I am excited for Dark Ages, but it's obvious that a lot of DA's design was based around complaints about Eternal.

[Zapmaster]

- People complained about having to manage too many cool downs and press too many buttons to play well = Only two ability buttons in DA.

- People complained about difficulty with platforming and moving around with meathook = Completely grounded gameplay in DA.

- People complained about Eternal being too fast and difficult = DA lets you customise just about everything difficulty wise.

- People complained about having to use specific weapons to kill certain demons more effectively = DA let's you "engage as you see fit, with any gun you choose".

- People complained about not having enough ammo because of the chainsaw mechanic = DA demons simply drop ammo/health when killed (at least that's what it looks like in the video)

DA without a doubt will be a simpler game then Eternal as the feedback from casual players was obviously taken very seriously. I wonder if it will even allow quick-swapping? All that said, it all still looks great and I can't wait to play it regardless

[Umbranocturna]

Fair points, well see how it plays out

[max]

I'm not entirely sure it will be more casual (on hardest difficulty) and wondering about the new things they added.
Bullet hell seems to be a thing, and when you're grounded this can be a challenge. They also added parry, so timing might be even more important than in DE.
But it's too early to judge.

I know that I'm going to miss the vertical movement. The ability to move vertically freely is something that was brought straight from q3a, and it felt so good and right. Even though it was a very op tool in DE. I'm just sad seeing it go.

[Zapmaster]

Originally posted by max:

I'm not entirely sure it will be more casual (on hardest difficulty) and wondering about the new things they added.
Bullet hell seems to be a thing, and when you're grounded this can be a challenge. They also added parry, so timing might be even more important than in DE.
But it's too early to judge.

I know that I'm going to miss the vertical movement. The ability to move vertically freely is something that was brought straight from q3a, and it felt so good and right. Even though it was a very op tool in DE. I'm just sad seeing it go.

Good point, all though in the video the player has an energy shield ability and projectiles from enemies seem slow compared to Eternal. But yea, we don't know what difficulty he is on. Also I kind of mostly meant to say that it looks more "casual" (simpler) from purely mechanical perspective. I am sure it will still be a difficult game when all those settings are maxed out.

[Defective Dopamine Pez Dispenser]

Doom 2016 was criticized for locking us into arenas until enemy elimination and synced glory kills. That didn't apply to me, as I experienced it as an intensely fun contemporary take on exactly that "locked into a room with enemies" dynamic that would play out in classic Doom frequently, just with the push forward combat system and glory kills added.

Doom Eternal was criticized for its abundance of platforming, changing the gameplay meta, and reliance on constant motion and swapping between abilities and weapons. That didn't apply to me, as I experienced it as an exhilarating, highly kinetic, flow state inducing rampage that let me hurl myself from enemy to enemy in mid-air in a way I had never seen before in a game.

Now Doom The Dark Ages is being viewed skeptically in advance for reducing that verticality and platforming, being more streamlined, adding more cutscenes, incorporating more melee, a different UX and meta (yet again,) and a host of other things.

So far, that doesn't apply to me, because all I see is an epic shield tossing, strafe emphasizing, jolting sound design having, parrying, more freeform than Eternal looking, more customizable game that also lets me pilot mechs and ride dragons, in far larger maps, with more exploration elements.

As long as it's stable and performant in benchmarks and at launch, bring it on. My brain can switch modes between game designs and this looks sick to me. I'll be fine.