Note: this is just a small essay about how the progression of this game sucks my joy out. There is no in-depth analysis but just my ‘feelings’ about the state of the game. maybe you can relate, maybe you don’t. I just want to give feedback, on how all the rng in this game makes me feel miserable, while palying it.
So the begin with, the core gameplay is just so good. i really love it. i really can’t say a lot of bad things about it, it just needs some more polish, which is to be expected and totally fine. But there is a heavy contrast between the gameplay and the progression mechanics “framing” around the gameplay. While the gameplay feels like it is desgined to spark joy, the progression seems to be desgined to just drag on as long as possible, with mutliple layers of rng.
Yesterday the patch dropped with new weapons and a new map. I have yet been able to either get the chance to get one of the new weapon or play the new map (i am aware of the delay due to backend. however this was a few hours after patch already).
I logged myself mutliple times in only to check the shop for them and i was unlucky. I paid 60€ for this game, only to check a shop and then not being able to try the new content. It feels miserable.
Also the new map didn’t show up for on my session yesterday and not on my (tbf) short session today. I was just ‘unlucky’ it wasn’t up. It feels miserable. You are looking forward to the new content and the game won’t let you. Again, i paid 60€ and i can’t even pick a map. Same for the new condition you guys dropped. Wasn’t up for me, when i was on.
The weeklies are the same. If you are unlucky, you get missions you won’t be able to complete in a moderate game time. I even consider 15 missions for one character not doable, because i want to play multiple characters and switch between them. Oh and ofc: you have the ‘rng-feedback’ to the mission terminal: need scriptures? Well hopefully you have luck on the mission terminal! So i just started to ignore that entire system. i open it once, so my missions get initialized and than i basically ignore it. It just feels so hard out of reach, to finish all five, i’d rather not try.
The crafting is similar, you have all the rng on the shop, and now you add more rng with the crafting. the ‘refine item’ option. I don’t know, what you have exactly planned with the two missing options, but they are not in and you are selling the game so i am not gonna bother giving you the benfit of the doubt. If your progression system is based around all crafting options, well they better be all in at launch.
So basically getting a specific weapon is entirely luck based, i can’t really progress towards it. Want a very mobile knife with bleeding perk´for your zealot? Well have luck. Oh and you can’t use it on the other classes, even if you got it. Want to bring your 3 vet friends to a ‘light out’-condition map and have some coop-horror fun? - well also good luck with this.
I want to try out so much stuff, but i can’t because i have to be lucky to get what i want. I really should be able to choose a friggin map with my friends. i should be able to have at least a decent roll of every weapon, so i can try out builds. In vt2 you yould always craft and had a decent orange, while you were collecting reds over time.
(Just to be clear: i am not demanding for the perfect roll all the time, just a decent one)
I was in the meatgrinder the other day, wanted to compare some of the weapons behavior but my inventory is just poor. I went to the store and only got regular axes and swords. It feels so awful. I don’t even know, what weapons a certain class can equip. Where can i look, what modfied versions of the axes are there?
I wouldn’t mind a more barebone-version of the progression, but this one is actively hurting my experience. It feels like a lottery. I literally didn’t think i’d miss the vt2 system.
Bonus whines:
I don’t know, why classes don’t share their weapons and curios. I don’t know, why ordos and materials aren’t shared. I don’t know, what these strange points in the penance menu means. i don’t know, why i can’t romance hadron. i don’t know, why am i supposed to pay ~10€ for skins, when i paid 60€ for this game and it isn’t even finished. i don’t know why the ingame ‘send friend request’-button doesn’t work me for (fare well, my nice comrades i couldn’t add). why can’t i have a custom game with maps and conditions i want. And while we are at it: Who was the friggin traitor? I never saw her before.
In conclusion. i really don’t understand, how the above mentioned topics got implemented in the way they did. No way, someone thought this will make for a good customer-experience. I have so much fun on the mission, and so much frustration on the hub.
You may now whine about my whining in the comments