XxX_MLG Noob_XxX
Boar
General Impressions:
This is one of the dankest games I've played in a minute. A friend suggested it in passing and I was like, "Eh. I guess I'll try it." But I'm so glad I did! I love this game and I'd definitely play it after it's completed. There's so much to love. The puns literally everywhere ("STARTington, EverGRIND City since we'll be grinding forever for them cards and drops, TIMING [Tai Ming], etc.) And the mimic boss is hilarious -- all those troll-y quotes. The lore is beautiful also. You get a good scoop in the flying fortress and pieces fall together at Tai Ming. It's like I played a full mini-game (but I didn't...because thankfully there's more to the game). Lore? Action? Customization? What more can you ask for? I could say more but I tend to write a lot so...yeah...
Things I Liked the Most:
Hardmode was pretty neat. I especially appreciated hardmode Winter and hardmode Mimic: good challenges that were noticeably different from normal mode without all the deaths and damage seeming "unfair." It seems like hardmode especially requires the player to watch out for multiple things at once (especially with Winter) and/or think carefully about crowd control (like with that huge toxic plant boss thing). I really like this because I feel like I'm actually being challenged to be better at the game. (More perfect shields, better reaction time, etc.) This is different from other games featuring higher difficulties like...say...Terraria, where most of the difficulty is found in the enemies just dealing double damage and having double health. Not that I dislike Terraria or that there isn't more to its Expert Mode, I just think SoG gives a more creative (and better) way to make a game hard. Making the player think more/play better is more interesting. And it's impressive that crowd control and other things have improved difficulty without making the battles too fast paced. Maybe some things could be marginally balanced, but it's truly fine as is currently.
I like the use of spawn rooms! Also a creative thing that I haven't seen before! What I like is that it makes farming easier. Players can stay in the room and wait for the spawn rate to increase to insanely high rates (which is beautiful). And if the room gets too hectic, all they have to do is reset by reentering the room. Brilliant design!
Finally, THANK YOU FOR THE SKILL THAT EXTENDS THE PERFECT SHIELD TIMING! And the skill with that blue shield thing too! Those things are life for me as a heads on, 2H melee guy.
Things I Liked the Least:
I really didn't like the drop rates of the cards. I'm sure you guys have heard a lot about that though. I imagine it's difficult to balance because cards give permanent buffs but it also isn't nice when completionists like myself can farm for tons of hours without getting one. But you guys have made an amazing game so far so I'm sure y'all will figure it out (even if that means keeping things as they are...though hopefully they'll change. xD)
The second one is a minor thing, perhaps...but I disliked the fact that when an enemy pushed me (by damaging me, moving me, using tornados or whatever else) to the edge of a door/exit/entrance, I was removed from the room even if I didn't want to leave. The main reason this bothers me is because of farming. Specifically, 1) If a rare item drops near an exit and a person is pushed out before grabbing it, that item is lost; and 2) IF enemies spawn with predetermined drops (idk if that's true), then theoretically there are times when a card is missed (an enemy is not killed) because a person is thrown out the room against their will.
Optional Content:
I did all the stuffs. I'm a completionist, so I had to. lol. I think I enjoyed the fishing for once. (Another thing the game does surprisingly well.) In many good games there are bound to be lame fishing quests. However, in SoG, not every area has fishing, making fishing more manageable and reasonable. Also, rewards are received for getting all the fish. This, combined with the 5-fish limit made things kind of fun. You get that "anticipation" feeling for getting all the fish in an area without that anticipation being replaced with frustration from hours of farming. Finally, you can use the fish! Fishing it's just some useless boring task in that case! Woot!
Side quests were intriguingly diverse and also enjoyable. (Also fun for making me think.
)
Arena was fun too. I liked that I could fight a boss there that wasn't seen anywhere else (ignoring hardmode Ancient Mimic). And the boss provided a nice challenge for me at low level.
This is one of the dankest games I've played in a minute. A friend suggested it in passing and I was like, "Eh. I guess I'll try it." But I'm so glad I did! I love this game and I'd definitely play it after it's completed. There's so much to love. The puns literally everywhere ("STARTington, EverGRIND City since we'll be grinding forever for them cards and drops, TIMING [Tai Ming], etc.) And the mimic boss is hilarious -- all those troll-y quotes. The lore is beautiful also. You get a good scoop in the flying fortress and pieces fall together at Tai Ming. It's like I played a full mini-game (but I didn't...because thankfully there's more to the game). Lore? Action? Customization? What more can you ask for? I could say more but I tend to write a lot so...yeah...
Things I Liked the Most:
Hardmode was pretty neat. I especially appreciated hardmode Winter and hardmode Mimic: good challenges that were noticeably different from normal mode without all the deaths and damage seeming "unfair." It seems like hardmode especially requires the player to watch out for multiple things at once (especially with Winter) and/or think carefully about crowd control (like with that huge toxic plant boss thing). I really like this because I feel like I'm actually being challenged to be better at the game. (More perfect shields, better reaction time, etc.) This is different from other games featuring higher difficulties like...say...Terraria, where most of the difficulty is found in the enemies just dealing double damage and having double health. Not that I dislike Terraria or that there isn't more to its Expert Mode, I just think SoG gives a more creative (and better) way to make a game hard. Making the player think more/play better is more interesting. And it's impressive that crowd control and other things have improved difficulty without making the battles too fast paced. Maybe some things could be marginally balanced, but it's truly fine as is currently.
I like the use of spawn rooms! Also a creative thing that I haven't seen before! What I like is that it makes farming easier. Players can stay in the room and wait for the spawn rate to increase to insanely high rates (which is beautiful). And if the room gets too hectic, all they have to do is reset by reentering the room. Brilliant design!
Finally, THANK YOU FOR THE SKILL THAT EXTENDS THE PERFECT SHIELD TIMING! And the skill with that blue shield thing too! Those things are life for me as a heads on, 2H melee guy.
Things I Liked the Least:
I really didn't like the drop rates of the cards. I'm sure you guys have heard a lot about that though. I imagine it's difficult to balance because cards give permanent buffs but it also isn't nice when completionists like myself can farm for tons of hours without getting one. But you guys have made an amazing game so far so I'm sure y'all will figure it out (even if that means keeping things as they are...though hopefully they'll change. xD)
The second one is a minor thing, perhaps...but I disliked the fact that when an enemy pushed me (by damaging me, moving me, using tornados or whatever else) to the edge of a door/exit/entrance, I was removed from the room even if I didn't want to leave. The main reason this bothers me is because of farming. Specifically, 1) If a rare item drops near an exit and a person is pushed out before grabbing it, that item is lost; and 2) IF enemies spawn with predetermined drops (idk if that's true), then theoretically there are times when a card is missed (an enemy is not killed) because a person is thrown out the room against their will.
Optional Content:
I did all the stuffs. I'm a completionist, so I had to. lol. I think I enjoyed the fishing for once. (Another thing the game does surprisingly well.) In many good games there are bound to be lame fishing quests. However, in SoG, not every area has fishing, making fishing more manageable and reasonable. Also, rewards are received for getting all the fish. This, combined with the 5-fish limit made things kind of fun. You get that "anticipation" feeling for getting all the fish in an area without that anticipation being replaced with frustration from hours of farming. Finally, you can use the fish! Fishing it's just some useless boring task in that case! Woot!
Side quests were intriguingly diverse and also enjoyable. (Also fun for making me think.
Arena was fun too. I liked that I could fight a boss there that wasn't seen anywhere else (ignoring hardmode Ancient Mimic). And the boss provided a nice challenge for me at low level.