Cyberpunk-inspired JRPG Keylocker is an interesting game on the horizon, set to release on September 18th. Developed by Moonana, the JRPG takes inspiration from Mario & Luigi, and even Chrono Trigger to create an RPG that balances turn based action with some rhythm gameplay to boot.
While playing the Keylocker demo, it was clear that there were numerous possibilities with the skill tree. Noticing that unlocking skills on one side of the skill tree does not stop you from unlocking skills on the other side already made building a character's skills deep.
To find out that later in the game, we can get a second class to further build characters the way we want is awesome. It is easy enough to activate the DANGER system to battle and get keys, and while playing its not heavily about the skills you unlock but does also depend on your personal skills playing.
Getting the timing on your block/parry, as well as your attack right to get the crit, plays an important role while in battle. These enemies hit hard when I missed for a block or parry. Also goes to say the character on the team hit for a lot less if you miss the crit hit timing when attacking or countering. While building the character is important, getting the timing right is just as important or you don’t get win, so you won’t get the keys to unlock your skills in the skill tree. It was clear while playing that the skill tree was going to be deep. After chatting with Moonana and finding out how much deeper it goes, Keylocker is one game to look out for. After tinkering with the skill tree in the demo, I'm looking forward to playing the full game when it releases on September 18th.
Through the years I can remember a handful of JRPG games I’ve played that have had an interesting skill tree or skill system. After getting some hands on time with the Keylocker demo and having an email chat with the Moonana team, I am adding Keylocker to that list. We had the chance to get some information on how deep the skill tree effects character builds; from weapons, stats, and secondary classes.
Answers by Nana Moon, Anglerman, and Elektrobear from the Keylocker team via an email interview
MMORPG.com: We got the feeling that we are able to spec the skill tree to the playstyle we want for each playable character. There are skills that give the characters stat boosts and negatives. There are buffs, debuffs, passives, weapon skills and each can be upgraded multiple times. What inspired the choice to make the skill tree this deep?
Character customization and player expression within the systems of the game is a core facet of Moonana design. Our previous game Virgo Versus The Zodiac had a deeper range of character itemization, which was simplified for Keylocker, but we still wanted to provide opportunities for players who really want to get deep in the systems to explore and make interesting choices with how they build their characters.
The major inspiration for this was Titan Quest / Grim Dawn skill tree systems, which also combines two base class trees.
How can your skill build affect the gameplay of the character?
There are different types of skills to unlock, some function as stats boosts, some are class enhancers and some give you passive abilities that you can equip to each of your weapon slots. Skill builds can have a big impact on your gameplay, for example there’s a skill in the Samurai tree which gives you the ability to counter twice in a single turn, setting up a chain of counters. Another thing I like is pairing fast weapons with a little bit of points in the Hacker skill which gives you extra speed. You can hit a breakpoint early on which gives you access to consecutive turns, which really increases your choices in combat.
Different class choices will also have their own unique quests and changes in events at certain locations – only Terminators may know the fate of the Rabbits while only Cyberwalkers get closer to the truth about the Network. Some characters will also only be romanceable by certain classes, to promote a lot of replayability.
Each class can use different types of weapons. Like Samurai, they can also wield baseball bats, lances, and even violins. How does the skill tree affect the weapon choice?
Each base class skill tree has some unique way of boosting specific weapons types they can use by upgrading the right talents. Some will improve base damage, others will reduce effect cooldowns on equipped weapons and so on.
Each weapon is a combination of two types, letting you gain both class boosts if you can combine all of those factors. With 2 possible loadouts at any given time, this should bring a lot of tiny optimizations players can do to their builds.
Being that skills are obtained by way of getting keys through battle to use in the skill tree, is there the possibility to grind enemies for keys to upgrade skills a lot early game?
It is possible through the DANGER system, which attracts Security Drones that start encounters if you take illegal actions in the world, however the flow of the game is designed to minimize grinding.
With the plus and negative to stats that some skill nodes provide, is it possible to mess up a character build?
Even with the negatives, your skill growth is always positive overall. The negatives simply slow your growth in specific areas. We’ve not had any instances of players completely handicapping themselves with specific skill builds, everything is oriented towards making you stronger, and giving the player more options to work with in combat.
We believe everything in life has two sides to it and Keylocker is entirely made around that duality description. All weapons will also reduce a stat, all class gear, all talents. All in favor of specialization of characters instead of just making them overall stronger.
If so, is respeccing an option?
There is a respeccing option, yes! We definitely want people to be able to try out different builds.
While playing the demo, I noticed that unlocking a skill on one side of the tree does not prevent unlocking one on the other side. Is it possible to unlock every skill node for every character as long as we put in the work?
It might be possible to max out a single character, although it would put your other characters at a disadvantage. As the story progresses, characters sometimes swap in and out of the party, so this might put you in a difficult situation in some spots. Later in the game you get access to a secondary class which also opens up a second skill tree, so there is quite a lot to unlock!
Would that make the character overpowered, especially if a player is willing to do that early game?
A lot is still determined by how you perform in the battles themselves, but with the right skill build, you can certainly make yourself very strong. Personally I prefer unlocking the extra class features early on!
The classes (Samurai, Juggernaut, Hacker, Sequencer) for the main character, B0B0, are separated into offensive and defensive. Of course, each class plays differently. What sets the skill trees apart that make them play differently?
Each Class gets access to a different skill tree, with different stats emphasis. The passive on-hit skills that can be equipped to your weapon slots are also unique to each one and are meant to be complementary to each Class’s gameplay. On top of that, the unlockable Class feature skills further set each class apart in how they play, for example the earlier mention of Samurais being able to Counter twice in a turn. Juggernaut gets access to even more Life Attack damage, Hackers on-hits can load faster and Sequencers get increased mobility on the GRIDS.
All classes are focused on maximizing a single of the 4 base actions, which are Life Attack, Life Defense, Electric Attack and Electric Defense. The main classes will have several Passive effects that should improve how these actions work, as well as general passives to guide a specific playstyle revolving around setting up this base action.
Or say if any of the Acquaintance characters join in a battle, where would the Cyberwalker and Attorney class fall into? Offensive or Defensive skill tree?
Each of the Secondary classes is a pairing of two of the Primary classes. For example, Cyberwalker gets access to the Hacker and Samurai trees, as well as special Synergies that unlock when the correct skills have been acquired. In that sense, you can have a Defensive – Defensive pairing, an Offensive – Defensive, or an Offensive – Offensive one, but based on your first Class choice, you only get access to a limited set of Secondary Classes.
