Pale Abyss - Prototype

ok i know it's a demo but there are some pretty glaring problems in my eyes. despite what the description of this game says i firmly believe this game was inspired directly by lunacid, sharing exact control binds and menu ui layouts. this game straight up feels like someone played lunacid, liked it, and then tried to make it again with their own spin. i have no problem with this as a concept. the problem comes in the execution. lets start with the stamina meter. on paper seems like a pretty good idea, a staple in the souls genre so integral that removing it would completely reshape the way combat is handled. problem is that dark souls has several ways in which this meter is utilized, and the way it is implemented here is garbage. the combat is so incredibly simple and one note that all the stamina bar serves for is a timer you must wait for to refill before you are allowed to do another charged attack. the lack of a roll in this game makes it so that this is also the *only* use it has in combat, unless you count blocking but it's nearly useless and also prevents stamina regen. if simplistic combat was the goal then the removal of this bar would increase the game-feel tenfold. then comes the actual level design, in particular enemy variety and placement. as a point of reference, in lunacid the first enemy type you fight is a snail that can hardly move, barely turn, and has a pitiful time actually attacking you. this is fine cause you probably picked the "tarnished" class that starts with no stats. this complete loser of an enemy makes the first area work for grinding up stats if you want, or skipping through if you don't. TO CONTRAST THIS, the first enemy you find in pale abyss is an upright sort of crustacean creature that attacks frequently, hurts real bad, and moves at your walking speed (assuming the weakest class). i tried to flank it to check for a weak spot - a trait i assumed would be borrowed from lunacid - but found that the enemy turns so fast and recovers from a whiff so quickly that it was literally impossible to even check. this enemy is also fairly tanky compared to dps of the weakest class, which is only exacerbated by the previously mentioned stamina bar, leading to decent stretches of times where i was just kiting the enemy waiting for my stamina to recover. all this could still be ok in my mind, if it weren't for the fact that as far as i played, enemies were littered around as if to fill some kind of quota. you either spend minutes on end hacking and kiting waiting for your stamina to refill, or run past the ever growing hoard of shrimp and skeletons chasing after you at your same movement speed. i am aware that there is a run button, but the game did not give off the vibe that the intended way to play was as a trackstar with a stamina meter to help get extra ground. generally the "weak" starting class is not chosen for the difficulty, rather the customization offered later down the line, given some starting roughness. in pale abyss it feels as though picking this class makes the decision for you that you *must* grind near the starting alter, lest you suffer the hoard of enemies waiting for you not even 5 minutes later. so maybe minor balance change idk i did like some things about this game it wasn't all bad. even though i never got far enough to see what it affects, the concept of choosing between two different magic types and having the option to "cleanse" alters in order to influence your affinity for either is pretty neat. the decision to add the soulslike ground messages is pretty interesting, definitely not something i expected to see. the graphics in the game are pretty charming too, at least to me. so yeah tldr the combat is bad due to stamina in such a barebones combat system, and the enemies feel very overtuned

The game was decent. The world is visually unique and interesting, but the mechanics were too repetitive. The fighting was a bit boring for me. I get it that this is a prototype, but the game isn't for me.

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While it probably is rather generic, I think for a 3-people debut game who are doing this out of passion it definitely was an enjoyable preview to the full game. I'm hoping that the final game will expand, as this was just a demo showcase and hence lacking in content. but I think critiquing it for that would be unfair since it's less than an hour of playtime. What matters is setting, mechanics/combat, and visuals. It definitely sold me on the setting and visuals. As for mechanics, this has some very interesting ideas that will hopefully be more thoroughly explored in the full game.

asd

The games is good but simple and I look forward to see how it developes into a full game

yes

very well worth trying love the world aligment stuff loved it in demon souls love it here i just wish there was more to combat new moves or anything of the sort would be amazing

Very solid, I really enjoyed playing this prototype and hope you're developing the entire game now.