So I want to preface this with saying that I really like how the game turned out (save a few nagging issues).
The music is fantastic, the voice acting is good a majority of the time. There's plenty to see and read that puts the world together if you take your time. The world feels like a world until Malady kicks the front door down. Allow me to explain...
An elven woman with great power and a half mask encounters you. She can freely weave in and out of the Hall of Echoes with no good explanation as to why- because as I remember in Ego Draconus that's a hell of a time just getting into it let alone diving in and out so whimsically as you do in this game.
She does banter with attempts at wit and sharp commentary but it all comes off as flat and cheesy. To boot she unbearably adulates the godwoken. She literally states she walks the line of demons and divine or something to that effect. That's really, really bad writing. She's a mary sue to the max- everything about her feels unearned and unexplained. She's easily my least favorite character and not for the right reasons- and don't get me started on Sebille.
The gods handle divinity as a mere game of thrones, there is nothing making me feel as if the divine are any different than a court of political sorcerers. Top this there isn't a true blue encounter against (SPOILER) your god. It just turns into a fight versus wimpy source representations and a mech of some kind? The entire concept of becoming divine and rising is so casually handled that it becomes more dull than the politics and ground wars taking place around the storyline. There's real grit to be had there- and past Fort Joy you get next to no taste of the brutality most seem to constantly describe. This isn't Diablo- but things get too calm and fantastical by comparison. The tutorial island is hands down the coolest part of this game. Ahru's encounter was the only thing that came close for me in terms of feeling true atmospheric threat.
The idea of an island made up of godwoken and not-so-godwoken beings baffled me near entirely. Why is something like this so casually springing up? Why can all this be so easily explains and slid along as if it were normal? The power fantasy is way too plain, here. I genuinely love everything that has nothing to do with the primary plot more than the main plot. It's too predictable, too by the books but in a bad way. We never get a true showdown with the voidwoken beyond some resized humanoid anglers, jellies, frogs, grubs, ONE giant grub, a few bugs and a kraken. Where are the huge scaling battles with the supposedly numerous and vicious voidwoken? I had more scraps with magisters and black ring than voidwoken.
Bloodmoon Island and it's corrupted tree had far more potential than it was given- so much tragedy could be staged there. The Undead Scarecrow was very, very underplayed. His dialogue was good, his character was menacing in his portrait alone and yet he turns into a semi challenging height-centric field battle. He couldve been a much a cooler, consistent villain.
Paladin Cork is the first character you see use Phoenix Dive and whoops serious ass- but he doesnt scale up or become a bigger badass as you move on to the coast. You think these NPCs may not leave an impression but you guys don't seem to understand just how cool some of your throwaway characters can be.
Game-related critique:
1. The warfare tree is really buggy on landing knockdowns and connecting some blitz targets. It's the buggiest tree I've worked with and doesn't contain the raw damage needed to make it a worthy comparison to the finesse and intelligence centric trees. I know it's supposed to be a mix of damage and cc, but the other stat types get cc and WAY more damage.
2. Rogues and casters are way too easy street and abusable. Nothing about playing them brings on a challenge- where your goal should be to give them a more clear set or disadvantages. Incarnates. Are. Broken.
3. From an arena standpoint I find it very pointless when you can be a summoner mage that can shield up and heal. You have no weaknesses here even on the game's hardest settings. None. There needs to be some imposed limits in the arena only.
4. Please fix the necrofire glitch in the consulate.
5. Please lower Phoenix Dive's cooldown. It doesn't do enough damage or provide enough benefits to warrant such a long wait time exploring non-combat areas.
6. Please make wit/finesse effect your ability to see an incoming wave of enemies or a dangerous npc.
I could go on way longer but I feel like it wouldn't be read. A lot of my complaints are tiny- but mostly that the concept of Divinity is handled far too casually.
