Crystal Hunt makes no sense and is generally very poor

[Girth Control]

I've been playing this game since the moment it was available in Early Access. No climbing, no Canyon, no survival game mode, etc. I've got over 150 hours, I'd like to think I have a good idea of what this game is, what it excels at, and what needs work.

For a 1.0 release, I think Blade & Sorcery is incredibly lackluster, repetitive, and gives the player very little reason to actually engage in anything the game has to offer.

The majority of spells and abilities are useless. While they may provide some brief entertainment, they serve little function and are easily forgotten. For example being able to spin a weapon with telekinesis is fun for a few minutes, but is so ineffective in combat that you'll likely never use it other than a rare handful of times.

Enemies don't drop rewards and you can't keep their weapons, so there's literally no reason to fight anybody. And since you can run so fast it's super easy to bypass everyone, sprint to the exit, get the treasure chest, and leave.

If you do choose to fight, the first weapon in the game can literally kill every enemy in one hit by stabbing them in the throat with it, other than the golem of course. There isn't a single human enemy that wears any kind of neck protection. No chainmail covering the neck, no full suits of knight armor, no magic embeued enemies that don't die in one hit, nothing. This also defeats the entire purpose of the shop - why would I ever need to buy a weapon if the one I start the game with already kills everyone in one hit?

The lack of variety in enemy voices is incredibly annoying too, as you'll be hearing the same grunts over and over and over. Really couldn't get some fans from the Discord community with decent microphones to record a couple grunts each?

Basically, the core gameplay is fundamentally flawed. In the progression game mode, I feel no desire to progress - I start the game incredibly strong, incredibly fast, I have the ability to withstand an immense amount of damage, dodge almost anything that comes my way due to my speed, leap over massive gaps unassisted, and kill every enemy in one hit. What more could I possibly need? Even at my absolute weakest, nothing even remotely poses a challenge.

[Luna]

"i stab everyone in the neck and they die!!! killing isnt fun!"

i think youre missing the point of the game

[darkblade]

Originally posted by Girth Control:

I've been playing this game since the moment it was available in Early Access. No climbing, no Canyon, no survival game mode, etc. I've got over 150 hours, I'd like to think I have a good idea of what this game is, what it excels at, and what needs work.

For a 1.0 release, I think Blade & Sorcery is incredibly lackluster, repetitive, and gives the player very little reason to actually engage in anything the game has to offer.

The majority of spells and abilities are useless. While they may provide some brief entertainment, they serve little function and are easily forgotten. For example being able to spin a weapon with telekinesis is fun for a few minutes, but is so ineffective in combat that you'll likely never use it other than a rare handful of times.

Enemies don't drop rewards and you can't keep their weapons, so there's literally no reason to fight anybody. And since you can run so fast it's super easy to bypass everyone, sprint to the exit, get the treasure chest, and leave.

If you do choose to fight, the first weapon in the game can literally kill every enemy in one hit by stabbing them in the throat with it, other than the golem of course. There isn't a single human enemy that wears any kind of neck protection. No chainmail covering the neck, no full suits of knight armor, no magic embeued enemies that don't die in one hit, nothing. This also defeats the entire purpose of the shop - why would I ever need to buy a weapon if the one I start the game with already kills everyone in one hit?

The lack of variety in enemy voices is incredibly annoying too, as you'll be hearing the same grunts over and over and over. Really couldn't get some fans from the Discord community with decent microphones to record a couple grunts each?

Basically, the core gameplay is fundamentally flawed. In the progression game mode, I feel no desire to progress - I start the game incredibly strong, incredibly fast, I have the ability to withstand an immense amount of damage, dodge almost anything that comes my way due to my speed, leap over massive gaps unassisted, and kill every enemy in one hit. What more could I possibly need? Even at my absolute weakest, nothing even remotely poses a challenge.

Most magic is op, you dont even neee weapons

And even in RL you would die from a stab in your neck

[Flashgod_VR]

I use it as fitness app. Crystal hunt works well to define a goal each day.

[Gunfreak]

I've hard B&S since 2020 I think or 21, I had 15 hours in it in those years, in the twoish weeks 1.0 has been out I've added another 15 hours. I find it super fun, and the biggest annoyance for me is the bad controller tracking on the Pimax Crystal, that kinda ruins the fun, as it's hard to get accurate attacks.

[Girth Control]

Originally posted by Luna:

"i stab everyone in the neck and they die!!! killing isnt fun!"

i think youre missing the point of the game

The game is great fun in sandbox mode. The moment you add progression and strip away all the player's abilities, the player is going to try and earn them back as quickly as possible.

If the point of the game is just kill people in unique ways, then Crystal Hunt is completely superfluous and actually detrimental to the game as a whole because it actively punishes you for doing anything except the optimal strategy of either running past everyone or stabbing everyone in the throat.

[Rabbit]

Originally posted by Girth Control:

Originally posted by Luna:

"i stab everyone in the neck and they die!!! killing isnt fun!"

i think youre missing the point of the game

The game is great fun in sandbox mode. The moment you add progression and strip away all the player's abilities, the player is going to try and earn them back as quickly as possible.

If the point of the game is just kill people in unique ways, then Crystal Hunt is completely superfluous and actually detrimental to the game as a whole because it actively punishes you for doing anything except the optimal strategy of either running past everyone or stabbing everyone in the throat.

learn to have fun. It's not that hard

[Idoski]

"I speed through the dungeons and don't kill anybody! Crystal Hunt is boring!" Okay? I can also boot up Left 4 Dead 2 and play the last mission of the last campaign on the easiest difficulty. Should I say that game has a lack of content also? B&S is a sandbox game at heart, Crystal Hunt just adds a progression system that allows you to work toward something and add a little direction. If you're not having fun running through and not killing everybody, try spending some time killing the enemies and wandering around.

"Everyone dies in one hit to the throat" its a vital spot, what else did you expect? I can't imagine you'd find it more enjoyable if you stabbed an enemy in the neck 5 times and they were still alive. If you would like it, get a mod that makes the enemies tank more hits.

Feel no need to progress? Too OP at the start? just restrict yourself from certain abilities or just go play sandbox mode again. You've been playing it for this long and never felt OP, why would it change now? Maybe you don't like Crystal Hunt and that's fine, but this whole post seems so nit picky.

[Girth Control]

Originally posted by Idoski:

"I speed through the dungeons and don't kill anybody! Crystal Hunt is boring!" Okay? I can also boot up Left 4 Dead 2 and play the last mission of the last campaign on the easiest difficulty. Should I say that game has a lack of content also? B&S is a sandbox game at heart, Crystal Hunt just adds a progression system that allows you to work toward something and add a little direction. If you're not having fun running through and not killing everybody, try spending some time killing the enemies and wandering around.

"Everyone dies in one hit to the throat" its a vital spot, what else did you expect? I can't imagine you'd find it more enjoyable if you stabbed an enemy in the neck 5 times and they were still alive. If you would like it, get a mod that makes the enemies tank more hits.

Feel no need to progress? Too OP at the start? just restrict yourself from certain abilities or just go play sandbox mode again. You've been playing it for this long and never felt OP, why would it change now? Maybe you don't like Crystal Hunt and that's fine, but this whole post seems so nit picky.

Pointing out glaring holes in basic game design isn't "nit picking". These are serious issues. Something like "enemies don't leave footprints in the sand" is nit picking.

Sandbox mode gives you everything from the get go, and thus allows you to play however you want. Death or failure has no repercussions, so there's no requirement to play a certain way. No weapons, telekinesis only, kicks only, whatever you think of, go ahead.

Crystal Hunt has progression and punishment for dying or failing, so it inherently encourages you to play in a way which minimizes the chance of death or failure. But because you don't actually have to kill anyone to progress, the optimal strategy is to simply run through the entire level and leave as fast as possible. You don't want to lose your money, and you do want to grow stronger, so why prolong the process and risk your wealth for literally no reason?

A simple way to fix this is to either have enemies drop rewards like money so the player has an actual reason to fight them, or have some kind of boss character in each level, a leader or king or something like that the player MUST kill to obtain a key and unlock the final gate.

This however doesn't solve the problem with the first weapon in the game killing every enemy in one hit, which could be solved in two ways - start the game with a blunt weapon, or add neck armor to the game.

Personally, I'd also like to see some form of weapon durability added to the game. Certain attacks against certain body parts would deal more durability damage to your weapons, so slashing someone's torso would keep your weapon in better condition than stabbing them straight through the skull. Lower tier weapons would break easily, especially when performing instant kill moves, while higher tier weapons would have much greater durability. This would further punish players for just stabbing people in the throat every time.

How can I be playing the game wrong if the point is to win and not lose? I'm winning. It's not fun, but losing is even less fun.

The problem with Crystal Hunt is it's incredibly easy which makes it incredibly boring. Sandbox is incredibly easy as well, but it gives you a ton of fun toys to play with, so it can be forgiven. Crystal Hunt is just crap.

[Doom]

Originally posted by Girth Control:

I start the game incredibly strong, incredibly fast, I have the ability to withstand an immense amount of damage, dodge almost anything that comes my way due to my speed, leap over massive gaps unassisted, and kill every enemy in one hit.

Blade in Sorcery always had a fairly weak AI. After installing the game, around 12 hour mark you'd figure out common ways to defeat all enemies, and after that you'd become a god of war and it would typically take hundreds of enemies to take you out.

So to make things interesting you'd need to handicap yourself. For example, start unarmed. Do not pick weapons, use only fists.

Originally posted by Girth Control:

How can I be playing the game wrong if the point is to win and not lose?

The point is not to win, but to have fun. If you're focusing on winning and not fun, you lose, because you won't enjoy the process. As you already found out.

There are certainly enjoyable moments right now. The experience of fighting the golem for the first time was interesting, although I was somewhat surprised by how durable my character is. Getting to the golem was also interesting, because apparently I took a wrong path, missed a rope somewhere and climbed down a nearly flat wall.

[Girth Control]

Originally posted by Doom:

Originally posted by Girth Control:

I start the game incredibly strong, incredibly fast, I have the ability to withstand an immense amount of damage, dodge almost anything that comes my way due to my speed, leap over massive gaps unassisted, and kill every enemy in one hit.

Blade in Sorcery always had a fairly weak AI. After installing the game, around 12 hour mark you'd figure out common ways to defeat all enemies, and after that you'd become a god of war and it would typically take hundreds of enemies to take you out.

So to make things interesting you'd need to handicap yourself. For example, start unarmed. Do not pick weapons, use only fists.

Originally posted by Girth Control:

How can I be playing the game wrong if the point is to win and not lose?

The point is not to win, but to have fun. If you're focusing on winning and not fun, you lose, because you won't enjoy the process. As you already found out.

There are certainly enjoyable moments right now. The experience of fighting the golem for the first time was interesting, although I was somewhat surprised by how durable my character is. Getting to the golem was also interesting, because apparently I took a wrong path, missed a rope somewhere and climbed down a nearly flat wall.

The issue is Crystal Hunt is supposed to have progression, which is in itself a way to handicap the player, to restrict their abilities and alter the experience or create a unique challenge. If I have to handicap myself after the game has already handicapped me, that's just plain and simply bad game design.

It makes sense that you must handicap yourself in sandbox mode, it makes no sense that you have to handicap yourself in the progression mode. The entire point of having progression is so you DON'T have to handicap yourself.

[Jaded]

Originally posted by Luna:

"i stab everyone in the neck and they die!!! killing isnt fun!"

i think youre missing the point of the game

If its that easy to kill them then why tf should i do anything else?

I shouldnt have to "pretend" the AI im fighting is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ competent.

[Jaded]

I completely agree with you OP.

Unfortunately alot of VR gamers have incredibly low standards due to nothing really coming out. Im honestly heartbroken at how little game there is to this "game"

Why can't we get ONE great VR experience that isnt Alyx?? Im so starved for good VR content it hurts.

[Luna]

Originally posted by Girth Control:

Originally posted by Luna:

"i stab everyone in the neck and they die!!! killing isnt fun!"

i think youre missing the point of the game

The game is great fun in sandbox mode. The moment you add progression and strip away all the player's abilities, the player is going to try and earn them back as quickly as possible.

If the point of the game is just kill people in unique ways, then Crystal Hunt is completely superfluous and actually detrimental to the game as a whole because it actively punishes you for doing anything except the optimal strategy of either running past everyone or stabbing everyone in the throat.

you just chose a very complicated way to say "i cant make my own fun" which is fine, but that probably means the sandbox style isnt for you, clearly.

[Girth Control]

Originally posted by Luna:

Originally posted by Girth Control:

The game is great fun in sandbox mode. The moment you add progression and strip away all the player's abilities, the player is going to try and earn them back as quickly as possible.

If the point of the game is just kill people in unique ways, then Crystal Hunt is completely superfluous and actually detrimental to the game as a whole because it actively punishes you for doing anything except the optimal strategy of either running past everyone or stabbing everyone in the throat.

you just chose a very complicated way to say "i cant make my own fun" which is fine, but that probably means the sandbox style isnt for you, clearly.

You clearly aren't reading anything I'm saying, so I don't see the point in you posting in this discussion. You're just trying to troll.

[Illusia]

Wha? So, basically, whats happened here is you found the optimal way to do something, so you've literally hit the 'player optimizes the fun out of the game'
Because the fun is the combat, and if you've mastered the combat, the fun is then figuring interesting and different ways to use your selected skills, abilities, and your own proficiency to fight in such a way that you enjoy yourself. (this is partially what makes crystal hunt work, because if you're playing to have fun, you'll explore different options, and not optimize your build so hard that you have the perfect way to fight)
I personally don't know how people claim that the combat is super easy. There are cheesy stuff you can do, but unless you're ALWAYS setting up for them I still find that there are situations I take damage (esp early on in crystal hunt when i don't have options but to use weaker weapons or have less magical solutions)
Ever heard of 'Suspension of Disbelief'? Its a term used for writing a lot- used to basically say the reader is willing to put aside the most objective way they can view a piece of writing for the sake of enjoying the piece of writing, you can also consider it as 'limiting their frame of reference'. Thats what needs to happen here, and if you are incapable of suspending said disbelief to make yourself enjoy it more, then you've hit the point where theres *frankly* nothing that can be done to satisfy you anymore. You think if they just made combat harder, or even required, that'd fix your issue? Is there ANYTHING you could actually name thats feasible that'd actually fix your issue?

So, I'm gonna reiterate the problem- you are handicapped in crystal hunt, but you're not willing to put up with the handicaps in the game's primary focus (combat) and just run through all the dungeons. By choosing to bypass the handicap you've been given, you are unwilling to actually engage with the game in a meaningful way. And if you don't find the combat fun, then you don't have anything in Blade and Sorcery to do in actuality, because 'every' aspect of the game is to feed the combat.

An analogy is a potter that enjoys working with clay has found the optimal way to make, say, a clay pot. So they do that every single time they need a container for something- sure, its fast, easy, takes the least amount of resources for the most amount of return, but now they don't work with the clay as much as they'd like, but they refuse to do it another way because they know that this is the best way to make a pot. They lose their enjoyment because they refuse to engage with the clay in a different way, despite still claiming to enjoy working with clay.