CraftingThere is no reasonable introduction to crafting. I had to figure out the crafting system by looking online. I should not have to figure out a core mechanic of your game by looking online. This is bad design -- unforgivably bad, in fact. The 'recipes' are sometimes worded in a way where they are confusing and hard to understand. There is no reason why you had to be special little snowflakes and write your recipes like some sort of silly journal entry. "Wool+Wool=Yarn" would have been perfectly fine.
At the very least, there needs to some sort of tutorial into the crafting systems. Even if it's just a book that explains how cooking works, how potions work, how blacksmithing works, etc. And if you are about to make an excuse about how this deepens the game somehow -- don't. That is an asinine argument and bears absolutely no foundation in rational thought. The way the crafting system is designed is depth. The way it is introduced (Or not as the case may be) is nothing more than needless confusion.
I actually agree that crafting isn't introduced well enough in the game. The funny thing is, it is very clearly demonstrated in the release trailer, which I watched about one day after first playing the game... then I was like "oh, that's how you do it." How long does it take to clearly demonstrate in the release trailer? Literally one second. There is a caption which says "crafting," then they should what happens when you drag one item onto another; barely interrupts the flow of the video, it just feels like another bullet point in a list of features, yet it still manages to teach the mechanic as well as it needs to be taught.
And yes, it is pretty bad that they couldn't do something to set up this single second of demonstration for the people who play the game but do not watch the trailers.
That said, I emphatically disagree with the idea of displaying recipes as equations (ex: yarn+yarn=rope). There's a completely different feel between being spoon-fed your recipes and actually having to read something from the world of Rivellon and decipher it. In other words, that part of the whole crafting thing is something which deepens the game somehow.
The one thing which doesn't, is how there isn't a good tutorial for the core mechanic of the crafting system itself.
CombatCombat, at higher levels, is a chore. It is not fun, it is not engrossing, it is boring and clunky. And no, this is not an inherent flaw with turn-based combat. There are many turn based games that have engrossing and fun combat (provided you like turn based combat anyway). Fallout 1&2, Xcom: Enemy Unknown, Shadowrun Returns, Final Fantasy Tactics, just to name a few.
I began dreading combat if there were more than four enemies involved. When a large majority of your game is combat, this is a bad thing.
The really funny thing about this is, I was reading another post where the OP said the combat is boring. Then I played for a bit and I realized that, sometimes, it actually is. However, these "sometimes" where whenever there were less than four enemies involved. For example, you're making your way to Luculla Mines and you come across an Armoured Goblin Sentinel. Not multiples, just the one; he's been separated from his friends. Obviously, you pulverize him, he never stood a chance. Boring. If anything, I think it's vital that, once you get out of Cyseal, monsters always have a way of alerting their friends and working together as a team to create large combats with multiple actors.
In other words, even though I agree with you about it sometimes being boring, I feel you couldn't possibly have it more wrong. It's the big, messy combats which are actually the most interesting, because there are so many more factors to consider.
Puzzle DesignThe puzzles themselves are actually very well done. The problem is that they have no introduction and very little clues most of the time.
You wouldn't expect someone to know that you wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if the only thing you said was, "I have a kitchen." Likewise, you can't expect someone to even start thinking about how to solve your puzzle if the only clue you give is "here's a puzzle I made. Solve it."
Some of the puzzles in the game are the equivalent of giving someone a jigsaw puzzle to solve, except 50% of the pieces are missing and the only clue you give them to the location of those missing pieces is that you didn't put them on the moon. They have no idea that they are supposed to figure out that you buried the pieces on a random beach in southern Italy.
I have encountered this, "If we give them a reasonable clue the puzzle will be too easy," mindset of puzzle design before, and it never feels intelligent or witty or well designed. It always feels confusing, frustrating and, in some cases, insulting.
How am I supposed to figure out that the mage buried his magical barrier-breaking spell in a hole next to a box behind a bunch of traps in the forest, which is right behind a bunch of drunken goblins? As far as the game shows, I'm supposed to figure that out just by exploring. That is, frankly, horrific puzzle design. And this is just one example of many.
Well, when it comes to that particular puzzle, you're preaching to the choir. On the first playthrough where I made it to level 17, I didn't even realize how to get into the White Witch's cabin until level 16. Which, of course, led to a rather unsatisfying trip of quest completions where I was hideously overleveled. (It did, however, explain why things were so hard at level 13.)
However, I also think this game has some very good puzzles, many of which are rather tricky to figure out. For example, I consider the puzzle for Mangoth's basement completely fair. It actually does have a hint, even if it is very well disguised as an irrelevant decoration. It features a switch which is devilishly well-hidden and thus only likely to be found if you saw through the disguise and got the aforementioned hint. It's borderline rage-inducing... but it's fair.
Why is it fair? Difficulty isn't the issue; instead, it's bounding. You know Mangoth went into the basement. You have all the exits covered. And although you have a devil of a time accessing it, the central room you're trying to get into is prominently displayed, so you know your objective is to get into it. Even though it's very challenging, the objective is clear, and this sets up rather clear boundaries in terms of where you need to search.
The other good puzzles of D:OS share this. The matching caves with the elemental switches (which might be confusing were it not for the signs making references to doubles, so that you find both caves). The trap house in eastern Cyseal. Even Jake's murder investigation follows this pattern. Unlike the White Witch barrier spell, which is totally confusing when it comes to boundaries and pointers.
But I can't think of another example of a bad puzzle other than that one. Thus, I don't think it's fair to go on about how bad the puzzles are in D:OS; instead, it's fair to go on about how bad that puzzle is.
As far as story goes, I'll comment on it more when I beat the game. (I'm a reroll addict.)
