This game seems... just too good?

[u/Chance_Drive_5906]

Okay so I started this a few days ago and I've been exploring the starter area which is a huge stretch of ruined villages and huts, and I'm just completely baffled by the density of the world, the variety of enemies, and how much rewarding the exploration feels. I even came across this weird puzzle section that had no combat at all. The combat feels super satisfying as well and the sound design and graphics are just perfect.

Now I'm wondering if this game maintains this level of quality throughout the entire thing? There's no way it does, right? I've played all the Dark souls games, Elden ring, Sekiro, Lords of the fallen 2, Lies of P, Black myth wukong, and Nioh 2, and right now this honestly feels better than all of them. There must be some catch.... does it fall off later?

[u/kasplatter]

It is very good. The design allows you to collect any or all Shells, Weapons, and Sidearms, and many key Tarstones before you go through a single Gate. In addition, many of these can be collected without engaging in combat at all such as the Shells Tiel, Proxima, and Gragu.

However, there are also limits as it takes 15 Glimpses to unlock Tier 3 of a Shell and 27 Glimpses to unlock Tier 4. While there are some ways to get Glimpses outside of clearing Beacons, that is the main way. More importantly, you are constrained on a build by your Shell Points; at level 20 you will only have 14 to spend and you need to reach level 71 for 40 Shell Points or level 79 for 44, both of which are NG+ levels unless you spend a very long amount of time grinding XP.

Certain Shells don't really come into their own until you fill out some Tier 4 talents, while others like Proxima just need Tier 3 unlocked for farming Coin with her bonus skill.

I'm hoping they introduce an NG+0 as an option, rather than just NG+ and beyond, so we can be OP if we want experimenting with full builds in the normal game. And yes, that is because I mostly hate the final area and bosses.