19.6 hours played
Written 20 days ago
[h1] TL:DR [url=https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/868/231/f75.png] this is the best visual representation [/url] I can give you of this game. Both story-wise and gameplay-wise. Never a must buy, a maybe if at less than 7,50€ but probably even then only if you want an introduction to metroidvanias but please play Hollow Knight after this cause I swear they can be good games, this just ain't it.[/h1]
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The beginning is good, a decent set-up and interesting story with a nice stance-break system, not overly complicated and not forced on you for every enemy (with the exception of shieldbearers): [list]
[*]You want to just damage the enemy? you do A
[*]You want/need to stun them? you do B
[/list]
Bosses have some better resistance and that seems fair cause stunlocking them would make the fight too easy, that being said this is the only thing that is good about them cause I cannot remember a single one apart from the first that was the dumbest and slowest bossfight of them all. You have pretty little at that point so it's just [i]avoid the 2 attacks the boss has>damage them>repeat[/i].
On that note, the combat system ha[strike]s[/strike]d potential but the repositioning tools that give you I-frames are sloooowww both in animation (though like not by too much, just enough that it's annoying in Bossfights and really annoying when you have to traverse the map)AND [b]CD[/b] which in theory should make the fight more methodical but that results in [i]hit and run or just tanking hits to stun them asap>use all your DPS > run away to heal or damage more if heal is not needed[/i].
Not to mention that this means of all the upgrades one can take you will use just a fraction of them, and none are really needed to win fights, they just speed up the process but usually result in you getting damaged cause you are stuck in an animation so you end up either not using the flashy moves or just tanking the boss.
There is [u]some[/u] build variety, you can be Tanky, focus on using your gun or sword or be a ""glass cannon"" but it is mostly a fake variety and I'll use spoiler tags in case you wanna play the game without potentially ruining this mostly placebo system:
Since [spoiler] every level gives 2 HP IIRC, and you get 50 of them[/spoiler] building tanky is not only boring but relatively useless [spoiler] cause you will get beefy anyway [/spoiler], focusing on DMG is better but [spoiler] Bosses are either DMG sponges or made of glass[/spoiler] can't remember what any of them did but none really lasted the "right amount of damage", so either too little or too long (and the TTK becomes lower the more you go on, which is kinda weird, especially for how incredibly low it gets) this is usually fixed by [spoiler] multiple phases, usually tied to the boss's HP though an important one could have had a time-related difficulty increase with a potential autowin after a certain point... anyway the game has a singular Second Phase, at least that I remember, and even that is like 15/20s more of fighting or less*[/spoiler].
*see "consumables"
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Most NPCS are of the worst variety: the "single interaction" type of NPC that has a single dialogue, usually with choices in how to answer (which baits you into thinking they'll say more later but AFAIK none do) and then won't matter ever again apart from repeating the same last sentence of the first interaction, or a similar one in the best case scenario.
Same with buildings, some are straight up inaccessible the whole game (or at least I cannot remember visiting the Apothecary once, same with a mechanic-looking shop nearby in Irkalla) and some have one [b]1[/b] SINGULAR interaction, like the barman who can give you a drink but won't talk or comment much more on your adventure when you go there later (and I think it will stay that way until the end, no matter your progress but I haven't verified) or the bookshop which will stay closed once you have talked enough with the NPC inside.
There's even a shop on a second floor of some building that has 0 interaction and an invisible wall at 2/3ds of the room, coinciding with where the shop owner is, you'll meet an NPC there and that is the full extent of its usefulness... the game starts to reek of being unfinished the more you progress and it gets worse, [b] a LOT[/b] worse*.
*see "ending"
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Scraps are the currency, you can get them through quests, killing enemies and breaking stuff... aaand the game throws them at you so much that it's honestly confusing why they didn't just rework the economy, I ended the game with more than 100k, like WAY more and had bought everything I needed and more without farming more than maybe 5k, it also feels wrong to go around with that much currency since, considering the level of technology shown, they are physically on you, I get suspension of disbelief and all that but cmon DEVs, just slash the last 3 zeroes and keep numbers where they still make sense. Having 100 coin and buying something for 20 or 50 coins feels waay more impactful than spending 20000 or 50000 out of 100000, and possibly the wealth amount in the game should be enough that you can buy every one-time-only purchase + some bonuses here and there for those who like to explore, even the amount of currency suggests the game should have gone on longer but that development was cut short... or worse*.
*see "ending"
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The consumables are so overkill it is puzzling, I used one Energy Drink I think once to see how it worked and never had the slightest thought of having to use one of the buffs cause they are completely unnecessary, they are there if you want to make things quicker but they are not your usual expendable helping hand that can go from small bonus that costs little, to medium bonus that helps more but costs more and is scarcer in quantity + the occasional Big bonus from quests/from paying a lot to buy it, they are a "skip one of the core mechanics" button or buffs so overkill that it gets dumb and the antidote + the standard rechargeable healing that we all know and love...
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[h2]Ending [/h2]
...Speaking of which, you can [spoiler] power them up with Infused Amanitas, but you get more than the number needed to power them up, same with levels so [/spoiler] I honestly have no idea if there is a way to use these things cause you can [spoiler] buy things from the scientist, get to max level [/spoiler] and still have some, this and some of the "*" mentioned prior + the Story which I will talk about next all seem to point to what I hope was development being cut short cause considering [spoiler] the last 2 cutscenes, one where we enter the big door that we hear the whole game will lead to catastrophe (or maybe not but who knows? [apparently not even the Devs…]) and the other where there is the "character X is still alive" trope that initially gives you faith the story will be concluded but that alas ends on a cliffhanger [/spoiler] just lead me to the hypothesis that the game will receive, or rather was supposed to receive, either a DLC (that, unless given for free, means you have to pay to see an actual ending) or worse, a sequel... considering the image I linked at the start though who would buy that? If this result was not caused by problems during development I can only say that to me this is not how you build up for future iterations in a universe, this is how you shoot your own company in the foot but I hope to be proven wrong, though I have little faith in it.
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Oh yea wait, do you remember that [spoiler] big important choice that Aletheia had to make about the fate of the world since "the steam is fading" and yadda yadda yadda[/spoiler]?
Neither did the Devs apparently
