Interesting, but I agree that losing items makes it kind of blah. That loses the rpg aspect, because I don't care about the avatar. Having nothing carry over between levels kills a lot of the potential fun. Could use persistent items, and a shop to spend excess gold. There's no reward for doing really well, a slim win is the same as a beatdown.
Great updates and additions. The original game felt a little flat, and this really fleshed it out. The suggestion to speed up the game also makes a huge difference. 5/5, well thought out changes.
I keep having the same bug: guys that pick up blocks fail to pick up those blocks on subsequent time runs. Nothing changes, like it could be an empty room with 1 block, and my first guy walks over to pick it up. Second run, I don't even move, and the 1st guy won't pick up the box. This happens like 10% of the time, making it REALLY SHITTY to try and do any complicated levels. Something in the code doesn't register box pickups sometimes
ADD A RESTART/QUIT BUTTON! 1/5 until that ridiculously obvious necessity gets added, then I'll switch to 5/5. I like the game, but seriously... how can something this polished not get played ONCE and that get noticed?
I enjoyed the game. If it matters, I have a few suggestions. With the groupmates AI, at least it would help if you could see their planned actions for the round before choosing (like heal or stun). Without giving up control, that would eliminate a lot of the frustration.
Also the "end game" is kind of blah, where an opportunity existed for a much longer lasting game. I know the story ends earlier, but a more extended end boss system would have made it more fun.
But overall I still really enjoyed the game.
It was fun until I had to beat a hard level, and tried scouts. And you can beat the game with just scouts (and probably spearmen) as any race. The computer AI doesn't respond to 8 lane rushes.