There's a lot of things to like about this game that carried over from Withering Rooms. The atmosphere, the music, the art, the character designs, and even the plot are all great, but there's some things that stand out that are honestly ruining my entire experience. Keep in mind that the game is in Early Access and I have seen VERY GOOD patches from the dev already fixing some issues I had. I am almost certain that they will continue to improve the game, and I will alter my review if they fix what I think are the problems. I also want to say that it could totally be a skill issue, but I've played a variety of incredibly difficult games and trust myself to be able to differentiate between what is genuinely my lack of skill and what might be a poorly made encounter - sometimes it can be both.
I do not think the decision to make this game a souls-like was a good one, or at least, it wasn't executed as well as I wish it was. The game feels like Dark Souls 2 - and before any DS2 defenders chime in, I like and have played the hell out of that game, but it has its fair share of problems as well - The hitboxes on almost every enemy, especially bosses, are not good. My attacks whiff, go through enemies, or miss entirely while locked on for reasons unbeknownst to me. The enemy attack strings feel entirely unfair sometimes and like the only option is to run away or cheese them in some way. Sometimes I will walk through a doorway and enemies are already attacking me before the (albeit very quick) loading finishes. Sometimes, in more than a few spots, I get stuck. This results in me getting hit, stun locked, or in some cases actually just trapped in the terrain. (I submitted one as a bug, but stairs can cause me problems as well.) It feels artificially difficult in a few places and it becomes increasingly frustrating. It can feel more like a stat competition than a skill-based fight. I have a tool that says in its description that it would stun anyone, and yet this humanoid boss with no armor has so much poise that it sometimes takes THREE USES of the tool for a 1.5 second stagger that, if I try to attack during, ends up with me dying. His attacks come out so frequently and quickly that using it one time is almost a guaranteed hit on you, and one hit can almost guarantee a death.
That leads to my next point - I have no idea if I'm even supposed to be fighting this guy yet. The lack of direction is mostly fine and I have the brain power to leave and go try somewhere else, and farming and out leveling this guy is totally a thing I could do, but is that what's intended? Am I missing something? I have no idea. Some people can get here and succeed at level 1 and that's great, but not what I think the encounter should be balanced around. I don't necessarily want it easier, I want it to feel more fair. In the dev's defense, there was another area with a similar problem that they did actually patch!
Let me talk about the good parts of the game. The sections that resemble Withering Rooms are great. I like them a lot. I feel like those sections combine what's great about that game and what's great and different about this game together. The RPG aspects are fun, I love having builds different than other people and sort of forming my own thing to get through the game. Not having death penalties is an incredibly smart decision when it comes to how the game plays out. If I was losing things every death, this negative review would be a lot easier to write. The music is probably the best part of the game and not only does it amplify the atmosphere but sometimes they are absolute bangers on their own. Customization is a largely overlooked thing usually so having it in this game is a huge plus. The side content is neat, nice to have I suppose even if I haven't touched it much. I've done hunts and gone out at night, I just don't know what the purpose of it is except to be side content. Unless the intention is to do this side content to grind myself up to make the aforementioned boss easier? That's a valid possibility, but right now it feels more like a "Would that work?" than a "I should do that!". The rewards don't appear substantial enough for a definitive answer.
The dev is in early access for feedback, so I'm taking the time to make sure my feedback is as fair as possible. Right now, breaking an enemy's poise doesn't result in much. Souls-likes always have ripostes and backstabs and those could be a nice addition to make things feel more fair. I don't want the game to become "parryslop", but I think a parry could be nice too, if we're really going the souls route. I think there might be something strange going on with magic regeneration, or I'm not fully understanding why it goes fast or slow sometimes. It might be a % based regen, so the more you have the faster it goes? I'm really not sure, but stamina seems to regen fast for me no matter what. The talismans seem unbalanced, or I can't really figure out the best way to use them. Adding 30% of damage as fire or occult or whatever has resulted in more damage than nearly any combo of stamps, unless I run a 3 stamp with like 12% damage each. At that point, I find more value out of using it as a body talisman instead with some damage resistance, % stam, and % health. No idea if that's optimal, and I don't think the 2 stamp talisman has enough value. Debuffs really suck when you get them on you, and they seem really difficult to apply to enemies (I'll admit I haven't tried super hard because I am a precision build) and running around stacking statuses to do chip or DoT damage isn't my preferred playstyle. The Leaping Knight talisman is incredible and although I don't want it nerfed, ignoring the armor penalties along with stam regen and poise just feels too good to not wear. Even though I am wearing heavy armor with insane % phys reduction stamps as well, I still get shredded like paper. The game runs pretty well, and I don't notice any performance or graphical problems. That shouldn't be a huge plus, but so many games nowadays can't get that part right.
Overall I think the game can be very enjoyable, but it could definitely use some balancing and tuning and you might be better off waiting until it receives that. If you want to play it and provide your own feedback however, I'm sure it would be appreciated. I think Withering Rooms was a masterpiece and 100%'d it, and I just want this game to feel as good (to me) and succeed as much as Rooms did.
