I enjoyed the dungeon crawling aspect, and levelling up was intuitive. Gathering a bunch of souls and seeing the progress bar jump forward felt really satisfying. The music was fitting for the dungeon theme. I did encounter some bugs where I couldn't progress further due to levelling up at the same time as destroying the last enemy/object, which may have prevented the trigger from firing off.
The abilities were a mixed bag. I found that the most useful abilities were the ones that allowed for movement whilst still attacking (All light attacks; level 1 and 2 range attacks). I found that abilities that resulted in the character standing still and remaining vulnerable for the duration of the ability's animation were not as useful as I had hoped (all heavy attacks, all shouts, level 3 range attack).
- The range of the heavy attacks felt short in range, even at level 3. Due to the windup and ending animation leaving the player in one position, I would be attacked by enemies that were outside the effective range. An improvement for the heavy attacks could be to increase the attacks range and area of affect, or include a form of movement that's part of the ability.
- For example, the level 1 could be an all encompassing attack that has a lethal area of affect when nearby, and a knockback effect that has a slightly larger area of effect and would buy a little time if enemies are still closing in (but were just outside the lethal radius); level 2 includes a dash forward for additional mobility; level 3 increases the number of rotations so that more attacks are performed in the same time frame.
- The healing aspect of the shout was useful for recovery after battle and the level 2 and 3 attacks were useful when it hits weaker enemies. I think the cooldown for it was suitable given the potential it had. However, I would only use the healing aspect during combat by first running away so that the animation could end before I'm attacked. The stunning effect wouldn't work when an enemy is mid-attack. I think a potential improvement would be to lower the animation time of the shout after the effect has taken place, or make it a purely buff orientated ability e.g. level 1 is a block of healing, and some regeneration; level two increases speed and attack, and level 3 decreases non-shout ability cooldowns
- The level 3 ranged attack could be useful when surrounded. I suspect the design of the level 3 ranged attack is why the level 3 heavy attack has a smaller area of effect, so that the abilities don't overlap as much. However, I found the level 2 ranged attack more beneficial as I could still move as the ability was in use, and could potential hit more enemies twice on the return path; the level 3 attack roots the player in place, and there's a dead zone that enemies can walk through as the axe travels along the ability's path. A potential improvement would be to reduce the animation time or change the attack path to spiral outwards and then spiral back inwards so that enemies that happen to avoid the axe on the initial launch path would be hit on the return path.
It feels as though the ranged and heavy attacks were designed to be forms of crowd control, with the light attacks being used for singling out 1 or 2 enemies at a time. However, the length of the windup and cooldown animations and the area of effect limits their usefulness in their intended scenarios.
The rogue-like element of random selection of perks on levelling up was interesting, and would keep each playthrough fresh and force the player to adapt to different strategies. However, the aforementioned issues with the abilities limited this aspect's potential, as I found some choices to be superior to those that were already felt detrimental.
The rate that enemies appeared and the gaps between encounters felt right. I always felt like I had enough room to manoeuvre around during encounters, even at the boss fight when there was a mob of enemies. However, this scenario did make the weaknesses of the critiqued abilities stand out.
Overall, I liked the rogue-like aspect and fighting through hordes of enemies, and that refining the abilities will enhance the game's replayability.
A fun hack-and-slash dungeon crawler.