MISTOVER

Korean devs try not to immediately abandon their game challenge (IMPOSSOBLE) (GONE WRONG)

I aim to finish games I play, and while I'm not perfect, MISTOVER is one of the few I stopped over halfway in out of sheer dissatisfaction with the game. I started with the demo (which I praise Krafton for providing) and had a decent time with the gameplay loop, if only repetitive. I didn't even think I'd like the game based off the demo, I bought it anyway because I was curious where this devilish-cartoony, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon-esque game could go. The answer: practically nowhere the demo doesn't showcase, just stretched out for 40 hours or however long it takes to finish. I'd call the game cryptic at best, and straight up tedious at worst. And how can you make dungeon crawling that bad? Basic enemies take way too long to fight, they seem to be on equal power to your characters which draws every single fight into a slog you dread having to fight for the 20th time. Dungeons take like an hour to complete, to which feel like gigantic wastes of my time. The devs in an update had shrunken down the dungeons as a desperate game design change, but this only ended up unraveling the thin layer of monotony this game has to offer. After a while, the game got an update which let you change basic game mechanics, like turning off the doomsday clock (aka, game over), lowering enemy health/damage, fast forward the gameplay (because it's that boring) and so on. It felt like cheats, or game design band-aids to find the fun. Because where is the fun? I shouldn't have to look for it as a player by turning down all these options, or conversely play pure / as intended and not even enjoying myself because of game design flaws. My favorite moment has to be when a boss cryptically gains the attack to instantly one-shot your party, not once, but for every attack there on. Meaning you HAVE to flee or else you lose your 15 hours of progress and have to start a New Game. Without sarcasm, I did enjoy going through dark dungeons, rescuing lost explorers, and managing my resources. But it pales in comparison to everything else I have to go through. The story didn't hold a candle, there's no introduction to your party or who they are, why are they with you, and there's only like two other party members besides the starter ones. Your team just *exists*, and there seems to be no cohesion or who you even are in this game. I did like the customization options like hair and eye color, but you can't carry a game by its graphics alone. Now, the "Service Termination" has been announced for Mistover, pulling it from digital shelves? I guess, which inspired me to write this review today if someone was thinking of buying it while they still can. I want this game to be good, I even feel bad saying I don't like it. It's sad because the devs seem to put effort here, even showing some personal hard times on their blog, but this game has nothing to offer outside the demo. It doesn't help the price is a steep $30 for what feels less than half worth of content for your bucks. This practically never goes on sale either, big mistake in my opinion to even touch this game. I didn't even want the DLC, I don't want to play more of this game.