Ah haha, so [@SleepingSilence] I've played Death's Gambit as well however I will offer a couple counterpoints to a few you made.

[quote=@SleepingSilence]
[list]
[*] I picked the nerfed class that apparently isn't allowed to have any new weapons/skills whatsoever. So I've gotten new and improved items for every single class aside from the one I picked. [i]Gee thanks.[/i] And an anon redditor's advice to someone else acknowledging this was, "idk, you can restart the whole game maybe." [b][i]Fuck. You.[/i][/b] [i]Counterpoint: That's more a skill issue bro, it takes experimentation. I settled on Noble and was fine, didn't use a guide or follow the meta.[/i]
[/list]

[u]Negative/core elements that make or break most Metroidvanias&Soul-likes.[/u][list]
[*] These boss fights [b]suck[/b]. Their attacks are poorly telegraphed. Their hitboxes are huge. Each of their attacks do so much damage to your character. And most of them have numerous time-wasting gimmicks on top of that. (Becoming invulnerable and/or invisible, summoning distraction monsters, healing themselves, making the screen dark, etc.) Now onto the cherry on top; I still beat every single one of them on my first try. (Nine bosses total thus far.) Because the game gives you seven improvable health potions right off the bat, and it doesn't feel like I'm outsmarting/outplaying an artificial intelligence. It feels like I'm always tanking hits against these cheating bastards, and killing them with the same hit & run tactics. (Doesn't help that my class only has three abilities.) So the idea that I'm only halfway through, and it forces you to rematch five bosses to get the "true ending", doesn't make me excited. [i]Counterpoint: Not gonna disagree that the bosses are a bit gimmicky but I think learning their attacks is pretty important. As well as y'know playing it safe. Me personally only died to the big giraffe boss and the stone giant due to Ione's bullshitery.[/i]
[*] The RPG stats and skill tree are very limited. (Don't get many skill points and don't grind EXP fast.)
[*] Enemies are obnoxious and spam-reliant. [i]Counterpoint: Most enemies in souls games have basic repetitive attacks.[/i]
[*] Stupid design choices (Makes end-game content and road blocks that require you to have certain items that you've likely already scrapped for upgrades. Meaning, have fun grinding.) [i]Counterpoint: Are you saying items to unlock other areas or add new mobility mechanics? Cause Death's Gambit is technically a roguelike so this kind of thing is pretty par for the course.[/i]
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Other than that I'd love to hear your opinion on a game like Salt and Sanctuary. I've just got Black Desert now and by tonight should be able to play it. I'm so done paying for Final Fantasy 14's subscription while also trying to pay my PlayStation subscription.