Info about Fate Seeker: Journey:

Official game description:
JOIN OUR DISCORD
================
About the Game
==============
Fate Seeker: Journey is an action role-playing game that combines random elements of Roguelite. You will be the hero Zhuge Yu who falls into unconsciousness in one accident. After waking up, you find yourself in a mysterious place and though the guidance of mysterious power gradually retrieve the lost past memories. By passing the stages, you will continue to collect talents, obtain items, combine skills, form different kinds of martial arts, experience different level routes and battle rhythms, and finally defeat powerful enemies, retrieve memories and embark on the journey of return.  
A mysterious power guides you forward. Before entering each level, you must face an unknown choice: should you choose to retrieve the fragments of his memory? Or choose to strengthen abilities and defeat the enemy? And every time you enter a level and end the battle, the talent you choose and the item you collect will help you to finally defeat the powerful enemy and retrieve the lost memory.  
When fighting against different enemies, you need to master the timing of moves and dodges and cooperate with the random moves and talents obtained to win the battle. It is worth mentioning that in addition to improving combat capabilities, some specific talents can also add dazzling effects to weapons and equipment such as swords and spears, bringing strong visual effects and a refreshing combat experience!  
Though surmounting numerous difficulties, you, as Zhuge Yu, go through layers of trials and finally defeat the powerful enemy. In the process of constant battle, the memory of the past is gradually recovered, but what follows is the unpredictable and heavy truth, you can only go forward bravely, and embark on a journey to turn the world again and again...
Follow us here
--------------

Release date: 11 Dec, 2022

Categories: Action RPG, Roguelike, Real-time Combat, Character Progression, Wuxia RPG, Single-player Story, Weapon Customization, Top-Down Perspective


- 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:
- Strong Ties to Fate Seeker 2 (weight 0.4): Many players view this game as a valuable DLC or extension of Fate Seeker 2, appreciating how it complements the story, reuses assets effectively, and expands on combat styles. The experience is significantly enhanced for those who have played the previous title.
- Humorous Dialogue & Character Interactions (weight 0.33): The game's dialogue is frequently praised for its humor, especially the witty banter and sarcastic interactions between the protagonist and the 'Goddess' or A-Ning. These character dynamics and the overall story content are a significant draw for players.
- Engaging Roguelike Combat (weight 0.29): The game's roguelike elements are well-received, allowing for continuous experimentation with skill combinations and builds. Players enjoy the satisfying combat loop, the variety of playstyles, and the permanent progression system, making it accessible even for non-roguelike fans.
- Overall Positive Reception (weight 0.27): Players generally find the game to be very good, with novel and interesting gameplay. Despite some minor shortcomings, its underlying framework and quality are appreciated, especially for a domestic title.
- Good Value for Price (weight 0.14): Many reviewers consider the game to be a good deal, especially at its special offer price or when bundled with other games. The content offered is seen as worthwhile for the cost.
- Improved Character Art (weight 0.12): The character art style, particularly the female protagonist's portraits and expressions, is noted as a significant improvement compared to previous titles, contributing positively to the visual experience.
- Diverse & Enjoyable Builds (weight 0.11): Players highlight specific weapon types and builds, such as blade, sword, spear, and fist, as enjoyable and effective. The ability to create powerful combinations is a key aspect of the fun.
- Effective Wuxia Integration (weight 0.09): The game successfully incorporates wuxia elements, with mechanics consistent with traditional wuxia themes. It's seen as a commendable effort in the genre, drawing comparisons to a 'wuxia Hades'.

Common complaints:
- Poor Roguelike Implementation (weight 0.96): The game's roguelike mechanics are seen as poorly implemented and not true to the genre. Players note a lack of meaningful randomness, insufficient build variety, and a general absence of the 'god-tier build' satisfaction typically found in roguelikes, making it feel like a linear progression.
- Excessive Asset Reuse (weight 0.9): Many players feel the game heavily reuses assets, enemies, and combat systems from previous titles, particularly Fate Seeker 2. This leads to a perception that the game is more of a poorly assembled DLC than a standalone sequel, lacking originality and new content.
- Lacks Replayability and Content (weight 0.87): Players find the game's content limited, leading to low replayability. The roguelike elements are perceived as shallow, repetitive, and not offering enough variety or depth to sustain interest across multiple runs, making the experience monotonous.
- Awkward and Unresponsive Combat (weight 0.78): The combat system is widely criticized for feeling awkward, clunky, and unresponsive. Issues include poor hit reactions, difficult melee combat, problematic camera angles, and a lack of fluid controls, especially with keyboard and mouse, hindering the overall combat experience.
- Unbalanced Skills and Talents (weight 0.38): Skills and talents are criticized for being unbalanced, with many feeling useless or generic. The system lacks depth, making it difficult to create diverse or effective builds, and often forces players into repetitive grinding or reliance on luck for desired talents.
- Frustrating Boss Encounters (weight 0.23): Boss battles are a source of frustration due to high health, high damage, and often unclear attack patterns. Players report being instantly killed by boss skills, and the 'weakness' mechanic is often ineffective, leading to tedious grind-down fights.
- Inadequate Healing and Recovery (weight 0.08): The game's healing and recovery mechanics are deemed insufficient. Potions and skill-based healing provide very little health, making it difficult for players, especially casual ones, to survive challenging encounters and prolonging runs.

Gameplay feedback:
- Roguelike with Familiar Combat (weight 0.51): The game is primarily a combat-focused roguelike spin-off, heavily reusing the combat system and assets from 'Fate Seeker 2'. While it incorporates roguelike elements like random rewards and resource allocation, some players feel these mechanics are weaker or less developed compared to pure roguelikes like Hades.
- Combat System & Weapon Variety (weight 0.32): The combat system is largely inherited from 'Fate Seeker 2', emphasizing a 'break' mechanic and combo-chaining. Players can choose from four distinct weapon types (blade, sword, fist, spear), each with various martial arts styles, allowing for diverse combat approaches.
- Asset & Content Reuse (weight 0.25): A significant portion of the game, including bosses, enemies, martial arts techniques, and even stage designs, are directly reused or copied from 'Fate Seeker 2'. This leads to a sense of familiarity for existing fans but can feel unoriginal to others.
- Talent & Skill Progression (weight 0.14): The game features a talent system with different rarities, offering boosts to stats like damage, health, and resource collection. Martial arts skills are acquired as room rewards and can be upgraded, allowing players to optimize their build.
- Boss Mechanics & Difficulty (weight 0.12): Bosses often feature super armor (red for full immunity, yellow for partial) and temporary crowd control immunity after being affected. While challenging, players note that bosses become relatively simple once their patterns are learned, especially by utilizing gold for damage boosts.
- Fixed Elements & Limited Randomness (weight 0.12): Despite being a roguelike, many elements like maps, merchant locations, boss room locations, and bonus stage rewards are fixed across runs. This limits the replayability and true roguelike feel, especially in the late game where randomness is perceived as poor.
- Letter Collection Mechanic (weight 0.09): The game includes a collection mechanic where players find letters in specific locations, both at home and within stages (e.g., copper jars, wooden dummies). These locations are fixed and do not repeat within a single run.
- Player Character & Narrative (weight 0.08): Players control Zhuge Yu, the protagonist from 'Destiny 2', who is on a quest to recover lost memories. The game features a complete story for this mode, culminating in a true ending after approximately 10 hours of gameplay.
- Enemy Behavior & Combat Flow (weight 0.08): Combat involves anticipating enemy moves, dodging, and striking forcefully, often requiring players to kite and use ranged attacks, especially against multiple enemies who can attack simultaneously. The game's design makes achieving high combos or continuous damage challenging compared to 'Fate Seeker 2'.

Performance notes:
- Engine similarity noted (weight 0.02): Players have observed that the game appears to utilize the same engine as Fate Seeker 2. This observation is based on limited feedback and may suggest a familiar technical foundation.

Recommendations:
- Primarily for Fate Seeker Fans (weight 0.46): The game is largely recommended only for existing fans of the 'Fate Seeker' series, particularly those who have played 'Fate Seeker 2'. New players are strongly advised to play 'Fate Seeker 2' first, as this game serves more as a fan-oriented expansion or a 'crowdfunding' effort for the next main installment.
- Anticipation for Fate Seeker 3 (weight 0.29): Many players view this game as a means to support the development and early release of 'Fate Seeker 3'. There's a strong desire for the sequel, with specific hopes for improved puzzles, more content (rumors, side quests, combat), and better deduction mechanics.
- Value at Discounted Price (weight 0.23): While some reviewers do not recommend the game at full price, many agree it offers good value when purchased at a discounted rate, particularly at half price. This suggests that the current pricing might be a barrier for some players.
- Roguelike Elements Disappoint (weight 0.17): Players expecting a strong roguelike experience are often disappointed, with some advising roguelike fans to avoid the game. There's a suggestion for developers to better understand roguelike action game mechanics before future releases.
- Combat & Control Enhancements (weight 0.16): Suggestions for future games include more user-friendly combat controls (e.g., left-click attack, right-click defense), distinct weapon characteristics, and the addition of light/heavy attacks. Players also request better keyboard integration for menus, item pickup, and interaction, along with an auto-turn key for combat.
- Gameplay Needs Improvement (weight 0.15): Players express a desire for significant future updates to improve the game's overall quality and enrich its gameplay. There's a call for developers to polish the game, especially regarding talents, martial arts, and weapons, to make it a more substantial experience.
- Developer's Wuxia Potential (weight 0.13): Players see the developer, Jianshanlin, as a significant hope for domestic wuxia games and encourage them to continue creating high-quality works in this genre. There's a desire for new, popular wuxia titles.
- Future Game Format Ideas (weight 0.1): Some players suggest exploring different game formats for future titles, such as a visual novel (GAL game) or a proper sequel that focuses on story and combat, potentially with less puzzle-solving.

Other player notes:
- Perceived as DLC, not full game (weight 0.28): Many players feel the game lacks sufficient content to justify its price, viewing it more as a large DLC or a short spin-off of Fate Seeker 2. This sentiment leads to disappointment regarding its value proposition.
- Strong ties to Fate Seeker 2 (weight 0.26): The game is heavily reliant on its predecessor, Fate Seeker 2, featuring the same protagonist, characters, and combat system. Players who haven't played Fate Seeker 2 report a lack of immersion and understanding of the story, suggesting it's primarily for existing fans.
- Roguelike combat focus (weight 0.23): The core gameplay is a wuxia-themed roguelike, extracting and adapting the combat system from the main series. This design choice is a significant departure, and not all players, especially those unfamiliar with roguelikes, appreciate it.
- Desire for Fate Seeker 3 (weight 0.16): A significant portion of the player base purchased this game primarily to support the developers, JSL, in hopes of funding and accelerating the development of Fate Seeker 3. This indicates strong loyalty to the main series.
- Gameplay mechanics outlined (weight 0.11): The game features a 45-degree top-down roguelite RPG structure where players choose rewards like talents, martial arts, money, or memories after levels. Builds focus on talents and martial arts, with specific types of 'weakness' requiring different counters.
- Comparison to other Wuxia games (weight 0.07): The game is compared to other Wuxia titles like 'Age of Wushu Online' and 'Swordsman Online', with some players noting its combat system doesn't surpass existing benchmarks.
- Completionist playtime noted (weight 0.06): One reviewer achieved all achievements and the 'golden perfect ending' after approximately 30 hours of playtime, indicating the game has a finite, albeit respectable, amount of content for completionists.
- Concerns about developer practices (weight 0.05): Some players express frustration with the developer, JSL, regarding the game's perceived quality and value. There are suspicions about the developer's financial motivations and a call for better attention to work quality.
- Potential for future expansion (weight 0.04): Despite current content limitations, some players see the game as a solid framework with significant potential for future content updates and expansions.
- Requests for quality of life features (weight 0.03): Players have specific requests for gameplay improvements, such as an option to merge multiple skills onto a single key and the ability to invert mouse left/right click for movement.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.28): Players are primarily disappointed by the game's roguelike elements, which are frequently described as average, repetitive, lacking depth, and failing to meet expectations. This is compounded by issues with combat feel, build diversity, and a general perception that the game feels like a perfunctory DLC rather than a quality standalone title.
- Frustration (weight 0.22): Frustration stems from numerous poor design choices, particularly in roguelike randomization, combat mechanics (e.g., poor hit detection, lack of defensive options), and cumbersome UI/controls. Specific issues include the need to switch between keyboard and mouse, visual clutter, and difficulty spikes, leading to an unenjoyable gameplay experience.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.2): Satisfaction is largely driven by the game's appeal to fans of the series, offering more content with beloved characters, humorous dialogue, and a pleasing art style. The combat system, when it works well and allows for enjoyable combos or powerful builds, also contributes to a positive experience, especially when the game is purchased at a good price.
- Hope (weight 0.05): Players express hope for future improvements in combat, mechanics, and overall game design, particularly for a proper sequel. There's a strong desire for the developers to continue creating quality wuxia games and to address current shortcomings in future updates or installments.
- Excitement (weight 0.05): Excitement is generated by the game's novel gameplay combinations, the discovery of various weapon and playstyle synergies, and the challenge of the combat system. Flashy moves and the ability to find fun and effective combat strategies also contribute to this positive emotion.
- Anger (weight 0.04): Anger arises from a strong perception that the developers do not understand roguelike design, leading to fundamental flaws in combat, controls, and UI. Players feel the game is of low quality, a poorly rehashed version of previous content, and that developers are blindly following trends, leading to a feeling of being ripped off.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.02): Nostalgia is triggered by seeing familiar characters and elements from the first game, particularly the protagonist and specific voice actors. This sentiment often leads players to purchase the game for sentimental reasons, appreciating the connection to the series' past.
- Amusement (weight 0.02): Amusement is consistently caused by the humorous dialogue, especially between the protagonist and the goddess, and specific character actions. The witty exchanges and comedic elements provide enjoyable moments for players.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom sets in after a relatively short period of gameplay (3-10 hours) due to the game's repetitive and unengaging combat. The lack of variety and depth in the core loop leads players to lose interest quickly.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.01): Enjoyment is derived from the overall experience, particularly the story's extension and resolution for traditional couples, and engaging character interactions. The character A-Ning and interesting dialogue also contribute to a positive general feeling.
- Concern (weight 0.01): Players express concern that the development team focused on a spin-off instead of the main sequel, potentially impacting the developer's reputation due to perceived low-quality releases. There's also worry about spoilers for the prequel.
- Joy (weight 0.01): Joy is experienced through romantic interactions with the character A-Ning, the overall fun of the game, and the combat system. Humorous dialogue and well-arranged plot points also contribute to feelings of happiness.
- Support (weight 0.01): Players show support for the developer, primarily driven by a desire for a sequel (Fate Seeker 3) and appreciation for their efforts in making wuxia games. This indicates a hope for the franchise's future.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arises from changes in character art style and certain game mechanics, such as healing and item interaction. These inconsistencies or unclear systems can disorient players.
- Dislike (weight 0): The primary cause of dislike is the roguelike mode itself. This indicates a fundamental disagreement with the game's genre direction or implementation of roguelike elements.
- Impatience (weight 0): Players express impatience for the next main installment of the series. This suggests a strong desire for a proper sequel rather than spin-offs or DLCs.
- Mild disappointment (weight 0): Mild disappointment is specifically attributed to the high repetitiveness within the game. This indicates a less severe but still negative reaction to the lack of variety.
- Informative (weight 0): This feedback provides a detailed overview and analysis of the game's features and mechanics, offering constructive insights into its design and functionality.
- Neutrality (weight 0): Neutrality stems from viewing the game as a roguelike suitable for casual fun, suggesting a lack of strong positive or negative feelings, and an acceptance of its nature for light entertainment.
- Appreciation (weight 0): Appreciation is shown for the effort put into the second game's open-world design. This highlights a positive recognition of specific development achievements in previous titles.}