We’ve just released a new demo! But before you plunge into it, you might be interested in knowing what’s new.

You might remember that we released our first demo, which featured the first act, last April. Quite a few let’s players picked it up, which helped us reach a wider audience. I’d like to offer my thanks to everyone who recorded their playthroughs or streamed this game! We watched most of them and really enjoyed seeing your reactions! We also made it a point to request feedback from you through our feedback form. We received a lot and implemented quite a few of your requests. Most notably, as mentioned in the last devlog, new sprites that were custom made by our artist Black Wing Bin Lan instead of the creative commons ones we used before. Again, thanks a ton to everyone who submitted feedback! Just like last time we’d appreciate every bit of input we can get, so make sure to check out our survey after playing through the demo! It would really help us out a lot!

Act 1

Before we get to the totally new stuff, how about another throwback to act 1 and all the changes that we made, aside from the general minor writing and programming adjustments. A big change were of course the new character sprites, which especially peak during the darker moments of the act. The characters have also received proper names. I initially decided not to give them any since they didn’t play a big role throughout the game and were instead confined to their acts. But while playing the new demo you’ll notice that they’ve turned into reoccurring characters. This allows us to flesh them out more. Meet May, Sabrina and Fredrick!

We've also added a new death CG! If you've been following our Twitter or our other devlogs then you might have already seen it. Someone specifically called this a possible "impact CG". Feel free to replay that part and feel the new impact this CG brings to the scene.

Another huge aspect that we've added are animations! Our programmer Alfred has been working really hard to flesh them out and it shows. They bring so much new depth to the game and make the CGs less static. All of them ended up looking quite impressive, make sure to check them out in-game!

Act 2

Alright, let's get to the main attraction: The newly added act! Though there's not really much I can tell you about it aside from the general premise since I'd like for you to enjoy it for yourself without spoiling anything.

The new act is all about a horrifying comedy trend that takes over the whole town: Face comedy. Rearranging one's own face, removing from it and adding new parts (even from other people), everything goes as long as it makes your face "funnier". This chapter also features notably more horrifying CGs than the last one. If you're a fan of Junji Ito's and Masaaki Nakayama's "face horror" (if you allow me to make up this new subgenre of body horror) then you should definitely check it out.

Fun fact: The art you see above features a few references to horrifying faces within Junji Ito's and Masaaki Nakayama's works. Can you tell where they're from? Let us know if you do in our quiz thread! No one has been able to guess them yet.

We of course can't forget to mention the new audio additions by yours truly. There's of course an all new soundtrack for the second act to give it its own identity. It also features more immersive dynamic audio shenanigans, since they've always been a big priority for Mycorrhiza. Just like last time we're weaving in and out between layers, adapting the currently playing music to reflect what's happening on screen, randomizing sounds and, most notably, working more with the stereo field. Definitely make sure to check out this video (preferably with headphones) to hear what we mean:
https://twitter.com/MycorrhizaVN/status/1424104360112447489

General Changes

Aside from act changes, we've also made a few general readjustments. Originally it wasn't quite clear if you would have to play through the doors in a specific order. Thinking about it, it was a bit strange that you would have all of these doors in front of you, hinting at you having a choice which to pick, only to have to play through them in a specific order. This became especially apparent when I saw that people decided to choose another door than the left one first. Some wanted to check out the middle or right one, only to realize that they had to choose the left one. This was in part of course because only one act was done, but we decided that it would make more sense to give the player the choice to choose which door they wanted to start with. Other games would thrive from a more gradual progression. Scott could experience the horrors in a specific order. But as our game is more focused on showing mini episodes, akin to Junji Ito's and Masaaki Nakayama's short stories, rather than a continuous progression, we felt that making the game less linear was way more effective. This doesn't mean that there won't be any callbacks to the previously played acts, though! Either way you're free to choose in which order to play through the doors.

We also made big UI changes. Our game menu is now more horror manga inspired. We even added horror manga panels from actual horror manga drawn by our artist Black Wing Bin Lan!

We've also added a new quick menu: A dog-ear that flips open to reveal the menu options hidden behind it! As a tester pointed out, this also makes the game easier to navigate for people who prefer using touch controls. Alfred worked really hard to make it bug free. Make sure to send him your props on Twitter!

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Alright, that's that! Make sure to check out the new demo, let us know what you think per feedback form and/or itch comments and enjoy the new, horrifying Mycorrhiza experience! Feel free to follow us on Twitter if you'd like to be kept up to date on the game's progress: @MycorrhizaVN. There is still one act left to go before the full release and we promise it'll make your skin crawl.