Why the bad reviews?

[Elidas]

This game looks nice, but the reviews are kinda bad. Why?

[Epic_Caesura]

You could... read the reviews? Some of them explain in pretty lengthy detail what problems people are having with the game.

[otakon17]

EDIT: I own the PS4 version.

The original mixture of gameplay mechanics didn't really mesh well(least I don't think so). There was forced level grinding on every run, a strict time limit making exploration all but impossible, a lengthy intro that made "runs" longer than they should be and the weird condition that when you WIN a run, you start out with just a sword for the next one but if you LOSE a run you could carry over your Toys of Legend.

Originally there was a leveling system in place. The only thing it did was unlock more stick slots though as enemies were always 1 level higher on the next run and you always had to level grind to even enter the PIllar dungeons(and they were always 1 level higher than what you started that run at) making levels kinda pointless. Also there was a strict time limit of 3 in game days before the game forced you to fight the final boss, which if you didn't manage to clear the Pillar dungeons was all but impossible because you were underleveled and didn't have any Toys.

A day in game, when above ground was 20 minutes or so, meaning you could only run around the island map for an HOUR before you were forced to finish your run. And if you died, all your progress reset. Hell even the chance to access an ability to give yourself more time for that run was locked behind some RNG and grinding as you needed a certain amount of items to activate it then a secondary currency to pay for it.

The map almost always generated the Pillar dungeons behind lengthy detours costing you precious time and grinding on the overworld map was not only discouraged but downright a bad idea due to the strict time limit.

HOWEVER! With the recent updates to the game, they seem to have been listening to those complaints and fixed them so it looks like the only thing one has to worry about now is random bugs.

[Don Knotts]

People had no idea what type of game they were buying. They saw the art and bought it without looking into what it means to be a rogue-lite

[Razzle]

played this with my my brother a LOT
I can sum up the bad reviews

1 - people didn't know this game had a time limit.
2 - people didn't know this game was a roguelike " omg cant keep my stuff reeeee " even tho you actually can later on in the game.
3 - this game had a few glitches and errors at the start and people with intel hd 4000 or less had black screen issues " who games with that anyway" And those were all fixed but the reviews sadly stays cuz people are too lazy to edit them.

[otakon17]

Originally posted by Don Knotts:

People had no idea what type of game they were buying. They saw the art and bought it without looking into what it means to be a rogue-lite

The PSN store has no mention of rogue-like elements in it and the advertisements I saw made ti seem like a Legend of Zelda-esque adventure where every "full" run was randomized with new heroes and layouts for the world.

[Neidrocas]

Originally posted by Don Knotts:

People had no idea what type of game they were buying. They saw the art and bought it without looking into what it means to be a rogue-lite

I think its a hard know what you are buying when Steam dont say that its a Rogue-Like game ;/

[Rarewolf]

If you are asking, you are doing it right.

The game changed for the lesser with many of the updates. It feels less challenging (and im not a person that likes a lot of challenge!)