Info about Ember Knights:

Official game description:
In this fast-paced action rogue-lite, play as Ember Knights, the last spark of hope of a universe in turmoil. Praxis, the mad sorcerer, has syphoned the life out of the Ember Tree and fled through the four Prime Worlds spreading corruption in his path.
In solo or co-op (up to 4 players), use powerful weapons and skills to hack and slash deadly hordes, defeat epic bosses, free the decaying Prime Worlds and restore energy to the Ember Tree!
Legendary warriors, the Ember Knights, are skilled in the wielding of the universe's most powerful weapons, each with their own modification system! However, the sword doesn’t make the knight… Through action-packed combat rooms, you’ll need to chain your attacks and perfectly time your swings to unleash fiery attacks.
Agile and fearless, use your pace and dodge to outsmart, counter, and stun your enemies!
With 7 distinct weapons, 9 modifications per weapon, 20 skills, and well over 100 relics, there are hundreds of deadly builds to create.
From a fire spreading scythe wielder to a relentless damage resistant spellcaster to a poison spreading archer with summons, forge your own build during your runs.
In co-op, coordinate with your friends to set up combos and synergies between your playstyles.
Beasts, specters, sorcerers, mechanized amphibians, and creatures of all sorts… Fight over 60 unique monsters and variations each with their own unique attacks and behaviors. 
In addition, be prepared to face challenging Elites and Champions; the most resistant and deadliest versions of Praxis’ devoted minions. You will have to adapt your playstyle to each encounter and learn from your mistakes if you wish to succeed.
The real challenge for the legendary Knights will lie in the epic bosses and their corrupted variations. From the Royal Phalanx to the Plague Bringer, Praxis will summon anything in his power to stop you.
Try different builds, upgrade your Ember Tree, and don't fear death. Persistence will be your key to victory!
**Ember Knights FREE Update Features:**   
*   New Daily Dungeon game mode 
*   New Boss Rush mode 
*   New Chaos Run mode 
*   2 adorable pets: Ember Dog & Ember Cat

Release date: 18 Jul, 2023

Categories: Roguelike, Cooperative Multiplayer, Single-player, Character Progression, Weapon Customization, Build Crafting, Endgame Content, Action RPG


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Highly enjoyable and addictive gameplay (weight 1): Players consistently praise the game for its high entertainment value, whether played solo or with friends. Its fast-paced action, satisfying progression, and overall polished feel contribute to an addictive and rewarding experience.
- Deep build variety and synergies (weight 0.38): The game offers extensive variety in weapons, skills, relics, and upgrades, allowing for diverse and creative build possibilities. Players enjoy experimenting with synergies to create unique and powerful playstyles, which significantly enhances replayability.
- Exceptional co-op roguelite experience (weight 0.33): The game is frequently lauded as one of the best roguelikes/roguelites available, particularly excelling in cooperative play. Many reviewers compare it favorably to genre giants like Hades, often calling it 'Hades with multiplayer' due to similar mechanics and progression systems.
- Balanced and customizable difficulty (weight 0.22): The game features well-balanced and customizable difficulty, catering to both casual players and those seeking a hardcore challenge. Adjustable settings, varied enemies, and dynamic boss mechanics keep runs fresh and engaging.
- Polished and responsive combat (weight 0.17): Combat is highlighted as a major strength, described as polished, responsive, and impactful. The fluid movements, crisp hit feedback, and dynamic action create a highly satisfying fighting experience.
- Strong post-launch content and support (weight 0.12): Developers are commended for their continuous support, frequent free updates, and substantial DLC content. These additions significantly expand the game's scope, adding new bosses, weapons, skills, and overall value.
- Charming pixel art and visuals (weight 0.12): The game's visual presentation, particularly its pixel art style, receives high praise. Reviewers appreciate the charming, vibrant, and detailed animations, which contribute to a clear and appealing aesthetic.
- Rewarding meta-progression and replayability (weight 0.11): The game boasts a rewarding meta-progression system where every run feels unique and contributes to overall player growth. This system, combined with constant unlocks, ensures high replayability and a continuous sense of advancement without feeling like a grind.
- Intuitive and responsive controls (weight 0.06): Players find the controls intuitive and easy to learn, contributing to a smooth and stress-free gameplay experience. The simple yet responsive mechanics make the game accessible to newcomers while still offering depth.

Common complaints:
- Insufficient Content & Variety (weight 0.41): Players consistently report a significant lack of content variety across enemies, maps, bosses, and overall gameplay, leading to repetitiveness and a feeling that the game is shallow or not worth its price. This also impacts replayability, a crucial aspect for roguelikes.
- Co-op and Solo Play Flawed (weight 0.2): The co-op experience is widely criticized for lacking meaningful mechanics, shared progression issues, and poor balance, often leading to one player carrying or extended waiting times. The single-player experience is also deemed boring, stressful, and lacking in fault tolerance.
- Inconsistent Difficulty Balance (weight 0.14): The game's difficulty balance is inconsistent, with some players finding it too easy even on higher settings, while others experience frustrating difficulty spikes, especially in later stages or with multiple players. This unpredictability negatively impacts the gameplay experience.
- Unbalanced & Random Relics (weight 0.1): Relics are a major point of contention due to their randomness, lack of synergy, and unbalanced power levels. Many feel useless, while a few are overpowered, making build progression frustrating and often forcing players into specific choices.
- Visual Clutter & Combat Clarity Issues (weight 0.06): Visual clutter from effects and enemies, combined with small room designs and a problematic camera, makes it difficult to track characters and enemies, especially in co-op. Poor monster hit detection and unclear attack telegraphs further contribute to a frustrating combat experience.
- Disappointing DLC Final Boss (weight 0.06): The DLC's final boss, 'Architect,' is widely criticized for its frustrating mechanics, such as control inversion and item negation, which undermine core gameplay. Some also find the DLC content itself to be uninspired or too easy.
- Unrewarding Progression & Combat Flow (weight 0.05): The fast-paced nature of combat clashes with mechanics like charged attacks and the lack of healing options, making certain playstyles or weapons feel unviable. Progression systems are also criticized for feeling unrewarding, with upgrades often feeling weak or lost upon death.
- DLC Locked Achievements (weight 0.04): A significant portion of achievements are locked behind the DLC, forcing players to purchase it for 100% completion. Many achievements are also described as a tedious and un-fun grind.
- Frequent Crashes & Freezes (weight 0.03): The game suffers from frequent crashes and freezes, often leading to loss of progress and rewards. The inability to exit a run without losing all progress exacerbates this issue.

Gameplay feedback:
- Hades-inspired Roguelike Gameplay (weight 0.18): The game is a roguelike, heavily inspired by Hades, featuring a top-down action perspective and cooperative gameplay. It incorporates standard roguelike elements like random generation, permadeath, and progressive difficulty.
- Adaptable Difficulty & Skill Curve (weight 0.14): The game offers adaptable difficulty, allowing players to fine-tune the challenge through various modes and modifiers. While the base game is relatively easy to learn, mastering it requires skill and precision, with difficulty scaling through enemy stats and types.
- Strong Co-op Multiplayer Focus (weight 0.12): The game strongly emphasizes cooperative multiplayer, supporting up to four players both locally and online. While playable solo, the experience is designed and often preferred with friends, enhancing the hack-and-slash combat.
- Relic & Skill-Based Progression (weight 0.1): Relics and skills are central to character progression and build variety, offering passive buffs, special effects, and unique upgrade trees. These elements are randomly acquired during runs, encouraging improvisation and unique playstyles.
- Deep Meta-Progression System (weight 0.08): The game features a robust meta-progression system, primarily through the 'Ember Tree,' which allows players to spend collected 'Ember' on permanent character upgrades. This system provides long-term progression and customization options that carry over between runs.
- Diverse & Unique Weapons (weight 0.08): A diverse arsenal of weapons is available, each possessing a unique playstyle, moveset, and learning curve. These weapons, combined with skills and relics, allow for significant build customization and varied combat approaches.
- Challenging Boss Encounters (weight 0.08): Boss fights are a significant challenge, often requiring precise timing and coordination, especially in later phases. The game features unique bosses and mini-bosses with varied patterns, ensuring a noteworthy challenge and encouraging memorization.
- Active Skills & Recharge Mechanic (weight 0.03): Players can equip two active skills per run, which are acquired randomly and offer various effects. These skills are not cooldown-based but recharge by hitting enemies with weapons, integrating them directly into the combat loop.
- Repetitive Core Gameplay Loop (weight 0.03): The core gameplay loop involves continuous combat, dodging, and acquiring upgrades to progress through stages. This loop is designed for repeatability, allowing players to experience different builds and challenges.
- Unlockable End-Game Modifiers (weight 0.02): After completing the game, players unlock various modifiers that can be applied to subsequent runs. These modifiers offer extensive customization and increase replayability by altering difficulty and gameplay parameters.
- Hit-Based Skill Cooldowns (weight 0.02): Skill cooldowns are uniquely managed through 'charge counts' or 'hit counts,' requiring players to continuously attack enemies with their weapons to refresh their abilities. This mechanic encourages aggressive play.

Performance notes:
- Excellent overall performance (weight 0.04): Players consistently report excellent performance across various platforms, including low-spec PCs, Steam Deck, and Linux via Proton. The game maintains smooth and fluid action even at high frame rates, indicating strong overall optimization.
- Multiplayer disconnections and crashes (weight 0.01): Some players experience frequent disconnections in multiplayer and general game crashes. This indicates potential instability issues that need addressing, despite other reports of good performance.
- Minor bugs present (weight 0.01): While some players report a bug-free experience, others have encountered a few bugs. This suggests that while not widespread, some minor issues may still exist.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended Game (weight 0.28): The vast majority of players highly recommend the game, often giving it perfect or near-perfect scores. Many believe it's worth its full price, especially when considering its entertainment value and replayability. Some even consider it one of the best games they've played.
- Excellent Roguelike Experience (weight 0.21): Players consistently praise the game as an excellent roguelike/roguelite experience. It's frequently compared to popular titles like Hades, Dead Cells, and Enter the Gungeon, often being recommended to fans of these genres for its polished gameplay, tactical depth, and replayability.
- Best Played with Friends (weight 0.11): The game is overwhelmingly recommended for co-op play, with many stating it's best enjoyed with friends. While some suggest it's still fun solo, the multiplayer aspect significantly enhances the experience, making it a must-play for groups.
- Anticipation for Future Content (weight 0.07): Players are generally excited about future content, including upcoming DLCs and updates. Many express anticipation for new additions, hoping for continued support and increased replayability, with some already planning to purchase future DLC.
- Support the Developers (weight 0.01): Some players express a desire to support the developers, acknowledging their work and encouraging others to do the same. This highlights appreciation for the creators and their efforts.
- Worth It on Sale (weight 0.01): A small subset of reviews suggests the game is only worth purchasing at a very low price, around $5, or when heavily discounted. This indicates a perception of lower value at full price for some players.

Other player notes:
- Excellent Art and Sound (weight 0.06): Players consistently praise the game's visual and audio presentation. The pixel art is described as vibrant, charming, and polished, with fluid animations and distinct biomes. The sound design, including punchy effects and an energetic soundtrack, complements the visuals effectively.
- High Demand for Content (weight 0.05): There is significant anticipation and desire for new content, including more maps, enemies, and general additions. Players are specifically looking forward to announced DLCs and future updates, expecting them to enhance the game's longevity and replayability.
- Accessible Performance and QoL (weight 0.03): The game is noted for its accessibility, running smoothly on lower-spec PCs and being playable on the Steam Deck. It also includes various quality-of-life features, contributing to a user-friendly experience.
- Comparisons to Other Games (weight 0.03): Players frequently compare the game to other titles, most notably Hades, but also Endless Wander, Risk of Rain 2, and 30xx. While some see similarities, others emphasize its unique aspects, especially the multiplayer component.
- Light Narrative Focus (weight 0.02): The game's narrative, involving the evil sorcerer Praxis and the Ember Tree, serves primarily as a light framing device. The DLC expands on this by introducing the Architect, but the story is not considered deep or emotionally resonant.
- Variable Playtime and Replayability (weight 0.02): Player experiences with game length vary, with some finding it can become stale after 20-30 hours, while others report losing many hours and even completing 100% in 65 hours. This suggests replayability might be subjective.
- Flexible Play Modes (weight 0.01): Players have experienced the game in various modes, including exclusively solo play and local co-op with multiple players. This indicates flexibility in how the game can be enjoyed.
- Desire for More Difficulty (weight 0.01): Some players desire increased difficulty, suggesting the addition of modifiers after completing the game or requesting a generally harder experience.
- Controller Support Feedback (weight 0.01): Controller support is present, but players have specific requests for improvements, such as an option for controllers to start as player 2 to allow player 1 to use a keyboard.
- Easier Teammate Revivals (weight 0.01): Players suggest making it easier to revive teammates, proposing various methods like sacrificing HP, splitting life, or using specific store items.
- Visual Clarity Improvements (weight 0): Players suggest options to improve visual clarity during gameplay, such as reducing teammate special effects or outlining enemies and teammates.
- Melee Weapon Utility Unclear (weight 0): One player expressed confusion regarding the purpose or utility of melee weapons, indicating a potential lack of clarity in their design or effectiveness.
- Easy Achievement Unlocks (weight 0): A player noted that achievements can be easily obtained by being carried by a high-level friend, which might impact the perceived value of achievement hunting.
- Shared HP Can Harm Friendships (weight 0): The shared HP mechanic in co-op can lead to negative player interactions, potentially straining friendships due to its impact on gameplay.
- Boss Rush Skill Selection (weight 0): A player suggested allowing skill selection from all available options in Boss Rush mode, which could enhance strategic choices.
- Relic Ban Option Requested (weight 0): A player suggested a passive ability to ban certain relics from the in-run pool, which could improve build consistency and player agency.
- Minor Visual Inconsistency (weight 0): A minor visual inconsistency was noted regarding Arlan's patch, suggesting a need for small aesthetic fixes.
- Unique Ember Knight Identities (weight 0): A player suggested giving each colored Ember Knight a unique name, special ability, or weapon, which could add more character and depth.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.36): Players express satisfaction due to the game's high overall quality, polished combat, and engaging progression systems. The robust and enjoyable multiplayer experience, coupled with ample content and replayability, significantly contributes to this positive sentiment. The game's art style, balanced gameplay, and effective co-op features are also frequently cited as sources of satisfaction.
- Excitement (weight 0.13): Excitement stems from the game's addictive gameplay loop, high replayability, and the thrill of discovering new items and builds. The fast-paced action, satisfying combat, and chaotic co-op experiences generate a strong desire to continue playing. Players are also excited by new content, challenging bosses, and the overall quality and potential of the game.
- Joy (weight 0.13): Joy is primarily derived from the fun and fast-paced gameplay, especially when experienced in cooperative play with friends or family. The game's enjoyable combat, varied weapon options, and overall engaging experience contribute to a sense of delight. Specific elements like boss mechanics, humor, and the game's aesthetic also bring joy to players.
- Frustration (weight 0.09): Frustration arises from various issues including co-op mechanics that hinder players, difficulty spikes, and visual clutter that obscures gameplay. Technical problems like connection issues, bugs, and crashes, along with unskippable animations and perceived unfair boss designs, also contribute to player annoyance. Some players also express frustration with grindy achievements and unbalanced weapon/relic systems.
- Disappointment (weight 0.08): Disappointment is often linked to a perceived lack of content, variety, and meaningful co-op mechanics. Players express dissatisfaction with the solo play experience, poor combat feedback, and issues with online matchmaking. The design of the skill system, late-game experience, and the quality/value of DLC content are also sources of disappointment.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Players find enjoyment in the game's immediate fun factor, the ability to experiment with builds, and the engaging music. The fast-paced gameplay, character progression, and the overall experience of playing with friends or solo contribute to a highly entertaining experience. Specific mechanics, boss fights, and the value for money also enhance enjoyment.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Appreciation is shown for the game's effective cooperative design, high visual quality, and overall positive experience. Players value the game's depth at higher difficulties, its status as an underrated title, and the developer's commitment to listening to community feedback and providing consistent updates. The cohesive blending of game ideas and the quality of its art style are also appreciated.
- Admiration (weight 0.02): Admiration is directed towards the game's overall quality, particularly its standing among other roguelites, and the strong developer support. The impressive pixel art style, frequent updates, and the cohesive atmosphere created by the music and visuals are highly admired. Players also express admiration for the combat system and character movement.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players express a desire for more content, including greater weapon and build variety, especially in the endgame. There is also a wish for a save progress feature, more difficulty options, and improved co-op partner availability. Specific requests for controller options and changes to reviving mechanics are also noted.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger stems from perceived poorly designed enemies, inconsistent mechanics, and a feeling of wasted time. Players express strong negative reactions to specific boss designs, perceived selfishness encouraged by game mechanics, and issues with game balance. Developer decisions regarding nerfs and game crashes at critical moments also provoke anger.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise is often positive, stemming from the unexpected depth and quality of the game, especially given a lack of prior hype. Players are surprised by the game's appeal despite personal genre preferences, its low price, and the complexity of its progression and build potential. The quality of the DLC's true ending boss fight also elicits surprise.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom arises from low difficulty, repetitive combat loops, and a lack of novelty after trying all available weapons. Players quickly tire of the game due to repetition, especially in solo play, and a perceived lack of rewards or changes in endless mode.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation is driven by the expectation of future updates, potential multiplayer fun, and the desire for new content. Players look forward to what the developers will add next, indicating a belief in the game's ongoing potential.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement comes from humorous in-game interactions, such as feeding the mimic or specific gameplay tips. Players also find amusement in the game's difficulty, the robot frog character, and the ability to exploit game mechanics for effective, high-damage strategies. Humorous endings and interactive game mechanics also contribute to amusement.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope is expressed for future content additions, continued developer support, and improvements to existing features. Players hope for more boss variety and general enhancements to the game, indicating a belief in its ongoing development and potential.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance is caused by specific issues such as achievements being locked behind a DLC paywall, white screen flashes, and save issues. Multiplayer shop limitations, certain co-op mechanics, and minor bugs also contribute to player annoyance. The EULA and perceived corporate nature of the developer are also sources of irritation.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game is expressed broadly, encompassing its overall perfection, unique identity, visuals, and difficulty options. Players simply state their deep affection for the game as a whole.
- Fun (weight 0.01): Fun is attributed to the core gameplay loop, the overall gameplay experience, and specific enjoyable elements. The game's dynamics and the experience of playing in co-op are also key contributors to the feeling of fun.
- Engagement (weight 0): Engagement is driven by the game's inherently addictive nature, its long campaign, and high replayability. Players find themselves captivated and unable to stop playing, indicating a strong level of involvement with the game.
- Addiction (weight 0): Addiction is characterized by unexpected and prolonged playtime, an inability to stop playing, and the game's overall captivating experience. The core gameplay loop is so compelling that players become addicted to it.}