I've actually finished the game now, and I can say for sure that the gameplay was fun and hectic! Trying to match the flash shoots with right before the enemy attacks is very good since it keeps the player on their toes. I do have two important critiques based on the time I spent playing that I think would make combat even better if addressed:
- The character's abilities feel like they're somewhat isolated from each other without too much interactivity, with the warlock being in the worst spot in that regard. Some possible fixes could be incorporating shared mechanics, such as making one of the shaman's abilities stronger while blessed, or making buffs also impact the warlock's skills.
- The warlock feels like they are in an awkward spot in their abilities. Stacking their own debuffs and self-damaging seem interesting in concept, but due to how few debuffs the enemies inflict and how easily they die in the frontline (unless I'm just unlucky with enemy targetting) without constant heals from the nun, getting them to be significantly useful other than for casting Blood Ritual feels difficult. I think they should be able to be more centered in applying debuffs to the enemy, and also able to do some self-healing to compensate for the damage they give themselves.
The other characters, especially the shaman, really do feel like they do their proper roles. The decision making you need to do in whether to save your energy or cast an earlier ability WHILE being pressured for time makes the combat engaging. You feel like every decision you're doing is important and could make or break the fight, such as waiting for a bit more energy with the nun to cast her blessing or reviving someone to stall for time. Betting on the shaman landing some of the luck abilities is also exciting!
The premise of the story is interesting, as well as the implications behind the information we're given, but after the halfway point it does feel like dropping into the middle of a world and being given lots of jargon you don't know. If the "main" perspective of the player when this is happening was Devin rather than Bao, the confusion would feel fitting rather than, well, just confusing.
Of course, all of this is just how I viewed the game myself, and possibly there could have been a way to play the warlock that I missed while experimenting. Overall, I give this game a proper 8.5/10, plus my recommendation as a game good and interesting enough to play multiple times rather than just once!