How is this game not as popular as other survivors?

[Caio Freecss]

This game is literally better than all the other games of the genre

[Matzuek]

I know this is kind of an offhand post, and my response is a little bit of a wordwall, but here it is anyway.

I agree that this game is underrated. Some players criticize the late game, saying it’s just about avoiding red circles while bosses die off-screen. I disagree but understand their view if they are playing that way. I think this stems from players finding "optimal" builds online and then repeatedly trying to run those same builds. While I don't mind looking up new builds to try, at some point I believe it's much better to just start to experiment with your own rune setups and upgrade paths.

The issue, in my personal opinion, is that after the initial stages of building the core skill tree the game’s focus shouldn’t be on whittling down bosses at long-range to try to get as far as possible no matter the time investment, because of course that can get boring. Instead, I feel like players should experiment with wild builds to eventually find the one build that allows them to dominate the bosses into endless 8 when they could previously only get to endless 6. Discovering a build that easily propels you further in overlord or endless mode is incredibly satisfying, especially when it was a random idea you came up with yourself.

My strategy is to let myself die when bosses feel too tanky, then try a new build. I feel like the game excels for those who love theorizing and testing builds, enjoying all the detailed stats and data.

Early access and forum negativity might be holding it back. Many judge it prematurely, missing out on its potential. Despite decent player numbers (900-1600 active), I hope it gets the recognition it deserves after its official release.

[Ulyaoth]

Cant disagree with OPs
I found many ways to keep playing along, while going deep into Endless/Overlord isnt mine since it will melt my PC eventually.
But it has great value in "Build" building, theorycrafting and varity for challange runs.

Things that could keep players away is the price.
I think it is totally fair for its play value, but compared to other games of this genre,
its more on the high end.

Alot of complains in the past were about the difficulty.
Many players found it too hard, which lead to big complains in the forum and probably the reviews, which can always keep new people away.

It also could have just fallen under the radar due to many newcomers at the same time,
when Soulstone Survivors came out.
The game market is pretty overflown so the competition is strong.

I love this game and will definetly continue to play it.
I think 1.0 may giv this gem a major boost and who knows what will come in the future.

[Itty Bitty Diddy]

i think it's the best one and i've played a ton of 'em

[Eternity-Etheria]

Originally posted by Caio Freecss:

This game is literally better than all the other games of the genre

Define better.., in the end its a matter of taste. Effective Marketing, a pinch of luck and probably a lot of other factors I dont think of.

[MuneGeek]

Originally posted by Caio Freecss:

This game is literally better than all the other games of the genre

pros of this game:
- builds
- a lot of skills
- dodge(not every game of this genre has it)
- pretty big meta shop

Cons:
- garphic - looks like presets from shop (and I think not just looks)
- design - nothing special, nothing unique, just mediocre
- grind - just meaningless and not rewarding
- maps - you play the map 8 minutes and then play 30 minutes in sewers - boring
- monotonous gameplay - it is all the same even with different builds - press space to dodge
- a lot of skills - a lot but not so diverse
- no skill combination. I mean no transformations
- useless meta shop - the only things useful are runes. Then you enter map and take passive for 15 percent while meta shop gives 5 when you upgrade all meta shop it gives you some boost for beginning, but influence nothing in late game
- boring late game. You feel the same all the game. You don't feel progression. All you need is dodge circles.
- characters. 16 characters. Half of them are just mages of different colours. To tell you the truth pretty much no different in gameplay whoever you take.


Thus game is more like Brotato than Vampire survivors. But in the same time even Brotato is more unique and diverse.

This game tries to look superior to other games in every aspect. But in reality it lacks smth in every aspect.
It will find its fans. But it has great rating only because it feels like finished game imao But finished doesn't mean superb

P.S. usually you feel the growth playing such type of games: thanks to meta shop and skill upgrades during the run. But here you feel just nothing - you just run around small sewers pressing space...

[dada11dada22]

Probably because its not difficult at all. takes no real skill to play at all. It was challenging before the last major update and now its just so easy.

[< blank >]

Originally posted by dada11dada22:

Probably because its not difficult at all. takes no real skill to play at all. It was challenging before the last major update and now its just so easy.

prior to patch i did find it fun but avoiding deep overlord boss attacks required rng and superhuman reflexes. it was impossible to play past a certain point without certain meta skills or characters. i wouldn't mind an optional curse(s) that restored this but i wouldn't say removing it was the wrong move from a balance perspective. crafting successful original builds and avoiding damage still requires skill when trying to reach overlord 6-7+. but earlier than that the game is significantly easier which i understand can be off putting.

[heavyferrum]

I think that its because Survivor like games has become an annoying trend since Vempire Survivors. So naturally this kind of trends come and go and people ignore these. Unfortunately, Soulstone Survivors is the FAR better "Clone" of them all. Simply bad timing.

[locusofthought]

Honestly, I don't find this game better than others in its genre. I've not bothered with many (Soulstone Survivors, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and Vampire Survivor), but they all suffer the same limitation: once you finish the progression, there's only repetition. None of the ones I've played can even be considered feature-complete at this time, so obviously no final judgments can be made either.
Where this game distinguishes itself from others:
- Being the most grindy by far. To finish collecting upgrades for every character is quite tedious and honestly the reason I play it so infrequently.
- Having the best "endless" mode(s) (because VS has a bad one and DRG:S doesn't have one yet.)
- Buggy. Can't they solve the "not tracking personal best times" issue yet?
- Successful runs can be very short, easily the shortest among the three games. (Very strong positive)
- Carrying over progress from the Demo (best feature, easily the most satisfying moment I've had in this game)
- Character specials, while unique among characters, feel weak and never seem to perform all that well compare to other weapons.
- Lacking style or plot. It's bland. Sure, there are a lot of characters, but what are they doing and why? Why do they want to slay the Lords of the Void so much? Frankly, I don't really expect this one to change, being relatively typical of the genre, but among the three, it provides the least information.
EDIT:
- The intricate system of upgrades and status effects. Basically, this game intends to thrive on different mixtures of its large number of skills and runes. They are doing a decent job of that, especially after adding the self-buffs.

[Hoho you found me]

Bad music

[Yevonai]

I find myself snoozing through a level in this game, literally dozing off. Because the core of the game is just dodging floor attacks while you try and stay alive. Each build you make, no matter damage type or skill type, all play the exact same way. They all feel the same in the end and the game play is the same dodging.

I die because I wind up closing my eyes for 10 seconds and wake up to find I died, oh well.

[Wintermist]

For me everything just feels slow to kill. While I like the game I just feel like I run around avoiding red circles until things die. I don't make 2 hits and notice I did something, I do 2 hits and run, while the screen is so flooded I have no idea what is going on, just that things will eventually die from something, and it feels like I didn't do it.

[HeraldOfOpera]

The use of 3d models is an issue for a genre that experiences graphical and processor overload at the best of times.

[Multihog]

Because this game is a confusing mess. There's no finesse. It's too chaotic.

[B the Self]

I love the game now , but when I played *years* (don't remember but early) game was about stacking dots , and was pretty much about stacking and stacking and skills were just enablers to stack more DoT and so on , it was meh .
But now skills by themselves do damage !

I love the game now it has become extremely polished and I loved when the devs reverted the drama patch , they listen to us