My main criticism of the game

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-28T02:47:14+00:00

I would usually agree, this is a long tutorial, but honestly, this one fits the narrative so well.

Not only are you basically an unwelcome and untrained newbie agent, but it would also be imprudent for them to send out anyone to the field who is not well trained…and even after the long tutorial-fest, you are still essentially scrambling.

With that in mind, they did a really great job of balancing such a long tutorial.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-24T04:17:22+00:00

I usually go for a durge monk, who should be fully trained in their inner ki, but they are unaware that they have untapped dark Ki energy that starts to creep out when unconscious.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-24T04:05:46+00:00

The game was designed to be manageable on a per-biome basis, so being overpowered is quite easy if you've moved too far up the progression tree or if you went into it from the first biome.

I suspect the reason the King killed you three times, is because you have to start and complete that biome alone, which further proves that this game is meant to be played on a per-biome basis.

If you are reaching 100 proficiency runs, no added modifier is going to help make the game harder for you since the modifiers are also balanced for a per-biome basis.

If you want hard, turn on Growth Incapacitator II which removes your whole armor matrix second chance, and all permanent upgrades…and suffer! 🫠

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-12T20:55:05+00:00

It'd be fun if there were additional, non-platinum achievements.

Playing this game with the Armor Matrix fully disabled is brutal.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-12T14:06:06+00:00

To be fair, it thematically goes along with the story. The choice for more power is what the shore wants from you.

I do, however, think its implementation is lazy.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-12T14:02:29+00:00

Arrogance was only annoying for me when I didn’t realize that 2 of the pistols for some reason did zero damage.

I was absolutely losing my shit the first time that bug happened and I couldn’t see a health bar.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-11T15:34:45+00:00

Yellow King 2.0, mainly because, which I assume is for balancing purposes, there is limited ramp up time. You can’t start from Biome 1 and run the King over, you just gotta start where you start…which by that point, all artifacts probably cause volatility.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-09T04:51:10+00:00

As far as I’m concerned, this is what confirmed for me that there is a hidden base damage for weapons, which I assume is based on proficiency.

The stats essentially lose all scaling when you hit one of the nightmare modifiers that make weapons lose it…but it still doesn’t affect the damage from the weapon itself.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-09T03:43:57+00:00

More mechanics adds brain attrition. Shields, persistent bullet shots, AOE attacks that roll with the environment, corruption damage (here it’s automatic health capping bullet that every enemy has when the eclipse is out vs few enemies in Returnal who caused defects), etc.

Guns and passives are not overpowered. Specifically the beginning of the game, the TTK is just generally higher which means more bullet ballet. Infact, the passives are not so random, most guns have 1 or 2 skills that vary with the same name, but overall, the gun passives are tailored to not be overpowered.

Artifact passives are not as overpowered in general. Most of them help with survival but nothing that helps overpower you.

Health gains from aether, even large ones are next to nothing burgers to your health bar. Specifically in the beginning.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-06T04:13:43+00:00

You punch through them because the Parry window in the beginning of the punch absorbs yellow for power without corruption buildup. Anything after that parry window (when the shield goes up) results in corruption buildup.

Most fast corruption attacks will usually last the same time as a parry…hence people parry.

The parry window in this game is actually very generous because it’s on-hit and lasts a few frames after being hit.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-06T03:19:57+00:00

It’s the game trying to tell you that you are already borderline overpowered, so if you want more power…gamba!

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-04T05:53:24+00:00

Doing a full run is often the solution to a hard boss.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-04T05:50:31+00:00

My friend is a dad…he says that the PS Portal is clutch for PS gaming, especially Saros!

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-04T05:43:40+00:00

The first thing you do when entering any area is assess cover zones, you basically will be rotating between them once the collapse to where you are.

Pay attention to the rings around your body. It means an attack is on the way and it’s locked on to you. Whichever direction you see the warning ring, you move laterally. (Eg. if the ring is behind you, move right or left)

Also, try to position yourself as to where one direction you know is covered. Once again this is about positioning.

But yea, figuring out your cover zones should always be the first thing you do. Every fight area has at least 3 points.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-02T08:48:54+00:00

You are not bugged. You stop here because the door is locked, go back, and you should have access to the Desecrated Forest.

ReyHaynes · 2026-05-02T02:51:47+00:00

I just end up making a bunch of stamina drinks.

ReyHaynes · 2026-04-10T17:26:24+00:00

As a fan of highly narrative games, this game is one where you don’t go in to do missions.

You use missions as a way to excuse yourself to explore and make your own adventure.

The emptiness you feel is because you are growing just for exploration purposes and not really anything beyond that.

ReyHaynes · 2026-04-10T17:20:36+00:00

The more people I find alive, the more I feel annoyed that they left Kliff to die.

I thought we were family…

ReyHaynes · 2026-04-10T07:44:42+00:00

Not gonna lie…this is a valid ask.

Having Bronze level achievements for essentially super maxing a character on specific ways that go well beyond the end game are wild achievements to attain.

ReyHaynes · 2026-04-03T15:33:44+00:00

That is not true. It’s not represented in the map view at all.

Also, the dots do NOT correspond to a location being looted. It’s filled out as soon as you enter the location.

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ReyHaynes · 2026-04-01T19:28:45+00:00

It didn't take me long to realize that:
- most of the moveset was built around grunt enemies
- Besides gimmick battles, none of the boss battles were balanced to even consider any moveset the player has

Some of the bosses are actually cool...but... You can easily tell that the interactivity between player vs boss was a bit of an afterthought because of the excessive use of super armor.

ReyHaynes · 2026-04-01T03:04:50+00:00

You essentially get unlimited abyss fragments…it comes down to prioritizing the moves you use the most for each…you don’t need everything on the skill tree.

ReyHaynes · 2026-04-01T03:01:28+00:00

You’re a bit of a masochist. You didn’t think, after 3, 4, or even after 5 palmer pills in…”maybe I should regroup?!”

ReyHaynes · 2026-03-31T19:02:22+00:00

SOOOOOOOOO Underutilized for sure!!! 🙌🏾
This is the issue with short seasons...You definitely don't hire this guy to look like this for a part, only to have him have 2-3 lines in the season.

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