The ability and miracle outfit sets have lost and are losing more and more meaning; the game as a whole lacks cohesion
TL;DR and conclusion
It's a shame that one of the biggest strenghts of IN in the beginning is getting more and more lost. The outfits weren't only pretty to look at; they also had function and meaning that contributed to the whole game world's cohesion.
I'm weighing the pros and cons of game design decisions for discussion, because I care about the game. I see things that point in a direction I dont think is a good one, I'm interested in other people's views. I'm complaining about the missing art asset on the SbB sketch page, because I'm missing it, it's one of the aspects that makes the miracle outfits special! The fabric especially makes the crafting aspect tangible/visualizes it!
People, can you please read everything before commenting, I know I put a TLDR, but I think it's better to read everything to understand my viewpoint and arguments properly😅
I think the only reason why they created the Legendary Outfit category for Slumber by Blossoms is to save on art assets in the sketch menu**.** The pieces and outfit itself are gorgeous!
(visible when you compare the screenshots: they saved on the fabric!, accessory/details, icon, background illustration and additional animations).
It has remarkably less than the miracle outfits which is such a shame. Makes it look cheap in my opinion.
The lore text is also missing on its page. They should've at least put that on there. It's not like it's poorly written or non existent, like that the connection to Providence Immemorial/Echeros would be clearer.
What is the animation in the wardrobe of it like (when you put on the set)? If it's smaller than that of the miracle outfits that would also confirm my suspicions.
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First, all the miracle outfits after Aurosa weren't visibly tied into the main story anymore.
Then, all the ability outfit sets lost meaning in 1.5 when we got the custom ability outfit function. Before it was like you had to wear specific outfits to use specific abilities, that notion is completely gone now, at least in my eyes. On the other hand, it makes the game more f2p friendly I think, because you can (re-)create your own ability outfits.
But I also think that it would be easier for them to make appealing ability outfits if we didn't have the custom ability outfit function like before 1.5... I feel like we're getting more flashy 5 star abilities that aren't fleshed out/lower quality(I'm especially looking at you, recolored Behemoth👀)
Commenters have commented that it'd get boring, doesn't use the creative capabilities from the dress up functions, if it was restricted to set outfits only, I can definitely see that and I also enjoy customizing. This was meant as a theoretical debate anyway, they're not gonna change a feature that was and is received very positively. I was thinking about it because it made me a little sad I guess. The intertwining of story/worldbuilding with the outfits was one of IN's greatest strengths in my eyes.
The following in brackets is about other deteriorated areas in the game that came to my mind while thinking about this-skip if you're only interested on the topic of the outfit sets losing meaning.
**[**Other areas where I've noticed an increase in quantitiy and decrease in quality or them just adding more completely new stuff/systems instead of building on older stuff, which I think would raise the quality and enjoyment:
The whole combat system(remember the crafting and and spraying/wearing of fragrances that were skills?That was such unique and on brand presentation of gaining and equipping skills for a self proclaimed fashion/styling game! Now you just unlock skills in the skill tree like every other game) The combat difficulty for both esselings/mobs and bosses in the beginning was also perfect for me. Now it's mainly spam clicking, especially with the hordes of esselings with a lot of HP, it has gotten boring and annoying.
The whole dying system obviously. It's just unlocked through generic star currencies now. It has been thoroughly discussed already but so much potential was wasted there, I'd like as much people as possible to know about it.
'That and many more things (creating isolated islands for events, the catway/fashion show being secluded on Serenity Island and not being utilized more in a self proclaimed fashion game,the whole housing island...) make the game's world/the game as a whole lack(s) cohesion. IN feels more and more like a "grab bag" of ideas that fit into its original cozy game vision and a lot that don't and don't get expanded upon/lack depth/there's more quantity than quality.
Especially the limited event content often feels like it's a grab bag of random minigames next to story and characters that never appear again.
A definition of cohesion grabbed from the Google AI summary( I'm just copying it because it matches what I mean by cohesion in a video game) when I search for cohesion meaning in a game:
In video games, cohesion means that all the different parts of a game—like its story, visuals, rules, and controls—fit together perfectly to create a unified, logical experience. It ensures everything in the game supports a single, clear vision.
I feel like the vision is not so clear anymore, like IN is straying from its original vision of being a styling, open world, adventuring and platforming game first of all, it has been muddied with all the additional combat, management, building...What game do they want IN to be, it's trying to combine too many gameplay modes at once by now**]**
There was also this moment in the 1.4 Uncrowned Heart main story where you had to wear a certain hat for plot reasons, but then it disappeard and they explained it with the fact that a glamour was cast on it.
Seeing any custom outfit everywhere(cutscenes, open world...) is one of the biggest strenghts of IN I think. But in that scenario I would've prefered to be forced to wear that specific hat. It would've been more immersive and meaningful I think.
It's a shame that one of the biggest strenghts of IN in the beginning is getting more and more lost. The outfits weren't only pretty to look at; they also had function and meaning that contributed to the whole game world's cohesion.
About the usage of AI:
I can understand why some people are reacting negatively to AI. But is using sites you clicked on Google you havent verified much that much better?
I've thought about what the AI spit out, it matches what I remember from when we discussed the word cohesion (in the context of texts) in a college class once and what I mean to say with cohesion here. I would've done the same with whatever would be written on a site.
And I'm sorry, but I'm not doing thorough research for this. I'm only interested in expressing my stand point(however underinformed it may be, if someone knows stuff better they're very welcome to correct me, I'm also relying on swarm intelligence here) and the discussion/other's views on the IN stuff I adressed here. I think that amount of research is enough for this.