In summary, it really speaks volumes when one of the only negative things I can think about the game is that I WANT MORE OF THE GAME.

I just hit 500 hours, so I felt it was necessary to delete my old review from around ~90 hours (also HIGHLY recommended...) and make one more fitting to the experience level. Looking at the current Steam reviews, it's still sitting on 'mixed' and truly, I don't understand HOW. I only anticipated getting roughly 200 hours out of this and I've already doubled that and I'm still very much addicted so...we'll see.

I have several hundreds of hours in the prior -Tide games by Fatshark. That being said, this is not a VerminTide game, though it's a logical successor and it checks all the boxes in spirit. I mention the other -Tide games because there's a certain way to "play" these games that are sort of unlike many other games. Believe me when I say I can tell my teammates who've never played VerminTide games.

TL;DR at bottom

OK so that being said, I have played the DarkTide technical beta, closed beta, I pre-ordered it and played the entire pre-order beta period, and I play regularly after official launch. What I can guarantee you, while the game is NOT close to being perfect, is that the vast majority of people writing negative reviews and filling the forums with complaints are completely unwarranted.

I really can't begin to look through the plethora of complaints in Reddit or the community forums - none of the negativity is warranted in my opinion. While it's far from a perfect game, and there's still some work to be done, it's easily the funnest/most addictive game I'd played in recent years. I love everything about the game but here's some stuff I'd really REALLY love to see in the next few updates:

1. More character slots - I main psyker and I have a secondary pysker, but honestly I want to level MORE psykers. I want to keep my Ogryn, Zealot, and Veteran for when careers come out, but I want more play space! or at least the opportunity to transfer weapons between characters, even at an "in game currency" cost...

2. Careers - as mentioned above, and just like in Vermintide 2, each class is supposedly getting different careers (different playstyles and mechanics for the same class). We don't have any yet. Granted there's SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS to play each class...but...careers would be a welcomed change.

3. MAPS/CONTENT - this is the one that's getting to me, honestly. Currently there's 14 maps to play from, each taking approx. 30 minutes give or take. They always seem kind of different because of the RNG of how things spawn, how your team plays, etc. etc. but I really want a lot more maps, more weapons, more enemies, etc. etc.

4. Speaking of RNG - the crafting RNG?! it SUCKS! I have all maxed out weapons and the perks/blessings I want....now... but if this process was easier and less "roll-of-the-dice" it'd make for a LOT more fun.

5. The Social menu - this is the most a-social game I've ever played in my life. There's really no way to easily 'friend' people, and then play with those people later on... I have been PUGging it for 500 hours... I would really REALLY love a consistent group to play with, but the game makes that REALLY hard to do.

6. Penances - some of these penances are straight up B.S. and impossible to achieve in PUGs. I'm the type that wants ALL the borders, ALL the skins, EVERYTHING. I plan to eventually get all the penances completed but...some of them are RIDICULOUSLY frustrating and I hate even TRYING them in PUGs...

TL;DR- you're looking at roughly 120 hours to max out all your characters, obviously way longer if you're trying to 100%. The game is excruciatingly fun, balanced (when you/your teammates actually know how to play your/their class), very well optimized, and I am looking forward to as many more hours of fun as my body will allow. (Considering how cheap it is for a AAA title?! total win-win)