Good Meat and Bones on a game that can be great.
Lots to love here, and a few things that ought to be addressed. The combat, the sound design, the art, the music; absolutely beautiful. The campaign map lets you play a game of chance: do you assault the boss with the minimal time possible and strike them before they can up their resistance? Or do you collect all the power-ups and monster mash with captains, champions, and bosses? I usually go latter but you do you. There are quirky and shadowy side characters that are morally neutral and beneficial but also sus, vital to the folklore of cultures that lives with the land instead of flattening it out with industry. Oh, and if you get too cocky the game will put you down FAST.
The following critique will feel wordy, but only because I want to get my point across clearly and not because I want the devs to feel bad. To the contrary, I'd love to see the devs complete their vision for this game while adopting perspective from the players that can only interact with the game from the outside:
Hero and Squad Progression:
-Heroes: I'd love to see the stats upgrades more accessible from early on in the game career. If the health, attack speed, damage, etc. were in a different tree and for cheaper costs, it'll let the player feel the heroes become snappier and tougher like the veterans of failed campaigns they are. I think that'll help me feel a little stronger each playthrough, help keep the game feeling fresh, and the dopamine flowing.
-Likewise, if the high-skill upgrades like parrying and perfect dodges were in a separate and higher-cost skill tree then players whom built experience on the game or have a natural knack for a game like this can feel their badassery in a more prominent matter.
-Companions and Allies: Similarly, the weight of NPC squad progression can probably shift a little bit. Ex: cheaper upgrades for Recruitment Drive, Call to Arms, and all damage training (can probably group all training into one thing) but more expensive upgrades for activation upgrades. It doesn't feel rewarding to spend statues on upgrades I can't feel the impact from directly (ex: ally damage), but if I upgrade something like "rescued commanders automatically activates their special attack" then the reward of seeing an ally commander clean up a half of a map will feel rewarding and fun, and turn a "chore" mechanic of saving allies into a prompt-to-reward mechanic... and keeps the dopamine flowing.
-Mousing over Companions and Commander icons should automatically display their special traits too. Currently you have to select them, then mouse over the right side of the screen where the traits are listed and mouse over the specific sigil of the NPC, which feels dreadful when you have 12+ units and traits to keep track of just to play a campaign.
Combat, UI, and Visuals:
-Parry: I feel parry ought to be harder and more rewarding, or keep the parry-stuns as-is and make parry easier. Probably the former for the sake of progression and mastery's sake. At it's current state, parry is high-risk, low-reward with their short stun windows and the dodge builds with guard-breaking attacks feels far less frustrating and more fun.
-Visibility: make trash mobs smaller. The chaos of a huge battle is great, but my old-man eyes keep missing the lancer heroes until one's shoulder-deep in my rear end. A slim outline, brighter colors, or an aura animation is also an option, but that may conflict with the current art style and architecture of the game so bigger important characters feel like the move for me... but changing player character size will mean changing the size of the maps and hitboxes of all the attacks, so making trash mobs smaller feels like the move here.
-Attack warning markers from trash mobs: This is a tough one. Yes, trash mobs should still be there for a reason, and pose a threat because a sword held by the weakest 5-year old is still a sword. Perhaps make the warning markers from trash mobs smaller and/or different color from the captains? Reduced stagger from trash mobs, either in an update or through in-game upgrades, would be a welcome addition for the late-game. Or make them do pitifully low damage but keep the current stagger window so it feels like they too are setting you up for strikes by their captain.
-Camera: if we can get the level of the lock-on camera a little higher, I can see the ground better and avoid hazards/arrow volleys
TL;DR: great start to an EA game, I have thoughts, I look forward to the polish the devs will apply in the coming months.
