I really want to like this game, but the tutorial needs some work since it left me with more questions than I had going into it and that first campaign strikes me as a bit brutal. Playing on the default setting my three characters advanced as far as they could in the first encounter following the tutorial while preserving defensive actions, second round four enemies came into range and killed the first character before they got a second action, then the other two the round after that. Not crits. Not special attacks. Just base attacks. Each character died to a one hit kill while the the two attacks I was able to get in before party wiping didn't even kill one enemy. . .While they both had upgraded weapons and one had upgraded armor, they each only had base attacks and they were only level two. There really wasn't much I could do. Was I supposed to die? I don't know, I just shut off the game off. I have no interest in rigged outcomes. If I was supposed to beat it somehow I don't see how that is possible. Even if I had positioned myself better in anticipation there is still no way I could have beat four enemies each capable of one shotting my three heroes. That math doesn't work. Two stars for potential but the real generosity is in not asking for a refund because I probably won't touch this again. Certainly not anytime soon.
This is still in development so it is difficult to know what is a work in progress and what is simply poor design... As it stands, 20 rounds is not enough to clear even the tutorial of a dozen squares, let alone something like the second mission which had around thirty. Now I don't like timers to begin with, but a timer which is not even sufficient to encompass the objective forcing you to accrue penalties regardless of how well you perform is a non starter. Each individual party member consuming a potion/spell out of combat hits the counter? Really? When I can use them during combat and lose nothing? What half baked horseshit is this? In a game like this, on maps these, you want to encourage people to explore and immerse themselves in the game not rush through it and miss things. If they want more of a challenge make timers optional and see who elects to use them. Few I bet I prefer not to camp or rely upon consumables but this is the sort of game where you really don't have a choice. Fine. Camping, however, doesn't seem to return any health even when burning incense for a bonus and worse it did not give me any of my abilities back...Why do it then? Its another game game where you can recruit a constraining number of people but never field enough of them to have any sort of advantage. OK, I get it, balancing a game is hard, and if your focus is squad based tactical skirmishes you don't want people bringing a company to overwhelm your challenges. That is fine, but give the other people players recruit things to do. Make it the players choice to determine how many people they can field within their camp and give them competing desires. If they have 12 people, make then choose to split people between, say, scouting the vicinity for reinforcements/patrols/watchmen/ambushes, rearguard over the horses/wagons/valuables/provisions, prepping a field hospital to receive wounded from the expedition. If they want to send in everyone, fine, let there will be consequences Ugh
Great game, but the controls and interactions are just awful.
This is broken. If you hit Steeltown at a high level even on lower difficulties, like normal, the engagements become ridiculous Encounters seem to have been tooled with the assumption that every squad is optimized for only combat, and if you do not have max speed and strength you will be party wiped by every combat which you do not initiative. Just consider the fight between Crowe and Ludlow as an example of how poorly thought out these scenarios are. Despite years of contention and legitimate grievances against one another, if you attempt to arrest them both they will ignore each other and both sides focus on you and only you. If you choose a side, then the other will gain additional units while the allied party will lose assets. Enemies also have infinite deployable and useable items. Round two I had a full dozen 'summoned' dogs on my screen half of which they started with despite being nowhere in the cutscene or environment prior dialogue. It is as though someone is doing everything can to ensure any RP quality is stripped out of the game, Well they win. I had a lot of fun when I first played through this and now they have lost a fan.
Think of those game mechanics which take you out of an experience because they are lazy and contrived, then imagine a DLC that incorporates most of them. Invincible enemies? Check. Endless spawns? Check. Obtuse level design? Check. Singe path solution and outcome? Check. The only thing missing is a real time countdown for completion. Even for a dedicated fan of the franchise this is an appalling experience.
Poorly explained mechanics, steep learning curve. Would love to play but cannot figure out basic aspects of the game, like why crossbowman with no obstructions cannot fire at an enemy within range, or why defense spearman get slaughtered by a cavalry charge.
It simply cannot be coincidence that the player is always targeted by spells from the NPCs and that their rolls are consistently lower in combat that everyone elses. After an hour and more combats that I can count I have won two . . .Against farmers. Fuck this game.
I can't even get through the tutorial. I have a quest saying I need to create a new bootlegging operation but it provides no instructions on how to do so. Maybe I have to buy a new building that doesn't already have an operation and owner, I see a lot of empty buildings, but no idea how to do so. Pretty sure I couldn't do it with 1500 dollars anyway. Also, on my first play through previous to this as soon as I set up a delivery driver and assigned him a route I started getting raided every week so they would sell my goods and immediately get the money taken by cops and this occured until I had nothing to pay him and no way to acquire more crocks to make more beer, and no idea how to progress from there.. . .So far it seems pretty heavy on the micromanaging aspect which is fine I guess but its not for me. Not a terrible game really, just a little obtuse and pretty unfriendly. The learning curve is a fucking wall on this thing though.
Honestly there are so many minor annoyances with this game I am just going to list the most questionable design features that annoy me the most. There are more, but these are what make me hate the game. Enemies can clip through transitory objects, like cars, and attack -but within those areas are invulnerable to melee and ranged damage. 1 year after launch? How has this not been fixed. They also still T pose. Gear now requires levels to use. Purchasing gear requires a separate system called Street Cred to be levelled. Encounters level based upon your character level. So if you have a high level but low Street Cred you can't acquire the cyberdecks to level up your breaching skills which results in lopsided and frustrating progression. Why is there levelled gear anyway? There weren't any at launch. Why introduce a feature which serves no purpose but to restrain people from playing the way they want to? Why is clothing dependent upon Street Cred. Why must I dress like garbage for the most of the game? Exploration is a nightmare. Half the textures, like most rocks, cannot be jumped onto or climbed. Those objects that can be climbed can only be approached in very specific fashions. You must grab ledges above head height. Jumping from one building to another, hit a ledge at midrift, shoulder, or head height, you will not make any attempt to cling, pull yourself, or climb. You simply bump against it and fall to your death. Cops exist only to target the player. Walking down the street and accidentally aggro some mobs, well don't bother trying to place the cops between you and them so you don't have to deal with the nuisance, the cops will simply aggro on you for getting within their awareness zone, and then stay hostile indefinitely afterward. Whenever you are within line of sight of them again, a Crime Reported warning will flash and cops will begin teleporting in behind you. Cops vs NPCs are all scripted events. So much more I want to say but I am out of characters.
