We've been showing off too many cute Abomis recently. Let's take a look at a more threatening one for this week's new Abomi:
Jawbridge is a mean ol' crocodile (or alligator, whatever) that's all about its enormous mouth. Its mouth is almost its entire body. Its teeth are some kind of farce, because it can swallow most things whole. This second-stage Abomi has a monstrous Attack stat, and with its Pearly Whites ability that boosts the power of biting moves, it is a force to be reckoned with.
As usual, you can find Jawbridge in motion on my Twitter page. From an animation standpoint, I find it very satisfying to see that jaw drop. Happy with how this one turned out.
Next up I want to take a look at the relationship between two existing Abomis: Lambus and Puppermint. Lambus are gentle, cloudy sheep that enjoy floating along the breezes of Abomi Nation, never really minding where the wind might take them.
Puppermint are more excitable. And when they see a Lambus, you can bet that they'll be barking at them to get over here. Lambus do NOT like being ordered around, but Puppermint's Ice typing makes them threatening. Puppermint would never hurt Lambus, though. They think they're just playing.
As a special bonus today, I'd like to use Puppermint and Lambus to show off some mechanical changes to how status moves work now.
While hovering over an Abomi after selecting an attack, you would normally see a breakdown of the damage and a giant red number over the target's head. When using a status move, though, you would see nothing. But now, if Puppermint were to use the new move Shout on this Clubcub:
These little blurbs were always available on your attack menu, but I figured including them was better than having nothing here. Utmost clarity is important. That isn't really a change to the mechanics, though...
Currently, in the demo, you can use moves like Speech or Massage to buff your partner Abomis before they enter battle. This, I think, is a fun feature that helps set Abomi Nation apart from other monster-collectors. However, it did have one glaring balance flaw. It was an overwhelmingly good strategy to have one Abomi take damage and buff its bench, and then switch into a beefed-up tank at full health. Similarly, if the opponent applied this strategy, there was little you could do to stop the new behemoth in front of you.
So, these status moves work the same as they ever did. But if you try to use, say, Speech multiple times:
Abomis can now only receive boosts from a partner once per battle. Now these moves have their intended effect of being a small buff and not an auto-win or auto-lose button with the right Abomi combo.
I've been working on a lot more than just this. There are many more changes to come. I've got many new Abomis and new attacks in the holster. I'll keep you guys posted moving forward!
Carl
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