Ahoy there Sea Rats!
It’s been quite some time since our last post but we’re super excited to launch a big content update today just in time to celebrate the Steam Spring sale!
This new content drop includes two brand-new game modes, balance changes to the in-game economy system, enhanced enemy and boss behaviour patterns, improved UI and map quality of life, two additional VO languages, and minor bug and achievement fixes! There’s a lot to cover, so read on for a breakdown of what's included.
NOTE: This update is currently live on all versions EXCEPT for Nintendo Switch! We expect the Switch version to be updated in the next week or so, thanks for your patience!
New gameplay mode: ‘Jolly Roger’ (casual) mode
The first of the two new game modes has been designed to address player feedback relating to the game’s difficulty and cater to a more casual play experience. The ‘Jolly Roger’ mode can be selected when you begin a new story campaign OR any time you change character when visiting Wu Yun during a campaign.
This mode makes the following significant changes to the core gameplay:
- Contact damage has been removed so you will only receive damage from enemies when they attack you. To complement this, most enemies no longer block your movement and can be passed through.
- Enemies only respawn in rooms if you interact with Wu Yun. This means that you can explore the environment more freely, and can no longer farm enemies by immediately re-entering cleared rooms.
- You can now warp to unlocked ancestral doors from anywhere on the map and are therefore no longer required to backtrack to specific rooms.
- All enemies have reduced health.
- Player characters inflict more damage.
New gameplay mode: ‘The Ghost Ship’ (wave survival) mode
On the flip side, the second game mode introduces a much more challenging experience in the form of an arcade-style wave survival mode that should appeal to players who love classic beat ‘em ups and racing against the clock!
‘The Ghost Ship’ mode can be selected directly from the main menu and features:
- 1-4 players must fight to clear 10 waves, with each wave consisting of a wide variety of enemies and bosses from the main story. Special abilities such as double jump and air dash are unlocked by default and will be essential for avoiding taking damage within such a confined space.
- Once a wave has been cleared, pick between 3 different stat buffs or powerful items to increase your chances of survival.
- After certain ‘milestone’ waves you’ll also unlock additional bonuses in the form of new ‘inner element’ magical abilities and magic slots. But be warned, however, if all players are defeated progress will be lost!
- Your fastest clear times will be logged after each wave so you can challenge yourself to smash your existing records!
If the challenge proves too much you can also play ‘The Ghost Ship’ using the ‘Jolly Roger Mode settings.
Enemy bestiary
We received a lot of requests for an enemy bestiary to be added to help complete ‘The Fighter’ achievement which requires you to defeat one of each enemy. A bestiary can now be accessed via the inventory menu once you have obtained the Explorer Goggles by defeating Rama Cinnamon and Banana and keeps a running tally of every enemy that you have defeated so far in your adventure.
Balance changes
In response to community feedback we’ve made the following balance changes:
- Gold and spiritual energy economies have been rebalanced.
- Enemies core stats have been rebalanced.
- All bosses have had their behavior patterns and animations adjusted to create more engaging boss fights. It is now much clearer which attack they will make and there is more time for you to react.
UI and map changes
We made some small changes to the UI and map:
- Tweaks to the UI and map background changes
- A new gate room has been added close to where you encounter Dolores.
Additional voiceover languages
Alongside the full English VO, we have added Catalan and Spanish voice acting reflecting our heritage as a Barcelona-based studio!
Bug fixes
Finally, we have squashed the following bugs:
- Fixed bug with Cocoon debuff.
- Fixed Gunner VFX not ending properly.
- Fixed missing map icons.
- Fixed audio issues when quickly changing scenes.
- Fixed the initial cutscene not working on Steam Deck.
- Fixed visual bug when a box falls above a player.
- Fixed teleportation bug when other players change scenes.
- Fixed VFX not disappearing after scene change.
- Fixed incorrect dialogues in certain situations.
- Adjusted the volume of some sound effects.
- Fixed Necromancer not reappearing in some cases.
- Fixed Morrigan being able to take damage while invulnerable.
- Improved legibility of some notification text.
- Fixed spirit counter showing incorrect numbers upon first appearance.
- Fixed minimap does not reappear after the boss fights in some cases.
- Fixed hitbox for Gunner enemy.
- Fixed projectiles do not work when enemies are electrocuted.
- Fixed movement during cutscenes.
- Fixed audio issues when blocking Specter.
- Fixed an issue where Freddy’s mini spiders didn’t appear.
- Adjusted font size across all UI elements.
- Fixed enemies sometimes do not deal damage.
- Fixed InkTopus death animation.
- Fixed issues with effects UI.
- Fixed Skull Thrower player detection.
- Fixed bug when skipping Granny Malone’s dialogue.
- Fixed several shader issues.
- Fixed some debuffs not hiding in the UI.
- Fixed Bussa block.
- Fixed issue when dashing after a dash attack.
- Fixed Morrigan’s VFX not disappearing in some cases.
- Fixed the issue where Leprechaun didn’t reappear after failing the minigame.
- Fixed the hitbox of Banana Tucan not flipping correctly.
- Fixed a bug when disconnecting the controller in a room with a different FOV.
- Fixed issue with controller vibration not stopping.
- Fixed The Fighter trophy unlocks.
- Fixed delay when opening the inventory on some platforms.
- Fixed bug when opening the map while running.
Thank you all for your continued support, we really hope you’ll enjoy the new content and improvements we have made. The Steam Spring sale runs from 13th - 20th March and we’ll be running a massive 65% discount on Curse of the Sea Rats for the duration of the event, so now is the perfect time to grab some mates and jump in 🙂
Petoons Studio & PQube
