Attempting to bring this thread back to the land of sanity, here are some further impressions. The same thoughts were posted
here. Not much in the way of suggestions here, just my opinions after a few hours of play. Some of these are known issues that have been observed by others, but it still might raise something for discussion.
The two game halves blend together fairly well and combine to provide a unique feel of desperation and desolation about the world. The game sets a punishing pace and there is no opportunity to sit back and consolidate. You have to constantly push forward, the evil overlord always one step behind. You always have the feeling you are only one turn away from defeat (if you are lucky).
The Good- The music complements the game perfectly. Each tune is well suited to the tone of the world and the specific map(s) it relates to.
- The strategic meta-game seems to have a fair bit of depth. There are a lot of different "tiles" that can have multiple functions, some of which are not readily apparent for a while. You have to balance a lot of things to succeed, including avoiding getting stomped by the resident evil overlord. I can see however that if you were playing on a level other than "super pussy" (me), that you might hit a dead end without realising it and waste a lot of time. The random number generator can be a harsh mistress...
- Every now and again you have the opportunity to steal new classes from the evil overlord. Basically, five new sets of weapons to play with. Each set has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all are stronger than the previous classes available. What this means is that you basically have to keep changing your play style to match your current favourite class. Sometimes you may even want to change for a particular map style, but I find this just leads to confusion. This mechanic helps to keep the platforming fresh. There are also a set of perks which can be unlocked via actions on the strategic map that offer further customisation.
- I find the minimalist visual aesthetic interesting; others may not. Its definitely going to polarise people. Some of the art could still do with another layer of polish, but overall its attractive and effective.
The Meh- Generally the platforming feels reasonably tight, but the jumps are a little floaty and the aim can be very screwy (a lot of the weapons do some pretty weird stuff). I think the levels are procedurally generated from a bunch of pre-fab "slices" which are fairly large, but a lot them seem pretty random and sort of slapped together. Apart from the distinctive visual design of each area, there is really nothing to distinguish one area from another.
- A lot of stuff is not fully implemented yet. There is a very minimal set of enemies and only one boss AI which doesn't do well on most maps. Basically, you can cheese most bosses to death with minimal effort at the moment. I understand this is beta and it doesn't really bother me that much, just a warning that there is still a fair amount of content to add/polish in this area.
- There is not enough to do in the platforming sections. Basically its just a run from one side to the other. Most enemies can be avoided and the only reason to kill them is if you need a health pick up or they are directly in the way. The loot aspect is almost non-existent; equipment few and far between and is mostly useless. It tends to break in only a few hits and half the time I can't even tell what it did in the two minutes I manage to keep it equipped. There is no crafting.
Overall, the platforming sections are a bit lack-lustre, but I am being driven on by the strategic game. If Arcen can polish up the platforming or add some more gameplay hooks in there, it will be a great game. I haven't looked at multiplayer yet some can't comment on how that plays/works.
