If you only read the first few words of reviews then all I need to say that this game is absolutely amazing. If you got more time and willpower then I do have a LOT of things to say, mostly positive as I had a great time with the game, although I do have a few nitpicks (also bear in mind that I played the entire game in singleplayer so if you jump in co-op mode what I say might not apply).
I have to say that the game is freshly released in early access, so I will skip over some small issues since I do believe they will all be fixed in the future. I gotta admit that I am amazed by how little bugs there are. All the small issues are just balancing. Except the one time a boss decided to disappear mid-fight (bug that has been fixed already) the game plays smoothly with little to no issues. Also I haven't fully beaten everything in the game, I am writing this review right after beating the final boss for the first time. I usually like to explore the game fully before writing the review, but I have so many things to say I need to get them out there before I explode.
Firstly the game looks and sounds so good. Originally I played on my steamdeck so I didn't notice that much, but once I booted it up on my pc I was astonished. I love the stylized look and all the characters are distinct and cool. What blew me away the most however is the soundtrack. The songs playing as I rushed into battle honestly hyped me up so much and they are all bangers.
As for the actual combat I love it. I will say it is a bit different to what I expected The controls feel responsive (although going in the character feels heavy and slow, which is just something to get used to). Also I got hit quite a few times before I realized that I can't just dodge my way out of everything like other games and have to rely much more on the parrying mechanic. Once you do get in the flow it feels so good to mow down enemies by the hundreds. And speaking of...
When it comes to the enemies I thought it would be more of a horde fighter game, but the hordes of fodder enemies actually pose little to no threat to you and are mostly just there for you to charge your ability bar and to keep your allies occupied. Who you'll spend most of your time fighting are the captains. Larger stronger enemies that can actually hit you. There's many varieties of them all with different ways of how to engage. but the game makes sure to give them all distinct looks so once you gain experience you can easily tell them apart at a glance. They do quite heavily ramp up in difficulty the more you progress, but like most rogue-lites it's just more of learning how to fight them properly.
In a category of their own are the bosses and mini-bosses (technically called elites). Elites are present at the end in the last levels before you go into the actual bossfight. I was originally gonna complain that one is too difficult to fight, but that has since been patched and I now feel like they aren't really a threat at all once I figured out how to engage them. The actual bosses are a bit of a mixed bag, I love the design and their concepts, but the first two are a stark contrast with how you fight in the rest of the game. Usually it's about constantly hitting the enemies while also avoiding their attacks, but here you'll spend most of the time running around dodging and waiting for them to do the one attack where you have enough time to swoop in and actually start hitting them. I still wouldn't call them bad, just not as engaging as the rest of the game. That's why when going to the third and final boss I expected more of the same, but good god it was fun. It mixes hack-n-slash combat with bullet hell mechanics and I loved every part of it.
Also there's the story I guess. When you boot up the game it plays a video explaining the lore, but it feels like it starts in the middle and goes by so fast before I managed to process what I am looking at. It took a few rewatches before I fully comprehended what was going on. The story is honestly just there so you have a reason to beat up and kill a lot of people. Also the ending after the final bossfight did feel a bit anticlimactic and I haven't really seen a lore explanation on why you keep fighting after winning the fight, but I may have missed something so idk.
Now for one big not so good part of the game. I think the way playable characters are done needs a rework. The characters the game gives you are cool and interesting, but not only is it not worth it to pick a new one, it's actively detrimental. Not only you have to learn a completely different playstyle, but you are also giving up all the money you spent upgrading the character and ditching all the gear you unlocked. Because of all this picking any character except the starter one means you're throwing away a lot of progress up to that point.
And finally two little insignificant nitpicks I'd like to mention. Originally much longer list of complaints, but the devs are fixing stuff at a fast pace so even what I say might not apply. Firstly the smallest and most pointless complaint about cheering at the end of the battle. You get a button to victory cheer but all your other soldiers are just standing there completely silent so it feels more awkward than celebratory. There are already animations and sounds for soldiers cheering so I feel like it wouldn't be that hard to implement soldiers around you cheering with you. Then there are the voicelines. The ones that are in the game are good, but it feels like the game is only like 40% voiced and what parts are voiced feel quite random. That isn't really my issue as I understand the process of voiceacting is slow and hard. My issue is specifically that there is no voiceline when one of your captains is in danger so if you miss the text on the screen because you were looking somewhere else or just processing the chaos of battle it's just gone without you noticing.
So overall this is an absolutely amazing game more than worth the price with only a few growing pains of a newly release title. If you read thru the entirety of my long rant, you might as well buy it.
