Vellum Review Summary

Fun, replayable, content-rich gameplay: The game is praised for its fun, engaging, and highly replayable gameplay, offering a wealth of content, unique mechanics, and satisfying progression systems. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to provide long-lasting entertainment, especially when playing with friends, and note the frequent updates and developer support that keep the experience fresh and polished.

Synergistic abilities and perks: The game features diverse character classes (Signature Inks) with unique playstyles, spells, and abilities that can be modified and combined to create powerful synergies. The perk system significantly alters how abilities function, adding depth and impactful choices to character progression.

Customizable difficulty and scaling: The game offers a customizable difficulty system that allows players to adjust the challenge and rewards to their liking. This includes options to modify enemy behavior and scaling, as well as a binding system that adds further complexity and replayability.

Active development and support: The game receives frequent, high-quality updates from a responsive development team that actively addresses bugs and incorporates community feedback. This ongoing support ensures a stable and polished experience, even during early access.

Appealing art style and audio: The game features a visually appealing art style and well-executed audio design that contribute to an immersive and engaging experience. The graphics are often described as stylish and beautiful, while the sound effects and music enhance the overall atmosphere.

Lacks polish and visual clarity: The game suffers from a lack of polish, with uninspired visuals, repetitive environments, and poor enemy clarity. Combat feels weak due to a lack of impact, floaty character animations, and enemies that are difficult to distinguish, leading to a frustrating and visually confusing experience.

Game is too easy: Many reviewers feel the game is too easy, even at higher difficulty settings or with default loadouts. The difficulty scaling feels artificial, relying on increased enemy health rather than more complex mechanics. Some players find the game becomes a slog due to bullet sponge enemies.

Poor build diversity/balance: Many builds feel unviable, with a limited number of effective classes and skills. Upgrades and inks often feel underwhelming or unbalanced, with some being objectively better than others, restricting player choice and build diversity.

Unbalanced upgrades/difficulty modifiers: Upgrades feel like gambling, with raw damage being the only stat that matters. Difficulty modifiers vary wildly in balance; some add meaningful changes, while others feel inconsequential.

Multiplayer and performance issues: Players have reported disconnects, desync issues, and frame rate drops, especially during intense moments or in multiplayer. The game also suffers from optimization issues, even on high-end computers.

Tomes and Bindings system: The game features a unique system of 'Tomes' and 'Bindings' that influence gameplay and difficulty. Players choose 'Tomes' to determine the theme and mechanics of each run, while 'Bindings' act as a difficulty ramping system with unlockable perks and enemy evolutions. This system adds replayability and strategic choices.

Balanced, fun, and challenging: The game offers a balanced experience with solid controls and a fun, challenging binding system. It's easy to pick up but requires strategic power stacking to master, especially in later stages. The gameplay loop provides good variety.

Unique roguelike gameplay blend: The game blends roguelike elements with a unique gameplay style, often described as a "3D reverse bullethell." While reminiscent of games like Risk of Rain 2, it introduces its own distinct mechanics and feel within the genre.

Strategic mana and ink system: The game uses a mana system with three bars, including a special 'ink' bar that triggers unique effects. The ink color mechanic adds strategic depth, influencing damage output or map clearing speed. Mana regenerates from the bottom up, affecting ability usage.

Structured run progression: A typical run consists of multiple arenas followed by a breather section. Combat chapters may offer side quests for additional traits. Each run consists of a fixed number of arenas.

Good performance and stability: The game generally runs smoothly and loads quickly, with players reporting stability and few bugs encountered. Many players have noted the game is well-optimized, even on older hardware. This contributes to a positive player experience.

Strongly recommend; great potential: The game is highly recommended, especially for fans of the roguelike genre, with many reviewers praising its fun gameplay, potential, and the developers' dedication. Some suggest it's worth the price, even in early access, and encourage supporting the developers. Many believe it has the potential to become a genre hit.

Anticipating future updates/content: Reviewers are enthusiastic about future updates, expressing interest in seeing the game's content expand and improvements made. They plan to monitor the game's development and hope for continued support from the developers. Some reviewers would gladly pay for DLC to support ongoing development.

Compared to Risk of Rain: The game is being compared to Risk of Rain 2 and Gunfire Reborn, with some reviewers suggesting it scratches a similar itch. However, some note that Risk of Rain 2 is a better game in the genre, and those expecting a direct clone may be disappointed. If you enjoy games like Roboquest or Gunfire Reborn, this might be for you.

Concerns about price/performance: Some reviewers express concerns about the game's current state, citing issues such as high GPU strain and a feeling that the price is too high for the content offered. One reviewer is refunding the game and cannot recommend it in its current state. If the core gameplay loop remains unchanged, it is not recommended.

Wait for full release: Several reviewers suggest waiting for the full release before playing, indicating that the game needs more development time to address its issues. One reviewer suggests waiting a year for further development.

Active development in Early Access: The game is in early access, with active updates and new content being added. The developers are actively working on the game, and the game already feels complete to some players. Players are looking forward to future updates.

Daily/weekly missions and achievements: The game includes daily/weekly missions and achievements for each ink type. This provides players with regular goals and rewards, encouraging continued engagement.

Cohesive theme enhances immersion: The game uses naming conventions and a cohesive literary theme with references to create an immersive experience. This attention to detail enhances the game's atmosphere and world.

English only, Asian servers: The game is currently only available in English, but offers Asian servers for multiplayer connectivity. This may limit accessibility for some players but provides a good experience for those in Asia.

Reviews may be outdated: Some reviews may be outdated due to ongoing updates. This means that the game is constantly evolving, and feedback may no longer be relevant.