EverSiege: Untold Ages

The difficulty of thiss game seems sadistic The other problems with this game crashing disconnects they are all fixed

I do recommend this game and will likely continue to enjoy it, but I'm getting some negatives/potential deal breakers out of the way first. Note that I'm up to Age 8, so I've won 7 rounds at roughly an hour each including pause time. I'm leading with the "Buyer be advised" bits in hopes that the devs will care enough to tweak things so the game feels less flat. - Almost all of the enemy attacks in the game are designed and balanced to be dodged, not tanked, with number scaling to match. Everything attacks with low-level MMO raid mechanics. The bulk of the game feels more like pared down Diablo III, with you dancing around constantly while sneaking in your offensive abilities. Even the tankiest character cannot just stand and slap a medium-level enemy, which gets especially obnoxious when many attacks are cones that will turn to follow your character. - The vast majority of your progression in a round lacks personality. No Statikk Shiv, Sunfire Cape, etc. with special effects. 90% of it is just "Number go up" which, while needed and not strictly a problem, could use some spicing up here and there. Many of the relics are very strong, but rather boring. The most interesting ones I've found are gained through a special dungeon that may not even spawn in a round. - More of a personal issue on my part, but the competition for resources between AoE on hordes of low-health enemies (such as the nightly massive waves down lane you have to personally stop) and the inevitable need for single-target damage on boss enemies with massive health pools (which may three-shot sturdy characters because, again, everything is meant to be dodged) gets really obnoxious sometimes, significantly narrowing your build options. Now for why I'm playing it anyway and recommending it for people who still like what they see. The gameplay loop scratches the itch of something like Eternal Return but without the various things that come from PvP. You run around a partially randomized map building up resources and strength to clear out several bosses and wipe out literal armies of monsters running towards the town you're trying to protect. While the combat can get annoying with everything demanding you dodge instead of relying on your defenses, I still find it enjoyable. The game is nothing revolutionary, but it fills a niche I don't usually get to fill without settling for a game that I consider actively bad. Some key good points, since I started with some bad ones: - The builds that exist are pretty fun. While the demand for both AoE and single-target damage will force your hand a bit, you do not have to optimize yourself into a tight little box to win (at least up to Age 8, where I am). While focusing on basic attack damage over cooldown reduction feels like it plateaus early, it is still viable. - All the characters work in single-player, though some will take more care than others. You start with access to the bruiser and the mage and unlock the others by playing the game. Obviously, the mage dies a lot easier and so far feels the least self-sufficient, but it still scales well if you play it like a mage with a lot of cooldown reduction. - The essences, which give you the larger half of your abilities, can both double-down on your character or supplement them. They're a good way to either gain safe abilities to use while dodging harder attacks or just stack on extra damage to what your character already does. Some of the more interesting level-up bonuses are also tucked into these essences. Good for what it is, could be better, not disappointed with the purchase or the hours already spent.