This is the most interesting thing Grasshopper has done since No More Heroes, at least. I’m feeling it, and I really want this mix of roguelike and Souls game to work.
Interesting to see a GungHo-published free-to-play roguelike; that was the untested ground we pitched them (I wrote that pitch deck! but I think my boss’s A+ skill at Drinking Buddy sealed it…) Theoretically, a million runs offers a million purchase opportunities, frees the game from giving out power permanently, offers compelling reasons to play every day, scales easily.
But it’s also received wisdom that people make F2P purchases for permanent items, not temp. So it’s a hard tension and it may not be easily resolvable.
Gah, the game crashed for me, but luckily i was save-quitting in the waiting room. Nothing sketchy happened. I can’t seem to get my first character past level 25, but I’ve seen haters that are level 26-28 so I know it’s possible …
Not jank like that at all; this is Grasshopper’s 3rd-person fighting they’ve had since No More Heroes; never able to get near DMC3; a bit stiffer when it needs to break for stats; a few inexplicable input locks before you can block rrgh!; a fine enough approximation of a Souls game made slightly trash. I wouldn’t mind if it was better but I’ll be happy as long as it’s showing me new things.
This is pretty much how the combat feels. I think given a few more hours, I might find a pretty comfortable rhythm with this particular system. Grasshopper seems to know the combat has some jank though because the enemy AI is designed to account a little for the jank, so no worries.
The biggest issue I’m having so far is switching between weapons in battle; I kinda wish it was one weapon at a time but it’s not that big of a deal really.
I have the same problem switching weapons in a fight but I think it’s less a UI issue and more an AI issue; the AI, once aggro’d, doesn’t have the moments of stupor you need to get a breather or run away and heal. It’s a pain and a dumb oversight. Watch Dark Souls and you’ll see the enemies just stand there for a few seconds every once in a while.
I really like the UI to equip things you find vs put in your bag, on the other hand – clean and powerful!
Man, yes, the AI is really persistent and focused. The only way to stupor them is to land a combo, and even then, that stupor is mainly for the special follow-up moves, not really getting a breather. This is especially problematic when you are attacked by 3+ enemies: even if you are level 25, a few low level enemies can really work you.
Use the horrible swipe-the-touchpad system to select the item (seriously, does D-pad up get mapped to something that would keep it from going here?)
Left-click the touchpad (not right!)
Adjust the newly-moved camera to throw the item at the gibbering fungus zombie properly
I have the same problems using the guns that require aim mode, like the revolver. I like them as openers, but once a fight starts and I see it going sour I feel kind of helpless with my current skill set.
