How to NOT make a Metroidvania - Sundered Review
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- Опубліковано 4 сер 2017
- This is my review of Sundered. As you can guess by the title, I don't think it's very good, but it DOES have a lot of really good ideas. In the end though, in spite of the good ideas and the beautiful art style, I'm convinced that this is how to NOT make a Metroidvania.
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All music is from the Sundered OST
WoW footage:
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Resist or Embrace
Sundered is a horrifying fight for survival and sanity, a hand-drawn epic from the creators of Jotun. It is a replayable metroidvania where you resist or embrace ancient eldritch powers. You play Eshe, a wanderer in a ruined world, trapped in ever-changing caverns filled with hordes of terrifying enemies. Harness the power of corrupted relics to defeat gigantic bosses, at the cost of your humanity. Resist or embrace.
Key Features
- Beautiful hand-drawn art and animation
- Terrifyingly epic boss fights
- Unique abilities that may be powerfully corrupted… at a cost
- Hundreds of upgrades and multiple character builds
- Dynamic encounters against hordes of enemies
- A mix of hand-crafted & procedural levels
- Multiple endings and over 15 hours of gameplay
Core Gameplay
Explore.
Delve into a procedurally generated dungeon at the heart of a beautiful hand-drawn world. Classic Metroidvania elements such as backtracking, secrets and unlocking new abilities that open new regions are at the core of the exploration experience.
Fight.
Confront hordes of dynamically spawned eldritch monsters. Put your skills and reflexes to the test through furious melee combat and epic boss fights against uniquely designed enemies. All monster spawns are dynamic, constantly keeping you on your toes.
Die.
Designed as a challenging adventure for seasoned gamers, frequent deaths are part of the Sundered experience. But taking our inspiration from our favorite rogue-like games, death in Sundered is only the beginning.
Upgrade.
When you die, you respawn in the Hub, where you level up and customize your character. Equip and upgrade a host of unique Perks, stats and special Abilities hidden throughout the world.
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Sundered on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/535...
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This video came out close to the game's release. After a lot of updates to the game and MANY comments from viewers, I decided to revisit Sundered to see if my opinions or experiences changed with time and with updates. Check the video out here: ua-cam.com/video/mQTBePmZP1M/v-deo.html
I also hated this game. I bought it and threw my money in the trash can. I really like metroidvania, and not this game without fun. One of the worst I've ever played.
@@adriano7838 I loved it. Right up there for me like Ori is
And you are STILL wrong.
@@okamifan1productions458 He's not wrong. It's his opinion. Not yours.
@@CKarasu13 Well an opinion can be like a polished turd too.
This game is excellent. Since your opinion doesn't align with my own I have no choice but to accuse you of being homosexual. I'm sorry it had to come to this.
Very fair of you. I do not condemn this.
KFC Master 420 it is
Nigga you gay
"Since your opinion doesn't align with my own I have no choice but to accuse you of being homosexual. I'm sorry it had to come to this"
I've stolen this quote and use it on a daily basis.
You have now ascended
I disagree with some of your points, and agree with others yet enjoyed those very things you complained about. This game is for a certain type of player.
I know that combat will sound terrible to some, but listening to you complaining about the hordes of enemies coming out of nowhere actually got me excited to try this game.
You might enjoy it. Plenty of people here seem to.
did you like dead cells? i feel you wont
I enjoy Dead Cells a lot, actually.
I play the game for the same reason, a good challenge is good from time to time!
@@timob1681 true that
I'm starting to get tired or games overusing procedural generation. It's neat for sure, and works with some games...but it's starting to feel more like devs getting lazy and just not wanting to craft levels anymore.
Not ALWAYS the reason, but often. It's because it takes A LOT of work/talent to craft good content. And when you're indie, you also have fewer people working on the game, so procedural generation can be used to offset that.
Hear hear!
If the effort is put in, procedural generation can be used to make every run feel unique. If the devs are just using it as a shortcut, then you're left with that boring sameness a lot of titles suffer from. If done right, procedural generation should take more effort.
Darkest Dungeon is hands down the best example of procedural generation I can think of.
Fate VE the binding of Isaac also feels like procedural generation is supposed to be in it. The game wouldn't really be fun without the basement being a random mess.
People can excuse it as "Budget constraints", but realistically, it's laziness. To design something in such a way that you know people will dislike what you're shipping out, you're just doing it because it's easier, is laziness. Do the best you can with what you have.
The moral to this story is that they shouldn't have made this game to begin with, because it wasn't within their budget. They'll from this and grow.
Everything you complained about this game is what I liked, especially the hordes. I absolutely loved being chased by 100 enemies as I barely was able to traverse the level. It made successful exploration feel so satisfying
considering all the game's references to the works of H.P. Lovecraft and his books about cosmic/existential horror, that feeling of hopelessness and neverending pain is pretty ironic.
I think that's what they were going for. Imo they nailed it with this game.
This dude sounds like he was having a rough time and blames the devs. I remember doing that when I was 8
I'm currently on my third play through and I have to say this is one my favorite games ever. I love the way it forces you to make hard decisions from fight or flight combat to the sparse amount of shards It makes you question what you value, especially the perk system. This plays so well into the theme of "embrace or resist" were anyone can figure out that embracing is the evil path but it's also the easier one and it only makes sense that resisting would be the path with the most resistance. The weakness it imposes on you is possibly the best representation of lovecraftian horror in videos. And a very under rated piece is the soundtrack I'm not sure I've ever heard anything like it. Sundered is definitely worth a play through and certainly worth more than $19.99
Sucdacok
Good. Play dark souls. Is good for your games taste.
I agree.... It's a great game that gets frustrating as hell but that's the way it was back in the day with games like this.
Some of this generation seem to want to complain more than game..... here is a tissue for all of u out there. 😭😫😩😵🤧
It’s free in epic store now and i gotta say it’s so addicting. Even though how many times I’ve died and it frustrates me most of the time I just can’t get enough of it
Alex Serrano lots of new games are still quite difficult, but when a game becomes less skill based and more RNG based the combat quickly becomes tedious and frustrating without the hope of upgrading weapons or just simply becoming more skilled. Hope this helps someone as generationally ignorant as you
You can upgrade so you can destroy enemy projectiles. You can also get the negotiator to make upgrades 20% less expensive. Bosses can give you like 50k sometimes. You can also get perks for a magnet and also one where almost all enemies drop currency
And you can do all that before leaving the first area, when projectiles actually become a problem. Also, he complains about flying enemies not being bound by gravity, but the game flat out tells you that neither are you! Loading screen tips include: "Attacking in the air keeps your momentum going" and "Hitting an enemy in the air resets the Jump Device". Seriously, wasn't there a whole controversy about games getting bad reviews just because the reviewer was bad at them? And yet, in the very section that he's complaining about the number of enemies on screen and how chaotic it is and how you have to keep moving, in the footage he's showing, he'd have been invincibly killing the hole room if he just spammed the attack button where he was in the air instead of dodging around the room until he died.
Just a little upset that you didn't pronounce Jotun as "Yo-tun."
"Joetoon"
Ikr.
"It doesn't matter how well you move [...] it just becomes a bullet hell game"
Good movement is literally what bullet hell games are all about
let the guy vent
Unless the bullets are following you...
This is one of those difficult to learn, satisfying to master type games. Once you figure out the strategy that deals with the hordes and reduces the grind, it becomes really fun. Also think of it less of a metroidvania (even though that is the official genre of it) and more of a dungeon crawler like Diablo where you mash buttons to slay dozens at once and use various combo moves to do it efficiently. Now that they added new attack moves the combat is way more interesting.
couple tips:
- Theres perks that lets you regain HP per hit/kill. It is OP and key to success. Find it and use it.
- The arrangement of the rooms are randomized, but locations where treasure chests spawn in each room is not. Once you learn those locations, you'll find treasure chests each time.
- There's an upgrade that lets you swat projectiles out of the sky, giving you a lot more defense. Get it
- Prioritize getting armor upgrades first and foremost. Armor is damage reduction and allows you to just lol at all the attacks you receive. Also use the perk that boosts your armor.
- Stay off the ground. Attack airborne enemies first. Each time you hit one, double jump gets reset and you can jump back at them, effectively staying in the air.
- Vertical tunnels are fantastic chokepoints you can exploit where grounded enemies just derp and struggle to hit you while you can hit them
- do not ignore Cultists. They are the worst type of enemy and exist to make it hard for you to fight anything else or escape. Kill them as soon as they appear
- Don't fight in rooms with too many environment hazards. lure hordes into clear areas where you can freely move around without running into spikes.
True Everytime i see coruppted wall i go full beserk on Cultist
If I had to sum up this game with something I hear a lot, it would be:
"Steven Universe is great! Just skip the first season"
The Bartender That would imply the game actually gets better as it goes on...
That's true.
I never noticed this 2 months ago but the footage used for this video is literally 90% running
No i love all his lame shit and I'm a metal head. Sundered just ducking sucks from point a-b
I can relate to that
I hear that a lot too actually...
...but then I also hear that the rest of it is still a comedy, and it still has horrendously ugly art.
and a game that is that hard in an unfair way can't possibly be a fun game tbh...
13:36
I REJECT MY HUMANITY
ESHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Is this a Speedwagon's bizarre adventure reference
KONO DOMINION DA!
WRYYYYYYYYYYY!
WRYYYY
I beat this game and I must say, it felt wonderful. I felt very powerful and it was satisfying to have large amount of enemies come at me. You get abilities and weapons to counter these groups as well, such as the cannon and the damaging roll. It felt satisfying to visibly get stronger, more knowledgeable about the game, and more understanding about it
@jp are you saying that the ingeniousclowngaming sucks at playing this game? LOL. i have not played this game yet and it looks exciting. gives me doubt when he reviewed this. but after reading some of the comments here. im definitely gonna give it a try.
@@manthelorian4163 This comment is old, but still: He does seems bad at this game, most of the deaths he shows here are actually easy to avoid if you really play the game, just make sure you read the effects of the skills and perks, also read all the tips that you get on the loading screen as it tells you a few useful things like how luck is an underrated upgrade or how to stay on air on flying battles.
Just finish this game some how google knows and recommended me to this video. Could not watch pass 2:40. Tips for anyone playing this game.
If you are having a hard time with this game just read the tips the game gives you. the game itself will give you hints on each load screen, these tips evolve every time you get a new skill or unlock areas in the game.If you are having problems finding your way back to a boss.... just look at the damn map, you have to be caveman stupid to get lost in this game... this reviewer probably was using the luck perk with out reading its disadvantage.
This is a Great Metrovania, and its free right now that the epic store.
This video came out literally right when the game was released, that was over 2 years ago. The game has been updated and altered like hell due to videos like this one. You should check out the pinned comment which has a link to his thoughts on the updated version.
I disagree. I'm about to finish a corrupt play-through and I'm loving it. Consider using the shield overdrive perk if hordes are what's getting you, and find places you can dash more when they appear.
Corrupt is way funnier than resist.
I know I'm very late to this, but having just finished my first play through and seeing how much love the developers put into this game I have to say to anyone interested... please do not let this review dissuade you from trying it. It's not a traditional metroidvania by any stretch but damn is it the most challenging and one of the most fun ones I've played. Early game can feel rough for sure but you notice huge strides in strength as you progress. Hordes present a wonderful threat early on that force the player to think on their toes and navigate quickly from room to room in their exploration. The "bullet hell" referenced in this review absolutely exists, but the satisfaction it brings to step back after a great run and think, "Wow. I survived in that rain of hellfire a lot longer than I expected to," is immeasurable. You start getting better at finding those few safe spots on screen and pretty soon you're weaving in and out of terrific amounts of enemy fire like breathing. Once mid game rolls around you start to notice hordes aren't doing as much damage to you. You get lost navigating the procedurally generated rooms? Well now you have time to stop, re-evaluate where you need to go and fight your way over (albeit you ought to be quick still.) Once late game rolls around hordes become almost easy to deal with. With the right combination of perks, you can fight hordes indefinitely... and I do mean INDEFINITELY. That is not an exaggeration.
On that note, I will say if you aren't experimenting with the perks you find lying around you won't proceed nearly as fast. The downsides look big on paper but plenty of them are outright negligible in practice (a tip which the games loading screens will remind you of if you forget.)
If the hordes and procedurally generated rooms aren't too overwhelming for you then you'll be in for some absolutely amazing (and beautifully animated) boss fights... and THEY are where the game picks up its difficulty if you ask me! I hope you all get to them, they're a hell of a lot of fun.
...or you could get an actually good metroidvania with a map that people actually put time into developing, and challenging gameplay that doesn’t feel like total bullshit: get Hollow Knight.
@@bounty8438 Just because you couldn't finish Sundered doesn't mean it's gameplay is total bullshit, man.
Sundered had a good map all in all, you just have to spend the time and get good at it
@@foogentog Never played it, but how can a randomly generated map become better if you spend time with it?
legrandliseur tri only the connecting corridors are random, the main rooms stay in the same spots.
"i did not feel powerful" - Come-on! You kill hundreds big creepy monsters during alarm time and you didn't feel powerful??? Really?) You just run away too often ))
My biggest critique of the game I feel is the "Resist run", when you choose to resist and finish the game without corrupting your abilities.
Resisting will make things much more difficult, but doesn't offer a satisfying ending in return. Yea sure, Eshe breaks the portal and stop the corruption from ever reaching out, even if it means she'll never escape ever. It's a very respectable move but you'd lie if you said it was *satisfying*. The reason ? It wasn't your choice.
Here's the thing : theme of the game set from the start is to escape. You're trapped, you want to escape, and the resist run basically stands for "I'm gonna escape and I don't need of those evil powers." At no point during the resist run does the game switch your focus. It never bring the idea that escaping may not be your priority and that you should instead stop the corruption from reaching the outside world.
So at the end of the game, when you see the portal breaking apart without you being able to escape, it's just confusing and you don't even realize this was your intention.
That's the reason this ending feel so unsatisfying, because the game doesn't lead you to this decision, it just take the decision for you.
That’s a really well way to put it.
Altough, one may argue that the creators tried making something akin to Dark Souls 1 or 3, were you can choose the ending when the majority of the game people expect you to link the fire.
I bet Japanese loved this game
I'm pretty sure that it still is your intention, you just didn't want to touch the scary portal, and then it exploded, leaving you to cry in the darkness and try to dig your way out.
Ironically this is one of my favourite Metroidvania's simply becaus the different routes give you different playstyles. Corrupting abilities is an amazing feature, the randomly generated hallways were MINIMAL, meaning that only room layouts were changed, not where they actually are. I finished it 100% and the corruption route was actually weaker than my "light" route. Maybe it was because I knew how to properly build and stat now, but I absolutely destroyed with crit and crit dmg.
The game isn't grindy,
I agree. Now that it's free on the Epic store, I played it and decided to go out grinding exactly once. Had no trouble staying alive in an area with constant ground enemy spawns, got 50k shards to fill out some areas of the tree, then finished the game with 150k shards to spare, so I didn't actually even need to grind at all. I'd have finished the tree anyway.
There is a perk that shows these treasures on the map. Combine it with the perk that grants extra shards from them and you can easily get 50k+ shards from a single run through the first zone. I have about 25 hours and my skill tree is almost maxed out.
Yeah then also equip the + shards from enemies perk when you can get 3. Since the + shards from treasure gives you more hordes to fight you will farm up a ton of cash every life
Yes! I never grinded long periods of time for upgrades, especially with those perks. In fact I didn't remember the costs going up.
Wonder if dude ever played Rogue Legacy. The biggest flaw for me on that game is the horrible grind to finish off the skill tree. The skill tree there increases costs by huge amounts and you lose tons of gold everytime you die, so you never get anywhere over tons of runs in the castle. I think the skills for more gold and the reduction of how much gold you lose when you die are some of the most expensive skills on the tree too. I did manage to almost finish the tree once but my PC died and had to start over from the beginning on my new PC, and never got far BECAUSE of the huge grind killed my interest. Fun game otherwise haha.
I found most his complaints of Sundered are fixed by things in the skill tree as you go along. Such as the ability to sword bullets fired at you and whatnot. Various shortcuts can be unlocked throughout the map to make travel to the outer ends of maps much faster as you clear an area. Also those perks with negatives attached to them get lessened or even flat out removed as you find the higher quality versions of them as you play.
Haven't played this, but from the video and what you are saying, it sounds more like a action game than a metroidvania.
That's because it's made by people who don't know what metroidvania's are. It's, in essence, an average action game.
Hex Maniac Or it’s just a game? I love how people try to cling to labels, the “Dark Souls-like” onrush we’ve been having lately is especially...enjoyable...*sigh*
People don't know what a Metroidvania is. Sundered fits Metroidvania's definition more so then others that are considered them.
'you have no cover from the projectiles of flying enemies'
Have you tried dodging?
Oh golly gosh that never occurred to me what a revolutionary concept!
@@ingeniousclown touché
The fact the negative comments do nothing be trash the gaming skills of the reviewer is impressive. I have games where i die a lot and i still like them. I like dark souls yet i still always die.I like rogue legacy even though it has its own bad things, yet i still always die easily. I am sure he has games where he dies a lot yet likes them. He told himself this game expects you to die a lot, so it obviously wasn't his problem as much.
I know this review is old and I've missed the party by such a giant margin that there's not even and evidence it happened, but i want to point out one tiny nitpick:
about half way through the game, even earlier if you take the corrupted path, YOU are no longer bound by gravity, at least for the most part, evening out the playing field in combat.
Hell, the final boss for the corrupted path doesn't even have a ground, and you spend the whole fight bouncing and flying and jumping and grappling from literally everything in the room, including the boss.
ok: great review, but that pronunciation of Jotun made me cringe like I had watched someone fall off a skateboard.
Played the game fully resisting. This is probably one of my favorite games in recent memory. Sounds like you went into this game wanting to hate it.
seriously? it sounded more like he went in thinking it'd be close to as refined as the lovely artstyle
it wasn't, and that leaves a person justifiably disappointed
@@prcervi i think he liked the art style but wanted a game with difficulty settings that made it super easy like many 12 year old these days
@@HomeAloneGaming1 there's challenging and fun to play then there's challenging and tedious to play, this game fell in the later category. He did a rereview of this game post many patches and fixes, it fared better then but still didn't get a great recommendation.
My point still stands, it's a lovely and beautiful game but it isn't as refined as its artwork. And random room rearrangement still isn't the best core feature for a metroidvania, bonus feature sure but not core feature.
@@HomeAloneGaming1 Considering Clown has beaten the Pantheon of Hallownest in Hollow Knight as well as completing Cuphead in 5 hours, both of which are also among his favorite games ever, claiming that he wants things "super easy" or implying he isn't skilled is laughably wrong.
@@prcervi and who are you to decide that it falls in the later category...??
Let me give you a tip and you will be able to deal with hordes much better. Shield is your bread and butter if it breaks you will suffer heavy damage and eventually die. So, if it breaks start running and dodge anything. After it recharges strike back. I am in my first playthrough playing in hard mode and I wasn't stuck in one place for too long with this technique.
Hey, ingeniousclown. I'm looking through the comments and seeing people say that you equipped poor perks. I've yet to play the game myself, but that does bring up an interesting question: Is a game well-designed if the player is unable to judge if a particular choice is positive to the experience?
Furthermore, what led you to believe that your perk choices were correct, and how might Sundered have fixed that?
This actually reminds me of the Cuphead debacle awhile back and the question, can we trust a review from someone who doesn't understand the game? probably not
The perks are pretty much straight forward. Also there are a lot of them without any downside (more shards from normal enemies or bigger loot radius) and some "disadvantages" are not even really a disadvantage (more shards from treasures but 2.5 times more hoardes). All 3 combined makes farming shards very enjoyable especially once you unlocked the scavenger skill that shows treasures on the map.
There is a perk that lets you store 3 health elixirs more but are transformed to shield elixirs. Combined with "70% of max health converted to shield but 1 max health" basically gives you a CI build from PoE.
You can specialize in melee or ranged, go glass cannon or tank. There are so many viable options regarding perks that saying "they are bad" is just a false statement.
Well the game after you die does say all perks out way their disadvantages.
I have finished the game (full embrace) and then started a new game wanting to play pure. this game is made in such a way that when not corrupting your abilities it becomes really hard. ( in the full embrace play trough I only struggled in the beginning really) But that's what I really like about it!
as for the flying enemies... you know that your double jump resets when you hit an enemy in the air right? Giving you infinite air time as long as you are a good player? And you also know that the projectiles can be hit when you get a certain upgrade?
Anyway, yes game has flaws but it's only a hard game when you try it without corrupting. BUT THAT'S THE POINT!
Also livesteal perks made it IMPOSSIBLE to die at a certain point
And farming? please...
Have I told you about the fact that the sustain of Lifesteal perks was so awesome that I couldnt die?
So yeah, of course I traveled to an area where there are infinite hoards of though high lvl enemies (including flying once ;)
Stayed there for a good hour and a half. came back with olmost 60K shards hahahahahahahahahah THE POWER
8/10 game has it's flaws for sure
Alexander Rózsa how about after you get that treasure hunter perk or whatever its called. My tree whited out in like 30mins after that. 100% completion 100% embrace
oh yeah!
Alexander Rózsa I feel that this game is kinda like Nioh: it's difficulty is widely different depending on players' skill. The better you Are, the easier the game gets.
the only problem with at is the reward I'd say.
Yes corrupting abilities really helps you out and make the game more fun, but you get a bad ending in returns.
Meanwhile, resisting make it frustrating and tries to push you into corruption your abilities, but in theory it should give you a very rewarding ending in return, which is definitely not the case there.
ahw that sucks... I was hoping the resist ending would be worth it. well, i'm not gonna try that then hahaha SKIIIIP
I gave up when the only thing I had open was a "rising water" stage, instakill, long travel time to retry, with the path re-randomized every time. After dying a couple dozen times I just didn't care anymore. (I was missing just one powerup at that point)
I actually agree with you about the changing block maps everytime u die to a boss.
Honestly? This game is not Metroidvania. This a a rogue-like action RPG. A Metroidvania is at its core about exploring the map while fighting enemies not about fighting while exploring a randomized map. Just because it's a sidescroller and has that blocky map doesn't mean it's a Metroidvania game and I'm surprised that many people don't get that
the game was advertised as one, is an scusable misconception... also, the fact that is not a metroidvania when it was advertised that way, is a clear failure on the game desing or the advertisement. either one, both are false as a result.
Thats what im saying !
Is it a rouge-like action RPG not really. Its not even an RPG, their are in fact no Npc's to talk to their is just a story that is being told to you. Rouge like also doesn't fit because its not turn based. Metroidvania is closer to what it is then what you said it is. Look at the Metroidvania definition " a large interconnected world map the player can explore, though access to parts of the world is often limited by doors or other obstacles that can only be passed once the player has acquired special items, tools, weapons or abilities within the game. Acquiring such improvements can also aid the player in defeating more difficult enemies and locating shortcuts and secret areas, and often includes retracing one's steps across the map." that fits sundered plenty well"
This goes back to I don't think people know what the game types are anymore. Their is nothing about fighting enemies while exploring a map is not a metroidvania.
Cheddah is correct. This is a metroidvania even if it doesn’t FEEL like one to you. It has rogue like features but is more of a metroidvania than anything else. Action-hack and slash would be the second closest genre.
I really like your reviews, you are very ambitious about indie games!
I would really love if you do a review of the Italian game "Super cane magic ZERO"
It's a kinda unspoken game and I think you could appreciate it.
it's a zelda-like game with procedurally generated levels and with a beat em up/throwing mechanic.
I really hope you'll gave it a shot, it's on Steam.
oh almost forgot: one of the reasons of why is famous in Italy is because one of the devs and the artist is a "comedian" named Sio...
I want to LOVE this game, so hard; but something about the control scheme, combined with the inability to remap them just barely kills it. But it's SO CLOSE TO SO GOOD.
If it's on Steam, can't you remap the controls in Steam, regardless of what the game lets you do? Or is it something more than that.
The terrain generation is so repetitive i didn't even realize it was random until halfway in my second playthrough
makes me wonder if thunderlotus would be better trying their hand at films instead, if that darned mouse would allow for some breathing room in the animated film industry
As someone who was extremely excited for this game, enjoyed it immensely, and even defended it when my friends criticized it... I couldn't agree with this review more. I never quite understood why I suddenly stopped playing the game. I never quite even realized I did. I just remember playing the game for hours upon hours, and eventually never returning to it. In hindsight, I think I used the of the bosses as a motivation to keep playing the game, and being too stubborn to quit, I ignored the fact that I wasn't enjoying running through 5 hordes of monster before getting back to the boss at hand. The arguments presented in this video are ones that I, looking back, can identify very clearly. Great video, I just wish I had the insight to realize the red flags in this game.
My friend recommended me play this because her friend was an art designer on the game and while I was playing and streaming this game I complained about EVERYTHING you said! This game has so much potential and if they did a couple patches they might be able to make it fun but there is a lot that needs to go into it first.
flying projectiles through walls with zombie horde enemies lol sounds painful
welp now i know what to play and torture myself with constant dying
and feeling the thrill from running away from dozens of enemies.
Problem is this is one of those games where the best defense really is a good offense. Running away until you die is the reason this reviewer had such a bad time with the game. In the very footage he's showing, if he'd just attacked, he could easily have won those fights.
Some insights to the game, dear reviewer and other people:
- Don't tank on the ground, you can fight airborn indefinitely as long as you hit ennemies, and your attacks are larger
- Figthing one ennemy is inneficient, your attacks are designed for crowd control
- Grinding is never requiered, the whole map is accessible without beating any bosses, if it's too hard just go somewhere else
- Shield is way more important than Health, upgrade accordingly
- Round and squared perks on the tech tree are more important than +2 dammage (ex: the one where your attacks break projectiles)
- If the hordes are too strong, just flee, but the procedural generation is there to make it challenging ;)
I guess it was wrong to marketize the game as a pure metroidvania, it differs quite a bit from the rules and I wish people would at least be glad that a game tries to be unique, it's quite fun and way more action/platforming combined than action AND platforming.
I actually agree with a lot of those insights, but that "people be glad a game tries to be unique" isn't an argument. I once envisioned a game where your character moves like a fly (it moves erratically, vaguely in the direction that you're pointing), every time you open the game it rebinds all keys randomly, and you cannot change this, so you'd have to find out each time, compounded with some of them quitting the game instantly, and you'd have to perform certain actions in an exact way, for like, 30 hours, without saves or checkpoints. It would've been called "A game that does not want to be played", and I wager no one would want to play it either. But it would certainly be unique.
game even points out that air attacks keep your momentum going
Grinding isn't *required*, but it makes the game easier, so on the whole it's better to spend time grinding in one of the infinitely-spawning rooms, than it is to continuously die and lose progress. Overall it feels unbalanced, like they didn't finish tuning up the challenge and exp progression with respect to each other, leaving you with grinding rooms to make up for it.
Please Respond its not required in the same way beating bosses and getting better gear in botw isnt required. its technically possible but there's no chance the average player will want to deal with it
I agree on all points.
I'm playing easy mode. If you ain't good enough at the game, quit moaning and lower the difficulty...
So far I'm making progress...
Like he said you just run past everything eventually and it's like oh cool the layout changed so all you do is look at your map
Wait, this isn't Super Bunny Hop?
i diagnose you with wrong
Try playing on Drizzle mode for an easier time.
LMAO
Risk of Rain reference!
I almost want to try the game just for that skill tree. Love FFX style skill trees! Although the whole point for me of those skill trees is that you can "multiclass".
I don't this guy has seen the perks shield converter and shield absorb, turns those pesky mobs into your best friends.
somebody's not really good at the game
Yup, wholeheartedly disagree with your review.
Regarding the procedurally generated levels: The large areas do not change and you can unlock shortcuts between them. Yes, the generated components can end up generating a shorter or longer route back to the boss, but your review makes it sound like it takes ages to go from spawn to boss. Once you've unlocked the shortcuts the trip back to any of the bosses is trivial.
Regarding the grinding: It felt clear to me that grinding enemies was not the path of least resistance. Once I realized some rooms even spawn enemies endlessly it felt pretty clear that moving forward exploring was the best way to progress. As you mentioned the hidden treasures offer a better and more consistent reward than the enemies if you go looking for them. Most of the enemies are not very difficult to run away from whether if it's to escape or to let your shield recharge. The game's design makes it clear that always sticking around to clear every enemy isn't always the best choice.
Regarding exploration feeling unrewarding: You did not mention that the large persistent rooms on the map indicate where they connect to other large persistent rooms. You can see at a glance if you've managed to explore an area. Very often at the end of a chain of the large persistent rooms is a nice reward: a perk, a miniboss, treasure. Exploration is incentivized. Exploring every minor room may not be worth the time, but exploring the major rooms is.
Regarding the upgrade tree: Those minor stat increases are significant and you can totally feel the difference. Maybe you were already soured on the game and searching for things to disapprove of, but when I put points into health and armor, I could feel that I was living longer. Points into damage are very noticeable, too. From fewer attacks to kill enemies to making the boss much more manageable. You downplayed how noticeable these stat increases are to fit your narrative.
And to compare this game to stupidly challenging player-made Mario maps is a terrible analogy. This game has a progressing difficulty curve that doesn't have you dying instantly at the start. As the enemies become more overwhelming in strength and numbers so too do your tools for defeating them or escaping them.
Git gud.
Scott Chocolate
I agree with this criticism. I got sour with Dandara similar to how he got sour with this game, but I didn’t judge the whole game based on the one moment that made me sour - in fact, I stopped playing it to prevent that from happening. Perhaps he should have done the same with Sundered.
Sure, I had some frustrating moments (the first boss was a huge one), but I didn’t let those moments spoil the whole game for me. I stopped playing, took a break to regain my composure, and then started playing again. You can criticize a game for being hard, but not for being frustrating. And it’s a shame that this reviewer let his frustration taint his review.
I just got this game and I have to agree with your assessment of his review. It came off as more complaining than actual criticism
Yeah, he was just playing the game wrong. It sounds like he raged and grinded, which any guide will make very clear are not things you’re supposed to do.
The first thing about this game is that you need to keep a clear head, and retreat when necessary, but again, sounds like he did neither.
It’s definitely not a bad game, it’s just not a good match with him. Him calling it a turd on a channel with this many subscribers definitely feels unfair.
Hell, he even got mad about flying enemies, when as any guide will say, ESHE’S FORTE IS AIR COMBAT.
Sry, I'm new to this game... About the combat mechanics, shouldn't be a stealth way to do those things or the hordes simply appear from time to time? I mean, from what you showed seems like a lot of grinding... Besides, the damage you cause to the enemies gotta rise, or will ever be like that?
1) No, enemies spawn at random outside the borders of the screen, you may be able to peep on them if their bellow you and plan an strategy, but usally hordes just appear. The best way to level up, is to fight untill you die and so on.
2) The damage do increase and after a few damage upgrades you'll be getting rid of enemies that you couldnt before. But rarely you'll be able to kill on enemy in one hit, atleast at the begging of the game.
If you continue playing, there is certain build that basically makes you somewhat broken and makes you inmortal or something, Personally, i find that as a way of destroying the total challenge of the game and it's bosses. So, if you want a challenge, this game is for you.
I’m sad to hear you didn’t enjoy Sundered. I agree with your points, but none of that was a dealbreaker for me. I loved every second of it. There are clear indications where the actual collectibles and areas you haven’t been to are on the map. The chaotic horde based combat isn’t about dodging everything, it’s about mitigating as much damage as possible while getting in your damage and keeping your shield up. If you don’t like that, there are plenty of perks that allow you to survive by precisely hitting as many enemies as possible to lifesteal yourself to victory. My favorite part was the movement, I found the myriad of movement options amazing! Even though many of them overlapped, I enjoyed the freedom that the redundancy provided. I could use whatever movement option I felt like at the moment.
Generated levels do not work with metroidvania. Can we please stop trying? It dons't work. MV's need to be fine tuned maps, with unique and interesting areas. Computers can't design levels that way yet. Lets go back to fine tuned MV's and retry the Generated level thing in 10 years when we have AI that will make levels for us.
5 years to go 😂
WOOO CARLSAGAN42
Particularly long road in the middle of nowhere.... Have you been on i-10 in Texas lately somewhere between Ozona and van horn? Or I guess San Antonio and El Paso if you want to use big cities for the points of interest?
I truly appreciate your last comment, +ingeniousclown Gaming! That’s what I like about you: you speak your mind in an analytical manner with a hint of emotion. It’s refreshing!
I hear you about the combat system, but my gripe is that it's too *easy*. Oh yes, if you're underleveled, it's pretty hard, but grinding exp is trivial once you have access to the room that spawns endless hordes of those enemies that crawl up walls. If you just hang slightly above ground inside a shaft, they'll just keep coming at you forever and you can slice them up infinitely long. It's a bit hard at first, since you have to make a judgement to leave once yoou feel you'll get overwhelmed, but after a few cycles of grind->upgrade->repeat, you'll be killing them in one-two hits. By the time I was seriously exploring the third area, no regular enemy could hope to touch me. Overall I think I spent a total of 2 hours grinding exp.
It does feel like, if you don't specifically aim to minmax your abilities, the game can ruin your day pretty quickly, though. I'd say the combat is under-developed. It's not really bad, just not as good as it should have been. And the grinding sucks, but without grinding, you're making the game needlessly hard on yourself. The one part I really liked was all the air time you could get, you can practically fly forever by resetting your double-jump when hitting an enemy, it makes for some spectacular mobility.
P.S. Yeah, 5 hours is right in the middle of the low point of the game. It's the point where the challenge ramps up faster than you're getting stronger, requiring you to go grind for exp to lower the difficulty. Once you have that behind you, it gets easier. Not better, because the combat is still kind of bland, since it's just hordes of random enemies, but not rage-inducing hard. I absolutely agree with everything you've said for the first 5 hours of the game.
Just finished the game and I'm amazed by how well its balanced. Yeah, it's difficult, but it progresses well. I only did a couple of grindings, the rest of the game was just exploring and progressing. Nice game.
If you haven't already you should give it another shot. I remember it was right around 5 hours when I was getting pretty frustrated with the game. I was having a lot of trouble with hordes, and not seeing the design of the game for what it was. I googled a bit to see what the deal was with getting completely obliterated by hordes and found a forum post with somebody struggling with similar issues. There were a few responses (even a few, really helpful well written responses from the devs) that really showed me I was looking at the game the wrong way. I played again the next day and it totally clicked. The map shows you doors you haven't opened, and sometimes target areas (new abilities, bosses). You need to not focus on killing every enemy or opening every secret treasure (does not come naturally to me either, I'm a completionist). The great part is the places where those things spawn are randomly generated, so you wont miss out because there will always be more on your next run through the area if you die. You want to get through those places as quickly as you can, killing only enemies you need to and treasures that are easy and quick to find. You want to rush to explore rooms you haven't been in yet to collect real rewards and progress. When you hear the gong, you typically have no obligation to stay and fight the horde--but many come with rewards (perks) at the end. For me (on normal, still incredibly difficult for 1st playthrough), once I got air dodge upgrade and the melee attacks destroy projectiles from the talent tree, I rarely died on hordes, but I had to really buckle down and focus and it leads to some really tense moments.
finished it in 5 days .. I like this game alot. I like the speed and agility the character has, and when the gong goes you better get running.
Basically "The game told me to GitGud" and "Why i can't enjoy a challenge".
I know this video is old, but the "Finisher" update fixed most of the issues you had with this game. Namely combat and grind.
* You have a special move that you can use after doing a long-enough combo. It adds to the action, since this move is powerful and fluid enough to be well-suited for every type of enemy, and even hordes.
You soon learn that staying in the same spot can be really dangerous.
Trying to escape from the horde is more dangerous than fight it back. What you have to do here is to lead the horde to a place where you can have an advantage. (Platforms to fight flying enemies, or a tight place to chain-cc land-monsters).
* Grinding was made easier, since now you can re-challenge main bosses for a cut of their huge-huge loot. With the perk that increases boss' rewards, you can get enough shards to complete the whole upgrade map with just a few boss rushes - in case you like to grind.
This perk increses the boss' damage.
* Perks with penalties are a good change for the genre. It's your typical, more accentuated "risk-reward". It also makes good synergy with the whole "everything is dangerous" vibe that this game has.
* "Exploring" in this game, means to rush through rooms towards other more meaningful blocks. Like treasure challenges (the one that spawns a big horde) and non-explored areas.
Common hidden treasures are not important anymore, thanks to this new boss rush method of getting shards.
* About the story... The name Lovecraft rings any bells? I mean, i haven't read many of his novels, but it's pretty obvious where things are going when you start to read a few weird names here and there.
________________
I think Sundered added something that NO other metroidvania had. The hordes.
After a few minutes, you know that in every metroidvania "this room is dangerous, it has this and that enemy". But the hordes makes it feel like everything is somewhat alive and out to get you.
Perfect for this kind of story and environment.
The game did a good job at sharing the feeling of "I fell into a hellpit on which not even my own death can free me".
To the people that enjoyed this game, I recommend trying Usurped.
Azz-Rushman, lol, never knew about re-challenge feature, but almost never had problems with shards. I guess that luck points do pay out.
I completely agree with you. I never thought I had to grind. I beat the game in one night while fully embraced. Now I'm starting my full pure play through. Out of all the AAA games lately, this was a great game.
Azz-Rushman I Like the cut of your jib. So much negativity surrounding this game and as a Lovecraft fan myself you sold me. Thank you for the pointers and info because its on sale right night in the eshop. Im grabbing it! Happy Gaming!!!
Usurped?
@@xXLunatikxXlul It's actually Usurper. I tried playing it, but the frame rate was so inconsistent that timing blocks and attacks became impossible. It's a hard skip from my point of view.
Gotta say, I disagree with every point you had. Where you found frustration I was engrossed and loved the experience. It didn't feel too grindy to me. I loved the challenge of looking for the next important location and facing the hordes. To each their own but sounds like this wasn't your kind of game.
You're not supposed to kill all enemies unless you're caught in an arena.
The combat devolves into how much hp you have and how many times you can dodge roll
No, the combat is hard but you have the tools to deal with it, you just need to get gud
Completed the game yesterday, took around 20 hours. I, personally, loved it. (Though I don't know how it was a year ago, but at the current state, gameplay balance is excellent)
It is indeed a Metroidvania, but takes the formula with a different perspective. It is probably not for everyone, but it is absolutely not a bad game. Actually it is a very very good game (at least for me).
It honestly just looked like you specked a very poor build.
You need to focus on life or shield stealing perks for hordes. I found shield absorb and the one that replaces the healthbar with more shield was almost OP.
Personally, I love the game. And I think it could have been a LOT harder and still been fun. The only part I struggled with at all, was the first region. Whilst I was still getting a handle on the mechanics.
And the story is tight, if you're not a fan of Lovecraft, it might not seem to make much sense at first. But just listen to what the trapezohedron has to say about your character, himself, the lore and the valkyrie.
I think you might just have become exacerbated with the combat because you hadn't found the perks that work for you. I was having a similar struggle with the first 2 minibosses. Having basically no health, no abilities and no perks. Everything seems overbearing. But by the time I'd found my first endless horde room. And killed a few Lith' mobs to get a couple of perks. I had a good handle on it and managed to steamroll the next two regions.
I'd say go back it it and farm a couple of lith mobs. You'll eventually get some perks that focus on returning shield or health to you based on either damage or kills. This makes dealing with hordes trivial which will net you more and more currency, allowing you to level up even more to the point where dealing with the guardians isn't even that much of a challenge once you learn its patterns.
(first play through was on the highest setting it allowed btw. So I wasn't just plodding along on normal)
I've gotten a lot of comments saying something along these lines, where with those specific perks the game becomes easy. In the time I spent with the game, the only one of these strong perks that I got was the healthbar -> shield one, and I wasn't comfortable even trying that one because I knew how often I would get hit during a horde. Perhaps I should have tried it, but eh.
The fact is, if the game is made so trivial by this specific perk combination that everyone is saying I should have used, then it's very poorly balanced. It's entirely possible that if I did find these perks during my time playing I would have had more patience for the game, but nothing really could have fixed the dull environments or the annoyance of flying enemies shooting me through terrain where I can't reach them.
Ideally the game should be playable with many different builds... otherwise the whole concept of building a character is completely superfluous and should just be replaced by specific rewards at specific times. But like I said, the game has more issues in my eyes than just the combat... my poor experience with the combat just happened to exacerbate those other issues.
ingeniousclown Gaming it's not the only strong build. It just sort of lends itself better to hordes. It's actually very weak against the bosses because most of them don't flood you with mobs.
But the thing is you can switch out perks whenever you want. So you can just combine them to find your personal rhythm.
Ive seen people speck heavy into the cannon, I've seen them spend into berserker or assassin builds.
If you don't want to go full shield build. Yo can get perks which replenish your health bar with both damage and kills. Which is a powerful alternative.
You've also got to consider that the skill tree itself has nodes which adress a lot of the issues you name. There's one for destroying enemy projectiles which is invaluable for instance.
Aa for map design, I think it's one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen. The randomised room mechanical might be a little weird when combined with the rogue like death mechanic. But the patterns are pretty easy to figure out.
The corrupted abilities also make navigating the regions much simpler. Allowing you access to areas you'd usually have to detour too.
Honestly. I'd say go back to it, give it more of a shot. Farm some lithium mobs. There's a permanent lithium mob at the top right of the first region. Just before the first endless horde area. Farm that and you'll definitely get a good range of perks.
You're missing out on so much content.
It's very flawed game design if you can only play specific builds and key to sucess in not getting good but just farming until u became good enough as damage sponge to proceed.
All I want is save spots. Huge map with procedural generation of hordes wear you out incredibly fast. Having to craw through the same path you were in 10 min ago every time you die or decide you've had enough and teleport back to sanctuary doesn't help one bit.
I loved this game. i found rune combo that made me almost invincible and i got them before first big boss, yeah i have 1 hp but i got huge amount of shield that regenerate every time im not in a fight and every time i kill an enemy
You disliked most of the stuff i loved in the game, guess my taste in game is really weird
Fernando Mendes or just different.. no problem with that though! 🤘🏻😜
Your taste is the general taste of anyone who loves video games.
Yours is the view of a non triggered youtube "gamer"
Most of what he does not like though made sense to me.
Like the boring randomly generated levels, slow as all hell levelling even when you are not strong enough etc.
Unless you love bland, slow and imbalanced games for some reason.
Its not wierd its just different from his
Procedural generation and metroidvania just don't meld well together, at least no-ones managed it so far! Even something like Dead Cells has pretty mediocre level designs and mostly exceeds in terms of combat. You're just never going to be able to evoke the feeling you get from a beautifully designed interconnected world like Hollow Knight with procedural generation.
Don't talk about ARNF that way
This review helped a lot.ty
My guy out here complaining about how the enemies are hard to kill and hit too hard, meanwhile he ain't even dodging? 11:07
whaaattt??? this game is amazing!
the same game say it "you should not advance in a linear way". if you get stuck in some area, go to another and eventually you get new habilities that make more easy the stucked ones.
in my experience this game is one of the best i played in the last times
I kind of predicted that the art would be the best part of this lol
is it tho
Holy shit! What a cluster-f$%^ of a game. Waaaaaaay TOO many enemies. One word: SUPERFLUOUS.
For anyone looking to play a really good indie metroidvania, there's one that I found quite a few years back that I never hear anyone talk about, and I have to assume it just got looked over because it was towards the end of the 360s life. It's called "Magicians and Looters", and it's on steam now too, so there's no excuse to not get it. I will never stop singing its praise, it really took me by surprise with how fun it is! I actually liked it much more than axiom verge, it has 3 different playable characters that you can switch between. I won't say anything else about it, just check it out.
I feel a idiot response to your review is the good ol dark souls git gud, and at a surface level that what my argument is. I've gotten through the whole game, and am replaying on intense mode which I see your problems, but that what I signed up for, and on my first run in normal, the game held my interest with yes one dimensional enemies in most cases but that lets you learn the lay of the land a lot better. I never had a problem with backtracking every location was fairly short to get to, and getting those shortcuts felt amazing. hordes I admit are annoying and a problem I think they should be left to the shrouded treasures, however the combat kept me interested, and when I was over geared for a place I just farmed the endless hordes zone gave me loot like no ones business. Also the bosses when you beat a chunk of their health in the elder shards they give you a decent amount of currency to upgrade. The progression to was fine I found the game got way faster the further I got in.
The holy city zone with the screamers is fairly annoying don't get me wrong but I never had trouble making progress, and there's an ability you can unlock in the skill tree that lets your attacks block projectiles that gets unlocked in that zone. Maybe the way you upgraded your character gave you troubles, but I really enjoyed this game and didn't have most of the troubles you seem to be describing. The art style in terms of the rooms I think appeal to different people but the cathedral if you hit it I think you would have enjoyed the room lay out. I was very open, and the art in that zone felt amazing to traverse more so then the other two zones.
But yes definitely to each there own
O think he was affected since he had to make a review. The experience of reviewers is different from the average gamer
theres several metroidvanias that are unbelievable and keep you sucked in till the end. salt and sanctuary, hollow knight, and dead cells are a few that go above amd beyond anything i can see this game accomplishing. a lot of people are talking shit about what hes saying. but lets be real. hes right. i was so pumped for this game just to get completely turned off within 2 hours to the point that I'm not even gonna bother going back. and by most reviews it doesnt look worth it. so mayne instead of him "not being good at challenging metroidvanias", maybe the developer's just dont know how to make one.
BOSSMODS Well the fact that you say this leads me to believe they do.... Thanks for dropping in though. ( Speaking strictly challenging; if it wasn't, how come you or the OP, whoever, die too much to finish it?) I rest my case purely on what you have just said. Gracias sènior.
Try hyperlight drifter, its a pure gem, just like hollow knight you already mentioned.
Yeah, no, he's just bad at it.
Parts of this looks like it would be better with diablo-style level design and/or beat 'em up style combat where you can create choke points or throw enemies into each other to crowd control.
At the same time you seem to be just running past the first group of enemies and creating a huge group of them to deal with in this vid.
Did you know that you can jump again after hitting an enemy midair. This discovery completely changed my perception of the game. It made what seems like a bullet hell mess of a combat system manageable and fun. The “unavoidable” attacks became a fun and interesting challenge. There were fights where you never have to touch the ground. The games combat is balanced between attacking and keeping momentum. Air attacks keep your momentum moving and refills a jump allowing you to gain more momentum while attacking dodging and moving all at once. The cannon represents this perfectly. It’s a heavy damage dealing weapon but it is more useful as a tool for evasion. The overwhelming hordes aren’t supposed to be defeated with a button mashing combo but instead with a hit and run method of attacking where you swipe and run. The hordes are supposed to be taken apart slowly not all at once. The random level design plays into the combat perfectly. It forces you while using that hit and run method to make quick decisions when traveling through the corridors. If the map stayed the same and never changed those split second decisions wouldn’t be present. All the tension would be lost. The game tells you to expect dying often. It’s okay to die in this game. It should not be looked at as a punishment. When you die there is nothing taken from you except a small amount of travel time. You get the opportunity to upgrade making your next dive into the dungeon a little bit easier each time. Dying for me only means the next run will go a little more smooth because my character is getting more powerful. There are perks you can equip to make enemy’s drop more shards. It’s up to the player to pick perks that fit their play style. It’s okay that you didn’t enjoy this game. But I honestly believe it may have been because of the mindset you had while going into it. I’m happy I’ve been able to enjoy it as much as I have been. I simple hope anybody reading this will take the time to play it themselves and determine their own opinions
Sundered? the game which cannot hold me playing it for more then 2 Hours.
and i am one of those who completed Hollow Knight in Steel Soul Mode.
Your pronunciation of Jotunn was so very wrong, lol
Jo - tunn
pronounced Yo - tun
Lol this bothered me too
+
Nep Nep
Sure. But if you're going to attempt a phonetic pronunciation of "Jotunn", sticking a hyphen between "Jo", and "tunn" is not correct either.
You're suppose to use words that create the sound of the subject you're trying to describe, such as:
Joe-tune - being the incorrect pronunciation - or even Joe-toon, which is probably better.
And...
Yo-tonne - being the correct pronunciation, or even "Yo-tawn".
When a weeb knows a single fact about another culture
a couple of the things you mentioned here i agree with, like the kind of annoying upgrade system where eventually small nodes cost 1000 and big ones 6000 so you cant upgrade anything. however getting rid of hordes is super simple if you use finishers, something i saw you didn't ever use due to a perk. as for the level design, yes it is kind of bland at times, but on the 1st area players are usually more interested in the combat, while on the next ones it is really fun flying all over the place, teleporting around mid air with one of the upgrades or flying from foe to foe with the grappling hook trying to not touch the ground. sure the rooms become bland and repetitive, but once they do you control the pace of the game instead of the other way around.
I´m almost at the end of the game, First playthrough on Hard, and yes, its difficult but I never had to farm for orbs.
and you have infinite air time when you´re hitting monsters on the air, so it isn´t THAT hard to deal with them.
Everyone can have their opinion. I realy enjoyed this game.
Yeah, terrible review. Shows first and second zone giving me the impression he didn't even make it to the third. Luck is one of the most important stats in the game imo. Loading screens even tell you that luck is underrated. By the time I beat the game in both play throughs I was ridiculously strong. Make proper use of perks. Mention the fact that you can corrupt you abilities. Or maybe mention that you get a different tree of skills if you resist corruption? 3 endings. Fantastic looking bosses. I got platinum in about 4 days. It's not nearly as hard as this guy makes it sound.
Anthony Loderstedt Funny. My first play through I emphasized luck & getting the major perks from the tree (sheild regeneration, health container, critical efficacy; etc). I kept health, armor, & all smaller upgrades to a minimum. I emphasized a "dark Souls" style of play. After a few deaths I was owning the game. I even went for the "resist/destroy shards" path & had a great time.
Hollow Knight clone much? C^:
woooosh
tErRiBlE rEviEw
well as he said, played only 5 hours..... what a review.
If you've looked into Eldritch Horror you would know that the point is that you feel powerless against these horrific monsters
am i really the only one that thinks the tentacle monsters of the begging are one of the cutests monsters ever desing?
Also, in eldritch horror, the powerfull part is that you slowly start to realise how vulnerable and powerless you are, lets take as an example the book: The call of cthulhu. The guy finds out something about a dream, that goes to paintings, to a stone, to cults, to madness, to death, and to the realisation of the impending doom. is that sence of scalling doom that the game lags
btw- They made some gameplay updates since this video, and there will be new content to come I believe.
So, I really enjoyed this game. Yes, it started off impossible to survive the horde (you are basically handicapped with few options at the start), but inversely it became extremely easy as I gained skill after skill after the first few hours (on Normal difficulty). Nothing felt better than facing that ever increasing monstrous horde, defeating them and proving that the player is the real power. But, as you probably have guessed, you shouldn't approach this like a typical Metroidvania.
Procedural generation: If I recall correctly, the layout of the map will stay the same until you die. And even then, the key areas and key items will stay in the same spots. The trick is that the path to reach these spots will vary. But, it's mostly predictable by sections once you've seen a few generations. (Though playing on an earlier version, load time was a REAL grievance. I think they addressed that recently.)
My general advice on how to approach this game: ... Well, first let me try to define the game.
It's like an action quasi-RPG qusai-Metroidvania survival. Action, because you'll need to "get good" or learn how enemies behave; how you can utilize your weapons; what tricks you can learn to refine your strategy. Quasi-RPG, because you'll need to collect items, perks, money; but in an efficient way, and utilized in an useful way. Quasi-Metroidvania, because it does build upon some Metroidvania basics, but complicates things with procedural area sections, and places few limits on reaching later areas early on. Survival, because you have to learn how the horde behaves, finding which areas are safe, which are deadly, and to know your changing limits, etc.
Specific tips: You don't have to clear one zone at a time. (I think that's an in-game tip.) In fact, that's the secret to having an easy time. Seek out new abilities soon as you are able, knowing that even if you die before you make it there, the location stays the same. Then use those new abilities to fight back and clear earlier areas and bosses. The scattered abilities give you more options to survive, and make it more fun. I can't recall if there are hints to where the abilities are located on the main map from the beginning. I think there were... But, it has been a while.
What I did: Fight until you can explore. Then play a game of chicken to gather abilities in deadly new areas. Now return to those early areas and dominate! If you are playing on Insane, then you'll probably need to farm in the later level for treasure. (Look for the treasure finding perk...)
Dead cells is better :p
not really
I beat the game the first time on normal with a mixed run then the second time i beat it on insane. I've clocked a total of 70 hours on this game and this guy has it about right. The boss battles are always beautiful and fun but the in the intervening time its just a grind fest. The only reason i picked it up as because the box blurb told me it was indorced by Jessie Cox (a you-tuber) so I picked it up and was disappointed. Plus, theirs one particular shield build that utterly breaks the game and trivialized the hordes.
That's the build that many of the people who hate this review tell me I should use, and that was the impression I got from the way people described it: that it would trivialize the combat. Not good design IMO.
Yeah, it seems a lot of people who love the game are telling you just to get different things on the skill tree. The fact that you need a specific combination of perks to make the game fun, is just inherently bad design.
Agreed. That doesnt mean I didn't like the game, Just that i found it objectively weaker then how I thought it would be.
All the perks when maxed out can result in skills that make the hordes easy to beat. That's end game, by that time you should be fighting against the last four end bosses
The "shield build that trivializes the game" is just one of the many perks that makes the game easier if used correctly.
It's only that it's the most obvious and simple fix to majority of the reviews' complaints about the early game hordes, as to why it keeps getting brought up. It's not like it's the only thing you can do either.
But I guess it's 'that', the difference between discovering the solution and being told of it after giving up.
I totally agree with this.
I played the demo at a gamestop and liked it.
When I bought it I only got to the second area before I put it down.
too hard for you
Mostly just very annoying. Cheap hits from off screen and such.
I'll take soulsbourne difficulty any day over this type of annoyance.
I lowered the difficulty during the game and that made it a lot more fun
1:58
My first thoughts when I see this gameplay: "Wow, this looks like a mess..."
I totally agree with this review. So much grinding, monotonous environments, and endless swarms of enemies that last 3 times longer than is ever fun. It's like an endless mosquito swatting simulator. The sad part is, if they just stuck to the standard metroidvania formula, used this great art style, and made a game HALF as long, it would've been a 10 in my book.
Your whole problems comes from thinking of "luck" as a dump stat... The game itself tells you "Luck is an underrated skill" in loading screens sometimes. I never felt the need to grind at all and just exploring to find all the perks and minibosses gave me enough currency to fill out the skill tree.
Now that I think about it, Castlevania II is a Metroid style game. If only the town's people gave answers that made sense. Some can lie, being influenced by Dracula's Curse, but not all of them with their cryptic hints.
omfg you have no idea what you’re talking about 🤦🏻♂️
this game is awesome and most people objectively agree
If you don't like this one he redid it pretty recently. I suggest you go watch it.
"most people objectively agree"
*4K people disagree*
I think your just complaining a lot by the time I cam across this review I was already 90% through the game and was confused because I'm thinking this game is great. So I checked it out and all i hear is complaints.
The story is pretty easy to figure out.
When did he mention the story?
esoop the derp 12:35
I kinda think your criticisms on the hordes are what was intended since Cthulhu mythos is all about feeling helpless and hopelessly overpowered.
The boss fights look amazing though