Now that I have sunk some time into the game, I think I can finally give it a fair review of sorts. This is my general feedback on every aspect of the game, so let's start with the basics!
[Just a note, I do play on Xbox One]
1. Tutorial
Wow. What can I say? I believe the actual tutorial of this game needs a more in depth explanation of the melee system, because in terms of gameplay, it is the most griped about thing in this game. Once you get a handle on it, you are going Jackie Chan on any Antagonist that runs your way. But, for those rough first 4 or 5 runs of the prologue, SHEESH. It sucks. If there was possibly a little training dojo of sorts to practice abilities, melee, and other things, I believe you would have a better time easing newer players into a somewhat complex system.
2. Animations and Dialog
Personally, I love them. The characters are iconic and have distinct personalities and I simply adore the anime style asides such as Lycus getting punted in the loins. The dialog is quirky and witty, leaving a very memorable insult from Alicia to Konstantin. The shaky camera work was pretty disorienting at first in the way it just seems to jump around. But besides that, good work. I know I have seen others complain about the frequency of cutscenes, and in certain missions like Breath of Hope where it showcases the Monoliths after every charge is... kind of immersion breaking.
3. Gameplay
Arguably the most important feature of a game is how it plays. The melee system, which I mentioned above, is similar to a rock, paper, scissors style combat with the grapple being the instakill, and the punch being the safest initiation. While it does work in this game, it is hard to get a grasp of timing and combos, especially when different characters seem to have different speeds (I am not sure if that is actually true). What really draws me in are the interesting character abilities and how they work in different scenarios. I main Harec and Shae and dabble amongst the others, and I can honestly say there is not a single character I straight out HATE. But, Harec's Stalker ability is one of my favorite and versatile abilities in the game and I love how mobile Alicia is. Every character has a distinct and versatile playstyle and I think everyone will find a favorite. The abilities are probably the strongest seller in this game for me.
4. Antagonist
Let's get it out of the way, since it is the most discussed topic besides the next one. The design choice of this system is... odd, and it still perplexes me as to why someone has to wait a week after obtaining the Stigmas to build new weapons. Or the more frustrating thing, having to even play the mode in the first place. Personally, I'm not bad at it, but in my opinion that is because I play Kuzmann in Antagonist where he can absolutely ruin days if played right. But for people that purely enjoy the co-op experience, it puts them in this really dreadful position, of being trapped with the same weapons. I did see a response from a Dev on here about how it only takes a couple of Wins to be able to craft all of the blueprints, but there are some people that are absolutely awful antagonist and may never see some of those blueprints. The mode itself is even built to be discouraging, because the narrator is Uras Beherit, and he berates amd degrades you on deaths. I think it is funny and fits the narrative, but some others get very annoyed in a mode they already don't want to play.
The rewards for this mode are not direct; you receive no gold, character points, or faction points. So if anything, above Rank 18, it is simply a diversion or a way to stroke your ego which is... useless.
5. Reward System/Skins
What a mess! This is the lowest point in the entire game, the actual rewards. Having to split rewards at the end of a mission is an absolutely sloppy idea that really divides players and possibly receiving nothing when trying to obtain that one blueprint you have been grinding all day for is terrible. Now the biggest gripe in this system besides blueprints is Gold, the currency used to obtain new characters, lock in abilities, and unlock lore (which I will get into in the lore section). When you have a character that costs 125,000 gold (correct me if I'm wrong) or SIMPLY PAY A SMALL FEE OF 20 DOLLARS, everyone is going to click on gold. Now, the average gold received, let's say without antagonist, assuming you win, and not taking into account that other people may click on the same reward is roughly 900 gold. That means you would have to on average win 138.8 missions just to own Mikah, as a non Founder's Pack member.
There are currently only 5 different missions to play from. Do you see the problem here? Without a proper loot system, people will get burnt out. And I don't want to see that, I genuinely like this game, but I feel the grind may kill this game.
Now the skins for this game... the price point is an absolute JOKE. Look, I don't know if MercurySteam is having financial issues because of the launch of the game, but $20 dollars for a Shae skin (while it is beautiful) is absolutely apalling, a level of seemingly greedy planning I would expect of some of these triple A companies. That is the same price as half of the Founder's Pack. I know, the argument could be, "no one is forcing you to buy it, it is optional". While this is true, it is still an item for sale in a non F2P (the Studio keeps insisting it isn't on social media) that I own, I don't see why I can't complain about it? As a new IP, I would think the primary focus should be brand loyalty. If you snuck in something like that in Act 3 or 4, people may have turned a blind eye. But the community is already small, and overcharging for cosmetics is not the way to help it grow.
6. Lore
Why does one have to pay gold for Lore? Lore helps boost immersion and connection to the story. If this is something one has to buy with gold, why would someone bother getting it when they already have to grind for extra characters? What is going to happen is someone with a lot of time on their hands will grind out with some friends, buy the lore, and post the lore on a Wiki site, if it already hasn't happened. Personally, I wouldn't bother wasting gold on the lore. It's unfortunately, a huge distraction, the way the current loot system works.
7. Card System
Another peculiar function, this system did not seem very well thought out. I feel that you should be able to unlock new cards and each character can have 4 cards active at one time. That would actually make the game more dynamic with custom builds and such. But as it stands, the other cards are... just... there. A waste of space. This also urges people to pick Gold more because it is the most valuable of the 3 currencies. See the recurring theme?
8. Community and Other
From what I have seen so far, it has been great, and when I have time, I try to teach newer people mechanics and get them engaged in the game. Besides a few bad apples, the bunch is ripe and very enthusiastic about the future of this game.
A couple things I would love to have in this game as fun little additions would be at the end of a match, see damage done to minions/bosses, most Antagonist kills, "MVP", accuracy, headshots, etc; as well as something similar to Overwatch where you can see most played characters and other stats in a menu. Even performing certain actions for unlocks as characters would be interesting and keep things fresh, like side quests. Maybe weekly or daily quests systems as well as special events with special unlocks.
OVERALL: 3/5
I really enjoy the actual game itself as well as the characters, but with a massive grind that is very ugly and shifty business practices, I can't help but be left with a feeling of resentment.
