Totally "stock", lifeless and boring.
It feels very "phoned in", lacking inspiration in design. For example, killing enemies they turn into a glowing orbs to be collected, like it's a Nintendo game. The world "zones" are super-tiny and small, the game progression is utterly linear, you cannot create your own character but must choose from 3 ugly-AF ones, everything is gated behind boring grinds, the game spams walls of text endlessly that don't explain anything wasting player time, and the game world, while looking nice, is all "look-but-cannot-touch", nothing to interact with, it's outside "the boundaries" of the actual game, which is shenanigans.
What a shame too, I really would like to enjoy this game, but it makes me sleepy, lacking depth, and weight with the whole "enemies go poof! collect one of the random colored glowing balls" that give slight increases to vestigial things not properly explained. "This one is green it means...something." "This one is blue...means something else." "This one is purple...we don't even know what it means."
What a total clown show. But what a shame too, the animations for combat and movement look amazing, the cutscenes are pretty good too, the voice-acting is top-notch. High level of polish here, very commendable. But the gameplay is where the game croaks a big one. I can't believe at all this was supposed to be an MMO, what a total joke. The game zones ARE VERY SMALL. For comparison, they feel to me like the size of levels in the original Fable. Or about roughly the size of a World of Warcraft dungeon. There is no "seamless" world, each "outside zone" is 'instanced'. Imagine "Kingdoms of Alamur" zones, but about half the size. That's probably the best comparison, but imagine where you can't interact with anything either lol.
Supposedly, you can earn all sorts of "transmogs" but there is no "transmog" menu or anything like that. Like most things in this game, it's never explained, overly-complicated explained, or vague-ly explained. It's incredibly tiring at that, to the point you just stop caring. The game ads claims all this but after hours of playing I never earned ANYTHING.
"WHO GIVES A @%#(*&!!"
You will find yoursellf saying to...you know...yourself, as you try to click/speed-up/skip through the endless litany of uninspired texts.
All the dialogue and quests in the game basically go like this (I'm not exaggerating...that much): "To realign the Gloomspire’s architectural matrix, you must channel Aetheric Resonance through the Echoing Resonance Chamber. Afterward, modulate the Arcanic Attunement Array to sync the Wayfinder's Echoic imprints with the local Paradigm Flux."
What? Is there a test on this at the end?
"To recalibrate the Gloom-resistant bulkhead, attach the Entropic Matrix Core to the Void-infused Catalyst Regulator. Then, initiate a multi-phase Flux Discharge to stabilize the Arcanic Continuum."
Ahhhh, muhy brain hurrtz...
"You must anchor the Chrono-Flux Siphon into the Echoing Gloom-Cleft to extract raw Aetheric Plasma. Once fully pressurized, direct the resulting Paradigm Current straight into the Resonance Matrix to solidify the Wayfinder's anchor."
ARRGHGHGHZOMWTF%@%$@#^#$%...
The game is an acquired taste. I'm not giving up on it. I hear of many ppl giving massive praise and totally into it.
I see those good things here, but to me, it hasn't outweighed the bad. (I mean, seriously, c'mon it's so boring I fall asleep playing it). It needs a massive overhaul.
Anyways, the game is about $25, but when it goes on sale, it's $5 or less. For that, it's worth it.
Many have bought it for that cheap on sale price and lamented they feel aweful for not buying it full price for the 'great value' it brings to them. I don't see what they're seeing about it. Maybe they're COD players, or not, I dunno.
In those "we underpaid for this!"-regret situations, there is a DLC for fans of Critical Role, but I question this because it doesn't add Vox Machina characters, but changes existing characters to look like them cosmetically only...which is a cheap-out, but also, the game only lets you play 3 characters until you "unlock" the others, and doesn't explain how. It's all clownery "You have to play the game to find out what's in it..."--that's all you get for your answer.
Here is how to fix the game:
1. If you can see it, you can visit it=make the world the size it deserves - and no magical "teleport you back cuz you walked 10 feet too far" BS (I'm not exaggerating).
2. Fill the world
3. Fill the world with interactivity
4. If an enemy dies, there's death animation and they fall to the ground (and bleed out) - no Nintendo-style glowing variety-colored lame-arse things to collect.
5. Rewrite everything to nerf the endless walls of useless headache-inducing text - gamers are gamers, normal people, and do not come with eidetic memory to remember stupid technobabble in a "fantasy" game of all things.
Let me help you: "The purple fog...GLOOM! THAT'S BAD! Go into dungeon, click the magic stone...MAKES IT GO AWAY!"
...and not: "To cleanse the local sector, project your Aetheric Resonance directly into the Lithic Paradigm Anchor to trigger a localized Flux Discharge. This multi-phase energetic pulse will completely depolarize the ambient Gloom-matrix and instantly restore regional environmental stability."
6. Allow gamers to design their own character, OR, have all characters unlocked from the start so they can pick who they want that fits their play style.
7. If Transmogs exist, show it very early so everyone knows it and pique their interest from the very start.
8. Zones should be x10 in size. One reviewer/streamer literally pointed out how you can grind to get a "mount" but that it was totally useless cuz the zones were so fricken small. OOF.
9. Re-score the game so it's not stock soundtrack but sounds like it cares and inspires. I've heard stuff from "DeWolfe" (look it up!) that sounded better than the soundtrack here. Needs a do-over.
That's really about it. To save on cost, the devs could just use AI. Most of the game feels kinda AI-generated anyways, so I doubt anyone would notice much.
