Someone in the RKG Discord mentioned Enotria: The Last Song (Jyamma Games), a soulslike (dare I say a Souls clone?) that has a demo now on Steam. Apparently, a beefy demo (like eight hours long!). It’s set in an Italianesque world (with Italian folklore), which is an interesting change from the usual dreary medeival settings (and, don’t get me wrong, I love those dreary fantasy settings with all my heart). I decided to download the demo and give it a go. I’m impatiently waiting for Shadow of the Erdtree and thought this might tide me over.
Side note: I don’t know if I’m weird for this, but I don’t like hashing out the trailers too much before I actually play the content. In fact, I rarely even watch the story trailers (I did this time) because there is almost too much in them. Yes, it’s hard to tell what it actually means because it’s just FromSoft throwing so much stuff at you, but still. I like to go in as unspoiled as possible.
Anyway. They made the cardinal sin of changing the heal button. It’s on Y instead of X, which, just no. This is one of my pet peeves about these games. Don’t change the controls! That’s the one thing I’m hard-assed about when it comes to soulslikes. And the fact that it can’t be changed. X is for item use, but it is in From games, too (along with heal). I guess Jyamma Games wanted a dedicated heal button–then make it up on the D-pad like Bloodborne! As far as I can tell, there is no way to two-hand your weapon in this game manually.
Right away, I had issues with the camera. Something about the game was making me nauseous. It’s not first-person, but it had that feel to it. The person in the RKG Discord who is playing the game suggested fiddling with the camera. I did, but it’s very limited and has not really helped. It’s not exactly the same as the issue I have with first-person games, but it’s got that wobbling on a stick feel to it. Like found-footage games, but at a much slower pace. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I’m bobbling and wobbling as I walk. As a result, I became nauseated and had a headache.
This was after about ten-to-fifteen minutes of playing the game. I fiddled with the camera and made it more manageable, but still not negated. I did play about another fifteen to twenty minutes, I think. It’s hard to tell because I was concentrating on not getting nauseauted.
Thats’ to say that I’ve played less than an hour. But I have some thoughts on it, anyway. I just want to get it out of the way that this is a very quick look, but I have thoughts and feelings. I have included one of the trailers for it above.
I’m just going to be blunt. There is not a soulslike that can hold a candle to the original gamse–at least for me. I have tried so many of them, and it usually just makes me want to play a FromSoft game. It’s a Catch-22, really, because the closer a soulslike is to a From game, the more it just makes me want to play said game. The less it’s like a From game, the less likely I’m going to want to play it–in part beacuse that’s what drew me to the game in the first place.
The positives: I like the look of the game and the feel to it. The overall atmosphere, you might say. I like that the parry is much more generous than in other soulslikes (and in the From games themselves). Howeve,r it’s still not something I would use oftn because I simply am not a parry person. I also like that you’re The Maskless Wonder (or something like that) and masks are part of the armor/identity. I’ve found a few mask fragments, and I assume that I have to find all the fragments of any given mask in order to use it.
In this game, the common enemies so far are peasants and workers, I think? One thing they don’t make clear is when there’s a special enemy, much like a black knight or such. I found out when my usual three or four hits didn’t kill him–and he did not get staggered. I would have liked some physical cue that he was special. I mean, I got that he was a bit harder, but not as hard as he actually was.
In addition, there is so much loot dropping, it’s overwhelming. And, in the traidition of soulslikes everywhere, almost everything can map onto something from the From games. I get why they do this, but it’s not pleasant for my brain. “Oh, this is Estus.” “Oh, this is souls.” “Oh, this is status removal.”, etc.
And, here’s one thing that I really wish soulslikes would not do–be deliberately obtuse in their descriptions of things. I get why From does it, and I can accept it in their games. Some of it is necessary and thoughtfully done. But some of it veers into annoying. It’s hard to balance it correctly, and most soulslikes don’t get it anywhere near right.
In the half an hour or so, I ahve picked up so many items and have had so many things thrown at me in the tutorial. Oh, and the stats for the weapons aren’t on the front page–you have to hit Y to see them. Which is annoying when I want to compare how they are to what I have. Also, if you don’t have the stats to wield a weapon, there’s just an exclamation point over the weapon. No explanation. I got a sword right away that had that exclamation point. Did not say why. It was only when Ifound the stats that I learned I was 15 short on erudition.
Which, by the way, let’s talk about that. DON’T DO THAT. Yes, I know FromSoft has esoteric stats, but it’s not one of the things that’s beloved about the games. I don’t think anyone is jazzed by having to figure out which stat means what and why you don’t want to level up Resistance (in the OG Dark Souls). It’s not fun to have to remember than Mind is Attunement, basically, and what health is called in each game.
That’s one of my biggest messages to wannabe soulslike devs. Don’t just mindlessly copy what From does, especially the things that take a very delicate hand. Conversely, don’t just change something for no reason (like the heal button) just to be different. Have a reason for doing what you’re doing–don’t make it reactive to FromSoft.
I get that it’s a genre-defining game. I get that devs were deeply affected by it. But….it doesn’t really help their games to allow a From game to be at the center of what they’re doing. Either by copying it or by deliberately doing the opposite.
Another thing I wish devs would not do is be deliberately obtuse about the tutorial. Especially when they throw a bazillion things at me at the same time. I feel like they assume that you have played From games, which is fair for the kind of game it is, but it’s still too much all at once.
I like that that you can access different areas by doing a certain move (LT+RB). I can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s like ripping open the fabric of the world in the Lords of the Fallen and going to the other world. Except, in this game, it just helps you move in the current world. Like doing that gave me a board I could walk up so I could get across a body of water.
It’s confusing, though, because there are other areas that have a seal with which you interact with A and then it builds a road in this world. I don’t quite get what the difference is between the two or why there needs to be two different ways to do this.
I feel like they’re overcomplicating things just to make it more difficult. Again, I only played a half hour or so because it made me queasy. It just did not feel good to play.
Which brings me to the combat. It does not have the crunchy/weighty feel to it that Souls combat does. This is probably a me thing, but I can’t gauge how close I am to the enemy and have whiffed more often than I care to admit. Also, this is another thing I’m imploring devs not to do: Please stop with the hordes and the hidden enemy. I am so tired of walking around a corner only to have an enemy jump out at me. Or trying to stealth up on one enemy when, surprise!, there’s an archer behind him.
In addition, the muck they throw at you is way to potent. And lasts far too long. And is thrown too quickly. Or rather, it should not be enough to stagger me mid-swing.
There is an interesting addition of skills that you can do. after you hit the enemies enough to build up the meters. In order to use them, you have to use LT + one of the face buttons. I have to say that there are just too many button combos to remember in combat. Especially as heal is on Y and not X.
The combat is key in any Form game, and I feel it falls short in this game. If the game did not make me nauseous, I would play some more. But as it is, I don’t think I will.