Procyon

Hello!

First of all, I am thankful that I am in the Beta and am eager for this game to be fully released after stuff is worked out. I want this game to succeed, along with the fine folks on the Discord, and just wanted to put my initial review on a place where the VB devs move around. If this thread isn't appropriate, please feel free to delete it.

This will be split into Pros and Cons. I'm approaching this as the kind of player I am and what I think will make up a majority of the player-base: casual folks who want something quick to play in between breaks. 

As a disclaimer for folks in the future, this is during the Beta in August 2021, so this may not be the final, playable product.

XX

Pros:

-The Story folder: It is a great idea to keep Belles' tales and the Campaign separate from the Sortie map. It seems to be a great way to also add limited time / seasonal events (i.e. Halloween, Christmas, etc) in a way that doesn't distract from the Sortie map.

-The Belles overall: There is a lot of variety when it comes to ship-girls and some that are frankly surprising to me. For example, I never expected to see freaking Schleswig-Holstein in a ship-girl game. She is a deep pull for Second World War naval history.

-The gameplay: It reminds me a lot of Kantai Collection and I think that will help it stick out against its nearby rival - Azur Lane. The graphics are colorful and the banter between the Belles and the Morganas keeps things lively.

Cons:

-The Grind: This is a big one for me and makes up a few points.

Getting Belle Vestures takes a long time, especially since they are unique per Belle and some require hundreds of Vestures to get (i.e. battleships). Players, especially those into naval games, usually want to get the battleships and aircraft carriers - the flashy flagships of yesteryear, so this could be a turn-off to them since the grind takes a while overall. Maybe the grind could be sped up a bit? I would suggest maybe increasing the drops of Vestures (i.e. one per battle completion with a bonus for completing the map) and/or streamlining them so multiple Vestures can work for multiple ships.

Leveling also is a big long for both Belles and the HQ. Maybe it could be slightly buffed? Others on the Discord also talked a bit of resource regeneration, so maybe that could be sped up as well. Some folks said they were running multiple fleets and were running out of material pretty quickly.

Tying into the grind is the fact that your warships can be knocked out for a substantial amount of time (by phone game standards, at least: 30+ minutes) if their equipment is damaged. If a player doesn't have a steady amount of Belles, then that stops the game for them because they don't have a substantial fleet to conduct operations. Speeding up the rate of folks getting ship-girls could alleviate that since players will have enough ships to sub in replacements for those who get knocked out.

-Having multiple ways of getting more equipment. It seems thus far that you can only get new weapons and stuff through the Commissary. Maybe these things can also be drops in story missions and the sorties to give players more of an opportunity to obtain loot.

XX

As mentioned previously, I want this game to succeed and I think it has all the pieces to help it stick out against the competition: a focus on story, the proper language for ship-girls, the Belles themselves, the setting of "real world" history and even the fact that it is a Western-made ship-girl game. That said, the grind is what gets to me. I tried to think of a solution that alleviates that without making it too easy to get stuff and plays with the already-existing game mechanics.

Once again, thank you for the invite and I wish you guys the best with making Victory Belles the best game it can be.

51 minutes ago, Legate of Mineta said:

Procyon;

I think Mahan's costume and book will be available until the launch of the game, and that's when it will end.

Oh, boy. For me, it's the story, but there's a *ton* of things that I think are interesting- if you like history, it's set in WW2, and has a meta game based on that. If you like the ships themselves, their weapons are fully simulated, and use the most realistic simulation of naval combat I've ever seen. The customization of equipment is crazy, if that's your kind of thing. And then the Belles themselves. Did I mention the stories? I may be biased here.

Anyway, you'll soon be able to see for yourself.

Oh!  Okay!  I'll definitely think about that!

So there is more emphasis on story, characterization and "real world" history when  compared to its rivals?  It seems like you guys are using the real-world League of Nations and real factions when it comes to the Second World War after all.  The amount of Belles is also limited, yet diverse since it spans both major and minor powers of the era.

Kantai Collection is more history-esque, but it really doesn't touch upon the real world that much and it doesn't have a lot of nationality for its ships.  Azur Lane, though fun, is more history-lite at this point with more emphasis on "collect the waifu" than narrative. 

I really wish you guys the best.  Hopefully you guys sell some physical merch if the game carves out a healthy niche for itself.  I'm sure a Western-made ship-girl game with a focus on the "real world" will do well for itself against its more fantastical rivals, especially since you guys are using the actual language for the ship-girls: a big plus overall.

15 hours ago, Legate of Mineta said:

Schwarzbart;

That's the plan!!!

SN;

There will be, but it will come after Droid and iOS, as it turns out.

 

Oh!  Two questions:

-Since the PayPal backer rewards are changing, is this going to be the last time to get the Mahan edition of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History?  No offense to Mahan, but I was hoping to roll with the Regia Marina...so I was wanting to start out with one of their ships for the game :).

-To play devil's advocate, what would you and the devs say is the main selling point of Victory Belles?  Kantai Collection is still around and Azur Lane, a game that didn't exist during the initial run of the Kickstarter, is also out in full force.  I personally love the designs of Victory Belles more than those two games (the girls are pretty, but not overtly sexualized to ridiculous degrees...in my opinion), but I was wondering what niche Victory Belles will be inhabiting in the Second World War ship-girl genre.

...trying to sell the game to a few friends who are interested ;).

Thanks and congrats for the upcoming Beta.  I really can't wait to jump into the game after many years!

Man!  I'm so excited!

Excited that we're almost there! 

I can't wait to experience the game!

Soon!  I can't wait to play the Closed Beta!

1 hour ago, Käpt'n Korky said:

I wouldn't mind having such mystery stories in the game in some capacity. Could be fun.

Excellent solution to the yankii torpedo crisis: Ban torpedos for yankii Belles!

There, problem solved. Beta can be announced next update. What else?

Oh yeah!  Beta is soon!

Nice collaboration with a YouTuber.  Beta is upon us!

On 4/2/2021 at 10:28 PM, calqueraas said:

I know that we aren't supposed to be getting new Belle interviews in several weeks and all, but honestly something, anything, about the new Belles would be nice. Eddie's introduction, while not being a full interview, was quite pleasant. I don't know whether this might reach the writing team or not, but more of those would certainly spice things up. Perhaps a letter from Antoniotto Usodimare; a telegram from U-37; or perhaps more sisterly stuff (Nubian with Zulu, for example). Even if the E would not be available, just more mini-introductions like Eddie's would be a breath of fresh air from the routine, I think.

Or it might just be me being really salty, I don't know.

I would love some new Belle stuff as well.

The ships we already know about are nice and all, but some new meat would be fun for future dev blogs.

47 minutes ago, lazarusdw said:

so belle's can have asthma i wonder what other health concerns belle's can have? also if Velesco has any trouble getting her friend's money back then i would turn a blind eye to anything Espero and Surcouf do. to get a proper recompense from that quack doctor

Now that is kind of interesting since some ships were not built super optimally when compared to other vessels.

...like how the Scharnhorst-class battleships were prone to getting wet in heavy seas.

On 1/31/2021 at 10:39 AM, Legate of Mineta said:

Procyon;

In fact, we already have other artists working on Belles- you can't really just have one. It would overwhelm anyone!

That is nice!

Salmon is a great artist though.  What really attracted me to your project is the art - the girls look so nice!

That and the history ;).

Question about expansion for the game:

Salmon is the one who designed a lot of the ships for the game.  If the ship lineup is to expand in the future, will you guys be relying mainly on Salmon to expand that...or will you guys search for other artists like the other ship games?

I know this is very early to be talking about this, but I was just curious overall.

C1!

So excited to see more ships!

3 hours ago, lazarusdw said:

yeah jingles has a wide reach definitely worth a try

He is also familiar with weeb culture.

He indulged in Girls Und Panzer, Kantai Collection and Fate Stay Night.

1 minute ago, Legate of Mineta said:

She is a Queen, you know.

...and she sunk ships too, though by accident.

1 minute ago, lazarusdw said:

i think they said by lottery

I think Legate said that was dependent on net issues as well.

Just now, Legate of Mineta said:

Alas! Poland, while you can get the flag and play a Polish Captain, is represented by the UK and the Allies. At least, so she is at Launch.

Oh! 

A team effort!

Just now, Ninjapacman said:

Monthly winners huh?  We haven't had much info on the world War mechanic since the opening stages of the campaign.  Glad to see that it plays a big part in the future development of the game.  Deutschland über alles

Nonsense!  Poland will reign victorious!

7 minutes ago, Ninjapacman said:

Now put out the trailer for the '40 belles!

 

I hope we get more Spotlights on various ship girls as we get closer to Beta to ramp up more media stuff.

3 minutes ago, Legate of Mineta said:

P;

Thankfully, I think the 'chugging' part is over.

Now it is the finishing touches to make sure it can pass through Beta well.

Then...release 😄.

8 minutes ago, Legate of Mineta said:

Procyon;

Both-ish? It has a large number of Belles (with more added as we go along), but they are certainly fully fleshed out and detailed.

Oh!  That is exciting. 

I am so happy to see this project chugging along!

15 minutes ago, Legate of Mineta said:

She is a Morgana, but you'll have to find out for yourself which.

Great suggestion- I'll add that to the pile. The network test is going first, though, and then I think we'd start contacting folks.

Oh! Wonderful!

Yeah.  The game should work first before marketing goes into full swing 😀.

Love the teases for the new ships.  My guess is that this game is more focused on a full narrative with a limited amount of ships...as opposed to the "catch them all" approach to Kancolle / Azur Lane?

2 minutes ago, lazarusdw said:

who is this

Wasn't that a Morgana?

2 hours ago, Legate of Mineta said:

lazarus;

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Legate!

While I know you're not completely involved with the marketing, I recommend sending some press copies to some bigger YouTubers and media personalities so they could demo the game.

My personal recommendations: Gaijin Goomba (he supported your game awhile back) and iChaseGaming (He is a popular World of Warships YouTuber who is very familiar with anime stuff...like Azur Lane: https://www.youtube.com/user/ichasegaming)

I think that can help build back momentum from the Kickstarter to now.  I just really want this project to succeed!

1 hour ago, Legate of Mineta said:

Will go faster than you think. But, let's see what the net test shows first. Otherwise it will be like early Kancolle, where you have to win a lottery to get in!

That is understandable.

I'm so excited for this game!  There is a lot of potential for a more "grounded" ship-girl game with a focus on more "real-world" narratives.

That and the proper languages for the ship-girls is something unique in the ship-girl genre.