It removes stamina and allows unlimited attacks, but combat is still difficult due to its worthless dodge and uncomfortable shield.
The controls are standard for an action game. The most crucial thing to highlight is that there is no stamina. However, because your battle pace is relatively slow, you cannot mash the attack button. It is more like a rhythm, where you have to wait just a moment before each hit to connect them into a combo.
The weapon you are equipped with determines your attack. There is the basic sword, which has good speed and damage, a quick rapier for reduced damage, and a very sluggish claymore for massive damage. You’ll find other weapons that fall within these three tiers.
You can also perform a powerful strike by holding down the attack button for a few seconds. This move is used to break shields, however you cannot "save it". This means you can not hold a strike and then release it when the enemy is nearby. Because it lets go after a few seconds, you frequently miss the strike entirely.
For the most part, the combat is fine, but it becomes increasingly annoying as you progress. It is simply not that great, thanks in part to the controls and visuals. The environments are pleasant, but they also have a downside. Rooms are crowded with assets, making avoiding difficult, and you frequently fight in confined spaces. Most feel like an unnecessary obstacle you have to smash before each battle just to have maneuvering room.
One of your moves is a run, which doubles as a roll when pressed twice. Roll sounds like a terrific dodge move, but it is actually absolutely meaningless and useless. The first drawback is the small roll distance. It depends on the equipped armor and weight, but it’s short even when you have the light thief outfit. Because enemies swing wide, your roll is never enough to escape. The other issue is a lack of invincibility frames on the roll.
The frustrating move is the block. If you have the enemy target locked, you will lift your shield towards them. But this is only feasible if you do not press any of the directional buttons. If you run away from the opponent and press the shield again, you will raise it in the opposite direction from the enemy, leaving your back completely undefended. This happens all the time because you’re accustomed to run away and press shield to automatically defend towards the enemy. Not in this game.
It becomes uncomfortable during harder enemy and boss battles. Bosses are much larger and dominate most of the screen, making it difficult to tell which way you are holding the shield. Because bosses attack with multiple movements in rapid succession, you must stand stationary and concentrate solely on the enemy.
Also, you need to worry about yellow attacks that stagger. These can be blocked once, but they break your shield, leaving you vulnerable to subsequent attacks. If you make a mistake, you will be unable to raise the shield again until you have taken damage from the whole combo. The inability to raise a shield during an opponent strike is a problem even with normal enemies, because you may miss completely and have to suffer abuse from even the least deadly enemy.
Enemies announce their attacks with a visual cue, but you must still learn the moves because you have no idea how many attacks are in a combo. When you combine this with pointless dodge move, unguardable red attacks, slow speed that doesn’t let you run away, tight areas, and some other issues, the combat becomes a huge problem. Not to mention the upgraded boss moves once you take away half of their health.
Defeated enemies drop the game's currency, cyl. This is used to both level up your character and buy items from traders. You lose everything when you die, however in order to stay up with the souls trend, you only get one chance to reclaim everything from the point of death. After dying, you respawn at the nearest save spot.
They are called indexes and resemble circles on the floor. Saving restores your health and respawns enemies, but it’s not possible to quick-travel between unlocked save points. The Index is also where you level up by investing currency in five stats.
However, because you play as a warrior by default and there are no other classes, you do not have to worry about making mistakes and waste points. Stats indicate what you gain, so while strength boosts damage, vitality increases health points. Regardless of which stat you choose, each subsequent improvement increases the number of cyls required. Also, grinding for points won’t help you because you still have to beat enemies with skill.
The game's setting is linear, however you can take shortcuts to prior sections. Except for grinding on enemies, there is little need to revisit old locations. You can destroy any wooden object, including tables, barrels, and bookcases, but they rarely contain items. And even if there are any, all you find are barely useful consumables and ores that temporarily boost your weapon. Items are marked with a beam of light, making them easy to spot, and they can also be dropped by enemies.
As already mentioned, the game has an isometric camera. Due to detailed world, you often lose the character behind various assets. Most of this is handled nicely with a character’s outline or buildings that lose the roof when you enter them. But there can be some problems. For instance, when a building has several floors, you can sometimes target enemies through them. You will see a target right in front of you, but there will be nothing there because an enemy is below. I also noticed a couple of enemies that were stuck inside a wall, but clipping issues are not common.
The unique feature is that you can travel between the present and 24 years into the future. This is done at special time gates and is frequently utilized to bypass a restricted path and reach a destination from a different direction. However, the visual difference is not as drastic or significant. The present is already dark and on the verge of ruin, so the future will be more of the same, with plants growing everywhere and a few extra crumbling walls.
The goal is to look for keys that open a path forward to the next part of the huge map with more keys. Due to isometric camera and a lot of detail, you often can’t see where to go. There’s a map, but it only shows the general area.
The character also has some platforming abilities. It can jump over very short gaps or drop down from heights. Sadly, dropping down often ends with lost health. While some safe spots are marked with color, there are a few secret drops where you can’t tell if it’s safe to drop.
In the end, you might get comfortable with the combat. Of course, it’s still possible to beat every challenge by repeating it over and over, but the reward is not great. The world does not pull you in to explore, there are no secrets or perks, your character is always the same and doesn’t gain abilities, there’s little sense of accomplishment when defeating tough bosses, etc. This is still a fine game, but it looks much better than it plays.
