KickStarter Underworld Ascendant is a disaster

[BEvers]

Enemy types I've seen so far:

- easy skeletons
- hard skeletons
- lizards
- tree monsters
- some sort of ghost thing that keeps its heart in a bone pillar
- slugs (harmless)
- thieves that can backstab you

 

[Max Heap]

I'm waiting for Spoony's review. I'm sure he'll upload it any day now.

By the way, are there paladins in this masterpiece?

This is easily worse than Ultima 9.
At least Ultima 9 could capture you when you've never heard of the series before. It was also less bugged and with the right video card drivers you could play it relatively smoothly. It had a nice, relatively open and pretty world and it could be regarded as a relatively good - albeit flawed - video game were it not for the license. This here is just unsalvageable. I'm not even sure how they are supposed to fix the performance in Titan's Reach.
Were it not for my immense patience with dungeon crawlers I'd have already given this thing up and called it unplayable (which it pretty much is at some points).

 

[Max Heap]

The big difference between UA and say PoE is that the latter was at least functional ... had an 8 mil budget and all the resources of a 150-employee company.

Fixed.

The big difference is that PoE had functional project management behind it.
You could have pumped another 5 million into UA, it wouldn't change a thing if team leaders just fuck around for two thirds of the time and then in the last year they realize "Whoops, we gotta make a functional product - better start on that!"
That's what killed this. That and probably badly defined project goals from the very start.

I mean it's so fucking obvious they made these levels in the last few months. Not only if you followed the newsletters - you just gotta look at them. It all seems like it was hastily put together and barely tested. That's also why you got all those holes in the environment.

 

[Zep Zepo]

You men suffering through this mess for the rest of us are doing God's work.




Zep--

 

[BEvers]

Info on the spell system, documented exclusively on the OE discord:

hey guys, to make things easier, here's a list of the spells Tim started to compile before he stopped (and perhaps we can re-use some of these characters): ᛖᚲ, ᚾᚲ, ᛒᚲ, ᚦᚲ, ᚢᚲ, ᛖᛃ, ᚾᛃ, ᛒᛃ, ᚦᛃ, ᚢᛃ, ᛖᛏ, ᚾᛏ, ᛒᛏ, ᚦᛏ, ᚢᛏ, ᛖᛗ, ᚾᛗ, ᛒᛗ, ᚦᛗ, ᚢᛗ, ᛖᚲᚢ, ᚾᚲᚢ, ᛒᚲᚢ, ᚦᚲᚢ, ᚢᚲᚢ, ᛖᛃᚢ, ᚾᛃᚢ, ᛒᛃᚢ, ᚦᛃᚢ, ᚢᛃᚢ, ᛖᛏᚢ, ᚾᛏᚢ, ᛒᛏᚢ, ᚦᛏᚢ, ᚢᛏᚢ, ᛖᛗᚢ, ᚾᛗᚢ, ᛒᛗᚢ, ᚦᛗᚢ, ᚢᛗᚢ, ᛖᚲᛒ, ᚾᚲᛒ, ᛒᚲᛒ, ᚦᚲᛒ, ᚢᚲᛒ, ᛖᛃᛒ, ᚾᛃᛒ, ᛒᛃᛒ, ᚦᛃᛒ, ᚢᛃᛒ, ᛖᛏᛒ, ᚾᛏᛒ, ᛒᛏᛒ, ᚦᛏᛒ, ᚢᛏᛒ, ᛖᛗᛒ, ᚾᛗᛒ, ᛒᛗᛒ, ᚦᛗᛒ, ᚢᛗᛒ, ᛖᚲᚱ, ᚾᚲᚱ, ᛒᚲᚱ, ᚦᚲᚱ, ᚢᚲᚱ, ᛖᛃᚱ, ᚾᛃᚱ, ᛒᛃᚱ, ᚦᛃᚱ, ᚢᛃᚱ, ᛖᛏᚱ, ᚾᛏᚱ, ᛒᛏᚱ, ᚦᛏᚱ, ᚢᛏᚱ, ᛖᛗᚱ, ᚾᛗᚱ, ᛒᛗᚱ, ᚦᛗᚱ, ᚢᛗᚱ, ᛖᚲᚢᚱ, ᚾᚲᚢᚱ, ᛒᚲᚢᚱ, ᚦᚲᚢᚱ, ᚢᚲᚢᚱ, ᛖᛃᚢᚱ, ᚾᛃᚢᚱ, ᛒᛃᚢᚱ, ᚦᛃᚢᚱ, ᚢᛃᚢᚱ, ᛖᛏᚢᚱ, ᚾᛏᚢᚱ, ᛒᛏᚢᚱ, ᚦᛏᚢᚱ, ᚢᛏᚢᚱ, ᛖᛗᚢᚱ, ᚾᛗᚢᚱ, ᛒᛗᚢᚱ, ᚦᛗᚢᚱ, ᚢᛗᚢᚱ, ᛖᚲᛒᚱ, ᚾᚲᛒᚱ, ᛒᚲᛒᚱ, ᚦᚲᛒᚱ, ᚢᚲᛒᚱ, ᛖᛃᛒᚱ, ᚾᛃᛒᚱ, ᛒᛃᛒᚱ, ᚦᛃᛒᚱ, ᚢᛃᛒᚱ, ᛖᛏᛒᚱ, ᚾᛏᛒᚱ, ᛒᛏᛒᚱ, ᚦᛏᛒᚱ, ᚢᛏᛒᚱ, ᛖᛗᛒᚱ, ᚾᛗᛒᚱ, ᛒᛗᛒᚱ, ᚦᛗᛒᚱ, ᚢᛗᛒᚱ, ᛖᚲᛉ, ᚾᚲᛉ, ᛒᚲᛉ, ᚦᚲᛉ, ᚢᚲᛉ, ᛖᛃᛉ, ᚾᛃᛉ, ᛒᛃᛉ, ᚦᛃᛉ, ᚢᛃᛉ, ᛖᛏᛉ, ᚾᛏᛉ, ᛒᛏᛉ, ᚦᛏᛉ, ᚢᛏᛉ, ᛖᛗᛉ, ᚾᛗᛉ, ᛒᛗᛉ, ᚦᛗᛉ, ᚢᛗᛉ, ᛖᚲᚢᛉ, ᚾᚲᚢᛉ, ᛒᚲᚢᛉ, ᚦᚲᚢᛉ, ᚢᚲᚢᛉ, ᛖᛃᚢᛉ, ᚾᛃᚢᛉ, ᛒᛃᚢᛉ, ᚦᛃᚢᛉ, ᚢᛃᚢᛉ, ᛖᛏᚢᛉ, ᚾᛏᚢᛉ, ᛒᛏᚢᛉ, ᚦᛏᚢᛉ, ᚢᛏᚢᛉ, ᛖᛗᚢᛉ, ᚾᛗᚢᛉ, ᛒᛗᚢᛉ, ᚦᛗᚢᛉ, ᚢᛗᚢᛉ, ᛖᚲᛒᛉ, ᚾᚲᛒᛉ, ᛒᚲᛒᛉ, ᚦᚲᛒᛉ, ᚢᚲᛒᛉ, ᛖᛃᛒᛉ, ᚾᛃᛒᛉ, ᛒᛃᛒᛉ, ᚦᛃᛒᛉ, ᚢᛃᛒᛉ, ᛖᛏᛒᛉ, ᚾᛏᛒᛉ, ᛒᛏᛒᛉ, ᚦᛏᛒᛉ, ᚢᛏᛒᛉ, ᛖᛗᛒᛉ, ᚾᛗᛒᛉ, ᛒᛗᛒᛉ, ᚦᛗᛒᛉ, ᚢᛗᛒᛉ, ᛖᚾ, ᚦᛒ, ᛖᚦᛗ, ᛖᛖᛖ, ᛒᚱ, ᛖᚱ, ᛖᚢᚱ, ᛒᛉ, ᛒᛒ, ᚾᛖ

More input from Tim: So, in general, you need an action and a target to make a spell. There are 5 actions and 4 targets. Then (if you have the Rune Mastery skill) you can also add optional intensifiers, which come in two power levels. This can actually change the effect of the spell along with its "power," e.g. by turning a root into a paralysis or a damage-over-time to instant damage. The same skill allows two optional triggers, which can change the spell from its normal auto-targeting behavior into either a trap or a projectile. So, that's 180 spells total. Then there's a short list of set phrases called idioms that do particular things even though they don't follow this sentence structure. (edited) You can also put the runes in any order you want as long as the action comes before any intensifiers or targeters. It's basically a crafting system for spells.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

Spoony has basically been retired from making content for a while.

 

[J_C]

I'm waiting for Spoony's review. I'm sure he'll upload it any day now.

By the way, are there paladins in this masterpiece?

Wait, you mean he is still alive?

 

[Max Heap]

Info on the spell system, documented exclusively on the OE discord:

hey guys, to make things easier, here's a list of the spells Tim started to compile before he stopped (and perhaps we can re-use some of these characters): ᛖᚲ, ᚾᚲ, ᛒᚲ, ᚦᚲ, ᚢᚲ, ᛖᛃ, ᚾᛃ, ᛒᛃ, ᚦᛃ, ᚢᛃ, ᛖᛏ, ᚾᛏ, ᛒᛏ, ᚦᛏ, ᚢᛏ, ᛖᛗ, ᚾᛗ, ᛒᛗ, ᚦᛗ, ᚢᛗ, ᛖᚲᚢ, ᚾᚲᚢ, ᛒᚲᚢ, ᚦᚲᚢ, ᚢᚲᚢ, ᛖᛃᚢ, ᚾᛃᚢ, ᛒᛃᚢ, ᚦᛃᚢ, ᚢᛃᚢ, ᛖᛏᚢ, ᚾᛏᚢ, ᛒᛏᚢ, ᚦᛏᚢ, ᚢᛏᚢ, ᛖᛗᚢ, ᚾᛗᚢ, ᛒᛗᚢ, ᚦᛗᚢ, ᚢᛗᚢ, ᛖᚲᛒ, ᚾᚲᛒ, ᛒᚲᛒ, ᚦᚲᛒ, ᚢᚲᛒ, ᛖᛃᛒ, ᚾᛃᛒ, ᛒᛃᛒ, ᚦᛃᛒ, ᚢᛃᛒ, ᛖᛏᛒ, ᚾᛏᛒ, ᛒᛏᛒ, ᚦᛏᛒ, ᚢᛏᛒ, ᛖᛗᛒ, ᚾᛗᛒ, ᛒᛗᛒ, ᚦᛗᛒ, ᚢᛗᛒ, ᛖᚲᚱ, ᚾᚲᚱ, ᛒᚲᚱ, ᚦᚲᚱ, ᚢᚲᚱ, ᛖᛃᚱ, ᚾᛃᚱ, ᛒᛃᚱ, ᚦᛃᚱ, ᚢᛃᚱ, ᛖᛏᚱ, ᚾᛏᚱ, ᛒᛏᚱ, ᚦᛏᚱ, ᚢᛏᚱ, ᛖᛗᚱ, ᚾᛗᚱ, ᛒᛗᚱ, ᚦᛗᚱ, ᚢᛗᚱ, ᛖᚲᚢᚱ, ᚾᚲᚢᚱ, ᛒᚲᚢᚱ, ᚦᚲᚢᚱ, ᚢᚲᚢᚱ, ᛖᛃᚢᚱ, ᚾᛃᚢᚱ, ᛒᛃᚢᚱ, ᚦᛃᚢᚱ, ᚢᛃᚢᚱ, ᛖᛏᚢᚱ, ᚾᛏᚢᚱ, ᛒᛏᚢᚱ, ᚦᛏᚢᚱ, ᚢᛏᚢᚱ, ᛖᛗᚢᚱ, ᚾᛗᚢᚱ, ᛒᛗᚢᚱ, ᚦᛗᚢᚱ, ᚢᛗᚢᚱ, ᛖᚲᛒᚱ, ᚾᚲᛒᚱ, ᛒᚲᛒᚱ, ᚦᚲᛒᚱ, ᚢᚲᛒᚱ, ᛖᛃᛒᚱ, ᚾᛃᛒᚱ, ᛒᛃᛒᚱ, ᚦᛃᛒᚱ, ᚢᛃᛒᚱ, ᛖᛏᛒᚱ, ᚾᛏᛒᚱ, ᛒᛏᛒᚱ, ᚦᛏᛒᚱ, ᚢᛏᛒᚱ, ᛖᛗᛒᚱ, ᚾᛗᛒᚱ, ᛒᛗᛒᚱ, ᚦᛗᛒᚱ, ᚢᛗᛒᚱ, ᛖᚲᛉ, ᚾᚲᛉ, ᛒᚲᛉ, ᚦᚲᛉ, ᚢᚲᛉ, ᛖᛃᛉ, ᚾᛃᛉ, ᛒᛃᛉ, ᚦᛃᛉ, ᚢᛃᛉ, ᛖᛏᛉ, ᚾᛏᛉ, ᛒᛏᛉ, ᚦᛏᛉ, ᚢᛏᛉ, ᛖᛗᛉ, ᚾᛗᛉ, ᛒᛗᛉ, ᚦᛗᛉ, ᚢᛗᛉ, ᛖᚲᚢᛉ, ᚾᚲᚢᛉ, ᛒᚲᚢᛉ, ᚦᚲᚢᛉ, ᚢᚲᚢᛉ, ᛖᛃᚢᛉ, ᚾᛃᚢᛉ, ᛒᛃᚢᛉ, ᚦᛃᚢᛉ, ᚢᛃᚢᛉ, ᛖᛏᚢᛉ, ᚾᛏᚢᛉ, ᛒᛏᚢᛉ, ᚦᛏᚢᛉ, ᚢᛏᚢᛉ, ᛖᛗᚢᛉ, ᚾᛗᚢᛉ, ᛒᛗᚢᛉ, ᚦᛗᚢᛉ, ᚢᛗᚢᛉ, ᛖᚲᛒᛉ, ᚾᚲᛒᛉ, ᛒᚲᛒᛉ, ᚦᚲᛒᛉ, ᚢᚲᛒᛉ, ᛖᛃᛒᛉ, ᚾᛃᛒᛉ, ᛒᛃᛒᛉ, ᚦᛃᛒᛉ, ᚢᛃᛒᛉ, ᛖᛏᛒᛉ, ᚾᛏᛒᛉ, ᛒᛏᛒᛉ, ᚦᛏᛒᛉ, ᚢᛏᛒᛉ, ᛖᛗᛒᛉ, ᚾᛗᛒᛉ, ᛒᛗᛒᛉ, ᚦᛗᛒᛉ, ᚢᛗᛒᛉ, ᛖᚾ, ᚦᛒ, ᛖᚦᛗ, ᛖᛖᛖ, ᛒᚱ, ᛖᚱ, ᛖᚢᚱ, ᛒᛉ, ᛒᛒ, ᚾᛖ

More input from Tim: So, in general, you need an action and a target to make a spell. There are 5 actions and 4 targets. Then (if you have the Rune Mastery skill) you can also add optional intensifiers, which come in two power levels. This can actually change the effect of the spell along with its "power," e.g. by turning a root into a paralysis or a damage-over-time to instant damage. The same skill allows two optional triggers, which can change the spell from its normal auto-targeting behavior into either a trap or a projectile. So, that's 180 spells total. Then there's a short list of set phrases called idioms that do particular things even though they don't follow this sentence structure. (edited) You can also put the runes in any order you want as long as the action comes before any intensifiers or targeters. It's basically a crafting system for spells.

Not that it makes any difference knowing these.
Runes, like all the other loot, spawn randomized. Maybe I didn't get better ones because I play a warrior archetype but I haven't found any beyond the first few.

Hey remember that from UU?
How runes were just randomly dropped and couldn't be specifically searched for to get that one spell you wanted?
Or how in Arx Fatalis they were just a side dish to regular loot and not locked away in treasure chambers you had to open with lockpicks?
Yeah.... that was fun! I remember that!

 

[Glic2000]

I can't believe even the rune locations are randomized. Wouldn't that totally break the game? I mean... like if it wasn't already broken.

Also, I guess it's not like UW where a spell could actually do something super useful like make you fly.

 

[Max Heap]

Whenever you open a chest a bunch of items spawn (they literally spawn when the chest is open - as in, they pop up right before your eyes). Sometimes its arrows, sometimes runes, most of the time its empty coin purses (which interestingly enough have money in them).
Does that break the game for mages? I wouldn't know. But the most likely answer is: Yes. Yes absolutely.

Oh and it is not exactly right that spells can't do anything useful.

I constantly poison myself with a level 1 spell to get out of glitched areas. So there is that!

 

[Viata]

The whole game is randomized, man. The whole thing, in fact. I'm pretty sure every person on the team was randomly selected to do something during the game development.

 

[rohand]

This is big rigs levels of crazy
Jesus Christ

 

[BEvers]

Info on the spell system, documented exclusively on the OE discord:

hey guys, to make things easier, here's a list of the spells Tim started to compile before he stopped (and perhaps we can re-use some of these characters): ᛖᚲ, ᚾᚲ, ᛒᚲ, ᚦᚲ, ᚢᚲ, ᛖᛃ, ᚾᛃ, ᛒᛃ, ᚦᛃ, ᚢᛃ, ᛖᛏ, ᚾᛏ, ᛒᛏ, ᚦᛏ, ᚢᛏ, ᛖᛗ, ᚾᛗ, ᛒᛗ, ᚦᛗ, ᚢᛗ, ᛖᚲᚢ, ᚾᚲᚢ, ᛒᚲᚢ, ᚦᚲᚢ, ᚢᚲᚢ, ᛖᛃᚢ, ᚾᛃᚢ, ᛒᛃᚢ, ᚦᛃᚢ, ᚢᛃᚢ, ᛖᛏᚢ, ᚾᛏᚢ, ᛒᛏᚢ, ᚦᛏᚢ, ᚢᛏᚢ, ᛖᛗᚢ, ᚾᛗᚢ, ᛒᛗᚢ, ᚦᛗᚢ, ᚢᛗᚢ, ᛖᚲᛒ, ᚾᚲᛒ, ᛒᚲᛒ, ᚦᚲᛒ, ᚢᚲᛒ, ᛖᛃᛒ, ᚾᛃᛒ, ᛒᛃᛒ, ᚦᛃᛒ, ᚢᛃᛒ, ᛖᛏᛒ, ᚾᛏᛒ, ᛒᛏᛒ, ᚦᛏᛒ, ᚢᛏᛒ, ᛖᛗᛒ, ᚾᛗᛒ, ᛒᛗᛒ, ᚦᛗᛒ, ᚢᛗᛒ, ᛖᚲᚱ, ᚾᚲᚱ, ᛒᚲᚱ, ᚦᚲᚱ, ᚢᚲᚱ, ᛖᛃᚱ, ᚾᛃᚱ, ᛒᛃᚱ, ᚦᛃᚱ, ᚢᛃᚱ, ᛖᛏᚱ, ᚾᛏᚱ, ᛒᛏᚱ, ᚦᛏᚱ, ᚢᛏᚱ, ᛖᛗᚱ, ᚾᛗᚱ, ᛒᛗᚱ, ᚦᛗᚱ, ᚢᛗᚱ, ᛖᚲᚢᚱ, ᚾᚲᚢᚱ, ᛒᚲᚢᚱ, ᚦᚲᚢᚱ, ᚢᚲᚢᚱ, ᛖᛃᚢᚱ, ᚾᛃᚢᚱ, ᛒᛃᚢᚱ, ᚦᛃᚢᚱ, ᚢᛃᚢᚱ, ᛖᛏᚢᚱ, ᚾᛏᚢᚱ, ᛒᛏᚢᚱ, ᚦᛏᚢᚱ, ᚢᛏᚢᚱ, ᛖᛗᚢᚱ, ᚾᛗᚢᚱ, ᛒᛗᚢᚱ, ᚦᛗᚢᚱ, ᚢᛗᚢᚱ, ᛖᚲᛒᚱ, ᚾᚲᛒᚱ, ᛒᚲᛒᚱ, ᚦᚲᛒᚱ, ᚢᚲᛒᚱ, ᛖᛃᛒᚱ, ᚾᛃᛒᚱ, ᛒᛃᛒᚱ, ᚦᛃᛒᚱ, ᚢᛃᛒᚱ, ᛖᛏᛒᚱ, ᚾᛏᛒᚱ, ᛒᛏᛒᚱ, ᚦᛏᛒᚱ, ᚢᛏᛒᚱ, ᛖᛗᛒᚱ, ᚾᛗᛒᚱ, ᛒᛗᛒᚱ, ᚦᛗᛒᚱ, ᚢᛗᛒᚱ, ᛖᚲᛉ, ᚾᚲᛉ, ᛒᚲᛉ, ᚦᚲᛉ, ᚢᚲᛉ, ᛖᛃᛉ, ᚾᛃᛉ, ᛒᛃᛉ, ᚦᛃᛉ, ᚢᛃᛉ, ᛖᛏᛉ, ᚾᛏᛉ, ᛒᛏᛉ, ᚦᛏᛉ, ᚢᛏᛉ, ᛖᛗᛉ, ᚾᛗᛉ, ᛒᛗᛉ, ᚦᛗᛉ, ᚢᛗᛉ, ᛖᚲᚢᛉ, ᚾᚲᚢᛉ, ᛒᚲᚢᛉ, ᚦᚲᚢᛉ, ᚢᚲᚢᛉ, ᛖᛃᚢᛉ, ᚾᛃᚢᛉ, ᛒᛃᚢᛉ, ᚦᛃᚢᛉ, ᚢᛃᚢᛉ, ᛖᛏᚢᛉ, ᚾᛏᚢᛉ, ᛒᛏᚢᛉ, ᚦᛏᚢᛉ, ᚢᛏᚢᛉ, ᛖᛗᚢᛉ, ᚾᛗᚢᛉ, ᛒᛗᚢᛉ, ᚦᛗᚢᛉ, ᚢᛗᚢᛉ, ᛖᚲᛒᛉ, ᚾᚲᛒᛉ, ᛒᚲᛒᛉ, ᚦᚲᛒᛉ, ᚢᚲᛒᛉ, ᛖᛃᛒᛉ, ᚾᛃᛒᛉ, ᛒᛃᛒᛉ, ᚦᛃᛒᛉ, ᚢᛃᛒᛉ, ᛖᛏᛒᛉ, ᚾᛏᛒᛉ, ᛒᛏᛒᛉ, ᚦᛏᛒᛉ, ᚢᛏᛒᛉ, ᛖᛗᛒᛉ, ᚾᛗᛒᛉ, ᛒᛗᛒᛉ, ᚦᛗᛒᛉ, ᚢᛗᛒᛉ, ᛖᚾ, ᚦᛒ, ᛖᚦᛗ, ᛖᛖᛖ, ᛒᚱ, ᛖᚱ, ᛖᚢᚱ, ᛒᛉ, ᛒᛒ, ᚾᛖ

More input from Tim: So, in general, you need an action and a target to make a spell. There are 5 actions and 4 targets. Then (if you have the Rune Mastery skill) you can also add optional intensifiers, which come in two power levels. This can actually change the effect of the spell along with its "power," e.g. by turning a root into a paralysis or a damage-over-time to instant damage. The same skill allows two optional triggers, which can change the spell from its normal auto-targeting behavior into either a trap or a projectile. So, that's 180 spells total. Then there's a short list of set phrases called idioms that do particular things even though they don't follow this sentence structure. (edited) You can also put the runes in any order you want as long as the action comes before any intensifiers or targeters. It's basically a crafting system for spells.

One more:

Let me post our internal guide too, hold on: Verbs are in bold, determiners in italics, and others are nouns (subject or instrument).
Create/Grow, Most (ᛒ : Berkano, “Birch”)
Protect/Ward (ᛉ : Algiz, “Protection”)
Strengthen/Heal, More (ᚢ : Uruz, “Ox”)
Sense, That (ᚱ : Raidho, “Chariot”)
Weaken/Destroy, This (ᚦ : Thurisaz, “Giant”)
Control/Bind (ᚾ : Nauthiz, “Need”)
Move/Travel (ᛖ : Ehwaz, “Horse”)
Earth (ᛇ : Eihwaz, "World Tree")
Plant (ᛃ : Jera, “Harvest”)
Fire (ᚲ : Kenaz, “Torch”)
Water (ᛚ : Laguz, “Sea”)
Weather/Air (ᚺ : Hagalaz, “Hail”)
Beast (ᚠ : Fehu, “Cattle”)
Mind/Spirit (ᛏ : Tiwaz, “Leadership”)
Self/Person (ᛗ : Mannaz, “Mankind”)

 

[Gord]

At some point during development (probably right after they became aware that there was no chance they could make their save-system work, let alone finish a proper dungeon crawler in the next few years), they seem to have decided to use all the work done so far for a game based around randomized missions in non-persistant levels. A little bit of rogue-like mechanics, which are all the rage right now, right?
Unfortunately, the game doesn't really support it all that well. To make that idea work, they would have needed a very different approach right from the start.

I have said earlier that once in a while you can get a glimpse of something greater behind the mess that UA currently is. The ideas they had for the magic system e.g. are actually interesting. A properly executed system like that quoted by BEvers would be quite cool.

Some of the maps, when finished according to their (presumable) initial design vision (filled with the respective inhabitants and integrated into a proper interconected persistent world) might have been good, too. That would have likely taken them at least another 6-12 months, however.

 

[Child of Malkav]

I saw a chest near a wall, I open it, items spawn in it, I pick one up and by the time I pick it up the lid of the chest comes down closing it. So I open it again, I pick another item and the same thing happens once more.
I think a little bit and then I open the chest again and this time I wait only to see that because the chest was so close to the wall the lid would hit the wall, bounce off of it and then come back down again, closing the chest.

I left the rest of the items in there.

 

[Astral Rag]

This is big rigs levels of crazy
Jesus Christ

 

[Max Heap]

How crazy, blind or idiotic do you have to be to give this thing a positive rating.
Mixed implies this is on par with other, way more functional games.

 

[BEvers]

How crazy, blind or idiotic do you have to be to give this thing a positive rating.

The devs have been sharing links to this review as a "fair" one:

Recommended
11.8 hrs last two weeks / 11.8 hrs on record

In A Nutshell

Pros
+ Exceptional first-person sandbox gameplay, giving an incredible degree of freedom.
+ Good amount of environment interactivity, using physics as strong suit.
+ Articulated level design with many secret areas and passages.
+ Great variety of character development possibilities to suit all play-styles.
+ Rather unique and well-depicted setting, also graphically pleasant.
+ Plenty of lore entries to discover and find out more about the game world.

Cons
- COLOSSAL amount of bugs and glitches in most of the game's aspects.
- Severe, evident lack of polishing in level design, animations, AI... basically in all fields.
- Several mechanics are poorly, or not at all, explained.
- Missions can become repetitive in the long run.

Underworld Ascendant is surely a controversial game to review. On one side, we have a beautifully depicted subterranean world, the Stygian Abyss, filled with not only undead monsters, but also all kind of nightmarish creatures later on, wrapped up in a beautifully crafted sandbox RPG gameplay, giving a degree of freedom very rarely seen in games at all, comparable only to a few of the best ones around (Such as Prey 2017, to mention one). Character customization features three rather beefy skill trees, giving significant improvements such as more speed, lifting strength, stealth prowess, magical efficiency, and so on, to create your very own custom character to fit any play-style, from stealth, to aggressive melee, to ranged.

On the other, we have significant issues in all fields, ranging from minor graphical glitches to out-of-map boundaries class bugs. The lack of polishing and care in fixing issues is evident, so much that the game feels unfinished for simply the sheer amount of them being present. I have not encountered any critical, game-breaking issue luckily, so at least those probably have been fixed, but a lot more remain, and summed up all together, make this experience considerably less enjoyable.

Speaking of how the game is overall, it's surely fun, ridiculously so, mainly because of the degree of freedom given to the player, and an endless amount of ways to solve problems limited only by imagination. I sincerely had a lot of fun during my very long session before this review, despite the bugs. It is an incredibly shiny core, tarnished by an endless number of bugs and issues. As of now, I would recommend anyone to wait for at least some patches to address major issues before buying, because when this game gets fixed properly, and i'm confident it will, it'll really be something you don't want to miss.


In-depth Feature Analysis


Gameplay
The Gameplay of Underworld Ascendant is divided into Preparation, Exploration, and Combat.

The Saurian enclave will act as your main base of operations, providing all the facilities and tools needed to complete your mission. There you will find a merchant stocked with all kinds of gear, such as armor pieces, magical runes, food, weapons, ammunition, and more, to suit all your equipment needs. Items found in dungeons can be traded here... for much lowered rates, and nothing is ever cheap either.

Considering equipment degrades over time the more it's used, you will be trading a lot. The Mission board provides four missions each time, three will increase your Faction Reputation, allowing you to access better missions and also faction-restricted gear at the merchant, while one will be an influence quest, aimed to prove to all factions you are the true Ascendant, in order to unite them again and stop Typhon, which is the final goal of the game.
The return of Typhon is ever closer, and after each mission time is less. Using rare Mana Cores, you will be able to use a facility called Tempus Modus to slower Typhon's return, and have more time to stop him. This is sort of a "global timer", with dire consequences if time runs out.

Character development feature extensive skill trees, and is fueled by Memora, a form of XP obtained by performing heroic feats, such as avoiding traps, fighting enemies, or finding lost pieces of lore. Also completing quests of course.

Exploration of levels is the star of this show, and is nothing short of brilliant. Each piece of furniture can be moved, burned, smashed into smaller bits, used as ramps or as a throwing weapon. The only limit is imagination, and you will need some of that to overcome the many locked doors, passages, and traps on your way. This is a first-class sandbox experience. Depending on how you overcome levels (stealth, magic, combat...) the game will award different scores at the end of each mission, and more variety of approaches, the better the "variety bonus" will be: this encourages players to always experiment new approaches, because it's worth it to do so.


Story
There is a main story, which is pretty clear and well-explained, while the world is littered with lore: painted on the walls, hidden in ancient Memora Spheres in the darkest depths, there is a lot to read and know about the game world aside from the main story, and surely fans of deep lores will be pleased. It mainly is an indirect-narrative story, and should be taken as such.

Combat System
Combat on one side is great for the sheer number of approaches to it: magic, ranged, environment, or close quarters are all viable options. It is always great fun to find clever ways to defeat enemies, and the game offers plenty. On the other side, combat results to be rather clunky especially in melee, with animations resulting clunky and unpolished. It's not bad, but not great either. It makes up with variety what it doesn't have in polishing.

A special note should be done for Magic, featuring a Rune-based custom spell crafting, combining various runes to craft a vast array of spells, you can also name and test at leisure. Mana is regenerated by tiny blue dots floating in the world.


Content & Pricing
Priced at 30€ and offering around 20-30 hours of content, depending on approach, play-style, eventual retries, i'd say you definitely want to wait some patches for bugs to be solved before buying. With bugs fixed, this is definitely a recommended purchase.

Balance & Challenge
The more you advance in the game, harder it gets, new enemies appear and places change. It can become difficult at some point, and offers good challenge to the unprepared.


Technical Analysis


Graphics
Great visuals powered by Unity. The world is rich in details and rendered beautifully. Visual glitches are not rare though and take away part of the beauty. Some details are lower quality than others, especially water being really disappointing. Overall a solid work.

Sound
Good quality of sound, voice acting, and effects, solid work in this field.

Performance & Stability
Surprisingly well optimized for being Unity, does not eat up huge resources like many Unity games do. Solid 60FPS at 1440p maxed out [i7 4820K, 16GB RAM, GTX1080].

Artificial Intelligence
Generally decent, sometimes enemies just begin to walk in a random direction for no reason, but is rare. Many reported problems in AI behavior, but I encountered very few honestly.

Quality of Life
Menus and UI do the job, while more details about mechanics should be introduced in the tutorial.

Bugs & Issues
Too many to mention or count.


Conclusion

Underworld Ascendant is a shiny gem covered below a mountain of bugs. It sports exceptional core gameplay, setting and is really fun to play. Once major issues get solved, it's a title no sandbox RPG lover will want to miss.

This product was reviewed using a free key provided by the Developers.

https://steamcommunity.com/id/tho545454/recommended/692840/

 

[ciox]

Mixed

Veritable DBZ beam battle going on. Can we still get this to overwhelmingly positive, boys?

 

[Astral Rag]

Performance & Stability
Surprisingly well optimized for being Unity, does not eat up huge resources like many Unity games do. Solid 60FPS at 1440p maxed out [i7 4820K, 16GB RAM, GTX1080].

That's not what I've been reading elsewhere.

This game looks and runs laughably bad. A typical poorly coded Unity Engine 3D game in other words.

I love how this game has higher system requirements than the Witcher 3 and GTA V.

 

[skacky]

Maybe Razorfist made sock accounts and wrote positive reviews just to screw the Codex because everybody wanted this game to fail, right?

 

[Child of Malkav]

Create new spells and they disappear from the spellbook. Can't really test all of them anyway because of mana problems, you have to chase down blue little orbs to replenish it.
Also a skeleton detected me and started running away from me and back again and away and back for like 2 mins or so..........unreal.

 

[agris]

Another example of what the mid-game levels are like:

Spoiler

The first ~8 seconds of that video captures exactly what I was talking about with the fog/shadow filling and the color banding. That's not *just* youtube video compression, the game actually looks like that as you move up/down dark stairwells.

 

[Max Heap]

Guys I believe I'm close to finishing this mess.
I have all 7 keys and I just lack the faction influence. Three missions for each faction are enough though and I already got the expedition.

Playtime around 20 hours, 10 of which are spent bypassing bugs and looking for items that aren't there.

 

[Nano]

Just imagine how toxic and deluded the work environment at OtherSide must be that they think this atrocity deserves anything more than to be slammed and mocked.