Info about Skul: The Hero Slayer - Mythology Pack: Official game description: A mythical skull has descended upon Harmonia! This is the first DLC of Skul: The Hero Slayer, a story about a special little skeleton, Skul, who fights humans to save the captured demon king. As the name suggests, the Mythology Pack consists of add-ons that fit the mythical theme. It will provide you with a completely new combat experience. Add-ons New Legendary Skull 'Unknown King' 4 new Skulls that can be awakened \- Unique Skull 'Ascetic' \- Rare Skull 'Officer' \- Common Skull 'Slave' \- Common Skull 'Viking' 20 new items A new Inscription, 'Mystery' Create new, powerful combinations with the mythical powers that have descended upon Harmonia! Release date: Nov 15, 2023 Categories: Action Roguelike, Build Crafting, Character Customization, Difficult Gameplay, Single-player, Side-scrolling, Rogue-lite Feature scans: - MTX: score 10; verdict: Fair / Pure; summary: User reviews describe a one-time purchase game with a single small-priced DLC ($4) that adds content but is supported by free major updates. No evidence of microtransactions, pay-to-win mechanics, or predatory monetization exists in the feedback. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $2.00 - $4.00 - Reasoning: The current base price of $3.99 is already considered fair by one reviewer, who finds DLC pricing fair. Another reviewer questions if €4 for specific content is worth it, suggesting a slightly lower base price may be preferred. The mixed Portuguese review (translated: 'increased 100x price, for free, very low, perfect, could be cheaper, very expensive, throw your money away') indicates a wide range of sentiment, but the 'perfect' and 'could be cheaper' extremes suggest an acceptable range around $2-$4. The 'snatch it on sale' comment hints that the base price is slightly above optimal for some. Thus, the community considers a fair range of $2-$4. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: N/A - Story completion: N/A - Session length: N/A - Endgame: N/A - Reasoning: The only explicit playtime measurement found is a mention of half-hour sessions, suggesting average session length. Other playtime metrics are not directly quantified in the reviews. - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: - Frustrated Mechanics Critic (no buy) - Motivation: balance and polish - Playstyle: tactical and precision-oriented - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: no buy - Labels: hardcore; mechanic-focused - Reference games: Skul: The Hero Slayer - Enthusiastic Fan (buy) - Motivation: enjoyment and completion - Playstyle: experimental and achievement hunting - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: fan; achievement hunter - Reference games: Skul: The Hero Slayer - Cautious Buyer (sale) - Motivation: value for money - Playstyle: cautious and pragmatic - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: sale - Labels: bargain hunter; patient - Reference games: Skul: The Hero Slayer 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: - Excellent value at low price (weight 0.28): Players consistently mention that the DLC provides excellent value for its low price, with many highlighting the large amount of content for around $5 or equivalent. - Lots of new fun items (weight 0.21): Many new items and equipment are added, providing fun and variety in combinations for build-crafting. - Dark Mirror update expands well (weight 0.19): The Dark Mirror update is a large expansion of existing mechanics, with careful development, themed items fitting legends, and worth supporting developers. - Parry mechanic is excellent (weight 0.18): The parry mechanic, particularly on Spartacus and other skulls, improves gameplay and is very cool, with some skulls becoming invincible via parry. - Hercules is powerful and fun (weight 0.16): Hercules is very powerful with many skills, invincibility frames, and is considered a cheat character that is fun to use, worth buying for him alone. - Thor is versatile and strong (weight 0.15): Thor is good as a common skull, refreshing for both mobs and bosses, and can destroy shield generators with later equipment, carrying runs. - Direct try of new characters (weight 0.12): Players appreciate being able to immediately try each mythic character one by one, with the DLC unlocking or allowing direct try of 5 new characters. - Overall game is very good (weight 0.12): The overall game and DLC receive high ratings and are described as very good, with all skulls except Unknown King being fun across the board. - Special skills offer unique advantages (weight 0.12): Sparta's execution skill can skip boss phases, the grappling/wrestle skull is innovative, and Wrestling Warrior is considered the only true god skull. - Skulls like Unknown King carry runs (weight 0.12): Several skulls like Unknown King, Perfection, and Demigod are said to have carried runs, indicating they are powerful in gameplay. - Ascetic skull is overpowered (weight 0.09): The Ascetic skull is intentionally overpowered with many invincibility frames and high damage, and is considered the most fun skull by some players. - Excellent mob clearing capability (weight 0.09): Mob clearing is excellent, with Guan Yu specifically refreshing for mobs, contributing to enjoyable gameplay. - God of War has many combos (weight 0.05): God of War has many combos, making it a powerful and fun skull for players who enjoy complex movesets. - King Arthur has good mechanics (weight 0.05): King Arthur has good motion, skills, transformation, and gauge mechanics, making him a well-designed and fun skull. - DLC items appear less often (weight 0.05): Some players note that DLC items appear less frequently, which is considered a positive aspect as it maintains balance and novelty. Common complaints: - DLC adds disappointingly little (weight 0.97): The DLC is widely criticized for adding little content, broken garbage, no story, overpricing, and ruining game balance. New items are useless, bones pollute the pool, and the game feels like a money grab with no real development. - Bugs and poor controls (weight 0.54): Multiple bugs and crashes are reported, including black screens, UI bugs, map misalignment, crashes after updates, and characters falling out of the map. Controls are described as awkward, clunky, and counterintuitive, with poor hit feedback. - New skulls underpowered (weight 0.46): Multiple new skulls are reported as weak, slow, or boring, including the Officer, King, Thor, Spartacus, Gladiator, Unknown King, and others. Many lack invincibility frames, have short range, huge recovery, or poor damage, making them unenjoyable. - Guan Yu too weak (weight 0.27): Guan Yu is frequently criticized for being too weak, with slow attacks, large recovery, counterintuitive controls, and poor damage before awakening. Players also report that the long attack is incorrectly judged as a front attack on shields. - Legendary skulls too rare (weight 0.17): Legendary skulls like The Forgotten King and Unknown King appear too rarely after initial use, making them hard to play often. This leads to frustration and limits build variety. - Difficulty spikes too high (weight 0.12): Difficulty spikes are noted, particularly in Mirror World, where monster stats are too high and one mistake costs half health. This creates a harsh experience for players who relied on newbie buffs. Gameplay feedback: - DLC has balance issues (weight 0.19): The DLC has significant balance issues, with some characters like Thor and Guan Yu considered weak, while others are too strong, especially under high difficulty. - Build-crafting is a key feature (weight 0.14): Players enjoy build-crafting with skulls, equipment, upgrades, and engraving bonds, which is a core gameplay loop. - Invulnerability builds are dominant (weight 0.13): Players can achieve near-permanent invulnerability through item combinations, bones granting invincibility frames, and cooldown reduction, which is considered essential for survival. - Some DLC skulls and items underwhelming (weight 0.09): Some DLC skulls are visually appealing but not useful in gameplay, and new equipment items are underwhelming. - Grappler skill has control issues (weight 0.09): The Grappler skill is difficult to control with a small hitbox, and the Grappler Wolf skull cannot grapple bosses, limiting its use. - Unknown King skull is weak and boring (weight 0.09): The Unknown King skull has low damage, a weak transformation, and is considered the most boring skull. - Guan Yu has attack animation issues (weight 0.09): Guan Yu's special normal attack is hard to trigger due to rolling resetting the attack chain, and his jump attack animation is poor. - New inscriptions and items are very strong (weight 0.08): New inscriptions and items are considered extremely powerful or 'bonkers', enhancing the game. - No online co-op available (weight 0.05): The game lacks online co-op, which is a notable omission for a multiplayer-focused genre. - Difficulty is very high (weight 0.05): The difficulty is high, comparable to Dark Souls, which may be a barrier for some players. - Grinding required for upgrades (weight 0.05): Heroes require grinding for bones to upgrade, which can be tedious. - Limited endgame content after DLC skulls (weight 0.05): The Hall of Gods closes after playing all 5 new skulls, suggesting limited endgame content. - Dark Mirror mode is free (weight 0.04): The Dark Mirror mode is free, which is positively received. - Skeletons appear in gameplay (weight 0.04): Skeletons are mentioned as a gameplay element, but details are sparse. - Mirror World feature exists (weight 0.04): Mirror World is mentioned as a feature, but no further details are given. - Shield soldier build remains viable (weight 0.04): The shield soldier build from the previous game is still effective, showing continuity. Performance notes: No performancepoints Recommendations: - Great for build-crafting fans (weight 0.05): The DLC is recommended for players who enjoy extensive build-crafting options, as it adds depth to character customization. - Recommended for fans (weight 0.05): Fans of the base game will find the DLC enjoyable and worth playing for additional content. - Not for newbie buff users (weight 0.05): Players who relied on beginner-friendly mechanics to attempt high-difficulty content like Mirror World may be disappointed. - Suggests reducing monster stats (weight 0.05): Some feedback suggests reducing enemy stats, likely to balance the difficulty spike in the DLC. Other player notes: No miscpoints Emotions: - Disappointment (weight 0.36): Players are disappointed by the weak damage and poor transformation of the 'Unknown King' skull, as well as clunky mechanics like Guan Yu's special attacks that require standing still and a poor jump attack animation. Additionally, the five skulls have imbalanced strengths, with the grappler wolf being overly strong while the others are weak, and Arthur's transformation looking cool but dealing slow damage. - Frustration (weight 0.29): Frustration arises from the difficult control and small hitbox of the Thor skull's grappler skill, along with underwhelming new equipment like the bugged 'Thunderstrike' item that only shows one stack buff. Bugs in Demigod's counterattack disabling normal attacks on the ground and perceived imbalance of skulls like Thor, Spartan, and Guan Yu also contribute. - Excitement (weight 0.14): Players are excited by the fun gameplay of the grappler wolf skull, which can break enemy super armor and interrupt spellcasting, with hopes for grappling bosses. The new skulls, inscriptions, and items are described as 'bonkers' and 'nuts,' generating high enthusiasm. - Discouragement (weight 0.07): The Gladiator skull is extremely painful in the early game, discouraging players from continuing their progress. - Satisfaction (weight 0.07): Satisfaction comes from the DLC's low price of 21.88 RMB in the Hong Kong region, which feels like great value for the content offered. - Confusion (weight 0.07): Players are confused because the Hall of Gods closes after playing all 5 new skulls, leaving them uncertain about the intended progression or purpose.}