Iâm typing this review after completing the whole game, which includes getting every Steam achievement and beating the secret final boss. There will be spoilers in the criticism section (HEAVY CRITICSM BTW), but if youâre not a completionist and just want a game to play, not see through to the very end, itâs a good game and I recommend it. Itâs amazing visually, and I especially must compliment the recurring visuals matching the artstyleâs strengths: white falling snow and fire look stunning, and I wish that Qas Rune wasnât as convoluted to get so I could appreciate the scenery more often. Despite being a grey game, the areas are very distinct! Iâm very impressed by the area design. Level design? Not so much, so many rooms exist simply to connect other rooms on the map. Although the rooms that ARE meant to be real rooms are good, no complaints there. The majority of the bosses are really fun to fight! My favourite probably has to be Frayed Knight Dominic, itâs a perfectly balanced fight in terms of HP, the pace of the attacks is elegant and the leadup and music are amazing. I also like Gaston, Heir of Ambition, even though when I first fought him, I put down the game for months because of how much of a jack of all trades he is. Itâs a skill check boss for sure, which is why Iâm also a bit upset about everything else that revolves around him that I will mention later. Amazing fight you look back on fondly but absolutely hate when youâre engaging in. And itâs just plain fun to fight Kayen, Father of Thirst with Jas Rune on :)c Altus, The First Father name twist? Genuinely stellar moment. Finally, the Absolverâs Stone is a lifesaver for completionists. CRITICISMS (and spoilers) SECTION: Ok, with everything good out of the way, time to rip into this game. First off, some technical stuff. I really hate how the game provides a variety of items, but only a few of them are actually equippable. That wouldnât be a problem with stuff like Golem Hearts but making Soulflame Ashes, THE THING THAT ALLOWS YOU TO RESTORE A FLASK OF HEALING, an item you have to open up your inventory to use (aka stand there open to attacks) instead of making it an equippable item is BAFFLING. When would you use it if not in a bossfight? Moreover, and this one is a personal nitpick, I dislike how grinding Sin also makes you increase in level. I really hate being overlevelled for bosses but I had to grind some Sin for all atonement achievements. Another QOL complaint I have is Runes not carrying over in NG+. Thereâs NOTHING fun about doing a collectathon, and frankly, I feel like while compromising with myself on whether or not I want to go for a certain rune, I have discovered that some areas are just worthless on an NG+ playthrough, specifically The Laboratory. Its worth is artificial and hinges solely on housing the Aio Rune. Iâm NOT going to that slog of a place even if it means not getting an additional Soulflame Essence from The Caverns (which, by the way, also makes them worthless for someone whoâs done the bell quest!!). Now, you could contend me on this and say that thereâs nothing wrong with NG+ making you replay the game as you would normally, and the Runes should stay as they are. I would agree with you, if not for this gameâs main and most egregious flaw which is its piss poor implementation of its secret ending. To lay the scene: you WILL have to replay the game THRICE unless youâre playing with a guide on your first ever playthrough. To get the secret ending, you have to collect 5 Bell Shards, four of which are accessible to passionate players who love the game and explore everything and read the NPC dialogue. THE FIFTH ONE??? It is locked behind a four-step interaction quest with an NPC that you have to go out of your way to talk to. Why? Because if you go the intended route, instead of jumping through hoops in the Spire Dungeon, you will inevitably fight the aforementioned Gaston, Heir of Ambition, and this will lock you out of that NPCâs quest and lose you the shard, so again, thereâs no chance you will get this on your first run if you are uninformed. Now, here I have to go on a tangent about Gaston and every circumstance surrounding this miserable man. First up, the quest I just talked about? There is no quest. You have to skip him, and the NPC you skip him for clearly alludes to being Gastonâs other half and asks you to inform him if you find him. When you get the Bell Shard from him and go to Gastonâs arena though? Thereâs no Gaston there. You get nothing. You ring the bell to get out of the arena with your Spirit Bow and get a useless ladder and thatâs it. And donât even get me started on the bow. I assume that because Gaston is intended to be the boss you skip for the bell quest, his reward is the shittiest out of them on so many levels. Not only do you get a bow with frankly dogshit damage output, but you also get a way better bow in the next area for free. Imagine. Youâve just beat the hardest boss youâd come across by that point. You donât even know that you screwed yourself out of the secret ending. You get a shit bow as a reward. You advance to the next area and you get a bow that lets you teleport around (and does damage) simply for breathing air. No challenge, no nothing. It is unfair, and devalues the playerâs efforts tremendously, and undermines such a brilliant bossfight. Ok, tangent aside. Say youâre a normal person and completed your first run without looking everything up and are now armed with a map guide to collect everything you need to fight the secret final boss and 100% the game. Well fuck you!!!! Because SOMEHOW the developers thought it would be a good idea to have the secret final boss, Emissary of Ur, appear NOT on the run youâve completed all the pre-requisites, but on the run AFTER. Again, I canât stress this enough: YOU HAVE TO TRUDGE THROUGH THE GAME THRICE TO COMPLETE IT FULLY!!! WHY???!!! Anyway. Emissary of Ur. A boss to end it all. Surely, a fight that would put all the previous bosses to shame and showcase the true talent of the developers? Itâs so dogshit. It has a huge body, but only the middle part of it is susceptible to damage. Already insane, but on top of that itâs soooooo tanky. I would be so much more forgiving of all the stunts it pulls if every attempt didnât take ages. So, howâs the gameplay bad? First, every time you hit it, it produces a Curse orb, so you canât reliably use multi-hit weapons such as Oshikorosu. Second, the opening is abysmal. It spends the first 15% of its health cosplaying a screensaver. Third, the moment it launches the orbiting Curse orbs, the fight becomes unfair, because itâs so easy to get grazed by one of them and then get caught by another attack. My final complaint about the fight itself is the grab attack. Not only is it possible to dodge solely when it charges at you from the other end of the arena, and not decides to do a grab right as youâre standing close to it, the window to roll out of the grab is pathetically small. What baffles me even more is that the game has another notorious grabber, Frayed Knight Dominic, but itâs implemented great in that fight! Anyway, I had a pretty cool moment with killing it with the help of a single Frozen Heart Iâve been saving for the âright timeâ. Took me cumulatively about 1-2 hours. Did I get rewarded for my effort in any meaningful way? FUCK NO LMAO. Two. Two words of dialogue is all you get. No cutscene or any different outcome. The developers truly donât appreciate those who dedicate their time to their game, and it shows. My way of fixing it is: reduce the replay time to two cycles, KEEP the Altus, The First Father fight, half the Emissaryâs HP and have it be the second phase of that fight. Simple as. Youâre not cute with this bullshit. Fuck you. Bottomline? Donât play Unworthy if you care about the game. Play Unworthy if you want to have a good time once and never touch it again.
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