I installed this game.
19 grueling hours went by somehow.
And I realized I still haven't gotten an inkling of fun, so why am I playing this?
In short:
"The game looks good but plays like ♥♥♥♥."
- an angry gamer
I admit some locations and the environment were very pleasant to look at (although some of the UI looks like low-effort barebone ass), but there's just one miniscule problem: getting there.
Getting there means fighting a lot.
Fighting a lot means experiencing the horrible gameplay mechanics this game for some reason decided to stick to, and a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ from yours truly, to you.
To list some:
If you want to change the difficulty, whether it is up or down, you'll have to find a specific item for each of those actions.
Problem is, it's a random drop, and it never ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ drops.
So if you wanted to experiment with already cleared sections, but on a higher difficulty, to either have some "fun" or farm some resources, once you want to progress further back, you're ♥♥♥♥♥♥.
The gameplay experience then becomes a devastating entropy to your psyche, unless the gods (RNG) mercifully give you the chance to escape this torment.
And also, I haven't found a way to replay bosses on a higher difficulty, "fun" right?
The checkpoints are well placed, and there's plenty, with enough spacing to hit the green spot of efficiency.
But whenever you're done with the environment and just want to go straight to the boss, there's always that 1 missing checkpoint that could be conveniently placed near the boss or a gameplay mechanic letting you just replay the fight.
By the time I make my way to the boss area, half of my HP is down from trying to ignore and evade the mobs and having to fight them every time, and tracing the route there every time is just too time-consuming and frustrating.
The checkpoints also offer quick travel between them, but not always?
I haven't figured out why.
Maybe it's another RNG item?
The point is, I haven't been able to come back to a location to upgrade my loot for quite some time, which again I find as a very stupid gameplay mechanic, pointlessly limiting the player and making the experience harsher than it has to be.
Fictional difficulty or whatever it's called.
This is technically not a gameplay mechanic, but it's very much present through and through the whole game, and since it's not fixed, I might as well call it this game's mechanic.
Bugs, glitches, and the game being overall quite unpolished.
The game is already hard enough in difficulty.
This just makes it so much more unpleasant to plow through, an unnecessary obstacle.
I always have these long rants when criticizing games, because the amount of effort put into making these games pleasant is going into polishing my writing as well.
I see this game being great.
If only it would be worked on for a little bit more, with less but better content, quality over quantity.
I really like the setting.
The environment is sometimes gorgeous to look at, there are a lot of secrets to discover, and even the story sounds interesting to delve deeper into.
The gameplay not only overshadows all of this but, in this case, blocks it entirely, because I don't want to play and experience more.
I'm more than willing to give it another try, though, once it becomes at least a little more bearable.
