My review/feedback and some minor nitpicks
Jun 28, 2018 12:24:02 GMT -6
via mobile
freddythemonkey likes this
Post by Masquerade on Jun 28, 2018 12:24:02 GMT -6
I’m doing this from mobile so excuse me if the layout of it is a tad bit messy. Just a couple of things, starting with two positives.
I’d also like to start out by saying my hardware I used to run this game is TOP TIER. My desktop is made of some of the best gaming gear available so keep that in mind.
1.) A few complaints I remember were the lack of enemies and overall obstacles to Miriam in past demos. There is no shortage of annoying monsters and what have you especially in the castle, which is nice.
2.) As mentioned above, there were really no bugs for me personally, but I was running it at the highest possible resolution and the highest settings the game could go. The game ran clean and had really no issues with anything. Sound, visuals or graphic wise that wasn’t noticeably being still worked on by the dev team even up to the demo.
Now onto the criticisms:
1.) It’s the beta I know, but there are still random textures sprinkled throughout the game so far that look incredibly bad and have no excuse to this far in development, especially on the first level. They’re easy fixes however, so it really isn’t THAT big of a deal.
2.) I know it has been broughout up a number of times but I’ve noticed and seeing the demo upfront myself that the shades on the characters is not something the fans will be fond of going forward. I can see it being something modders will be all over when the game comes out and I recommend sitting down and see if you can find a middle ground on where you can find something a little less...bright, cartoony and cell shaded. I stands out against the dark backgrounds sure but I think TOO much. I’m not sure if this is something the dev team is waiting to work on making like the rest of the game or not aesthetically but unreal is certainly capable of a lot better. Who knows. Maybe I’m talking out my ass. I’m not a programmer or anything but there are several parts in the game that are just as colorful and vibrant as Miriam is like the save rooms that have a very solid textures and shading throughout. Kind of what I wish would be adopted later on with the characters.
3.) This one is a little more subjective and can be described as one of those “git gud” type complaints, but the hit boxes on those ghosts are ASTRONOMICALLY bad. They’re tiny as can be and some of the biggest weapons I used couldn’t hit it nearly head on. It was literally the 2nd hardest enemy I dealt with all demo. They’re especially common in areas with a lot of enemies sibur does make the enemy itself particular overpowered for a small amount of time.
4.) I felt Anne’s introduction and cutscene was a bit off and quite frankly a bit awkward. Idk how else you could do it but it was choppy and felt a bit lazily put together.
5.) Not just with Miriam, but a fair bit of enemies like the squid demon and a few others I forgot have unnecessarily floaty hops/jumps/leaps/lunges. I believe this game would benefit from doing like CotM did and have more short aggressive hops from certain enemies.
6.) The jump my dudes. Refer to Alucard in SotN. Had a plethora of movement animations and Miriam still jumps and runs like she’s in a bunch of quicksand. Same with Mario even in his 2D platformers. If Miriam could jump on walls and fly through the air like in Hollow Knight then that would be a different story, but this is a Castlevania inspired game and that’s a no no.
VERDICT:
Despite what you saw above, I am still happy with the game’s progress and the total product. If you’ll notice, most of my complaints were AESTHETIC. I do not believe this game is ready for a 2018 release and at LEAST would wait for spring of 2019. I want this game complete upon release and if you need till next year to do it that’s fine with me. But I do not believe this game is, based on the beta, solid enough to be able to release this year at the current pace of development. Take your time.
To be honest, this game overall feels about 85% Order of Ecclesia/15% Symphony of the Night, which is fine. I think the Symphony inspiration will start to show its face once the castle is explored a bit more down the road.
Good luck dev team.
I’d also like to start out by saying my hardware I used to run this game is TOP TIER. My desktop is made of some of the best gaming gear available so keep that in mind.
1.) A few complaints I remember were the lack of enemies and overall obstacles to Miriam in past demos. There is no shortage of annoying monsters and what have you especially in the castle, which is nice.
2.) As mentioned above, there were really no bugs for me personally, but I was running it at the highest possible resolution and the highest settings the game could go. The game ran clean and had really no issues with anything. Sound, visuals or graphic wise that wasn’t noticeably being still worked on by the dev team even up to the demo.
Now onto the criticisms:
1.) It’s the beta I know, but there are still random textures sprinkled throughout the game so far that look incredibly bad and have no excuse to this far in development, especially on the first level. They’re easy fixes however, so it really isn’t THAT big of a deal.
2.) I know it has been broughout up a number of times but I’ve noticed and seeing the demo upfront myself that the shades on the characters is not something the fans will be fond of going forward. I can see it being something modders will be all over when the game comes out and I recommend sitting down and see if you can find a middle ground on where you can find something a little less...bright, cartoony and cell shaded. I stands out against the dark backgrounds sure but I think TOO much. I’m not sure if this is something the dev team is waiting to work on making like the rest of the game or not aesthetically but unreal is certainly capable of a lot better. Who knows. Maybe I’m talking out my ass. I’m not a programmer or anything but there are several parts in the game that are just as colorful and vibrant as Miriam is like the save rooms that have a very solid textures and shading throughout. Kind of what I wish would be adopted later on with the characters.
3.) This one is a little more subjective and can be described as one of those “git gud” type complaints, but the hit boxes on those ghosts are ASTRONOMICALLY bad. They’re tiny as can be and some of the biggest weapons I used couldn’t hit it nearly head on. It was literally the 2nd hardest enemy I dealt with all demo. They’re especially common in areas with a lot of enemies sibur does make the enemy itself particular overpowered for a small amount of time.
4.) I felt Anne’s introduction and cutscene was a bit off and quite frankly a bit awkward. Idk how else you could do it but it was choppy and felt a bit lazily put together.
5.) Not just with Miriam, but a fair bit of enemies like the squid demon and a few others I forgot have unnecessarily floaty hops/jumps/leaps/lunges. I believe this game would benefit from doing like CotM did and have more short aggressive hops from certain enemies.
6.) The jump my dudes. Refer to Alucard in SotN. Had a plethora of movement animations and Miriam still jumps and runs like she’s in a bunch of quicksand. Same with Mario even in his 2D platformers. If Miriam could jump on walls and fly through the air like in Hollow Knight then that would be a different story, but this is a Castlevania inspired game and that’s a no no.
VERDICT:
Despite what you saw above, I am still happy with the game’s progress and the total product. If you’ll notice, most of my complaints were AESTHETIC. I do not believe this game is ready for a 2018 release and at LEAST would wait for spring of 2019. I want this game complete upon release and if you need till next year to do it that’s fine with me. But I do not believe this game is, based on the beta, solid enough to be able to release this year at the current pace of development. Take your time.
To be honest, this game overall feels about 85% Order of Ecclesia/15% Symphony of the Night, which is fine. I think the Symphony inspiration will start to show its face once the castle is explored a bit more down the road.
Good luck dev team.
yey