This is not really feedback, but I feel like something good needs to be said among the sea of “healing bad”, “durability bad”, “inventory bad”, “stamina bad”.
A person I know once said “It isn’t good feedback if it doesn’t list good things first”, and not many people here are doing this (please, I’m NOT accusing anyone, I just believe the developers could be feeling overwhelmed in front of all the negativity and we could tone some things down a bit).
So. I think the community is VERY MUCH exaggerating many of its most popular issues, in an almost “reddit-like hive-mind” way.
Durability: Guys. Durability, as of now after the patch, is almost too little of a punish. There are no problems with durability. If you’re having a problem with durability, it’s because you’re facing the game the wrong way. Etiher you’re not paying attention to durability and just going back into the action right after respawning or you’re spending too much money on something else and you have none left for repairs.
“But the items shouldn’t break at 0%” It takes a lot of time to reach 0%. What stopped you from repairing it before that. No offense, but that’s just neglecting your equipment.
“But repairing breaks the flow of the game” the flow of the game HAS stopping for repairs in it. It’s designed like that. Durability loss is the punishment for dying, and part of that punishment is phisically going back for repairs. Wether you like this kind of flow or not, that’s a whole other issue, and you’re free to say “I don’t like it” or “I find it frustrating”, but don’t push for a change because you think this mechanic doesn’t FIT into the game. It makes the people behind this gem (I really like the game as it is now, yes) feel like their design philosophy is wrong, rather than the implementation of it. It’s not helping make their work better, it’s helping make it different.
And, also, I enjoy durability. It forces you to be careful in your decisions and plan what you’re doing in advance, like what you do has real consequences on your gameplay. Your actions matter the most to YOU. I feel like this system was implemented well, but has been received excessively bad.
Healing as consumables: It’s fine. You gain a lot of resources for cooking by simply walking around, and all of those convert into healing items. Again, if you’re using too many healing items it’s probably because you’re facing the enemies too rashly, or you’re disregarding exploration in favour of a faster experience. The intended gameplay ties into exploring, gathering resources and taking it slow and steady. If people don’t like this way of playing, it’s ok. It’s an issue that can be tackled. But it doesn’t mean healing is bad because of it. Like durability, healing ties really well into the general design and flow of the game.
Stamina: after the patch and stamina buffs, the issue is completely solved. They even buffed it a bit too much, in my opinion. As long as you’re not reckless or make huge mistakes, it’s impossible to die because of lack of stamina.
Repeating bosses until you win: combine all of the above, and add that this game is not a soulslike. Clearly takes a lot from those games, but doesn’t want to be one. So stop thinking with the mind of a souls player, it’s a different genre.
Durability and consumable healings are part of the flow of the game. As such, you have to go back at some point, you’re forced to take a pause from the action. So the obvious response to the oh so common question “Why can’t they let me fight the boss as much as I want” is “Because it’s not designed to let you do that”. If they wanted people to die over and over and retry as much as they want like you can in a souls game, they would have done that from the start.
You CAN dislike this, and you have all the rights to voice your opinion, but it’s just bad to say “I don’t like it, make it identical to this other game formula I enjoy more”, it doesn’t give respect to the idea and the vision of the developers.
Whispers should heal: The game is not a soulslike.
Putting free heals on whispers would have devastating issues. Unlike souls games, when you touch a whisper enemies don’t respawn. If whispers healed on use you could just go back at any time to heal and then return to action without consequences.
Hell, whispers aren’t even intended to be “rest points”. The rest points are the campfires usually near whispers, where you can cook food with the resources you picked up on the way. Whispers are just your “quicksave” spots for when you need to go back in town (because of durability, full inventory, anything you can think of). This is heavily suggested by the way fast travel works, as you can only go back to the last whisper you used. And is complemented by the fact that enemies don’t respawn, so you don’t lose progress in the area even if you take your time to collect a few resources, repair something, upgrade a weapon.
Fast travel: the game does not want you to fast travel as we’re so used to in modern gaming. It is outright stated when you unlock it, “Plan carefully your moves” or something like that. The game wants you to go around, to go through its areas and paths, because this is how you’re incentivized to interact with the environment, gather resources, stack up on heals. Fight the new enemies that have come to occupy the liberated fortress, gain gold and loot, level up. You passively become more adept at fighting. This is how the game “forces”, or rather gives you the opportunity to prepare for what’s to come. And fast travel as we normally intend it would distrupt this flow, creating issues we might not fully comprehend yet.
I think I’ve addressed most of what the community has to say negatively about the game.
I want to be clear on one thing: I’m not saying people’s opinions on this topics are wrong, not at all. I wanted to share what I think lies behind most that te community dislikes, hoping to bring a different voice and my view on it. I really, REALLY like the game as it is now and I’m having a blast, and it weirds me out seeing so many people hating what I actually like in the first place.
The game is very different from what we’re used to, expecially in the way it interacts and engages with players, so understandably this leads to many not liking it; but I hope this doesn’t excalate in trying to change the game while disregarding the real, actual innovation and will to innovate you can find inside it.