So, after 15hrs I want to give a wider, more general feedback on the game. I’ve listed some good and some bad things.
Good:
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Environment and level design: the first thing I loved about the game is the environment. Aside from the beautiful and unique artstyle, which adds A LOT to the experience and immersion, there is always something to do or interact with in every direction you can face. Exploring gives rewards, and becoming used to navigating an area gives rewards as well, since items respawns and chests refill. In general, the time I’ve spent exploring the environment always felt rewarded. This ties to the exceptional level desing, so vertical and interconnected. Exploring is FUN. Encountering enemies is always a little of a challenge, courtesy of the heights you usually find youself at (fall damage is tremendously lethal) and an intelligent usage of narrow paths and dangerous edges to limit the combat space.
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Combat: man. Combat is good, very good, expecially in its rythm. The key being spacing and timing rather than dishing out damage makes for a skill-based yet very rewarding experience. Attacking too rashly leaves you very open, expecially if stamina is mismanaged, and enemies hurt quite enough to make every hit a serious problem, albeit not lethal. Yet, being too passive risks dragging the fight out or leaving windows for the enemy to close distance and put you in a pinch. Finding the right balance is a trial-and-error process, and I very much liked it. Once you get the hang of it, every combat becomes a fun but challenging dance with your enemy.
I have to say, the recent stamina changes made combat feel a little worse. While arguably more enjoyable to all players, I feel like it has lost a little bit of its previous “vision”. Mistakes are less punishing, and I think this might have consequences in the long run (an easier combat system to master naturally makes for a less-rewarding learning curve, both in “skill” rewards and “gratification” rewards). But the changes were small and mine is just a personal, not objective opinion, so surely many others felt like this was just a good change, We’ll see how it goes. -
Soundtrack and sound effects: both of these play a huge role in complementing the immersion, and the result is wonderful. I have yet to find a sound/music I feel like it doesn’t fit the context.
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VA’s: The choice of voice actors has been so far very much on point. All voices fit their character really well, and the quality of them is… incredible. Props to all VA’s, they’ve done a wonderful work.
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Other things: Sprites (and items design in general) are pretty good. The constant refilling of chests and loot makes walking through/returning to old areas more rewarding. Enemies are cool and well designed, and even basic ones can be a threat if understimated. The fog of war is a very cool concept, in contrast to standard respawning enemies, and I’m really liking the way it fits into the gameplay and changes the way you approach certain things like farming or traveling through old areas. Makes you feel like your actions had a real, obsevable consequence instead of just killing an enemy that will be there again the instant you reset the area.
Bad:
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Durabilty: this was one of my points for the first hours of gameplay but now it got solved in my opinion. It already wasn’t as bad as many said, and now with lessened durability loss and lower repair costs it’s perfect. At first I really didn’t like this mechanich, but later I realized it fits well in the game’s system and it’s alright. Still included just to say “Good job, poblem solved”.
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Stamina: like durability, at first I didn’t like stamina consumption, but later the entire combat system grew on me and I started loving how having little stamina made every single hit count a lot. I wanted to post something opposite to the “Stamina bad” posts so that I could share my vision… and then the patch dropped. Now the combat is much more lenient towards errors, and I feel like I 'm never always in true danger as long as I don’t mess up horribly. I can even make some mistakes or be a little more greedy and still have stamina for a quick dodge to safety. And I’m playing with a greatsword, not exactly the lowest stamina consuming weapon. I’m not saying “harder is better”, it’s just that… I feel a little less challenged than before.
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Inventory: inventory space is small, at least in the first hours of gameplay. While I wouldn’t change the way it works now, please add a system that makes it so whenever you pick up resources with a filled inventory they get sent to the community chest instead. ONLY for resources (food, minerals, wood etc.), that would be already enough.
Also make the chest in the rookery bigger. Not by much, but make it bigger. -
Running/Dodging/Climbing: separate the climbing button from dodging. Please. It’s been my worst enemy for the first 4hrs of gameplay and even now I’m terrified of facing a wall near a big fall and press “A” to climb.
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Fall damage: a bit high for a game so centered around verticality. Well, maybe it’s high by design to make that verticality feel much more important and impactful (which it DOES) but still, toning it down a little little bit could help not being left with a sliver of life because you accidentally held the run button for too long.
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Edge protection: on this note, add a system that helps with stopping before edges. Many times a misclick or tiny distraction led me to death by falling, and something like a light edge protection could have prevented this. I don’t know if it’s even possible, I just wish it was easier to not fall even if you stopped a few frames too late.
So this is basically everything that comes to mind. Overall I’m liking the game a LOT, it’s very fun and well made. Aside from performance problems and some bugs here and there the game has a really solid foundation and very enjoyable content. Even if many people criticize things like healing items and resource gathering they are not a real long-term problem, at least for me (I have something like 80 mushroom soups and I can’t in any way consume them all, to the point I’ve started selling the raw ingredients).
Also, tip for anyone who doesn’t use them yet, use runes. Focus is a very strong resource. Runes deal a lot of damage, are useful in many situations, and can be heavily customizable on non-enchanted items. You can buy a bunch of useful runes from the merchant, and don’t shy away from them because you’re running a melee build.