Recent reviews by Teat Compete

Fantastic game. The platforming feels appropriately fast yet weighty, and you're given so many build options with the different tools and crests. The map is bursting with secrets and little bits of lore, the story is just as amazing as HK, and the graphics have so much detail even watching it is a real treat. If I could name one flaw it's that the OST isn't as memorable as HK's but maybe I need some more listens.

When I played this game it was just supposed to be a short romp in between the bloated open world games that pervade all of gaming nowadays. I knew that it was a platformer where the exploration is based around the various upgrades you can get (yes, many call that a Metroidvania, I just hate the term). Sundered surprised me in that it also has a Hollow-Knight-style “currency” you get which you can then use to unlock stat upgrade nodes.

Also scattered throughout the world you gain core abilities, such as a double jump (naturally), a shield, a cannon, etc. This is good because they add a much-needed element of depth to the bog-standard combos and stuff you initially have. Until you get some of the various mobility-centric abilities, the game feels a bit boring to play.

Those abilities and weapons sound cool, right? Well, in this crazy topsy-turvy world, those things are decidedly uncool according to a deity(?) that calls itself the Shining Trapezohedron. Y’see, those abilities were left behind by an invading force called the Valkryies, and they did some pretty unsavory things to the natives, called the Eschaton. That fancy geometry thingie says that those things would be cooler if you would allow it to corrupt them by using Elder Shards. When you corrupt an ability it changes you; you can turn into a creature and glide with the double jump, or you can warp in and out of reality with the dodge.

Narratively the game does something interesting here: you only get one side of the story because the Trapezohedron is your sole source of information. The game never explicitly tells you that you can also destroy Elder Shards (you can suss that out from the achievement information unfortunately). If you find a forge you can destroy the Shards and royally piss off the Trapezohedron (and you get an upgraded Valkyrie version of each ability, which function differently than the corrupted skills) .

I thought that was a neat touch. Initially I wasn’t sure if I would like this game because it also has something called a “horde mode” wherein there is a ton of enemies unleashed toward you. This is on a timer and cannot be stopped. This nearly made me stop playing in the beginning because all I was doing was slapping enemies around with the standard attacks while exploring the early game. It got old.

However, I’m glad I stuck it out, because the game has beautiful art, fun gameplay, and a truly epic and unforgettable series of boss battles. The 100% Embrace/Corrupt finale might have one of my favorite boss battles of all time.

Performance-based review for right now:

Specs:
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Ryzen 7 - 5800X
32 GB RAM
RTX 3070 8GB - EVGA FTW3 - WQHL driver 531.68
Win 11
DirectStorage-capable SSD (Samsung 980 PRO NVME) (probably doesn't matter but including just in case)
Gsync monitor

Settings
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1440p / vsync on (due to gsync)
Highest except textures and shadows
FSR set to quality

UPDATED 5/5:

Was averaging 60-90 FPS at 1440p, some dips into 40s/50s but rare - this was for Coruscant and the starting areas of Koboh.

Now that I'm in the larger open area of Koboh, ranges from 40 to 60. Not a lot of consistency so doesn't feel as smooth. Changing the various settings down to High does not appear to make much of a difference. Will continue to troubleshoot.

I started playing after the first patch dropped.

SECOND UPDATE 5/5:

Found a thread in the discussions which suggested changing the refresh rate of your monitor to 60hz. I did this and actually the game is MUCH smoother and tends to stick at 60 or in the high 50s even in the large open area of Koboh. Went all over the map to verify. Tried turning off Vsync but framerate became higher, but less smooth and quite unstable, with screen tearing to boot. Highly recommend limiting the refresh rate to 60hz and leaving on Vsync if you have Gsync or Freesync.

I will recommend this game if you are actually interested in a game having fun gameplay. The movement and traversal mechanics are a joy and to me, never got old. I have seen people saying that they are sloppy and imprecise - this is not the type of game that demands pinpoint precision, and the controls do allow for a lot of minor adjustments to account for changes in the landscapes. You also unlock more traversal abilities as the game goes on. If you learn to work with the systems they way they are designed rather than just complaining that they don't meet your expectations, you will have fun.

The combat is also similarly fun. I have seen reviews saying that you start with the most boring school of magic but if you learn how the combat works and get all of the support spells, all of the schools can be equally fun. Once you learn all of the style switching shortcuts and start being able to recognize which enemies are weak to which school, it becomes even more fun.

The music is also excellent.

The story is a mixed bag - I think it has a couple of really interesting ideas, and a generally interesting cast of characters, but the entire thing is brought down by the way they chose to portray Frey. Yes, her dialogue can SOMETIMES be insufferable, but for the most part she's not that bad. Her character arc however is all over the place and doesn't make a lot of sense from a logical perspective. She vacillates between wanting to be a hero and wanting nothing to do with Athia, but again, she freely moves between those two attitudes depending on what's going on with the plot. Her "final" change in attitude seems like it comes from out of nowhere. My guess is that things got cut short somewhere, or maybe they really just have no idea of how to write an arc where someone goes from total survival-mode-♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to reluctant hero to accepting their destiny as someone who can do a lot of good.

The graphics, in theory, are great. The landscapes look great, the characters, monsters, etc, are all convincingly animated, and things like cloth and fabric are actually animated insanely well. Also unlike many other major releases right now, there appear to be hardly any stuttering problems or shader-compiling-related issues.

The graphics engine does currently has a huge problem if you have a card that has 8-10 GB of VRAM. It will constantly force textures to their lowest state no matter what you have selected, and in cutscenes, especially in Cipal, the environment models will switch between "high" and "low" LOD versions very often, almost constantly.

As I have a 3070 and 8 GB of VRAM The biggest way I found that helped both of these was to highly limit VRAM usage. Select "Standard" for model and texture memory in the settings, do NOT use DLSS, and if you can stomach it, use FXAA instead of TAA. Using those settings allowed better textures the majority of the time, which does make a huge difference in visual fidelity. The developers have said that they are committed to addressing the performance issues as the usage of VRAM is a known issue, so if the game interests you, I would wait until they address those problems.

I absolutely loved this game. Initially I wasn't sure about it, but the more I played the more I was drawn in to the amazing world that was created. The graphics aren't a technical marvel but have a really strong sense of design and the aesthetic is really pleasing overall.

I love the journal in the game! Hilda's sketches and commentary really do add another layer. If you were to only go through the main quest and don't do any exploration, the story might feel a bit well-worn in its themes. However, for anyone who gets drawn in, as I was, the side quests and lore really flesh out the story and explore a lot of themes that you don't see in other games of this style.

The combat is pretty decent. I found my favorite play style to be with the daggers for mobility and quick attacks, and the staff for damage over time, and heavy hitting ranged attacks. There are also the spear, sword/shield, hammer, and bracelets (gauntlets). Each have their own play style and set of skills / abilities.

My only criticisms would be:

The music is great, although I would have appreciated a bit more of it. Most of the areas have their own ambient sounds, and there is a really nice piano piece that plays in many areas, but it does feel a bit overused. The sound design in general could use some work; directional / positional audio is spotty and things like giant waterfalls can only be heard when you're right next to them. It's a bit jarring when everything else in the game has so much attention to detail.

As I said, I love the journal, but with the amount of side quests it would be helpful if it would give some hints about what is still needed to complete some of them. Also not all side quests have an entry within the journal so you end up at the end game with some items whose use is not clear.

All that being said I was sad to see the game end. I'm hoping that the DLC can add some meaningful content and I am very hopeful that we will see some more games with Hilda at the fore! With another iteration and some refinement this IP could be a powerhouse!

Ok, done. Game cannot be played for more than 15-20 minutes at time without CTD or a hard lock (UE4 crash reporting shows DXGI Device Removed / Device Hung so I even tried disabling driver Timeout Detection & Recovery in the registry). I was hopeful that the "performance patch" would make some kind of difference, but still having the same issues. Yes, drivers are updated. I have no issues with other games, just this one. A consumer should not have to fight so hard just to try to play the damn game.

Well, this is definitely my favorite game that Spiders has put out thus far. While a bit jank, the souls-like combat is meaty and satisfying, with systems in place that reward heavy-hitting weapons, agility-focused weapons and countering, and alchemy-based (read: magic) weapons. There are some good all-rounder options as well. Overall it’s probably a little too easy and balanced in favor of certain weapons and builds, even after the first major patch. I think I only died once against any of the bosses, even the last one. That said, the real stars of the story are the atmospheric streets of Paris and the surrounding countryside due to strong art design. The lighting is excellent and the world design can be a little circuitous but I found it engaging. The game looks fantastic, and the mechanical designs are also a treat. The story isn’t bad either, with a surprisingly well-researched and presented version of alternate history. Thankfully, the sidequests also feel meaningful. As is typical for any Spiders game, there is a lot of backtracking to do the various sidequests, but you do open up new areas and bits of levels each time, and it’s not a huge time commitment so it doesn’t wear too thin.

Fun combat which prioritizes mobility and aggressive tactics, and the various Plague Weapons are fun to try out and upgrade. The graphics aren't mind-blowing from a technical perspective but are good from a design standpoint and there are some areas that look really nice.

Overall I'd like to see a more fleshed-out sequel, with more voice-acting, a bigger world, more enemy variety, etc. As a ~$20 indie title this is really impressive and worth the time / money.

Honestly love the actual gameplay, world, story, all that stuff. It's a lot of fun! The problem is the bots. When I first started playing two months ago, it was relatively easy to get into the server. Maybe like a queue of a couple hundred, but you'd be in in very short order. Within the last few weeks, there is ALWAYS a ridiculous queue. First it started with 5k-7k queues, and now every time I've tried to play recently, the queue is over 15,000. It takes at least an hour to get into the game, and when you get in? Streams of bots (99% of which are Berserkers) running around in a straight line, getting caught on the environment, blocking NPCs. If you get queued with them in an activity like an Abyss Dungeon or Chaos Dungeon they just vote to leave all the time.

it's really annoying and not something you should have to deal with. Amazon Gaming Services clearly does not care about the people who just want to play the game and not bots farming gold

I originally played through the base game (pre-Afterlife) on Gamepass last year, and I enjoyed it then. With the new additions that Afterlife brings however, it is now a much more complete package and although it has as many false endings as the LotR: Return of the King movie, it is still very much worth playing.

If you played the base game before, Afterlife is now much more like a metroidvania; certain bosses now give you abilities for you to reach previously inaccessible areas, there is a map, and much of the overall structure of the map has been changed around, with several substantial new areas and additions to old areas. I will say that the pacing and balancing is somewhat odd, and for a metroidvania there are not many enemies to fight. Many of the areas are very large but feel empty, whereas earlier game areas feel more dense.

The Afterlife addition also adds quite a bit of story content and areas like Garde Tum, which fit strangely in the original now make more sense and have more relevance in the narrative as a whole. The plot is good for the most part, and I really liked the new endgame content although as I said earlier, it gets a bit much with the fake endings.