So I have decided to take on another side-scrolling 2D metroidvania game. This one looks great, has awesome music and is simple enough that you can walk in and walk out on it without losing much memory of what is going on.
I previously complained about there being too much dialogue in the game and I still think that is true but I have encountered another, much larger flaw that is really starting to get on my nerves with this game.
src
I'm playing the game on easy because I am not in the mood for a souls-type game, ever really. It might be a bit too easy actually because I have simply mad-button-mash killed the first 3 bosses, have very little in the way of strategy and mostly just have way more healing potions than I will ever need in a battle. This doesn't mean I can't possibly lose because there is a delay when you hit the healing button and when it heals you just like in other games like Hollow Knight and many others. So you can't just spam heal all the time - which is good.
This is not a problem though, because I DID select to play on easy and was hoping that it actually would be. I can always go back through the game later and try it out on harder settings if I want to. This isn't a problem at all. The problem is that the game does an absolutely terrible job of indicating where the hell you are supposed to be going.
src
As you would expect the map gets revealed as you go through the actual areas. As of yet I have not encountered anyone that is selling a map for a future or present area, so it is up to you to find any secret areas and when you go through a door, for the most part you are taking a gamble as to whether or not this is actually where you are meant to be going. This doesn't seem like much of a problem and is very similar to basically all games of this type. The problem is that for the most part you don't have a damn clue where you are supposed to be heading next.
The map only indicates doors, walkways, and other areas that you can pass through, there is no indication as to where you are actually supposed to go next.
Remember how I said there was way too much dialogue in this game? Well you better pay attention to some of it because I have already encountered multiple times where something they said to me that seemed of zero consequence ended up being my only clue as to where TF I am supposed to go next.
Someone said "take this to Carlos in the Mill" and this was very frustrating to me because I have no friggin idea who Carlos is and there is nothing on my map that indicates where a "Mill" might actually be. Nay, the only way to find Carlos' mill is to walk around the entire city until you walk in front of a door and then a "mill" pop up window goes over your head.
src
I couldn't find a picture of it but something like this
Then when you do find Carlos he tells you to meet him in his laboratory but again, we are given no indication as to where his friggin lab is. There is no help on the map, Carlos doesn't give you directions and thankfully it just happened to be nearby. However, since there were two directions that you could have gone in once Carlos just warps away and if you took the wrong direction, you would be wandering around, lost, for ages before you figured it out.
I don't necessarily need a game to hold my hand and tell me exactly where I am supposed to go but a little help would be nice. To make matters worse, when you do wander hoping to accidentally stumble upon the area that you are supposed to go to, there aren't very many enemies - so you don't even have the added benefit of getting some XP while you saunter around aimlessly.
So far, this is a fun game as long as you are on the correct path but I think they did a terrible job as far as navigation is concerned. The game isn't even difficult but I have already consulted YT multiple times to access walkthroughs simply because I had quickly tired of wandering aimlessly.
Next I may have to talk about how when you are at a weapon/armor vendor it gives zero indication as to whether or not the weapons / armor being sold is better than what you currently have equipped. Get ready to waste some in-game money!
If this continues to be a "feature" of this game I don't see myself finishing it.