izigame.me

I genuinely enjoyed it until I began noticing some "Quirks".
-> Let's start with some positives; I bought this game for a reason and I fell in love with the teaser trailer,- adding it to my Wishlist immediately. This game's music, atmosphere, and overall first impressions do it justice from a presentation perspective and can draw you in while we all cope with waiting for the Silksong release or Bloodborne on PC.
The artists and composers of this game should pat themselves on the back. I love the weapons, the enemy designs, and the environmental aesthetic of the areas I find myself in but...we need to address the elephant in the room.
-> I am so mixed on this game. I cannot recommend this game coming from a guy who loves Metroidvanias, because the fundamental design philosophy (YEAH I'M GOING THERE) is that those games ENCOURAGE exploration. If I got lost in Hollow Knight or Blasphemous, the enemies wouldn't be 3 times harder to kill for the sake of being harder. If you get lost in the last faith, you'll find yourself with enemies that deal triple damage, have triple the health, and are the same enemies you encountered in earlier areas but now significantly harder to kill.
This game's philosophy is so dependent on telling the player "This area is too strong come back later" that even if you grind for an HOUR and come back it'll still feel like you do no damage. There's no sense of growth, there's no feeling of progression at times. I had to constantly worry about potentially entering fog walls that lock me in with wave after wave of enemies that are 3x beefier than the same enemies I just fought 2 feet away. I died from curiosity in an early game area and I couldn't get my Nycrux back!
Why Punish the player for exploring IN A METROIDVANIA????
You never know which area you're supposed to be in or if you're ready for because It feels like no matter how much you grind, there's no distinction of what area is supposed to be explored yet or not. Typically, if you find the McGuffin needed to unlock a new area, it's common to think you should revisit that roadblock.
"Oh okay I found the ring that lets me move these heavy cubes! I remember seeing one outside the manor, so I should head their next!" Except no, you don't deal any damage to the enemies you encounter and they kill you easily in a couple hits.
People underestimate the purpose of the pistol in Bloodborne. The pistol was never intended to deal heavy damage, it's purpose was to parry and create opportunities to heal or close gaps for otherwise aggressive enemies. The pistol in this game is intended to shoot straight away and deal next to nothing compared to your other tools. I bring this up because It was when I had collected so many demioxide bullets that I thought to myself, "Why should I keep using my gun? It leaves me vulnerable. it doesn't parry. it deals little damage. It can't hit enemies under 2 ft. why bother?"
This is evident because I chose the MARKSMAN class in the beginning
And that's what I genuinely believe this game is telling me: "Why bother playing a particular style? Why bother exploring and being encouraged to discover secrets if you'll be punished for it? Why bother grinding for hours to fight bullet sponge enemies that aren't worth your time? Why bother playing a game that wants to be several different things and can't commit to any one of them?"