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Dev Letter: Deadly Playtest Survey Report
Hello! This is the TRIBE NINE Development Team.
Thank you very much for participating in the recently-held “Deadly Playtest”, as well as for all your feedback.
In this letter, we’ll share insights from the Deadly Playtest, including gameplay trends and survey results. We’ll also be addressing some of the feedback we received.
Your feedback and requests are deeply valued. We’re committed to improving the overall gaming experience and look forward to welcoming you back in-game with these improvements.
Thank you for your continued support of TRIBE NINE!
TEAM TRIBE NINE
TOP 5 Most Operated Characters In Battle
Characters who were playable early in the game, such as Yo Kuronaka, Tsuki Iroha, and Koishi Kohinata, were top picks as the operating character.
Even after Chapter 0, when players unlocked the ability to freely choose their team lineup, Yo Kuronaka remained a popular pick. Despite being an early-game character, we believe players enjoyed the ease of activating his chain skills.
Jio Takinogawa was also often selected by players, favored for his simple controls and high attack power.
Finally, there were a high number of players who picked Minami Oi, valuing her ability to provide a shield.
TOP 5 Most Enhanced Characters
On the other hand, when it comes to “Potentials”, Miu Jujo, Enoki Yukigaya, and Q topped the rankings, with players enhancing these characters using Potential Gems more than any others!
“Potential” is a feature that allows you to customize character enhancements, maximizing their combat effectiveness.
Players focused on enhancing their Attackers’ “Fighting Instincts,” while Support characters had their unique “Passive Skills” enhanced. It seems that the enhancements were generally tailored to each character’s specific traits and strengths. Meanwhile, “Survival Instinct” was a popular choice overall to reduce the risk of taking hits in battle. This trend was even more evident with Miu Jujo, a character who must stay in melee range with enemies while constantly attacking.
Regarding “Passive Skill 2”, it was difficult for players to unlock it due to the short test period, so we were not able to collect conclusive data. However, Enoki Yukigaya really stood out as the only character who had her Passive Skill 2 enhanced significantly more than other characters.
Most Popular Tension Card
The most popular Tension Card was “XB Sentiments”, which slows down the flow of time in the surrounding area when the operating character executes a Perfect Evasion, making it easier to gain the advantage in battle.
The next most popular cards were those that grant explosive damage when the tension level is EXTREME, “Scheeze (Rare)” and “24 Bouncer (Double Speed)”—both of which were distributed cards. Many players also favored “Line Drive” and “Childhood Dreams”, which have minimal activation conditions, making it easy to increase attack damage.
Battle Stats
During the Deadly Playtest, players were wiped out for a total of 5,589 times.
The boss battle win rates were as follows: for the Endrone that appeared at the climax of Chapter 0, it was 76%; for S.H.A.R.K. who appeared at the end of Chapter 1, it was 27%; and finally, for Death Penalty, the final boss of the Deadly Playtest, it was a mere 6%.
Many players took on the challenge of facing enemies who grew increasingly stronger as they ventured deeper into the city.
Boss Battle Team Lineup
In the battle against S.H.A.R.K., the most popular team comprised early-game members: Yo Kuronaka, Tsuki Iroha, and Koishi Kohinata.
Players frequently used “Yutaka Gotanda” and “The Most Splendid Shot”, which boost normal attack power and grant buffs for long-range attacks. This formation seemed to be designed with Tsuki Iroha in mind.
Additionally, since this team lineup activated Chain Skills more often, more players used “Inheriting Will and Bat”, which applies a buff when Chain Skills are activated.
In the battle against Death Penalty, the most popular team lineups centered around the Attacker, Miu Jujo, supported by Jio Takinogawa, who grants debuffs, and Tsuruko Semba for healing.
Players frequently utilized tension cards like “Toxic Amplifier”, “The Secret Is A Woman’s 7 Tools”, and “Full Course Love”. These cards maximize the unique abilities of characters such as Miu Jujo’s Deployed Item Skill and Jio Takinogawa’s debuff.
Overall Satisfaction with the “Deadly Playtest”
*Satisfaction level 6 and above: 85.8%
※”I want to play”: 75.6%
※”I want to play as long as the issues mentioned are fixed”: 98.2%
Representative Opinions
・Unlike in the anime of “TRIBE NINE,” “XG” is the main element of the game, so it’ll be interesting to see what scenarios unfold in the future. ・The action battles are challenging and exhilarating.
・The story, game contents, and music were all excellent.
・The wide range of expressions each character shows while they talk is impressive.
・During battle, it’s great that you can reverse a disadvantageous situation with Tension, etc.
・It was very satisfying to see the images transitioning from pixel to 3D-style art when alternating between exploration and battle. I was also pleased to see a variety of expressions and visuals on the team organization and character profile screens.
・It’s a beautifully-styled action game at its base, complemented by high-tension battles where one small miss can be truly painful.
・I was very impressed with the solid storyline, the amount of character movement/expression, and the fact that it was almost fully voiced.
・I was concerned about the overall pacing of the game and the heaviness of the action, so I’d like to see if that could be improved upon.
・I would like to see some kind of improvement in the camera during combat, as it is fixed on attacking even if you move it, and you cannot attack the enemy you are aiming at.
・I would like to see something done about the fact that when you form a party, you are too tied to the attributes, making it difficult to organize the characters freely in the way you want.
・As a “death game”, I thought it would be more egregious with the kills in combat.
・I would like to see character skins implemented.
・I would like to see the XB gameplay improved.
・I felt that the overall pacing and speed of the battles were lacking. I felt the controls were a little cumbersome, such as dashing to avoid an enemy repeatedly when closing in on another enemy. I felt that the sequence of evading enemy attacks and attacking was monotonous, and that it gradually becomes a repetitive process that leads to boredom.
・I want to avoid combat with low-level enemies.
・Combat is easier with the gamepad, but it is very difficult to use the phone controls such as team organizing on the pad, etc., so I would like to see this modified.
We received a satisfaction rating of 6 or higher from 85.8% of survey participants.
Also, 75.1% responded that they would want to play the game when it releases, and 97.8% answered that they would want to play the game as long as the improvements mentioned are fixed.
The development team was grateful to receive so many positive comments from a vast variety of players; from TRIBE NINE anime fans, those looking forward to the story and character development, and experienced action game players alike.
We were also very grateful to receive notes from players mentioning their points of dissatisfaction regarding the game, as well as requests for changes to the game that they believe will strengthen TRIBE NINE.
We will keep all of your valuable feedback in mind while working to further improve the game to bring you the best version possible upon its official release.
Commonly requested points for improvement
Battles are monotonous
We received many comments that the battles were monotonous due to the large amounts of strength or HP some enemies had, which required long periods of time to repeatedly dole out regular attacks to wear them down.
In addition, especially in the early stages of the game, the difficulty was not set to the level expected by players, and the long duration of one-sided attacks made the battle gameplay feel monotonous instead of “an enjoyable exchange of actions by identifying an enemy’s action patterns.”
We plan to improve this issue by making major changes to the difficulty settings, especially in the early stages of the game, as well as to the battle system.
Poor pacing of game progression
We have received many comments that the story events and dialogue cutscenes are long and redundant, and that there are many instances where players feel frustrated because the game does not progress as they would like.
In the development of TRIBE NINE, we placed great importance on carefully depicting the story so that players can become familiar with the distinctive characters and world view. However, there were several situations, especially in the early stages of the game, where long conversation sequences were inserted just as the player was getting motivated to understand the complex game system and take on the game, which hindered the player’s immersion in the story. This is one of the points that we regret.
We will make adjustments and improvements to the progression of gameplay and the timing and volume of dialogue cutscenes so that the game can be enjoyed more smoothly.
The XB gameplay is monotonous
We have received some comments that “XB,” a mode that combines the storyline with a game akin to baseball, is not worth playing because it’s heavily weighted toward moving the storyline forward and the players do not really feel like they are competing or playing the game.
We have received many comments about XB, especially in the climax of the first chapter, and we recognize that one of the main reasons for this is that we have adjusted the balance of the game so that the outcome is not greatly influenced by the player’s gameplay.
The XB mode has a complex internal simulation of the direction and distance of the batted ball, base running, and other factors, and is designed so that the command you choose will greatly affect the outcome of the game. At the same time, however, the game would require players to have knowledge of the prerequisites and a level of skill that is different from their previous game experience, and to avoid this, we had decided to make the current adjustments.
However, after this test, we regret that the adjustment was a misjudgment of players’ literacy, and we will change these settings and improve the game system to make this sequence more satisfying.
Conclusion
In this “Deadly Playtest”, we feel that we did not give enough consideration to the players’ level of gaming proficiency throughout the game as a whole.
As a result, based on the feedback we received, the development team is aware that many players stopped playing after completing Chapter 0 due to the “low level of satisfaction with battles in the early stages of the game” and the “cumbersome game progression.”
Therefore, among the many areas for improvement, we consider these two areas to be particularly important, and we are working on improvements that will enhance the overall game progression and player satisfaction to improve the game experience.
We will be sending out a Director’s Letter shortly to let you know how we intend to adjust the game experience through feature improvements and new systems.
Finally, we would like to thank all the players who took the time to participate in the test! We know there are so many fascinating games and forms of entertainment available these days, so thank you for spending your time in the world of TRIBE NINE.
We were thrilled to see players enjoying the game more enthusiastically than we could have imagined, and at the same time, our team was painfully aware of our inadequacies due to our lack of coordination. Based on the “Deadly Playtest”, we are determined to work even harder on the development of TRIBE NINE so that we can deliver a game that is enjoyed by as many people as possible.
To those who have supported us for a long time, as well as those who just recently got to know TRIBE NINE through this test, we hope that you will continue to support us.
We look forward to seeing you again in Neo Tokyo.
Thank you very much!