Really like the new update, some thoughts

[Detective Costeau]

So, I'm not super experienced with the new update, but I've at least tried runs with a bunch of different classes. For context, I like the game and its combat a lot, but I'm not super-skilled at it- still haven't pulled off a win. So that's where this is coming from.

Overall, I really like the overall flow of combat a lot better now- if the goal was to make parry-> whirlwind spam not the most optimal way to play, that's absolutely been accomplished. There's a lot more variety in the combat than there was before, and to me at least, it feels a lot better. A few bits of constructive criticism, though:

1) I'm not sure exactly how it's working, but a lot of the time now pressing the attack key gets me an action that isn't actually an attack- I get a bash or kick instead. I'm really not a fan of this. It ends up feeling like I'm not really in control of my character half the time, as I'll enter one input and the game will just decide to do something else.
This is worst with the Hunter- as far as I can tell, you literally cannot just use a basic attack with them, as the game will just automatically use the Vanish ability instead. I was constantly trying to stab an enemy, turning invisible instead of attacking, then getting hit because being invisible doesn't stop damage and the enemy had already started their attack animation. The new combo system is great, but it would be a lot better if the game stopped changing my inputs on me.
EDIT- figured out this was the Auto Combo setting, so it is optional! That actually pretty much removes the problem, I can just turn it off if I don't like it.

2) Some of the combos don't really feel super-practical in combat right now. Maybe it's because I'm not experienced with fighting games or something, but the chance I'm going to remember that the combo I want at this moment is attack-kick-attack-bash and pull it off successfully in the middle of a hectic fight is zero- there's just too much going on to remember exactly which 4-action combo I need right now. I'm basically only getting a lot of the combos by chance.
The Duelist feels by far the best of the classes to me because most of their combos are things that arise naturally during a fight like bash-attack-attack without the player having to specifically remember to do them.

3) This isn't specific to the new update, more a general observation- I don't think the current design of the starting Struggler class is very good. It's objectively the worst class as far as I can tell- it has worse stats than anyone else and no special abilities to speak of. It feels like something that's there as a challenge run rather than a normal class. Starting the player off with a simple to play, well-balanced class makes sense, but the Struggler is only balanced in the sense of being equally bad at everything. I've never returned to it after unlocking literally any other option.
Might be worth reworking it at some point to give the player a less brutal introduction to the game, Mortal Sin is already hard without making the player especially weak to start. I almost gave up on the game when I was just starting simply because the Struggler really isn't very fun to play.
EDIT- Eating some crow on this one. Decided to actually try the Struggler with the new combo system, and it feels great. The combos on them are super easy to use and makle fighting way more fun than it used to be with them.
I still think having the starter class have weak stats compared to most others is a strange choice, but I will say that the new combos on the Struggler make them much more fun to play than they used to be.

Anyways, despite a lot of words about things I didn't care for, I want to reiterate that I still think the update is a significant improvement overall, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

[nocash]

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

1) I'm not sure exactly how it's working, but a lot of the time now pressing the attack key gets me an action that isn't actually an attack- I get a bash or kick instead. I'm really not a fan of this. It ends up feeling like I'm not really in control of my character half the time, as I'll enter one input and the game will just decide to do something else.

This is the new auto-combo system. You can disable it in the options.

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

2) Some of the combos don't really feel super-practical in combat right now. Maybe it's because I'm not experienced with fighting games or something, but the chance I'm going to remember that the combo I want at this moment is attack-kick-attack-bash and pull it off successfully in the middle of a hectic fight is zero- there's just too much going on to remember exactly which 4-action combo I need right now. I'm basically only getting a lot of the combos by chance.

The new auto-combo system is meant to help with this by automatically inputting combos when using standard attacks. You can enable it in the options.

For "normal" (ie. non-auto) combos, it's pretty easy to get to the point where you can remember them in the middle of hectic combat. Press 'esc' to bring up your combo list and click on one to pin it on the screen. Spend a couple minutes beating up on the training dummy as you cycle through each combo. If there's one you like, leave it pinned on the screen and use it during your next run. Once you have it memorized, do the same to the next one. There aren't many of them, they're almost all very simple, and many of them share inputs/segments. You'll have all the combos for your class memorized in one or two runs, and if you ever forget, you can look at the list at any time.

[Sharkinbear]

Honestly, the addition of the auto combo system might be one of the best additions yet. It's great for people who aren't as skilled as others, like myself, or need somen time to grow in to actually putting in combos manually as it was intended. Thanks to the dev for that.