Phaseknox Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 Game: Decay of Logos Genre: Action adventure Developer: Amplify Creations Publisher: Rising Star Games Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC MSRP: $19.99 (digital only) I've been playing Decay of Logos for a few days now, and I'm really enjoying it. The best way to describe it is a mix of The Legend of Zelda and the Souls games. It has the aesthetics and adventure feel of the Zelda games, and the challenge and design structure of the Souls games. It's not quite as punishing as the Souls games, but it's definitely more challenging than its colorful and cartoonish look might make you think. It begins rather abruptly, and offers no real direction or handholding. There's no map, or quest markers. There are some stone statues in the environments that you can get some slight hints from and an occasional NPC that you come across that sheds a little light on things, but that's about it. The game is all about exploring, and discovery. You feel pretty much alone in the world other than for the enemies that are roaming everywhere. You also have an elk companion that you can ride and store things on, but it controls so clunky and poorly as a mount that going it on foot is the better option. The gameplay consists of weak/strong melee attacks, ranged attacks (bow and arrows/magic), block (shield required) and dash. It takes a while before you acquire a bow, magic and shield, so you'll be using strictly melee weapons for quite some time. You start with a basic sword, and no armor. To gain weapons and armor pieces (head, chest, arms, legs) you need to defeat enemies, and find treasure chests. There are no shops in the game, so everything that you obtain (including potions and arrows) is either from defeating enemies or finding treasure chests. Both weapons and armor will break after extensive use and damage without any way to repair them, so you need to continuously get more throughout your journey. But it takes a long time for weapons and armor to break, so you usually find more before needed and you can store them on your elk. The environments consist of fairly large and open outdoor areas, and more confined indoor areas like caves and ruins which are basically the game's dungeons. You're encouraged to explore everywhere to find key items to progress, and better loot. While the game is action adventure, it has some RPG elements such as stats and leveling. However, there's no XP and I've just leveled after defeating a bunch of enemies. Stats go up the same way, but they will decrease if you die. If they get too low you will go into an injured state, and not be able to sprint. You need to rest at camps (the game's bonfires) to gain them back to where they were. If you like Zelda and Souls games then this is something that you should consider checking out, because it's basically a mix of the two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 This looks pretty cool for a $19.00 game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Vic20 Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 OK, so I'm about 3 hours in and you can tell that this is a labor of love and yet that love letter is incomplete. The stylized art makes the most of the simplistic graphics that looks like a merger of BoTW and Ashen. It minimalist, but beautiful in its own way. Animations are generally tolerable to solid, but enemy AI is horrid. The hit box range verses the graphical representation is definitely off. There are a series of these rough edges and yet the game does inspire the desire to explore and push forward. The problem is that while handling the world mobs is clunky but totally doable, the bosses are, um, painful. Its not that they are ultra hard, they are just too clumsy to feel like you won through skill, but rather that it was a combination of luck, happenstance, and some input from you as well! You have a mount and it might be the worst controlling mount in gaming history! No small feat! Also, the regular mobs are actually not dangerous enough. Its not that they don't do enough damage as most enemies can kill you 4-6 hits. Its just that they just sort of flail about and sometimes they connect whereas other times they do not. riveting! During the first boss fight the boss's weapon went clean through me and I took zero damage. Thanks for the freebie, malevolent being! Basically, this game is a charming clone and its clear that the dev wants it to be special, but its going to be a few months until it is in good enough shape for most folks tastes. Consider this a Steam early access game and you'll be happy with what you are getting, especially for 20.00! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxEvil AshxX Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 25 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said: ...a combination of luck, happenstance, and some input from you as well! Hey that's how I win most of my boss battles! I'll check it out at some point down the road. Maybe after a patch or two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 I saw a lot of reviews about how the combat is hot trash where you're overly-locked into animations in a way the enemies don't seem designed around, so that you just get your ass kicked and even when you don't, using your weapons simply isn't fun, so I've been holding off on it until I saw some improvements or contrary opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Vic20 Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 50 minutes ago, Xbob42 said: I saw a lot of reviews about how the combat is hot trash where you're overly-locked into animations in a way the enemies don't seem designed around, so that you just get your ass kicked and even when you don't, using your weapons simply isn't fun, so I've been holding off on it until I saw some improvements or contrary opinions. You sir, have heard correctly! The designer of this game needs a little help with the combat system. I think he might just get it as he seems to really care about what he's created. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaseknox Posted August 31, 2019 Author Share Posted August 31, 2019 3 hours ago, Mr.Vic20 said: you can tell that this is a labor of love and yet that love letter is incomplete. Animations are generally tolerable to solid, but enemy AI is horrid. The hit box range verses the graphical representation is definitely off. There are a series of these rough edges and yet the game does inspire the desire to explore and push forward. The problem is that while handling the world mobs is clunky but totally doable, the bosses are, um, painful. Its not that they are ultra hard, they are just too clumsy to feel like you won through skill, but rather that it was a combination of luck, happenstance, and some input from you as well! You have a mount and it might be the worst controlling mount in gaming history! No small feat! Also, the regular mobs are actually not dangerous enough. Its not that they don't do enough damage as most enemies can kill you 4-6 hits. Its just that they just sort of flail about and sometimes they connect whereas other times they do not. riveting! During the first boss fight the boss's weapon went clean through me and I took zero damage. Thanks for the freebie, malevolent being! Basically, this game is a charming clone and its clear that the dev wants it to be special, but its going to be a few months until it is in good enough shape for most folks tastes. Consider this a Steam early access game and you'll be happy with what you are getting, especially for 20.00! Yeah, the game did seem to come out before it was finished which is a shame since the issues that you mentioned do hurt the overall experience a bit. There's so much good about the game, it just needed some more fine tuning before release. I'm still enjoying my time with it since there's a lot to like about it, but the bugs, jank and overall lack of polish definitely take away from the fun factor. 2 hours ago, Xbob42 said: I saw a lot of reviews about how the combat is hot trash where you're overly-locked into animations in a way the enemies don't seem designed around, so that you just get your ass kicked and even when you don't, using your weapons simply isn't fun, so I've been holding off on it until I saw some improvements or contrary opinions. The combat isn't THAT bad IMO. It might not be perfect, but I still somewhat enjoy it. I personally think that a lot of critics are being harder on the game than it deserves. While it has its fair share of issues, it's still a charming and fun fantasy action adventure experience if you can tolerate some shortcomings. The following review is one of the more accurate ones that I've seen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 I mean I'm super interested in it, which is specifically why I'm waiting to hear from folks about it and/or for an update. Been eagerly anticipating it for a while, but if it might get a significant change to really make it better I'd happily wait for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.