Asura (now at Vengeance: Free Expansion!) $

[getter77]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/524640 $9.99 Win/Mac/Linux

Asura is a top-down hack 'n' slash game inspired by Indian mythology. It features heavy rogue-like elements and a procedural skill tree which changes on every play through.

Take on the roll of a demon incarnate and obliterate your way through the randomly generated fortress of the Daeva empire. Equip weapons from a wide variety of arsenal and carefully craft your character using the ever changing skill tree. The game can be brutal but is always fair. Can you rise from the ashes? Can you defeat the Daeva empire?

Features
Obliterate through 5 different randomly generated fortress each with its own unique aesthetic, enemies and adversities.
Craft your character using the procedurally generated skill tree with over 80 skills to choose from.
Unlock 3 different demons and unleash your fury.
Venture forth and get your hands on a wide variety of loot, altering your gameplay as you hack, slash and obliterate your foes in battle.
Confront and battle through hordes of enemies each with its unique characteristics and abilities, inspired from Indian mythos!
Duel and slay Heroes of the Daeva, Vanara, Naga and the Hathira race and unlock more as you destroy them in the battlefield!

Ogre Head Studio
Ogre Head Studio is two man indie game company by Zainuddeen Fahadh and Neeraj Kumar based in Hyderabad, India where we make games all about Hack, Slash & everything Epic!

Support
For any issues or feedback with the game, join our discord HERE!
or contact us at support(at)ogrehead(dot)com

This is quite likely the most tantalizing of design fusions between the Roguelike and ARPG scenes since Triangle Wizard---and for completely different reasons/methods at that!   

[Skeletor]

Good old Getter77. I just performed a forum search for Triangle Wizard to check if the game was updated and this thread came up.
Looks neat. Did you try it?
Shame Wouter abandoned Triangle Wizard.

Procedural Skill tree:
Craft your Demon using a Skill tree which changes every time you die.

Brutal Mechanics:
When you get burnt, a random equipment will get destroyed from your inventory. When you are poisoned, you can't heal. When your health is low, it does not regenerate automatically. When you die, you don't get to save your progress.

[Avagart]

I played Asura already. It's great game, much closer (in own, strange way) to roguelikes than, for example, Binding of Isaac. Very enjoyable, atmospheric and smooth experience. I see that many people (on steam) complains on controls, but I think you don't need gamepad, mouse + keyboard works pretty well. Procedural skill tree mechanics is nice, brutal-burning-mechanic not - equippable loot is rather scarce in Asura, and you can't take reserve equippables with you - it means that if your weapon got burned on 5th dungeon level, you are, I beg your pardon, fucked.

[getter77]

Ah, but Skeletor, Triangle Wizard has not been abandoned since last year's update!~      Wouter just needs time as life intervenes...

The burning mechanic varies on difficulty level, though there are items and skill choices that can get around it(Can also forge weapons now along with all other types compared to early days in the game when you could only do so with armor) while they no doubt tweak all manner things going forward---90% of design decisions in the game center around maintaining the theme of frantic wrathful vengeance where possessions can be fleeting such that you just rage on with your powers still and eschew the normal time sink traps that plague most APRGs by the same old Optimal Behaviors.

[getter77]

That said update(s) ahoy now that the meat has accumulated:   

27497

Balance and New features:
Weapon will not destroy any more, regardless of the difficulty. Only your armour will. Why? because we hear you!
Changed the selection/highlight for enemies and color coded it. Purple for Magic enemies, Red for Melee enemies and Green for Range enemies.
Increased the Parivartan cost to 15. No more can you break the game by earning unlimited gold using it in conjunction with Hadapan.
Decreased the damage output of enemies in higher levels.
Pride Achievement will only be disabled if you loose health. (Taking damage on shield does not cancel the progress for this achievement)

Increased the Arrow capacity of the following Asuras:
The Rakshas of Yodha: 40 arrow capacity
The Rakshas of Chalak: 80 Arrow Capacity


Fixes:
Fixed the black screen issue which occurred after the last update, due to swapping left click and right click buttons.
Fixed hitbox issues with traps. Now they will actually KILL you if you are not careful!
Fixed an issue where in the Daeva Chakravyu/Deadly Rollers in level 5 would sink in the ground.
Fixed an issue where in enemies would run off the room in Level 5.
Fixed an issue where in projectiles would penetrate through walls.
Fixed some of the issues with the wall colliders in the rooms.
Fixed the Aukaad screen where in bosses death stat would not register properly even after killing all of them.
Fixed localization issues with chinese.
Fixed a shader issue which would cause the portals in level 5 to appear even during the death screen.
Fixed an issue with camera angle which would cause the camera to not revert back to it's original position once bosses have been killed. (Camera rotation turned off)
Tons of other minor bugs and UI fixes!

Due to fixes & changes to the controls and level generation, the controls and the current save game would be reset. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Coming Soon!
We are currently working on the WASD controls for the game.
You will be able to switch between the Mouse controls and the WASD controls via the game's Setting option.
We are working to make sure that you can enjoy Asura only with a mouse. This is for people with disabilities.

Known Issues we need your help with!
There is an issue reported where in when you cast a skill, Asura and the enemy will get stuck in the level.

If this ever happens to you then please send us a screenshot of the whole screen along with the log files. Please do this without restarting the game.

You can send us the files at support@ogrehead.com or join our discord: https://discord.gg/7ZRQhrZ

Thank you!

There are tons of issues in the WASD Beta branch. Please note that it is not the final version of the game. We recommend you only play it if you want to try the WASD version of the game.

What's new!
Asura can now Sprint/Run even faster while holding down the Sprint button.
Added an option to swap LMB and RMB for Keyboard and Mouse configuration
Added new SFX for dropping consumables, Deva and Naga death Voice, UI transitions in the end screen, Asura death and more.
Added Camera rotation and Camera Shake settings in the Character Selection Screen.
Your skill tree won't reveal itself until you reach level 1.

Game Balance
Increased the chance to acquire melee weapon by tweaking the algorithm of room generation.
Bonfire will now drop 100% Loot.
Decreased the cost of items at Dukaan (Shop).
Decreased the cost of Lohaar (Blacksmith).
Increased the amount of keys and quivers in Dukaan (Shop).
Decreased the damage of Anathema ( fireball exploding from enemy on death) spell.

Patch Log:
Fixed an issue where in Sheild Elephant Infantry would not block Boomerang and other items when using it with certain skills.
Added Sheild Elephant Infantry Blocked status in event log.
Fixed an issue in Chest Enemy Room where it would roll at the same place.
Changed the layout of the HUD.
Fixed English localization in Veda.
Fixed Chinese localization.
Fixed an error where in some of the skill text had incorrect numerics.
Fixed an issue where in Controls woulld Save regardless of Saving it.
Fixed an issue where in Totem's where labelled with an Enemy Unit's name.
Changed the Run animation speed.
Fixed an issue where in combating with Yartiga & Vami ( The Twin Monkey Boss) would not display an additional HP bar.

Disabled 'Auto Lock-On' on Bonfire.
You can now destroy Bonfire with just one strike from any range weapon for loot.
When you collide with the bonfire, it will get destroyed.
Fixed the hit box of Asura, Asura projectiles, and enemy projectiles.
Fixed tons of textual errors in the Shastra Tree. It should now communicate the functionality of spells much more accurately.
Fixed an issue where Lacheela would not block range attacks like Glaives or Bola.
Added a text description tab for each difficulty stating it's challenges.
Optimized some of the VO Audio files.
Fixed an issue where in Asura would get stuck when casting spells.
Implemented percentile stats for Move speed.
Fixed an issue where in Swastya Hathoda (Hammer life-steal spell) and Vidyut (Lightning Strike) would freeze the game.
Fixed an animation related glitch with certain spells when equipped with a magic item.
Fixed a navigation related issue under General Leader-board tab.
Increased the Sona requirement for Kalatma(heal for gold) to 30 Sona, upgrade to 20 Sona.
Fixed English and Chinese localization for some of the Shastras
Fixed some of the issues with Naga Chakravyu ( Naga Range Champion)
Added support for GPD Win.

With this update, we are hoping that the colliding issues with traps and projectiles will be much more accurate. Melee and range attacks won't automatically aim Bonfire. Enemy range attacks and even your attacks when colliding will have a better feel to it.

Dev-Tip: If possible, always destroy the bonfire in the room. It might have goodies and you will not have to worry about colliding it again.

You can now forge weapons in Lohaar ( Item forge room).
Implemented display of boss health bar in Shaitan Difficulty (normal mode).
Implemented Controller Sensitivity Slider under Game-play settings.
Added Controller Sensitivity for D-pad.
Fixed Yodha Shastra text in Shastra tree.
Naga bosses Heal ability nerfed and Health reduced.
Fixed an issue with Suraksha shastra (100% quiver drops) where in it would also trigger when scavenging magic units.
Removed the stat highlight in Shastra Tree.
Fixed an issue where enemy unit type where labelled incorrectly.
Fixed an issue where in continuing a saved game would show incorrect floor at the level complete screen.

Removed auto-lock on breakables when in combat.
Changed the requirements for unlocking Asura characters. You don't need to select the upgrades anymore.
Decreased the hit box size of the bonfire/torch.
Decreased the cost of Matka and Jaddi Butti in Dukaan.
Increased the amount of Matka and Jaddi Butti in Dukaan.
Shaitan (easy) difficulty will not burn your weapons anymore.
Removed the stun passive for hero units. We are working on this feature and will reintroduce it later with a proper fix and balance.
Fixed an issue where in a lag would occur when accessing inventory via the pause menu.
Reduced the left analog stick sensitivity by 50%. We will be adding a slider to customize the sensitivity in the next update.
Fixed some of the grammatical mistakes.
Fixed the text blurring issues on some UI elements.

They've uh, been doing pretty solid work on the old post release support there~

[Avagart]

Weapon will not destroy any more, regardless of the difficulty. Only your armour will.

It makes sense. I feel that Asura's combat mechanics is centered on successfull movement and dodges. Broken weapon caused lack of any dps what was leading to long and tedious fights. Burnt armour is just another challange, that you need to pay more attention to timing etc.

[Skeletor]

Ah, but Skeletor, Triangle Wizard has not been abandoned since last year's update!~      Wouter just needs time as life intervenes...

Wow.. just checked the change log and this looks awesome. Thanks for the heads up comrade.

[getter77]

27655

Hello,

We are glad to announce that the much requested WASD controls is now LIVE. We have also worked on tons of fixed and game balance. Check out the log below to know more about the same.

What's New!
Implemented WASD Control Scheme. Now you can use Keyboard to move and Mouse to look-at and shoot.
Implemented extensive rebinding option for WASD.
Now you can play the game only with the Mouse if you have a Mouse with additional buttons.
Added an option to choose between WASD Control Scheme or Mouse Control scheme.

Added a close button in the UI for Dukaan (Shop) and Lohaar (Blacksmith).
Improved the text quality in the some of the User Interface in the game.
Polished tons of User interface elements in the game.

Game Balance
Anyaay Shastra (Increase damage based on enemy in the room) duration is now time based instead of room based.
Nirdaya Shastra (decrease enemy hp in the room) duration is now time based instead of room based.
Bajrangi Claws will now have 50% instead of 100% chance to execute Vanara (Monkey) Enemies.
Sacrifical Chest will now consume more Health based on the difficulty.
Bosses drop 2 items and additional consumbales. MORE REWARDS!
Optimized the difficulty via changing the algorithm for the room generation when playing in Asura difficulty.
Reduced the damage of Nishana (Bow weapon which fires two arrows consecutively).
Optimized the cost of Dukaan (Shop) items.

Patch Log
Fixed an issue where in animation would play in inventory
Fixed an issue where in Dukaan ( Shop) UI would overlap with Inventory UI
Fixed an issue where in shop item would restock after save and load.
Fixed an issue where in skill targeting radial would go out of room.
Fixed an issue with Guardian room where in projectiles had a chance to kill you during the cut scene.
Fixed an issue where in enemies would run out of room.
Fixed an issue with enemy animation where in they would get stuck during certain attack animation.
Fixed an issue where in Rakt(Life-steal) Shastra would not work with Melee weapons.
Fixed an issue where in using 'Swastya Hathoda' Shastra ( the one where you throw hammer and if it kills, it heals you) would freeze the game when using agains the rats in Level 3.
Fixed an issue where in Lord Bhadra's ( Naga Range Boss) heal reticle would follow you even after intrupting him using a spell.
Fixed an issue where in 'Golmanda' (Boomerang) would not return after using against Elephant Shield Unit.
Fixed an issue where in anathema wouldn't work when using spells to kill enemies.
Fixed an issue where in Samartha' Naga Melee Champion would not die.

IMPORTANT
Some players have notified us regarding the compatibility issue with Xbox one controller on Win 10. We have reduced the sensitivity of the D-pad in the hopes to resolve this issue. However, Xbox One controllers on Win 10 will work best with the latest update (V. 10.0.14393.0)

What's Next?
We will now be working towards adding more content in the game. It is better if keep at as suprise for now. We will be sharing some glimpses of what the content will be as we move forward!

[Avagart]

Nice. The devs are really hearing players, and they are doing good job about updates.

[getter77]

Vengeance Expansion 

The Vengeance expansion is entirely FREE. You just need the base game to play the expansion. Steam will automatically update the game, and we recommend that you restart your Steam app for the update to reflect.

Also, Asura is on 15% discount for an entire week post-release. You can grab your copy of Asura at Steam, GOG or Humble Store.

After the release of the base game, we were humbled by the incredible response by all of you. Many of our players also shared fantastic feedback and feature request which we have tried to address in the Vengeance Expansion. We will be supporting Asura until you all are playing it and will be adding more content in the future. The Vengeance Expansion is just one more step forward in the journey. We hope that you have a good time playing Asura and as always, please do share your thoughts and suggestions with us so that we can make it even better!

For any queries, bug reports, or suggestions, please use the below channels to get in touch with us!


The Rakshasa is back...

The Vengeance Expansion is a free update for Asura which adds new features and content to the game. The expansion is now available and is accessable to those who own Asura!

Vengeance Mode:
Introducing an endless mode with a brand new level wherein you resist the invading hordes of the Daeva empire. Eliminate as many waves of enemies as possible and compete on the leaderboard with your friends.

Chakra System:
A new persistent system wherein defeating the bosses will unlock unique perks which can be equipped during battle.

Mahasura Difficulty:
A new difficulty mode for the hardcore who are looking for a challenge. In Mahasura Difficulty, any enemy, boss or champion can spawn regardless of the fortress. Oh yes! Your weapon will get destroyed when you get burnt.

Shamshan:
Save your Asura at Shamshan ( Crypt ) and show off the epic gear and ultimate skills you acquired during your invasion.

New Items:
New artifacts and drops items have been added to the roster and will drop to boost your stats while in combat.

New Rooms:
Sacrifice your blood in the goblet of Amrut for rewards or test your luck at the dice game called Passa. New rooms have been introduced to the procedural fortresses (levels) in the game.

Several other general improvements and the above features have been introduced with the update.

Hi everybody,

We have received fantastic response for our latest expansion and are estatic that you are enjoying Asura with the new content and features.

As you might know, there are some issues especially with the new Vengeance Mode:

1.) Shastras ( skills) which trigger on boss wave sometimes freezes the boss animation making the game not progressable.

2.) Asura and projectiles in very rare occasions passes through the level walls.

3.) On finishing the Hero wave, the UI sometimes does not show up halting your progress.

There are other minor issues as well which we are fixing and we should have an update and fix for all the above by today end of the day!

As always, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused due to these errors and are addressing it as I type this. We are two person team and trying our best to make sure you have the best experience.

Tez-Yatra:
We have implemented the much-requested Teleportation feature and are calling it Tez-Yatra which means Fast Travel.

Asura can place the Teleporter anywhere in the fortress by pressing the F button ( re-bindable). Once the teleporter has been set, Asura can instantly teleport back to it by pressing the same button. Teleporter can't be set if when fighting enemies. If the teleporter has been placed in an undesired position, it can be destroyed by just pressing and holding down the Teleporter button.

The teleporter can be of great help reducing the backtracking drastically. However, you will need to place them strategically to make the most of it.

Salvage Items
Another new feature is the Salvaging of items. In the latest update, Asura can salvage items for 1 Sona. Any and all item can be salvaged included quiver, meat, weapons, armors, etc.

We added this feature because many times, tons of loot would get left behind for eg. quivers would be a complete waste if you are equipped with a magic weapon. Now at least you can Salvage and earn some extra Sona!

We have also fixed some issues with UI and font.

Ogre Head has been working on a new spawn system for the Champion units in Asura. You all shared the feedback mentioning that you were finding it difficult to unlock the champions. This is admittedly our fault in the design because we left it entirely under the shroud of randomness. As a result, some players may never face certain Champion units due to unfavourable RNG.

Without spoiling much, we will try to explain how the new spawn system works.

We have divided the Champions and distributed them among the three difficulty modes. Champions will unlock as you beat the game in various difficulties. Once unlocked, the units are added to a list of champions. Until you have defeated a particular Champ, they will not randomize.

The above method makes it certain that you get the opportunity to face all the Champions in the game, unlocking them in the Aukaad as you defeat them.

If you have already beat some Champions, the above system will reset it and will make sure that you get to beat every Champion in the game. However, your Aukaad will remain the same.

Along with the above design changes, we have made some additional fixes. Check out the patch log below to learn more about it.

Patch Log:
Fixed an issue where in the Gold chest would respawn after saving & loading.
Fixed an issue with some Mini-map icons after saving & loading.
Fixed an issue wherein stun particle effect would appear on dead enemies.
Fixed a problem with resurrection mechanic. If you entered an unexplored enemy room after resurrecting by dying in a Boss or Champion room, the enemy rooms would be empty.

We hope the new Champion system fixes the issues that the old one had.

Patch Log:
Redesigned the Item drop system. This is to fix an issue where in same items would drop hindering players from discovering new weapons and armours.
Redesigned the Champion Spawn system to fix an issue where in players would face the same champions instead of the unlocked champions
Added a new button to reset the camera when in manual rotation mode.
Replaced the Experience Chest with 'Gamla Of Gyan' , It is a pot that grants additional experience on breaking it.
Replaced the Gold Chest with 'Tijori' which contains a significant amount of gold.
The Key rooms can spawn 'Gamla Of Gyaan' or Tijori in them and not just a chest.

Balance Changes:

Reduced the enemy spawns of the small rooms in Asura (Hardcore) Difficulty.
Reduced the key rooms in Asura (Hardcore) Difficulty.

Added Manual Camera Rotation option. Now you can manually rotate the camera clockwise or counterclockwise. Please do note that this option can trigger nausea or motion sickness.
Resized the HUD to improve the gameplay experience.
Fixed an issue wherein Boss would get stuck in their combat animation when Asura would cast a spell.
Added an option to disable Tips/Hints which appear on the corridor.
Rebalanced the cool down attribute for many Active and Combat skills.
Reduced the freeze duration for Abhizitta ( Frost Ward) from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.

Each Matka (fire extinguishing item) and Jaddi Butti ( Cure Poison Item) has 3 charges now.
Your items should endure much longer.
Fixed an issue where bosses would get stuck during some animations.
Fixed an issue wherein Abhizitta Shastra (Freeze ward) could be cast simultaneously during certain scenarios.

So yeah, one of the best has gotten quite a bit better now since last time around.