First Negative Review on Steam or Inb4 Negative Reviews Because Difficulty

[Elaxter]

So I found this review on the page after seeing Exanima's perfect 100 go down to a 96.

It's a great open up for this thread. It has two titles for a reason. People are going to review this game because it is hard. They feel as if their games should be easy in order for them to be good. I'm coaching it in a negative light because this review is coming from a bad place. This reviewer probably purchased this game today and sat down to play for an hour, only to find that the game doesn't hold your hand or isn't easy. He's throwing up issues that were addressed to the public from the devs themselves on WHY they don't make it this way.

It just pisses me off a bit.


Devs, if you're reading this: what do you think about this?

Edit: The review was just voted as "funny."

 

[CaptnB]

I did get access to the game today and just finished my first hour of play, so here's what I think.

First thing I did is read the controls description as the Kickstarter mail was pointing to it before playing. Then I created my first character and died immediately after the first monster encounter. I knew I had to toggle combat mode but didn't know how. I looked at the controls again, figured I has to press tab and created a 2nd character. With combat mode enabled, I died immediately after the first monster encounter.

I knew the combat system was not obvious at first so I went to the "novice" arena to get some testing done and I'm still dying after a hit or 2. So here's me trying to gather more info on forums to just understand how to play the game. I don't mind hard but this is not hard, it's just impossible.

It's only been an hour so I'm not quitting yet but so far, I wouldn't say it's been enjoyable.

 

[Elaxter]

You say it's impossible but yet here we are playing the game and beating the expert arena.

Come back when you're not mad.

You're not going to get this game in an hour. Hell, even 2. It might take you a couple days to get comfortable, or it might take you just 3 hours. Stick with it, because the game turns fun after you figure the combat out.

 

[Downstairs Eddie]

Well it's obviously not 'impossible' or no one would be able to kill anything. It just takes a while to get a hang of the controls, and then you need to be cautious and watch how the enemies move and attack. It's hard but it's not unfair in any way. The devs weren't kidding when they said it's unlike anything else.

On that negative review, we've seen similar issues posted on the forum. The thing is, the sort of controls the person wants just wouldn't work in this game. It would dramatically simplify the physics-based movement and combat. Maybe some people simply won't get their head around it, but so be it. I don't want the devs to compromise the game.

 

[Elaxter]

The last thing the devs will do is directly make the game easier. Each update that cleans up the combat system is indirectly making the game easier and that's what we want. But as soon as the devs start directly feeding the player help, it's a done wrap. They wont do that because funding will basically cease.

 

[Vold]

I did get access to the game today and just finished my first hour of play, so here's what I think.

First thing I did is read the controls description as the Kickstarter mail was pointing to it before playing. Then I created my first character and died immediately after the first monster encounter. I knew I had to toggle combat mode but didn't know how. I looked at the controls again, figured I has to press tab and created a 2nd character. With combat mode enabled, I died immediately after the first monster encounter.

I knew the combat system was not obvious at first so I went to the "novice" arena to get some testing done and I'm still dying after a hit or 2. So here's me trying to gather more info on forums to just understand how to play the game. I don't mind hard but this is not hard, it's just impossible.

It's only been an hour so I'm not quitting yet but so far, I wouldn't say it's been enjoyable.

That's the spirit man, keep practicing and you will end up loving it. I suggest you to check out a combat tutorial.

@Elaxter It baffles me how unpatient and blind are some people; bashing the game out of nowhere based on a little time of dedication. Well, haters gonna hate.

 

[Tottel]

If I'm honest, it took me a couple of weeks to make the "click". I kept on dying and dying and dying, but suddenly: I just got how it worked and I turned into an elegant killing machine.

 

[Buggeroo]

If I'm honest, it took me a couple of weeks to make the "click". I kept on dying and dying and dying, but suddenly: I just got how it worked and I turned into an elegant killing machine.

That experience is one of the things that make this game great. I remember going through something like that in the combat beta.

Regarding the number of people wanting camera-relative controls; there is a reason this has been discussed at great lengths on these forums. I can perfectly understand why, at first, it would seem like the better, more intuitive, choice. The challenge here, I think, is to make it more clear exactly why the controls have to be like they are and this is extremely difficult to explain to someone who hasn't played the game.
I think the best approach would be to have some tutorial videos accessible directly from the menu, where people can get basic instructions. I also believe it would be good to have a more basic training arena, with just some dummies and/or zombies or varied aggressiveness. Just to get a basic idea of blocking/attacking. When you are completely new to the combat, the first novice opponent can seem utterly impossible.

 

[Tottel]

[..]I also believe it would be good to have a more basic training arena, with just some dummies and/or zombies or varied aggressiveness. Just to get a basic idea of blocking/attacking. When you are completely new to the combat, the first novice opponent can seem utterly impossible.

Yes and no. If I play arena for a while, I do really well. If I play campaign first, I do worse in arena after.
The reason is that I "warmed up" against mindless opponents who don't block. And I then take this mindset into the arena. They block my attacks and I have a hard time.

 

[ZaratanCho]

Yup all the negative reviews i have seen are crap and saying things that are just wrong. And from people who have played 0.5-1 hour. and are done.
Some guy saying he is a developer and has played the game then is saying(its a positive review at least ;d)

I think the game would be GREATLY improved if, while in combat, the character moved in relation to the camera, and the camera was locked behind the player's back.

Which is quite far from the truth, kind of the opposite. I can't understand these people, as if they are special to get this idea and the devs never thought about it or other options.. Just play half an hour and now you understand everything so you should go tell the devs how to do everything since they have no idea what they are doing at all and never played a game in their lives. Seen a lot of that and it will probably continue, though nothing new i guess. There are designers after all(review in OP) ;d
A post or something on steam explaining a little the camera and controls and why they are like that can help a little. Its just the usual things coming up now from some people that just started the game, "i have no control, just need to hope the character stumbles in the right direction", or you only have 3 moves. It should be mentioned you can do many, many hits/strikes not, well now you "only" have left/right swing and overhead. Or getting stuck and tripping over all the time because you cant walk straight and its the games fault ;d
Most reviews are positive though even if a lot of them are from forum members, some aren't.
Well, twas a bit of a rant ;d

 

[burgzaza]

Read this review too. And yeah agree it's really not fair, especially when he talks bad about the devs...
But these are to be expect. Steam community, mostly cool players, but very vocal trolls too.

I'm confident about BM not fall for them and make the game an easy mode. They talk about it several times. They have a strong idea of the game they want to make =)

Yes and no. If I play arena for a while, I do really well. If I play campaign first, I do worse in arena after.
The reason is that I "warmed up" against mindless opponents who don't block. And I then take this mindset into the arena. They block my attacks and I have a hard time.

True ! But it does help to warm in arena and then go into Exanima's Underworld

 

[Downstairs Eddie]

34 positive and only 4 negative is really good, I'd say.

 

[Evilprovolone]

Its different from most games I've played I like the mechanics of it. it is definitely refreshing to get something new.

 

[crashingtingler]

i.... might have been the guy who voted it as funny. because noobs are hilarious.

 

[Mnemosyne]

Every single game i've played on steam has people like these on the forums and writing reviews. It's inescapable there. This review is quite mild in comparison to some of the nonsense i've seen. Steam is a platform to sell games quickly to a lot of people. Not a place to get unbiased and intelligent opinions.

 

[Scarecrow]

Post your own reviews, and it will outnumber the negative ones. There are bound to be negative reviews, we cant change that. We can however post our own positive opinions about the game.

 

[tiny lampe]

So I found this review on the page after seeing Exanima's perfect 100 go down to a 96.

If we ignore the first paragraph, I honestly can't find anything wrong with that review.

The poster says that the combat is different, and he is right. The poster says that the control schema may throw off new players, which is true. Importantly, he doesn't then proceed to bash the game or throw a hissy fit; he simply warns potential customers that unless they are willing to give time to the control schema this game may not be for them. He even says that he will update the review if something changes.

So yes, it's a negative review but it's a respectful and reasonable one. That's totally fine in my book.

 

[Elaxter]

Steam needs a "mixed" option. Really. Some people are on the fence about this game and it's all right, so there needs to be a mixed review button.

 

[Avramovic]

For that brief time I managed to swing metal spikes and torch in darkness, as well as trip and fall repeatedly I found it all immensely fun, refreshing even, when compared to 'autopilot' of many a 1st/3rd person modern computer arpg & rpg's. I figured out that, by keeping space pressed with something (not necessarily a digit ) you can lock the camera behind you... sort of... which does help, a bit.

Of course, soon enough my shoddy hardware came into play and the game exploded. That may happen less with Skyrim and New Vegas, okay, but one has to be ready to look past flaws and difficulties to appreciate and enjoy something different.

 

[Don Kanaille]

The one legit criticism is that getting a hang of the game is really rough. Most people dont even find the quickstart guide, which should be put in a more prominent position. And there is no real interactive tutorial in which you can actually try how things work while you are told how.* I know that figuring out things can be a huge part of the game´s appeal (it sure was for me), but a well made - optional - tutorial, ideally which somehow fits the story/setting, would go a huge way to ease in many new players and deplete their criticism.





*

Spoiler

e.g. I botched one of my earlier runs because I did not know how to unlock a door... dragged the key over the door and it vanished >.<