Elemensional Rift was on display once again at SFGE this past weekend. This was a bit of a surprise as SFGE was wanting to give new games a chance with first priority and help draw more new experiences for attendees. Due to some last minute cancellations, an opening emerged for NR, utd. and the opportunity was taken. It was a chance to test out several new features that would be getting a first chance to be tested.
The attendees came early and came in droves right to the indie section from as quickly as registration was opened. This provided a great chance to test out how the new mobility options were running. The gentle touch of giving different characters different animations and timings for leaping downward through platforms was a well received nice touch that helped with the emphasis of personalizing each character while also conveying their own personality in a seemingly simple action. Whether it was a simple leap donward from an experienced mobile character like Neon or a crawling down while swinging back and forth like Mana, it was an appreciated nice touch that helped convey more about their characters and attendees picked up on it quickly. The other new mobility option of individualized dashing mechanics took a little more usage for first time players to get a feel. Some players were dashing all over the place once they saw their first dash. Other dash capabilities had more strategic purposes so some of those players were experimenting with but did not dash as much. Some of the dashes with more offensive purposes surprisingly had the least amount of usage in spite of being the category most abundant type of dashing.
It wouldn’t be a successful convention displaying of Elemensional Rift without having a tournament to let attendees show off their skills and might. This year, the clash in the finals was Nekuen and Drake (marking the first time Drake has been used in the finals to date). The Nekuen player emerged victoriously to claim the prize.
With another successful showcasing of Elemensional Rift at SFGE, it provides feedback as Elemensional Rift moves forward in preparation for the next event.