Charming game with needed optimization improvements. I agree with the B+ rating from another user.

7.8/10

Gameplay:
- I'd say one has to play a few roguelikes to get into this game, the interface & UI could be more optimized and responsive, it could cause newer players to not gravitate to this because of that. But the builds sure have their variety and unique charm to it, for example if I want to play a ranged only build, it is possible, or if I want to lean into more melee, there are options for that. Gameplay is addicting paired with the nice art. There are quite a lot of upgrades that are obtainable through gameplay, so it actually gives more reason to play this.

Artwork:
- The selling point of this game is the artwork, it speaks for itself. Still can't believe this game made me like a "Rothschild" lmao. Seriously, catgirl is amazing for dps build.

Pricing:
- The game is is on sale for less than the price a cheeseburger, what are you waiting for, skip that unhealthy meal and grab this instead!!!

Support from devs: I have been waiting for this to get out of early access ever since the rougelike fest, gave up all hope of ever trying this out and bam, Nigate tale is officially out of early access and with new characters announced & optimizations with it. Instant purchase. They don't announce much, but at the very least, I know this is not a cash grab and they continuosly support it.

Optimization/ Improvements:
- There are fps/lag issues upon entering the graveyard area of the game, and it progressively gets laggier (playable but still lags) it is especially so when you are at the final boss's stage. I have done 2 consecutive runs, and this lag issue persists from one run to the other meaning, if you finish the first run at certain fps, the new run continues on that fps and further becomes slower when you reach the graveyard stages and beyond. Still, with these cons in mind, I'd still play this game (after relaunching it ofc).
- Dialogue options may be delayed sometimes when you click or skip on it, this ought to be improved also.

English translation issues:
- The marionette stage and the laboratory stage introduction still have the chinese namings upon entering these stages, which imo isn't too big of a deal since even the game "Warm Snow" has a few of these translation issues" other than that, I am fairly certain I have not seen other non translated text. Some dialogue do need grammar editing though.

I don't know if the devs read this, but please, please optimize the game, it's a great game with lots of work done for it. With current state of "Sweet Infant" era games that butcher the female form in major games, this is a breath of fresh air.

Even though it has officially released, it is far from being a finished game.

- too many bugs (like a whole weapon being non-functional, or a boss glitching out and becoming unkillable)
- a horrible translation (sometimes I have trouble understanding what the characters are actually bickering about)
- effect overload/visual clutter (I can't see what's happening on the screen because there's soo much stuff going on, my own effects included - like the boss boons)
- questionable design decisions (getting a non-upgradeable boon from the starting chest and then getting boon upgrades as a reward, which are rendered useless that way)
- the UI and menus can sometimes be annoying to navigate

There are some technical issues that can (rarely) lead to softlocking, such as falling through the floor, etc.
But overall the game is good.
The devs are also still fixing the ingame text, but it's totally usable as is.