izigame.me

Even Though Some Features Are Still Lacking, I Still Find The Core Gameplay Fun

Yes, I am the weirdo who likes to play coop game solo (Left 4 Dead, Deep Rock Galactic, Outlast: Trials, just to name a few), so I played Ship of Fools solo. Sure the enemy density and the fanatic cannon fights can be chaotic for single player, yet I find myself quite enjoy this type of busy gameplay. It is manageable even on higher difficulty level. However, the other features are pretty lacking. The level structure needs some rework, and the upgrade is way too limited.

Things I Like About Ship of Fools:

1. Gameplay
It's a mixture of tower defense and shooter.

You need to defend your ship against various sea creatures. The ship is armed with two cannons, for solo one auto cannon and the other of your choosing.
You can freely move the cannons to either side of the ship to shoot the enemies above and below. Cannons must be manually reloaded after depletion.
The ship has two pedestals(up to four you can unlock) to hold the generators and artifacts. Generators are where your cannon ammo comes from, and the artifacts provide boost to your performance.
You can also get necklaces during the run. They function similarly to artifacts but only affect the person wearing them.
Besides shooting cannons, you have melee attack to fence off the critters on-board and any creatures close to the ship. Hold the attack button and release it allow you to deflect projectiles back. Time it well for guarantee crits.
This is where the busy and fun begin. You need to pay attention to where the enemies are, to how much ammo the cannons have, and to where enemies' projectiles land. Place the generator where you can easily have access to. Prioritize ship preservation over damage. Once you get some synergy from the artifacts or necklaces, you are good to go.

2. Other Compliments

Love the cute cartoonish art style. All the fools looks so adorable.
Four ships to unlock. Each comes with a different amount of pedestals and unique ammo generator.
Plenty of ammo types, artifacts, and necklaces to unlock.
I love you can shove almost every thing into the cannon and shoot it, treasure chests, seagulls, wooden planks, and even money.
Them saggy tits sirens though...


Things I Dislike About Ship of Fools:

1. Level Structure
Not every node is created equally.

The level structure in Ship of Fools could use some reworks. Currently there are just way too many useless nodes on the map. It wouldn't be a problem were it not for the storm closing for every three nodes you traverse.
The resource nodes usually don't worth the trouble. The amount you can get is negligible. The wood nodes would be better if you can store the planks in an additional dedicated spot instead of occupying a pedestal.
The only nodes worth going are those that guarantee ammo, artifact, and necklace drops. Yet, their locations are randomized. If you are unlucky, these nodes may spawn at the far left of the map, making them inaccessible because of the storm overtaking them.
Therefore this type of closing-off mechanic is often designed around chasing the players instead of frontal confrontation. At least this way players can get some boosts before the boss fights and face harder challenges for lingering too long.
Enemies in the combat aren't truly randomized. You can always expect the same combination in the same nodes.
I wish first two siren checkpoints would have a small store segment. This way players can have some boost against bad RNG.

2. Limited Upgrades
Less crazy upgrades, fewer difficulty tweaks, less power fantasy.

One of the charm of roguelite/like games is to get slightly stronger after each encounter. Ship of Fools doesn't do that. You can only get stronger when you visit specific nodes. Otherwise, you stay the same to the end.
Artifacts are limited to the pedestals you have. Since one of them is always gonna be ammo generator, that leaves only three(depending on the ship) for the artifacts. This easily makes necklaces the better option for the long run. You are not limited to the capacity, and you will be less susceptible to the final bosses' trick.
You can only have two cannons on the ship. To be fair this is a balancing choice, suited for two players and enough work for one. I still wish you could have some other interesting cannons exclusive during the run, something like alternative auto cannon that doesn't need reloading but can't change ammo type.

3. Other Complaints

The game won't save when you leave.
Cannon upgrades and shop items need better descriptions, at the very least it should tell me what's being upgraded and what does this item do.
The second boss fight should just be one health bar with two phases, like the other two do.
I don't believe locking key features behind difficulty levels is a good design.

中文小簡評
→沒錯，我就是那種喜歡多人遊戲單人玩的怪胎，這款主打雙人的遊戲單人打也滿刺激的。
→當然敵人數量及大砲操作對單人來說很容易失控，但我意外的很喜歡這種忙碌的遊玩體驗。
→很喜歡這種卡通畫風，每個角色都很可愛。
→玩法主要是用船兩邊的大砲抵禦敵人，單人的話其中一個會是全自動大砲。可以隨時更換大砲位置，砲彈射完了要手動補充。
→每艘船都有不同數量的底座，可以讓你放砲彈倉及強化道具，遊戲中也可以取得項鍊增強角色能力。
→除了射大砲外，你操作的角色也能用近戰攻擊擊退上船或靠近船邊的生物，按住並放開攻擊鍵能將敵人子彈反彈回去，抓準時機反彈能觸發爆擊。
→隨時注意敵人動向改變砲台位置、留意砲彈上的彈藥數並將砲彈倉放在方便取得的位置、優先保護船再回擊，如此忙碌的流程對我來說非常刺激。
→多種道具、砲彈、及角色可解鎖。
→幾乎所有你拿得起來的東西都能塞進大砲裡，寶箱、海鷗、木板甚至是錢都沒問題。
→個人覺得關卡設計有待加強，太多沒用的節點在地圖上，資源點給的太少，木板無法另外儲存因此不值得，重要的節點又很容易因為隨機生成生太右邊，你來不及走到就被風暴吞沒。
→沒錯，你每走三個節點風暴會隨機吞沒幾個點讓你無法前進。通常這樣的設計都是以追逐玩家為主，讓玩家至少能在打Boss前獲得一些強化，而不像這款會因為運氣差而完全拿不到強化。
→敵人配置也沒啥隨機性，同個組合同個點不同run也會遇的到。
→前兩個海妖中繼點應該要配個小型商店讓運氣不好的人有機會獲得強化。
→本作也不像其他roguelite/like有越玩越強的設計，你的強度完全取決道具與項鍊數量。前面就說過運氣不好你可能沒機會取得任何一個，就算取得了道具也會因為底座有限只能有三個，而項鍊的價值遠遠超越道具，既不受底座限制也不會被尾王搞到。
→一艘只能有兩個大砲，當然這個設計主要是為了雙人好分工、單人剛剛好，但我還是希望能有些特殊升級或額外大砲能在地圖上取得。
→遊戲中離不會存檔。
→大砲升級和商店解鎖欠缺更詳細的說明，過於簡潔完全不知道自己買了啥。
→把一些重要的機制鎖在高難度挑戰感覺不太優。