Info about Corpse Keeper: Official game description: Corpse Keeper is a very challenging action RPG with tons of strategy elements. You'll need to lead a squad of three corpses to explore the grim and dark medieval world within limited time, acquire resources and equipment, build a powerful army of the living dead with enemies' flesh and bones, and finally kill the demon lurking in the deep end of the cathedral to hunt his soul. The battles in Corpse Keeper contain not only realistic sword fighting, but also dashing and gorgeous skills. Parry, dodge, or roll - cope with different attacks in various ways. Observe and master your skills duzring combats and keep confronting stronger opponents. A wide collection of characters: -------------------------------- Dozens of playable characters, each with a large number of well-designed and extremely vigorous attack actions. Decay system: ------------- You are controlling corpses of flesh and bones sticked together with black magic. Every exploration increases the decay of the body. The dead warrior collapses when the decay reaches 100%. The increase in decay is irreversible and you can only reduce the increase by applying "preservatives". Be aware of the team selection ahead of every run! Roster building: ---------------- You'll constantly lose your warriors due to the decay process. But on the other hand, you'll be able to create new corpses with flesh and bones of the defeated enemies. This means that you won't be able to lay back and win easily with the same team over and over again. In order to lead the team forward, you will have to adapt to changes and achieve dynamic balance. Resource management: -------------------- There're all kinds of resources to accquire in Corpse Keeper, which are essential for exploration. However, you can't always have it all. You need to understand what's really urgent and make your choices accordingly. Unforseeable adventure: ----------------------- You will encounter not only enemies but also facilities to aid you, and make you pay at the same time. Be aware not to backfire yourself by interacting in wrong scenarios. Countless equipments: --------------------- Equipments offer not only boost to attributes, they also grant powerful specialties to your warriors. To make full use of the specialties, your lineup, enemy's attributes, the area and many factors are under consideration. Specialties may also affect the items and facilities you use. Immersive atmosphere: --------------------- Seven distinctive areas can be explored, offering a solemn and dark medieval fantasy landscape. Release date: 28 May, 2024 Categories: Action RPG, Soulslike Combat, Resource Management, Monster Collecting, Character Management, Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike, Time-based Mechanics - 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: - Engaging, deep, and satisfying combat (weight 0.5): The combat system is a major highlight, drawing comparisons to Sekiro and Souls-like games. Players praise its depth, responsiveness, and the satisfaction derived from parrying, dodging, and executing special moves. The hit feedback and animations contribute to the visceral and engaging nature of the combat. - Unique and stylish dark aesthetic (weight 0.36): The game boasts a distinctive dark fantasy art style, often described as unique and stylish. The visual presentation complements the gameplay and atmosphere, creating an immersive experience for players. - Diverse characters with unique combat (weight 0.36): The game features a diverse roster of characters (corpses) each with unique attack patterns and combat styles. Players enjoy collecting bones to create and customize these characters, adding a monster-collecting element and encouraging strategic combat to exploit enemy weaknesses. - Fair difficulty with high skill-ceiling (weight 0.32): The game balances challenge and accessibility, requiring practice but not being overly difficult. The posture system, similar to Sekiro, rewards skilled players who can master the mechanics and minimize damage. - Rewarding permanent progression system (weight 0.31): The game incorporates roguelike elements with a forgiving permanent upgrade system. This allows players to carry over progress between runs, encouraging strategic resource management and diverse strategies across multiple playthroughs. - Randomized skills enhance replayability (weight 0.28): Randomized skill assignments and deck-like building of character movesets add depth and replayability. Unlocking random action modules after combat offers new combat experiences and makes each character feel unique. - Addictive and satisfying forging (weight 0.26): The '打铁' (smithing) or forging aspect of the game is very satisfying and addictive. This core gameplay loop provides a sense of progression and accomplishment. - Generally enjoyable and fun (weight 0.09): These clusters express general positive sentiments without specific details. While the game is considered enjoyable and fun, the lack of concrete feedback reduces the importance score. - Specific gameplay tips and builds (weight 0.07): These clusters provide specific gameplay tips and highlight effective character builds. While potentially useful, the subjective nature and limited scope of these points reduce their overall importance. - Shows potential, solid foundation (weight 0.03): These clusters express general sentiments about the game's potential and solid foundation. While positive, the lack of specific details and actionable feedback reduces their importance. - Inconsistent opinions on difficulty (weight 0.03): This cluster expresses mixed opinions on the game's difficulty, with some finding it challenging and others not as hard as expected. The lack of consensus and specific details reduces the importance score. - Good value, especially on sale (weight 0.03): Several reviewers mention the game being a great value, especially when purchased on sale or during a Kickstarter campaign. This suggests a positive perception of the game's quality relative to its price. Common complaints: - Unfair enemy advantages, poor balance (weight 0.97): The game suffers from poor balance, with enemies having unfair advantages such as unlimited skill usage, perfect parries, and high stats. This leads to frustrating combat encounters where player skill is less important than luck or character stats. The AI's ability to read player inputs and spam ultimate moves further exacerbates the issue. - Poor UI, unintuitive design (weight 0.62): The game lacks clear guidance and intuitive design, making it difficult for players to understand the mechanics and progress effectively. The UI is cumbersome, controls are awkward, and there's a lack of proper tutorials. This results in a frustrating experience where players must rely on trial and error to learn the game's systems. - Excessive grinding, poor resource management (weight 0.43): The game is heavily reliant on grinding for resources and upgrades, both in and out of dungeons. This is exacerbated by low drop rates, limited inventory space, and the need for specific item combinations. The excessive grinding detracts from the action and roguelike elements, making progression feel tedious and unrewarding. - Restrictive, punishing mechanics (weight 0.29): Several mechanics such as bone fractures, corpse decay, and limited bodies feel restrictive and negatively impact the gameplay experience. These mechanics force a rushed playstyle and limit player freedom, making the game less enjoyable. The randomness of character selection and the difficulty of upgrading skeletons further contribute to the frustration. - Repetitive gameplay, lacks variety (weight 0.28): The game lacks depth and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay. There is a limited number of enemy types, combos, and events, reducing the desire for replayability. Players desire more content, customization options, and meaningful choices to enhance the overall experience. - Bugs, progression issues, balance (weight 0.09): This cluster contains a mix of specific bugs, balance issues, and frustrating design choices. The reviewer mentions a game-freezing bug, the inability to interrupt certain enemy skills, and progression-blocking issues. These points highlight potential problems with the game's polish and overall design. - Weak, unengaging story (weight 0.04): The game's story is minimal, incomplete, and lacks context, failing to provide a compelling narrative or motivation for the player's actions. The background story feels random and confusing, leaving players disconnected from the game world. Gameplay feedback: - Timing-based, 2D Soulslike combat (weight 0.38): The game features 2D, 1v1, timing-based combat, often compared to 'Sekiro' or fighting games, but with RPG elements. Players use attacks, dodges, and parries to manage stamina and posture, with successful parries creating openings. Combat emphasizes skillful timing and defense over button-mashing. - Corpse creation and management (weight 0.2): Players manage a necromancer's ossuary, creating and customizing undead warriors from collected resources. Corpses decay over time, requiring players to strategically manage their roster and invest in upgrades. This system encourages experimentation and adaptation. - Attack speed and interrupt dynamics (weight 0.07): Preemptive strikes and thrusting attacks are prioritized, but can be countered by uninterruptible actions. Faster swings offer less damage, while slower swings leave the player open. Enemies can evade or block attacks. - Limited-time dungeon exploration (weight 0.06): Each run lasts 15 in-game days, with dungeon exploration advancing the clock. Dungeons contain resources, buffs, and enemies, but exploring them increases corpse decay. Strategic dungeon planning is essential for success. - Stance/posture break mechanic (weight 0.06): The game features a posture/balance system where filling an enemy's bar leads to stuns and critical hits. Breaking enemy stance is a core combat strategy, creating opportunities for high damage attacks. Enemies can also recover stance, adding a tactical layer. - Repetitive bosses and events (weight 0.05): Some reviewers feel the game lacks variety in bosses and events, leading to repetitiveness after a few playthroughs. Optimal strategies may involve minimal exploration, further contributing to the feeling of repetition. This point highlights a potential lack of long-term engagement. - Darkest Dungeon-style resource management (weight 0.05): Resource management is a core mechanic, drawing inspiration from games like Darkest Dungeon. Players must carefully choose which loot to keep due to limited inventory space. This adds a layer of strategic decision-making to dungeon runs. - Character progression disconnect (weight 0.03): Character experience and skill levels are somewhat disconnected, leading to potential grinding. Character decay encourages a disposable playstyle early on. Enemy attack patterns are randomly generated, making memorization difficult. - Distinct combat styles per body (weight 0.03): Different bodies offer distinct combat styles, each with strengths and weaknesses. Some bodies are effective for pressure-based playstyles, while others excel at poking and maintaining distance. This adds variety to character builds. - Gear reduces enemy defense/evasion (weight 0.02): Equipping gear reduces enemy defense and evasion, which is unusual. Characters with thrust/kick skills combined with equipment that reduces enemy parry chance can create a significant advantage. This highlights the importance of gear and skill synergy. - Unfair enemy skill usage (weight 0.02): Enemies sometimes use ultimate skills consecutively without cooldown, which feels unfair. Skills can sometimes miss due to their attack patterns. This point suggests potential balancing issues with enemy AI and skill accuracy. - Unconventional keyboard control scheme (weight 0.01): Keyboard controls use a unique key layout, with 'J' for confirm and 'K' for cancel; the game does not use a mouse. Key bindings can be changed mid-run via the settings menu. This point describes the game's control scheme. Performance notes: - Runs well on Steam Deck/controller (weight 0.04): The game is well-optimized for controller use and runs smoothly on the Steam Deck. This suggests good portability and accessibility for players who prefer handheld gaming or controller-based input. The game also runs smoothly without bugs. - Crashes and lacks mouse support (weight 0.03): The game suffers from technical issues, including frequent crashes and lack of mouse support. The reviewer specifically mentions experiencing eight crashes within ten hours of gameplay, indicating a significant stability problem. The absence of mouse support is also a major drawback. - Light requirements, stylized graphics (weight 0.02): The game has light system requirements and features stylized graphics with a low fantasy aesthetic. This makes the game accessible to a wider range of players with different hardware configurations. The stylized graphics and low fantasy aesthetic contribute to the game's overall visual appeal. Recommendations: - Balance, difficulty, and luck issues (weight 0.45): Many reviewers express concerns about the game's balance, difficulty, and reliance on luck. They suggest improvements like adding a practice mode, adjusting enemy AI, and rebalancing resource management. Some reviewers recommend the game only on sale or to players who enjoy masochistic difficulty, while others advise against purchasing it in its current state. - Enjoyable core concept, flawed execution (weight 0.41): Despite its flaws, some reviewers find the game enjoyable and original, especially in the early stages. They appreciate the unique concept, satisfying melee combat, and potential for future improvements. However, opinions are divided, with some considering it a hidden gem and others finding it frustrating. - Improve character progression system (weight 0.26): Reviewers suggest improvements to character progression, such as increasing skull drop rates and adding more skill choices. One reviewer proposes a new mode with a cooldown system instead of the bone health bar. These suggestions aim to make character development more rewarding and less grindy. - Game is not recommended (weight 0.04): Several reviewers express strong dissatisfaction with the game, recommending against purchasing it and describing the current gameplay experience as poor. One reviewer uses a metaphor to criticize the game's development process. These points indicate significant issues that negatively impact the overall player experience. - Consider art style and combat (weight 0.03): Some reviewers suggest that potential buyers should consider the game's art style and combat mechanics before purchasing. Checking the trailer or demo is recommended to assess whether these elements align with personal preferences. This point highlights the importance of subjective preferences in the game's appeal. - Add mod support and endless mode (weight 0.02): Reviewers suggest adding Steam Workshop support for cosmetic items and an endless mode to further enjoy the created mechs. These suggestions aim to enhance the game's replayability and customization options, providing players with more ways to engage with the game. - Offer a choice of skills (weight 0.01): Offering a choice of three skills to alleviate combo issues. This suggestion aims to improve the game's combo system, providing players with more options and flexibility in combat. - Try out the demo (weight 0.01): The reviewer recommends trying out the demo. This point suggests that the demo is a good way to get a feel for the game and see if it is something you would enjoy. - Play Sekiro instead (weight 0.01): The reviewer recommends playing Sekiro instead, due to the parrying mechanic. This point suggests that the parrying mechanic in the game is not as well-implemented or enjoyable as in other games. - Excessive blood requirements (weight 0.01): The reviewer suggests using CE modification to save time due to the excessive blood requirements. This point suggests that the blood requirements in the game are too high and that it is necessary to use a cheat engine to save time. Other player notes: - Humble Bundle, early access title (weight 0.04): The game's availability through Humble Bundle/Monthly and its status as a domestic early access title with developer promises are noted. This provides context regarding how players may have acquired the game and its development stage. - Inconsistent update frequency (weight 0.03): The game's update frequency is mentioned, with some reviewers noting a lack of updates since release, while others commend the development team for quickly fixing problems. This highlights conflicting experiences regarding the game's ongoing support and maintenance. - Imbalanced combat mechanics (weight 0.02): The reviewer highlights the effectiveness of certain attacks (kick > thrust) and the difficulty of parrying specific attack types. This provides specific feedback on the game's combat mechanics and balance. - Minor features and references (weight 0.02): The game has Japanese language support, trophies are straightforward and easy to obtain, and the reviewer bought the game because of a streamer named "老菊". These points are less impactful on gameplay experience. - Minimal story: betray demon (weight 0.01): The game features a minimal story where the player, as a slave to a demon, betrays it and raises an army of corpses to defeat it. This summarizes the game's narrative premise. - Dungeon reward visibility (weight 0.01): Dungeons display potential rewards from different categories, with some requiring an item to reveal their contents. This describes a specific feature of the dungeon exploration mechanic. - Unique monster BGM (weight 0.01): Different high-level monsters have unique BGM, which is a positive detail, especially the 'Mad Knight' whose music is more intense. This highlights a positive aspect of the game's audio design. - Sword fighting roguelike, Souls-like (weight 0.01): The game is described as a blend of sword fighting, roguelike elements, and Dark Souls inspiration. This provides a general overview of the game's genre and influences. - Immediate dungeon run gameplay (weight 0.01): The game immediately throws players into dungeon runs after a brief tutorial. This describes the initial player experience and gameplay loop. Emotions: No emotions}