izigame.me

There used to be a time when a game would be released in it's 1.0 foundational state, and it was fundamentally considered complete. It meant that all the gameplay and story elements were in place, and any ancillary content could be added in at a future date.
This could include extra story elements, items, dungeons, expansions, patches, and DLC etc.
Apparently, not anymore.
I waited for years to see Last Epoch exit early access and finally hit that glorious 1.0 release.
I even waited another year for the game to have all the creases ironed out.
So, I purchased the game, and was having a decent time.
...that is, until the main quest storyline just 'stopped'.
Now to be clear, I don't mean it concluded. I mean, it just 'stops' half-way through the story, and then you're left to go do mindless end-game farming.
I genuinely thought my game was bugged and that the main quest wasn't showing. But a bit of research had me find out that the devs didn't think to complete the most basic element of a game - the story, before a 1.0 launch.
And what's worse, is that people just defend this type of practise?
Imagine if I sold you a book, but left the back half completely blank, and I told you "I'll write the rest some time in the future. Not really sure when though"
Not a sequel, but I'll finish the first book at some indeterminate time in the future.
Nebulous much?
Or imagine you sit down at a restaurant, and the waiter brings you only half of your meal, and says "We only made the first half - even though you paid for all of it. We'll eventually cook you the second half, at some point. Just not today. But you can have dessert! We have loads of dessert!"
Ludicrous. And yet, that's the standard that is being accepted more and more nowadays.
Sure, Last Epoch has some great elements to it. Genuinely.
Character building is cool. Loot filters in the game are top-notch. Visuals can be great.
But presentation means little when the foundational product is incomplete - at full price.
Ridiculous.
Truthfully, I feel cheated. And looking at the 2025 road-map, where story content will be added 'some time later', I realise I should've just waited until the far off future when the game price will have likely dropped.
Cheaper price for an 'actual' finished product.
This just feels like a lazy rush-to-market strategy, and I'd refund if I could, however it took me way more than the allotted refund time to know that the story would just 'cut off'. Which seems scummy.
Also, apparently even one of the game devs thinks you're being too unreasonable in expecting a 1.0 full release of a game to be, y'know, 'fully completed'. As he said that the 1.0 distinction of the game is "Fairly Arbitrary".
I call major bs on that one.
You don't get to redefine what "Full Release" means, just to account for your lack of complete content.
Furthermore, the endgame content, while nice in theory, honestly just boils down to this:
- Click a big floaty island in space.
- Now click on a smaller floaty island in space and fight a bunch of enemies.
- Do 10-20 more of these smaller floaty islands - with the same grinding of enemies.
- Now you've unlocked a boss fight.
- Fight said boss
- Click another big floaty island in space and repeat.
It's boring, and in no way a good placeholder for a completed and memorable story.
If the game was completed, I would've looked back on the game and thought "Yeah wow. That was a nice experience. Not the best I've ever played, but nice. And that's worth a recommend."
As it stands, I think you should stay away from the game for another year (or possibly two) - as of this review date, and reassess the state of the game at that time.
Until then, don't perpetuate crappy business standards - or they'll become normalised and you'll be the only one paying for it.