Loving the game, but...

[Arvandor2]

This game is really awesome and fun. Seems so far, very well balanced between the various resource management, action, stuff you have to pay attention to, etc. It's fast, fun, hard, satisfying, and all that jazz.

My biggest complaint, are the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ skill based unlocks. They are THE WORST. They suck in Roguelites that have them, and they suck extra hard here. They drive me to spend hours upon hours trying to do a stage based unlock (bullet absorption on stage 2 for example), and by the time you can get it unlocked, you're so good at the stage and have it so memorized that it's trivial and the unlock is no longer fun or interesting. It's like "all that... for this?"

If you're going to have player skill based unlocks for the basic equipment, they should be achievable with only a tiny bit more thought or work than clearing the stage would normally take. Not, "here, play this entirely different, 100x harder minigame to unlock your next sword." The super hard skill based unlocks should be for the final tier, most powerful gear. The stuff that once you are good enough to unlock it, you don't need its power (but it's fun anyways). But for your 3rd damn sword? Come on. Did no one testing have feedback about this garbage?

Edit: Durr, I did not realize you could also purchase them for currency. That is an acceptable system to have in place. Even if the grind takes a while (and, it should, imo). Well done!

[Snobby Hobo]

Completely agree. The meta progression in general is this game's biggest flaw. It goes directly against the vision of the rest of the game.

KILL KNIGHT seems to take a lot of pride in forcing the player into mastery, yet the equipment menu in general completely defies this. Having multiple weapons leads to inconsistency among players while ultimately just converging to a single "best" loadout. It adds nothing to the title. The skill based unlocks force the player to perform chores, which again goes against the journey of gradual mastery the game seems to push you into.

It's such a bafflingly stupid decision to include this. RUINER did the same thing. Why not have the confidence to let the razor sharp mechanics do the talking, rather than introducing dangling carrots?

[EmpathyandEntropy]

I feel that the challenge based unlocks actually help the played master the game. Learning the importance of staying calm and being aware of how much ammo I have left before a reload to unlock the final pistols has really upped my game. IMO each challenge teaches you an aspect of the game that if mastered will make you a better player. I really like the way that it is set up.

Also different levels seems to have different ideal set ups, I have over half of everything unlocked and I don't have one best set up for everything. Plus, as they say, variety is the spice of life.

Just keep at it and you'll get it eventually.

[Keadin]

I've made no progress in the game, and it feels like value.

Please don't make it easy-baby so I beat it too quickly.

[Connatic]

Originally posted by EmpathyandEntropy:

I feel that the challenge based unlocks actually help the played master the game. Learning the importance of staying calm and being aware of how much ammo I have left before a reload to unlock the final pistols has really upped my game. IMO each challenge teaches you an aspect of the game that if mastered will make you a better player. I really like the way that it is set up.

Also different levels seems to have different ideal set ups, I have over half of everything unlocked and I don't have one best set up for everything. Plus, as they say, variety is the spice of life.

Just keep at it and you'll get it eventually.

Totally agree. Plus you slowly earn currency to unlock gear if the challenges are too hard for you. i don't think the progression works against the spirit of the game at all.

[XDeathxReconX]

At least you have a way to unlock stuff with currency, as an alternate it just makes it faster combined

[Vespertellino]

Skill based unlocks in a game that HEAVILY emphasizes players' skills. What an odd combo, right? Also you have an option to buy them with currencyif you're that opposed to the idea.

The real culprit here are unlocks that actually make you actively grief your run to perform, I remember seeing at least 2-3 like that, I just bought those instead

[Snobby Hobo]

Originally posted by Vespertellino:

Skill based unlocks in a game that HEAVILY emphasizes players' skills. What an odd combo, right? Also you have an option to buy them with currencyif you're that opposed to the idea.

The real culprit here are unlocks that actually make you actively grief your run to perform, I remember seeing at least 2-3 like that, I just bought those instead

"Your argument is stupid xdD", second paragraph: "I do have a problem with these ones where it is not though". This has to be one of the dumbest comments I have read on the Steam forums so far, and that's an accolade of a lifetime.

Originally posted by EmpathyandEntropy:

I feel that the challenge based unlocks actually help the played master the game. Learning the importance of staying calm and being aware of how much ammo I have left before a reload to unlock the final pistols has really upped my game. IMO each challenge teaches you an aspect of the game that if mastered will make you a better player. I really like the way that it is set up.

Also different levels seems to have different ideal set ups, I have over half of everything unlocked and I don't have one best set up for everything. Plus, as they say, variety is the spice of life.

Just keep at it and you'll get it eventually.

After playing a bit more I agree halfway. Some challenges do feel like they come naturally as you improve. But some of them definitely aren't. The one where I had to use the thorn armor to get 100 kills by dashing through enemies forced me to deliberately play suboptimally for example.

Overall I still think the "challenge" unlocks are a failure, as I do for the rest of the meta progression.