What's stopping you from being excited at this game?

A word of caution I want to give to OP and everyone is to not let what others say about something ruin your enjoyment of it. Whether it's this game, another one or anything else in life, if you look for negative opinions about something - you will definitely find them, but the thing is that not all of them come from an applicable perspective, state of being informed like yours, a stable life situation, or even a sound or genuine headspace. So often for other games I see it said that "the community ruined it for me", but why let it? Especially in the case of something being a single player game, the loudest personalities of other people should have no hold on controlling your life. No one should feel bad to just enjoy games as they are subjectively experienced by them - because if you go deep enough, you will find something to rob you of your joy, often with people out there who derive enjoyment only from doing that to you.

The thing is, that negativity I believe often comes from a place of external issues with their person. Not solely to put you down or ruin things, but because they are battling depression, have a particularly bad work or home life, or just a singular very bad day. It's just most often too hard to read the order or disorder in someone's mind and the situation they're coming from, so if you do take and listen to all of this (which I myself do), it's just not wise to let it color and darken your own world, especially when you know and are comfortable in the things that you enjoy. You may feel at first that you gain a more objective picture of something from absorbing all those words, and to a point that is and can be true, but more often you're left with only a mass collection of other subjectives who were vocal possibly for the above reasons rather than a true collective picture.

It's easiest to me to try applying this to music. We seem to hold our own ground with music much more solidly than we do with games, but I don't see why they can't be the same.

I generally agree with @huberoz.

Personally speaking I was not 100% happy with the latest demo as I felt that it was adequate but the money from funds raised by the campaign PLUS publisher investment couldn't result in something "just adequate" in my mind. From an aesthetic point of view first, sure, but not even the gameplay fully satisfied me. Plus (of course that's wholly a personal thing) I tend to worsen my negative opinion on something the more I think about it.

It certainly didn't help that the subsequent updates were lukewarm at best with some very bad news in between. The communication also I felt getting worse.

As a result I don't check on the community as often as before. I'm mostly trying not to think about the game waiting for the release but it's hard for me to be that excited anymore. Even if it saddens me immensely because of various reasons I talked about in some topics.

Personally, nothing's keeping me from being excited at the moment.

On the contrary, the fact that they're taking the criticism the beta baker demo got to heart is really encouraging and makes me very excited for the finished product.

It's not that I can't sympathize with those who are disappointed or less excited for the game - it's just that I can also sympathize with the developers and staff. Yes, not getting a refund despite the platform you backed the game for being dropped sucks. It genuinely sucks. But there are other things that suck, too. The stress the developers are under. The meager pay and long hours they've endured while working on the game for years now (how do I know the pay is meager and the hours long? because that's how it is at small Japanese developers. Game developers are overworked all over the world; but in Japan, they're paid peanuts for it on top of that.) The uncertainty as to whether or not this will be ArtPlay's first and final game also sucks; same goes for the pressure the staff at 505 is under to turn a profit on it.

So I think about these things, and about this community, and how even when morale is down,  XombieMike , purifyweirdshard , and the rest manage to keep discussions civil and inviting, and I can't help but root for the game!

Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I mostly just play FFXIV and the occasional dungeon crawler these days, but I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with what promises to be the biggest IGAvania ever when it hits later this year.

purifyweirdshard I never really thought of it that way. I know people use video games as a coping mechanism, but to think depression alone is a factor on why there are such bitter responses to 505's decision and method of informing its backers about certain announcments. I, myself, am not really a backer. I found out about the Kickstarter when I was like, 16. That was 2015. I was just a high schooler with no source of income. I wanted to back, but couldn't. Fast forward today, I'm not sure if I would feel the same compared to people. That said, I love IGAVania games. I never really thought much about menial gameplay issues such as pacing or whatever other complaints about the genre are. I loved the hell out of the series so much that I replayed every single IGAVania game a little too much. Mostly SotN and AoS. Being able to play the demo from my friend's computer made me the happiest man in the world. Of course, I don't allow other people's opinions about a game that I am genuinely excited for to let me down. I don't care if the game turns out to be mediocre. I am still thankful for Koji Igarashi for actually making a game that he loves, something that I will unconditionally love no matter what.

I have a lot to say about the demo, though. Mostly complaints, but about the graphics. I really would have preferred 2D, but 3D is okay. I trust Igarashi's decision. Right now, while there aren't any news about what exactly the team did to the game after gathering feedback from the Backer Demo, I think it's better off this way so that we are swept on our feet when the game actually ends up looking really damn good. I don't want RotN to be MN9 because it was rushed. No one is perfect, especially a group of new game developers working on something so ambitious. Honestly, a simple game would suffice, and they could continue making more games of the same caliber. I have mixed feelings, yes, but I try not to lean towards negativity. If I'm going to be honest, MN9 isn't really as bad as people say it is. It's an absolutely playable and fun game. But yes, it does suffer from many game design flaws. In fact, too many to mention.

illasera In Koji's defense, there is an overwhelming amount of backlash against the graphics. A lot of people are fine with the gameplay because it 100% feels like a good ol' IGAVania. IGAVania games and how they play are sort of a thing of its own, y'know? I know they're branded as action, but that kind of gameplay is exactly how I love it so our mileage may vary. Though, I hope that the animation department considers using techniques that make 2D look good. The animation team behind League of Legends use the same philosophy and is why their game looks so good. Here's what I mean. If Zangetsu was animated a little like that samurai dude there (Yasuo), he would look more dynamic. A lot about the game looks very stiff, especially the cutscenes. The game runs in 60fps, which makes games like these look uncanny in comparison to its pixel/hand-drawn counterparts.

Lot's of things to say about the game so far.
The only thing I implore people to do is lower your expectations and anticipate.

Koji Igarashi, if you were reading this then the only thing I want to tell you is thank you. I've replayed the hell out of your games on the GBA and NDS, but especially SotN. I live for the entirety of the genre.
There was a gaming convention from where I am. Although, I wasn't able to go there. Koji was there with the demo, it was 2016. I wanted to go, but couldn't. Although, my friend was able to. Not being able to meet Koji himself on a day where I COULD'VE really grinds my gears.

I'm still quite excited, but its also easy to see why the project has been getting a bad rep lately. Multiple platforms have been dropped, publishers and developers have come and gone, some poor backers arent getting refunds, the game has been delayed twice etc. Now we know the first delay came from the fact the project was dramatically more successful than what was pitched, and the second delay was to address the many concerns from the beta backer demo. That part is actually very encouraging.

But when my mother or friends ask "Whatever in the world happened to that game you backed ages ago, you backed it for a lot, are you ever going to get it? " its hard not to think about how I've been waiting on the game for over 3 years now and how even if its good, will it live up to that many years of anticipation? For me the main thing that made me flinch was the very noticeable visual downgrade the demo had compared to the trailers with the bright, almost hand-drawn visuals replaced with very muddy, blurry textures It brought up so many memories of so many games that did the same thing. Watch Dogs, Dark Souls 2, No Man's Sky, the list goes on. Companies lie to us constantly about games to sell them.

And while I know that is being addressed it doesn't change the fact that when that was noticed I felt very scared that IGA and the team we trust were not going to be able to deliver and get raked over the coals for it. Wont lie, I backed high enough to get my stuff signed by IGA and Yamane-san because the project and its success brought me a lot of joy in a very, very dark point of my life. So I believed in the project and the people behind it, still do very much so, but the setbacks, sometimes its hard not to think about how awful I'm going to feel if this doesnt pull through.

And yes I know these setbacks are common, we just dont see them, But I cant lie and pretend I haven't been nervous.

Have to confess that there's a slight doubt creeping into my mind ... even though I'm not quite sure what it could be! I can only compare it to entering a warm room and discovering a cold area

Oh I guess I didn't answer the original question:

Nothing, pretty much. And I've seen and carefully evaluated pretty much everything that has been said.
It's going to be awesome.

clivethebarker I truly think that Linux/Max users have met an unfortunate fate. But if it means being able to play the game, there are alternative, if not impractical ways to still play the game on Linux despite the lack of native support (such as Wine). Not to imply that I am defending 505 or other involved parties, I merely implore you to at least find a way to play the game. Then again, as a PC/PS4 player, there could be slight bias within me that I am unconsciously displaying.

In a similar case, I have become desperate. I borrowed my friend's copy of Persona 5 in order to emulate it since I do not own a PS3. I could buy a copy of the PS4 one, but I'm not planning on spending more.

To avoid turning this thread into another Linux related chaos, I want to tell you that if there's a will, there's a way. I have more to tell you, honestly. But I'd rather not speak further, as this forsaken discussion will merely go on eternally. Let us be rational about it.