I played this game all day and I have some things to say
Firstly, I was extremely excited for this release. I was a huge DRG fan, and have ~400 hours in it, and I've also been a big DRG survivor fan for years as well, with about 100 hours in that. I'm a big fan of Rougelikes/roguelites and have played, HADES, HADES 2, VOID CREW, Slay The Spire, Slay The Spire 2, Binding of ISSIAC, INSCRYPTION, Balatro, Dominion, and all of those are among my favorite games. I'm by no means a "roguetype expert" gamer or anything, but I kinda know what to expect.
The reason I stopped playing DRG is because it just became boring. Every mission was the same, polished loop. It was fun, but after a while, I found myself downloading mods to randomize the loadouts just to add some variety. here's a hard truth that a lot of dwarves maybe aren't ready to hear: DRG is an easy game made for babies. The loop is good, but there's no real endgame aside from completing the missions faster, and getting your avatar to max level, or grinding the overclocks and cosmetics. That's fine, but I left that game for helldivers 2 because it was more fun and more intense.
now, I want to address my feelings about the 2 big criticisms:
- Upgrade negotiations -
If someone takes your super special ultimate upgrade: GET FUCKED LOL - There's a little heart that you can ask someone not to take it, but if it gets sniped from you, health is almost always a good option. I see why it can be triggering in the early levels, because you literally only get 3-4 upgrades, but on the 5+ level dives, where everyone knows what they're doing, that is basically a non-issue. You heart something, if they take it, they say "sry I needed it" in the chat, and that's that. It's one of 15+ upgrades that the team will get. It really, truly, isn't that big of a deal. If your entire build breaks because you didn't get that super special Epic tier double jump, then you probably didn't have a great build to begin with. In my measly 10 hours of experience, I found the options in the workbench far more run-crushing than any of the exp upgrades, which have 0 intervention from other players, and there's usually only 1 per level.
- The timer - The timer is tough.
Almost every round that I played (aside from the super early basic ones) we finished in the red. There's an anxiety that pushes the game forward, and forces players to play as efficiently as possible. If you're a dumb baby, and can't figure out how to manage your time, and would rather write a negative review in the hopes that the GSG will remove it, I have 0 respect for your opinion, and I don't care that you don't like the game. Many roguelites and roguelikes have a similar time limit, and I actually **enjoy** being under the gun in a game like this.
However, I think it could be done better:
DRG Survival has a much more forgiving time limit, where the enemies become stronger in progressively shorter amounts of time, and I think that works well for that game, because it tests your build. There's also unlimited ammo, and WAY more upgrades. I think that to improve the timer in this game, a similar system, where stronger and stronger bugs spawn, or just more and more bugs spawn. There's still an RNG amount of ammunition available, so it seems strange to me that they went with wall worms instead of the obvious unending wave of enemies.
I also think that a side objective that allows the timer to be extended would also be a natural way to alleviate the timer woes. Obviously, the player base has been very vocal about their distain for the timer, so time will tell if/how the devs change it.
I also LOVE the new weapons.
My favorite so far has been the double barrel rifle, that thing is badass. I got it on a run as spotter, and I was going for a max crit build, so I was laying down like 500 damage per shot on the final boss with all the upgrades. It felt awesome, and was super badass. The grav grenades are also quite awesome. Basically a traversal tool that takes up a different slot, so you can still use the zipline or driller hands. I hope we eventually see weapons with utility like that, or tools that do big damage with the right build. That would be some old school DRG synergy.
I also LOVE how hard the game is.
This game is MUCH harder than DRG. There's a certain "grit" to this game, even in the unpolished state. The Reclaimers are clearly more hardcore than the Miners, and I really like that, because they're on a super elite mission. It SHOULD be harder. not ANYONE can do it! When a build really starts to ramp up, and you become a super strong dwarf, I find it very satisfying and rewarding. I've literally been sweating in my gamer chair all day playing this damn game, and it's refreshingly hard.
I also LOVE how some things feel like DRG 2.
I think the new ship, the new characters, the weapons, map, the drop pod, DO feel like a very natural evolution of DRG. To me, RC feels like it still captured whimsy and charm of DRG, but improved on everything in the same ways as the core (pun intended) gameplay, making it a little harder, to make it more rewarding. I like the workout minigames to earn the beer, I like the new ascension hall, I miss the cosmetics shop.
Anyways, none of my friends play DRG or RC, so apologies if my post had too many words, or it was too long-winded; Just needed somewhere to get my thoughts out.
I'm excited to see where this game goes, and I hope it doesn't get review-bombed into mediocrity.
Cheers
TL:DR; I like rogue-type games. I think the upgrade negotiations aren't a big deal. I think the timer could have a better gameplay design. I like the new weapons, difficulty, vibe, and I think it's a good, natural evolution of DRG, and I'm happy to welcome it to the franchise.
Also:
Roguelite: Focuses on the runs (Balatro)
Roguelike: Focuses on the greater game (Hades)