SWORN

I'll start this with the conclusion: SWORN is almost a good game, but I cannot recommend it for multiplayer (no experience on single-player, so no comment there). NOTE, there are some minor spoilers in this review in regards to certain functionality/bosses. The good: - The gameplay loop is solid (with some heavy influence from Hades, understandable). - Fighting gameplay (keyboard and mouse aswell as controller) feels solid. Fluid, snappy and easy. - The Boons are unique feeling and provide several different ways to play during each run. - Every run feels like you achieve progression, this due to the amount of resources you receive every run and options available to invest in. The bad: - The menuing with controller is... designed by someone drunk. This cannot have been QA tested. The index does not show where you are correctly in the menu and transitions weirdly. The potion shop does not register "up" correctly and by pressing it you will move up diagonally (even though it is a squared grid). Meaning the potion on the top left can only be accessed by going to the potion to the right of it and and then go to the left... - Multiplayer, you have player collision (even in the base). In a run I can understand it (from a gameplay perspective) but in the haven it is just frustrating. - The blacksmith/weapon interaction ranges are very small and closely placed. Meaning when you want to interact with the blacksmith you often end up picking up a different weapon (very minor, but happens often). Players can even lock another person completely out interacting with the blacksmith or even block in the person closest to it. Meaning they are stuck there until the other players move away. - Ultimate boons create an ungodly amount of clutter on other players screens during gameplay. There is no opacity to it, the way you see it is how other players see it. With some boons even filling a quarter to a third of the screen, visually blocking any objects behind it can become frustrating fast. It will full block a player from seeing enemy's or projectiles. - No reconnect on multiplayer disconnect (kind of a necessity for these kind of games, or any bug will just ruin the run for a group that wants to progress together). - No skippable scenes. Having to sit through boss transition screens that everyone has seen a 100 times and you've grown bored of and not providing a skip option is just frustrating. Now, the downright horrible: BUGS. So many game/run breaking bugs (experienced often, basically daily, during multiplayer playthroughs). - When picking up boon flags you have a chance to be frozen in place, unable to pick a boon or even move, softlocking progression as the room cannot progress until all players pickup the room reward. The affected player has to leave (remember no reconnect) or the group has to forfeit the run. - One of the bosses has a "Get over here mechanic" hooking a player to itself, stunning the player and then hit them with a followup attack. You can get softlocked in the stun, unable to move untill the boss hits you with specific attacks which have a 'chance' to unstuck you (not guaranteed). Meaning you just take damage untill you die. Even using resurrection tokens (used automatically on death) don't free you. This is not a feature, you're supposed to be temporary stunned, long enough to get hit by the follow up attack. Not loose control over any and all interaction of your character forever. If the boss does not manage to hit you with an attack that ends up unbugging the player before it dies the player is now permanently stuck. Again meaning, the group cannot go to the next room as all players have to pick up the room reward. The bugged player has to disconnect (remember no reconnect) or the group has to forfeit the run. - Dying has just a straight up chance of not spawning the revive 'beacon'/interaction. Players cannot move to the next room untill all players have picked up the room reward. This means players need to be revived (and paid the cost associated with it). With no revive, the group is now stuck. As a result the affected player has to leave(remember no reconnecting) for the others to continue or the group has to forfeit the run. - Dying on the main (end) boss has a higher chance then other maps (my group has experienced it several times more often in that fight then other maps) to not spawn the respawn beacons on death. Meaning the dead (and alive) players cannot 'finish' the run. Even though the Boss is dead. It is required for certain progression to interact with the final scene in order to get the progress. Either the bugged players leave or the entire group has to forfeit the run (even though you beat everything, but the game mechanics itself). - On higher diffuclties, effects are added to the maps. One of these is 'No resurrections'. What it is supposed to do is when a player dies on that specific map, they cannot use their self resurrection tokens and just full die (requiring another player to revive them). On map complection you just leave with the tokens you went into the map with and they become active again on the following map. Sometimes the effect bugs and just deletes the players resurrection tokens and never gives them back. Denying you a helpfull resource for completing a run (this is not an intended feature). - Although it has not happened often, disconnects can randomly occur (internet blips, bugs etc.). Annoying, but its the nature of a multiplayer game. However everytime one of these disconnects occurs, regardless if they are the host, it can just disconnect the entire group back to the main menu. Losing the run, instead of just a player. Consclusion: SWORN is not a bad game in gameplay mechanics. There is enough here to warrant playing it with friends. When everything works it absolutely is fun to play and has a nice challenge to it. The bugs however, make it incredibly frustrating to play. I cannot give it a recommendation for people looking to play this multiplayer until this is resolved. As I've not done any solo-gameplay I cannot comment how that feels (or behaves bugswise).