowed their fortress into. Though the Verrick are strong and ruthless, Pox was born weak and frail, and it's only a matter of time before Queen Agony casts him aside, as he is not fit to pass on his inferior genes.
But, Pox is no ordinary Verrick. He has more guts and ambition and ruthlessness than anyone. He knows something no one else knows, something he knows the world will one day learn to fear: there's a tyrant inside of him. And, one day, it will devour everything.
Capella is the last of the Sua-Roo. She lives in Dream, a small town in a forest by Dewdrop City. The Ahm that have raised her also revere her. She is the Chosen One, after all. She will give birth to God.
The time of the ritual is almost at hand, so she must begin her journey. Joined by two warrior-priests of the Moonlight Family, she sets off to the Moonlight Temple to perform her sacred duty. However, something inside is pulling her away from her path, away from God: feelings that shouldn't be possible in a world like this, feelings that only she has, for she is the last of a great tribe, a tribe that could feel. She is the last of the Sua-Roo.
On the eve of her ritualistic suicide, Shear, the Wind that Cuts, waits patiently in the snow. She knows that she deserves this. The mating ritual was a failure. Her husband is dead, she is barren. She broke the balance between life and death. The Reiken'O must follow the traditions of their ancestors. It is the only way they've been able to thrive in such a hostile world.
But, something compels her to look up. He is there: her husband, headless and translucent, pointing to the exit of the village. The chains of tradition struggle to reel her back, but she is moving, now, her eyes staring straight ahead, her hand caressing the hilt of her blade, ready to carve a path down the mountain. Ready to sever the chains that bind her.
Phlegm's a Skyx, and no one likes a Skyx. But, he doesn't let that kind of thing get to him. He's just trying to take it easy, hanging out with his deadbeat friends, taking odd jobs if he has to, picking a few pockets to make ends meet. But, when his hand gets caught in the wrong pocket, Phlegm is forced to use his particular skillset under the employ of one of Gloom's richest and most powerful entities. He'll set out on an adventure for the sake of corporate espionage that will eventually lead him to one of Gloom's most ancient and powerful secrets.
At its heart, Hymn to the Earless God is a classic turn-based RPG inspired by the strange, alien atmosphere of the oft-neglected Lennus series, with a focus on rewarding exploration, engaging writing, interesting characters, intricate stat progression systems, and challenging, multi-faceted combat.
As mentioned earlier, there are four separate characters with four separate stories. However, what you do on one character's story might have an impact on the others'. For instance, you might open up new areas, or you might train mercenaries on one game that will give you an advantage on another.
Speaking of mercenaries, there are almost 40 of them to choose from. These are not just faceless meat forms that you throw at your enemies. Each mercenary has their own thoughts, ambitions, mechanics, and story arcs. Taking a mercenary with you isn't just about picking who you think is the strongest; that decision will have ramifications throughout the game. Pick a lazy mercenary? Don't be surprised if they don't get out of bed one day. Pick someone with a short attention span? They might get excited about a prospect and head off on another adventure. Mercenaries might rob you, they might refuse to work with you if they don't like you, they might flee from a battle they know they'll lose, they might betray you if offered enough money, and so on. They might also save you when the chips are down, befriend other mercenaries and form powerful team techniques, or go off on revenge training quests and become much stronger.
The point is, they all have unique personalities, creating a complex web of potentialities as you play the game. In other words, the stories you make as you play this game will be different depending on the mercenaries you have join you.
Gloom is a world guided by the darkest principles of nature; everything is trying to destroy everything else so that it may prosper. So, Gloom has been teetering on the edge of calamity for aeons. This has made the world uniquely beautiful. From the rotting husk of the World Tree, to the ever-expanding arid death of the Crawling Waste, to the den of debauchery known as Scuzz City, to the forest inhabited by the giant, world-threatening Cryospider, there is no shortage of interesting, unique places to explore.
Levels are meticulously crafted, and monsters appear on the field similar to Chrono Trigger. Additionally, as you explore, there's a dedicated attack button, which allows you to trigger combat with an advantage. Each encounter has thought behind it, many able to be avoided entirely, often by paying attention to unique aspects to each level, such as avoiding making noise to wake sleeping monsters, utilizing the right mercenaries to disarm security systems, struggling against the pull of quicksand, and so on. Every level is going to feel unique and interesting, and there will even be differences between the enemies, challenges, and design in the levels that multiple main characters have access to. More than anything, I want to design an experience that players will remember years from now.
It's important to me to have fast-paced but nuanced combat in this game, and I think we've achieved that. Battles are turn-based where the turn order is based on the agility of the combatants. If your agility is high enough, you'll be granted a bonus turn, providing you with precious time to heal up or take out troublesome monsters. Within that structure, I wanted to give the player a lot of control, so both the players and monsters have toolkits that will allow them to manipulate turn order and set up synergies to take down monsters or put a lot of pressure on characters.
Magic is powerful, but spells take time to cast, and a well-timed sleep could put an end to a spell prematurely as well as set up major damage for a future turn. Players will need to think strategically in order to come out on top, especially when facing against the many deadly boss monsters that lurk in the dark places of Gloom.
Also, when you kill your foes, what else can you do when you're a monster yourself? Devour them! Eating a dead monster will provide health in a pinch, and it will prevent the other monsters on the field from doing the same. Of course, you can also intentionally poison a corpse so that another monster won't get any nourishment from it, or, with the right spell, you could turn that corpse into a bomb.
As you explore Gloom and defeat its powerful denizens, you'll come across powerful relics that will strengthen your characters and provide more options in combat. There's a huge amount of game-changing equipment out there, which will allow any of your mercenaries to shine in their own unique ways.
Additionally, every character has a unique weapon. Instead of having multiple weapons, characters customize their existing weapons using the modification system. Want to turn a mercenary into a support character that specializes in poisons, bleeds, and sleep? Some of them have weapons that can be built to do that. Want a mercenary who magnifies their special attacks, casts spells more quickly, or has devastating critical hits? All of those are possible. Each character has 10 possible weapon mods that alter their character, as well as a set amount of points in order to allocate them. You can go to a blacksmith to strengthen your current mods or select new ones. All of this allows the mercenaries to have their own potential niches while allowing the player to fine tune the mercenaries they like the most. Every mercenary has the potential to be a powerhouse!
Magic on Gloom is inextricably linked to the world's biomes. There are four main schools of magic: Magic of the Trees, Magic of the Swamp, Magic of the Mountains, and Magic of the Wasteland. Every character can learn every spell from these different schools, but they might learn some schools of magic more easily than others. Some characters also have unique, rare forms of magic: Magic of the Moon and Magic of the Stars.
Learning different schools of magic will give you access to powerful ways to alter the flow of combat, but pay attention to the biome that you're in. Each biome will give you MP every turn based on how many spells you know from the matching school, and they will also alter the effects of spells that don't match the current field. For instance, casting Sludge Bomb in a swamp will cause heavy single-target damage while slowing the opponent, but it will be weakened significantly in a wasteland, or it will hit a larger area for less damage in a forest, or it will hit for less damage but with a greater slowing effect on a mountain. Players will also be able to manipulate the current field, changing it to a field that more suits their needs.
When I made Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, I wanted to build it from the ground up by myself. It was a very personal project that found a small audience that appreciated its writing, music, and design. With Hymn to the Earless God, I want to build on the lessons I learned from Jimmy. I want to make a game that's bigger and more polished.
More than that, though, I want to make a game that takes design inspiration from the types of games I enjoyed playing when I was younger and infuse new design ideas to make something really spectacular. I want to create a remarkable world filled with surprises, meaningful moments--a world that feels fully considered and will stick with the player for a long time.
Unlike with Jimmy, this time I've assembled a team. As you can see from the trailer, the art is really phenomenal, and now that we have a dedicated programmer, that's really opened up the design possibilities. All of this is to say that we have the tools and know-how to make a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and we want to share that with you.
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass has allowed me to tread water financially, but I don't have the money to pay for the artists for the rest of the game's development cycle. When Jason and I formed Starseed Games, we basically scrabbled together enough money to make it to the demo, but we need help the rest of the way. Crowdfunding is a way for us to pay for the quality of art we need in order to make this game truly special.
If we make our funding goal, all of the money--outside of taxes, merch expenses, and Kickstarter fees--will go to the art. If we exceed that goal, it's going to give us the ability to work on this game full-time, and, if we do really well, we'll be able to hire additional artists to finish the game more quickly. If you like classic, turn-based RPGs and want to witness the birth of a modern classic, please consider contributing.
Kasey Ozymy is the lead developer, writer, and composer. In 2018, he released Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, an RPG about a young boy exploring his dreams. You can follow him on Twitter @KaseyOzymy.
Jason Vanderslice is the programmer and is the other half of Starseed. He's been professionally coding for years.
Cubesona, or Ed as his friends call him, is the lead artist. He's a digital artist with a passion for character design. You can follow him on Twitter @Cubesona.
Innosaryn materialized from nowhere to become our main animator. You can follow Innosaryn on Twitter for the (probably) occasional post.
The Pin Set
The pin set will feature the four main characters: Shear, Pox, Capella, and Phlegm. These hard enamel pins courtesy of Fangamer will be about an inch tall and were designed by the game's lead artist.
The Plush
The plush's design will be based on one of the first encounters in the game: the bite mite! You can see these little guys in action in the demo. The plush will be about 6.2 in x 6.7 in x 7.7 in. It was designed by the game's lead artist and manufactured by Fangamer.
The Tin
Front:
Back:
This special, limited edition functional tin box will be modeled after an SNES box and feature art from the game's lead artist. The dimensions will all be true to the SNES, but instead of cardboard, it'll be made of tin! This unique collectible will look great on a shelf! If you purchase this tier, we'll also add your name to the game's credits to show our thanks!
The Art Book
A Bestiary of the Creatures of Gloom will feature concept art by the game's lead designer, focusing on character and monster art. It will also feature descriptions of the creatures and their behaviors that will provide context to the art and develop on the lore of Gloom. Since the art is actively being worked on, expect the art book to be produced after the game's release. I love this kind of thing and want to go out of my way to make it special, so I promise it will be worth the wait!
The Vinyl (Cover)
The Vinyl (Insert)
Featuring 19 songs from the game's massive soundtrack, the vinyl will give backers a glimpse into the World of Gloom before the game is released. I selected tracks that occur earlier in the game and are representative of each of the four main characters, so there are no real musical spoilers. The vinyl is double-sided and includes a special insert of one of the game's central antagonists, Queen Agony. Listen to a few of the tracks right here: https://soundcloud.com/a-very-long-rope/sets/hymn-to-the-earless-god-ost
Stretch Goals
Maggot Mode:
Ideally, I want to make three sets of difficulties: Maggot, Fly, and Spider. We have the design planned out for this, and we're going to try our hardest to include it, but this stretch goal will insure that Maggot Mode gets in the game. Maggot will allow for a more casual playthrough, including increased experience and teeth (the currency of Gloom), lower enemy stats, and less punishing enemy behavior. Another feature of Maggot Mode: you'll be able to use your mercenaries from one protagonist's game on the others (assuming they get along), allowing you to use your favorite mercenaries as much as possible. All of these things will be able to be selected independently, so if you want to toggle the increased experience but keep the enemy behavior as normal, you will be able to.Spider Mode:
The corollary to Maggot Mode, Spider Mode will provide a more challenging experience for players who are used to the games systems. Enemies will have higher stats and more punishing behaviors. Some of these behaviors will feature completely new skills. For instance, in the demo, the Mana Leeches can just steal your mana and flee. In Spider Mode, once they're full of mana, they will explode, causing major damage to the party. These new skills will require more art, so hit this stretch goal to insure that Spider Mode makes it in the full version. I really want it to!New Game +:
While Hymn to the Earless God is meant for a single playthrough, there are a lot of different scenes that you can discover by using different mercenaries and making different choices, so a New Game + feature will allow you to go back through the game after you've beaten it while keeping all of your levels, skills, and equipment, and find all of the small hidden scenes you missed on your first playthrough.Post-Game Superboss:
This is something that I've had planned from the outset, but it might be on the chopping block if we don't hit this stretch goal. Giving any specifics here would be a spoiler, I can say that this is more than just a single boss. Hitting this stretch goal also means that there will be more unveiled about the world of Gloom--including additional endings for each character.New Mercenary: Grackle
There are already close to 40 mercenaries in Hymn to the Earless God, but I came up with some ideas for mercenaries after most of the design was already figured out. Including them would require additional art, dialogue, mechanics, and level design. The stretch goal mercenaries are already characters that exist in the world of Gloom, so they aren't going to be shoehorned in; instead, they would be upgraded from NPCs to recruitable mercenaries!
Grackle is the leader of a group of Zill bandits that rob unsuspecting passersby on their way from Raja Balquar to Hashak. They operate from a cave on the abandoned Interstate-2. Recently, most of Grackle's underlings have left him to follow someone else, leaving Grackle to crow about his glory days to whoever will listen.
As a mercenary, Grackle utilizes the hide technique more than any other character, making him untargetable by most abilities and setting himself up for major damage later. Unlike most characters, he can also go back into hiding after revealing himself, making him stealthy and lethal when built the right way.
