Map design is insane

[HighKnightsHemplar]

and not in the good way. anyone else like this game but HATE the level designs. Its like code boring going through a maze of same old same old. Cathedral of sacred blood was absolute cancer to navigate and complete on 100

[Jackal]

I haven't even played the game and seeing some gameplay made me hate the level design already.

[Artorian]

Personally I never had a problem with the maps. Cathedral had me for awhile but once I realized that I made a mistake in reading the layout it came as second nature. And I even liked a lot of the designs of areas, although I will admit the early areas weren't that great; Cathedral wasn't that great of a view after awhile, the city ruins were generic and the cave was boring.

But I really liked the trenches and all the areas after it, even in the second cave area that at least had different stone colors and plenty of details to notice in the rock patterns. My favorite areas were the mountains and the city buried in sand, but everything after the cathedral was personally a win for me.

The layouts also weren't too much of a challenge, in my first playthrough I found myself naturally finding the next step. It felt fluent and connected, something I like about the areas. But that's just me, I'm not telling people what to think about the maps and levels.

[WhiteLezard]

I personally loved the map design (besides the blander ones like the ice one or where you play the guilded hunter) due to how maze-like is.
It was dissapointing to find that no other level was like the cathedral (well, maybe the very last dungeon).

[Noco]

If you take your time and check the surroundings, its rather "easy". If you rush and not do that, it sure is hell on earth.
But thankfully there is a Guide for it, that covers every inch of all the areas. :)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1968092635

[A-tanatos-Ω]

Originally posted by HighKnightsHemplar:

Cathedral of sacred blood was absolute cancer

It's masterpiece) Too bad players nowadays used to strait forward corridors.
So better devs must do this map optional, secret dungeon.

[Tao314zdin]

Well, IMO Cathedral was actually a good design area because it has a lore explanation for being a maze looking like that.

I also liked the last DLC area.

But the rest was indeed not a very good job. The maps seriously lack some kind of meta-idea for each level and look like they were AI-generated in most of the places.

[Valkoria]

Cathedral was actually one of my favorite areas of the game, I wish there were more similar areas in the game. Are people actually serious when they say they hate the zone? Its really not that bad, just use your eyes and a couple brain cells.

[VOID]

Just follow Noco's Guide and you wont get lost.

[TrioAngelamVA.WliaAlfaD.A.S]

Honestly only tic problem for me are the locations in question ruined city --goes in tunnel-- large intact cathedral in crated in midlle of that ruined city...
or
Icy snow mountain --goes in tunnel-- gets into (as NPC says) endless stretching desert covering city ruins..
the connection between the locations make no sense.. feels like you hop thru time and reality warp gates...
But i do agree that some places are really just made to slow you but they all looked good.

[Snacktooth]

this aint that good, but it's 10 times better than nioh

[「 Ichihara ✦ Fox 」]

All you have to do is look arround, this game is more strategical than it looks and definitely harder than you think. This is not meant to be a Hack n Slash game so what I recommend is checking arround in all directions. I had no trouble except for the bosses on going through Cathedral solo

[HighKnightsHemplar]

Originally posted by Some Dude:

Well, IMO Cathedral was actually a good design area because it has a lore explanation for being a maze looking like that.

I also liked the last DLC area.

But the rest was indeed not a very good job. The maps seriously lack some kind of meta-idea for each level and look like they were AI-generated in most of the places.

EXACTLY it looks like AI generated levels. almost like it was generated randomly

[MSA-099 Rick Dias]

As much as Cathedral is cancer in terms of aesthetics, it's actually deliberately designed to be alien and maze like, and it works. I would actually say that the place is one of the better levels, where it's all based on exploration, and plenty of advantages to knowing secondary paths (Memories of Player is another one on that level, only much better aesthetically). It also is designed to get you lost to nudge you away from a Perfect End because you're likely to reach the end-map boss before stumbling along all the Isis fragments.

Again, aesthetics aside, the fact that Cathedral is so frustrating is exactly why it's good. It has all the right markings to signify its place in the story and gameplay. It's supposed to represent a shift.

[MSA-099 Rick Dias]

Originally posted by TrioAngelSchwi.WliaAlfaD.A.S:

Honestly only tic problem for me are the locations in question ruined city --goes in tunnel-- large intact cathedral in crated in midlle of that ruined city...
or
Icy snow mountain --goes in tunnel-- gets into (as NPC says) endless stretching desert covering city ruins..
the connection between the locations make no sense.. feels like you hop thru time and reality warp gates...
But i do agree that some places are really just made to slow you but they all looked good.

Code Vein's map isn't so bad. It's not as clever as Dark Souls, where placement makes reference to a real hierarchy, but it's not as entirely crazy as a fire map and an ice map joined at one part.

I'd say the most egregious part of the map connections is the verticality of some places; the Ashen Cavern is well below a Cathedral that already was a relatively low point compared to parts of the Ruined City Center, which then leads to another city that's on fire, instead of the City of Falling Flame being geographically close to the Ruined City Center or the Howling Pit.

The other contrived part of the map is that the Provisional Government Center, which frequently operates close to the Ruined City Center, is based in a location divided by two warp mistles, from the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood to the Ridge of Frozen Souls, which then through the Crown of Sand leads to the Crypt Spire, which should be the only way in to the Government Center. It would have made more sense if the Government Center was just geographically within the Ruined City, away from the walkable parts of the City Center map.

If anything geographically everything should stem from the Ruined City, really, even if the walkable connections force the player to meander and encircle it.