Recent reviews by BaDKaRMa

no step on snek

Well, the release I counted down for is here and now I'm getting a refund after 15 minutes of play and forgetting this iteration exists.

The intro generates no excitement. Aside from the signature art style and original narrator, there is nothing of interest. We're given a ball of fire from the palms of a skinny guy while people everywhere are setting things on fire, everywhere. I spotted a villager seemingly stabbing their self in the neck while funny at first, now appears more prophetic of the immense disappointment to come.

100% of the music from intro to first battle is noticeably MIDI and deeply lacks character; mostly just an oscillating warble meant to mimic a violin. The massive tooltips cover relevant battle positioning menu information.. All the buttons are unnecessarily enormous while the information in all tooltips require that you know what the icons mean-- "If you are [blue square], then [green waterfall] is 25% and [yellow crescent] is -10%". Quite astounding oversights given that this game was in Early access for something like two years and DD1 had already done it better.

Despite a vast amount of UI element flourishes to help navigate the screen, surprisingly little is clear without combing through the glossary for nearly everything and the story is simply "world is chaotic bro".

The main characters appear to be the biggest thing in this world. Practically gods themselves. The start of the game honestly feels like we're already at the end of the game. Compare this to the first game which gives a taste of the action via two small-stature adventurers who've just crashed their coach along a treacherous road. They have to fight to even get to the starting point of a more horrific destination that proves to be more treacherous than anyone could expect. We are there with them stepping into this world of terror. The starting battle absolutely ignited intrigue in the game and its world on first play. After that first battle, you simply want more.

DD2 starts out with superhumans/demi-gods who are on the way to... I dunno, pick up the milk in Seattle? The character classes I've grown to love in DD1, feel impersonal and out of reach in DD2. I'm not even interested in them.

This may be the DD world, but it certainly isn't the DD experience. First game is a masterpiece. I don't even know what this one is and I don't plan to pay or spend the time find out. I didn't even give it a thought that I might not like DD2's gameplay, I was simply kinda sad that this wouldn't be 2D or moddable. However, I can't even bring myself to get through the tutorial stage. I'm simply not interested in playing this game.

I wish Red Hook all the success in the world for creating such a first great game and congratulate them on completing their newest. The thoughtful negative reviews though confirm much of what I suspected on my own from my meagre 15 minutes of play.

A dizzying fall.

STAAARRRS

Potionomics disarmingly makes you think there's only comical worry among the characters for the story. You think that you: The Player, will have a fun time navigating the cauldrons, and the potions, and the floor space, and the card game, and the exploration management, and the item management, and custom orders, and the cookbook, and the character interactions, right? HAHA no.

The biggest problem? 'Competitions' in the game are boss battles you have to beat or it's game over. If you fail, in order to progress again, you have to revert back to a save that's who knows how long ago so that you might have a chance to luck into the items you need to afford the the explorations, the items, the cauldrons, and the floorspace to win.

I could just be trash at this game but make no mistake. This game is not fun and exploratory. It is a Dark Souls game that happens to be exploding with atmosphere and charm. Underestimate it, let down your focus on time and task management for just one ingame day and you will lose.

The game's need for subsistence (winning the 10-day competition) drains whatever fun there is to be had.

Hit a hard lock on the game. Can't progress. No response from the developers after sending an email to their support.

loved the first game, couldn't wait for this second one. Full month later, still no patch to fix it or response. Boo.

This is a buy on discount if you like these kinds of linear exploration puzzle games. Feel free to ruin story for yourself because it's not very interesting. Crashes fairly often. Still, I don't hate it.

If you're overwhelmed with the hugeness of the game, just find a guide and follow it until you get into the groove. Truly a masterpiece and the greatest of the Souls-types.

The core gameloop is fun enough if you like card-based games but the advertised visuals are only the first third of the game. Could have been legendary but instead it feels like it just set high expectations before running completely out of budget and going 8-bit.

Personally very disappointed but the first third of the game is well made. It's worth getting on sale if you're just looking for something to kill a few hours.

Fantastic game. Pacing starts off slow, 'seems' kinda same-y, but it does show something special in the beginnings. And then when it takes off, you wont be disappointed by either the story or the gameplay. Very impressed.