Dark Souls for casuals with boring level design that you will have to run through many times, especially if you decide to complete all the side effects.
Studying the history of France
Perhaps the story and setting really deserve praise. Paris, 18th century, terrible king, revolution. The Emperor decided to experiment with creating autonomous robots (the reason he started this turned out to be very banal). All robots obey him with an advisor. All but one. And then the question immediately arises: why??
Nevertheless, revealing the story and character is very interesting, although it was a little sad that at the end we are not given any choice in a key scene. At the same time, in secondary quests we are given at least some choice.
In this regard, the game is very different from Miyazaki’s games, where the lore had to be thought out by the developers or scrupulously collected bit by bit. True, I’m not a history expert, and at some point the names and events got mixed up in my head, and I stopped distinguishing between game NPCs.
5 locations and a chest with nothing
Yes, the setting is interesting. Yes, historical events and a good plot. Even the assets themselves, at first glance, are not bad. And all this collapses in the very first locations, t. To. they all look alike. It seems that there are forks and shortcuts, but in general all the locations are quite linear, there are practically no memorable objects in them that from a distance one could understand where to go.
But the worst thing is that you will have to run through these several areas a lot of times. This is the same part from the metroidvania. As the game progresses, abilities will be unlocked after defeating bosses, which will allow you to open some nooks with loot and advance through the plot, exploring these monotonous streets of the city. At some point, get a grappling hook and enjoy the (not) verticality of the levels.
And if you, nevertheless, decide to complete https://caddebetcasino.co.uk/withdrawal/ all the side tasks (some of them, by the way, affect the ending; not dramatically, but the achievements are different), then these endless runs along the same paths will become boring by the middle of the game.
The game has a compass that helps you navigate these faded scenery. On the one hand, this kills the entire spirit of research, and, on the other, the developers are thereby admitting that they do not know how to level design.
Speaking of bosses.
A casual’s dream
During the entire game I never died on them, most of the deaths are the result of falling into water or an abyss. Here, in general, all the opponents are as simple as possible with rather stupid AI. I hit almost all ordinary opponents with an enhanced attack while they were approaching. Mobs don’t dodge, practically don’t jump away, and considering that most of them can be knocked down, then with the right timing you can practically prevent them from getting back on their feet.
Some bosses can also be knocked down. And if you’re really smart, you can fire at your opponents with freezing shells until they’re frozen, and then hit them with melee weapons. Longer, but definitely works.
And mini-bosses are, in fact, strengthened versions of ordinary opponents. Same moveset, only more HP and damage. But they can all be knocked down, and with upgraded weapons they can also be knocked down in a few enhanced blows.
The game practically doesn’t throw up new opponents; you’ll see most of them in the first third. And if they do appear, they are not particularly unique and rather boring. Although, it would seem, one could come up with so many interesting things with furs.
Customize me completely
There is some variety of weapons. I ran most of the game with the starting two-handed weapon, only at the end I ran with the fiery sledgehammer, t. To. her special ability can one-shot almost any ordinary enemy (but it requires projectiles).
Instead of typical necklaces or rings, you can install modules that affect certain characteristics: some affect skills, others simply increase attributes (stamina, HP, resistance).
One of the pleasant moments is a fatigue indicator on the back. The less stamina a hero has, the brighter the indicator lights up. If it drops to zero, then after overheating you need to cool down for some time without the ability to dodge and attack.
I love these diegetic interfaces.
You can upgrade flasks and weapons. I didn’t see any point in improving potions for HP, because. To. haven’t used them at all. But upgrading weapons helps a lot. No need to spend a lot of time stabbing opponents. True, after the middle of the game I tried to just run past them. The only caveat is that you cannot pick up quest items if you are in combat mode. Therefore, nevertheless, it was often necessary to clean out the interfering bellows.
Setting alone won’t make the game last. If we were to get into the field of flukes, we should have worked better on the combat and the variety of enemies/weapons. Can’t deal with these aspects? We would orient the game towards story driven, so as not to choke on weak aspects. The only good thing is that you can walk through it in less than 20 hours.
