Item Attributes
The item system outlined in the first thread was one of my favorite posts. Bits and pieces of it were used in CJr2 and I think that minimal approach helped the speed and pacing find its place. The big thing that has changed from the original vision was that weapons were meant to have two modes: a fast spam-able mode for DPS and another slower mode (usually meant for big damage). The two modes were chosen by the player by either using it fast or waiting slowly. I still think this is a cool concept, but I think we’ll push that deeper into the game. Essentially it took us an entire game to realize that simpler was better 
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So by default each item only has one function
But when I said we’ll push the Charge concept deeper into the game I meant that some weapons will also have the ability to Charge. Some weapons already have the ability to Quickturn. And some other weapons will have abilities to have different functions depending on whether you push it standing still or while already moving.
This will help us differentiate weapons not just based on active, startup, cooldown, damage, and range, but on other mechanics. The Quickturn was a great example - we noticed that weapons that were relatively the same in all aspects besides Quickturn were better utilized in close quarters with Quickturn than without. I keep thinking of D&D 4th Ed as a reference point here, but I don’t play D&D, so I have no idea, really. We’re going to call these things Item Attributes and items with the same Item Attributes will behave similarly.
Item Attributes:
QuickTurn – QuickTurn is activated on ANY activation
Turning rate will be discussed in detail later, but for now all you need to know is that different armors have different rates of turning. Some rotate slowly while others rotate quickly. Your direction affects your shield placement and to which direction you can attack except for when your weapon has QuickTurn. Look right and immediately pushing Left + Use on a QuickTurn item has your character look Left before using the item. This makes items more agile and easier to use in close quarters for armors without a fast turning rate.
Charge - if (timeSinceLastUse > ChargeTime) Charge activates instead of Use
On top of normal use, items with Charge will have a use that will be stronger that is activated by waiting for a period of time before use. The charged use can be different version than the normal use, but for he most part won’t be worse or functionally change the item for the worse. Charge uses might increase damage, increase size of the hitbox, reduce recovery time (might be weird and cool? fast double use?).
PressMode – if (joystickIsPressed) PressMode activates instead of Use
I’m not sure about this name, but the idea is that weapons will have totally different functions based on whether or not the user is pushing on the joystick. This means a Double Dagger item can be used to (double?) stab while pushing a direction on the joystick and using, but it can also stab in opposite directions if the joystick isn’t being used. Bows can shoot fast while pushing forward or can rotate to a direction while not. Bombs can be placed by standing still or thrown by pushing a direction. Essentially weapons that are supposed to be versatile will get Press Mode for multiple maneuvers.
Smash – if (joystickIsJustPressed) SmashMode activates instead of Use OR PressMode
Tap a direction plus hit a button to activate a third state. Very versatile weapons will have this for their strongest, slowest attacks.
DashUse
Some items also had the ability to be used while dashing. This mostly wasn’t a different use than regular (e.g. The Kings Sword and The Moonblade just stabbed like normal), but I think it could be cool. I do worry that this would alienate some players wanting a simpler, more pure experience, but I think that dashing is a thing that people really got the hang of in the game. Some items here that have different Dash Use than regular could be interesting.
ShieldCancel
Like the Souls games certain items were available to use while the player was already using another item. This was implemented because we made a Telescope item that projected a line of sight to help aiming projects. It was programmed like a shield that could be canceled into a Bow or Crossbow, but then we applied that to all other shields. Essentially you could cancel a shield into a sword or other items that we wanted to be more defensive. We’ll probably remove the Shield Cancel from the Bow and Crossbow, but keep it in for our more defensive items. There might be a possible adjacent Item Attribute that doesn’t pull down the shield for use (e.g. bombs would get that? Maybe?).