From Love at First Sight to Confusion: A Cerim’s Journey

Hello to everyone reading this — dear developers and Cerim!

This post isn’t exactly a review — it’s more of a personal reflection on the game. I’ll try to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses, but overall, this is a critical take — based on hundreds of hours spent playing.

A bit of background

I come from games like Dark Souls , Elden Ring , Diablo 4 , and other dark fantasy titles. Despite how deep and rich they are, something always felt missing. I was looking for a fresh experience.

As someone involved in CG, I once stumbled upon an amazing weapon animation and thought, “What game is this from?” When I found out it was being developed by the creators of Ori , I was instantly intrigued. And once I saw the art style of No Rest for the Wicked , I was blown away: the isometric view, textures, attention to detail, animations, sound design, gameplay — you created something incredible. It was love at first sight.

What I liked

Atmosphere and story

The update brought an exciting continuation. I was really looking forward to the development of characters like Odessa and Madrigal — and you delivered.

New content

New locations, gear, armor, and weapons with unique abilities — all of it was a joy to explore.

Improvements

The ability to modify enchanted gear effects was a fantastic decision.

But there are serious issues Gameplay reset

After the major update, I found that my usual gameplay was just gone . Everything I had built — my builds, strategies, and playstyle — was wiped out. It felt like a betrayal of trust. I paid for a product that turned out to be temporary.

If you’re going to fundamentally change core mechanics, please warn us in advance . I can’t think of another game where, after hundreds of hours, my progress and playstyle were taken away without my consent.

Enchantment system changes

Restoration stones

I used to be able to socket stones that restored stamina, focus (MP), or health. This made my builds flexible and encouraged active gameplay.

My favorite mechanic — putting Blink into my weapon to zip across the map — is now useless, because I can’t restore focus outside of combat anymore.

MP flasks

They used to restore MP directly. Now, they only speed up its regeneration. Why? I want to manage my MP — not sit and wait for passive regen.

Yes, there are stones that restore HP and MP during combat

But come on — I’m fighting during combat. I don’t have time to stand still and wait to recover.

Sure, I can parry to regain a bit of MP or HP.

I don’t need stones that barely restore anything and only work during combat.

Result: I can’t even test a new weapon properly anymore — I have to go into combat, build up MP, and then try the skill. That’s not fun. It’s a lost time.

Suggestion Please bring back the ability to restore focus with flasks.

Mor mechanic

The idea of “Mor” is interesting, but the reward doesn’t justify the risk. Increasing Mor makes enemies tankier and deadlier, but the loot is mediocre — mostly materials or stuff to sell.

Suggestion: Increase the drop rate of rare items when players take on higher risk. It would boost motivation and make Mor runs more exciting.

Strange stat requirements

Some weapon requirements just don’t make sense.

For example, heavy gauntlets with skulls on them require Dexterity . Why? That feels illogical — “skull crushers” like that should clearly scale with Strength .

That said — their skill is awesome. You literally smash the ground like an earth mage. That’s seriously cool — thank you!

In conclusion

I’m not a game designer — I’m just a regular player.

But this game has stirred up a storm of emotions in me. And I care.

I want to keep playing. I love this game.

Please — give me the chance to keep loving it.

The Godly goat on a boat in the moat has passed it’s divine judgement upon those who developed a debilitating Focus Regeneration addiction, causing them to Blink erratically all across the island. Pray it does not alter the deal any further.

1 Like
  1. As I right they warned about wipe. Aswell for me its okey, I feel it like season on Diablo.
  2. I cant agree with Focus flasks that can instant regenerate Focus. It will broke game again in the endgame if you will use focus build.
  3. When I want test new weapon I just respec for 1 red ball, go out of city and test in fight. Its okey for me. Maybe we have a dummie in the city and I miss it?
2 Likes

So what’s wrong with that, I like dynamic gameplay

I didn’t see that for some reason…
Focal flasks are a moot point, I guess

Rune attacks are balanced by the time it takes to build Focus through combat. If they player can instantly recover focus, without requiring skill (attack / parry), too quickly it makes them more powerful than intended.

A nerf is always disappointing, but it’s a much needed rebalance to be fair. I used to equip 3 of the same rings because the bonuses stacked, they removed this too.

2 Likes

At least bring back the effect when enchanting, so that MP restored, and then you run without everything literally

I don’t know if you’ve played any ‘Early Access’ games before, but this is a very common thing. It’s understandable that you do not enjoy your work being wiped (which they didn’t do. The old update is still available on its own here), but you did give consent to this when you bought a game in early access. Steam even warns you that this is likely to happen.

Everything else seems fair, though I wholeheartedly disagree on most of the points, though having some automatic in-city regen to quickly max out hp and focus would be a nice addition when testing new weapons and runes.
This could also be enhanced by the game being more clear with everything (more detailed descriptions), as almost everything in the game currently works on a “I’ll have to test this out, because the tooltip is not clear” when it comes to runes, enchantments and the like.

3 Likes

I do not know what they warned me about, if they did not tell me when I bought. I don’t need to search for information on forums or subscribe to their news.

And about the changes, their jokes make me sick.