This review contains spoilers
[Solo gameplay review]
The worlds are unique and beautiful, the Soulsy guns+melee combat feels great, but !"#%!"#% do the boss fights suck. Almost every boss summons a horde of minions ("adds" in MMO-speak) to rush and overwhelm you while you're trying to concentrate on the boss. It's not fun at all, and barely playable in solo.
I really do like the universe they've created, but the actual story is thin, and mostly consists of scattered lore With A Bunch of Random Proper Nouns Like Paxultek. Ostensibly you're fighting the Root, the woody rhizome Borg that are invading all of the worlds across all the planes, but in practice you warp into a world, massacre a bunch of locals, find their Guardian, and rip its heart out like you're the fucking Predator.
So you get to the lighthouse/atoll/whatever, go into the old Ward 16, and fight the Dreamer with a VR helmet who is connected to the Root I guess? And then what? There's no resolution, the game just pops you back in Ward 13 like nothing happened. I don't mind story-lite, gameplay-focused games, but what in the hell was the point?
I leave feeling somewhat disappointed, but still hopeful for the "Ashes" series. If/when a sequel is released, I'll probably play it.
The worlds are unique and beautiful, the Soulsy guns+melee combat feels great, but !"#%!"#% do the boss fights suck. Almost every boss summons a horde of minions ("adds" in MMO-speak) to rush and overwhelm you while you're trying to concentrate on the boss. It's not fun at all, and barely playable in solo.
I really do like the universe they've created, but the actual story is thin, and mostly consists of scattered lore With A Bunch of Random Proper Nouns Like Paxultek. Ostensibly you're fighting the Root, the woody rhizome Borg that are invading all of the worlds across all the planes, but in practice you warp into a world, massacre a bunch of locals, find their Guardian, and rip its heart out like you're the fucking Predator.
So you get to the lighthouse/atoll/whatever, go into the old Ward 16, and fight the Dreamer with a VR helmet who is connected to the Root I guess? And then what? There's no resolution, the game just pops you back in Ward 13 like nothing happened. I don't mind story-lite, gameplay-focused games, but what in the hell was the point?
I leave feeling somewhat disappointed, but still hopeful for the "Ashes" series. If/when a sequel is released, I'll probably play it.