Hello, all! We've been getting very helpful feedback from the community when it comes to keeping everyone up-to-date with progress on the game. Since we can't push full game updates as often as we'd like to, we have decided to pull back the curtain and show off some of the new features currently in development for our next build! For those wishing to avoid spoilers, we've hidden all story information within this post; however, some of the included screenshots and gifs may still reveal slivers of info. Players who would rather remain completely spoiler-free, ye have been warned.

Story and Campaign

We've been hard at work on Chapters 3 and 4 of FLAMBERGE, which take place in[spoiler]two brand-new areas: the Bastion and the Mountains[/spoiler]. At the end of Chapter 2, [spoiler]our band of heroes received a Sigil which allows communication with spirits[/spoiler]... on your journey you will find yourself traversing[spoiler]the Bastion, a haunted land full of histories and secrets[/spoiler].[spoiler]Prepare yourselves for encounters with strange new enemies and entities[/spoiler]... The just-released background music for this area is one of my personal favorites; you can listen to it by following this link. On the note of music (pun absolutely intended), the entire FLAMBERGE soundtrack is being remastered from the ground up for a better auditory experience; we're hoping to include this change in the next build. [spoiler]Speaking with spirits...[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Who -or what- are these strange new enemies?[/spoiler]
Chapter 3 will be[spoiler]relatively story-heavy, so we're most likely going to release it along with Chapter 4, which is much more gameplay driven[/spoiler]. We're not quite ready to show the core of [spoiler]Chapter 4[/spoiler] yet, but here's a little teaser for you:

New Features and Updates

After some in-person QA at Awesomecon in March, we've made some changes to the tutorial elements in Chapter 1, as well as many general quality of life improvements. In other words, our updated build feels extra shiny. Here's something new we've been wanting to add into the game for quite some time! Our new skit system will give players the chance to delve deeper into the thoughts of your party's characters. Think of it as a sort of campfire simulator; a (completely optional) way to get to know your party members.
Additionally, we've chosen to expand on the concept of [spoiler]translating enemy dialogue, and are implementing banter between enemy groups that can be seen during battle. Here's a glimpse at the battle for Nochwood (before the Translation Sigil is received)[/spoiler].
And finally, our next update will contain a Link to the Past style intro featuring new music, artwork, and story content! Here's some context-free stills:

Feedback

Your feedback is immensely valuable to us, both in terms of the game itself and our management of the Steam community. We'd love to hear your thoughts on these upcoming features, as well as your feelings towards these community text updates. Thanks so much for reading; we can't wait to show y'all even more great stuff!