New version 2024-11-23 thoughts

[kovec]

No idea what the patch number is because there was no news about it and the patchnotes button in-game doesn't work but this is basically the beta version on live branch now.

TLDR: the classic version is 1000x better to play.

This new version does not feel good to me even after giving it 2 hours to learn. The hitboxes seem sloppy, the main attack may as well not even be there at all, and the upgrades feel like there's too much gap between them. That's not even considering all the new bugs this version has :(

I wish you guys continued development on the classic version. It felt like a solid bullet heaven game that was only lacking in content but still satisfying to play.

[lnomsim]

I have the same feeling.
Hitboxes are weird, there are a lot of graphical glitches thatw eren't there before.
And the gameplay...
There was a reason to explore the maps before, now, not so much, it feels like there is less ennemy variety.

So far, the only startegy I have found to survive is to camp near the starting point to tunnel the ennemies arrival until I unlock all the evolved weapons. And by then there is no time left to go explore the map.

So even when I win, I feel like I just wasted my time.

[Skay]

I don't agree with the gameplay opinion but I do agree that character hitbox is weird.

[Adikos]

I prefer current version. Its all about opinion and preferences. Let the reviews percentage speaks

[Helltaker]

Originally posted by Adikos:

I prefer current version. Its all about opinion and preferences. Let the reviews percentage speaks

*Profusely starting to sweat*

[kovec]

Originally posted by Helltaker:

Originally posted by Adikos:

I prefer current version. Its all about opinion and preferences. Let the reviews percentage speaks

*Profusely starting to sweat*

Don't sweat too much. If reviews do take a bad turn, it's better to get that in early access instead of at v1.0 release. We all want this game to be good in the end. Well, at least i do. I don't have the patch applied. I was enjoying playing the classic version for the gameplay.

Also, just to clarify, when i mentioned the upgrades in OP, i'm talking about the shop upgrades--the meta progression. Simplifying it like that makes the game feel like it has less life to it compared to the classic version since meta progression is what encourages replayability.

Originally posted by lnomsim:

So far, the only startegy I have found to survive is to camp near the starting point to tunnel the ennemies arrival until I unlock all the evolved weapons. And by then there is no time left to go explore the map.

So even when I win, I feel like I just wasted my time.

Thanks for adding that point too because i forgot to mention that. The classic version had a reason to explore the maps but from what i can tell in this version there's nothing to discover. I just go to an open area and stay there.

[RobDeLaMorte]

<-- Unable to keep a combo going past early C rank due to enemy attacks having deceptive extra range.

<-- Just instantkilled by a horde of goblins spawning directly on him because he was against a wall.

<-- Noticed the upgrades selection is like a third of what it was.

Hmm. :o

Edit: Also the options keep resetting every new run so I get deafened by the first slimes because I forget. -3-

[Boslee]

The hitboxes are weird, but a lot of it seems to stem from how enemies attack. You cannot weave your way past anything because a lot of enemies have some serious reach on their attacks, at least horizontally. Staying above or below seems to be safe, but to another poster's point that just means you want to turtle up in a spot where everything funnels in from below.

A lot of the weapons you can pick up feel awful to use too, especially at low level -- cooldowns are either too long or aim at something off-screen instead of the threats in front of you. I started sticking to the fixed pattern weapons like ameterasu, dark fire, etc because they were predictable and didn't take much investment to bring online.

Also agreed on the maps being pointless to explore currently, and the meta upgrades being waaaay out of wack. The game went from frustrating at the start due to no gold income with a worthless starter sword, to boring as hell when my damage shot through the stratosphere after a couple meta upgrades.

And this is just me, but aiming by moving always feels awful when all weapons are tied to cooldowns. I may just be spoiled by other bullet heaven games that are practically twinstick shooters though.

[RobDeLaMorte]

Yeah, horizontal attacks especially are a real pain in the ♥♥♥♥. They've got surprising reach and the damage comes out on like frame 1 of the attack animation so it's near impossible to avoid hits. D:

Difficulty is just like Boslee said; it's super frontloaded and punishing early, and pretty much totally gone once your build gets online and/or you get some upgrades in the shop. I think I remember the old version of the game being similiar though, and to be fair pretty much all of these games are like that. -3-


The more I'm playing the more okay I am with it though. You've just gotta abuse that reroll button to get certain AoE weapons/weapon level ups ASAP and once you push through that first few minutes things get way more manageable. Moving around to find that trader to unlock gallery stuff gives something to do, though yeah the giant maps are a bit aimless outside of that currently.

For myself, I'd kill for some endless upgrade system in the future. Almost none of the other games of this type apart from Vampire Survivors themselves have it, and it's fun breaking the ♥♥♥♥ out of the game by farming until I can have like 10,000HP and effective immortality. :x

Edit: Also hints in the Gallery section to tell you how to unlock stuff. Some of it's obvious, but some of it isn't.

[Boslee]

Originally posted by RobDeLaMorte:

I think I remember the old version of the game being similiar though, and to be fair pretty much all of these games are like that. -3-

It's been long enough since I played the old version that I don't remember, and the legacy branch doesn't work for me anyway so I can't compare. :<

And yeah, most games in this genre end up that way eventually, that's part of the formula these games established and I'm fine with that. This game is just unpolished in a lot of ways right now, and that killed the payoff for me when I suddenly realized I could now AFK my way through runs lol.

Originally posted by RobDeLaMorte:

Also hints in the Gallery section to tell you how to unlock stuff. Some of it's obvious, but some of it isn't.

Was there a gallery in this version? I didn't spot it but so much of the main menu is unimplemented that I didn't spend much time looking.

[RobDeLaMorte]

Originally posted by Boslee:

Was there a gallery in this version? I didn't spot it but so much of the main menu is unimplemented that I didn't spend much time looking.

New patch, innit bruv? I only thought about it after a few runs, it's on their website. :x

[Happysin]

I'm in the camp of "the new version is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ impossible." I'm not getting ANY gold, meaning I can't even grind up the passives that might make the start easier. I played enough of the old version to unlock a lot of achievements, and am definitely familiar with early game Survivors difficulty, but this is ridiculous. (Note, I'm not mad at the devs, this is a free game and all, but I figured I should at least add my perspective)

[gettactical]

I definitely thought the new version was frustrating, but I gave it some time and I think it's fine. Enemies definitely need more visual cues to their attacks (and more variety... they all basically do the same thing outside of their artwork) and the starting sword is just... practically worthless until leveled to 4 or 5, making the process of getting enough levels to get going quite frustrating. Once you're past that hurdle though, becoming an unstoppable SSS murder machine is a cinch as long as you continue to focus on upgrading your abilities and getting the good abilities picked up, along with knockback, which is by far the most important skill after you get your abilities sufficiently leveled.

I do miss secrets to levels, but I expect they'll be added as more patches roll in? Or maybe I just haven't found any?

The improved artwork is really great and I think that makes for a great foundation for further improvement.

[Arcane Azmadi]

New version is trash. Fix the hitboxes or the game is unplayable (or at least, not worth bothering to play). Oh, and the new weapons just all suck compared to the old ones.

[RobDeLaMorte]

I think what might help would be more ways to get gold early. Right now you're kinda stuck between waiting for barrels to spawn then trying to fight over to them and hoping to get lucky, or hoping you survive the first few minutes so you can get a boss or two.

Actually now I think about it, getting gold in general is kind of rough. I did that third level and ended with a bit over 13,000 gold for a half hour of battling. -3-


Alternately, spawning us in with a free level up so we can take an extra weapon. The sword really does feel terrible early on without upgrades. D:

Edit: Also like... Beef that baseline Dash up a little. It starts so short you actually get hit trying to use it to get through enemies.

[EndlessPlayer]

Similar to everyone, who are dissapointed with this new update, I also feel that now game is a mid - improve graphics, new character Trader (which is unplayable, but I found her as cool freature in game) and book of evolution for weapons are a good points I can give for the game but has many bugs, large hitboxes and also less rewarding that previous version.

I point out few points I found irritating:
First, as I saw from others and I agree with that is that, hitboxes in this game is really unintuitive and misleading - when I saw that enemy attack and I was close, sometimes I don't get hit, but if this not attack and I was close, sometimes I get hit. Not only that, on third map there is a bushes that has a gap between them, which often I feel like, I can go through them, but often I going to the trap and enemies surround me. Also enemies are effected by how map is build, so circle enemies, which they show up in fixed time, are more dangerous that normal enemies, because they literally they can spawn above me or inside me, while I am on bridge, close to wall or on third map they can spawn along in corridor with red rug, which often lead to the end of run.
Second thing that make me sad is that, I don't feel rewarded for checking the map - maps are literally empty, where is no free to take weapons, there are no free upgrades, which makes exploring the map just to kill a time or not worth it. Sure, map like Demon Castle has 30 minute, where you can explore if you are strong enough, but there is nothing you can find - da, you can even ignore final boss of map and start looking, still not worthy yet you can literally lose final boss, if you go to far from it.
Third, upgrades and book of evolutions have two things, one positive and one negative: for upgrades, positive is free rerolls, which you can roll as many times as you want and negative is that rerolling upgrades often bring the same few times in the row; for book of evolutions, positive is to find upgrades, which give you evolution for targeted weapon but negative is that, items presented in this book are smaller which is hard to recognize, what item is. For book, I thing this would be fine, if all evolutions can be show in menu, when pausing the game, which opening will show all upgrades with their normal size like Wampire Survivors has and this book, which we have in game can be change to shortcut of the current weapons we have, so we could take a upgrades for them. And for upgrades: please, change a way that give you a upgrades, because I feel punished, when games often giving me a optional 5 weapons, when I want rather get upgrade to increase already obtained weapon or find a passive, which will benefit in long run (also repair the option in setting that in Max Level this automaticly choose health or gold).
Forth enemies, while I don't have to much problem with them, for achievement requiment are problem, for example: Club Ogre is showing as elite enemy on first map, and is not a normal enemy on further maps, but Axe Ogre is showing in all maps, and Female demon which is a final boss on second map is missing or show up only once or two on third map, which don't help to reach 10k kills on her. I don't saying that we need all enemies on all maps, but I would have map that I know that this enemy show up more often so I can farm them on that map and not need to complete the map, where they show up only once.

The last thing I just want to get as the setting is to on and off the Patch - I know that many of you would say, that this is a hentai game, so I should know that installing that would return the cut content, but I want to play the game during a day, not worring that hentai scene would jump on screen, while family is in home and also survivors games are often long.