Info about ANVIL:

Official game description:
  
ANVIL is a multiplayer co-op top-down sci-fi roguelike action shooter where you control characters called Vault Breakers to explore various galaxies that are crawling with monsters. Find relics inside Vaults to increase Breaker's ability to survive and fight on this godforsaken galaxy.
**\# ANVIL**  
_Ancient Vault Investigation Lab_
------------------------------------------------
ANVIL is an agency that searches for "Vaults”, the remnants of alien civilizations scattered throughout the universe. Become a "Breaker" searching for “Vaults” and explore the unknown galaxy. Each galaxy consists of random planets and unique boss monsters. By defeating monsters and opening the Vaults, you will be able to utilize the stunning powers within.
**\# Breakers**
---------------
The Breakers are the seekers of Vaults. They have maximized their combat capabilities to survive various threats that they may encounter on different planets.  
Breakers with unique abilities and skills are waiting to be selected.
**\# Artifacts and Vault Weapons**
----------------------------------
Over 100 randomly generated artifacts and dozens of weapons will make every session unique and different from previous sessions. You will be able to explore a combination of different playstyles by testing synergy between various artifacts and obtain powerful weapons to get the “ultimate” Breaker!
**\# Death and Rebirth**
------------------------
The Breakers enter combat with their mechanical body. They are rebuilt in ANVIL if they are destroyed during an exploration. Your Breakers will gain EXP during battle that will enhance their strength and give them new powers. The Breakers are not afraid of death because death only makes them stronger when they are rebuilt.
**\# Operator**
---------------
A new companion has been added to your journey. They may not directly aid you in combat like Toy Workers,  
but they provide you with essential details about ANVIL and occasionally provide helpful information through interactions.  
Conquer the battlefield with the newly added Operator.

Release date: Jul 26, 2023

Categories: Top-Down Tactical Shooter, Cooperative Multiplayer, Roguelike, Character Progression, Looter Shooter, Sci-fi, Twin-stick Shooter, Procedural Generation

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 90; verdict: Predatory Monetization; summary: The game has introduced a battle pass and season pass system that is perceived as highly predatory. Players feel coerced into spending real money to maintain progression and access essential content. The season pass is not just for cosmetics but provides significant gameplay advantages, creating a pay-to-win scenario. The progression system resets every season, forcing players to grind repeatedly, which is seen as a way to encourage spending. Overall, the monetization strategy is viewed as greedy and exploitative, severely impacting the user experience.
- Steam Deck: score 70; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The Steam Deck experience is marred by significant issues such as black screen problems, controller support issues, visual clarity problems, and game stability issues. These problems collectively degrade the user experience and require attention from the developers to improve the overall functionality and enjoyment of the device.

- 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:
- Good co-op experience (weight 0.76): The game provides a solid co-op experience with enjoyable gameplay and team dynamics. Players find the co-op mode fun and engaging.
- Diverse character and build options (weight 0.62): The game offers a broad roster of unlockable characters, each with unique abilities and diverse build options. Players appreciate the variety in character design and weapon selection.
- Impressive graphics and visuals (weight 0.58): The game features stunning graphics and visual design, with smooth framerates and appealing effects. Players consistently praise the visual quality, noting it surpasses similar games.
- Unique and innovative gameplay mechanics (weight 0.33): The game features unique crafting, skill tree, and weapon systems, along with innovative gameplay elements. Players enjoy the variety and depth of the gameplay mechanics.
- Rewarding roguelite gameplay (weight 0.18): The game offers a rewarding roguelite experience with meta-progression and high difficulty. Players find the gameplay engaging and the progress satisfying.
- Responsive and active developers (weight 0.18): The developers are responsive to community feedback and actively make improvements. Players appreciate the regular updates and the developers' engagement with the community.
- Initial enjoyment and accomplishment (weight 0.07): Players had fun in the beginning and felt a huge sense of accomplishment. The initial experience is enjoyable and rewarding.
- Grind-heavy gameplay (weight 0.06): The game features grind-heavy gameplay, which some players enjoy for its depth and replayability. Players who like grinding find the leveling and progression satisfying.

Common complaints:
- Repetitive and tedious gameplay (weight 0.95): The game is criticized for its repetitive nature and excessive grind, which can make the experience tedious. Players feel that the time investment does not necessarily lead to a sense of achievement.
- Poor game balance and difficulty (weight 0.8): The game's difficulty is poorly balanced, with some bosses and mobs being nearly unbeatable. The difficulty curve is seen as atrocious, making the game feel unfair rather than challenging.
- Unbalanced and frustrating boss fights (weight 0.71): Boss fights are described as overly difficult, unbalanced, and tedious. Players find that bosses have excessive health and that defensive stats and healing are ineffective, making these fights frustrating.
- Game plagued by various bugs (weight 0.65): Players report numerous bugs affecting gameplay, including issues with countdown timers, resetting achievements, and game crashes. These bugs significantly impact the player experience and need urgent attention.
- Lack of game support and updates (weight 0.5): Players feel the game is abandoned due to the lack of new content, updates, and bug fixes. The removal of language support and minimal player choice contribute to this sentiment.
- Limited character growth and progression (weight 0.34): Players feel that character growth is limited and that progression is slow and requires many runs to unlock skills. The lack of clear rewards and the grind-heavy nature of the game contribute to this sentiment.
- Issues with seasonal content and resets (weight 0.28): Seasonal resets and the removal of relics from seasonal mode are criticized. Players find that free seasonal content is mostly cosmetic and requires a lot of grinding, making the seasonal mode feel castrated.
- Disappointment with full release (weight 0.25): The full release version of the game is seen as a huge disappointment. Players feel that the release update ruined the game with static levels and fewer upgrades, making it less fun than the demo.
- Criticism of season pass and pay-to-win (weight 0.24): The implementation of a season pass is criticized as a pay-to-win scheme. Players feel that the premium battle pass is overpriced and that useful in-game items are locked behind it, forcing players to pay to progress.
- Imbalance among characters and weapons (weight 0.14): There is a severe imbalance among professions, characters, and weapons. The numerical settings are seen as ridiculous, contributing to an unbalanced and unfair gameplay experience.
- Resource scarcity and poor mission design (weight 0.14): Resource scarcity makes progression difficult, and the game's mission design is criticized for making it hard to obtain points. The progression system feels artificially prolonged.
- Melee combat and weapon issues (weight 0.14): Melee weapons are reported as not working properly and feeling clunky. Some relics do not work on certain weapon types, and there are issues with hitboxes and lack of hit feedback.

Gameplay feedback:
- Diverse Crafting and Progression (weight 0.71): The game features a robust crafting system, skill tree, and various progression mechanics including unlockable characters and a seasonal mode. Players can choose unique characters with different skills and weapons, enhancing build variety and gameplay depth.
- Challenging Boss Fights (weight 0.51): Boss fights are a significant part of the game, featuring high difficulty and specific mechanics such as life-draining and enrage mechanics. Some bosses are extremely difficult and require strategic planning and learning attack patterns.
- Seasonal and Co-op Gameplay (weight 0.4): The game includes seasonal challenges and a co-op experience that allows players to team up with friends or random people. Seasonal resets and progression systems add a layer of challenge and strategy.
- Roguelike and Looter Shooter Elements (weight 0.2): The game incorporates roguelike elements with looter shooter mechanics, featuring randomized relic shops and weapon drops. This adds a layer of unpredictability and replayability.
- Repetitive and Tedious Gameplay (weight 0.17): Some players find the gameplay repetitive and tedious, with a need for more monsters and better hit feedback. The combat alone is not enough to sustain interest for all players.
- Multiplayer and Co-op Balance (weight 0.14): The game has balance issues between single-player and multiplayer modes. It does not always promote a co-op play experience effectively, with different galaxy requirements for co-op gameplay.
- Randomized Elements and Combat (weight 0.1): Random elements in stages and monsters add to the overall experience. The combat is noted for being top-notch, with novel ideas such as robots spawning on a timer.
- Map and Update Functionality (weight 0.1): The game features a map system that is utilized for cooperative gameplay. Regular updates and improvements are made to enhance the gaming experience.
- Battle Pass and Daily Tasks (weight 0.1): The game includes a battle pass system with daily and weekly tasks. However, the battle pass system is considered poorly designed by some players.

Performance notes:
- Numerous bugs affecting gameplay (weight 0.17): Players report various bugs that significantly impact gameplay, including issues with countdown timers, boss fights, and ability performance. These bugs are frequent and annoying, detracting from the overall experience.
- Black screen issues (weight 0.09): A common issue reported by players is the occurrence of black screens, which can happen infinitely or during launch. This problem severely affects the game's playability.
- Poorly designed battle pass system (weight 0.09): The game's battle pass system is criticized for its poor design. Additionally, there are issues with shared perk pools, leading to competition among players.
- Lack of ultrawide/widescreen support (weight 0.08): Players have noted the absence of support for ultrawide and widescreen monitors, which limits the gaming experience for those with such setups.
- Solid performance on Steam Deck (weight 0.06): The game runs fairly well on the Steam Deck, with solid graphics and framerates. This indicates good optimization for the handheld device.
- 400 error in multiplayer (weight 0.03): Players encounter a 400 error when trying to play multiplayer, which hinders the multiplayer experience.
- High ping outside the US (weight 0.03): Players outside the US experience higher ping, which can affect the gameplay experience. This is an important consideration for international players.

Recommendations:
- Worth it on sale (weight 0.28): The game is recommended for fans of challenging games, twin-stick shooters, and roguelike genres, especially when purchased at a discounted price. It is not ideal for casual players due to its high difficulty.
- Needs balance improvements (weight 0.11): The game shows potential but requires significant improvements in character balance, multiplayer participation, and system interactions. The third galaxy is notably criticized for its unreasonable difficulty.
- Great for co-op fun (weight 0.06): The game is suitable for players who enjoy cooperative gameplay and challenging high-end content, making it a good choice for hop-in hop-out fun with friends.
- Wait for full release (weight 0.06): Players are advised to wait until the game is out of Early Access to fully enjoy the experience, indicating that the game has potential but may not be fully polished yet.
- Reconsider season pass (weight 0.03): There are concerns about the value of the paid season pass, indicating that players should carefully consider whether it is worth the investment.
- Future potential (weight 0.03): The game has a promising future if the developers address its current issues, suggesting that it could become a more enjoyable experience with further updates and improvements.

Other player notes:
- Black screen issue resolved (weight 0.04): A solution has been provided for the black screen issue that some players were experiencing.
- Patch notes available (weight 0.04): The patch notes have been mentioned, indicating updates or changes made to the game.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.4): Players are frustrated primarily due to the game's high difficulty, unbalanced boss fights, and excessive grind. Additional causes include progression resets, ineffective mechanics, and various bugs that hinder gameplay. The removal of language support and inability to get refunds, as well as encountering paywalls after purchase, also contribute significantly to this frustration.
- Disappointment (weight 0.31): Players feel disappointed due to the lack of significant changes, poor game balance, and repetitive gameplay. The removal of language support, introduction of paid season passes, and the game's failure to live up to genre expectations also contribute to this sentiment. Additionally, the game's decline after full release and the requirement to install additional software have left players feeling let down.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.07): Players enjoy the game due to its fun and addicting gameplay, co-op gameplay, and overall enjoyable experience despite some bugs. The build diversity, character progression, and engaging gameplay mechanics also contribute to the positive feelings.
- Anger (weight 0.04): Players are angry due to the pay-to-win mechanics, greedy monetization, and poor handling of player feedback. Various issues with the game, including language support, weapon pricing, and bugs, also contribute to this anger.
- Hope (weight 0.04): Players feel hopeful due to the potential for future improvements and updates. The game's current state in Early Access and the responsiveness of the developers contribute to this optimism.
- Approval (weight 0.02): Players approve of the game due to its significant improvements since early access and the amount of content available. The fun experience when playing with friends also contributes to this approval.
- Hopeful (weight 0.02): Players are hopeful because the developers are responsive and quickly addressing issues with patches. The core gameplay is seen as good, with future adjustments expected to improve the game further.
- Positive (weight 0.01): Players feel positive about the game due to its enjoyable mechanics and overall fun factor. They recommend the game based on these aspects.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.01): Players are satisfied with the overall enjoyment and positive aspects of the game. The responsiveness of the developers to feedback also contributes to this satisfaction.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Players are enthusiastic about the game's potential and enjoy the current gameplay experience. They look forward to future developments and improvements.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Players are anticipating new content and the opportunity to play with friends. The excitement about future updates and additions to the game contributes to this feeling.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): Players feel sad due to the inability to start the game smoothly after updates. Technical issues preventing gameplay contribute to this sadness.
- Disappointed (weight 0.01): Players are disappointed because the game lacks engaging features and quality-of-life improvements. Despite its potential, the game falls short of expectations.
- Frustrated (weight 0.01): Players are frustrated with boss mechanics that make fights overly difficult and tedious. The lack of clear indicators for boss phases contributes to this frustration.
- Nostalgic (weight 0.01): Players feel nostalgic because the game reminds them of past favorites with similar themes and gameplay styles. The familiarity and fond memories of those games contribute to this nostalgia.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Players feel bored due to the repetitive nature of gameplay, which involves constant shooting and dodging without much variation. The lack of engaging or diverse activities contributes to this boredom.}