Hard difficulty should be unlockable

[Plaak]

Not the best title, but pretty understandable. I consider myself an expert player, and since I like the game a lot, I'm really disappointed that it got many negative reviews only because of its difficulty, and almost all of them are from people that just selected Hard difficulty without knowing ANYTHING of the game's mechanics. Yes, there is a lot of RNG, and yes, it could be frustrating, but no, it's NOT unavoidable (or at least 90% of the circumstances). I would suggest to read the guide I wrote some time ago, in which I explain most of the game's mechanics and how to avoid RNG-based events, but that's not the point of the discussion. The point is that Hard difficulty should be unlockable only after beating the game once. I really hope the devs will consider this suggest, I'm sick of people complaining about how difficult and luck-based this game is. Hard difficulty is a fair challenge for a player who knows what he is doing, and it's not meant for a new player.
[Note: of course not every negative review is based on the difficulty/rng, but there are a lot, and I'm focusing on those]

[Cunin]

I just started playing it and I think so too. I'm playing at normal and even there, you risk death at every fight.
That's exactly how I remember the books, though, but there you had more time for thinking while here you start the first fight(s) without even knowing what's going on.

Since at the beginning of the game, during fights, you're overwhelmed by actions to choose from (and to perform) but the enemies can still attack you anytime and your action bar dries up quite quickly, and considering that every moment lost may cost you your life, I suggest to add a practice mode, selectable from the main menu, where you can fight against a selectable enemy (more can be selected when unlocked during the main game) at a selectable difficulty level.

That would be much better than a tutorial and also add something to the game.
Fights in this game are much more tactical than what most people are used to, so the players should be better instructed before sending them to the wild, and would also make sense since Lone Wolf is a seasoned warrior but feels like a newbie when you start the game with no previous experience.

So far I'm loving this game but I hope you can iron out these few things that may prevent people from fully enjoying it, because it deserves it.

[Plaak]

Originally posted by Cunin:

I suggest to add a practice mode, selectable from the main menu, where you can fight against a selectable enemy (more can be selected when unlocked during the main game) at a selectable difficulty level.

That would be much better than a tutorial and also add something to the game.
Fights in this game are much more tactical than what most people are used to, so the players should be better instructed before sending them to the wild, and would also make sense since Lone Wolf is a seasoned warrior but feels like a newbie when you start the game with no previous experience.

I totally agree with you. A practice mode would be extremely useful for trying all weapons, disciplines and tactics, and choose the best ones for the individual preferences - of course, in this game like every other RPG there are some strategies that are more effective than all the others (Weaponskill with Mace in the right hand and Sword in the left hand is something broken!), but this should be the point of adding a practice mode. I remember I had to play the game until the third act before defining that strategy I mentioned, but then, all combats became incredibly easy, even against bosses, except Gunzar, of course.

[Cunin]

Now let's just hope the developers will listen :)

Oh and while you're there, devs, why not add a "watch replay" at the end of a battle? With all that stuff to click and think about during fights, I can't even really watch the nice graphics this game has, which really saddens me :P

[Cunin]

Mi sono appena reso conto che siamo entrambi friulani XD

[Plaak]

Ma lol. Per una volta che scrivo qualcosa solo in inglese anziché in entrambe le lingue XD

[Reply Game Studios]

Hi there!

Thank you for your suggestions, we offer the hard difficulty from the very beginning because some players are looking for a real challenge even on their first playthrough.

As for the idea of a replay feature: it's a nice one, but right now we have no plans of implementing it.

Thank you for getting in touch!

(And ciao guys, we are actually based in Milan)

[Cunin]

Yeah I found out you're italian too while reading the credits and that was unexpected lol, looks like the Lone Wolf books were quite popular here.

But anyway, the replay feature was not a primary need, but what about the practice mode? That can be much more useful.

To be honest I didn't notice this game was released so "long" ago so I can understand if you stopped updating it by now, but by playing I notice quite a few of little things missing that could make it more enjoyable.
For example, another thing I feel that went unnoticed (or not taken in enough consideration), is that the popup balloons (hints of whatever are called) are missing for certain areas of the interface. Like when you want to put items from your inventory to the trunk at a seller's, the item description is only present for the items in your inventory, but not for the items in the trunk, and there are many other areas where they are completely missing and could be very useful to make things faster, without needing to click on the item to see its description.

If you'll ever feel like working again on the game please consider these suggestions. Despite of that, my experience has been positive so far, so good job!

[Plaak]

It's completely fine if someone wants a challenge from the very beginning, but I would not call it fair because you have at least to know what your attacks and disciplines actually do. It's very difficult to read every description while in battle, since the enemy can hit you at any time at hard difficulty. I don't think many people read them BEFORE being in the middle of combat. I would probably have given up without finishing the first act myself. But now i understand the game's mechanics and i found the perfect weaponary and strategy for my playstyle, and it's fairly easy.

In ogni caso, grazie per aver risposto, vi seguo da quando avete annunciato il gioco per la prima volta, credevo che dopo il fallimento di Ksatria nessun altro avrebbe creato un gioco su Lupo Solitario.