Some feedback for the devs re: combat feel and overall game

[Chezident]

Hey devs! I wanted to thank you for making a really solid title here from the jump - I know it's Early Access but it really feels for the most part like a great product. You've nailed a vibe I really missed from modern games with your approach to art style and general feel, and I think you've captured a lot of what I enjoy about Soulslike combat with the general cadence and difficulty of your fights.

I had some feedback mainly around a couple of the finer points of combat feel that I hope can be addressed or discussed.

I get that it's probably either a resource draw, design choice, or a stylistic choice to have our character reach for their shield to block things, and to leave it stowed otherwise, even w/ one handed weapons. I also suspect the tiny parry window is purposeful, making parries a risky option that I think are meant to be rewarding, but the whole loop around parrying feels odd for a few reasons.

Namely, if you're going to have the character reach for the shield each time they go to block, as opposed to having it at hand, I'd really want like a little "settling" animation or some manner of outward thrust to indicate when the parry window is open. As it stands, visually gauging when I'm supposed to parry, i.e. when parry frames are active in the reaching animation, is difficult. Maybe it's just me, but getting the timing down doesn't feel like a science, it feels often like getting lucky, because I can't parse which part of the animation is actively parrying things. Some designation to that point - a little sway as the shield settles in front of the character - would help immensely.

I also feel like the execution bar isn't especially rewarding in its current state, in particular with combined with how risky/imprecise parrying feels thanks to the animation issue listed above. The occasional 1-shot is helpful, sure, but getting some health back or guaranteeing a drop of some kind with a full execution bar would make that feel more meaningful than just swapping a few light attacks with a kill animation to what, largely, is the same effect. The fact that the execution bar is largely useless in boss fights - unless I've missed something, which is entirely possible - also doesn't feel very good. Losing access to an entire feature during a climactic demonstration of the battle system means the design should be re-examined, imo.

The other big thing about combat feel is staggering. Now, mind you, I don't think an enemy should lose their attack if I just tap them, but laying into an enemy with three or four light attacks only to get clocked anyway, then having them stagger oddly the next time I go for it, makes the difficulty feel inconsistent. I think making it easier to stagger enemies out of their bigger attacks would go a long way toward improving the reactivity of the combat by giving me more reason to be aggressive.

Beyond those big caveats this is an easy recommend from me to my friends, and I hope the game continues growing. You've got something pretty special here.

[Upon Arrival]

You said: "The fact that the execution bar is largely useless in boss fights". It is NOT largely, it IS useless in boss fights as you cannot parry bosses and thus you cannot perform an execution riposte, which means the execution bar is completely useless for boss fights. I think the game is solid and I am almost done completing all achievements but I'd love to be able to parry bosses. That is my only issue with the game lol

[Flinton Steele]

I like what you have to say about staggering and want to add that because the weapons don't really stagger, it makes using two handed weapons feel absolutely awful. I would love to use a great sword, i'm a dark souls strength ♥♥♥♥♥, but since it doesn't stagger and is so slow to attack, the dps from any dagger or fist weapon is so much greater, making me annoyed to ever see a two handed weapon.
I like your idea of making staggering a bit easier and I think that if they leaned into the two handed weapons staggering more easily it would make the combat feel more balanced, and keep me from using claws or skulls every run