Adding stuff to the game that is
1) better than what is otherwise available, and
2) only available by paying...
is the real Descent Into Darkness.
I'm not against one time premium versions or the sale of items otherwise available, or temporary speed up perks. But as someone who has paid for game apps and a couple premium versions and such, this particular kind of bonus is a big turnoff to ever sinking any money into the game. I want the whole game. Or I want to pay for the whole game. I don't want constant money grubbing. I don't ever pay into any of those games, ever.
I know you're trying to tell a story and all, but I wish there was a little more control over unit selection and reinforcements. It'd totally screw up the balance this time around, but next time it'd be nice to at least -usually- be able to set out the units I want, with a bit more freedom to call for reinforcements.
There are still a lot of little text errors all around- it could use some copy editing. Attack speed is messed up on a few units, and would probably be better give an actual value anyway.
Anyway, fun game so far at a little past the halfway point.
Is there a full change log somewhere? I notice that the Bunker Den seems to actually be useful now, but it'd be kind of nice to know what happened exactly.
I don't understand why the rating is so low. Maybe because the first levels are too easy or something? I didn't play the original version though, so maybe it's due to the change to casual mode. It could use a few changes to really be great, but it's at least a half point higher than the current average. It runs smooth, has upgrades, both map and global achievements, a good number of enemies, and each map has different restrictions to keep things a little fresh (though how many homing nuke maps there are is kind of bothersome, since that novelty becomes annoyance pretty fast...). If I was to say anything I'd like to see in a sequel or otherwise, it's to be able to equip different weapons and switch between them instead of the largely luck based current system.
To put it frankly, Band of Heroes, which plays very similarly, is way better. WAY better. Not to say that this is a bad game- merely disappointing. I'd hope to see even more improvements over Band of Heroes, but this seems like a big step backwards.
Good base game. Runs fairly smoothly, acceptably small hit box. But I think the problem is the concept... endless. Endless MODE is great, but a non-endless mode where your characters can get stronger (not just earn more points) is the sort of thing that draws players in a long time. Consider looking at "Knightmare Tower" and "Vertical Drop Heroes" for some concepts that can turn a smooth, good runner into the sort of game that people keep coming back and playing more.
Can you consider the enemy turn complete when the last enemy selects an action? Counter already has element absorb to consider- but the risk of spawning enemies accidentally almost makes counter more bad than good. I want to say "Woot!" more often than "damn" for a proc that's supposed to be good.
I miss a lot of the old swords in particular. =/ Cataclysm is supposed to be one of the top innate skills- a cool earth sword is wished for. This may sound strange since I did really liked the sol spear, but I really wish the swordskill elements (ice/fire/earth/holy) were all cool swords, and the oddball stuff pushed onto other elements or as second weapons for those elements. The rule of cool means I almost always use seiken because the base weapon is actually a sword.
And it'd be nice to get a sonar item. If it just said "ping, ping, the closest item seems to be 6 screens away!" it'd help with the final sweep.
More than 3 seconds to look at 48+ cards on the board to start would be appreciated. It's not really memory without more time to start, and without it being memory there's just too much luck involved.
Fairly good. Needs some balancing and polishing. For one, I -tried- to go physical. But eventually I went psy/crit... which seemed to be most effective except against the boss which nulls crit- in which case I stacked dodge. The recipes seem to favor psy- consider making the physical 1 take 2 cheeses and raise by +10 instead of +5. Additionally, the physical skills just aren't as impressive, and it's harder to raise combo chance than critical. And even then, a critical build is lucked based so doesn't always dominate. You also sometimes have to "upgrade" by mutation and it hurts your build. It just seems like there aren't that many viable builds- it's not so much that critical nuking is overpowered so much as it's about the only thing viable to beat bosses without extreme overleveling. Consider adding active skills that increase defense or healing, and stuff to boost the physicals a bit. For example, a passive that drains some HP, but only works on combo attacks.
So what's the third enemy slot between harpoon thrower and horse raider? Anyway, there are definitely some real unit types missing, and it'd probably be good to use 5 speed levels instead of just 3. Just so you all know folks, scout rush tactics allowed me to beat the game on a replay with only 3 retries. Scouts are too strong, perhaps because they act as both scout (cheap runner) and light cavalry (decent attack, defense). But overall, a really fun game.
It'd be nice if instead of a red line failure it'd just mark the closest legal pixel. It already does this on the edges, but it's kind of annoying on the rest of it. Otherwise pretty fun.
Green battles are too random. Yeah, they're all winnable, but I've lost before without having a card that could actually kill the enemy. I only played on normal and only used it at the very end, but rabbit spam did seem a bit too powerful. The final level's gate has a lot of HP, so once I had approached the gate and reached a stalemate with the enemy, I just rabbit spammed. Final boss really couldn't do anything because all the support was dying instantly. I really don't like the idea of going Epic Battle's way of limits per type- but something needs to be done- maybe make shields extremely arrow resistant and add more attacks that hit back ranks? Monkeys are weak. Bears and 'roos a bit too similar. Consider having the poison mace either have minor area of effect, or ignore targets already poisoned. The purple battles are stupidly easy. It's a bit slow to start- I quit for a while after only playing a few levels, and only played again because I got sick and had nothing better to do.
Vez'nan was like, "Wah, 5 infinite range homing rocket launchers?!?" Most of the buildings' 2nd type seem at best situationally useful compared to the first type though- I know 3 maps isn't a huge sample size, but the tesla only came up as useful on the final map- and then just as a starter- as the 5 rocket launchers would attest to.
Would be nice if the ice in particular did something to make it worth using over anything else in battle. Water is a little OP, but kind of nice that's it's the water skill of all things... hah. That said, I had a fun time overall... and then I had to leave. Continued... and while the map reset was bothersome, when I continued again it ran into all sorts of flash bugs and crashes and can't even continue again. With those ironed out and a little more polish this game would be amazing- it's already quite good for little time spent. Good luck with the next one!
It's like an 8.5/10 as far as free games go. Blew through the normal mode in an hour... so the length is already a concern that dissuades from a purchase. The game itself also just seems to lack the depth to really justify a price tag. On the other hand, you guys are on the right track, and I hope that the sales you are getting will help you get to the next level. Although this one isn't quite tempting enough for me, maybe the next will be. Good luck!
My favorite level is 4. I can understand some concern about limiting the unlimited aliens, but it really makes no sense for a team to not destroy access points they come across. As long as a few access points are more trouble to reach and destroy than just completing the mission, the aliens will still be able to come indefinitely. Add in more doors to close or obstacles to place to be able to divert enemies- or slow them, in the case of destructible obstacles. As is- while each mission attempts to feel a little different, it mostly just becomes a slow walk to several points on the map, easily killing a swarm of weak aliens and hoping I can finish before the ammo runs out. It's a great game, but once the rest of the game has the same attention to detail as say, the variation in the characters (which is done quite well, even if some upgrades seems a little useless), it will truly be amazing.
"Ascended" and now waiting for my new class to luck it's way past the boss tyrant. Since it's on the same square as the town, there's no chance to level up, and since you can only ascend again with experience, it seems to be in an infinite death loop.
Santa isn't hard, but there is a problem in that the sock is required to beat him, and you'll probably only have 1-3 socks to try with until you run out of rematches- unless you intentionally prolong fights to earn more gold. Gold system really needs a rework.
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The full change log is HUGE %) That's why we didn't post it.