Unfortunately for me, my friend group got completely burned on MMO’s after New World. The rest waited for Elden Ring… so I’m just playing with a friend or two.
Even so, I’ve been enjoying my time far too much. The collectibles hit me in a way that open world games like Horizon don’t… although there are some that just seem impossible right now (Argon island soul).
The combat is the most fun I’ve had in an ARPG. I love that each of your skills is important, vs PoE where you build around a singular skill. Countering, staggering, and the like from Monster Hunter is here and feels good.
I’m right on the cusp of T3. Progression has substantially slowed (two alts in T1 just for dailies and rep atm). I’m cool with things slowing down, though, I’ve been addicted playing way too much these past few weeks.
What are everyone’s thoughts on the demo that is available now, with the game releasing this week?
Overall it feels fairly unfinished to me. Please feel free to disagree.
General thoughts:
-Combat is reasonably solid (as expected for Bayonetta devs)
-Graphic feels like early PS3
-Most of the story is through cut scenes, some of which are animated with poor lip-sync. A lot of the story is told through non-animated cut scenes. Feels like they ran out of time.
-Familiar gameplay loop (kill enemies, get loot, kill stronger enemies)
-A lot of mini-bosses felt like the melee equivalent of ‘bullet sponges’
-Feels like you need a squad to progress (online matchmaking is provided) and would struggle solo without grinding
I’ve been playing PC games since the early 90s starting on an IBM PS/2 and while I still enjoy it, as I get further in my 30s it’s starting to feel like I’ve seen and played it all. At this point at my age, the majority of recent and upcoming releases, especially sequels, come across as marginally improved iterations of games and concepts I’ve already played a dozen times over. I’m also becoming a lot more picky with what I play and won’t hesitate to drop a game if it’s not resonating with me which happens often now.
Before anyone assumes I’m only playing or talking about AAA games, I often feel the same about many recent “AA” and indie games which can also feel like samey iterations of games I’ve already played years ago. I’ll often see and appreciate what others enjoy in those games but at the same time they don’t always feel like anything new or groundbreaking for me personally. That said, I am still …