I’m going to try, again ( 
), to summarize what I said up till now and add more perspectives and specifics so we can talk about the same thing.
Keep in mind that if our experiences differ it’s because:
- Our skill level differ
- Our exploitation of the game mechanics differ
- Our biases differ
- Our expectations for the game differ
If your experience, observations and conclusions are too far from mine there is absolutely no reason to debate because there is no chance at all that my experience, observations and my conclusions even make sense to you and IT IS NORMAL.
I initially submitted this post to rally people who have globally the same observations about the general progression of the game as I have.
Of course the others are more than welcome to join the conversation and shape its evolution.
This is, again( ), MY experience of the game:
Before anything else, I have to mention that I am a fanatic fan of Souls-like games.
To be more specific: I like how varied the encounters and their surroundings are and how they break my habits to force me to adapt.
That’s why my favorite Souls-like is Lies Of Pi.
Because breaking the fights assimilated dynamics is what it does better than any other.
Mentioning it may sound trivial but it is crucial to understand my concerns.
I also need to mention that I played this game for a bit more than 100 hours.
Now we can come to how I played it.
I played the game, up to the Crucible, without consuming any attribute points or upgrading weapon and gear: I wanted to see what was the smallest amount of upgrades necessary to clear the Crucible.
After the first 10 hours I felt a huge decrease in healing items scarcity.
My routine was:
- Craft what I can with what I farmed.
- Buy extra ingredients to complete some possible healing item craft.
I ended up my 100 hours with more of it that I can chew.
Healing scarcity playing a predominant role in Souls-like games fights intensity, I started to loose slowly but surely the feeling of a consistent progression feel.
Concerning the Crucible this is what I found out.
First, repeating this content over and over is just boring, no matter how valuable the reward is.
And I think that, if it is a barrier of entry for later content, it makes things even worse.
To me, at this point, the game encouraged me, to not say forced me, to take the META build path.
I felt and confirmed it later by testing that upgrading my weapon damage and wisely assigning my attribute points, like I usually do with Souls-like, wouldn’t be enough.
So I used every single bit of advantage possible.
It annoyed me deeply because my primary gaming philosophy is: Play the game the way you want to play the game.
So I raised all the cursors: maximizing levels, weapon, equipment, runes …
Doing that you end up with a build, and a play style, that has nothing to do, in terms of game feel, with a Souls-like.
And even worse for me: was in complete contrast with the early hours of the game that I enjoyed so much.
“But Lamni, you complain a lot but what do you mean by game feel ?”
This is what I mean by game feel.
When in the early game the number of times that you have to get out of the fight to avoid a mechanic or heal is pretty significant.
Now you can(and you will) face your opponent head first hoping:
- That you have upgraded everything enough and won’t run out of materials if more upgrades are necessary
- That your enemy health bar drops faster than yours
The requirements for a “fluid experience” of the Crucible completely breaks the good foundations that I perceived and the pace of the game.
And this, TO ME, revealed 2 things.
The VISCERAL aspect of the game, meaning the tension in the fight that you would expect from a Souls-like game, is gone.
The only remaining tension being the hope that you have when something drops and how useful it could be later on to build an even more META build.
And also it revealed a deeper shift in mechanical skills requirements.
Having more heals wasn’t enough, now you have more resources regeneration.
You can fully fulfill your dreams of being an “invincible living static spamming turret”.
So now:
- How do you solve that ?
- Does it need to be solved ?
To the second question, I’ll answer yes, IF, the visceral aspect of the game is really the intended experience.
The answer to the first question is: IF the visceral aspect of the game is really the intended experience, then, the development team needs to make sure that in NO CASES, what you face in the game and how you build your character, can get you to the point where spamming without moving is a better option than any other.
That is why, when I initially opened this post, I said that this is not a technical issue.
No update/upgrade/rework/whatever of the resources/attributes/skills/whatever can solve that.
It is a core game design philosophy issue: the development team needs to clarify and fully commit to what the intended experience is suppose to be.
And make sure that there is no current or additional feature breaking the initial promise.
And don’t get me wrong, I have a sincere passion for this game and I’ll play the game in both cases, but:
- In the case of a more Souls-like game feel experience, I will devour everything.
- In the case of a more Diablo-like game feel experience, I think that the Main Story may be my main and only driver.
That is why, TO ME, knowing the definitive choice in the direction is so significant.
And it will also help the development team and the community to come up with more relevant suggestions.
I hope I’m understood now. 
Don’t forget, if you really want to know what the definitive intended experience will be:
- Click on the Vote button at the top left corner of this post
- And/Or use the Reply button to share you experience
- And/Or leave a like 
Voting (here top left corner) followed by leaving a comment being the best way to reach more people.
Thank you, again, for your support. 