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In my opinion, based on dozens of hours gameplay in June/July, and 10 hours of play after the Sep. 21 patch, I am enjoying playing this game solo quite a bit ! They've improved the balance and combat smoothness quite a bit, and reduced solo bugs a lot. Some people still encounter bugs, but they seem less critical and much less frequent.
Multiplayer still needs a lot of work, and currently on Steam you can effectively only play with friends. It's laggy, there's no cross-platform play. I'm guessing they're brewing the next patch for multiplayer, but there's no telling. I know they're at least working on a next patch. Furthermore they have a DLC which they are obliged to deliver, so it's looking like they'll keep working on the game for a little while.
The developers seem to have a policy of zero communication with the players, other than the patch notes, which come out a few hours after each patch.
Keep in mind that, other than the characters and setting, this is a game mainly centered on combat, and then managing loot and basic character advancement. It is not open-world and there's no big storyline (there's a story but it's very basic. It's deeper if you like to read collectibles but they're not read out to you).
Environments and graphic style is very nice, if you like that genre (which I do).
One important aspect to keep in mind: you can't save mid-level. Each level can take 30-120 minutes to complete depending on your thoroughness, skill level and chosen difficulty. End-Bosses can be a solid step harder than the rest of the level. If you quit mid-level, or can't nail the end-boss, you lose any and all progress made. This used to be a major problem. In my recent experience, it's much better balanced and hasn't been a problem for me, as long as I persevere with the end-boss.
The combat is real-time tactical, requiring controlled attack/defense/movement, and requires learning and using a few combos. You have to manage Health, Stamina, buffs and debuffs, Ultimate energy, and all that put together makes it decently challenging and a fun complexity to manage in real-time. It requires you to spend time honing your skills in combat to get proficient (well, that's if you want to play beyond the easiest difficulty). There's a Combat Guide in the Steams Guide section which I'd suggest you read if you're going to play the game, and you may find others elsewhere.
So there you have it, I've tried to describe all the important aspects. If you enjoy that type of combat, and the setting and graphics style, I believe you will enjoy the game. I hope this helps!
The thing is, the way they've done things, it's very easy to point at some things and say the AI is lame. But if you play normally (explained below), the AI is fine.
As long as you understand and accept the premise that this game has each encounter confined to a specific, bound area. Thus the monsters are confined to a specific zone in each encounter. I believe they did this for playability to go along with the respawn and the fact that you must complete the level to get your loot and XP. With these bound combat areas, it means that if you die and restart at the beginning, you can actually run through and past the encounters you've already done without re-fighting the re-spawned monsters, and get to where you were at when you died, and then fight from there on. You won't have a horde of monsters following you and decimating you once they catch up.
The consequence of this, is that if you *want* to deliberately exploit this, you can. i.e. you can shoot from a distance outside the zone, and the monsters won't come at you because you're outside the zone. OR, you could constantly run out of the zone, regroup, and go back in.
But, if you have a bit of self-discipline and just play the game, you just don't do that. You'll naturally stay within the large combat area, and fight fair and square. Then, the monsters' AI is fine.
The other thing that can get some laughs if you're trying to diss the game, is you'll notice that, at low difficulty levels, if you just stand waiting in front of some goblins, they'll wait quite a while before attacking you. You could post that up on YouTube to "prove" that the AI is lame. I suspect this is to give you a chance at lower difficulties, to drink potions etc. If there are 4 goblins on you and 3 ranged ones, you'll appreciate this. As soon as you attack, they'll be all over you. Furthermore, bigger monsters are more aggressive when you stand there, they'll come at you and attack, or do ranged attacks.
So all in all, when you're not trying to actively exploit the system and you're just playing, attacking and fighting normally, you'll find they give you a solid challenge. If the difficulty you chose is too easy, it'll be too easy. Just crank it up one notch or two, and let me assure you that you won't be complaining that the AI's too easy...!
I hope you find this informative.
Cheers
The devs would have really made a mega success of this had it been delayed 3 or 4 months though, i expect the publisher rushed them.
They *really* should come up with a better combat tutorial and game mechanics introduction. A lot of people find the combat either boring or unforgiving because it's just not explained. Also at the beginning you have very few combos so it seems too simple, and also at difficulty 1 you can get away with dumb button mashing, which gets boring quick. Once you understand the combat system, it's actually pretty cool! There are many dimensions to manage concurrently while you're fighting, it certainly keeps your head busy! But, it requires a bit of investment in getting better at it, and a certain amount of actual skill and ability to think under pressure, so it may not be for everyone. It's certainly not as naturally accessible as Diablo or the original Dark Alliance for example.
BUT, it can be quite rewarding when you successfully pull off things like: intentionally buffing yourself up via a certain move (which causes Frenzy), then debuffing a tough monster via another move (which causes Sapped), throw a bunch of combos at it for a while until it's exhausted, then pull of an Execution! Bam you just nailed a tough monster with style and efficiency! All this while dodging goblin attacks, some of which you just hear coming from behind you (arrows launched). Then, at the end use the remaining 2 goblins to deliberately Parry, thereby restoring your Stamina without using potions. That's a great feeling ! Over time you buy new moves which bring up new tactical combinations you can use to steer the fight in the right direction.
But nobody seems to talk about that... !!
That's what keeps me coming back to the game.
I'd say if you're eager to play, and you'll be playing with friends (not public) in a lighthearted way, then you'd likely have fun with the state the game is in currently. But of course, the more you wait, the more it should improve. Depends on your finances and eagerness. :)
Play normally.
*wipes face*
I keep coming back to this discussion board to find the same apologist arguments for brain dead AI being trotted out.
In which universe is a video game released where the devs then say 'all these are options, but only these two are the way the game should be played. All these others break the game, so please don't do them.'
How can I still be disappointed in the people hanging around here after all this time.
Isn't that solid advice though: "Don't do anything that leads to the AI breaking, which is most of the times, so play exactly this way and it just might not break the AI".
I still think Gyr is a dev-account in disguise or someone who invested a lot of money into the game considering that profile almost exclusively posts in regards to this train-wreck.
In what universe you ask: that's the predominant paradigm for the majority of games to release broken alpha/beta versions for a full price and then - maybe - get the game towards the quality of a proper release candidate.
I just downloaded the game there , played through tutorial and first mission with 2 characters (cat/drizzt)... and uninstalled right after that.
Besides not supporting my PS4 Controller without 3rd party emulation (most likely a Gamepass thing as that happens with alot of games there) the controls felt clumsy and aweful.. be it hitboxes, reaction timings/imput lag or just the animations in itself... even worse so if you try to play without locking onto every single little goblin...
I mean LotR War in the North (Ps3 Game from 2011 that has a pretty similar playstyle that i'm currently replaying) feels way better control and gameplaywise eventhough it has way less combos and stuff and is a decade old....
Hold of from buying the game on release as i didn't like the character designs that much (preffer the ones from the old novels and comics even though cat does look kinda cool in here) and thought , hey let's try it now that it's sort of free in the pass... and was pretty disapointed...
I like this TP / TPS, hack n' loot / loot n' shooters sub-genre; but, only Remnant from the Ashes and Aliens Fireteam Elite have gotten the formula anywhere near right. This game, here, Outriders etc., all reveal themselves as nice-looking assets soused is scheiße hausen gameplay -- which the equivalent to an "F" grade.
*slow clap*