I have played and replayed this game so many times, and every return just makes me love the game more. For context, I have platinumed the game on PS, 100%'d the game on Switch, and now I'm replaying it on PC. The game moves fast and respects your time. The platforming and exploration is so well-thought out and I adore all of the details. My only criticisms are that boss design is relatively basic and there is exactly one area that requires killing a non-boss enemy (for their shard) to progress to a new area, but I look forward to the upcoming sequel to see if they've fixed those. Otherwise, the game is just a great time and just feels like the quintessential Igavania.
I only stopped playing CotL because the end game tends to get repetitive. Don't take this as me saying the end game is bad, I just wish there was more to it. This is a common complaint to rogue-lite elements to games, so I don't think it's dwelling on too much; it didn't start getting repetitive until 50 hours in and beat all of the bosses, so I'd say that's not really a huge criticism. Purgatory does a lot to fix that by encouraging novel play styles but the rewards are relatively minor. I'd criticise the farming or the combat if it was the sole focus of the game, but it's not. Farming, cult leading, and base building serve to support each other and motivates you to engage with the other systems. It's a great balance of Enter the Gungeon, Stardew, and Animal Crossing, and I think it's a hard balance to get right. I think they've done that here. That all being said; the DLCs add so much to the base game, which is already incredibly solid. At time of writing, I've pretty much exhausted the content that's currently available and I'm looking forward to Woolhaven.
I'm not going to go into the redemption arc of No Man's Sky, everyone else can do that for you. Rather, I'd like to say exactly why I have spent so much time in NMS on PS4, then PS5, and now PC. The fundamental loop of the game is explore, locate resources, build a base, extract, build a better base; it's supported by a scaffold of vehicles, vehicle combat, gunplay, and trading. The core loop can be repetitive to some, but it's quite relaxing. Paired with everything that's been expanded upon by the accessory loops, you can spend hundreds of hours in the game and forget there's a (slightly weak) story for you to follow. I mentioned it's relaxing, but that's when I'm playing on normal mode. There is permadeath, survival, and custom modes that can make the game as hard or as relaxing as you want and they all feel like distinct modes. If the game feels like something you'd be interested in, definitely watch some unedited gameplay and see if it's for you.
tldr; Once you manage to install the game, go to the files and open "xanadu_cfg" and switch to windowed mode. You DO NOT need to install third party software or mods to get this to work, regardless of you being on Windows 10 or 11. I have 0 hours on record playing this game; please understand that this rating does not reflect the quality of the game, rather the experience surrounding trying to get this game to work. I've included this review for those interested in the game but may be intimidated by the lack of clear fixes for all of these problems. If you want to look for quality of the game itself, many other reviewers have included their thoughts, so please take a look at those. Here's a rundown of my experience: -> I have attempted installation from the GOG client, and the install fails. -> I have tried downloading the offline backup installer from the GOG client, and the client cannot connect to server. -> I have tried going via a browser and downloading the offline backup installer, which seems to work... until you try to run the game and get a "Failed to initialize Direct3D" popup. I had to resolve this final issue by going to the game files and opening "xanadu_cfg", a config file. The ONE THING THAT SOLVED ALL PROBLEMS WITH LAUNCH WAS TURNING ON WINDOWED MODE. Now that it's running, I look forward to playing this game. However, the experience of the game seemingly breaking GOG Galaxy before you can even play is horrific and is an issue that needs to be addressed by Falcom and XSEED, since this problem is not localized to GOG. I'm aware the average GOG player is going to be more savvy to this than the average Steam player and the fix is seemingly simple; but, typically, if you buy a game from a reputable source, you expect the game to not only install but to start. This is not a way to get people interested in preserving old games and reflects a certain amount of disinterest being demonstrated by Falcom and XSEED in putting in the effort to make sure their games are preserved in a way that invites new players.
I'm partway through Act 3, so this isn't comprehensive, but I've played enough that I can give legitimate criticisms to the game. Silksong isn't perfect, but it legitimately could be with some slight tweaks. I've seen many bring up that damage does not seem balanced, especially for early game, which I agree with. My personal criticisms fall into three main groups: 1) Basic Mobs: There are plenty of attacks that feel like they should not do a full mask to two masks of damage, doubly so when the "upgraded" versions of those enemies are doing the same amount of damage but have an expanded health pool. 2) Rewards: Rewards for exploration are also quite bad, with many puzzles and hidden pathways rewarding you with only currency. This is especially demoralizing when so many other Metroidvanias really dialed the rewards for exploration in. 3) Boss Run Backs and RNG: Boss run backs starting at the end of Act 1 seem to get worse, with multiple rooms having to be cleared to even start a mandatory boss and certain bosses feeling more like you need to rely on RNG than your own skill. The most egregious of these are what I've called "Mob Rush" rooms. Instead of designing a unique boss, Team Cherry forces you to deal with mob after mob and it just isn't fun or exciting. It's tedious, and I don't feel accomplished after beating it. I've also seen some disparaging the movement and combat system and that just feels wrong. The 45 degree angle of attack has been done before in other games and it's by no means "terrible." Within the first hour it felt natural, but maybe that's because I've already played Specter of Torment. I think the game works for me for the most part, but it does not feel like it's for a general audience and that's fine. Here's to hoping Team Cherry listens to feedback and adds some QoL features. I've put plenty of time into it, but at a certain point in Act 3, the game stopped being fun and I set it down. Also, to whoever designed flea juggle: I hope there's a tiny stick in your shoes that's just minor enough you don't have to take them off, but major enough that you can't ignore it and you can never find it or remove it.
