GemCraft does a number of things well.
The customization available in the skills is a nice touch, as is your high score equalling your experience.
The monsters could be more varied.
The unlockable stages were needlessly grueling.
The poison gem stage was especially poor--it contained many enemies with a very similar hue to your gems, resulting in ineffective attacks and a long, drawn-out battle.
They never felt like "bonus" stages to me.
It's a decent game and I'd play the next one, but 3/5 instead of 4/5 for the blocked feature.
I've played this game on another site and it was nice to have the choice of the Armor skill.
Removing a skill from the list also cuts down on the joy of the mid-level customizations and respecializations--gearing your talents towards certain challenges, knowing what you would be up against.
It eliminates some of the strategy, and therefore some of the fun.
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