BOSS BATTLE: MARLUXIA
A simple ARPG boss battle that tests the player's timing and movement.
Heavily inspired by Marluxia and other Boss Battles from Kingdom Heart 2
Primary Role: Solo Developer
Time frame: In Progress
Engine: Unreal 5
DEV LOG - JULY 13TH 2026
A New Template
I discovered that Unreal/Epic released a new version where they hand out templates variants for Third Person.
In the variant was combat so I decided to take a look at it, and eventually moving with that template instead.
It took me a while to figure out how to replace some animations.
What I changed so far in the Template (Camera)
I also removed the default strafing feature, as well as remaking the camera to face directly behind the character with a wide range of view instead of over the shoulder up close.
The reason I chose to go with this was because the default settings doesn't give the player a wide range of their surroundings, and I also want the player to be able to do flashy and acrobatic combos, so being very up close would restrict the player's movement.
Today's big problem was root motion, as it has been finnicky with me in the past. I finally managed to get it to work, on both NPCs and the Player Character.
Progress Check
I also doubled down and purchased the Sword Animation pack from 9CG, raising my costs of this project to about $140 CAD.
Today's big win was definitely finally getting some momentum onto this project, as last session 80-90% of my time was figuring out my problem with root motion.
Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix: Data Marluxia
Unreal 5 Combat Template
DEV LOG - JULY 22ND 2026
Player Kit
As much as I want to design a boss right away. It's actually important that decide how the player interacts with enemies in general. Bosses are meant to challenge the player's kit and ability some way. It's also important that the player gets to feel that the time they invest into the boss pays off. That's why my approach to this project is making a simple vanilla kit that most RPGs carry.
These are the mechanics I added to our player:
Lock-On
Nothing too crazy on this, if the player locks onto a target, the camera will focus on them and movement will be adjusted around them. All attacks launched from the player while locked on will also be homing towards the target.
Dodge Roll
The player can initiate a dodge roll, the important part about this is that from start to the end of the roll, the player has i-frames, which means the player can NOT get hit by any attacking enemies.
Parry/Counter Attack
The player can initiate a parry stance. In this stance for a short period of time, any attacks launched towards the player may stagger the enemy (based on the attack used by the enemy). If the enemy doesn't stagger, the attack is at least guarded and the player re-enters the parry stance.
This parry was made to account for Multi-hit combos. I may have not fully designed the boss yet, but I at least know I want to create a fight where the challenge comes in how acrobatic and "flowy" the attacks are. This means that interrupting the boss' attack ALWAYS doesn't sound right. Instead, the player has the option to interrupt their "re-parry" with a counter attack.
The counter-attack is slower and does more damage than a regular attack. At this moment the counter attack has i-frames from the beginning to halfway through the attack. However, balancing the counter attack may have to involve testing what feels better. A slower attack that does more damage? Or a faster attack that does a regular amount of damage but with invincible properties. Is a counter attack even needed? What if instead of a counter attack I let the player slightly faster than the boss after their end lags so that the player has more of a window to punish? All comes with testing, as well as trial and error.
Player Locking onto an Enemy Dummy
Player using the Dodge Roll
Player entering parry stance, and punishing with a counter attack