I can see the passion put into the game, but in it’s current state it is more frustrating than challenging, with QOL being a big deal.
I am a veteran of Dark Souls game from the very first year it was released, love rogue like games, and really hope this succeeds.
Some thoughts on how to improve
- Food - I know some people like this, but I hate, and I mean hate, having to create my own food in a game like this. Combine that with inventory issues + scarcity of the herb it forced me to go run around for awhile to find enough to make food to fight the first boss
- Inventory - I strongly suggest not having any inventory limits when it comes to resources. Not being able to keep food, fish or similar type items due to space is an odd choice when its not a core mechanic of gameplay
- Dodging/Block - first boss was too much of a spam fest with stamina being a huge problem. I have no problem in a shield/dodge mechanic, but in that fight I had to dodge, wait wait wait, then hit, dodge wait wait wait then hit. Nothing about that is fun.
- Poison/Fire Effects - no fun having to wait 10+ seconds for a flame/area to go away, combine that with the fact I have been at a spawn point with that effect on the ground killing me and its a problem
- Parry - I still don’t get the timing, be great to have a stronger visual indicator
- Swimming - I just don’t fully understand the desire to let people drown in a game like this. It hampers exploration and makes it more of a choir than a challenge
- Resting - I must simply be missing a mechanic, but how do I heal up without having to die first? Same with my ability points, but nice to have it refreshed versus having to go hit the boss/enemy
- Combat - in general combat is simply frustrating. After beating the first boss I head back into the prior area and just keep dying. I die to the guy who the lance as his stagger/hits overwhelm my stamina and ability to time a parry, I die to the hammer/fire guy as they tag team me, especially with the fire throw from across the screen etc… I have no problem with tough mechanics, but the rock/paper/scissors component feels broken
- Control Feel - something about the controls feel too floaty for my liking. Like the character has sand bags on their feet. My armor is (heavy) at the moment, but it feels like the only way to avoid that is to basically strip all armor off which doesn’t feel right
Overall I have faith in the company that made ORI so sticking with it. That being said, knowing how amazing ORI is I am very surprised at how rough this feels in the mechanics.