Started to play this because RPGs with unusual settings are always welcome. Even as a certified proc gen hater, I can say it's not that bad here. The world is fully handcrafted, it's just that sometimes the arrangement of rooms in a given hallway is different, and the consumables you find when looting containers change, so sometimes you might find a first aid kit in one container, but on your next run you find a spell scroll there. But the bedroom and the library will always connect to the same hallway - just sometimes the library is the third door from the left, other times it's the third door from the right.
I'd describe it more as hand-crafted with shuffling, than real proc gen.
The game itself is quite fun so far. It has a metroidvania/soulslike vibe to it, where you explore a space and figure out new ways to get around it, find items that allow you to access certain places, etc.
For example your first proper quest leads you into the basement, for which you need a lantern. You can get a lantern from a crusader in the garden, who will give it to you in exchange for a dark heart harvested from one of the undead inside the mansion. Without a light source, the basement is so dark you can't see shit, so the lantern is necessary - but you CAN go there without it, it's just that you won't see anything and will likely die to an enemy sneaking up on you. I also found a hedge maze which I haven't dared enter yet because there's a bunch of navigation-helping items I might need first...
Lots of areas with obstacles you need tools to overcome, but you can always try to bruteforce it if you want to. The game is pretty forthcoming with telling you what you need for a given obstacle, but usually doesn't hand you the items you need right away. For example to kill ghosts you need a camera, and it hints at how to find it, but you have to figure it out yourself. In that regard it has a slightly adventure gamey quality to it.
Overall it's very cool so far.
I'd describe it more as hand-crafted with shuffling, than real proc gen.
The game itself is quite fun so far. It has a metroidvania/soulslike vibe to it, where you explore a space and figure out new ways to get around it, find items that allow you to access certain places, etc.
For example your first proper quest leads you into the basement, for which you need a lantern. You can get a lantern from a crusader in the garden, who will give it to you in exchange for a dark heart harvested from one of the undead inside the mansion. Without a light source, the basement is so dark you can't see shit, so the lantern is necessary - but you CAN go there without it, it's just that you won't see anything and will likely die to an enemy sneaking up on you. I also found a hedge maze which I haven't dared enter yet because there's a bunch of navigation-helping items I might need first...
Lots of areas with obstacles you need tools to overcome, but you can always try to bruteforce it if you want to. The game is pretty forthcoming with telling you what you need for a given obstacle, but usually doesn't hand you the items you need right away. For example to kill ghosts you need a camera, and it hints at how to find it, but you have to figure it out yourself. In that regard it has a slightly adventure gamey quality to it.
Overall it's very cool so far.
