The EA is on and I managed to put some hours in. I haven't finished it, mind you.
My early impressions in bullet points:
- The game is hard, yes. Especially at first, until you learn how the game works. It seems that dying on first tries in bigger encounters is a part of the design: you go in blind, get surprised, die, and come better prepared and with a strategy in mind the second time.
- At first the game seems a bit oldschool in level design, with long corridors with lore and resources until you arrive in a closed fighting area. But it opens up later on, don't worry.
- It's not a "modern-audience mainstream" game in the sense that it doesn't autosave every 5 steps. Manual saves are rather far apart and there are some autosave checkpoints just before crucial encounters, but dying still will mean you lose some progress.
- The combat is satisfying, charged shots have a big oompf to them, and stomping on enemies is juicy. Charging your shots is a risk-reward mechanic that works really well, you basically get extra damage at the same bullet cost, but of course this means the enemy will close on you in the meantime.
- The game is really polished so far, and original in its story and atmosphere, gameplay is polished too - the dividing thing seems to be that certain design decisions, while executed properly, will not be to everyone's liking. You're really pressured to make meaningful upgrades, scavenge for currency, count every bullet.
