Game looks like babies first bullet hell. No one asked for parrying and the likes in a Doom either
I've seen these criticisms pop-up a few times and it's obvious who hasn't played the game, only downloaded their opinions off the internet.
I saw a video circulating cesspools like 4chins and X showing a boss firing waves of very obviously telegraphed energy orbs with the widest parrying window of all time. Yeah, it looked like ass out of context, but the video failed to convey that it was an
early game boss serving as an introduction to a demon
who will later become a normal enemy type, which you will have to fight
alongside other powerful enemies at the same time.
There is an entire TV Tropes page dedicated to this.
Try having several of these bullet hells going on at once and see how long you last without some defensive options. There are scenarios in the last third of the game where you are essentially doing boss rushes while juggling dozens of other minor enemies trying to kill you. Shit gets truly HARD by the midpoint and is as pleasingly stressful as anything in Eternal.
As for the parrying criticism, there seems to be a failure of many people to grasp what The Dark Ages combat is all about. It's not meant to be that ultra sweaty, bunny hopping around the map experience that Eternal was. "Stand and Fight" is literally in the marketing communicating the change in direction:
The Dark Ages is intended to be a correction to Eternal, making it more grounded like older Doom games while still maintaining the high stakes brought on by lots of enemies + low player health. The ebb and flow of the combat is frankly amazing once all of the elements click into place, striking just the right balance between being able to push forward while also having tools at your disposal (the shield, the parry) to avert frustration that would surely be caused by said high stakes.
I see a lot of people talking about how divisive The Dark Ages is going to be despite Eternal
already being the highly divisive game in the series, and id Software knew something needed to be done to try to satisfy both camps of players.
I also don't get the "no one asked for this" criticism either. This is what Doom used to look like:
Nobody asked for glory kills, dashing, chainsaw as an ammo refill mechanic, or grapple hook shotguns either. But more / different mechanics are essential to keep a franchise which is now over 30 years old fresh.
How about giving it a try yourself on Game Pass and contribute to the 3 million strong player numbers?