Glad I'm not the only one having significant issues with 0.16.
Despite playing the legacy versions, I found myself confused & unable to understand well how the various systems within the game now function in 0.16. The loss of the open world to this chapter system, the overhauled & now byzantine card fighting system, the secondary nature of corruption, all of these are the main elements that I found off putting. This is not aided by the lack of a comprehensive tutorial like there was in 0.15.
Aside from this major changes, smaller ones such as the immense difficulty level, particularly with the Tickler opponent, plus the bare bones menu screen made navigating the game frustrating overall rather than enjoyable. Plus there's no longer the same amount of cut-ins, CGs, and game overs that were previously present, although thankfully the art quality was not just the same, but even more incredible than before. And frankly, as someone who recently discovered the game, it's disappointing to experience this whisplash between the fun yet challenging balance of gameplay that was achieved in 0.15.2 that is no longer present within this entirely new iteration in 0.16.
I doubt I'll be playing or following Saria Reclaimed from now on if this is its present course. Even with the understanding that 0.16 is an entirely new version of the game itself & thus is going to receive updates in the future, what I've experienced playing it is again not what made me enjoy 0.15 whatsoever, or even as a fun NSFW experience at all. Again, this felt like complete whisplash, coming from someone who was eager to see the game develop further from 0.15 onwards.
Even so, I wish the best of luck to Velminth since their art & writing are fucking grade A quality, and that same quality was present within this version at the very least. And again, if the game's going to develop further from this iteration onwards, I recommend two changes that I think would seriously help out the game's experience:
- A comprehensive tutorial system regarding the new interface, chapter progression, combat system, & corruption system.
- A CG/Cut-In Replayer akin to the Theater in legacy versions.
In the end, go with the vision you have for the game, and stick true to what you think is best for it.