Yong Wee Chew

Core combat system is great, and I like the flexibility of the flask system as well. Overall design is there, but the execution is very flawed: - gameplay stutters (from chapter 3 onwards) - tiny hit box on certain bosses which in itself isn't a problem but it's paired with large collision bounding boxes (events front) which prevent you from getting close so your attacks will often miss - late game bosses felt very unfair rather than challenging (instant dodge, cancelling your charged attacks with any hit, tiny hit boxes, ridiculous HP, one-shotting etc.). This is in huge contrast to earlier bosses which were much better designed. - pointless animations esp when respawning, and lengthy unskippable cutscenes in between boss phases (looks cool the first time, but if you keep dying and having to view it again and again it gets tiring real fast). Also the insanely long wind up of charge attacks is very punishing, given how difficult it already is to charge focus points on late game. Devs need to focus more on player exp rather than aesthetic flair. - certain checkpoints are placed far away from bosses/optional bosses so you have to waste time running back to them every time you fail. This in combination with the previous point makes it seem like the devs do not respect the player's time at all. They ought to learn from the design of games like Ender's Lilies. - lack of map, which is not too much of a problem until chapter 6 map where exploration becomes much more open. - story telling is extremely barebones, and assumes players have knowledge of JTTW lore. TBF when I read the in depth lore analysis by other players things really do click together and the narrative is actually intriguing. This part is really a shame tho. Honestly if I'd known about these issues I wouldn't have bought the game until they were ironed out. (I've finished it already but it was an extremely frustrating journey from chapter 3 onwards). The game has potential but it really needs a lot of polishing, and I really mean A LOT, otherwise it's really more frustrating than fun at the later chapters.