Since today’s update doesn’t have anything new visually (well it’s more something you have to see in action since the character animation isn’t in place yet), I’m just going to make this one fast. Today I added the freeform gameplay element of picking up and throwing items. Arashi has the ability to pick up loose items or furniture instead of putting them in her inventory, which she can carry around and place wherever. Bear in mind at this stage I didn’t really plan to do anything spectacular with this functionality, but it is one step towards the interactivity I’d like to add. By pressing the B button while carrying an object, the button normally used for special abilities and equipped items, she can try to use the item with whatever she’s next to or activate its normal standalone ability (such as the basic example of turning on or off a carried lantern). She also has the ability to simply place things she’s carrying at her feet (much like dropping an item from her inventory), which is more useful for precise movements that the situation might require.
One useful feature this does aside from future interactivity with the world is let Arashi throw whatever she’s carrying at enemies by pressing the A button. This does a moderate amount of damage on its own based partly on the size of the item, but also stuns the enemy longer than a typical attack sequence. Hopefully some good players will find a useful strategy for this, especially for long-range attackers like spellcasters and bow users. An even better fact is that some items, like those made of stone or metal, don’t break when thrown, so they are reusable as this makeshift style of ammunition.
