Pro:
+ Good character design, the three main androids you can impersonate are all quite cool looking
+ Good character kits, the three archetypes are distinct and solidly built, their weapons and skill feel good and satisfying to use
+ The progression system is nice, easy to unlock and allows a good degree of costumizations for your runs
Cons:
- The world is bland, visually nice if you don't mind a lot of neon, but uninspired, it a giant steel factory that moves into a skyscraper roof that still looks like the factory and then to a tower that still looks like the factory ,really forgettable
- The two bosses i've faced so far are really not impressive, boss 1 has basically 3 moves and boss 2 is one of the characters you can play, the game suffer from 'spawn adds during the fight to cover our lack of interesting mechanic' boss design (partially fixed in patch 1.1)
- Sound design is horrible, your android skills, guns and the overall music is fine but the enemies are muffled, silent and barely hearable which is a problem in a game that requires fast reaction time (fixed in patch 1.1)
-Wildly unfair, coupled with the sound problem you will be constantly take hits for bs reasons, enemies spawning behind you, enemies you didn't notice that can come unheard at your back because of their lack of sounds, flying drones that shoot while stuck between pipes or up in the sky, it all cooks up to a frustrating feeling that your skill is really not the deciding factor in a run, how much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ you can endure is (fixed in patch 1.1)
- levelling is too slow, i get that stat points are quite impactful but it feels too slow and due to the wildly unfair nature of the fights you'll prolly dump all on HP just to try to stay alive considering how barebones the healing is, both from traits and from pickups (fixed in patch 1.1)
Simulakros is, alas, a missed opportunity, there is talent on display here but probably due to the small nature of the team or inexperience of it, we found ourselves with a product that can be fun at times but suffer from some decisive structural flaws that makes it not really enjoyable in the long run. The unfair amount of damage and the cheap, barebone design of the bosses really left a bitter taste on what started as quite a good experience. If skill based gameplay and airtight combat is what you wish i would suggest Kill Knight instead.
Recommended 7/10 (pre 1.1 5/10)
EDIT 2-1-25: Having tried the game after the latest patch, i must say the improved are quite apparent and welcomed, the sound is far better, the flow of combat and cheap damage has been improved and adressed, the levelling system works far better and the bosses are a far more engaging duel than a kill the add fest that i was before, so i am updating my recommendation and score, kudos to the developer
