Info about Sancticide:

Official game description:
Roadmap
=======
Our **Early Access Roadmap** outlines the key additions and improvements we plan to make. These aim to deepen the game's story, expand your experience, and refine Ezechiel the Seventh's brutal journey.
This roadmap marks the foundation of what's to come, but it's not set in stone. Your **feedback** will continue to shape Sancticide, and we’re committed to adapting the game based on your insights and experiences.
About the Game
==============
The unique, twisted setting serves as a backdrop to the tale of Ezechiel - a fresh recruit to the Sin Collector Corps, haunted by remorse and guilt as he embarks on one of his most essential missions yet. Explore the unforgiving world in which death is not the end but merely another beginning.
Explore and learn the rules governing the world of the biblical Apocalypse, which is filled with agony, suffering, struggle, and a glimmer of hope and humanity in the least expected places.
Dive into battles that blend old-school arena fighter intensity with modern third-person action mechanics fueled by the chaos of the biblical end times.
Wield sacred melee weapons, unholy ranged gear, and the divine power of "Purple" to craft a combat style worthy of a Sin Collector in the apocalypse.
Wield the **Purple Powers**, a divine force that allows passive enhancements to boost your survivability and active abilities to alter time, perception, or devastate foes.
*   **Battle against various foes** with distinct appearances, movement styles, and weaknesses.
*   **Encounter Sinners and Debtors**, mortals marked for divine judgment, and outwit or overpower Proselytes - fanatical minions of Them at The Top.
The idea of Kosherness assumes that all items and beings belong to one of two categories: Kosher (acceptable for Them at The Top) or unkosher (unacceptable).   
Death in **Sancticide** is never a simple punishment. It allows the player to better understand the persistent world's rules and adjust their approach with each run.

Release date: Mar 11, 2026

Categories: Third-Person Shooter, Soulslike Combat, Action RPG, Exploration, Character Progression, Dark Fantasy, Open-World Exploration, Hack and Slash

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 50; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The game performs well on the Steam Deck with good FPS and no lag, providing a positive experience in terms of performance. However, there are significant issues with controls, including bugs with equipping weapons, non-functional controls, and input lag, which severely impact the user experience. Additionally, problems with texture loading cause stuttering and further degrade the gaming experience. Users also suggest improvements in the UI/UX design to make the in-game interface more minimal.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 3.0h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: 1.5h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that players typically spend a few hours in the game, with mentions of playing for 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours. The reviews indicate that players are either trying out the game or have spent a few hours before deciding whether to continue. There is no strong evidence for story completion or endgame playtime, and session length is inferred to be around 1-3 hours based on the provided quotes.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game's fun is delayed by extensive tutorials and early restrictions, but players find enjoyment once they progress past the initial onboarding phase.
  - Stance: Clicks after
  - Anchor: Completion of tutorials
  - Time to anchor: 1h 0m
  - Friction: Delayed introduction of key mechanics; Restrictions on using found items; Bugs during the tutorial; Lack of early progression
  - Unlock drivers: Completion of tutorial sections; Access to better weapons and mechanics
  - Conditions: Interest in the game's concept and graphics; Patience to endure initial restrictions
- Player Archetypes:
  - Hardcore Combat Enthusiast (sale)
    - Motivation: Enjoys challenging combat and unique themes.
    - Playstyle: Prefers difficult and punishing gameplay mechanics.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: old-school player; hardcore gamer
    - Reference games: God of War; Elex
  - Cautious Wait-and-See Gamer (deep sale)
    - Motivation: Prefers polished and fully developed games.
    - Playstyle: Waits for games to be out of early access and fully polished.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: deep sale
    - Labels: patient gamer; sale hunter
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Indie Supporter (sale)
    - Motivation: Supports indie developers and enjoys being part of the game's development.
    - Playstyle: Engages with games in early access and provides feedback.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: indie fan; early access supporter
    - 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:
- High-quality graphics and performance (weight 0.45): The game features impressive graphics and smooth performance, contributing to an immersive experience. Players appreciate the visual quality and combat system.
- Enjoyable combat mechanics (weight 0.43): Combat is described as fun, satisfying, and hack-and-slash style. The mechanics are solid and engaging.
- Diverse weapon variety (weight 0.4): The game offers a wide range of weapons, including guns and other equipment. This variety enhances gameplay and player engagement.
- Dark and immersive atmosphere (weight 0.39): The game's dark, apocalyptic atmosphere is praised for its uniqueness and immersive qualities. The aesthetics and setting are highlights.
- Interesting world concept (weight 0.37): The post-apocalyptic world and its unique ideas are appreciated by players. The setting is intriguing and well-presented.
- Engaging and unique story (weight 0.35): Players find the story intriguing and unique, adding depth to the game. The setting and narrative are well-received.
- Promising potential (weight 0.3): The game shows significant potential for future development and improvements. Players believe it has a strong foundation.
- Creative enemy designs (weight 0.13): The game features interesting and cool enemy designs, adding to the overall appeal.
- Good value for money (weight 0.13): Players feel the game offers good value for its price, making it a worthwhile purchase.
- Humor in the game (weight 0.12): The presence of humor adds a fun and enjoyable tone to the game.
- Excellent sound and music (weight 0.12): The game's sound and music are praised for their quality, contributing to the overall experience.
- Portuguese language support (weight 0.11): The inclusion of Portuguese subtitles and interface is noted as a positive feature.

Common complaints:
- Poor voice acting and narration (weight 0.77): The AI voice acting has been criticized for being flat, cringe-worthy, and immersion-breaking. Players feel that the narration and voice acting need significant improvement.
- Loot and death mechanics (weight 0.46): A significant issue is the loss of loot upon death, with players expressing frustration over losing all their weapons and being unable to retrieve items after death.
- Game needs more polish (weight 0.23): The game is perceived as rough and unpolished, with players indicating that it needs more content and overall polishing to improve the gameplay experience.
- Graphical and texture issues (weight 0.22): Players have noted poor texture quality, animation issues, and problems with texture loading. These graphical problems detract from the overall visual experience.
- Blocking and parrying problems (weight 0.17): Players have reported issues with blocking and parrying, including delays and hit detection problems, which affect combat effectiveness.
- Repetitive game elements (weight 0.12): The game features repetitive assets, NPCs, and enemies, which can make the gameplay feel monotonous and less engaging.
- Lack of game identity (weight 0.12): The game lacks a clear identity and progression system, making it difficult for players to feel a sense of advancement or purpose.
- Map and level design (weight 0.11): The maps have been criticized as terrible, contributing to a poor gameplay experience along with the combat mechanics.
- Targeting and enemy focus (weight 0.11): There are problems with targeting enemies and focusing on specific enemies during combat, which can make combat frustrating and less enjoyable.
- Gameplay rigidity and lack of RPG elements (weight 0.11): The gameplay is seen as rigid and lacking in RPG elements, which limits player freedom and customization.
- Getting stuck in environments (weight 0.11): Players have reported getting stuck in walls, rocks, and textures, which can be frustrating and disrupt the gameplay experience.
- Animation and sound issues (weight 0.11): There are issues with animations not matching hitboxes and sounds not matching animations, which can create a disjointed and immersion-breaking experience.
- Inappropriate humor and swearing (weight 0.1): Some players find the humor offensively unfunny and the excessive swearing to be off-putting, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- Long dialogues (weight 0.1): The dialogues with NPCs are excessively long, which can make interactions tedious and disrupt the flow of gameplay.
- No combo cancellation (weight 0.1): The lack of combo cancellation during attacks and no animation canceling can make combat feel less fluid and responsive.

Gameplay feedback:
- Diverse combat mechanics (weight 0.76): The game features a variety of combat mechanics including melee, ranged attacks, blocking, parrying, and combo attacks. It also incorporates magic and different weapon types such as swords and firearms.
- Loot and inventory system (weight 0.42): Features a loot system where players can collect various items and weapons. However, death may result in the loss of possessions, adding a roguelike penalty.
- Soulslike and challenging gameplay (weight 0.41): The combat and overall gameplay are compared to Soulslike games, known for their difficulty and specific mechanics. Players face challenging enemies and a high-stakes combat system.
- Unique gameplay mechanics (weight 0.34): The game blends various genres and mechanics, including a selection wheel for weapons and powers, moral choices, and a unique theme involving chasing sinners and using supernatural powers.
- Unique post-apocalyptic setting (weight 0.32): The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world with religious and biblical themes, featuring angels and a mix of medieval and modern elements like firearms.
- Open-world and exploration (weight 0.27): Players can explore an open-world environment with role-playing elements, side quests, and a detailed main storyline. The world includes both open areas and enclosed sections.
- Technical and design issues (weight 0.25): Some players report issues with hit detection, getting stuck in textures or debris, and an amateurish feel in certain aspects. The game is noted to be in Early Access.
- Atmospheric and immersive elements (weight 0.21): The game features detailed cutscenes, intense mood, and atmospheric design. It includes narration, AI voices, and various sound effects to enhance immersion.
- Combat reminiscent of other games (weight 0.2): The combat system and mechanics are compared to other popular games like The Witcher and Resident Evil, providing a familiar yet unique experience.

Performance notes:
- Performance and optimization issues (weight 0.53): The game suffers from various performance problems, including FPS drops, frame rate dips, and lag. These issues are prevalent across different clusters, indicating a widespread concern among players.
- Input and response lag (weight 0.19): Players have reported significant delays between pressing buttons and seeing the execution on screen, as well as general input lag. This affects the overall gameplay experience negatively.
- Game-breaking bugs and glitches (weight 0.19): Several players have encountered game-breaking bugs, such as getting stuck in walls, rocks, or under stairs, and falling into pits they can't escape from. These issues severely impact the gameplay experience.
- Camera and hitbox bugs (weight 0.19): There are multiple reports of camera bugs and issues with hitboxes, which can lead to frustrating gameplay moments and potential disadvantages in combat or navigation.
- Improved visuals and immersion (weight 0.19): The game has been praised for its detailed environments and notable immersion with visual effects. These aspects have been highlighted as positive improvements in recent updates.
- Game runs well on specific platforms (weight 0.18): Despite some performance issues, the game runs well on certain platforms like Steam Deck, Win11, and Linux. This indicates that the game has been optimized for these specific environments.
- Movement issues after using menu (weight 0.08): Some players have reported losing the ability to move after using the game menu, which can be a significant hindrance during gameplay.
- High FPS on high-end hardware (weight 0.07): The game runs at 70 FPS on high-end hardware, indicating that it can perform well under certain conditions and configurations.

Recommendations:
- Wait for discount or full release (weight 0.13): Some players suggest waiting for a discount or until the game is fully released before purchasing, indicating that the current price or state of the game may not be ideal.
- Worth the experience for the cost (weight 0.08): Many players feel that the game provides a good experience relative to its cost, making it a worthwhile purchase.
- Negative feedback on game quality (weight 0.08): A subset of players express strong dissatisfaction with the game, advising others to avoid it due to perceived poor quality.

Other player notes:
No miscpoints

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.27): Players are frustrated due to a combination of technical issues, including bugs, performance problems, and control issues. The game's difficulty settings, lack of progression, and punishing mechanics such as loot loss on death also contribute significantly to this frustration.
- Disappointment (weight 0.19): Disappointment stems from the game's overall poor quality, including confusing mechanics, lack of polish, and an identity crisis. Players also express dissatisfaction with the story, voice acting, combat mechanics, and the use of ready-made assets.
- Hopeful (weight 0.1): Players feel hopeful due to the game's potential for improvement and its unique story. They believe that with more effort from the developers, the game can be significantly enhanced and is worth trying.
- Hope (weight 0.08): Hope is driven by the game's potential and enjoyable aspects. Players are optimistic about future improvements and updates, hoping that the developers will address current issues.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement is generated by the game's interesting story development, unique atmosphere, and impressive visual aesthetics. The dark theme and challenging combat also contribute to this feeling.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.05): Satisfaction comes from the game's good performance on specific hardware, enjoyable combat, and interesting gameplay. The graphics and challenging enemies are also highlighted as positive aspects.
- Hopefulness (weight 0.03): Hopefulness is due to the expectation that combat and movement mechanics have improved. Players hope that developers will address issues and continue to enhance the game.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.03): Enjoyment is derived from the fun combat, interesting story, and the intriguing world. The plot and humor also add to the overall enjoyment of the game.
- Interest (weight 0.02): Interest is sparked by the game's story and the unique powers it presents. Players find these elements engaging and worth exploring further.
- Disappointed (weight 0.02): Disappointment arises from the game's potential not being fully realized due to various issues. Players feel the gameplay is flawed and the loot system is pointless.
- Frustrated (weight 0.02): Frustration is caused by the numerous bugs and issues in the game. Performance issues and penalties for mistakes also add to the frustration.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Players express hope that many aspects of the game can still be improved. They are closely watching the game's development.
- Curiosity (weight 0.01): Curiosity is piqued by the game's story and atmosphere. Players are intrigued by these elements and want to learn more.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement comes from the humorous aspects of the game. Players find certain elements funny and entertaining.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise is generated by the game's interesting lore and combat. These elements catch players off guard in a positive way.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is due to the lack of updates and communication from the developers. Players feel neglected and frustrated by this lack of support.
- Impressed (weight 0.01): Players are impressed by the game's atmosphere and combat system. These elements stand out as particularly well-done.
- Amused (weight 0.01): Amusement comes from some of the loot items in the game. Players find these items funny and entertaining.
- Patience (weight 0.01): Patience is shown by players who are willing to wait for updates. They believe the game will improve over time.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players express surprise with the game. The specific reasons for the surprise are not detailed, but it indicates a positive reaction.}