Overview

The Last Stand is a wave-based combat game puts you in the center of a brutal arena, facing off against increasingly challenging enemies. Designed with Souls-like mechanics—including dodge rolling, and healing flasks, it was created as a rebuild of an earlier student project of mine. The focus of this version was to completely rework the feel of combat, making it more fluid, fair, and visually engaging.

Gameplay Features

• Responsive Combat: Enhanced hit reactions, camera shake, sound effects, and particle systems work together to make each attack feel impactful and satisfying.
• Movement: Running, jumping, dodging, and attacking consume stamina.
• Flask Healing System: Inspired by Souls games, heal mid-combat with limited-use flasks.
• Round-Based Arena: Waves of enemies spawn from surrounding portals as rounds progress.

Enemy Types

Each enemy class has its own attack patterns and behavior, adding variety and tactical depth to each wave.

• Thralls: Fast, nimble attackers with weak hits. Often appear in groups.
• Giants: Slow, powerful enemies with high damage and heavy knockback.
• Witches: Ranged spellcasters who launch fireballs and retreat when approached.

Development Details

• Engine: Unity 6 (developed in ~1 week)
• Assets: Character models and animations from Mixamo, all other assets are from the Unity Asset Store and other external places.

What I Learned

The goal of this project was to address the stiff, unsatisfying combat systems in my earlier games/prototypes. By rebuilding everything from scratch, the enemy behavior, hit reactions, animations, and overall game feel, I created a combat loop that felt far more responsive and engaging. This project taught me the importance of animation timing, blending, and visual/audio feedback in delivering satisfying gameplay. It also reinforced how crucial well-tuned AI behavior and reactive enemy design are to creating meaningful combat encounters.