this game felt like the stamina bar shouldn't exist. this review contains cons only

[gigagrave]

Warning: This review is my opinion based opinions of mine about the demo
(I played DS!, Elden Ring, Lies of P and blood borne)

1- My most annoying enemy in the demo was the stamina bar
it feels like the game was designed without the stamina bar in mind.
or at least the stamina recovery and max stamina should be significantly more.
it was so annoying i posted this review
(I used gear that boosted stamina recovery too)

2- second to that the fact that the weapons:
Duel has no reach unless you hit and run.
great sword is too slow for this demo.
spear was the one got me through the rest of the demo.
in general, the starting weapons feel almost useless unless the skill tree is at least half built

3- The hell is this loot system? This reminds me of division 2 and destiny 2 where 90% of loot is useless. I hope it's just because of the demo. This loot system worked in Darksider 2 because it was an adventure rpg. It works in diablo like games since most of your game play is farming stuff. I don't want to look through my gear in a game where i can't pause.
it seems there will be a shop in the full game but it still a bad design

4- Extra: the healing item button being the up directional button is horrendous. for this game it should easily be the B button (xbox) / circle (ps) or at least the option to change it

These are my main points. the rest is " I don't care about it"
boss fights are boring but fine

for now, this game is barely a 3 out of 10

and I will not buy the full version.
what do you think?

[ZexxCrine]

i mean it basically was designed without the stamina bar in mind. i assume its meant to just stop gap you from looping enemies to death. however if the demo and its progression are carried over to the main game then by the mid game I assume stamina won't be a relevant issue for many play styles

the weapons are all great your criticisms of them make zero sense. it sounds like you just didn't try to learn them for the most part or made wild assumptions about how they worked and never thought to check those assumptions.

its exactly like darksiders 2 loot from what I can see and calling it bad because you can't pause is wild. where are you trying to look at your gear that not pausing is an issue. i don't like that the game can't be paused either but you should have infinite time to sort through it without pausing whenever you want. that makes no sense.

also invoking darksiders 2 again: did you play darksiders 2? the health potion button was left on the dpad and many features used all the time in the game were set to dpad directions

[vXViper]

Gsword slow? are you joking I smashed ass so hard with that thing. combo potential was out of the world.

Last boss fight I had to reset like 50 times because I was smashing his life in half with like one big combo. And yes I reset him so I don't have to make a new save to fight against him everytime.

[ArcaneMaverick]

You are judging much too quick on a demo of the tutorial. This game is more like Nioh or Wo Long or even Devil May Cry.

The first playthrough is ALWAYS about learning and unlocking things. It's only on the next ones does the real game start. So that is why the stamina is so low. That's also why the enemies are also so easy and slow, so you have the time to learn how to use your stamina before things ramp up. This is basic stuff for babies and you missed it.

What do you think an RPG is? Getting stronger by increasing stats. I'm so sick of souls fans complaining their RPG isn't an action game. None of those games would be good if they were an action game like DMC, old God of War, Bayonetta, or Ninja Gaiden. Souls NEEDS the RPG elements to be successful because the mechanics are plain not good enough.

No, the duals are not limited in range (dodge and hit-it's much wider, or just walk up to them and potent strike because foes stand still foreeeeever after they attack) and no the great sword is not too slow. It's probably the fastest great sword in existence.

Just be in a safe area before checking your menu. Why would you want to be able to do that in combat anyway? Games like these and souls have always been about being prepared BEFORE you enter combat. Or increase your skill at menu swapping for style points because, again, everyone is sooooo slow.

Of course there will be a shop, and who knows what all you can do with the junk equipment. Nioh had it even worse and you could do TONS of stuff with all your loot and junk. It all had a purpose. That's not bad design in the slightest.

You are too clouded by your bias from the very limited amount of games you've played in this genre.

Oh heaven forbid you have a different heal button. Is that too much for you to learn? Do all games have to have the same controls? Sorry it's been this way on a ton of other games like Bayo and Ninja Gaiden before Souls even hit the scene.

[seventhtuesday]

Originally posted by gigagrave:

Warning: This review is my opinion based opinions of mine about the demo
(I played DS!, Elden Ring, Lies of P and blood borne)

1- My most annoying enemy in the demo was the stamina bar
it feels like the game was designed without the stamina bar in mind.
or at least the stamina recovery and max stamina should be significantly more.
it was so annoying i posted this review
(I used gear that boosted stamina recovery too)

2- second to that the fact that the weapons:
Duel has no reach unless you hit and run.
great sword is too slow for this demo.
spear was the one got me through the rest of the demo.
in general, the starting weapons feel almost useless unless the skill tree is at least half built

3- The hell is this loot system? This reminds me of division 2 and destiny 2 where 90% of loot is useless. I hope it's just because of the demo. This loot system worked in Darksider 2 because it was an adventure rpg. It works in diablo like games since most of your game play is farming stuff. I don't want to look through my gear in a game where i can't pause.
it seems there will be a shop in the full game but it still a bad design

4- Extra: the healing item button being the up directional button is horrendous. for this game it should easily be the B button (xbox) / circle (ps) or at least the option to change it

These are my main points. the rest is " I don't care about it"
boss fights are boring but fine

for now, this game is barely a 3 out of 10

and I will not buy the full version.
what do you think?

I found issue with the stamina system in the demo as well. Through discussion on another thread it seems that on low frame rates input delay/lag makes certain elements of the stamina system harder to deal with and more annoying. My main hope is that the final game doesn't drop off difficulty once you level to high stamina. I've seen too many souls-likes do exactly that.

[ArcaneMaverick]

Ignore that guy. They stood there like an idiot and kept blocking and wondered why they didn't have stamina left. They didn't parry or dodge like the game teaches you. Entirely their fault.

[Bloombox]

The game would be way too easy without the stamina bar, and if the dual weapons had more reach they'd have no niche (no that doesn't rhyme), and the greatsword speed felt fine.

When healing, reach your right thumb over to d-pad so you can keep moving with left thumbstick.

[Persona Au Gratin]

I mean, there are people who outright lie about how this game works in so many ways. I saw two clowns claiming that dodging "doesn't put you behind the enemy" which, frankly, is a lie because I just did it multiple times against several enemies before you even get the skill tree.

Just testing DirectX 12 just now, I brink dodged, put an archer into exhaustion, executed him to get my full meter back then executed the mob that was attacking me during invincibility. Then, I fought the elite Knight that gives you the third Brave set armor piece or whatever and, yep, turns out if you dodge to his back you deal extra exhaust damage on top of the fact that he's still trying to swing and hit you and his tracking will cause him to miss instead of face you.

"The stamina system is bad."

I really, really think that some people want a game to be "badly designed" and they're the type of folks who probably tell people in other games like "Not every game is for everyone."

I'm gonna do one better, I think sometimes people make it very obvious they're simpletons and that it's very difficult for them to know how to enjoy stuff. Misery, in this case, loves company.

It's the equivalent of a baby crying to get your attention because they know it works. I just want to definitively put it out. This is a demo for a very easy game, THUS FAR, it isn't indicative of the final difficulty in a completely meaningful sense. Some people do not know how to enjoy themselves. I can understand folks who aren't seasoned, I'm specifically talking about gamer tryhards.

[gigagrave]

Thank you everybody for all the replies. Informative

[BEOWULF]

You just bad. Stop whining.

[Mecharion]

Agreed. The stamina system in this game sucks ass. Very unfun

[RunningWild]

It's gonna be like DFO where you run out of MP super quick and you're always thirsting for more, then you reach the late game where MP is basically an afterthought and just kinda there. Isn't that usually how RPG's work? Start out weak, build yourself up.

He's the first Berserker after all. You can't just be a unga bunga cockroach from level 1.

[Navhkrin]

Another clown that can't manage 1 resource lmao

[OMNI]

I agree that the stamina sytem is the worst I've seen in a video game. Especially given that you can get staggered very easily and when bosses start a combo, they never come to an end. However, I don't agree with the other points.

The weapons and their reach limits are fine. GS is slow because it's heavy and the velocity is the same as DS games. But I agree that it's rather the glaive which saved my back most of the time.

The loot system is "decent". Not the best but not bad either. My only complaint is the colours of collectible items and icons are white whilst the demo takes place on a snowy mountain and everywhere is already white which makes it very hard to notice them.

The heal button being the up button on the D-Pad is fine. It is also the same in Sekiro.

I won't buy the game at full price either. Waiting for a 30-40% sale would be the best.