It's hard to describe this game in a way that gives it justice.

Many people call it that, but that is about as accurate as calling every tab-targeting MMO a WoW clone. Yeah, it has similarities, but guns and lack of punishement for death (beyond restarting from checkpoint) and simple fact you don't need to learn attack patterns of every enemy to beat this game makes it feel more like a tactical shooter than a souls-like.

Another massive difference in this game is the upgrade system. Upgrades do not turn more expensive as you unlock them and unlike in most souls-likes it is actually possible to to max out everything. That is important because you can, in theory grind the difficulty off.


It's difficult if you compare it to something like warframe, where you just run around like a headless chicken with a bullet-hose. As you start out some enemies will be hard to kill and you will have to get in the rhythm of dodging, but it's not terrible. If you're planning to play this as a co-op game with friends (not through matchmaging), keep in mind your maxed out friend might upscale the world and make the game harder than it is for you.


Upgrades in this games come in 2 forms: Equipment upgrades (equipment itself and flat stat upgrades to chosen equipment) and Traits. Both have weight to them, and when paired with considerable difficulty early on, upgrades are very noticeable and feel rewarding.
For example, early on, I was short on stamina (a lot when running, but sometimes when dodging). A few hours later, I got 2 different stamina traits, which (when maxed) fixed that problem (or rather made it manageable). Much later in game I thought I already had a decently built character, but then I maxed out a recoil/spread reduction trait. That extra stability (not much, by the way, like 25%) improved my damage considerably.


This is one of those rare games where you can play it once and be done it with, but it is built for you to play it multiple times. There are a lot of upgrades to unlock, many weapons to acquire and bosses to kill and it is impossible for you to do it all in 1 run.

I've read somewhere that this game has generalized weapon families (i.e. rifles, shots, swords etc) and I thought that meant the game has multiple identical feeling weapons that will just have different skins and maybe stat tweaks.... you know? The stuff that most AAA games started pushing out lately. That is sort of true, but most weapons are designed in a way where similarties with other weapons in the "family" are often hard to spot as there is always something to make them feel unique.

There are a few account-wide items to be earned when playing those 2 modes. I can't say whether those items will be useful to you, but hey, if you choose to make a new character and start from scratch, you will be starting with a few really rare accessories. Also, you get 1 emote, which you can use to give everybody else free copies of 1 of those accessories.

I probably forgot a few, but here's what I remember

• Most obvious one is if you get this game now to play co-op with a friend who is on Epic Games (likely scenario since there was a give-away recently), you will need to get an epic launcher and account...
  
• While on topic I have seen a few odd bugs/crashes in co-op, but they are relatively rare. In about 40 hours of co-op I've 2 crashes and a few (4-6) odd glitches, like being stuck in environment.
  
• Other players can mess with YOUR loot. There are a few places in the game where co-op players can either take a trait (and you can no longer get it without rerolling the world) or screw you out of it (do something stupid, so none of you get it).
  
• The game feels terrible when playing as a newb with high level player in team. Essentially you will take half of clip to kill trash mobs and you will do no damage on enemies.
  
• Confusing maps (at first). Until you figure out exactly how the game generates the layout, you might get stuck looking for the missing "door" to next area for a few hours. It feels like this can be fixed with implementation of "global" map.
  
• If you want to play the game to completion (get every item and trait in game) you will need to play co-op. Few items and traits are co-op exclusive and one needs 3 people for a puzzle.

It's hard to describe this game in a way that gives it justice. [h1]It's not "Dark Souls with guns" [/h1] Many people call it that, but that is about as accurate as calling every tab-targeting MMO a WoW clone. Yeah, it has similarities, but guns and lack of punishement for death (beyond restarting from checkpoint) and simple fact you don't need to learn attack patterns of every enemy to beat this game makes it feel more like a tactical shooter than a souls-like. Another massive difference in this game is the upgrade system. Upgrades do not turn more expensive as you unlock them and unlike in most souls-likes it is actually possible to to max out everything. That is important because you can, in theory grind the difficulty off. [h1]Difficulty[/h1] It's difficult if you compare it to something like warframe, where you just run around like a headless chicken with a bullet-hose. As you start out some enemies will be hard to kill and you will have to get in the rhythm of dodging, but it's not terrible. If you're planning to play this as a co-op game with friends (not through matchmaging), keep in mind your maxed out friend might upscale the world and make the game harder than it is for you. [h1]Character Progression/Upgrades are rewarding[/h1] Upgrades in this games come in 2 forms: Equipment upgrades (equipment itself and flat stat upgrades to chosen equipment) and Traits. Both have weight to them, and when paired with considerable difficulty early on, upgrades are very noticeable and feel rewarding. For example, early on, I was short on stamina (a lot when running, but sometimes when dodging). A few hours later, I got 2 different stamina traits, which (when maxed) fixed that problem (or rather made it manageable). Much later in game I thought I already had a decently built character, but then I maxed out a recoil/spread reduction trait. That extra stability (not much, by the way, like 25%) improved my damage considerably. [h1]Replayability is part of the game and not a bonus [/h1] This is one of those rare games where you can play it once and be done it with, but it is built for you to play it multiple times. There are a lot of upgrades to unlock, many weapons to acquire and bosses to kill and it is impossible for you to do it all in 1 run. [h1]Creative weapons[/h1] I've read somewhere that this game has generalized weapon families (i.e. rifles, shots, swords etc) and I thought that meant the game has multiple identical feeling weapons that will just have different skins and maybe stat tweaks.... you know? The stuff that most AAA games started pushing out lately. That is sort of true, but most weapons are designed in a way where similarties with other weapons in the "family" are often hard to spot as there is always something to make them feel unique. [h1]Survival and Hardcore modes are actually rewarding![/h1] There are a few account-wide items to be earned when playing those 2 modes. I can't say whether those items will be useful to you, but hey, if you choose to make a new character and start from scratch, you will be starting with a few really rare accessories. Also, you get 1 emote, which you can use to give everybody else free copies of 1 of those accessories. [h1]A few negatives[/h1] I probably forgot a few, but here's what I remember [list] [*]Most obvious one is if you get this game now to play co-op with a friend who is on Epic Games (likely scenario since there was a give-away recently), you will need to get an epic launcher and account... [*]While on topic I have seen a few odd bugs/crashes in co-op, but they are relatively rare. In about 40 hours of co-op I've 2 crashes and a few (4-6) odd glitches, like being stuck in environment. [*]Other players can mess with YOUR loot. There are a few places in the game where co-op players can either take a trait (and you can no longer get it without rerolling the world) or screw you out of it (do something stupid, so none of you get it). [*]The game feels terrible when playing as a newb with high level player in team. Essentially you will take half of clip to kill trash mobs and you will do no damage on enemies. [*]Confusing maps (at first). Until you figure out exactly how the game generates the layout, you might get stuck looking for the missing "door" to next area for a few hours. It feels like this can be fixed with implementation of "global" map. [*]If you want to play the game to completion (get every item and trait in game) you will need to play co-op. Few items and traits are co-op exclusive and one needs 3 people for a puzzle. [/list]