Shilling got you brainwashed

[Vince]

I cannot state this enough: this game is mediocre.

Yet during its release window on YouTube, so many of our go-to review channels were throwing around words like MASTERPIECE and PEAK of gaming in their thumbnails. Shills like Luke Stephens went absolutely prostrate, praising the perk system as some revolutionary design that gives you near-unlimited combinations for perfect combat synergy.

Now, if you’re someone who lives for that kind of min-maxing, sure.. that’s great. But that’s also the only thing this game has to offer when it comes to RPG mechanics.

When I started playing on Game Pass, two things jumped out right away: 1.) the facial animations and lip sync were flat-out bad, 2.) the gameplay outside of combat was just boring and 3.) the movement animations were stiff as hell. That was already confusing. If this is supposedly a “10 out of 10,” a “masterpiece,” how are those the very first things I notice within minutes? That was an immediate red flag.

About 20 minutes in, I ran into platforming. Jesus Christ that was so incredibly basic and bad. I had to jump on three crates to reach some “Chroma,” which is the currency in this game. By that point, it had also become clear that there’s no gear in this game, so no real loot either -- just "perks". From that, it was easy to see that exploring in this game comes down to two things: 1.) it’s incredibly unexciting, since you can really only run and jump (and again, those animations are at least a decade old), and 2.) it never really rewards you with anything meaningful or surprising, just more algorithmic combat benefits and maybe the occasional cosmetic.

Long story short: within the first half hour, I was already convinced I wasn’t playing any kind of “peak of gaming” experience. The red flags weren’t just there, they were waving like I was at an effing Chinese festival ffs.

Still, I kept going. The story was at least interesting at first, even though the pacing was slow. But then I was five hours in, and it hit me: gameplay-wise, this game literally has NOTHING else going on besides the combat. And even that isn’t some groundbreaking innovation; it feels like an incest child born from a reflex-based action game and a turn-based one. It demanded too much twitch input to just sit back and enjoy it casually, but at the same time, it was too slow and tactical to feed me enough adrenaline to actually enjoy the reflex parts. So it just ends up sitting awkwardly in the middle, not satisfying either side.

NONE of what I experienced is revolutionary. It’s mediocre, at best. And I’m one-HUNDRED percent convinced that if the initial reviews had been more nuanced and in line with what ACG or Mortismal Gaming put out, the current cult of gamers who’ve stopped thinking for themselves might’ve actually seen this game for what it really is.

But alas... you all got shilled into obedience. Have fun when future devs catch on and start handing you more of this kind of mediocre crap, while games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 get brushed off as not worth the effort anymore.

Bunch of drones is what you are and I'm sure it's a generational thing. I'll just lift my grumpy 39 y/o butt from my seat after this and pray to the gaming gods that Blades of Fire truly will be worthy of being called "Severance: Blade of Darkness' spiritual successor"...

[Kat]

alright

[Zero]

40,000 positive reviews disagree with you.

[akumaserge]

That's like... your opinion, man.

I've been having tons of fun with the game.

[Estellese]

ITT: OP is still stupid enough to take game reviews seriously, and thinks everyone else is too. And can't possibly understand why people enjoy a game he doesn't.

[ˢᵈˣ FatCat]

stop creating problems in your head bro and just enjoy the moment

[GameBuild]

Streamers seek viewership. I avoided any media while playing the game. Only watched the review trailer and nothing more.

The game is not perfect, it's an indie "AA game" made by 30 devs and is not bad. The overall experience of playing it was great. This game welcomes beginners like any other.

Performance was great on launch, what a big surprise. The story hook works and pushes you into the world, and yes, the story was disappointing imo, but just for the fact we moved away from the Lord of the Rings was a big win.

Animations are the least polished part of the game, well known asset flips that the dev team agreed to use due to budged and time constraints, for sure. So platforming is annoying. Exploration is limited and discovering hidden paths are not rewarding enough.

[저지]

Originally posted by Vince:

I cannot state this enough: this game is objectively bad.

Yet during its release window on YouTube, so many of our go-to review channels were throwing around words like MASTERPIECE and PEAK of gaming in their thumbnails. Shills like Luke Stephens went absolutely prostrate, praising the perk system as some revolutionary design that gives you near-unlimited combinations for perfect combat synergy.

Now, if you’re someone who lives for that kind of min-maxing, sure.. that’s great. But that’s also the only thing this game has to offer when it comes to RPG mechanics.

When I started playing on Game Pass, two things jumped out right away: 1.) the facial animations and lip sync were flat-out bad, 2.) the gameplay outside of combat was just boring and 3.) the movement animations were stiff as hell. That was already confusing. If this is supposedly a “10 out of 10,” a “masterpiece,” how are those the very first things I notice within minutes? That was an immediate red flag.

About 20 minutes in, I ran into platforming. Jesus Christ that was so incredibly basic and bad. I had to jump on three crates to reach some “Chroma,” which is the currency in this game. By that point, it had also become clear that there’s no gear in this game, so no real loot either -- just "perks". From that, it was easy to see that exploring in this game comes down to two things: 1.) it’s incredibly unexciting, since you can really only run and jump (and again, those animations are at least a decade old), and 2.) it never really rewards you with anything meaningful or surprising, just more algorithmic combat benefits and maybe the occasional cosmetic.

Long story short: within the first half hour, I was already convinced I wasn’t playing any kind of “peak of gaming” experience. The red flags weren’t just there, they were waving like I was at an effing Chinese festival ffs.

Still, I kept going. The story was at least interesting at first, even though the pacing was slow. But then I was five hours in, and it hit me: gameplay-wise, this game literally has NOTHING else going on besides the combat. And even that isn’t some groundbreaking innovation; it feels like an incest child born from a reflex-based action game and a turn-based one. It demanded too much twitch input to just sit back and enjoy it casually, but at the same time, it was too slow and tactical to feed me enough adrenaline to actually enjoy the reflex parts. So it just ends up sitting awkwardly in the middle, not satisfying either side.

NONE of what I experienced is revolutionary. It’s mediocre, at best. And I’m one-HUNDRED percent convinced that if the initial reviews had been more nuanced and in line with what ACG or Mortismal Gaming put out, the current cult of gamers who’ve stopped thinking for themselves might’ve actually seen this game for what it really is.

But alas... you all got shilled into obedience. Have fun when future devs catch on and start handing you more of this kind of mediocre crap, while games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 get brushed off as not worth the effort anymore.

Bunch of drones is what you are and I'm sure it's a generational thing. I'll just lift my grumpy 39 y/o butt from my seat after this and pray to the gaming gods that Blades of Fire truly will be worthy of being called "Severance: Blade of Darkness' spiritual successor"...

honestly, tldr - Alot of effort just to get some clown awards. Dont you have friends to talk to ?

[Vince]

Originally posted by ˢᵈˣ FatCat:

stop creating problems in your head bro and just enjoy the moment

If I wasn't a gamer, I could. But the praise this game is getting is unwarranted. I'm not saying the user reviews are fake. My claim is bigger than that -- I'm saying that the online gaming community has become a religion; a hive-mind, almost. You're being peer-pressured into praising mediocrity. It's dystopian AF, but I've been part of this community long enough to see what it's turned into in the last decade.

[Vince]

Originally posted by GameBuild:

Streamers seek viewership. I avoided any media while playing the game. Only watched the review trailer and nothing more.

The game is not perfect, it's an indie "AA game" made by 30 devs and is not bad. The overall experience of playing it was great. This game welcomes beginners like any other.

Performance was great on launch, what a big surprise. The story hook works and pushes you into the world, and yes, the story was disappointing imo. Animations are the least polished part of the game, well known asset flips that the dev team agreed to use due to budged and time constraints, for sure. So platforming is annoying. Exploration is limited and discovering hidden paths are not rewarding enough.

And exactly your nuance is what I'm missing in the majority of MASTERPIECE claims and drones that echo that sentiment.

[Hero]

Lmfao both not your problem to fix and honestly should probably stop reading game reviews.
All things considered this is a fun game and people that like video games should like this game and see where it draws all its inspirations from.
It'll also make new memories for a new generation of gamers as well.
Even some of the jankness of the game was done literally on purpose.

[GameBuild]

Originally posted by Vince:

Originally posted by ˢᵈˣ FatCat:

stop creating problems in your head bro and just enjoy the moment

If I wasn't a gamer, I could. But the praise this game is getting is unwarranted. I'm not saying the user reviews are fake. My claim is bigger than that -- I'm saying that the online gaming community has become a religion; a hive-mind, almost. You're being peer-pressured into praising mediocrity. It's dystopian AF, but I've been part of this community long enough to see what it's turned into in the last decade.

Easy fix: avoid "online streams" at all costs during launch. They receive incentives to praise a game, let's put it that way.

[Hosenbund]

I cannot state this enough: you are objectively bad

[waltinho, o nefasto]

stick to Pong

[Zero]

Originally posted by GameBuild:

Originally posted by Vince:

If I wasn't a gamer, I could. But the praise this game is getting is unwarranted. I'm not saying the user reviews are fake. My claim is bigger than that -- I'm saying that the online gaming community has become a religion; a hive-mind, almost. You're being peer-pressured into praising mediocrity. It's dystopian AF, but I've been part of this community long enough to see what it's turned into in the last decade.

Easy fix: avoid "online streams" at all costs during launch. They receive incentives to praise a game, let's put it that way.

You guys are underestimating the power of steam reviews. A ♥♥♥♥♥♥ hype game will not rate 94% with 40k reviews. Look at Dragon Age, no matter how much marketing and positive mainstream reviews that received, steam reviews are ♥♥♥♥. There will be outliers and some people will not like it and that's fine. Don't conclude that everyone is wrong or indoctrinated.

[benj]

I was admittedly a little drunk on hype when the game came out, but after beating it I genuinely believe it's great. Not 10/10, maybe not even GOTY, but I loved it.