In my opinion, the world-building and level design is simply unparalleled. They did an incredible job and deserve all the praise from their players, peers and critics they’re undoubtedly going to receive.
The platforming and combat is subpar and this sentiment is echoed by the group of friends I play with.
You routinely jump off platforms because you accidentally hit a pixel you then mantled on to, routinely jump off ladders because you didn’t find the pixel, routinely jump off climbing walls because you didn’t find the pixel. You routinely climb a ladder or climbing wall during combat because you happened to find the pixel..
All of the above could be resolved by giving us E-interact on ladders and walls and by removing walk/sprint and making SPACE jump instead. You’re already able to slow your sprint to a walk by putting your mouse close to your character; I assume controller analogue performs the same.
Everyone has played Dark Souls, everyone knows where they’re going with their combat. Dark Souls, however, isn’t played with latency and doesn’t suffer from dropped inputs, which this game absolutely does.
This game has abnormally long recovery windows, most actions are discarded entirely, resulting in mashing to get food or heals off during fights. Except for dodges, which for some reason are buffered infinitely and routinely results in double-dodges, frequently leading to you dodging off the platform you’re fighting on leading to your death.
In my opinion, the combat in this game needs to be snappier; it just feels sluggish and inaccurate.