This game exceeded my expectations! The game starts out slow but the pace of combat gradually speeds up. The various enemy automats and bosses you fight will make you evolve your tactics, making it essential to understand all the intricacies and features of the combat system. It does get easier as you level up and upgrade your weapons, but the game will still throw surprises at you. I also applaud the developer's sense of beauty and attention to detail and lighting, as I found myself enjoying the beautiful sights and crisp sounds throughout the journey; and this game is decently lengthy (perhaps 60-70% of the game length of Dark Souls 1?). The game engine can benefit from some optimizations, such that I had to set the game's frame rate to 50 hz and a mixture of high and medium settings (like high textures, but medium shadows) in order for it to run smoothly on a wide 2K monitor (1440p) with an Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti. Note that I undervolt my GPU to keep the temperatures (77-79 C) and watt consumption down, so my settings are Balanced rather than for Performance. About 5% of the time, there will be a noticeable framerate drop, but otherwise it was a smooth experience. Gamepad responsiveness is good (with 8Bitdo Ultimate 2.4 Ghz as my controller), as well as the developer's default button layout or configuration, all of which makes the combat intuitive and enjoyable. The only serious combat glitch I noticed (towards the end of the game), was when I tried for the first time to switch weapons in the middle of combat (not by the quick select weapons button, but by entering the inventory menu to choose a third weapon), and upon returning to combat, my character was unable to move or attack (but I could at least backstep), and was only able to move again after using the quick-select to my alternate weapon. The most annoying glitch in this game happens when picking up anima (which contain soul currency or consumables), which you do throughout the game, where you will see a notification of what you picked up, but the bright swirly anima did not disappear with it, but continues to stay there as an empty. I would then have to repeatedly reposition myself and try to pick at it until it finally evaporates. Why? The problem is not that you did not pickup whatever was inside that anima; but that confusion will arise later, because you may not remember if that anima is something you already picked up, or just an empty anima. There are plenty of secret areas and puzzling placement of treasures for those who like to investigate everything; and for those who complete the DLC area, there is something more you can do in the main game afterwards if you study the clues you found (it will not be explicitly shown on the compass). In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed playing Steelrising (perhaps more so than others, because I went into it without expecting it to be like something I already played before). It is a medium difficulty action-combat game with cleverly crafted challenges and levels that pay attention to small details and is visually delightful.
