*
This is entirely my opinion, and therefore should be taken as such. Feel free to disagree, agree, or not care. But do know I base it off previous experiences in MO1, and other games such as...
Darkfall, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Mordhau, Mount and Blade (1, Warband, With Fire & Sword, Bannerlord), etc. (Many games which include melee and / or magic systems and player versus player.)
**
I'm aware the game is in a 'combat alpha' and things are subjective to change, better to criticize early and potentially get it right.
My PC Specs:
i5-8600k 3.6GHz (Overclocked 4.5 GHz)
RTX 2070 Super
24GB of DDR4 3600 RAM
TUF Z370-PLUS Gaming Motherboard
[Optimization]
Game honestly runs fine and silky-smooth on my specs. I maintain about 90+ FPS, and that was just loading in with the default / recommended settings. Runs way better than Mortal Online 2. Applicable to change of course, but first impressions it runs great on high-spec hardware. I'd give this an 8/10.
[Graphics]
Game is honestly a 7.5/10 in terms of graphics. In comparison to MO1, it looks 100 times better. Mostly because things don't look poorly modeled and texture stretching isn't nearly as prevalent in MO2 (For now). The game looks good in my eyes, especially when turned up; not exactly the best - but graphics don't make an amazing game. So they accomplish looking great whilst filling the role! Good job here.
[UI]
The UI is super sleek and clean this time around, please Star Vault follow in this pattern; MO1 suffered from really laggy, bland, and jarring UI features and MO2 currently right now has an appealing aesthetic of sleek, simple, and pleasing. Stick to this with a bit of flair added and the UI will be great. I especially like how the compass has now been handled, still should be able to toggle it however. Also hopefully resizing gets included for certain aspects. 9/10
[Sound]
It seems the sounds have been mostly recycled. I love hearing some of the MO1 music, and I've also heard some new MO2 tracks. I just assume new sounds for spells, weapons, armors, races, genders, etc. will come along with music. But right now I'd have to give this a 5/10. It's painfully average but I shouldn't expect something crazy of a combat alpha.
[Weapon Design]
This takes into account both the aesthetic and the practicableness' of weapons in MO2. Considering there is a turn cap, quite a strict one in place, most weapons like Spears, Daggers, and weapons that could utilize the overhead strike are gimped substantially when turning to land your strikes. The weapons generally look nice, and the usability is average I'd say. I'd give a 4/5 for looks, and a 3/5 for usability. Giving a cumulative score of 7/10.
[Armor Design]
The armor looks fucking cool. 10/10
[Animations]
The animations honestly leave a lot left to be desired. While some are fine, some are not. We hopefully don't fall back into the trend of allowing spears to be charged as if I'm running around trying to play pool or poke someone's eye out.. you all know the EXACT animation from MO1 I'm talking about. Again, it's a combat alpha and animations can be polished and made to look and feel much better - but a lot of weapons I feel kind of suffer right now from really weird animations. Notably... Spear left / right swings. They look incredibly stiff, and it makes me wonder if we're going to have the same problem with poleswords in MO2 where stabs and left swings could be near indiscernible if hidden properly. 6/10
[World Design]
World design looks really, really nice. But I can clearly see a lot of copying and pasting in some areas. Not that I particularly mind, however some areas it's clear someone just spammed the same asset down ten times and just called it a day. Not that it makes or breaks a game, but the game overall feels WAAAAAAAY more immersive than MO1 did by a landslide. I also think the absolute vastness of the world could finally fix the problem of people using TC to block off areas with such ease... Though I hope we never approach TC like that again in MO2. I've come to terms with SV buying assets and dropping them in (with additional work) to speed up production, it beats poorly modeled looking environments and places. Just be sure to take care off all the open seams, floating objects, and perhaps having someone double check all the buildings and remove any foilage underneath them so they don't clip through the floor like at the MO2 Pig Farm (Between Tindrem and Fabernum). I'd say a 6.5/10.
[Controls]
Controls feel alright, and the keybindings are way better now considering it allows the usage of mouse buttons (Thank god). But much better than MO1. I'd say a 7.5/10.
[Combat]
Alright, this is where some hard truths need to be said along with some general praises. I actually really like the MO2 combat system, I can tell if it was given proper direction and time that it could easily outclass MO1 melee combat (And it kind of does right now... sort of). There are just two really big problems with the MO2 combat system. The first problem is having any kind of turn cap in this game. I have no clue why you would add a turn cap on MO2 when MO1 didn't have it, MO1 had good and clean feeling melee combat because there was no turn cap. But if you are ABSOLUTELY DEAD SET on having a turn cap.. then PLEASE for the love of God make it WAAAAAAY less intrusive and restrictive. You quite literally can't aim stabs and overheads because of it, and it makes horizontal (left / right) swings feel abysmal at times. The second problem is lessening the parry radius. People can parry you with their back turned to you still, and I feel going around peoples blocks / parries should still be a thing in MO2. So get rid of turn cap or make it way less strict, and lower the block / parry radius. Hitboxes could use some work, but I figure that will come with time; and weapon speeds could honestly be faster. MO2 at times can feel really slow. I'd give it a 6.5/10, but it's still enjoyable.
[Connection & Networking]
My connection has seemed pretty stable, and given previous experience in MO1 I'm already used to how prediction works. Though I feel at times there are some people who are just hitting waaaaaaaaaay further away than they need to be, not sure how one can rectify this issue given if a players connection is bad it'll effect how they're perceived in-game. But at times it felt okay. But it was honestly an average experience. 5/10.
This in total brings us to a cumulative score of 7.1/10. Now personally I feel this score is fair, and I'm happy with where it came out at. But obviously giving feedback on specific parts isn't going to be the full experience. I also have to give my suggestions and opinions on things I've experienced. So lets just jump right into it.
[Personal Suggestions]
- Either remove the turn cap, or lessen the strictness of the turn radius on it. This makes combat feel extremely sluggish and unfun. Anyone who says strict turn caps are good for melee-slashers should take a few notes from Mordhau where the competitive scene died due to abrupt balance changes along with strict turn caps being implemented. PLEASE do not keep the turn cap the way it is, you will drive out any chance of veterans coming back and new players coming in will think the combat feels restrictive.
- Lessen the size of the parry / block radius around the player. It feels extremely large.
- Polish & refine the animations and responsiveness of attacks and parries. Sometimes it feels like I get locked out of an attack or the ability to parry even though I have sufficient stamina.
- There's a random (bug?) occurrence where the lighting just goes completely wack, where it can be daytime and instantly just turn near pitch-black.
- I believe there should be some kind of monitor server side that keeps track of a players ping, and if it spikes too many times within a certain time frame - they should be booted from the server. Now I'm not ACCUSING anyone, but a few people in game it feels like they are near cheating when they fight as they skip, teleport, and phase in and out of existence; yet somehow are still able to reliably parry and hit you - but you can't on your screen. I'm not saying restrict high pings, but just pings that spike sporadically. A stable high ping is better than a spiking high ping. (Since we're not getting a US side server, which is a shame).
- Attack directions should be bindable. Not saying everyone would use this. But being able to bind at least stab and overhead strikes would be GODLY. As in, you press a keybind and it always guarantees that attack.
But yeah. That's my feedback and suggestions. I feel like with enough polish on the foundations of what is currently established, then adding more content; I could LEGIT seeing MO2 shaping up to being a proper 'Mortal Online'.
So good job on everything so far and good luck.
This is entirely my opinion, and therefore should be taken as such. Feel free to disagree, agree, or not care. But do know I base it off previous experiences in MO1, and other games such as...
Darkfall, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Mordhau, Mount and Blade (1, Warband, With Fire & Sword, Bannerlord), etc. (Many games which include melee and / or magic systems and player versus player.)
**
I'm aware the game is in a 'combat alpha' and things are subjective to change, better to criticize early and potentially get it right.
My PC Specs:
i5-8600k 3.6GHz (Overclocked 4.5 GHz)
RTX 2070 Super
24GB of DDR4 3600 RAM
TUF Z370-PLUS Gaming Motherboard
[Optimization]
Game honestly runs fine and silky-smooth on my specs. I maintain about 90+ FPS, and that was just loading in with the default / recommended settings. Runs way better than Mortal Online 2. Applicable to change of course, but first impressions it runs great on high-spec hardware. I'd give this an 8/10.
[Graphics]
Game is honestly a 7.5/10 in terms of graphics. In comparison to MO1, it looks 100 times better. Mostly because things don't look poorly modeled and texture stretching isn't nearly as prevalent in MO2 (For now). The game looks good in my eyes, especially when turned up; not exactly the best - but graphics don't make an amazing game. So they accomplish looking great whilst filling the role! Good job here.
[UI]
The UI is super sleek and clean this time around, please Star Vault follow in this pattern; MO1 suffered from really laggy, bland, and jarring UI features and MO2 currently right now has an appealing aesthetic of sleek, simple, and pleasing. Stick to this with a bit of flair added and the UI will be great. I especially like how the compass has now been handled, still should be able to toggle it however. Also hopefully resizing gets included for certain aspects. 9/10
[Sound]
It seems the sounds have been mostly recycled. I love hearing some of the MO1 music, and I've also heard some new MO2 tracks. I just assume new sounds for spells, weapons, armors, races, genders, etc. will come along with music. But right now I'd have to give this a 5/10. It's painfully average but I shouldn't expect something crazy of a combat alpha.
[Weapon Design]
This takes into account both the aesthetic and the practicableness' of weapons in MO2. Considering there is a turn cap, quite a strict one in place, most weapons like Spears, Daggers, and weapons that could utilize the overhead strike are gimped substantially when turning to land your strikes. The weapons generally look nice, and the usability is average I'd say. I'd give a 4/5 for looks, and a 3/5 for usability. Giving a cumulative score of 7/10.
[Armor Design]
The armor looks fucking cool. 10/10
[Animations]
The animations honestly leave a lot left to be desired. While some are fine, some are not. We hopefully don't fall back into the trend of allowing spears to be charged as if I'm running around trying to play pool or poke someone's eye out.. you all know the EXACT animation from MO1 I'm talking about. Again, it's a combat alpha and animations can be polished and made to look and feel much better - but a lot of weapons I feel kind of suffer right now from really weird animations. Notably... Spear left / right swings. They look incredibly stiff, and it makes me wonder if we're going to have the same problem with poleswords in MO2 where stabs and left swings could be near indiscernible if hidden properly. 6/10
[World Design]
World design looks really, really nice. But I can clearly see a lot of copying and pasting in some areas. Not that I particularly mind, however some areas it's clear someone just spammed the same asset down ten times and just called it a day. Not that it makes or breaks a game, but the game overall feels WAAAAAAAY more immersive than MO1 did by a landslide. I also think the absolute vastness of the world could finally fix the problem of people using TC to block off areas with such ease... Though I hope we never approach TC like that again in MO2. I've come to terms with SV buying assets and dropping them in (with additional work) to speed up production, it beats poorly modeled looking environments and places. Just be sure to take care off all the open seams, floating objects, and perhaps having someone double check all the buildings and remove any foilage underneath them so they don't clip through the floor like at the MO2 Pig Farm (Between Tindrem and Fabernum). I'd say a 6.5/10.
[Controls]
Controls feel alright, and the keybindings are way better now considering it allows the usage of mouse buttons (Thank god). But much better than MO1. I'd say a 7.5/10.
[Combat]
Alright, this is where some hard truths need to be said along with some general praises. I actually really like the MO2 combat system, I can tell if it was given proper direction and time that it could easily outclass MO1 melee combat (And it kind of does right now... sort of). There are just two really big problems with the MO2 combat system. The first problem is having any kind of turn cap in this game. I have no clue why you would add a turn cap on MO2 when MO1 didn't have it, MO1 had good and clean feeling melee combat because there was no turn cap. But if you are ABSOLUTELY DEAD SET on having a turn cap.. then PLEASE for the love of God make it WAAAAAAY less intrusive and restrictive. You quite literally can't aim stabs and overheads because of it, and it makes horizontal (left / right) swings feel abysmal at times. The second problem is lessening the parry radius. People can parry you with their back turned to you still, and I feel going around peoples blocks / parries should still be a thing in MO2. So get rid of turn cap or make it way less strict, and lower the block / parry radius. Hitboxes could use some work, but I figure that will come with time; and weapon speeds could honestly be faster. MO2 at times can feel really slow. I'd give it a 6.5/10, but it's still enjoyable.
[Connection & Networking]
My connection has seemed pretty stable, and given previous experience in MO1 I'm already used to how prediction works. Though I feel at times there are some people who are just hitting waaaaaaaaaay further away than they need to be, not sure how one can rectify this issue given if a players connection is bad it'll effect how they're perceived in-game. But at times it felt okay. But it was honestly an average experience. 5/10.
This in total brings us to a cumulative score of 7.1/10. Now personally I feel this score is fair, and I'm happy with where it came out at. But obviously giving feedback on specific parts isn't going to be the full experience. I also have to give my suggestions and opinions on things I've experienced. So lets just jump right into it.
[Personal Suggestions]
- Either remove the turn cap, or lessen the strictness of the turn radius on it. This makes combat feel extremely sluggish and unfun. Anyone who says strict turn caps are good for melee-slashers should take a few notes from Mordhau where the competitive scene died due to abrupt balance changes along with strict turn caps being implemented. PLEASE do not keep the turn cap the way it is, you will drive out any chance of veterans coming back and new players coming in will think the combat feels restrictive.
- Lessen the size of the parry / block radius around the player. It feels extremely large.
- Polish & refine the animations and responsiveness of attacks and parries. Sometimes it feels like I get locked out of an attack or the ability to parry even though I have sufficient stamina.
- There's a random (bug?) occurrence where the lighting just goes completely wack, where it can be daytime and instantly just turn near pitch-black.
- I believe there should be some kind of monitor server side that keeps track of a players ping, and if it spikes too many times within a certain time frame - they should be booted from the server. Now I'm not ACCUSING anyone, but a few people in game it feels like they are near cheating when they fight as they skip, teleport, and phase in and out of existence; yet somehow are still able to reliably parry and hit you - but you can't on your screen. I'm not saying restrict high pings, but just pings that spike sporadically. A stable high ping is better than a spiking high ping. (Since we're not getting a US side server, which is a shame).
- Attack directions should be bindable. Not saying everyone would use this. But being able to bind at least stab and overhead strikes would be GODLY. As in, you press a keybind and it always guarantees that attack.
But yeah. That's my feedback and suggestions. I feel like with enough polish on the foundations of what is currently established, then adding more content; I could LEGIT seeing MO2 shaping up to being a proper 'Mortal Online'.
So good job on everything so far and good luck.
