Thank you HellBrains for another wonderful game. I just finished it and have a few things I want to say.
There is so much love and care that went into this game and it really shows. From the custom music that sets the mood well to the animations for the attacks to the full tileset of the game to the unique enemy behaviors and beyond. Additionally there’s so many wonderful preg artworks everywhere for the various enemies, player sprites, artist references, and more. No one can deny that this game looks visually amazing and is a treat for the eyes in all aspects.
But sadly the core gameplay loop really didn’t jive well with me personally. I have little patience for grindy RPGs and that’s definitely the core of the gameplay here. Having to make 2+ or even 3+ trips at the bare minimum just to unlock the progression really disrupted the flow of the game for me. This might’ve been fine but the combat gets repetitive fast especially since there is so little player progression to breathe new life into combat. The few abilities unlocked are nice but half of them are strict upgrades over previous spells (outside of a few niche enemy interactions). Because of how obnoxious it was to farm souls, I found myself never willing to part with any at the shop because it would’ve meant more repetitive grinding. Some suggestions could be to make souls drop in larger amounts to reduce the grind slightly and possibly make the recall stone a permanent key item just as a QoL.
This is a great game but the core gameplay loop definitely hindered my personal enjoyment of the incredible feats everywhere else in the game. With some adjustments, many of these annoyances could be eased so the amazing parts of the game can shine even brighter. I might go back for the secret endings at some point because those are always a treat to see.