Feedback after ~170 hours – Gameplay, UI, Balance & Housing

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Feedback after ~170 hours – Thoughts, Criticism & Suggestions

Introduction

I waited a long time before allowing myself to form an opinion about this game.
After approximately170 hours of playtime, I now want to share my thoughts, criticism, and suggestions .

First of all, I want to emphasize that I am absolutely amazed by this game.

In many ways, it is exactly the RPG I have always wanted:

  • Top-down perspective with vertically explorable environments

  • A huge amount of attention to detail

  • There is always something to discover everywhere

  • Precise controls

  • Challenging and demanding combat

Overall, this game is a truegem, but one that still needs some refinement.
And that is exactly what I want to focus on belo w.

Gamep lay

Gen eral

Overall, I have very little to complain about regarding gameplay.

Quality of Life

  • Item consumption (quick bar):
    It would be a big highlight for me if pressing    A (Xbox controller)while selecting an item in the quick bar would instantly consume it.
    Additionally, it would be great if all items selected with the A button could be consumed consecutively, meaning the selection is temporarily remem bered.

  • Resource farming:
    When gathering resources, it would feel better if items dropped in stacks.
    It makes a noticeable difference whether you have to crouch once or multiple times.

Movement & Controls

Sprint vs. Climbing (old behavior)

I understand why the game currently automatically transitions into climbing when running toward ledges, ladders, bushes, etc.

But:
I would explicitly like to have theold behavi or back.

  • Previously:
    → When sprinting toward a ledge, the character would jump

  • Currently:
    → The character gets “stuck” and starts climbing a utomatically

:backhand_index_pointing_right: My request:

  • While sprinting, the character should be able tojump over edges (as it used to be)

  • Or ideally, this should be anoptional setting in the options menu

Edge Safety (le dge protection)

An edge safety mechanic would be beneficial in my opinion – but only under specific conditions:

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Important:

  • Edge safety should only apply whenwalking, not sprinting

  • This ensures the mechanic does not interfere with gameplay

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Additionally:

  • Only avery short activation window, so it does not feel overly sa fe or restrictive

Personal context:

  • After many hours, I hardly need it anymore

  • But in the first ~100 hours, I would have strongly wished for such a mechanic

Weapon Balance

I have tried almost all weapon types during my playtime
(bows, fists, swords, two-handers, etc. – I intentionally have not tested magic ye t).

Bow (main issue)

The bow stood out negatively in comparison.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Important point:

  • Enemies do close distance relatively quickly

  • And that is actually a good thing – it contributes to the gameplay feel

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Therefore:

  • The bow should not be so far behind other we apons in terms ofDPS

Current issues:

  • Significantly lower damage (DPS) compared to other weapons

  • Only barely viable as a pure glass cannon

  • TheLacquered Bowcurrently feels like the only real option

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Conclusion:

  • Bows need eithermore damage or better scalingto be competitive

Enemies – Echo Knight

I am not sure how much discussion already exists about this, but for me this enemy is currently a major source of frustration.

I have made many attempts and understand most of its attack patterns well, but there are still issu es:

Dash Attack (Phase 1)

  • Mostly easy to dodge

  • However, it occasionally still hits even when it feels like you dodged correctly
    → feels inconsistent

Triple Teleport AoE Attack (Phase 2)

  • Three consecutive area attacks with teleportation to the player

  • Extremely difficult to consistently avoid

  • If you get hit once:
    → it becomes practically impossible to avoid the following hits
    → which usually results in death shortly after

Additional frustration factor

  • After defeating it once in the forge, you regularly encounte r it again in thePe stilence

HUD, U I & Menus

Inventory & overview

  • Item descriptions often overlap with selected items in chests
    → makes it harder to keep track

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Suggestion:

  • Dynamically switch the side wh ere descriptions appear

Runes

  • Runes cannot be viewed in sufficient detail in the inventory

  • Missing:

    • focus costs

    • descriptions

More transparency would also be helpful when interacting with NPCs like Eleanor.

Weight & equipment

  • It is currently not clear which weapons are actively equipped

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Requests:

  • Highlight equipped weapons/shields

  • Improve clarity for managing carry weight

  • Ideally: allow switching equipped weapon slots directly in the inventory

Material overview

  • It would be very helpful to see in trading or inventory menus:
    → how many materials are stored in the house storage

Since refineries already use this information, it should be technically feasible.

Crafting & confirmations (very important for me)

  • Currently, there are too many confirmation prompts

  • This leads to a kind of “auto-confirm behavior” where you just click through everything

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Problem:

  • This results in unintentionally losing items

Example:

  • Removing gems:

    • no loss in normal items

    • item destruction in magical/cursed/unique items

    • yet the similar confirmation prompt appears in both cases

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Consequence:

  • You automatically confirm and lose items you actually intended to keep

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Suggestion:

  • Only request confirmation when so mething is actual lybeing destroyed

Fast Travel

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Problem:

  • Frequent exiting of fast travel menus to:

    • check the map

    • check the Pestilence timer

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Requests:

  • Integrate the map directly into fast travel

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Problem:

  • A lot of switching between fast travel tabs

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Request:

  • Preselect either:

    • current location OR last destina tion
      → for better orientation

HUD

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Requests:

  • Stamina bar in the top left

  • Multiple status bars stacked for multiple effects

  • Stun/posture bar shoulddeplete grad ually instead of disappearing instantly

Housing

The system has improved significantly with the latest update, but still has some issues.

Object placement

  • Still feels a little bit clunky

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Request:

  • Direct placement control over the object

  • Character follows placement instea d of controlling it indirectly

Crafting

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Problem:

  • Animations interrupt gameplay flow

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Request:

  • Ability to stay in menu

  • Animation plays in the background

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Problem:

  • Results are not immediately visible

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Idea:

  • Add an output slot like refineries
    → items can be inspecte d and collected there

Production systems

I personally do not mind timers in games that much.

BUT:

  • I understand why timers are controversial

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Alternative ideas:

  • Remove timers entirely

  • Only better refineries can process better materials

  • Refineries can be crafted using base/raw materials

  • Or automatic material replacement syste ms (e.g. via Lumber Stack)

Space problems

  • Houses are quite small (which is fine in principle)

BUT:

  • Combination of:

    • refineries

    • chests

    • furniture

→ leads to needing multiple houses

Additionally:

  • Two small chests (20 slots each) take less space than one large chest (40 slots)
    → feels inc onsistent and unintuitive

Furniture system

  • Currently very “pack-rat” oriented

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Request:

  • Limit furniture placement

  • Higher quality furniture should provide more com fort

→ focus on quality over quantity

Bugs

  • Inventory:
    → items are sometimes not properly highlighted / cannot be interacted with
    → switching selection resolves the issue

  • Candlesticks:
    → cannot be crafted

  • Bears:
    → often cannot be hit with short weapons
    → feels like a collider blocks access to the hitbox

Closing

Most of my criticism are points where I feel confident I could personally contribute to improving the game.

So if you ever need someone for the “dirty work”:

I would gladly offer my help. :wink:

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Let us know if the game is not working properly due to bugs, in the bugs section of this forum! Report each problem individual and into their existing topic if it exists :wink:

Thank you!

Silas