If I hear word “build” one more time I think I’ll go crazy. This whole concept always ruins the games, as if it was something “mandatory” to even succeed. It isn’t, and it has never been the case for this game either.
EDIT:
This is also the reason why I highly value games that generally don’t allow builds. Not that there are many of those, but there has been at least one: Sekiro. One either learns the damn game, or one fails.
The reviews before the update were perfect and the public loved the game.
Take for example Elden Ring, despite being much more difficult than No Rest for the Wicked (the pre-update version) it became popular even among non-hardcore.
So I think this theme has nothing to do with it.
Now I tried the game only after the third hotfix, and I continue to say for the umpteenth time that the game was designed and built for a souls-like audience, so it should be.
At most they add an easy realm for the very few who complained about the difficulty (4 cats).
Hello everyone,
I’d like to share my opinion on this topic. On one hand, I want to say that there have been numerous complaints about the game being excessively difficult. In other words, a significant number of new players have struggled trying to progress. However, there are several of us (myself included) who actually feel the opposite. And I believe both sides are right, and not because “difficulty” is subjective and largely depends on each player (which is only half true, since we all know there are games that are objectively harder than others, and there are countless examples of this).
What I mean is that NRFTW suffers from both problems at once: a punishing start for new players and a very manageable difficulty once the player gets past that initial barrier and learns the game’s mechanics.
To be honest, NRFTW throws the player in with a sword and shield, and as they progress, they level up and get rewarded with stat points and a random weapon that depends entirely on RNG. At that point, you have two possible choices: either you hold off on spending your stat points while you figure out a strategy and combat style you like, or you invest them based on the first weapon that drops from the sky. And both options make the early game harder.
On the one hand, if you’re cautious, you may theoretically be level X, but in practice, you’ll have only used a portion of your earned points, meaning your stats will be lower than what a typical character of your level would have. On the other hand, the alternative is even worse—if you spend your points and later find out you don’t like the first weapon you equipped (probably the starting sword and shield), switching to another weapon that scales with a different stat means your earlier points are essentially wasted. They literally become useless, and your damage output with the new weapon will be low compared to what it could have been if you had been able to reallocate those points into your new main stat.
What I’m trying to say is that yes, NRFTW is a frustrating game for new players. Given that scenario, it’s no surprise that many players die repeatedly early on. But on the other hand, once you manage to build a solid character with strong, synergistic gems and enchantments, and you learn that purple gear can combine Unbreakable/Unrepairable traits with good runes, you’ll start tearing through anything in your path. And at that point the game becomes too easy, and the most common cause of death is falling, not combat.
100% agree, but just lowering or raising difficulty will not solve this, just shift it from one group to the other.
the curve needs to be adjusted. pre-sacrament is ok to be easy, then it should get exponentially harder, first slowly then with a vengence. and optional endgame grind can then be whatever the devs want it to be. some easy, some hard, some nearly unbeatable. whatever they like. let the “casuals” (no offense intended here) finish the story with a increasing learning curve, ease them into soulslike challenges, but give veterans and hardcore fans something to bite their teeth out in the late game. a reason to continue grinding.
i know its easier said than that, but right now it just does not feel like it “flows” correctly. it seems like a sinus curve, starts low, goes up, falls down to 0 again.
edit: and to the hardcore fans.. lets be real here. we love playing games over and over and have challenges. but we do not love taking hours with a new char to reach endgame. most of us after a few playthroughs might not even mind to fly through the story like a breeze if we had some crazy hard stuff as optionals in-between or whatever.
I think the best solution is to create at least two realms, one easy difficulty and one original difficulty (the one from the pre-update). That way we will all be happy.
I had already read that Thomas was thinking of creating realms with various difficulty levels somewhere…
and we will be getting realm modifiers where u can individualize your realm settings. this is confirmed!
although we do not yet know how exactly this will look. see also here: Breach Patch 1 Sneak Preview
How leveled were you?
My experience as a new player in the first area was that the boss fight felt easier than some other enemy encounters. I completed it on a first try with no need to learn its attacks patterns. So I wouldn’t mind the boss encounter being a bit more engaging. However, the greatest enemy with no doubts was the gravity! I’m really glad it’s getting addressed, because it currently is a bit ridiculous.
I thought the whole genre around “soulslike” was proof that games can be very successful and hard at the same time?
Either way, the difficulty has to be enough to make you want to upgrade gear. Failing a few times, finding gear, upgrading, then beating the boss always feels like a rewarding progression system to me. If I just beat everything the first try without grinding gear at all, the game would totally depend on the story to keep me interested because the gameplay wouldn’t.