absolute peak

node is me fr

Not a lot here compared to the last game. The combat is very fun, but also kinda easy. And once you've beaten the game, there's absolutely nothing left to do besides get lore bits, and even then it answers nearly nothing. Very short game, but also pretty fun.

I was genuinely excited for this game. I loved the first game, and the trailers, along with the overly positive Steam reviews, set my expectations high. Unfortunately, I didn't find the gameplay engaging enough to warrant the hype.

The combat, while initially enjoyable, quickly became repetitive. While you *can* parry and repost enemy attacks, it’s far more effective to just stick your arm out and wiggle your sword until they walk into your sword. The weapons themselves are also lackluster. The starter sword is, ironically, the best weapon in the game because it’s easily maneuverable and has consistent hitbox throughout the whole blade. Larger, two-handed weapons feel clunky and unpredictable, moving in ways you don't want or need them to. Ranged combat also suffers. Bows and projectiles feel unnecessarily heavy, like if a 50 pound weight is strapped to the end of all of your arrows. Even when arrows connect, they do minimal damage unless you land perfect headshots and even then, enemies will most likely block them. It usually takes 3-4 shots to take down 1 enemy with a bow. The dismemberment also felt lackluster, I barely even noticed it and it happened in every combat encounter. Enemies who lose a leg are just slightly slowed and if an enemy loses an arm while they have a 2 handed weapon, they'll still play the 2 handed animations, causing the weapon to flop around and become completely unpredictable.

Additionally, the story seemed boring, while the world itself was very interesting none of it was ever elaborated on (I understand it was in the first game, but I'm not playing the first game I'm playing the second one) instead, the focus was put on the characters. the game never gave me a reason to care about any of them. They are all the same: "I'm better then you, you cant defeat me!" "Gah! How could you have defeated me, you must have cheated!" the biggest difference was their voice actors. aside from that you could put dialogue from one character on another and it wouldn't be noticeable. the only interesting character is the player but for some reason they decided to only give them 3 lines of dialogue of inner monologue, opting for him to never interact with any other characters aside from internally questioning their actions.

The player IK also feels janky, if I put my hands out straight in front of me my characters arms would still be bent at a 45 degree angle. The elbows also only move outwards, there's no way to bend them in any other direction, this, mixed with the former mentioned arms being too long result in your character constantly chicken winging their arms.

The abilities were another disappointment. The player characters "blink" didn't allow them to teleport within 3 feet of enemies so you'd have to teleport and then awkwardly walk over to attack, defeating the whole point. Worse still, enemies lock onto you no matter where you teleport, even mid-attack, snapping around 180 degrees to face you instantly. Other abilities, like the shield, slow time, and the throwing star, feel uninspired and ineffective, particularly the throwing star, which often misses or does negligible damage. I am aware there are additional abilities tied to unlockable characters, I couldn't be bothered to continue that far.

I noticed all of these issues in just 45 minutes of playing. While I can see the effort and care the developers poured into this project, I didn’t find the game enjoyable in its current state. I am aware this review comes off as very negative, however I only want to see this game grow and improve. I am posting this review in hopes it does just that. This game has a lot of room for improvement and I'm hoping for it to.