Dark Deity is out

[Alastor15243]

So... Anyone else played this Dark Deity game yet?

It kinda just took me by surprise coming out early, and I played a few hours today. I'm not too impressed with it so far, in all honesty. Lots of little things that are either immediately bothering me or making me think "this may not bode well for the future".

What do you guys think?

[Malfaria]

I like myself, but I'll wait until I finish it before I give my own thoughts.

[Fabulously Olivier]

My very early initial impressions are positive. Some things that caught my attention:

 

* The game has serious replay value off settings alone. You can set recruitment order to random, enemy classes to full random or same-tier random, randomize enemy weapons, etc. You can also randomize your unit's aptitudes.

 

* The breadth of difficulty options is refreshing and FE would do well to take note. Not only does the game have the standard 3 difficulties, but you can individually tune your xp gains, gold gains, and base stats from 25%-200%. That's awesome.

 

* I like the weapon system. It seems to have no durability mechanic and immediately offers every unit multiple weapons or spells to choose from, each having a distinct mt, wt, acc, and crit chance so you can fish around for the right numbers in each fight. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to offer 1-2 range weapons. I immediately noticed that my Javelin was 1 range - which contradicts the entire point of it being a Javelin.

[Parrhesia]

Haven't played it, but my vibe is that it's in thrall to nostalgia. Ideally, it isn't going in blind and actually does have plans to iterate - like Fell Seal to FFTA/2, or Wargroove to AW, both of which were improvements because the devs were clearly fans who still took note of bad things that could use improvement - but seeing so much focus on, like, GBA-style combat graphics? Maybe the least important thing in a TRPG, copied off a weak formula?

Most likely I'll grab it after a few patches when it's on sale.

[Florete]

It looks like it may need a few updates before it's where it needs to be, based on some reviews and Steam forum comments. I'll wait a bit, probably catch it around the Christmas sale.

It'll probably be better than Three Houses, at least.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I just have bought the game today after a friend of mine had recommended it. It looks like Langrisser, but with more similar Fire Emblem gameplay. I'd start doing a LP of it upcoming weekend.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Did not hear of this until it released and someone else mentioned it. 

As I tend to be wary of indie games, I'll hold off until a steep sale to reduce the costs of a potential bad buy if I were to ever get it -not that I have my gaming laptop yet anyhow.

 

8 hours ago, Parrhesia said:

or Wargroove to AW, both of which were improvements because the devs were clearly fans who still took note of bad things that could use improvement

Although somehow, Wargroove didn't have the same magic as Advance Wars did for me. I can see where it made things better- taking and stealing properties is easier and faster, naval warfare is far cheaper and Amphibians make taking beachheads easier, Knights and Golems don't dominate land direct combat as heavily as the various tanks did.

I'm not entirely sure what then bothered me the whole time, but I think it might be that the Gold economy in the campaign was deflated more than the deflation in unit prices. Having the funds to churn out 2 good units per turn is infrequent in Wargroove, while it's easier in AW. Although curtailing unit spam I recognize is a good thing, it leaves me very cautious with using what I do have. Maybe I'm stupider and in need of unit imbalance than I thought.

 

8 hours ago, Parrhesia said:

but seeing so much focus on, like, GBA-style combat graphics? Maybe the least important thing in a TRPG

I take it you say that having stomached much of the recent flak Re-Boot Camp is getting for abandoning 2D spritework? I won't say the new 3D is perfect, it could use refinements, and I did like the GBA sprites, but I'm entirely willing to accept it and excessive chin on Max and Drake if that's the price of an AW revival.

[Alastor15243]

10 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I take it you say that having stomached much of the recent flak Re-Boot Camp is getting for abandoning 2D spritework? I won't say the new 3D is perfect, it could use refinements, and I did like the GBA sprites, but I'm entirely willing to accept it and excessive chin on Max and Drake if that's the price of an AW revival.

I don't get what people are complaining about there. The art style is adorable, and Nell looks cute as all hell judging by the gameplay demo they showed.

[Use the Falchion]

I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm loving it! It's seem to taken a bit of everything from every FE game before it, but is also making sure to have its own spin on things. The characters are fun, the weapon choice took a bit to get used to (I wasn't sure if the four weapons had durability or not, and the special abilities aren't something I immediately noticed), but overall I think I'm doing moderately well at it. I'm not sure how much I'll replay it, as I'm a character and shipper first and don't really care about challenges when it comes to replays, but we'll see. 

The gameplay is a bit more challenging than what I'm used to right now, but that's good for me. It means I have to pay attention to more things than most modern FE games. The music has been hit-or-miss (the battle theme for the first chapter was AWFUL to me, but I've only heard it once, so I can't complain), but overall it's not bad! The maps have been relatively varied so far as well, which is nice. 

(I also wasn't surprised by the release date, but that's because I was a part of the Kickstarter. I knew how hard the team was working to get this out, and how they had to push things back from the March window they were hoping for. Once they announced Dark Deity was heading to E3, I was pretty sure Tuesday would be the release date.) 

[Imuabicus der Fertige]

I´m up to chapter, I think it´s 9 and my issues with the controls & interface aside, it´s... ok?

What they might want to look into though is the promotion system - upon capping exp promoting and then getting another move with the same unit in the same turn seems a tad powerful.

Speaking of promotions, unit stats should be visible when promoting, how the already high growths change isn´t that important imo. Even more so, when we are given a new unit at the beginning of the chapter, having never seen anything about them, and we are immediately prompted to chose a promotion for them. Unless I just haven´t found that option.  

 

I´m not sure I understood it correctly, but for damage calc, there is basically Weapon Class vs Armor Class, and then on top of that a kind of weapon triangle with the colours?

 

On another note how are people´s views on the units and classes? So far Irving, Elias and Benji have been the most disappointing, with Elias being bad enough/having fallen far enough behind that he´s become a liability. The Rogue tree seems very strong so far, though I have only tried Stalker/Duelist.

I´m not sure the smithing system works out that well, considering all units have 4 different weapons all the time and you need to improve them separately.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Imuabicus

[Use the Falchion]

22 minutes ago, Imuabicus said:

On another note how are people´s views on the units and classes? So far Irving, Elias and Benji have been the most disappointing, with Elias being bad enough/having fallen far enough behind that he´s become a liability. The Rogue tree seems very strong so far, though I have only tried Stalker/Duelist.

Irving has been a bit of a disappointment so far, but I feel like I'm comparing him to other Lords in FE who usually stand above the crowd, when I feel like he's more of a unit who happens to be the main character than that. Elias hasn't been too disappointing for me so far. In some cases, I've counted on him to reliably tank a hit that I wasn't sure other units could. I haven't (officially) met Benji yet, so I can't speak for him. 

[Imuabicus der Fertige]

11 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

Irving has been a bit of a disappointment so far, but I feel like I'm comparing him to other Lords in FE who usually stand above the crowd, when I feel like he's more of a unit who happens to be the main character than that. Elias hasn't been too disappointing for me so far. In some cases, I've counted on him to reliably tank a hit that I wasn't sure other units could. I haven't (officially) met Benji yet, so I can't speak for him.

Irving was fine for like the first few chapters, maybe I messed up his promotion (I went the topmost one - Warrior I think?)

[Use the Falchion]

2 hours ago, Imuabicus said:

Irving was fine for like the first few chapters, maybe I messed up his promotion (I went the topmost one - Warrior I think?)

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, right now I have him as a Defender and he's doing fine. I just got Benji and turned him into a Warrior, and he's doing pretty fine as well. Both need support, but I'm overall happy with the turnout. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

My Irving has been carrying me, and I have him as a dragoon.

 

Bianca seems disproportionately strong while Elias is somewhat disappointing. 

[eclipse]

It's not bad.  Mostly everyone has a niche, whether it be blowing things up quickly, dodging, or being hit in the face repeatedly while doing questionable damage (dammit Elias, I believe on you).

[ciphertul]

Not gonna lie, random growth mode on it is a massive gamble. Like getting an archer with a base 3 strength and a 15% growth rate but like a 20 base magic with a 90% growth. Shit could make for some crazy runs though.

[Use the Falchion]

So, someone on the writing team is a HUGE Brandon Sanderson and Wheel of Time fan. (I am too, which makes it great.) 

So far, I've caught: 

The Way of Oaths (Sanderson's first Stormlight Archive book is titled The Way of Kings, and characters must swear Oaths they believe and must embody to gain power)

Chapter 11 is titled "Death Is Lighter Than a Feather." (The second half of a phrase made popular by Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, which Sanderson famously - or infamously if you didn't like the final three books - finished. The full phrase is "duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather," or some variations of.) 

An entire lance/spear-wielding class called Windrunners. (These are an Order of the magical Knights Radiant in the Stormlight Archive. The most popular and famous of the Windrunners wields a spear.) 

A university in-world called Cosmere University. (The Cosmere is (one of) Sanderson's shared universe.) 

 

There were other potential references, but these were the most obvious. I look forward to finding more as I continue to play the game. The writers and developers were definitely having fun when making this game. Discovering that Avocado Toast was a healing item was hilarious, and the comments about in-land fish items were great too. It's the little touches. 

[Malfaria]

There was a Running shoes mention and a RD reference in one of the bow weapon's descriptions.

[Imuabicus der Fertige]

Alright, dodgetanking seems to be very real in this game, not just for the rogues but also the mages. Sloane is consistently MVP.

Also, regarding the new units that you get every now and then, is it just me or are they just kind off... better than any other unit that you have at that point?

That reminds me, what difficulties are people playing on? I´m on 2/3, w/e it´s called and it´s quite easy (so far who knows).

 

Also a minor tip for chapter 14, where enemies suddenly have above 60HP:

Spoiler

Make sure that the middle path is open.

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Imuabicus

[Use the Falchion]

On 6/18/2021 at 4:16 AM, Imuabicus said:

Also, regarding the new units that you get every now and then, is it just me or are they just kind off... better than any other unit that you have at that point?

It's been 50/50 for me on that. Most of them are, but I don't use all of them. But you're given so many at once and can't deploy nearly as many as I'd like, that I end up defaulting to the OG crew and some new units for a few maps at a time. It really stinks too, since I'd like to use CIA, but I don't ever have the space to do so. (I'm trying to make sure my core team stays level, and that select under-leveled units stay alive and can gain some levels.)

 

On 6/18/2021 at 4:16 AM, Imuabicus said:

That reminds me, what difficulties are people playing on? I´m on 2/3, w/e it´s called and it´s quite easy (so far who knows).

I'm playing on the medium difficulty, and it's both hard and easy. Some levels don't require restarts. Others require multiple restarts. I feel like every level or two there's a MASSIVE spike in enemy stats, and it makes things a pain for most of the levels. Like, I restarted a bit in Chapter 17, but it was fun. I'm forcing myself to take a break during Chapter 18 because it's NOT fun. It's annoying to almost to the point of rage. But I also have this weird grin on my face, but it's still annoying. ...probably because I restart after every character loss, even if they aren't dead. It's how I've played Fire Emblem for almost twenty years, and I won't stop that habit now!

 

On 6/18/2021 at 4:16 AM, Imuabicus said:

Sloane is consistently MVP.

Sloane, Alden, Bianca, and Garrick, are my usual MVPs, followed by Caius and sometimes Irving. (I'd love for Brooke and Helena to get to that point, but they probably won't. Sara isn't as good as I'd like either...)

[Fabulously Olivier]

The way they determine MVP seems weird. It isn't necessarily the one who gets the most kills. Elias tends to be my MVP because he gets in the most fights (as my Reverie tank). He doesn't win those fights, but he chips them down.

[eclipse]

I wish the game would stop randomly glitching, though.  Lost a couple of units due to a very specific glitch around one of them.

Spoiler

I'm not sure what causes Vesta to glitch out, but it results in her being immovable for a turn.  If there's another unit adjacent to her, they're also immobile.  On the next turn, Vesta can move, but the other unit can't.  Which meant that Maeve died due to events outside of her control.  I'm sorry, Maeve!

I'm pretty sure this isn't a class thing, since Lincoln never displayed the same behavior.

 

[Imuabicus der Fertige]

19 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

It's been 50/50 for me on that. Most of them are, but I don't use all of them. But you're given so many at once and can't deploy nearly as many as I'd like, that I end up defaulting to the OG crew and some new units for a few maps at a time. It really stinks too, since I'd like to use CIA, but I don't ever have the space to do so. (I'm trying to make sure my core team stays level, and that select under-leveled units stay alive and can gain some levels.)

Hm, I wanna say the first time I had to bench someone was around chapter 10, but not 100% sure.

19 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

I'm playing on the medium difficulty, and it's both hard and easy. Some levels don't require restarts. Others require multiple restarts. I feel like every level or two there's a MASSIVE spike in enemy stats, and it makes things a pain for most of the levels. Like, I restarted a bit in Chapter 17, but it was fun. I'm forcing myself to take a break during Chapter 18 because it's NOT fun. It's annoying to almost to the point of rage. But I also have this weird grin on my face, but it's still annoying. ...probably because I restart after every character loss, even if they aren't dead. It's how I've played Fire Emblem for almost twenty years, and I won't stop that habit now!

Yeah the spikes are a bit weird, from what I´ve seen the enemies gain like 2 levels per chapter I think, but sometimes they also seem to promote increasing their stats further. The chapter where you recruit the pink haired mage was a real struggle. 

19 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Sloane, Alden, Bianca, and Garrick, are my usual MVPs, followed by Caius and sometimes Irving. (I'd love for Brooke and Helena to get to that point, but they probably won't. Sara isn't as good as I'd like either...)

I think I messed up Sloane some way - went the full Magician-Illusionist route but as of lvl 30 her damage fell hard. Otherwise it´s been Cia, Brooke (Crits & Dodging), Alden and Monroe (the games nostank it seems).

17 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

The way they determine MVP seems weird.

I want to say it´s the characters total damage? You can sort the mvp screen, but the first thing that pops up, always seems to be about total damage.

[eclipse]

3 hours ago, Imuabicus said:

Yeah the spikes are a bit weird, from what I´ve seen the enemies gain like 2 levels per chapter I think, but sometimes they also seem to promote increasing their stats further. The chapter where you recruit the pink haired mage was a real struggle.

That's odd, I didn't have too many issues with that one.  Then again, battlemages solve a lot of problems.

3 hours ago, Imuabicus said:

I think I messed up Sloane some way - went the full Magician-Illusionist route but as of lvl 30 her damage fell hard. Otherwise it´s been Cia, Brooke (Crits & Dodging), Alden and Monroe (the games nostank it seems).

I'm sure someone can make Magician useful, but I have yet to find such a unit.

[Fabulously Olivier]

56 minutes ago, eclipse said:

That's odd, I didn't have too many issues with that one.  Then again, battlemages solve a lot of problems.

I'm sure someone can make Magician useful, but I have yet to find such a unit.

It really shouldn't be that hard. It's a spd/dex class, which are the best stats, and it has a great phase support ability for those looking to LTC. Alden is (unsurprisingly) the character with the highest spd/dex spread, making him the best at dodge tanking with the role.