Review of version 0.0.4c.f2
I really want to like this game for having things that make me excited for it;
The lore...exists, I guess? The dev seems to be going for the Soulsborne lore trickle format, the kind where you have a massive setting with little in the way of upfront explanation. Normally, this would be rectified by a steady stream of lore provided by item flavor texts or collectibles or whatever, but whether owing to the in-development nature of the game or something else, I have yet to find anything that explains to me exactly what all this "Alpha, Sigma, End Trucks, Corpuscle Amelioration" whatever means beyond the prologue text crawl.
The gameplay...also exists, I guess? Aside from a basic control tutorial at the very start, little is actually explained and this is mostly my inferrals and discoveries.
Tl;dr,
The Good
The Debatable
I really want to like this game for having things that make me excited for it;
- A dark, dystopian future setting that still has splashes of color to it.
- Style in spades.
- Gacha, because I'm a hopeless gambling addict.
- Waifus, because I'm a gooner.
The lore...exists, I guess? The dev seems to be going for the Soulsborne lore trickle format, the kind where you have a massive setting with little in the way of upfront explanation. Normally, this would be rectified by a steady stream of lore provided by item flavor texts or collectibles or whatever, but whether owing to the in-development nature of the game or something else, I have yet to find anything that explains to me exactly what all this "Alpha, Sigma, End Trucks, Corpuscle Amelioration" whatever means beyond the prologue text crawl.
The gameplay...also exists, I guess? Aside from a basic control tutorial at the very start, little is actually explained and this is mostly my inferrals and discoveries.
- Materials is basically a time limit. It ticks down over time and if you run out, you die. Materials are earned from clearing out enemy bases or opening caches. Materials are also spent to trigger certain mechanisms like switches.
- Materials CONSTANTLY ticks down, even if you're not moving because you're navigating a text prompt for a switch or battle.
- Abandoning a mission is completely useless since it boots you back to the title screen.
- Malware's shop lets you buy access rights to resource caches in the maps. It's some extra materials and minerals for gacha rolls, but other than that it's not anything special.
- Asking to see Malware's other stock in the post-tutorial shop is a trap. You get locked into a bomb defusal minigame where you have to cut 3 of 5 wires without triggering the bomb by cutting the wrong wire. Triggering the bomb is an instant game over. Oh, and did I mention this can be triggered as soon as you're mandated by the tutorial to enter the shop? Right BEFORE the save point?
- Each time you loop back to the hub, you can visit the HQ to get a budget of extra materials and Bars. Right now, the only use of Bars is to buy access to Malware's caches and Minerals in her secret shop if you win the RNG minigame.
- Like other gacha games, duplicates of Synonyms (the units you use to fight) are spent with other materials to upgrade them. "Combat" in this game is largely RNG-focused but with inevitable victory. You WILL eventually wear down enemy outposts by sheer attrition, it's just a matter of how many times you have to infiltrate because RNG didn't let one unit's attacks pop off as much as they could.
Tl;dr,
The Good
- The monochrome aesthetic makes each splash of color pop out even more. The flash of red as an enemy robot's face gets a new breathing hole popped in it in the victory screen is always viscerally satisfying.
- Even if it can get repetitive, hot damn the game's visuals are stylish.
- I don't care what your justification is, who puts a luck-based minigame that potentially causes instant game over near the end of an unskippable tutorial BEFORE the save point?
- Also for that matter, the tutorial barely explains anything.
- Redundant prompts that force you to stop in a game where you are strongly encouraged to keep moving thanks to the material timer. Why yes, I would like to infiltrate this outpost that's blocking my path and literally preventing me from moving forward, why do you ask? Why yes, I want to activate this switch and open the bridge, now can you please hurry up there's an enemy RIGHT THERE getting into a turret to blast my face off!
- Also, the material timer ticks down regardless of whether or not you're moving or even trapped in a text prompt. The only difference is whether or not you're in a safe zone, in which case it ticks down somewhat slower.
- Speaking of materials, the Miner I THINK(?) is supposed to produce materials over time to slow down the timer, but if it does, I didn't notice.
- Due to the current in-development nature of the game, right now after the initial parts, the game just cycles through the same few maps to let you farm materials for characters. Current available plot was finished in 30-40 minutes, and that was with some sidetracking to attack out of the way outposts and farm items.
- Also some technical jank. You can brick the game by accidentally opening the item menu (X key) in the middle of a text prompt, causing an error screen about "undefined bitmap" to pop up.
- Maybe this is just my gacha luck being complete ass as ever, but even after ~15-20 loops through the maps, I've only unlocked two characters total, one of which being the starter whose full abilities aren't even in the game yet. Compound that with a lack of a pity system or alternative means to acquire characters, and an arbitrary 5 draw limit per loop, and the whole thing becomes an RNG-filled slog of a grind to rival [Game I am not allowed to mention under Rule 2]
The Debatable
- Gallery of scenes is a bit sparse, which I chalk to the incomplete nature of the game.
- Some girls are looking real "cute and funny" in here, and that looks to be kind of unavoidable since upgrading girls speeds up the grind, and also causes said girls to lose clothes in the upgrade screen.
