[Released] PS: Fated Epistle - Episode 2

[Shawn Heatherly]

Absolutely wonderful to see.

 

[AenaonDusky]

Version 2.1 is out, fixing a progression bug that creeped in, full changelog:

Spoiler:

- Courier Center entry fix for early game
- Duplicate Barrel Mission glitch fixed
- Fewer side mission checks as requirement for main mission
- Better descriptions for mission locations
- Bonsly location hint giver
- Cushion location small hint

Version 2.2 item crash fix and:

Spoiler:

- Preset natures for mons
- Bonsly reappearing for ep1 players fix
- Slightly detailed Old Ruins mission description

Version 2.3

Spoiler:

- Better early game directions and NPC dialogue relating to said directions
- Early game cutscene and dialogue improvements
- Typo fixes
- Tile fixes
- Proper Ivory transfer event length
- Delibird shares Deliby's movepool now
- Updated movepools, and gave HA to ditto
- better visual and textual hints for AHs back entrance
- better NE menace mission description

Version 2.4

Spoiler:

- Hint to begin searching in Western Artemisia after you get Deliby now appears on PDA, also mentioned after exiting the Branch
- Olofsky mission description now updates right before the University mission to indicate that at this stage, MC can't do much to find the guy, other than take up other missions
- "Help with gang" mission is now available after beating the 4th guy guarding the city's exit
- High-level SW gangster moved to a more suitable place
- A few text errors fixed
- A couple of tile errors fixed

Version 2.5

Spoiler:

- Sequence to get you to Eastern Artemisia is now properly reflected on your PDA (Talking to Sylvia first, before finding the other guys)
- Tidied up some dialogue
- Updated a couple mission descriptions
- Fixed remnant of legacy text in a few places
- Strong Trainer indication for a W. Art. Trainer now works correctly
- Added a number of Super Repels in the University
- Fixed being able to fast travel during a segment the Rasperga SQ
- Refined late game dialogue
- Reduced size of a W.Art medium-sized apartment interior

Version 2.6

Spoiler:

- Fixed wrong Binoculars check preventing you from getting to W Artemisia with the item in your bag
- Bonsly swapped SW and W order
- Ancient Shield Mission description doesn't mention the questgiver
- Better implementation of the Network SQ questgiver, now it isnt easily missable
- descriptions of later Bonsly
- Sylvia Typo
- Fixed Sylvia Typo
- SW Mailbox when gangsta shows prologue MC face
- double "destination selection" message fixed

Version 2.7

Spoiler:

- Fixed city center panorama white lines
- Fixed Western Map not showing a couple of connections
- Fixed extra Budew obtainement dialogue
- updated Eastern and Northeastern maps
- added surprise event in NE
- PDA should show the correct locations for all maps
- Fixed MC portrait not showing during a couple of Modesto lines
- Fixed a couple of Modesto typos
- Fixed incorrect South Artemisia battle background
- Fixed Missing Man Municipal NPC appearing before the trigger
- MC now will mention he'll search for Sylvia starting from "the big buildings" in South Artemisia, to guide the player towards the Old School
- cushions can be picked up by touching them
- MC now turns left when approached by NPC in Old School
- added more autosave points
- fixed gangsta trainer not noticing you
- Old School gangstas now only talk about their experiences after the battle, upon being interacted with
- Refined and greatly reduced Old School dialogue, shouldn't be intrusive anymore

 

[AenaonDusky]

Version 2.8 is out, besides being a cumulative update bringing all of the changes listed above together, some important alterations have been made:

- Inter-district Fast Travel is now available, unlocked after the Gym Leader battle and AH cutscene.
- Pidgey Mission is now more easily accessible, as the NPC is near the Eastern entrance Drop Point. Mission description also updated.
-"Vanishing Woman" Mission description now updates after talking to her for the first time, preventing player confusion
- Implemented Barrel League challenge mission in order to prevent the player from missing out on an important follow-up mission
- Various progression improvements and streamlining
- Better Old Map mission description for the very first stage of the mission.
- Added a third evo to an event mon

Spoiler:

- fixed staircase event size trigger in orphanage
- first MP dialogue reduced, moved to post-battle
- Fixed Jerry name event wrong outfit
- updated post-orphanage description to include Modesto's location
- tidied up Modesto post-orphanage dialogue
- small refinements to Sylvia post-fire scene
- small refinements to underpass exit event, and some SE events
- fixed Zack event dialogue repetitions and namebox mistakes
- removed respawn-healing event dialogue
- MC will now not move to 2BF if 1BF hasn't been dealt with in Orphanage
- changed staircase tiles
- made goomy look like its animated a bit
- fixed Goodra and Sigfriend not appearing in the cave
- Jane Trainer Hotel Room door now is open halfway
- MC OW hair-wet sprite now updated to reflect portrait
- fixed MC portrait not talking at certain intervals underwater
- fixed Zack's Battle theme playing instead of his character theme underwater
- tidied up underwater and Liberator dialogue
- sailor direction fix in Ladder
- various Ladder cutscene improvements (non-talking portraits, sprite direction)
- Jane Mission removed from EP2 progression MQ requirements
- Aquatic Horizons dialogue tidied up, portrait animation fixed
- NE building guards now return to where they are supposed to be facing
- Various typos fixed
- You can now choose if you want to read Ivory Tower text
- Tile fixes
- Celeste MC monologue half of text now moved to event interaction with Celeste after the cutscene - non intrusive text
- Made Celeste climb trigger event easier to see
- fixed an incorrect building tile in Western Artemisia

 

[GameAddict_78]

Started the game yesterday and so far it's really fun! I enjoy the jobs that you have to do and like that some of them have a pretty sweet ending.

Spoiler:

Like doing the barrel investigation quest.

I do have one question, I was battling the audino guy and after a bit he had different dialogue and I chose not to fight him. Now he's at the doctor's office and I can't really level that much. Did I mess up or is this just a choice the player has to live with? Currently at the one boss battle and I'm getting trashed which is why I'm asking.

 

[AenaonDusky]

Started the game yesterday and so far it's really fun! I enjoy the jobs that you have to do and like that some of them have a pretty sweet ending.

Spoiler:

Like doing the barrel investigation quest.

I do have one question, I was battling the audino guy and after a bit he had different dialogue and I chose not to fight him. Now he's at the doctor's office and I can't really level that much. Did I mess up or is this just a choice the player has to live with? Currently at the one boss battle and I'm getting trashed which is why I'm asking.

Glad you're liking the game!
Don't worry, the Audino guy is a scripted event, you could have exploited him a bit further if you had refused, but not by much.
There is another NPC in the Under that you can battle with, too.

As far as the battle is concerned

Spoiler:

you can always do the cooking mission - that will enable you to bypass the battle entirely. As with almost all future boss battles.

You aren't even halfway through and there's many more interesting missions waiting to be completed!
Could I ask you to leave a review when you are done?
Thank you!

 

[SheJoh]

Completed the game reached the current conclusion of the story and so far I have to say it's been pretty amazing journey and I was kind of expecting a bit darker tone of the game after the events of first journey but I enjoyed the story and game nothingness i don't know if it's reserved for the future or not but I would love to see red get mentioned in the future version of the game or even a slight hit of him getting mentioned by the mc mother would be amazing another thing that I would like to add please in the next version add a bit more specific details about the mission like sometimes it becomes so frustrating and tedious to find a particular person or thing overall great game and hoping for the best in the future

 

[AenaonDusky]

Completed the game reached the current conclusion of the story and so far I have to say it's been pretty amazing journey and I was kind of expecting a bit darker tone of the game after the events of first journey but I enjoyed the story and game nothingness i don't know if it's reserved for the future or not but I would love to see red get mentioned in the future version of the game or even a slight hit of him getting mentioned by the mc mother would be amazing another thing that I would like to add please in the next version add a bit more specific details about the mission like sometimes it becomes so frustrating and tedious to find a particular person or thing overall great game and hoping for the best in the future

Thanks a lot for your review! The new update addresses what you've mentioned.

Version 2.9 is out.
A potentially progression-halting bug has been fixed, and a lot of mission descriptions have now been updated to be more specific, as well as many events will now trigger automatically so that the player won't miss them.
Full changelog:

Spoiler:

- hint about piano changed to hint about table
- better eastern artemisia healer dialogue
- put up a sign outside instrument maker's house
- fixed lagging piano music effect
- separated Taz's house from the Dubious Place
- fixed half piano missing tile in SW
- updated Jerry Mission description to mention where the fan club is
- Cheesecutter mission now automatically available after a point in the story, better description included
- made Jane South Artemisia event trigger automatically
- made debate SW scene trigger automatically
- fixed incorrect reference to ancientberry
- fixed wrong portrait appearance in SE
- clearer description of Camera sequence
- removed grandma-blocking rail in port
- broken down MP NE dialogue, fixed typos
- spawn point to entrance of Plastic Canyon added
- slightly lowered button mashing maximum needed
- corrected missing tile in S
- fixed PDA not updating when talking to guy who first saw the woman running
- fixed talking to people who saw her in the wrong order updating the PDA
- fixed portrait when talking to first guy who saw her not displaying
- greatly reduced Deputy dialogue
- MC will stop the player from exploring the northern corridor where the bug should be planted, if the player hasnt talked to the woman yet
- added more respawn points in the radio tower labyrinth
- reduced Jerry incriminating papers text
- fixed Modesto dialogue
- better initial Dedene mission description
- fixed a bunch of grammar and spelling mistakes in Ford mission
- redesigned the fire event to avoid errors
- fixed courier interrogation typos
- fixed courier portrait eye transparency
- fixed BGM not playing at the correct moment
- fixed chair tile getting Alyssa stuck
- game now takes into account talking to security guard before the lawyer
- fixed Cyan Bridge connection tile bug
- added autosave before burning building event
- fixed a couple of NE building tiles
- fixed various typos during Zack Mission

Unless a major bug is found, there's one last update coming for this episode, expected to be out by the end of the week.

 

[berkaykrl]

Good game

 

[SpaceCoder20]

Hey there Dusky it's been a long time!

Postscriptum is a giant leap forward from The first journey and for the better. My observations are that the music is really good, the plot is exceptional and where do I start on the graphics, it's on par with Insurgence and Empyrean.

I'm already impressed by this game, and I'm not even done with the game yet. The game requires a hell lot of patience, but it's an understandable kind that ties into the plot, and not for additional difficulty. It takes natural talent to pull off a believable atmosphere such as this, without it feeling a bit artificial.

The way in which the dialogues are written is exceptional, while only a few fan games can pull it off, you and your team have certainly made one of the best-written games to date and it's not even completed which in itself is a major achievement.

I love the sidequests aspect, I really do. I also love the protagonist's team is made up of under-loved mons ( except the budew line) and the circumstances in which you obtain them. I can go on about the game but the single biggest point which I love about the game is the character development of the protagonist.

The reason why I am writing this is that it seems like my game file has been corrupted and I am unable to continue playing the game. The last thing I remember was trying to find clues in Ford's house due to the Barrel Gang's request. If you could help me, it would be great and I would be very thankful

Finally, love Tyson and Sylvia as rivals, 10/10 characters.

 

[AenaonDusky]

Hey there Dusky it's been a long time!

Postscriptum is a giant leap forward from The first journey and for the better. My observations are that the music is really good, the plot is exceptional and where do I start on the graphics, it's on par with Insurgence and Empyrean.

I'm already impressed by this game, and I'm not even done with the game yet. The game requires a hell lot of patience, but it's an understandable kind that ties into the plot, and not for additional difficulty. It takes natural talent to pull off a believable atmosphere such as this, without it feeling a bit artificial.

The way in which the dialogues are written is exceptional, while only a few fan games can pull it off, you and your team have certainly made one of the best-written games to date and it's not even completed which in itself is a major achievement.

I love the sidequests aspect, I really do. I also love the protagonist's team is made up of under-loved mons ( except the budew line) and the circumstances in which you obtain them. I can go on about the game but the single biggest point which I love about the game is the character development of the protagonist.

The reason why I am writing this is that it seems like my game file has been corrupted and I am unable to continue playing the game. The last thing I remember was trying to find clues in Ford's house due to the Barrel Gang's request. If you could help me, it would be great and I would be very thankful

Finally, love Tyson and Sylvia as rivals, 10/10 characters.

Hey man, what an amazing review! Thank you so much for your kind words! Standing on shoulders of giants and loving what you do, is all there is to it.
You can send me a DM either here, or on discord (keep in mind that you'll have to upload your savefile elsewhere, if you sent if over forum DMs). If your save is irreparable for some reason, I can still find a way to sort it out. If you can, send me a description of the missions you've completed so far and where exactly in the main story you've left off.

Thanks!

 

[Kyumelon]

Hello :0

I picked this game up during the peak of Covid to cure my boredom, and that's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life. The story, in my opinion, is very well written. Everything about the game, from the characters to the design of Artemisia, and how different it feels from normal Pokemon games is just *chef's kiss*. 11/10 game. That being said, I stopped playing the game after I got stuck on Jade for around a year (yeah... I didn't get Budew.. ;-;) and came back to it 2 days ago (and I beat Jade the same day cause I found the Bonsly :D). I got up to the point where I enter Northern (or was it North Western) Artemisia with my drip, find out my mom is alive, and talk with the Inspector and Elea. After that cutscene, I get sent to the title screen after the game says that Episode 3(?) is done and that more will come soon. It looks like more content has come out since when I downloaded the game, so I was wondering how to update my version of PSFE without losing my progress and data :3

Uh, if I need to join the Discord server and stuff to send pictures of my things I am more than happy to do so.. also if I could get the download link for the latest version.. 👉👈

Thank you for creating such a wonderful game :D

 

[AenaonDusky]

Hello :0

I picked this game up during the peak of Covid to cure my boredom, and that's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life. The story, in my opinion, is very well written. Everything about the game, from the characters to the design of Artemisia, and how different it feels from normal Pokemon games is just *chef's kiss*. 11/10 game. That being said, I stopped playing the game after I got stuck on Jade for around a year (yeah... I didn't get Budew.. ;-;) and came back to it 2 days ago (and I beat Jade the same day cause I found the Bonsly :D). I got up to the point where I enter Northern (or was it North Western) Artemisia with my drip, find out my mom is alive, and talk with the Inspector and Elea. After that cutscene, I get sent to the title screen after the game says that Episode 3(?) is done and that more will come soon. It looks like more content has come out since when I downloaded the game, so I was wondering how to update my version of PSFE without losing my progress and data :3

Uh, if I need to join the Discord server and stuff to send pictures of my things I am more than happy to do so.. also if I could get the download link for the latest version.. 👉👈

Thank you for creating such a wonderful game :D

Hi, sorry for the late reply, I was away.

Sadly the revamped version which goes up to ep2 story-wise (but is much bigger content-wise) is not compatible with older saves. This was a very hard decision to make but was really worth it.
The game is now so much better in every imaginable way, it's almost like a new game. I understand it might be uncomfortable to start a new file but it will reward you with quantity and quality of content (especially the side missions) - it's absolutely worth it.

If you want me to spice your levels up to avoid any grinding (although all difficult battles are now avoidable if you think out of the box) just drop by the discord server and send me your savefile - alternatively, DM me the link to any file hosting site where you'll have uploaded your savefile.

Thank you for playing!

 

[AenaonDusky]

Update 2.12

Changelog:

Spoiler:

- Improved and polished SWs design, to make local areas more distinct from each other
- Added a couple of more areas
- Added a couple more secrets
- Changed Huge Complex on the left-hand side stair direction. Now it faces the mailbox, making it easier to find
- Made location's mention by Morty clearer
- Improved and polished S, SE, and E maps, new areas
- Updated description for Cap
- Updated description for Sylvia's Coconut Hotel Bar Location
- Made sure map upgrade scene event won't move the MC
- "Help with Gang" quest mission description error fixed
- Western Artemisia's Hotel signs updated
- turned speedup off before transitioning to burned building
- various other fixes whose logs I lost

- Fixed Medicine quest description not updating after taking medicine from vendor
- Fixed Marsh tile

 

[AenaonDusky]

Version 2.13

Please make sure you are up to date, as a softlocking bug has been fixed.

Changelog:

Spoiler:

- Fixed softlocking Game Society transfer from sewers to South Artemisia causing you to get stuck
- Color coded all SW similar-looking apartment buildings and their doors
- made climbing rocks more distinct
- added a small tutorial area with climbing rocks in R2
- Fixed Tyson out of date description of Gym Leader's party
- Fixed item appearing on an SW roof instead of behind the building
- Fixed a wrongly tiled building in SW

 

[mathisol3]

This game was a blast! I spent around 2 days finishing this current patch and I have to say that it was all worth it :)
(even though the entirety of the first day was grinding with the audino trainer until level 70 - 80)

Even though I have no knowledge of game design would there be a chance for a simple quick save/ load function in the game? and also a bit more description for areas that you are listed to go through for your missions. When I was playing the game I was just face checking most of the npc's for one mission alone. So even though with this mild complaint the entire game is solid and I hope this team can bring fruit chapter 3 to be as impressive as chapter 2 :D

 

[AenaonDusky]

This game was a blast! I spent around 2 days finishing this current patch and I have to say that it was all worth it :)
(even though the entirety of the first day was grinding with the audino trainer until level 70 - 80)

Even though I have no knowledge of game design would there be a chance for a simple quick save/ load function in the game? and also a bit more description for areas that you are listed to go through for your missions. When I was playing the game I was just face checking most of the npc's for one mission alone. So even though with this mild complaint the entire game is solid and I hope this team can bring fruit chapter 3 to be as impressive as chapter 2 :D

Thanks a lot for your review! Just how did you manage to sponge off that poor Audino trainer? xD shouldnt it be over after a few tries?
The game used to have a quicksave function, I am looking into getting it back. Probs with an added auto-backup system.
What was the mission whose pda description gave you trouble? (and what other missions were similarly vague?) Thanks again.

 

[mathisol3]

Its more about my bad sense of direction and memorization in most of the pda quests with descriptions about being somewhere in southwestern Artemisia and the other districts a lot of them aren't really specified, at least in some other quests we get descriptions of a building like large, medium, small buildings so that helped out a lot. but I think its more of a problem for just me xd.

For the more particularly hidden one's like the encrypted berry quest (I didn't like this very much ;-;) where you had to find the shack around the middle part of south western Artemisia, this was particularly where I looked for walkthroughs for this quest sadly. Probably a better map system like the one in Northeastern Artemisia probably would've helped a lot, but in the context of you receiving a poorly drawn map I understand on why this map was supposed to be quite bad as some random dude just scribbled down on some paper and then gave it to you as a map. Maybe add some dialogue to people near certain areas? for example, again about the berry shack in SW Artemisia there may be some dialogue or hints given out by the npc's around the area that would help in this quest (e.g. like when delivering the love letter quest it was a god send tysm). its sorta like Fallout NV's dialogues and quest design where in different circumstances you get descriptions of different areas that are unmarked or off the beaten path. This is mainly to entice the player's attention as a location of interest and make them wonder when this area may be used.

Once again I have no experience as a game developer (I would like to experience it but there's time constraints and other factors) so take this with a big pinch of salt and as an outlier compared to the responses you get with more experienced beta testers as they probably know more about game design than me xD. anyways your team is doing good work in making this so no pressure when taking this to account plus it's been a while since I found a game I finished within a week, it hasn't happened since Pokémon empyrean xd so I wish your team best of luck in development as I've seen just how tough it can be meeting deadlines. \o

(Side Note: I'll be in very big copium if my save gets corrupted. I already had to stomach seeing that poor sailors dialogue so much times and felt quite guilty about it as soon as I saw the names of the audinos in contrast however whoever came up with that is a genius!)

 

[AenaonDusky]

Its more about my bad sense of direction and memorization in most of the pda quests with descriptions about being somewhere in southwestern Artemisia and the other districts a lot of them aren't really specified, at least in some other quests we get descriptions of a building like large, medium, small buildings so that helped out a lot. but I think its more of a problem for just me xd.

For the more particularly hidden one's like the encrypted berry quest (I didn't like this very much ;-;) where you had to find the shack around the middle part of south western Artemisia, this was particularly where I looked for walkthroughs for this quest sadly. Probably a better map system like the one in Northeastern Artemisia probably would've helped a lot, but in the context of you receiving a poorly drawn map I understand on why this map was supposed to be quite bad as some random dude just scribbled down on some paper and then gave it to you as a map. Maybe add some dialogue to people near certain areas? for example, again about the berry shack in SW Artemisia there may be some dialogue or hints given out by the npc's around the area that would help in this quest (e.g. like when delivering the love letter quest it was a god send tysm). its sorta like Fallout NV's dialogues and quest design where in different circumstances you get descriptions of different areas that are unmarked or off the beaten path. This is mainly to entice the player's attention as a location of interest and make them wonder when this area may be used.

Once again I have no experience as a game developer (I would like to experience it but there's time constraints and other factors) so take this with a big pinch of salt and as an outlier compared to the responses you get with more experienced beta testers as they probably know more about game design than me xD. anyways your team is doing good work in making this so no pressure when taking this to account plus it's been a while since I found a game I finished within a week, it hasn't happened since Pokémon empyrean xd so I wish your team best of luck in development as I've seen just how tough it can be meeting deadlines. \o

(Side Note: I'll be in very big copium if my save gets corrupted. I already had to stomach seeing that poor sailors dialogue so much times and felt quite guilty about it as soon as I saw the names of the audinos in contrast however whoever came up with that is a genius!)

Thanks for the details!
Are you the person that had a savefile issue from the discord?

I have noted down the berry quest vagueness, and I think the npc hints are a good idea. Can you recall which quests were less specific? This would help a lot. I will push an update with these improvements as soon as I can, so it's appreciated! All player feedback is important, and I believe you know more about design than you think. Also, if you ever have the time, you can contribute yourself, I maintain a very open attitude in regards to the game (obviously not all ideas can be implemented within the original vision, but you get the point).

Btw, about the sailor, you know you can skip text by holding down X, right xD

 

[mathisol3]

As for being the one with the save file issue, no I just had similar issues before in other fan games because of massive updates -_-. However if I have anything to add I'll just plop it down your groups discord (@Fellow Enthusiast), and as for the quest list I don't really know most of the names at this point so I can't really provide a good list sorry about that.

xd I didn't know about that skipping dialogue part, I just kept spamming my space bar at a very intense pace XD.

 

[AenaonDusky]

As for being the one with the save file issue, no I just had similar issues before in other fan games because of massive updates -_-. However if I have anything to add I'll just plop it down your groups discord (@Fellow Enthusiast), and as for the quest list I don't really know most of the names at this point so I can't really provide a good list sorry about that.

xd I didn't know about that skipping dialogue part, I just kept spamming my space bar at a very intense pace XD.

Oh don't worry, all future updates, if on the same engine, should be save-compatible.
Alright, gotcha! I'll get in contact later.
Also how did you not see the X skip thing, it's like been brought up at the very start xD