I was playing this Metroidvania game 2 months or so ago but then got distracted, like I normally do, with the plethora of other games that I already have or acquired while perusing the PS store. "Vigil" is a pretty solid game in a lot of ways but in other ways it seems as though the developers simply didn't care or at least, really missed out on some critical elements of platforming MV games that are basically universal at this point
I like the game, but after 10 hours of gameplay I have found a bunch of things that I like and other that I really don't like.
Like: The art style
The art style used in this game remind me of a couple of my favorite games that I have played in the past couple of years: This is Ender Lilies and also Blasphemous. I don't really even know how to describe it other than it is dark, bloody, and isn't overly focused on realism as far as absolutely perfect graphics are concerned. I feel like far too many studios focus on having perfect 4k graphics and the gameplay suffers as a consequence. This also means that I won't be able to play it on my 5 year old potato. My gaming laptop was shit hot 5 years ago but time travels quickly in the gaming world and now I can't play really anything that is 3D.
The game looks good yet isn't overly taxing on your machine. These are both good things in my mind
Dislike: The quest system
Just like a lot of games, but most of which are not Metroidvania games, you get given a ton of optional quests in "Vigil." I don't have a problem with optional side quests but in "Vigil" you are not given very good information about where the fuck you are meant to be going and a lot of this has to do with how poorly the map system is done in this game (more on that later.) It got to the point with me where I would encounter an NPC somewhere, speak to them, and then it would ask me if I want to deliver such and such because it was part of a quest that I don't ever remember picking up. The rewards would be mostly meaningless items that I already have better gear than the reward is, so mostly it is a waste of time.
When I get given a quest, I would like more specific information than "I need you to go find Steve!" and then they don't give you any more information about where Steve might be or even which direction he wandered in. When you do finally find Steve, you have completely forgotten that it was a quest you were given hours ago and you don't even remember to go back to claim your reward because there isn't much indication of where that person actually was. You expect me to remember the exact location and name of every NPC that I meet in this massive world? That's just nutso.
Like: Ability to upgrade equipment a variety of ways
There's a guy you meet really early on in the game that at first glance just seems like your usual weapons dealer that you are probably not going to use because in most games you find much better drops in the field than he is ever going to have for sale. However, later I went to him to sell some of the junk I was carrying around and discovered that he can seriously upgrade your gear to make it more damage-dealing or damage absorbing. This costs some gold and some stones you find along the way. You can't just use them willy-nilly though because there is a limited amount of them. You'll probably end up having a preferred weapon choice and at least to the point that I have made it, you need to decide which of these you are going to focus on primarily. An upgraded weapon is significantly more powerful than an non-upgraded one, this much should be obvious.
Dislike: The map system
I've intentionally provided a map that is incomplete so that I don't accidentally spoil any of the game for people that want to play it but the more I think about it, me showing the entire map probably wouldn't spoil anything since it for the most part isn't very useful.
There isn't much indication on these maps about POI's or even very important building that you must re-visit multiple times in the game. There are also certain crossovers to other maps that are not represented on the display. Does it go to the one adjacent to it, does it go to a completely separate sub-map, does it go to an area above? Your guess is as good as mine and the only way you are going to know these things is to completely memorize it. This all could have been resolved by simply having some dots indicating where certain exits are actually entrances to.
Also, while I appreciate the save points that you can teleport to and there are lots of them. There are a few of them featured in the above map but here is one thing that I totally cannot understand why they did this a certain way. The "warp points" are labeled on the map, this is great, but there is no map overlay when you are trying to decide which point you want to warp to. In order to do this you have to open your regular map, remember the 2 digit code of said map, then go back to the teleport and enter that 2 digit code. WTF? How difficult would have it been to just have an overlay? It's a stupid!
Dislike: Enemy A.I.
You can go ahead and eliminate what the "I" in what A.I. stands for because the enemies in this game, have none.
This bear guy is a prime example. He will slowly march towards you in a menacing fashion and you have two choices. You can pop off arrows at him endlessly while backing up the entire time until he dies (he will never block them) or you can melee by dodging through him and popping him in the back. He glitches in his turnaround in a non-fluid way but then you just dodge through him again and do the same thing from behind over and over and over. This can be done with every other enemy that I have encountered in the game as well.
I think that the devs were aware that their AI sucked and just left it that way. Combat is so bad actually that half of the time you encounter enemies that have their backs to you and they will never turn around until you strike them. There is no reason to be stealthy, you can smash tables 2 and half feet away from them but they are fixated in the distance for god knows what reason.
Later on you will encounter giant spiders that would be intimidating and scary if it weren't for the fact that they are exceptionally easy to strike through walls and floors. One of the skills you obtain makes it so you don't even have to be on the same screen as them in order to make this happen. I love a good cheat every now and then, but this is just ridiculous.
I could have also mentioned that when you acquire a new skill they tell you how to use that skill ONE TIME. There is no going back to the controls section to get a look at all the moves you have learned for a refresher course. If you forget what the command was or were mad-button-mushing to skip dialogue when you were told, you are shit outta luck. Other than going online there is no in-game reference to read the various moves.
I think that everyone out there that is reading this should understand that despite all of the mostly negative stuff that I have said about this game, I am still playing it but probably because most of the other games I am currently working on are too hard for my feeble mind.