So, the time has come. The story is coming to an end. You’re looking forward to the end, especially if you haven’t seen the version with Radiance yet. What does Orios have in store for you? I’d love to see a really cool Holy spell, or a great amulet that boosts Holy but halves the mana cost… finally spam Orios Judgement without limits. But before we dream, we need to get The Sundered Monarch out of the way. I have to say, this guy has a hell of an HP bar, I didn’t have an easy time with Coal.
— After the boss fight with the Monarch (spoiler) —
Wow…. I mean… wow… the guy collapsed unexpectedly, you could say The Sundered Monarch died under my hands. I was busy eating manastones and dodging when Orius Judgement tore him apart. Lords, that was really quick. Let’s not tick that off under Boss Fight.
But that wasn’t it yet, while Coal (my fire wizard) now heard the warm words of his master and rose to become a Rhogar Lord… what did Purgatis get? Nothing… He was simply dissolved. That was it? After dismantling the Demon King again and making sure he doesn’t walk this world again, he is simply dissolved by the lamp. I knew right away that Radiance had a bitter aftertaste. Something didn’t fit, Orius is definitely not a very just ruler… I would like to have Adyr back. There was a party at the end and you got the feeling that Adyr was really grateful. But it also shows that those who think they are good and right are often totally wrong and by the time they learn the truth it’s too late.
But the biggest disappointment is that I now get the Rembrance from Adyr, which gives me two great fire spells… um… how does that work out if I choose the Radiance ending and am a loyal priest? Coal my fire wizard would like to have these spells, but has no way of getting them. So for me, these are major design blunders.
What remains to be said at the end? I wish they would fix the many bugs, the focus and camera system seems particularly in need of an overhaul. How often I aim at the wrong opponents and then fall straight down the slope during the race. Or you try to kill a Bringer of Stillness and the focus is lost or some Remnant is targeted that is not in the vicinity. The camera often turns so badly towards the ground that you can’t see anything in front of effects, junk and undergrowth. However, I find the frequent crashes really bad. I didn’t document every crash, sometimes I tried to cut the video so that the immersion wasn’t lost.
It also bothers me that there is often a lot of jerking during fights, especially when it is important to have an overview and to determine the right timing.
Another thing is the quests, either I do some or I don’t. But to make quests so vague that you really don’t get any hints and you actually have to try everything with everything like in a point and click adventure game is very damaging. I don’t want a lot of quests in a Soulslike. The story should also be told straight in cutscenes, not a hundred notes, letters and memos where you no longer know who actually said what to whom. I’m also annoyed by the many enemies and the constant time pressure when you’re travelling, which isn’t much fun.
It’s a real shame, this could be a great game, but this way it’s just good. However, for lack of alternatives, I quite like playing it as it has similar mechanics to Dark Souls. However, playing Dark Souls III and Elden Ring makes me want to play them again, especially because they don’t have such bad crashes and camera problems. All in all, a good game with great ideas. I’m sure I’ll also experience the Umbral ending with Nemura.
