Work is pretty slow today, so I went ahead and played through 3 more levels this morning.
Chapters 7 & 8
Just like 3 and 4, these two work like a pair where you make your way through a temple and then fight a big monster in the second level. The Flooded Passage was a lot of fun, being a very linear level with fun puzzles and challenges, and although the big fish monster was fun at first, the level suffers from the whole “Instantly die to bullshit and then load back into the game” problem I’ve been having.
While I really love how the objective system is handled in this game I think the sidequests for the boss levels are really bad. These levels are usually 5 minutes long and you don’t have time to try to accomplish these extra tasks unless you ignore the big boss on purpose (and if you do, well, good luck looking for the red skulls while a giant monster chases you). This level in particular had a task to kill some enemies that spawned around the level which was almost impossible to do during the chase scene, so I just flat out ignored it.
Chapter 9
I always groan when I see the game unlock the map for a level, but this one was actually a lot of fun. The concept of building your own bridge to cross a chasm is well executed, and while you end up having to backtrack a bit once you’re done with it, the game made sure to give you an alternate path to make this as interesting as possible.
The enemies are starting to get a lot more variety at this point too, and combat’s definitely getting better. With the introduction of shield demons and skeletons, I no longer can sit back and fire the weapon with the highest DPS expecting to win. I now have to actually think about the arms I use, and have to actually aim them at the enemies it’ll hurt the most. This was a really good level!
So yeah, same as it ever was. Game’s still fun and frustrating at certain points. However, I have noticed something very interesting about the game so far: Getting the collectibles is a lot more fun than using the collectibles.
In the few hours I’ve played, I haven’t really cared much about using the artifacts and relics I earn even though I’m intentionally going out of my way to get as many of these. All the stat changes they give you feel very minimal, and they’re just kinda there. There’s also a few stat increases scattered throughout the levels, and while having more HP or Ammo is nice, even those end up feeling inconsequential in the long run. I love collecting these extra items and finishing the optional tasks, but the game doesn’t really reward the player for doing so, except for the few tasks that give you new weapons. It’s a very weird feeling.
Also the way the fish boss died was so visceral lmao. They didn’t have to go so hard.
just kidding.