Overall thoughts post game

[Bandit]

So I just finished the game earlier today, pretty much 100% except from a carrot I couldn't find and here's my thoughts.

First thing is why I'm posting this here and not leaving this as a review. I liked this game and I would recommend it to other people, but I will not give a positive review on an indie game that has day one dlc, cosmetic or otherwise.

Second thing is that I just finished the first game last week, and despite loving the graphics, vibes and setting, with the fantasy rats being a personal favorite thing of mine, the combat of these games, while functional, don't fully click with me.

I will say that it feels like hitboxes in general are a lot better in this sequel, so combat was a lot more enjoyable this time around, but I still think it should be less "snappy". What I mean by that is that an enemy will telegraph an attack for a good while, but the attack itself takes place in just a few frames, making reacting to them, especially when there's multiple enemies on the screen, very hard.

I do enjoy the colored tells, but the way work could be better. The white tell is pretty simple and it works fine, the yellow one for parry works fine as well, but sometimes it will be prompted way too fast to be able to react, even though it has a generous timing to trigger. The red dodge and red roll tells are a lot better in this game, but they're still confusing sometimes on where exactly the enemy will hit (aside from when it's telegraphed on the ground). So overall while I like this systems, they could work a little better, and the combat feel would benefit from being more similar to a game like Salt and Sanctuary.

Now for this game's mechanics. I saw a lot of people complaining that this game is too short and I don't think that's true, it took me 9 hours on both games to 100% so if anything this game is bigger because the first game even has dlc content. But I do feel like the systems in this game make it feel like it's going to be way longer, so the final quest feels like it comes out of nowhere.

The monster hunter aspects in the game, while very cool on paper, don't really do much in practice. They don't hinder the experience, but don't add much to it. I much prefer finding weapons by exploring or by rewards and then upgrading them, than to just being able to craft every single one of them. Which also gives the player the chance to try multiple different weapons, which the first game did great. One of the best part of Souls games is exactly that.

And while I appreciate the amount of effort that went into making all these armor sets and weapons, it's just way too much. In the end you'll only need 2 or 3 different sets and 2 or 3 weapons as the game just doesn't have the enemy roster to take advantage of such an expansive inventory. The traps and potions might be useful on the Bloody Whisker difficulty, but on normal they were pretty much useless. The whetstone was a very welcome addition and alternative to the poison weapon from the first game, I just wish we could carry 3 instead of just 2. Upgrading them to last longer would also been pretty cool. So yeah, I think the game would've been better off with a lot less armor sets and weapons, it just ended up as redundant. There are some very cool designs though, and upgrading them make them look even cooler. (Wereowl set was fire)

As for the elemental system, it's a cool idea but I'm not sure it worked too well. In a monster hunter like game where you just fight bosses it might've worked perfectly, but in here you're finding all kinds of different enemies all the time, and while being able to change your equipment at any time (which is a huge improvement over the first game), it just goes from an enemy doing way too much damage to not dealing damage, which sounds perfectly if it wasn't for the fact that you have to change equipment so frequently. I'd have loved if this applied to a lesser degree to armor, but stay the same as it is with the weapons, as just switching one thing is a lot easier. I also feel like element-less weapons should do more base damage as they don't have the benefit of elemental weapons.

The spells work fine, it's a simple addition and they're fun so I think they're a welcome feature. On the side of the player, all ailments from elements just boil down to being stunned in the middle of a fight and having to mash dodge. That is just not fun, specially not in an action game. The idea of ailments can be cool, but in here they all do the exact same thing which is to take away control from the player in the middle of a intense fight.

About the 2 handed weapons. In the first game I'd argue they play a bigger role as there are many more shield enemies, and I encountered at least one enemy that using the 2H was more effective against. But in both games it feels like their damage is far inferior to the one handed weapon ones, while also being a lot more risky. Their only purpose being to break shields, which you have to hold the attack for a while before it does, making it's attacks even more risky. I don't like this system, I would much rather equip a weapon, single or double handed, and have it have light and heavy attacks I can switch between. I understand you guys wanted to innovate, but if it ain't broke why fix it? I feel like a lot of potential was wasted here, as you could've had way less weapons but way more unique ones that would make the gameplay better, specially in this elemental oriented gameplay, also giving reason to switch to different weapons and gameplay styles to take down different enemies. Jump attacks would also been cool.

The ranged weapons suffer from a similar issue, I just crafted a gun very early and then equipped 2 other guns I got during my play through. Even though I barely used them, they're a cool thing to have and got me out of a few bad spots, but I never once equipped a bow or a crossbow during this playthrough. Unlike in the first game, guns have the same amount of ammo as the other ranged weapons in this game so there's no trade off or unique function to justify all 3 ranged types existing and so many variations of each. It would've been a lot better if each kind of ranged weapon have a different ammo limit, functionality, and/or reload mechanic, each having clear pros and cons, being suited to different play styles.

The base building aspect was simple, but very welcome, it's a fun mechanic that doesn't take away from the main gameplay and adds a great vibe to your base as you go on. The kitchen, alongside with health upgrades feels a bit tacked on though, there was probably a better way to do that, you just upgrade the kitchen and buy the ingredients from an npc on it. Why even bother with that npc? Would it not be better to have the ingredients as rewards for exploration and quests? The same goes for the flask, which fit the first game very well, but it didn't fit this one as well. While I don't have a problem with it being a slow recovery, the entire flask recovers only half the health at the last health upgrade, so I think health flasks would've been a way better fit for this game simply because it would be more fun, and having them be part of the progression would've been extremely fun as well. (Starting with just one that heals 30% and ending up with 3 that heal 50%? That would've been super fun.) The more open adventure this time around was also a great idea, being able to choose which quest to take and where to go made the game a lot less linear and it felt amazing, great job there! The fast travel waypoints were also a great addition I missed on the first game, it really cuts down on meaningless running.

Minor note: while I was never really hurting for money in this game, if the gems in the crafting tab aren't really for crafting, which personally I never saw an upgrade requesting it (with that many items to craft I doubt many people will if there is), you guys should put a "should be sold for money" text in their description.

I feel like this game has a bit of an identity crisis, it does a lot of things amazingly and some other things terribly. I can see this being a masterpiece if it focused better on a single idea. A monster hunter co-op focused version of this game would've been amazing, as well as a focused single player action rpg. A lot of people are saying this is a carbon copy of the first game, and while I understand why, I disagree. I see it as an improvement on the first game in most ways, and the story made it make sense. Without getting into spoilers, I think having this narrative was a fantastic idea, and the connection to the first game was awesome. Also loved that you expanded the control rebinds, because I rebind pretty much everything as I think the original scheme is very weird. (Why have the attack buttons on R1 and R2 on a 2D sidescroller?)

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and I think it was a massive improvement over the first one, the game looks fantastic, I loved the narrative and characters, but the game feels all over the place and there's a lot, mechanically speaking, that could've been improved. While I had a lot to criticize, I still really liked this game, and I hope you guys get to keep making them. I would love a third entry with more refined gameplay and more focused mechanics. So stop having day one dlc, I want indie games to make their creators rich, but this isn't the way to do it, this isn't the consumer friendly ideal of indie games.

I hope you guys find success, I hope this game sells a lot and you get to make another one with a more consistent and focused vision. Also please no cosmetic or day one dlc for the love of Rattus.

Cheers fellow rat lovers. Redgi forever!