I have over 2000 hours in Fromsoftware’s games, from Demon’s souls to Armored Core. And probably a comparable amount of hours in ARPGs such as Diablos/Last Epoch. Here is a list of inconsistencies and suggestions I found during my 30h with this game:
Weapons should be equippable, even if you can’t properly use them due to low stats. Give them a 99% dmg debuff, but let us try the moveset. Perhaps I won’t invest in the extra stats if I do not like the moveset.
When looking at daily chores, you can’t see any info about the rewards. What recipe am I receiving? Is it a duplicate?
When looking at a new recipe, you don’t get any info about the item. You can’t even tell what item type it is. Is it a weapon? Is it a str weapon? Do I have the stats?
The emote menu needs to be a shown while the button is pressed, not a toggle. For a Souls/AC veteran, attacking with R2 is a strong reflex and this game lust leaves me stuck in the dumb emote wheel. You have no idea how many deaths I had due to this and the fact one can’t rebind this ridiculous control scheme. Why is running on A or cross instead of B/circle?
I used to pride myself with the “parry the world” challenges, but the parry window in this game feels really off (both with weapons, unarmed and light shields).
The gathering of crafting materials is such a ridiculously annoying chore early on. With better tools it just becomes annoying, not good.
I would like to see numbers under the weight graph, to easily tell the breakpoint values.
The game is trying to merge the loot oriented ARPGs with the souls, but missing some very obvious aspects of both. E.g. when looking at a piece of gear in inventory (or shop), it won’t show you the equivalent piece equipped to properly compare it. The enemy design feels off. It is very punishing with very few openings. I’m not complaining about the difficulty, but it doesn’t seem to have the elegance of a souls monster.
Character’s walking speed is a crawl. Perhaps it’s due to the zoomed out perspective, but it feels way slower than a souls game. And I have only played as fast weight class. Very punishing whenever I try to take a sip of water.
The inventory, storage limits and stacks of only 20 items are ridiculous as well. It’s also very frustrating to have to choose between a relevant ichor reward such as a ring slot or another weapon slot and something that doesn’t help with progression but very pressing in exploration, such as more crafting space. It feels like the game wastes my time forcing me to go back and craft or store them away instead of exploring.
The heal/consumable use action delay is too small. It’s very easy to not be able to use a consumable or heal because you tap it a moment too slow, displaying the item toggle, and you lose your healing opening during a boss fight.
The focus bar is also ridiculous. Why do you lose it all on death? It should be FULL upon revival, regardless of the state on death. Why don’t we spawn with 1 hp after death while at it? I usually try a sorcerer build in these games, but I am glad I changed my mind when I found a claymore. Having to manage your mana with this clumsy misinput-prone system would be very frustrating. Perhaps having more than 10 focus would dramatically change this.
Why can’t you click on the menu icons to navigate from one to another? Yes, I am using a controller, but this is such a basic UX matter.
Not being able to backstab all humanoid opponents is a let down.
It is very hard to approach and punish “hybrid” rangers. Specially those that shoot twice. Specially when there’s a gap to be jumped between you and the opponent. They have no cooldown when switching weapons.
The tracking on monster attacks is a bit overtuned and their combos are sooo looong, usually ending with another delayed attack. Shouldn’t this kind of stuff be reserved for “special occasions”?
After killing the sewer boss, bloated opponents start roaming the overworld. Cool. The issue is these are different often explode instantly on death (maybe after killing them in one hit with a charged attack?), unlike their sewer counterparts which gave you a second to dash away.
Why are one handed weapons(e.g. Ripper) as slow as a 2H Claymore?
Where is the hyperarmor of the heavy weapons? A charged claymore can be interrupted even after the sword if late in the swing. I could be in air, post swing, and I’d still get interrupted.
Enemies downed can’t take damage (e.g. after a backstab). But why does the player not benefit of the same mechanic? The push into hit combo of enemies is insane. The push should deal very little damage if it’s a true combo with the follow up attack, balancing the damage with the utility it provides.
Runes should have a description of what the effect does (Really, what does “Return” even mean? One has to speculate, perhaps it’s a return to the last whisper, perhaps, based on the icon, it’s some sort of reflecting shield.) and their cost displayed on them in vendor/inventory screen. Ideally a preview, as well, but baby steps.
If character is on fire, dipping in water won’t extinguish it.
42 str requirement for a medium shield? WTF?
Why isn’t interacting with a whisper healing the player (focus too)?
Why do we have to wait at all for building to be built? This on top of the daily and weekly chores. Is the game trying to be a cheap MMO? What’s next, selling $10 “time savers”?
You can’t see (though a combination of keys perhaps) the affixes ranges.
The opening at the end of the sewer boss’ attack combo was a moment too short I could just not get two claymore hits in followed by a dodge.
You’ll excuse my focus on these negative aspects. This is, I feel, the relevant feedback.
Overall, I have really enjoyed my time with the game. It is a solid base for something extraordinary and can’t wait to see more content.