Fourth Knight - Molodkrasiv
Final Score: 3/5 Stars
Comment:
As is customary, I noticed that Synthy's 3D assets were used here. Which is never a bad thing, considering that for a solo developer, it's where you can get the best low-poly assets.
I liked the lighting management initially and especially the optimization, considering that not only in Unity, but also for a solo developer, it's sometimes difficult to manage optimization. However, I noticed that it was well done here.
The pause menu doesn't actually pause the game, which might make writing this review a bit difficult.
I feel it would be good to have a way to mute or lower the background music, which, besides being loud, becomes an annoying loop when listened to many times, considering the loop is essentially 30 seconds long.
I can see that the Canvas anchors are poorly positioned, since on my monitor, the Stamina and Health bars are almost halfway up the screen, instead of being in their proper original position.
Controller compatibility is very poor, considering that besides the lack of a tutorial or keybind mapping, we can't even open the first chest without using the keyboard, which also lacks keybind mapping.
I had to abandon the controller, since the only programmed inputs for it were for movement. This can be easily fixed in the Input Manager by simply copying existing binds and adding a new key with the controller.
Sometimes, the text in the dialog boxes compresses what it shouldn't and sometimes exceeds the size of the dialog box itself, which slightly detracts from the immediate immersion.
The atmosphere of the second map is interesting and immersive, but again the music loop becomes irritating eventually, although this time it's drowned out by the ambient sound.
The ambient sound is atmospheric, and considering it was done by a solo developer (even if the sounds aren't original), that's already a big step.
I missed a parry mechanic in the game; even though it's present, even with perfect timing between defense and enemy attack, the parry wasn't executed.
I liked the slow motion during combos; it makes the fight more fluid and responsive. But again, a parry mechanic would be perfect.
The death screen is good, breaking away from the usual and aiming for a more creative level.
I feel that the on-screen mouse could eventually be replaced with a crosshair, which would give the player more indication of where their attack will end, without seeming too intrusive.
I feel that the combat is fluid and responsive, but due to the lack of a proper crosshair, many attacks end up missing, breaking the fluidity of the combat, considering that the enemy attacks quickly.
Again, I missed a keybind mapping, because like all actions in this game, no bind is placed anywhere.
I feel that if we're going for more ARPG-like combat and less Souls-like combat, a higher stamina score for longer combos would be interesting. (Just a suggestion, not really a criticism)
CRITICAL BUG: AFTER GETTING THE FIRST BLUE GEM ON THE FIRST MAP, MY CHARACTER COMPLETELY FROZE, REQUIRING A RESTART.
I feel there could be more versatile character attacks beyond the initial combo and long-range attacks. Suggestion: Implement charged attacks.
One thing I noticed is that the character doesn't actually attack where the mouse or pointer is, but rather the direction the character is looking.
I feel we're somewhat underutilizing the mouse this way, considering that so far we've only used it to manage the inventory.
CRITICAL BUG: AFTER DYING AND RESPAWNING RANDOMLY, THE PLAYER SPAWNED AND THEN FELL INFINITELY INTO THE VOID AFTER A WHILE.
I feel the shield skeleton, compared to the first skeleton we fought when entering the first map, does absolutely nothing.
He doesn't parry my attack, he doesn't retaliate, nothing, he simply defended one of my attacks, missed his own attack, and died uselessly. CORRECTION: The shield skeleton has interesting mechanics; it can indeed parry our attack, and if we use the long-range attack, we can break its defenses.
WE LOVE YOU MR.SHIELD SKELLY
I'm happy that, unlike many solo dev games, the AI's Nevmesh is working correctly and seems responsive. GLORY TO GOD.
I liked the variety of enemy combos; the slower, more unpredictable combos of the lancers and the faster, more predictable combos of the swordsmen were on point.
I'm sad that there's no real punishment for the player to die, since the only existing punishment would be resetting the enemies. But aside from that, the player doesn't lose points upon death, making them cumulative and a simple dump, which consists of dying, killing the enemy, and resetting.
One thing I understood is that it's very easy to avoid conflict; just dash past the enemies until you reach your destination. Eventually, their Navmesh glitches, and they fall into the lava on their own. In the lava, they don't die, and they end up running around trying to find a way up.
The existence of the Shrine was something I didn't expect, and I'm happy about its presence. Because it made the gameplay less tedious overall, due to the feeling of having a checkpoint before the boss battle.
WARNING: As soon as you open the Shrine and die to the Boss, there's no way back, as the Portal reopens when you try to return. So either you defeat the boss or you don't finish the game. UNLESS YOU DON'T RELIGHT THE SHRINE WHEN YOU RETURN FROM THE DEAD.
The Boss itself isn't as difficult as you'd normally expect; its attacks are quite avoidable, and if you use a long-range attack before comboing, it will not only take more damage but also not react for a few seconds.
The combos are always the same: 2 attacks, skill.
BUG: FOR SOME REASON, AFTER DYING AND RETURNING TO BASE, THE BOSS REMAINED ACTIVE AND THE SHRINE STATE DIDN'T RESET, WHICH FORCED ME TO COMMIT SUICIDE TWICE, AND CAUSED ME TO HAVE 3 ACTIVE BOSSES AT THE SAME TIME, WHILE THEY SHARED THE SAME LIFE.
Unfortunately, I ended up giving up on the game, since I went back to limbo, and because there's no save game state, I decided not to do it all over again.