Thoughts on Slayer Edition

[Felix35071]

Overall I'm impressed, really enjoying the new game. It flows nicer. But there's a few things I take issue with.

-While having a world map is welcome, bring back the Hub. When I think of Gauntlet I think of a Hub area. Dark Legacy did it best, I think, blocking movement into a wing of the hub until you reach that level, then being able to see how many levels there are... It gave an amazing feeling of suspense and progression. The game FORCED captures that feeling quite well.
On top of that, there were sometimes wings of the Hub that you could barely even tell were there, making you think it was almost over and then BAM there's MORE. Reinstate the Hub, make M display the Map for quick level selection, and expand/add detail to the hub. More than just doors and color coded areas, actual wings that hold the essence of the world you're visiting.

-Also, what happened to descending into the Gauntlet? Was that removed or did I just skip it because I've played before? That was one of the best parts of the game, an ideal tutorial that added a real sense of entering this underground doom shelter. Above all, it was atmospheric.

-The removal of Unfair seems odd to me, though I didn't really play in it in the first place. I think a good solution for those wanting the game to be harder would be to remove the three difficulty levels and put a custom difficulty selection in their place. With a number of checkboxes/dropdowns (Enemy health x1, 2, or 3. Golden Food on/off. Enemy density 1, 2, 3, etc.) and presets that each have different gold multipliers as rewards for making the game harder. This way it can be exactly as ridiculous as the hardcore players want it, and as easy as casuals want it.

-Progression needs to be looked at. Currently, the only increases in power come from grinding for gold, which doesn't feel natural. Having multiple abilities to choose from is AMAZING (really, great job!), but locking them to specific weapon appearances isn't... Just let us level up our heros like a normal game and unlock stuff as we go, sure it's not exactly unique, but it definitely does work... Grant 1XP per piece of gold at the end of the level, some per monster kill, and more per spawner destroyed. Hell, even grant shared XP so groups don't level unevenly. Use gold for potion abilites and relics, and XP for special abilities. Also, XP should only be awarded if you finish the level, just like gold.
Also, keep adding abilities whenever you can, they help.

-Equipment itself should be beneficial (outside of existing weapons), for example: Different Armors grant % reduced damage taken, or % of incoming damage is reflected, or reduced movement speed but enemies get knocked back when they hit you. Helmets could grant damage reduction, crit chance, increased gold pickup range, etc. All capes could grant a small movement speed increase, just for getting them, with higher level capes granting more. Weapons could grant increased damage, attack speed, or knockback range.
The idea here is that there are actually options for your character, because currently any Valkyrie with 200,000 gold is going to be nearly identical gameplay wise. This issue was partially alleviated by the Slayer edition update, with multiple skills and new potion abilities, but remains a problem regardless.

-Please, please, PLEASE expand the game. Even if it's a DLC, Gauntlet needs more worlds to crawl through. Endless is a step in the right direction, and will hold off the need for a while, but there needs to be more Gauntlet.

I think that's all for now. If I didn't mention something, take that as a job well done. Thanks for the free content. :)

[Bean]

Not one mention of the horrid camera changes?

[Felix35071]

Originally posted by Hexagon:

Not one mention of the horrid camera changes?

Honestly couldn't see a difference, even in a party. *Shrug*

[Mr. Stimpson]

I know alot of people are asking for the perks back, have more customization, and to see unfair back. I personally like it how it is (from what I've seen so far), but maybe adding some of the perk bonuses into the rest of the unlockable equipiment, then "balancing" it out by adding unfair (or a new, very hard, difficulty) back in would be a good solution. That would also expand the game in a sense.

One thing to think about though, I'm willing to bet that endless gets much harder than unfair ever was at some point. That doesn't cover all the other issues, but it's something to think about.

[Bean]

Originally posted by Felix35071:

Originally posted by Hexagon:

Not one mention of the horrid camera changes?

Honestly couldn't see a difference, even in a party. *Shrug*

The camera is more zoomed in and at a skewed 3D perspective such that things at the bottom appear larger and move faster while things at the top appear smaller and move slower.

And the camera zooms in and out depending on whether there are going to be spawners or a lot of enemies in a room, and it'll spaz back and forth between zoomed in and zoomed out if you move across the edge of that room.

And if the players are all at different corners of the screen, the camera loses its shxt and goes nuts bouncing around all over.

[William Shakesman]

Gauntlet is a game of skill, not stats. Perk grinding is silly.

[thebiomage]

As many have pointed out already, the camera is really, really bad. Just playing the first 3 levels I already ran into problems with it. Mummy mages would shoot me before I could even notice them, getting really cheaps hits on me. It really seems like the camera likes to show you whats behind you instead of whats ahead, which seems really weird. If anything it should be the exact opposite, or better yet try to keep the character near the center of the screen.

Another bad thing are the muted sounds, but obviously that must be a bug and will be fixed. The camera needs to be redesigned though. Or just restore it back to what it used to be. I don't recall having issues with it before in SP, and only sometimes in MP. I'm also having harder time keeping track of what's going on on the screen, dunno if that is due to the camera being closer or just not being where it should be.

I don't like the new darkness thing with Death. While it makes Death more challenging, it can lead to cheap deaths like not being able to see some pots ahead of you and getting stuck. I don't think its a good type of challenge to die to things like that. Also it's just not a lot of fun not being able to see anything (I never liked those dark cave levels from previous version either).

After a quick test I was about to write off the difficulty level as a negative (since there's no Unfair mode and the first level seemed easier with less spawners). But after completing the first 3 levels I think the difficulty with Hard might actually be harder than Unfair previously was. For example in the Death level there were rooms with 2 liches all the while Death is chasing you. I also like some of the new monster mechanics, like those big orcs getting mad when low on hp and starting to run at you. It makes for a more dynamic combat than before. From what I've seen so far I think the combat and difficulty are better than before.

As for removing the masteries bonuses, I think that was a bad call. I used to keep playing the same levels over again to level up those character related masteries, or use different spells as wizard to level up certain types of spells. Now all the masteries seem completely pointless to me. Gold as a reward just feels kind of pointless. To keep players invested longer time in a fairly simple game that doesn't offer huge amounts of replay value, I think the masteries served a good purpose. Also I see the slayer specific masteries are still extremely ridiculously high, which is something I'd hope they would have adjusted.

From a quick look at the new weapons, most of them seem kind of crappy compared to the default weapons. Talismans (or whatever those character specific things are called) seem bit more interesting. Reworked relics also work pretty well from what I saw, maybe now the lute won't be the only relic that gets picked.

[DeadJericho]

meh i think its just as ♥♥♥♥ as it was to start with

[leadmecca]

Hub, menu, perks, camera, music and sound are horrible, crap map changes. If you point me in the direction where I can buy my perks back I might consider re'dling. If I wanted this crap I'd be playing Dungeon Siege. Again, NOT the game I bought.

[Arcane Blades]

2.0 wrecked the game.

[FU]

Music has a nice GAUNTLET LEGENDs quality now.

However, the overall SOUND Effects, ect, are either missing, muted or not sounding like what they should be in the game.

Examples:
*The Big Mummy Boss in the 1st Chapter sounds like he's a mile away bellowing at you in fury through the hurricane of dust he created while doing so.
*In the Caverns level, those stalagmites don't sound like breaking rock at all and the sound is too soft.
*When you unlock MASTERIES, and their respective info shows up, there is no sound effect for it.

When you press START...the "whumbb" voice and sound is really nice.
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I noticed in Endless Mode, DEATHs Theme music plays with him or without him showing up...at first I thought that was kind of odd, but it's actually nice because you never really know when DEATH is on the move. It does get somewhat repetative though...

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I really like that you can buy Weapons, Talismans and Relics and the incentive it now gives to run the GAUNTLET for gold to buy these.

I really like the one that makes THOR huge and invulnerable.
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Being able to swap around Weapons,Talismans, or Relics is really nice.
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I like everything about what was done with Weapons, Talismans and Relics.
Ecpecially being able to swap and mix attacks based on what weapon is being equipped.
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I really like Endless Mode... especially that you can buy items near the entrance because it makes for a nice game mechanic that if you find yourself in need of something further along in the deadly GAUNTLET, it means you have to back track to the entrance and then buy what you need. But you will always have the chance to buy anything you need to help get you through a level.
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I would prefer if NamePlates were optional and you could toggle them on or off.

THOR has no colored circle at all...I think all the characters should have a softly colored ring around them and the ranged characters should also have what they have now...the pointed half ring.
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Kills displaying after completing a level is nice.
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Skull Coins as items you can pick up in the GAUNTLET is really nice.
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"Enemy Discovered" (Skeleton Defender) for example is really nice to have...however I only recall seeing this that one time. Is this for only certain enemies? It should be for all of them.
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I really like the Mapping. A side view of the deadly GAUNTLET with names of each area.
It's a nice visual to have while running the GAUNTLET we did not have before.

Maybe we could have the name of the level currently being played also display somewhere on screen?
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It's really nice you now have the option to branch off to an area like "Maxime's Mummuary" or choose to pass it by.
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It's nice you can just run through the spider egg clusters now to break them. This is a nice little thing you can do to mark where you have been before if you break them, you can use the broken ones as markers showing where you've been. (Helpful in those dark areas).
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I really like that the screen darkens when DEATH is chasing you. It makes it more challenging...however, it may be better to reduce the radius of darkness from the whole screen to a smaller area around DEATH, leaving some clear undarkened area you can see better...so the further away from DEATH the more light and clearer your path.
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The new camera seems problematic because it does not leave enough room in front of the character to see ahead. Overall, I like the way it works by having us see closer into the screen, but there is not enough look ahead space right now.
If the character could just be more centered than they are now, I think this would help alot.

This new GAUNTLET has a nice adventuring feel and pace to it than the original did.
Combat plays somewhat differently.

For example, the camera frame causes you to be more cautious while moving ahead, because you can't see as far in front of you now...it probably should be tweeked to have your character more centered on screen.

Also, it seems to be tilited too far back because the angle hides more from view now, like when walking down corridors, higher walls block your view...it's just a bit too much Imho. Just a tweek tiliting forward would help.
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The FIRE TRAIL Boots are just about useless now...it was a favorite RELIC, but the duration of the actual fire trail is so small, it's almost useless.
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The CHAOS AMULET has been changed to some weird Teleportaion thing...this new version pales in comparison to the original. It was also a favorite RELIC. I hope the original CHAOS AMULET is brought back.
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Good to see the GAUNTLET humor being continued, for example THE CHAMPIONS MANTLE "Some animals were harmed in the making of this mantle". XD
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The environments overall I like the changes. For example the added wood planks around the edges of the floors in the Caverns level are there because they help keep the spiders out.

...and speaking of spiders, those new smaller ones are really nice! The way they crawl up from the depths on the side edges or slowly drop down from above using their web.

The enemies popping out of the Coffins and attacking is awesome. :)
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I still miss the Homing Floating Goat Head. It was a lot more menacing and built more tension to a nice crescendo than the new energy ball that splits into two.
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I miss the smaller 'Beholders", but removing them and having Big mini-Boss ones is nice too.
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I really miss the original Fireballs in the Cultist Levels that you could see the arcing trail of lava anf fire as it flew down on the area...that was very nice looking.
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I still wish we had actual unlockable maps of each individual level somehow.
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I miss that DEATH no longer breaks pots anymore...it was fun because you could lure DEATH so he would move through breakables and they would bust open for you...like a little mini-game.
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The ending has a nice animation scene now. :)
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I have a lot of time on the original and so it took me a while to completely warm up to this new upgrade version. I actually like them both for the differences they each have.
However, SLAYER EDITION has added so much and has a GAUNTLET LEGENDS feel to it while staying firmly rooted in the original Arcade game that I really like it over the first version by far.

It needs work and polish, but it's awesome.
I'm having just as much fun if not more so running the GAUNTLET again.
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[chickenb]

After having played a few hours now:


- while the new campaign-map is nice, I miss the relaxed pauses in between levels, i.e. having a hub and a shop.
- the graphical design and music of the old menu (character selection) and shop was way more pleasing aesthetically, in my opinion. With the update, icons have become too small, navigation feels clumsy, UI is blocking the view on your character and his/her equipment and some texts (e.g the elves' weapon texts, resolution: 1680x1050).
- you unlock ingame achievements, but it's not fully clear how it really matters - how much gold do you get, what's your progress?
- getting gold feels grindy now since it's become only way of unlocking things. The items and skills you can unlock with said gold don't seem that attractive. Weapons, capes and armor suffer from clipping in many combinations. The cape selection is also suffering from too little icons.
- the camera. While it's nice to be closer to the action in some situations, it doesn't feels quite right. The game now visually feels more like a standard action-rpg/hack-'n-slay than an arcade-game. Gameplay-wise the camera has prooved itself to be an obstacle in some cases.

That doesn't mean I'm really disappointed with the "new" version. The above is just meant as a review. I quite liked playing Gauntlet anyway and the changes interested me from a design-oriented perspective. I'm sure, it being still the same arcade game at its core, it will provide some more hours of coop-fun.

But it doesn't really seem as "the" great update it was marketed as and thus, the "new" edition feels more like a short-term marketing act accompanying the PS4-release. That being said, I can understand the disappointment. Raising expectations too high doesn't seem like a good idea in the long run. But I guess there weren't many ressources available in the first place for upgrading this game? That would be understandable, too.

[SpAwN]

Tweak the camera and I'll be happy with the update. Living on the edge of the screen until you get to one of those 'encounter rooms' is slightly annoying.

[mdart]

Difficulty Rebalancing

Reduced number of difficulty settings from 4 to 3 (removed the easiest difficulty, leaving the old “Hard”-difficulty as the new “Normal”).
There are now Skull Coins to find and pick up in the levels.

Now we’re really looking forward to joining you in the dungeons, watching your struggles and success and finally being able to share our game with the PlayStation audience.

Come and Invade the Darkness with us! (and please ask any questions or comment below and I’ll be around to read)from what they but from what i could tell hard feels like the old easy

[Coldzero]

The camera is weird......too zoomed in and slightly weird angle. I played last night and it gave me a headache and a slight nauseus feeling.....no idea what that was all about but its not something I generally have ever had. Perhaps I was just over tired but dont think so.

[Dragonix]

I'm very happy with the new changes!