You know what? In a way Mechajammer (the final product, not the myriad pre-release iterations it went through) puts me in mind of Bioshock Infinite. In that both are games would have been markedly improved, had they been developed with the same core ideas but into an entirely different genre of game/gameplay.
By all standards Bioshock Infinite is a mediocre shooter, and its story and tone stand in absolute disharmony from its gameplay. But make it a stealth game akin to Dishonored, and you've got something cookin'. Same for Mechajammer, which could have been an excellent point&click—and I say that as someone who rarely enjoys point&click games, save for Full Throttle, Sam&Max and Deponia.
If one day I learn that at some point during the development of this game, the developers were kidnapped by aliens and, for some unfathomable reason, replaced by impostors intent on sabotaging every bit of work previously accomplished, I'll go, "Yeah, I believe that; that pretty much explains it all."
Yet another collection of truly bizarre design decisions. Too many separate skills, and not nearly enough dices/pips awarded at level up (I know there is a sort of learning chip item you can find in the wild that adds +1 pip to a skill of your choosing, but during my playthrough I stumbled upon one and one only).
So we have 17 Studies/Skills.
One-Handed Edge
Two-Handed Edge
Impact
Pole
Throwing
Chained
Slug Guns
Laser Guns
Plasma Guns
Unarmed
Blocking
Organics
Chemistry
Social
Burglary
Hacking
Repair
Fuse One-Handed Edge and Two-Handed Edge into one category; these have no reason whatsoever to be separated. In the same vein, fuse Impact and Chained, as well as Laser Guns and Plasma Guns.
Throwing is nearly useless. Its only use is to throw grenades accurately, but as they are grenades are barely functional; throwing one on the ground works—I think—as intended, but throwing one bullseye-like straight into an enemy's face will cause it to not explode and not release its fire/acid/grease payload, doing about as much damage as a pebble.
And Pole serves only to wield a spear. So I say fuse Pole and Throwing (since spears can be thrown, though that is also hilariously broken) and make Throwing augment the damage caused by your spear when thrown.
Burglary is also nearly useless. Almost all locked doors or windows can be broken, and though this makes noise it has never attraced an enemy to my position during my playthrough. What doors cannot be broken are usually only unlockable with a specific key, thus Burglary is useless on them; or have a target of 50 to be successfully lockpicked, forcing you into a massive dice investment, for miserably unexciting rewards (usually a shitty piece of armor and a few bucks).
Chemistry is useless. I think it only serves to create grenades from puddles of spilled chemicals, but grenades are plentiful and cheap to buy.
Blocking, I've honestly no idea.
Organics is used for... what? Not healing yourself, since using a Health Kit automatically succeeds. Not healing drones, since they roll for Organics (and not Repair, for some reason) with their own stats. Healing companions then. Ok. Not exactly riveting stuff.
Social is also nearly useless. My character did not have any points in Occult and Social for most of the playthrough, but I did try it a bit before going for the ending. I had a three dices worth of pips still waiting to be attributed, and I put them all into social then prowled the city trying to gather rumors from vagrants. Rumors are hilariously useless; they only add flavor. So Social's only use is to recruit companions, I think.
Repair is the clear winner. Almost mandatory skill, provided you want to use a weapon.
By any chance, do you know if Cyberpunk 2077 is in a good state now? Haven't checked it in a while. I know they've patched the game numerous times, and I think added quite a bit of stuff, but I'm still very much on the fence as to whether or not to buy it.
By all standards Bioshock Infinite is a mediocre shooter, and its story and tone stand in absolute disharmony from its gameplay. But make it a stealth game akin to Dishonored, and you've got something cookin'. Same for Mechajammer, which could have been an excellent point&click—and I say that as someone who rarely enjoys point&click games, save for Full Throttle, Sam&Max and Deponia.
If one day I learn that at some point during the development of this game, the developers were kidnapped by aliens and, for some unfathomable reason, replaced by impostors intent on sabotaging every bit of work previously accomplished, I'll go, "Yeah, I believe that; that pretty much explains it all."
Yet another collection of truly bizarre design decisions. Too many separate skills, and not nearly enough dices/pips awarded at level up (I know there is a sort of learning chip item you can find in the wild that adds +1 pip to a skill of your choosing, but during my playthrough I stumbled upon one and one only).
So we have 17 Studies/Skills.
One-Handed Edge
Two-Handed Edge
Impact
Pole
Throwing
Chained
Slug Guns
Laser Guns
Plasma Guns
Unarmed
Blocking
Organics
Chemistry
Social
Burglary
Hacking
Repair
Fuse One-Handed Edge and Two-Handed Edge into one category; these have no reason whatsoever to be separated. In the same vein, fuse Impact and Chained, as well as Laser Guns and Plasma Guns.
Throwing is nearly useless. Its only use is to throw grenades accurately, but as they are grenades are barely functional; throwing one on the ground works—I think—as intended, but throwing one bullseye-like straight into an enemy's face will cause it to not explode and not release its fire/acid/grease payload, doing about as much damage as a pebble.
And Pole serves only to wield a spear. So I say fuse Pole and Throwing (since spears can be thrown, though that is also hilariously broken) and make Throwing augment the damage caused by your spear when thrown.
Burglary is also nearly useless. Almost all locked doors or windows can be broken, and though this makes noise it has never attraced an enemy to my position during my playthrough. What doors cannot be broken are usually only unlockable with a specific key, thus Burglary is useless on them; or have a target of 50 to be successfully lockpicked, forcing you into a massive dice investment, for miserably unexciting rewards (usually a shitty piece of armor and a few bucks).
Chemistry is useless. I think it only serves to create grenades from puddles of spilled chemicals, but grenades are plentiful and cheap to buy.
Blocking, I've honestly no idea.
Organics is used for... what? Not healing yourself, since using a Health Kit automatically succeeds. Not healing drones, since they roll for Organics (and not Repair, for some reason) with their own stats. Healing companions then. Ok. Not exactly riveting stuff.
Social is also nearly useless. My character did not have any points in Occult and Social for most of the playthrough, but I did try it a bit before going for the ending. I had a three dices worth of pips still waiting to be attributed, and I put them all into social then prowled the city trying to gather rumors from vagrants. Rumors are hilariously useless; they only add flavor. So Social's only use is to recruit companions, I think.
Repair is the clear winner. Almost mandatory skill, provided you want to use a weapon.
By any chance, do you know if Cyberpunk 2077 is in a good state now? Haven't checked it in a while. I know they've patched the game numerous times, and I think added quite a bit of stuff, but I'm still very much on the fence as to whether or not to buy it.
