Empyreal

I am supremely glad that I got this on a crazy sale, because if I had paid full price I would be raging. This game seems cool, I like the style of play and the witty banter that can be chosen through the dialog, but one thing overshadows the whole experience for me. This game is a repetitive mission game... Like go do this map 800 different times with different enemies and different starting points. It makes the game boring and seem to not progress. The story doesn't flow when it is just mission after mission like this. I can't recommend the game for this one flaw.

Silent Games heard you like running maps so they made a game that's all about running maps. Bought this game cuz it reminded me of Too Human but this game is definitely better, you actually get generously rewarded for exploring.

I see the vision, but it's not for me. Confusing at times. Refunded.

I was very vocally critical of this game when it first came out. My biggest problem was that there were only 3 weapons and that feels limited. I stand by that statement, because more weapons types would be awesome. But I decided to give it a real try with this latest sale, and to be honest, I see the vision. The combat is FUN and fluid, albeit somewhat janky. But like, it's a GOOD jank. I think the misconception I had was that the devs were lazy. That's what I gathered from the limited amount of weapon types. But honestly, 3 hours in and I can tell a lot of work and love was poured into this game. It'd be criminal to not at least give this a chance. Especially on a hot sale.

I think the game is under-rated; while there are some things that can be improved, there are very few glitches/bugs, and nothing game breaking. I find it to be pretty fun overall, and there are challenges to work through that help push you towards trying different options. There is a demo for the game, give it a go. It's a bit more complicated than when you start the full game, since the devs wanted to show you all the cool stuff in the game, so you're not slowly adding abilities and getting used to them like you would when starting the game from scratch. Also, the developers are actually engaged with the community; I've communicated with them directly on the discord server. I don't know a single game in which you can know that anything you want to communicate actually gets to the developers, never mind getting a response from them, which does happen on the discord server.

A few hours in - Im really enjoying the aesthetic and mystery. Might sound funny, but I view this as more of a sci-fi Tomb Raider, with nooks and crannies to search for loot. I really like not having a map - just get lost in the map and find your way out, like a true navigator. I'm enjoying the combat - I'll be playing the glaive for the time being, and haven't even tried to make a balanced armor set. That's next. The modern aesthetic is an interesting palette to take in. Minimal, nothing over the top, original, beautiful. The dev team should be proud. I really hope this game finds an audience and does well - I can see lots of updates and DLCs in the future. If they ever have the resources to turn this into a 3-4 player co-op mode, that would be pretty dope. Just fighting waves of tough enemies and fighting a TOUGH boss.

optimization is still horrible, freezes every so often

I played a couple missions and the game is kind of boring. Lacks anything to really catch your interest i mean fighting noises are non existent. Music is uninspiring to even keep playing. Looks cool but lacks any fun and will just be a grind fest.

I really like it, it´s a great game for it´s current price and scope. After playing the demo I knew I liked the combat and the design. Two questions made me hesitant to buy it though: How is the loot/progression? What is the game´s place next to AAA action titles? Well, loot and progression are very good. The loop of playing a map and finding new gear feels rewarding. As for Empyreal`s place next to the flood of big AAA action titles ... for me, sometimes all I want is good combat and loot, with not too much distracting fluff around it. And not being Souls-like #756. And this is what´s on offer here, a game focussed on it´s core elements. That said, the small story bits between runs are quite well written and voiced. Of course the presentation of it fits the budget, just NPCs talking a bit, with little animation. My cons: I had more crashes than I like, and performance should be better, measured against the graphics. Having to set DLSS to "balanced" with a 4070ti doesn´t fe...

Do it...