Continuing on from: https://hexbear.net/post/6064592
I have been neglecting my work and playing anyway. Probably 10 or so hours in at the moment.
I'm curious how your impressions are changing as you play? I've unlocked a new moveset that seems to knock enemies back more with wider sweeps which has gelled with me better, and I'm struggling in combat less.
Overall I would still say I'm really mixed. The game seems to get easier the more I play which is a curious decision, the music is still very much taking a back seat which seems tragic to me given how strongly the HK music shaped my impression of zones. I have discovered a handful of tools but would say that experimenting with them seems actively discouraged, I'm always out of shards and a combination of the enemy types and level design mean I'm just not getting many anymore.
Emptying my set in a boss fight is about 80 shards, which to stock up for would be ~20 minutes of traversal and farming. Consequently I'm mostly just sticking with the "safe" set I'm used to. Bummer.
The world is beautiful, maybe a bit spread out. Hornet is more expressive than the Knight, something which shone in a particular involuntary sequence (if you know you know). Still very minimalist though.
Boss difficulty seems to swing wildly around, my experience is that the final phase often comes down to a DPS race and luck, particularly when ads are a feature. There's just so much on screen and enemies move in more complex patterns, I get mind-flooded something I rarely felt in HK where almost every boss fight felt like a careful dance.
How are you finding it?
It's noticeably harder than HK1, but I've been having a good time. Some areas and enemies are a bit frustrating but the overall experience has been fun.
More detailed (rambling) critique
Starting with negatives:
I think too many enemies deal 2 masks of damage without really much reason or indication that they'll do so. In HK 1, the big enemies and late game bosses, for the most part, did 2 or more masks of damage but now it seems like every other enemy does. Small farting flower? 2 masks. Tiny skinny flying dude with a needle? 2 masks. Literal dog? You bet that's 2 masks. Lots more traps, tripwires, and surprise spikes too - also they deal 2 masks.
I'm getting through the game fine and haven't been stuck on anything yet, I just think the damage is overtuned. It makes the first mask upgrade actually pointless - 5 masks is the same as 6 when each boss does 2+ damage.
With that, I think I don't really like the healing system consuming the entire silk spool - it really makes me reluctant to use silk abilities outside the most secure circumstance, and even then I'm wary that I'm going to run into an enemy that can combo me to death.
Oh my god not everything needs to cost 80 rosaries! I shouldn't be yearning for the hostile architecture of Hallownest, but compared to this scam? There's been more than a few times when I recently bought a map of an area and couldn't afford the bench the next room over, or vice versa.
Neutral/Meh:
Positives:
Love the character designs, enemies have been extremely varied and have some surprising and neat visuals
Sherma is precious and must be protected
Hornet controls very well, with her dash/sprint being a great addition - her animations especially are very elaborate and fluid compared to HK1. The "gamefeel" in general is
I enjoy the crest system, and the Reaper crest has been my main since I picked it up. I didn't really gel with Beast or Wanderer but some people really seem to appreciate them
The variety in area theme and style is fun, and I particularly like Greymoor
I've actually had a lot of fun with the platforming, though I find it much easier when you can use a straight downward air attack rather than the default diagonal
Despite my negatives being more detailed, I think I've enjoyed it more than HK1 over all, I just think it's a bit of an adversarial experience. I feel like it'd be kinda rough for new players