Recent reviews by MISSINGMINDS

I have played many Rogue-likes and Rogue-Lites. The thrill of an unrelenting horde of enemies focused on turning you into a paste is unlike most feelings. This game is a prime example of how 3D can do such a visual onslaught of chaos.

TL;DR
Music slaps like Mike Tyson, Visuals are stellar, some small design choices make a huge positive difference, Devs are good peoples.
Effects, hit detection, and boss mechanics issues. Small quibbles.
Get the game!

THE GOOD
First off, the music in this game slaps more than a product tester at a prosthetic butt factory. It feels like it took heavy inspiration from Diddy Kong Racing, which is one of the best OSTs of all time, so it's an excellent choice if that's the case. It's punchy; the shifts to when the Lords rise are terrific. My favorite is the Scorching Desert music. Pure chef kiss.

The visual design is fantastic. It's simple yet elaborate in the right ways. As someone who has studied design for over 15 years, I truly think they knocked it out of the park. I love that the faces are shadows with glowy eyes. The ultimate skins that I've gotten so far are remarkable. The Death Knight is so damn cool it makes me want to play him more. The enemies stand out from each other, until they are just a mass of hatred, enough that you can know what you must do to deal with them at just a glance. Until you get to the point where all you do is run around, and everything around explodes.

The fact that enemies have to actually hit you to do damage instead of just wearing neuro-toxin aftershave is a simple but fantastic decision. Instead of constantly running from a horde crying, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" you can dash through them, makes me feel like I have WAY more control of the action.

This developer's love for the community is a breath of fresh air. When the update with the Wukong character dropped. A big chunk of the community was more than a little perturbed by it, and they actually retracted the update, worked on it some more with feedback, and re-released it. Personally, I liked the update, but the rework was such an improvement that I'm glad they did that. I've never seen that before and have so much respect for the Devs for that. They are people who want to make the best game they can for the people. It's such a rare sight, even for indie/AA devs.

THE BAD
Having to play this game with the effects opacity on low so I can see a damn thing is borderline infuriating. Many of the visual effects are very well done and look so cool, but some are so over the top that you can't see the enemies. The main issue with this is less about the enemies and more about where they attack. There are some characters and/or weapons I don't like playing because they cover the screen in colors to where you can't see if you're going to run into a pillar's attack, a doom comet landing, or a boss's backhand slap. This becomes most infuriating when trying to do the endless Boss-focused runs. I love that they have the Opacity slider in the options, but I also like to see where I'm hitting. Knowing where my swings will land helps me determine where to move if I want to hit a boss safely. Having some indicators similar to how the enemy might be good in a way where the lower the effect opacity is, the higher the opacity of the indicator becomes. Moreover, having the indicator of the large AOE attacks from enemies also appearing on top of anyone within instead of just on the ground would be a great addition. Have a slider for that as well.

Hit detection can be spotty, even during the beginning of a run/map. There have been so many times when I would get hit with an AOE, but I was clearly several feet away from it. I don't know of any suggestions for that, but it happens enough that it needs to be mentioned.

The Lords mechanics feel too samey at times. They are all Damage bosses. Four of them have similar attacks. Alexi, Colummeth, and Keythaiz leave damaging areas that last a while. Tiaggor and Gammuth have beam attacks that follow you. Personally, I think each Lord should have a role. Alexi is DOT damage, Colummeth and Gammuth are Debuffs. Colum slows your movement and attack, Gam lowers your defense (melting your armor). Tiag is a crowd-control with more AOE. Aelf is a tank/bruiser. Keythaiz is a support. Allaxiz is an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that is constantly forcing you to change tactics by chasing you personally or throwing stuff at you. (like his wave of spikes or random explosions) Right now, they all feel like Nukes but with slightly different attacks. Allax, Key, and Aelf are the most unique in how they attack, but that's it.

Small quibble. There is a Rune (Perk) that is entirely useless. You get a % increase in damage if you sit still for at least 3 sec, but it goes away once you move. This is only useful in very early game for summon builds, and you don't get it that early. Once you start throwing on Curses (Challenges or Skulls ala Halo), you can't use it. One of the first Curses is killing enemies has a % chance of dropping a Doom Comet at a random location around you or on you. Either make this a 1-second stand still with a 3 - 5-second effect after moving or get rid of it. And the All or Nothing Rune (Increase stats but HP is 1) needs to be buffed because 25% boost is not worth death by sneeze from across the map. All the other runes, I can see a use for.


This game is so much fun, and I enjoy playing it even more than Vampire Survivors. I'm so excited to see what they do next; each update has been incredible. I know it looks like there's more bad I have, but they are really just specific things that don't ruin the game for me in any way—just weak links that I know could be better.

Get this game if you like Rogue-Lites. It's absolutely worth it.

TL;DR
There's a lot of issues but the highs are astronomical. Wait a bit for them to finish the game.
For now, at least get the music. It's almost Mick Gordon levels of good. Almost.


When this game is working...
The music kicks in.
A massive horde is charging towards you.
You grip hold of your weapon tightly in anticipation.
Appears on the screen.
SURVIVE

It is the most fun and invigorating experience I've had in a game in a very long time. Too bad that rarely happens.

The game often makes me feel like Jesus with how much lag occurs. Running up and killing enemies only to Tracer Time Stream back five seconds. Switching weapons only to keep your other weapon equipped and then shake like a mechanical pleasure stick. Click to swing your weapon but instead you wind back and hold it as if rigormortis kicked in early.

The server instability completely outclasses Blizzards launches. Getting kicked out of a match after a briefing then reconnecting and you're like 3 minutes in, a good chunk of health is missing, half your ammo is gone and your grenades are used up. Which also disables most progression in achievements, at least for me. Losing connection mid-match. Even losing it when you're going back to the main hub. It can be disheartening to even continue.

The hit detection is just as bad as the previous Tide games. Watching one of the weakest enemies kill you when you can literally see the end of their weapon slice through the air seven feet away from you. What's worse is it's inconsistent. Sometimes you'll be hit by a sneeze from three miles away, sometimes the game realizes that shouldn't happen. However, if you fire a laser into the center of an enemy, it may hurt them or it may think the wall behind them is the actual threat.

All of this makes the game a slog to play for at least 55% of the time. Then it's just working like a horde killer game most of the rest of the time. Then that 5-10% of everything falling into place. Swinging your sword or hammer or ax into a wall of nasty flesh. The kick ass music fueling every step you take. Feeling like you are fighting for the Emperor with every fiber of your being. It's absolute chef's kiss.

I love the previous Tide games, especially with all the added content and balancing they put into them. This game just feels like they ignored everything but the melee mechanics from the previous games.

There's still no crafting and it doesn't even look like there will be like it was in Vermintide 2. All there are is "upgrading" your items which actually does next to nothing. The only way to get new weapons is the weapon shop that have a small stock and only refreshes once/hour or from Emperor's Gifts which are pretty rare. With the number of weapons they have now and how many they claim to add later. This is not a functional way to distribute weapons. Looking for a hammer with the right stat on it for a build? You may get A HAMMER today or this week...maybe.

The power stat is just a number. It used to go into overall stats of the weapon/character, but now it does practically nothing. You can get a power lvl 294 rifle that does more for you than a 400 of the same exact type. From what I can see and what I've read, there is nothing else going on with the Power stat.

Honestly, it might be better to wait a bit for this game. Since this is how the industry is now. Put out a fraction of a game then finish it in like a couple years.

Will I keep playing it? Yes, because I'm dumb and a glutton for punishment and like any addict, I'm desperately trying to get that euphoric feeling again.

The music slaps like someone who tests the integrity of products at a prosthetic butt factory. I set the audio to have it far louder than anything else in the game. Chef Kiss, Good Soup.