This definitely starts differently to the last time I played, in medias res rather than just strolling around an encampment.
I really like the way the near-side wall fades out as you approach underground. Though in combat it didn’t work properly, I was trying to get the fellas through a doorway but there was a soldier in there that I couldn’t see and that seemed to stop the fadeout from kicking in.
Am I missing something or are Alexander and YellowJacket equipped with each other’s headgear?
When opening up the trait menu, the text from last time persists even though the options have moved around. It also really needs a full border to tie it in properly, maybe even a drop shadow too.
Character cycling doesn’t work in the Skill menu.
I did exactly what Alexander suggested and ran back into the room with the witch broom to use the door as a choke. Really disappointed then that enemies ignore the walls and can just hit through them anyway, but then I just abused that to have Yellow Jacket constantly use the silver breath weapon all the time.
Really not a fan of the parrying/critical stuff, I hope it’s not crucial to beating the game. Especially as the damage numbers show up like a tenth of a second before the animation actually connects meaning the timing has to be picked up through trial and error instead of intuition.
The pathfinding on the enemies could use some work, and they sometimes heal when I swear they should be attacking. But I didn’t get any softlocks like I did last time. Only thing I would add would maybe be a way to change your facing after moving, either by holding down like R2 or just using the right stick.
Some of the UI styling could use another polish and juice pass. The way the Square menu just splits its border up to open submenus doesn’t look too appealing. I think you’d still want to leave a thinner border behind like it’s a piece of machinery moving along a track.
Bitching aside, I quite like it. Pleased that the showcase combat encounter is actually quite tough. The respawning enemies made me think it was a supposed to lose fight and I was surprised that they eventually stopped.
To answer Mosca’s query: I figured out the controls the first time and this time did some experimentation with what was in the act menus. I thought it made sense but I often massively overestimate how much players can figure out just from trying to play because I’m thinking of the hardcore sweats that know the game better than the dev does and not the average silent majority type that doesn’t post on the internet.
I also think the scenario is a perfectly good set up for a demo. More is always better but this gives a very good taste of what the game is about. I say do it.