I hope you’ll kindly understand that English is not my first language—this message was translated.
First of all, let me begin by saying how much I truly love this game.
I sincerely appreciate what the developers have already achieved and am excited for what’s to come.
I want to make it clear that I’m not suggesting my opinion must be implemented.
Rather, consider this a personal wish that grew in me as I played the game.
Introduction (got a bit long, so I’ve separated it)
Of course, gameplay is the most important aspect of any game.
The art style is what first grabs attention—it creates the spark of “Hey, I want to try this.” But the desire to keep playing, the feeling of “I really like this game, I want to stick with it,” comes from the completeness and how well the gameplay aligns with the player’s tastes.
That said, for a game to reach the level of “there’s no substitute for this—it has to be this game,” I personally believe it needs a compelling worldbuilding element.
And in this regard, 「Wicked」(more than I initially expected) seems to have a very solid foundation.
To simplify the narrative core of this world: ‘Pestilent’ is the “Dark Lord,” and ‘Cerim’ is the “Hero.”
Whenever a dark lord rises, a hero emerges to confront them.
The game reframes this trope through a dark fantasy lens—less high-fantasy, more grounded in a medieval-inspired world.
It reminds me of how 「Destiny」 reinterpreted the D&D trio of Fighter, Thief, and Magic User as Titan, Hunter, and Warlock.
The “Light” is represented by a mysterious orb called the Traveler—a being whose true nature is unknown, often mistaken for a planet but perhaps some kind of sentient machine.
Its counterpart is simply called the “Darkness,” serving as the opposing force to the Light.
Much like in 「Wicked」, the boundaries between good and evil are deliberately blurred, creating more intrigue—just as traditional heroic tales sometimes reveal the “Dark Lord” wasn’t entirely evil, either.
Main Point
Despite having such rich ingredients, 「Wicked」’s in-game skill system—specifically the rune names—feel oddly generic.
Now, to be fair, they are highly intuitive.
“Spin”? Okay, it probably spins.
“Strike”? Sounds like a strong hit.
“Spin Strike”? I guess it adds a strong hit after spinning?
They’re all named like that.
The moveset itself becomes the rune name, and if it’s elemental, an element gets tacked onto the front.
It’s easy to understand, easy to categorize or search.
But… it still feels lacking.
And I don’t think I’d feel that way if everything in the game followed that naming logic.
But that’s not the case.
Weapons, armor, and rings all have names that are much more evocative and fitting for the world.
Their flavor text does an excellent job conveying the worldbuilding.
After The Breach update, I noticed that a lot of items had their flavor text changed—and through these changes, the world of 「Wicked」 keeps expanding.
In fact, rings didn’t even have flavor text before The Breach update!
They just listed the effect in a single plain sentence.
But now, every ring seems to come with a unique quote or phrase, often styled like a line from scripture or a proverb—each with its own distinct character.
That got me wondering—how much more compelling could the runes become if they followed a similar approach?
To be completely honest, this train of thought started after playing Souls games.
While playing 「Wicked」, I kept feeling like something was “missing” but couldn’t quite put my finger on it—until I looked at 「Elden Ring」’s Ashes of War, Talismans, and 「Nightreign」’s Abilities, Skills, and Ultimate Arts.
Their systems struck a balance between intuitive clarity and world-embedded design.
The names gave a sense of what the skill did, while staying true to the world’s atmosphere and tone.
The skill descriptions briefly explained how the abilities worked, and if there were alternate activation methods—like charged or directional variants—those were indicated as well.
All ability descriptions listed the compatible weapon types and included thematic flavor text or bits of lore.
Of all of them, I think Talismans were the most ideal example:
- The item design, materials, and intention were conveyed through descriptions.
- Effects were summarized concisely. (Personally, I understand that the absence of detailed figures might lead to split opinions among gamers, yet I believe that vague descriptions have the power to spark curiosity and evoke that feeling of “romance”.)
- The flavor texts were rich with worldbuilding.
That combination—of design description, gameplay-relevant effect, and deeper lore—makes each item feel meaningful.
And what makes me feel this could really suit 「Wicked」 as well is the current rune system: runes are tied to specific weapons.
That already gives them a “story” of sorts.
Yes, some unique weapons share runes, and others let you extract and insert runes freely—but the idea that “this rune came from that weapon” still gives it a narrative anchor.
Closing Thoughts
I know 「Wicked」 is not Souls.
I’m not one of those players who says, “Why did they do this? They should’ve just copied Souls.”
That’s not my mindset at all.
「Wicked」 is its own thing. I see that.
And honestly, I think the devs have done a phenomenal job in establishing that identity.
This ended up way longer than I expected—turns out I had a lot more to say than I thought.
Thanks for creating such a great game.
I’ll always be cheering you on!