Recent reviews by Straw Hat Maple

If I had wrote this review a few months ago It'd have been immensely negative so I held off, I waited for them to cook and they did...sort of.

I write this now cuz I know if they keep at this pace the game will only get better, do I think the game has any major form of future? really hard to say, I think if anything they'll at least get back to smite 1 numbers towards the end of that games life cycle which while not anything to go crazy over it was still a fair shake better than current numbers. they've said things are stable at the moment which is good, I WANT this game to succeed but I think a few things are holding it back, and wanna know the saddest part? its not even their fault (well it kinda is but I'll get into that)

1. trying to catch up, I mean smite 2 has over half the roster added and still feels like we are a far shore from gods available in 1, and I dont think its the quantity but quality of god that is missing, major hitters like Arthur and Cthulhu are missing and though I am sure this due to technical reasons their absence is most assuredly felt, its not just those two mind you but several others, I could list them all but this is already gonna be long as hell.

my main point is smite 2 still has a lot of catching up to do, and while this was alaways gonna be the case I dont think there is any bandaid they can put over it to fix this issue (what I imagine aspects TRIED to do) speaking of aspects, lets get into that.

2. growing pains: smite 2 has introduced numerous new mechanics which are all amazing in concept and for the most part execution as of NOW, tho in its earliest iteration the aspects seemed to mostly be gimmicks, (sobek, geb etc.) as of now the aspects that are coming are slowly becoming better, but I still find them to be lacking. I know as they get more comfortable in their creation and more mechanics from other characters are added we will see more variations and better aspects but as of now they are a mixed bag. some are awesome and creative like the current iteration of geb aspect, or ganesha aspect but the amount of mages given RANDOM ADC aspects is still baffeling (agni? like what is the point of this? lot more ideas you can POTENTIALLY do but they went with an ADC aspect, dont get me started on nu wa)

I could get into the items system and all that but honestly I think for the most part items are fine, and on the right track. same thing can be applied from my aspect topic, a lot of items feel gimmicky and not all that actually USEFUL, (typhons heart, shield splitter, eye of erebus etc.) I am hoping these features are touched on and made better over time and I think they will do so.

3. charm: this is the most subjective and difficult to nail down, but I think a big thing we are missing is charm. smite 2 feels corporate not because of the devs but just because of what it is, maybe its because we associate a live service game getting a sequel with overwatch and we conflate the two, but there are many many people who think smite 2 was unnecessary, and to those people I have to ask, what reality are you living in?

smite 1 was on its last legs, and though I understand change is scary and a lot of people hate it things HAVE to change smite 1 was on UNREAL 3 which was outdated when smite 1 came out, though not by that long.

I dont think I'd be writing this if smite 1 was being made on unreal 4, I think smite 2 would be years off though who's to say really with the decision making hirez uppers choose to make. we are beholden to our corporate handlers and what not but I think a part of what made this game lose its charm is the tragic lay offs that happened a while ago now.

hirez pissing their money away on Derivative and hollow copies of other games instead of sticking to their actual Distinctive and unique titles (paladins, and smite) instead of chasing the coat tails of fortnite, and valorant with realm royale and rogue company respectively. this isnt to say the games werent made with passion by the devs but their creation was clearly made to try and recapture the lightening in a bottle effect smite 1 had, IE take games that exist, put a spin on them and now you make a niche community out of it who prefer the twist over the originals.

I dont even wanna KNOW how much money they wasted on these projects and can only imagine what that money couldve done for smite 2, and how many jobs it could have saved, though I can only speculate and am FAR from an expert, I do know the lay offs kinda stripped the human aspect from the company, or at least that human connection we had with the devs that interacted with the community and seeing them lose their jobs I think made a lot of people feel like the soul of the company had been taken out and all we were left with is a corporate husk, and to those that feel this way I'll say this: the devs currently working on it are just as passionate and just as deserving of your support regardless of what their moronic upper management does, humanity still resides in their walls believe that.

so where does that leave us? smite 2 has a future, I think. it has so much potential whether it reaches that potential is hard to tell. I like the game, and I am cautiously optimistic about it as a whole. I think its worth playing as is right now, if you are holding off on your favorite god to be added, I'll say this give some of the plus 1's and changes to characters a try you may find a new favorite, a god I previously hated playing cabrakan feels AMAZING in smite 2 as compared to smite 1 I hated how he felt in smite 1 but now he is one of my faves.

give the game a fair shake is all i'll say, do your best to adapt to the changes, and you'll find yourself having fun.

It is the best game ever made,

I guess its alright