The big demo update is here!!

As previously stated, this update does not feature any new areas or cover more of the story than the previous demo. Most of the content is the same--but a lot has been tweaked and improved, including a number of changes based on player feedback! We're very happy with it, and think it nicely showcases the slightly higher level of polish the full game will have.

Here is the changelog for v2.0.2 of the demo (versions 2.0 and 2.0.1 were released early through my Patreon):

NEW CONTENT

• New NPC - Paula!
  • Can be talked to on the Hiking Trail after Allison joins the party. You literally can't miss her. If you've already played the demo and just want to make a beeline for the one new scene, that's it
• Brief new bit of dialogue added when you inspect the scenic view at the top of the Hiking Trail with Allison in the party

SOUND

• Sound effect overhaul! Many sounds were holdovers from SLARPG's 2013 predecessor, which have now been replaced. The punches are punchier, the magic is magic-er. (Most of the little menu blips were done specifically for SLARPG, though, so those are mostly the same.)
• Updated music! Some tracks received simple mixing and mastering updates, while others have very noticeable changes
• A new song! The battle with the Hole Hound now uses a new battle theme from lead composer Beatrix Quinn, primarily used in the Amber Woods area in the full game
• Several brand new jingles for things like finding treasure and solving puzzles. They add a lot of personality to the game, I think

GRAPHICS

• New non-blurry fullscreen mode!
  • F5 toggles between fullscreen and windowed modes, F6 changes display size
  • The game also now remembers your display preferences upon launching
  • Fair warning--maximizing the display size literally just stretches the pixels as big as they'll get on your screen. This will likely give you some really janky, uneven pixels on most average displays. For a 1080p screen, I'd personally stick to the 2x zoom. But I'm not your boss or anything
• Major areas such as Greenridge and the Basement Dungeon now have unique title card graphics that pop up upon entering
• Various minor tweaks
  • Touched up party member sprites (Allison's collar has grown even poofier)
  • Slightly touched up some of the cutscene illustrations
  • New tree sprites in Melody's starting area
  • New water graphics, visible on the Hiking Trail
  • You can see the Amber Woods in the distance at the top of the Hiking Trail
  • Allison now owns a fightstick (this is an important character trait)

GAMEPLAY

• Battle UI update
  • Whether skills cost MP or Star Power is now clearly labeled in the menu
  • Star Power gauge has a new color scheme at 100% that stands out more. It has a rainbow border. It's good
  • A cursor now appears when selecting which allies to use skills/items on. It's a little heart. It's good
  • Increased the opacity of the battle log at the top of the screen to make it more readable
  • Various other visual tweaks
• Status effect update
  • Status effect animations! Enemies afflicted by statuses such as Burn now show simple animations to more clearly indicate their statuses at a glance
  • Status effects are now calculated more accurately. Due to a faulty third party script, statuses that were supposed to heal or do damage every turn based on the caster's stats were instead using the target's stats. In most cases, this means the effects have been buffed
  • "Resolute Damage" has been renamed to "Resolute Seal"
• Balance tweaks
  • All party members now receive somewhat greater stat boosts with every level to make each level up feel more meaningful
  • Allison's Left Jab, Right Jab, Low Kick, and High Kick have all received buffs so that they don't feel like a waste of Star Power as soon as you learn stronger attacks
  • The Star Power cost of Allison's Divebomb ability has been reduced from 60% to 40%
  • Dust Bunny, Flaming Dust Bunny, and [secret miniboss] have received a slight attack power buff
• Equipment tweaks
  • The "Accessory" equipment slot has been replaced with the Charm slot
  • Basic Pauldrons have been renamed to Generic Brand Pauldrons and moved to the Body slot
  • Iron Gauntlets weapon changed to Iron Gauntlet (singular) so that if you dual wield them later in the full game you aren't equipping four gauntlets. That would just be silly, and everyone knows this is a very serious game
• Misc.
  • Allison and Claire will now get their Easy Mode buffs automatically if Easy Mode is already activated when they join the party
  • Fixed a few glitches related to turning out the lights in the Basement Dungeon
  • Removed "Exit Game" option from the in-game Options menu and added buffer around "Return to Menu." Hopefully this will prevent players from accidentally quitting without saving. I'm sorry that it doesn't ask you to confirm before quitting. Blame Yanfly
  • Various other minor tweaks

I believe we've already taken care of most of the bugs, but there may be a couple things I missed. If you find anything, be sure to let me know!

Enjoy the update! And hey, if you're just waiting for the full game and skipping this update, we still appreciate your support, and are very excited for everyone to get their hands on the full experience! It's really shaping up to be something special.