Info about MycoRelic:

Official game description:
**You are a sentient fungus, reanimating the scrapped robotic body of a long-dead machine.**
**Play Solo or Join Your Friends**
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Cooperate with your friends to solve puzzles, defeat bosses, and clear dungeons. Join your friend's world bringing your character and items with you. 
**Build Your Combat Style in a Classless System**
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Dodge, block, parry, and engage the hostile tribes and creatures of the island. Master a variety of weapons, each with their own move sets and statistics. Equip yourself with armor that suits your playstyle and aesthetic.
**Scavenge Parts to Enhance Your Robotic Body**
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Start with a decrepit, moldy frame. Replace it to overcome the dangers of the environment, support your combat style, or enhance elemental effects. Expand your stamina, boost the integrity of your frame, and increase the potency of your fungal magic.
**Wield the Elemental Powers of Ancient Fungi**
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Infuse yourself using the elemental power within each fungus. Combine effects to produce explosive results. Use fire to burn your enemies and scorch a path through barricades. Cast healing water to rejuvenate your friends and block roaring flames. Call upon the spiritual essence of the world and empower your allies.
**Move Freely Through a Mystical Environment**
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Jump, air-dash, and mantle over obstacles. Hone your platforming skill and discover new pathways across stony cliffs, burning magma, noxious mangroves, and spore riddled chasms.

Release date: Nov 11, 2026

Categories: Soulslike Combat, Cooperative Multiplayer, Character Progression, Puzzle Solving, Platforming, Weapon Customization, Elemental Combat System

Feature scans:
- Proton/Linux: score 5; verdict: Works Well; summary: The available reviews report smooth, playable Steam Deck performance and do not mention Linux/Proton crashes, launch failures, anti-cheat blockers, or required compatibility tweaks. The only request is for proper Steam Cloud support, which is a feature convenience rather than a Linux-specific compatibility problem.
- Steam Deck: score 20; verdict: Seamless with Minor Caveats; summary: The Steam Deck experience is reported as smooth and impressive, with users playing successfully without mentioning Proton Experimental, external launchers, anti-cheat errors, or crashes. The main frictions are missing Steam Cloud support and weaker controller-based inventory management, but these do not make the game unplayable on Deck.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $7.00 - $15.00
  - Reasoning: The reviews provide two concrete price anchors: one player says the game is worth it at $15 based on playtime, while another describes a 50 yuan price (roughly $7) as appropriate for a small game. The Demo complaint suggests the current $19.99 price feels too high relative to the content, but positive comments about value and hours played indicate the game is not seen as worthless. Together these support a fair base-game range of about $7 to $15.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 20.0h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: 3.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Completion reports vary by pace: one reviewer finished all currently available content in about 20 hours while taking their time, while others exhausted content in about 3.8 hours or 5 hours. I use 20 hours as the all-content completion estimate, with the shorter reports treated as rushed or lower-bound completion. A separate report describes spending about 3 hours in one initial play session, supporting a session length of about 3 hours. No review provides story-specific completion hours or endgame-hour figures, so those metrics are null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Players most often describe the game as fun right away, especially in co-op with friends, though early bugs and balance/progression issues add friction. Some reports conflict by saying the experience weakens later.
  - Stance: Fun immediately
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: Multiplayer bugs, lag, and de-sync; Early-game point spending feels too limiting; No replenishing healing source beyond an early spell; Difficulty and progression become confusing after the starting area; Boss health and enemy floods can make fights a slog; Friendly fire in co-op
  - Unlock drivers: Playing co-op with friends instead of solo; Returning after early-access fixes addressed most prior issues
  - Conditions: Playing co-op with friends; Tolerance for early-access multiplayer bugs; Preference for slow, methodical Souls-like combat; Accepting early-game build limitations; Solo versus co-op changes enjoyment; Boss balance expectations in larger parties; Willingness to try the demo first
- Player Archetypes:
  - Solo Soulslike Difficulty Seeker (buy)
    - Motivation: To overcome punishing souls-like combat and test builds against fair but demanding difficulty.
    - Playstyle: Plays solo, learns enemy patterns, avoids spam, and tunes builds around difficult encounters.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Dark Souls
  - Co-op Social Adventurer (buy)
    - Motivation: To share challenging runs and role-based teamwork with friends or a co-op partner.
    - Playstyle: Coordinates healer, tank, and damage roles in multiplayer sessions and prioritizes social fun.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Elden Ring
  - Buildcrafting Tinkerer (buy)
    - Motivation: To customize a modular robot body and experiment with weapons, stats, and playstyles.
    - Playstyle: Tests interchangeable body parts, weapon types, and stat spreads such as battlemage or disc-launcher builds.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Early-Access Supporter (buy)
    - Motivation: To support the developers and watch an ambitious early-access game improve over time.
    - Playstyle: Tries demo and early-access content, tolerates bugs, returns after patches, and waits for full release.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A


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:
- Fun and addicting gameplay (weight 0.36): Reviewers consistently describe the game as highly enjoyable and addictive, with many calling it a lot of fun or incredibly fun.
- Great art style (weight 0.32): The graphical style and art direction are widely praised as wonderful, distinctive, and visually appealing.
- Satisfying combat (weight 0.32): Combat is described as good, tight, and satisfying with solid hit feedback, though sometimes slightly difficult.
- Solid souls-like foundation (weight 0.3): The game is praised as a competent souls-like with solid gameplay fundamentals, especially for an indie title.
- Excellent co-op experience (weight 0.27): Playing with friends is frequently highlighted as very fun, awesome, and a major draw of the game.
- Varied weapons and builds (weight 0.21): Weapon variety and build diversity are appreciated, offering a good mix of playstyles.
- Good level design (weight 0.16): Level design is noted as fun to traverse, interesting, and top notch, enhancing exploration.
- Impressive scenery and exploration (weight 0.16): Scenery is amazing and gorgeous to explore, with exploration itself being fun and satisfying.
- Unique and awesome concept (weight 0.16): The game's concept is praised as awesome and very unique, standing out from other titles.
- Great soundtrack and sound design (weight 0.16): The OST and sound design are highly praised, with the soundtrack being loved and sound design slapping.
- Indie gem despite bugs (weight 0.16): The game is considered one of the best indies, an indie gem, though some mention bugs that don't detract from overall greatness.
- Enjoyable puzzles (weight 0.13): Puzzle solving is repeatedly mentioned as fun and enjoyable, adding variety to the experience.
- Strong potential for improvement (weight 0.13): Reviewers see a strong base and a lot of promise, indicating the game is fantastic but could grow further.
- Smooth gameplay (weight 0.13): Gameplay is generally described as smooth and good, with few complaints about responsiveness.
- Satisfying movement (weight 0.09): Movement is described as good and satisfying, contributing to overall enjoyment.
- Runs smoothly on PC (weight 0.09): Performance is solid, with the game running smoothly and without problems on the reviewer's PC.
- Enjoyable parkour (weight 0.09): Parkouring around the map, especially to find hidden items or temple entrances, is highlighted as enjoyable.
- Flexible stat allocation (weight 0.09): The ability to change stat allocation at bonfires without loss is appreciated by players.

Common complaints:
- Persistent bugs and crashes (weight 0.52): Players encounter numerous bugs, including animation locks, terrain sticking, trigger failures, and frequent crashes. Multiplayer is especially unstable, with crashes every 10 minutes and connection issues.
- Severe balance issues (weight 0.47): Feedback repeatedly mentions the game is unbalanced, with enemies dealing excessive damage and difficulty spikes that feel unfair. Builds like pure Wizard or Ranger are overly fragile compared to melee Strength builds.
- Clunky combat and controls (weight 0.42): Combat feels clunky with unresponsive controls, inability to cancel attacks, and poor hit detection. Movement and dodging are unreliable, and lock-on system needs improvement.
- Unfair enemy damage and tankiness (weight 0.37): Enemies, especially ranged and magic users, deal immense damage, often one-shotting players. Some enemies are extreme damage sponges, making combat feel unfair.
- Game lacks sufficient content (weight 0.35): Players note the game is short, with limited zones, a single dungeon, and little overall content. Many feel it is not yet a full game and lacks replay value.
- Poor inventory management (weight 0.32): Inventory system is bare-bones, lacking sorting and auto-stacking, and is cumbersome with both controller and mouse/keyboard. Limited storage and no access from bonfires add to the frustration.
- Boss difficulty spikes (weight 0.29): Several bosses are considered extreme difficulty spikes, with high HP, damage, and annoying mechanics. Some bosses feel unplayable or unfair, especially in co-op.
- Lack of fast travel and maps (weight 0.28): Players find backtracking tedious due to the absence of fast travel between save points and a clear map system. Traders and key locations are hard to remember.
- Healing system flaws (weight 0.26): Healing relies on consumable items rather than a dedicated flask, requiring farming for mushrooms and limited trader supplies. Only one item slot forces a choice between healing and other items.
- Magic and ranged builds underpowered (weight 0.26): Magic weapons and spells deal minimal damage compared to melee, and mana potions penalize mages. Ranged weapons suffer from poor aiming, low damage, and clunky mechanics.
- Limited gear variety (weight 0.25): Weapon and armor choices are sparse, with few options per build and stat. Random drops make buildcrafting difficult and grindy.
- Confusing leveling and stats (weight 0.25): The stat system is flat, with investing in one stat and HP always optimal. Body-part caps restrict spending, and hybrid builds are unviable.
- Performance and optimization problems (weight 0.23): The game runs poorly with FPS drops, lag spikes, and freezes, especially in multiplayer. Performance is worse than the demo, impacting the overall experience.
- Friendly fire and co-op issues (weight 0.23): Permanent friendly fire without a specific item forces players to use that item, limiting build diversity. Co-op suffers from lag and crashes, making multiplayer frustrating.
- Grinding and farming required (weight 0.2): Players must farm for specific resources like mushrooms and armor plates, which is tedious. Vendor scarcity and random drops exacerbate the grind.
- Save and progress loss (weight 0.19): Multiple reports of save files being lost or corrupted, erasing days of progress and items. One player lost their character entirely, forcing a restart.
- Underwhelming story and atmosphere (weight 0.17): The game lacks narrative, dialogue, and purpose, and its music and graphics are bland. It feels less interesting than the games it draws inspiration from.
- Controller support is poor (weight 0.14): Controller use is cumbersome, especially for inventory management, with a pseudo-mouse cursor and inability to rebind keys. Item transfer is problematic.
- Enemy AI and pathfinding flaws (weight 0.14): Enemies often get stuck on geometry, have poor pathfinding, and behave inconsistently. Some enemies stand still while attacking or block ranged attacks.
- Progression and save inconsistencies (weight 0.11): Imported demo saves reset switches, shortcuts, and boss defeats, forcing players to redo content. Shortcuts close after reloading, and bosses respawn.

Gameplay feedback:
- Co-op multiplayer support (weight 0.56): The game supports co-op play with friends, including 4-player party play and multiplayer sessions. This enhances replayability and social experience.
- Souls-like gameplay (weight 0.47): The game offers a Souls-like experience with high-stakes combat, punishing enemies, and a soulslike battle system. It is often described as an indie soulslike RPG.
- Boss fights (weight 0.3): The game features boss encounters that require optimizing gear and stats, including big bosses in towers and dungeons.
- Puzzles and platforming (weight 0.24): The game has puzzles that involve platforming, and platforming elements are present throughout the game.
- Body-part swapping mechanics (weight 0.24): Players can hotswap body parts, which affects stats and passives, and can be combined with armor and weapons for build customization.
- Hidden items and areas (weight 0.19): The game includes secret areas, hidden collectibles, and exploration-based level design with abilities and items to discover.
- Build diversity (weight 0.18): The game features different builds that can be made and swapped on the fly, including tank builds and specialized weapons like the Disc Launcher.
- Progression system (weight 0.15): The game has a gear progression system that allows players to upgrade equipment and improve their character.
- Loot collection (weight 0.15): The game includes collectible swag and loot collection, with gear dropping from enemies.
- Weapon and armor variety (weight 0.15): The game offers two-handed weapons, shields, and various weapon types, along with armor variety for different playstyles.
- Labyrinthine dungeon layouts (weight 0.15): The game features spiraling dungeon layouts and a labyrinthine world with shortcuts in its levels.
- Consumable healing items (weight 0.09): Healing is done through exhaustible consumable items that can be upgraded, adding resource management to combat.
- Single-player mode (weight 0.09): The game can be played solo, offering a single-player experience alongside co-op modes.
- Limbs limit leveling (weight 0.09): Equipped limbs dictate how much you can level up, as leveling stats is limited by equipped body parts.
- Magic system (weight 0.09): The game has a magic system that adds another dimension to combat and character builds.
- PvE combat (weight 0.08): The game focuses on PvE combat, providing a player-versus-environment experience.
- World exploration (weight 0.08): The game features exploration across islands, encouraging players to discover the world.
- Ranged aiming with auto-aim (weight 0.08): Ranged attacks have auto-aim by locking on and pressing left click, simplifying ranged combat.
- Free stat reallocation (weight 0.08): Stats can be reallocated at bonfires with no cost, allowing players to experiment with builds freely.

Performance notes:
- Multiplayer lag and freezes (weight 0.17): Multiple reports of significant lag during multiplayer sessions, with constant freezes likely caused by the multiplayer mode. Co-op latency is very noticeable, causing missed jumps and delayed attacks.
- FPS drops in specific areas (weight 0.13): Frame rate drops when looking at certain locations, with massive lag spikes when hitting parts of the map. The game is not running at max performance.
- Crashes when hosting multiplayer (weight 0.1): Players experience crashes approximately every 10 minutes while hosting multiplayer. Crashes also occur when joining a friend's session after an update.
- Steam Deck runs smoothly (weight 0.05): After changing some settings, the game runs smoothly on the Steam Deck.
- Unexpected crash in temple (weight 0.05): The game crashed without warning deep in the weird temple area.

Recommendations:
- Best played with friends (weight 0.38): Many reviewers emphasize that the game is significantly more enjoyable in co-op, recommending it especially for those with friends to play with.
- Strong overall recommendation (weight 0.38): A large number of reviewers give the game a strong recommendation, often with high praise and encouragement for others to try it.
- Great for souls-like fans (weight 0.27): Reviewers recommend the game to players who enjoy challenging souls-like titles, drawing comparisons to Dark Souls and Elden Ring.
- Wait for more polish (weight 0.16): Some reviewers advise waiting until the game is further developed and more polished before buying, citing its early access state.
- Worth the price (weight 0.15): Multiple reviewers feel the game is worth its price, especially during sales, and some recommend buying now to support development.
- Challenging but rewarding (weight 0.12): Reviewers highlight the game's difficulty, with some finding it rewarding despite frustration, while one refunded due to difficulty.
- Not recommended by some (weight 0.05): A few reviewers explicitly do not recommend the game, with one simply saying 'Don't buy'.
- Replay and collect everything (weight 0.05): One reviewer recommends replaying the game to collect all items, indicating replayability.
- Don't judge by graphics (weight 0.05): A reviewer warns not to let the graphics deter you, implying the gameplay is worthwhile.
- Tank builds only viable (weight 0.05): One reviewer notes that only tank builds are viable unless damage scaling is adjusted, suggesting balance issues.
- Emotional experience (weight 0.04): A reviewer describes the game as emotionally impactful, advising players to bring tissues.
- Deserves more attention (weight 0.04): One reviewer feels the game deserves more recognition and attention from players.
- Buy now to follow progress (weight 0.04): A reviewer suggests purchasing now to get in early and follow the game's development progress.

Other player notes:
- Compared to Dark Souls (weight 0.52): Numerous reviewers compare the game to Dark Souls, citing similarities in difficulty, exploration, and atmosphere. Some feel it falls short in quality-of-life and design, while others find it fun.
- Demo available before purchase (weight 0.46): A demo is available to try before buying, and some reviewers experienced the game through the demo or during Steam Next Fest. Saves carry over from the demo to the full version.
- Game is in Early Access (weight 0.38): Many reviewers note that the game is currently in Early Access, with a final version planned. Some mention it is in an early stage of development and anticipate full release.
- Frequent updates and developer communication (weight 0.33): Developers communicate through Discord, listen to community feedback, and release regular updates that add new areas and bosses. Some updates have overhauled world and content structure.
- Developed by small team (weight 0.25): Multiple reviewers highlight that the game is made by a small team, often specifying three developers, rather than a AAA studio. This is seen as impressive given the game's quality.
- Compared to Elden Ring (weight 0.24): Several reviewers compare the game to Elden Ring, often noting it is smaller in scope but still challenging. Some describe it as 'Elden Ring with mushroom robots' or similar.
- Compared to Bionicle (weight 0.24): Reviewers frequently compare the game's aesthetic and robot designs to Bionicle, mentioning interchangeable body parts and mystical elements. Some note differences like more killing and a drab color palette.
- Great potential and future plans (weight 0.21): Many reviewers see great potential for the future, hope for regular updates, and look forward to future content. Some plan to replay with every update.
- Playable on Steam Deck (weight 0.19): Reviewers report that the game runs smoothly on Steam Deck, with controller support. This makes it accessible for handheld play.
- Unique visual style and aesthetic (weight 0.17): The game features a distinctive visual style using gradients and voxel displacement instead of textures, with an original aesthetic despite low-poly graphics. Some compare it to Kenshi or Clone Drone in the Danger Zone.
- Exploration compared to Zelda and Metroidvania (weight 0.14): Reviewers compare the exploration to old-school Zelda, Breath of the Wild, and 3D Metroidvania style, praising the branching paths and interconnected level design.
- Balance and difficulty changes (weight 0.11): The game's balance has shifted between patches, with enemies becoming fair in one patch but supremely powerful again in the current state. Difficulty is often compared to Souls games but more accessible.
- Positive price and value (weight 0.11): Reviewers note the price is ridiculously low for the quality offered in Early Access, and some consider it a fantastic price. Pricing is seen as up to the individual.
- Gear and healing inspired by other games (weight 0.1): Gear drops are inspired by The Surge and Nioh, while healing items draw from Bloodborne's blood vials and Demon's Souls' moon grass. This influences the game's mechanics.
- Only English supported, localization desired (weight 0.08): The game currently supports only English, and some reviewers hope for Chinese localization to reach a wider audience.
- Multiplayer details unknown (weight 0.06): Details about multiplayer availability from the start and drop-in multiplayer are unknown, leaving some uncertainty.
- Resource exploit in early game (weight 0.04): An exploitable resource loop allows storing thousands of metal, making levels free. This imbalance affects early game progression.
- Steam Cloud support added (weight 0.04): Steam Cloud support has been added, allowing players to sync saves across devices.
- Lighting update applied (weight 0.04): A lighting update has been implemented according to patch notes, improving the game's visual presentation.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.18): Players are frustrated by extreme difficulty spikes, especially early bosses and later zones, making progression feel impossible. Numerous technical issues like crashes, save file losses, and bugs compound the frustration, along with clunky inventory management and unbalanced enemies that one-shot the player.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.13): Players enjoy the unique graphical style, engaging combat system, and co-op play with friends. The buildcrafting via the Frame system, exploration, and boss designs provide a fun and immersive experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.1): Disappointment stems from magic weapons being underpowered, gameplay falling off after the first few hours, and the game becoming impossibly hard. Technical issues like poor hit detection, bugs, and lack of content further diminish the experience.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement is driven by anticipation for future updates, new areas, and bosses. The game's combat feel, body customization, and ongoing development keep players looking forward to more content.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.05): Enthusiasm comes from the game exceeding expectations with its souls-like design, interesting theme, and cool loot. Players appreciate the fresh take on the genre, the evolving development, and the high-quality world building and level design.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.05): Satisfaction is felt from defeating bosses, mastering the combat, and having a build come together. The cohesive controls, rewarding difficulty, and smooth performance contribute to a satisfying experience.
- Love (weight 0.04): Players love the smooth build switching, weapon variety, and the mushroom robot aesthetic. The gameplay, soundtrack, and mechanics, as well as shared experiences like playing with family, evoke strong affection for the game.
- Appreciation (weight 0.03): Appreciation arises from the unique art style, leveling system, and rewarding exploration with secret areas. The stat system encourages experimentation, and the addition of co-op in early access is valued.
- Hope (weight 0.03): Hope is fueled by the game receiving free constant updates and its promising early access status. Players believe in the potential for future improvements, expansions, and fixes to current issues like lag and difficulty balance.
- Annoyance (weight 0.03): Annoyance is caused by ridiculous enemy tracking, damage-sponge enemies, and farming requirements for healing flasks. The obtuse fast travel system and stat caps that prevent spending currency also irritate players.
- Surprise (weight 0.03): Surprise comes from the impressive quality of the indie game, the map being larger than expected, and the game offering more than initially assumed. Players are shocked by the good value for the price and the enjoyment of a genre they typically dislike.
- Anticipation (weight 0.03): Anticipation is centered on the full release and future content. Players look forward to seeing the game at 1.0 and continuing to play with friends.
- Fun (weight 0.02): Fun is derived from the core concept of being a magic robot with swappable body parts, seamless multiplayer with siblings, and the mix of exploration, combat, and puzzles.
- Amusement (weight 0.02): Amusement is found in discovering exploits, the familiar yet quirky concept of swappable body parts, and humorous bugs or enemy behaviors.
- Concern (weight 0.01): Concern arises from design choices that may harm mages, such as mana potions with defense penalties, and class imbalance making certain builds too fragile. Players worry these issues could drag the game down.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is felt for the well-executed and responsive combat, the original graphics style, and the game's own story and world design that blend with its Souls-like feel.
- Dissatisfaction (weight 0.01): Dissatisfaction stems from solo play feeling worse than co-op due to damage scaling and a lack of content for a full game.
- Mild annoyance (weight 0.01): Mild annoyance is caused by combat not feeling combo-oriented, weapon swap bugs, and enemy pathfinding issues when using ranged attacks.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arises from not knowing what to do next or what is missing to progress, particularly regarding difficulty and progression after the starting area.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is triggered by losing days of progress and all items due to save file loss, as well as extremely unstable multiplayer.}