probably one of the most impactful games i’ve ever played. makes you reflect and appreciate things in life a lot more. incredible atmosphere, characters, art, music. you will absolutely enjoy if you’ve played lsd dream emulator, yume nikki, hylics… basically any other amazing surreal game out there, this game should be alongside them. some people might not enjoy the RNG, but i think it was a very brave choice that contributes so much to the storytelling.
Oh dang, didn't know the game was finally released. Hope you and the people who help you work on it are proud. I personally enjoy this game, despite the criticisms, so I hope it garners success!
I think you said you'll continue adding more to the game, no? If so, Are you gonna do bigger loads of content now or just continue the same way like pre-release updates?
I have bought it on steam and it seems it runs without needing steam to launch, so my question is satisfied. I would have bought on itch but the original disillusion appears to only be on steam so i preferred to have them on the same platform. I do note that the original Disillusion does require steam to run.
Hard to say, steam games that can launch without steam (e.g. Disillusion ST, the Hylics series if you know that one), can launch from in their folder without turning the app on (or if it's on, without showing as 'running', but this isn't a guarantee that it won't work without steam on). Just have to try it without the app on to see
Feels like the comments have turned really negative lately. Just wanted to chime in that while I haven't played a new version for a while, I really enjoy this game for what it is.
I can understand some people's frustration with the RNG. I can understand how some people can feel that the amount of wandering in the game is boring or "pointless", too. I can't even claim I haven't felt it myself at various points, but at the end of the day its part of the experience, and overall I enjoy it.
Perfectly authentic visuals , indistinguishable from bryce3D / Povray renders or early Macromind games . Hovewer the game itself is unbearably boring .. most dialogue is bland or quirky for the sake of quirky , and the gameplay merely acts as a sloggy thickener of sort , so you don't overdose on cutscenes (i would gladly just watch all of them like a movie). Sorry . I just couldn't help but not care the slightest about the characters or what happens next .
No offense . Wish it to get better at the release .
I'd have to agree. i would definitely love to watch all of the cutscenes like a movie, but the gameplay is just so meh and slushy that it detracts from the cutscenes, which i think are excellent.
i actually like the characters a lot, but as you said, the gameplay wasn't made for the sake of gameplay but for the sake of novelty
I wasn't sure what was I expecting and ended up with a rather grateful surprise. Very unique gameplay, the card minigame is also pretty fun. Recommended, looking forward to its finished version!!!
Now that I have given v0.19.1 a go..I'm not sure how I feel about the paintings. On the one hand, it helps with getting to some locations easier. On the other hand, farming Jomon and Mel's Aid is now possible. I guess, in a way, makes early game combat mode less annoying. Hopefully, you can expand on the painting idea more later on.
I really like this game :3 I think it makes a lot of improvements.
But I think it has one really big issue, compared to the first game the level design is really boring and bland 3: I don't like how it looks at all. Most of the levels look the same. The level design feels extremely rushed. I assume most of the time was spent on the 3D animations. A lot of the layouts of the levels are just down right frustrating, tons of maze's that lead to dead ends, or high up places that lead to dead ends.
Hope the level design gets reworked and maybe a few zones purged. First game's level design was so much more colorful and pretty. This ones just looks all the same.
Just to briefly add an additional opinion to this discussion... For me, the RNG mechanics were never really questionable. They achieve what they set out to accomplish very well, and it clicked for me almost immediately.
There is no shortage of games that cater to maximizing fun and pure engagement & progress. This game seeks to be something different. It would seem that this game could be described as, among many other things, an experiment to test how the removal of some quality-of-life features typical of adventure games and rpgs can emulate a particular experience and induce a specific mood and state of mind in the player.
Not all experiments succeed, of course, and in this case success can hardly be measured empirically, but for me this works perfectly, and only seems to be getting better as the dev tweaks and iterates on the concept.
As has been said, this game does an excellent job of synthesizing aspects of Samsara as the concept has been interpreted in different ways by various Eastern strains of thought. It succeeds in transposing this synthesis into an experience for the player. This was probably difficult for the dev to conceptualize, and the transposition was probably even more of a challenge. It would be a shame for that to be left on the table.
Obviously this is not going to click for everyone. But it is much better for that. This game, even in its current state, leaps well above the lowest common denominator. It's very special and I want the dev to know that there are many people who appreciate what they are creating here. Can't wait for the release, I know many many people who will be interested in playing this.
RNG mechanics are not that bad, its just that you got lucky with it and got a bit further than someone like me has. That's the issue with a game having this much RNG in it is that everyone's experience is going to be so different. But that also comes with bad that some people are just going to have a horrible time with it.
You're assuming that I was able to access the scripted content faster than average but that isn't really true. I've played through the game twice at different stages in its development and I had different experiences with pacing. I enjoyed the game during the scripted content, and I enjoyed it when I was wandering the world for long periods of time between scripted sequences. This is why I think it succeeds, even in the traditional RNG "Worst-case scenario", I still found the experience to be engaging. I found value regardless. You might not, and that's fine! But, in my opinion, this game would lose a lot of its impact if a player could brute force rush through the more quiet parts in order to access all scripted content ASAP. I know that would have lessened my experience.
I feel the same way. Even when I was wandering I was having a good time. It always felt like a dream (which makes sense, it was in LSDJAM 2023). I personally am totally fine with the game being a visual novel and exploration sandbox, I just think some people didn't know that was the experience they were signing up for. I think that's mostly what it comes down to.
I also agree that personally a "skip" button would have made the experience worse for me.
Me thinks if the zones were more fun and pretty to look at I wouldn't mind it so much. A lot of the zones just are so bland... and grey... and boring compared to the first game.
Cool concept for a "sequel" but feels unfinished like a beta version of the first game.
I'm a little confused why the game is so RNG? The orbs make it a bit more easy to navigate but in the end its more just like a second chance in the RNG loop.
30% of the zones could just be scrapped cause they are super boring. hate being thrown into the same zone over and over again cause RNG.
This is a worse version of the first game, I get its in beta but with the release getting closer this is very disheartening to see.
Glad I'm not alone in feeling the RNG ruins this game, super unfun. most of the grey boring levels just need to be purged- no one wants to be trapped in an RNG loop.
I think this is a phenomenal piece of art. I think the RNG mechanics and "wandering" perfectly encapsulate Samsara. The worldbuilding and atmosphere are both unrivaled by most indie games. Between this and the original I have been very inspired (though my medium isn't game creation).
The art style is so unique and interesting, and the music fits perfectly. I couldn't describe the feelings I got while playing the game sometimes, it was trance-like and almost scary and confusing at times, in the best ways.
I think this is a niche of gaming that will turn some people off heavily, but for people like myself, it is one I have been looking forward to very much. Even if wandering felt a little aimless at times, that fit with the themes enough for me to still feel engrossed. It felt like I was living in a loop, and I got excited for even small changes.
I'm sad to hear there likely won't be another Disillusion game after this, because I think you do incredible work. It genuinely feels like art, and I won't ever forget these games. I doubt ST will be a big commercial success, but that's not what art is about. I think your vision is unique and what you have done with it is inspiring. Thanks for the great game!
I have been following since the announcement of this title, and it's been a pleasure to watch the game take shape. I do think there are issues with the title currently, but even if the game released in a state similar to this I would enjoy it very much. When this game releases I will be playing it a ton and shilling it to my friends, for sure.
Yeah but sometimes things dont belong in games even if it re-creates that feeling of "Samsara" It's annoying to get thrown into the same ugly zone over and over again.
No characters feel special cause you just see them all the time randomly in other zones and they just say the same thing.
I enjoyed seeing characters all the time, it felt like a bit of familiarity in an otherwise strange scenario. I wish Disillusiondev had the resources to make each NPC have 3x as much dialogue, but I get that is just unreasonable for one person to do. That would be my only major complaint, personally. I wish the NPCs did more.
I love this game, and for me I really didn't mind the RNG loop. I thought it was a unique idea and executed well. Sure there were times I had to wander, but I really don't care. I completed everything in like a dozen hours or so when I played, I really don't see it as this insane RNG trash-heap.
I've been gaming a long ass time, I'd rather see a game come out and try to do something new and stumble a bit than something boring and common. I can almost promise we won't see another game like this, at least for a long long time.
"trash-heap" is a bit of a push, but I do agree with the RNG being too much in this game. Hard to make progress when getting back to a zone for an NPC that needs an item is just a matter of RNG. And you get more items, and more quests, and more NPC's and it just becomes very cluttered very quickly.
Why are you pretending its fun to be sent back to the exact same zone 70 times in a row right when things get interesting? If gameplay sucks than it doesn't matter how much its like samara. Lore doesn't matter if gameplay sucks.
and the truth is the RNG sucks, its horrible and lots of people have also agreed with this
the RNG makes it feel incomplete
characters dont feel special cause you see them all the time
zones dont feel special because you just get thrown back to the same ones over and over again
just makes the entire thing feel rushed, like someone just opening up garrys mod and spawning a bunch of stuff. it feels random, rushed and lazy to just have all this stuff thrown everywhere.
I get this is harsh criticism but this game is just so much worse than the original. I feel if it didnt have all these beautiful 3D animations that everyone would agree thats its just worse than the original
every level is just so dark and dull, and grey, you just get thrown into RNG loops over and over again.
I'm not pretending, I genuinely enjoyed this game much more than the first. People can have different opinions. I'm not disregarding your opinion; you have a right to not like it. I'm just sharing my experience with the game. That is the whole point of this comment section. I just listed things I liked about the game in the exact way you have listed things you dislike about the game in like 10+ comments.
Personally I don't care what anyone else's opinion is about the media or art I consume. I had my experience with the game and I am sharing it. I'm not some ambassador of the game, sorry if I somehow made your experience feel invalid by enjoying something. I really loved this game and am excited to see it release.
I enjoy art-house games that are more about a message than gameplay. I liked things about the game that heavily overshadowed the negatives for me. That is all. I didn't say it was perfect or that it didn't have flaws. I shared my experience with the game.
I like the idea of wandering too but the levels just don't look fun 3: LSD dream emulator was great cause all the zones looked so cool. but in thus game they all look really bland grey and boring I don't like them.
Game still feels unpolished- I've been following this game since its first announcement and the same issues still plague this title.
THE RNG is a horrible idea in terms of how to get progression.
Being stuck and to the mercy of some random RNG loop to get something interesting to finally happen.
The most common zones in the "RNG prize pool" being bland basic grey maps that are impossible to tell apart from one another. I felt like in the original game every single floor had a purpose and it stood out to you all of them were unique but in this game, all of them are just depressing grey dull area's (COLOR VOMIT FTW!)
Cherub race is still unbeatable-
the UI is still glitchy and confusing
the controls are horrible
Pacifist mode leaves a bunch to be desired- its impossible to find any sort of room in this game, its just RNG, no matter how a door looks it just doesn't matter, cause you end up in the same place over and over again. just to get to a cool zone just to be sent right back to the same lame snow area.
I was in a call with all four of my friends, all of us loved the OG and when we were done with the game we were just like "thats it?" I feel so much time went into these 3D animations which are so beautiful and look fantastic and fits the early PC gaming vibe so darn well.
and not enough time into creating the zones, and a proper progression system.
there are npcs put in place that are beginning to take you directly to where is needed, it’s easier to put these things in place once the game nears completion. i don’t plan to change the rng but hand placing things in a given home has slowishly been rolling out. i think given the second ending is nearing completion i can focus more on these things, changing the flow of the game.
coming soon means another few months, maybe even a year. i am in no rush and i will probably never do another disillusion title.
i think in the coming weeks i will have more free time to focus though.
i will probably continue to add to the game even after it fully releases, i think that would be enjoyable. ideally i’d like there to be MANY MORE floors. i’ve been adding more colorful floors with upbeat music to create more variety that should be coming soon in larger swaths, but i’d prefer if the balance between the grey areas and the colorful floral places be 50/50. my favorite floor is the beige white angelic locations
The cherub race is litterally not possible to win, if your cherub goes a tiny bit faster than the rest she straight up dissapears and can not win, THEY SHOT DEAD MY CHILD JUST TO SEE HER FAIL!!!
A post on steam just stated that this game is going to come out soon. THis game feels extremely uncomplete compared to the OG game. I loved the og game so much but I feel like ST is going to be a flop. it took such a drastic change in both visual style as well as gameplay.
If it doesn't have drastic changes its just going to be seen as the dark souls 2 of disillusion who knows..... maybe disillusion 3 will be better. very upset with how this game is coming out
Yah it feels a bit unpolished right now, mainly with things being too RNG based. Though it'll be nice once guides pop up because looking into the game files, seems like some character stories can go different routes.
I remember the creator saying in the discord server that he doesn't plan on making the RNG go away and that its going to stay in the final version of the game. It ruins it- an entire game being based around RNG is a horrible... horrible idea and anyone could have said that. I get it... it makes it more mysterious and dream like.
but some rules in games are there for a reason- and sometimes things dont need to change. this is one of the things that don't need to change.
I think ST is going to be very mixed in terms of how its received by the players. I'm very unhappy with how this game is coming out. I thought i myself that maybe maybe its just early on...
but no- the dev make a post on steam saying that its almost finished. if this is close to a finished product thats concerning
yeah but that annoyance reeaaaalllyyy adds up after a while! I was only able to like one playthrough in before it just becomes so annoying.... the paintings are nice but the game is just so RNG that it makes it feel unfinished
I really enjoyed this game, it's beautifully done. I love the bits and pieces of story that you get from passively wandering. I also enjoyed nerding out at seeing the nijiura maids scattered about and gushing over the 3D renders.
Played the original and currently playing this. Liking it so far, but one question: is anything currently missable? The last game was a major case of "guide dang it" and I feel like I keep picking the wrong dialogue options.
There probably is some stuff you can miss, but seeing as how the game is pretty much randomly generated you'll probs get another chance at getting what you missed.
The entire game is randomly generated which is a big issue with this game, it's gonna make it hard to get and see everything. I think it ruins the replayablity of the entire game
Can't play the game since I'm on mobile, though the game kinda reminds me of Baroque tho idk why. It's probably because of the first person thing with stylized graphics.
Amazing game! it's got a really cool atmosphere and interesting characters, the story and world is very interesting also, i got sucked in for hours. the combat is kinda clunky and i feel you miss (even if you do choose attack type based on enemy) and get swarmed too often, but it's not too bad once you get a decent sword.
though i must ask, could it be possible to add an option to keep your weapons on death? it's really hard to come across a decent weapon, at least i only found one about 6 hours in and that let me deal with foes more easily, but it was pretty disappointing to lose it once i died, especially since you keep everything else... plus, i think it'd be neat if you could get to collect all swords at once at some point without resorting to save scumming.
finished the game around 3 days ago, came back to say it's really good again! looking back on it i'd say losing weapons isn't such a big deal, just didn't realize their appearance rate was tied to game progress, and that it becomes much harder to die once you've got plenty of warp orbs, hp, and good weapons.
my only real complaint would be that the encounter with the "useless" npc is very rare and it took me quite some time to get the hand drill, that i didn't know it would lead to that and that by that point you've already seen almost all the encounters and whatnot didn't help. the hanuman enemies are very dodgy and tanky as well, though i can see that being on purpose to provide a challenge when you've got the best equips.
once again, this is an incredible game, may it be complete soon!
This game is genuinely quite special. Its unfinished, which is currently its greatest flaw, but it is an incredibly unique and haunting experience until then. My honest recommendation is to wait until this game is done, but when it is, you absolutely must play it.
if you havent played the game, I recommend you stop reading any reviews, as I think it is best experienced raw.
The atmosphere is just harrowing. I felt such genuine sorrow, yet all the same I was intrigued and felt implored to explore further. Its strength is in the wide unique cast of characters and storylines. This is where the issue lies with the current release, I ran out of unique dialogue by the time the story ground to a halt. there is immense potential here, I am begging you to see this game through to completion developer.
Props to all of the lovely people in the making of this game, all of these character designs are very great! I made 2 rough sketches of one of my favourite characters, again, Awesome job to Rick Tempest and to those who helped to create this game!
Ok, I have a lot to say about this game. I think it's really promising and has a lot of effort put into it, but there are some issues that kind of need to be addressed. However, I will get the positives out of the way first.
It's obvious this game is a love letter to LSD Dream emulator. The graphics and animations are close by proxy. There are also plenty of other references such as Hylics, Yume Nikki, ENA, Lain, and a pinch of Greek Mythology. I am pretty much a sucker for those types of games anyways, so I mean this in a positive way if anything.
The dialogue is also surprisingly snappy. There is a lot of philosophy going on in the interactions, which is honestly fine. Melpomene, or Mel as I prefer to call here, is a standout character, she is told to be the gloomy, depressing goddess of Disillusion's world, yet her interactions with Golem make her surprisingly more nuanced than expected from your typical RPG sidekick. The other interactions in the game are also lifted with the strong dialogue.
It's also impressive that you managed to get all of this done in RPG Maker. There are already a lot of games that push the engine to it's limits, but this is one of the more impressive ones. I never really imagined someone would make a 3D game of this caliber.
Sadly, this is where the positives end, cuz there are a lot of issues that I must go over.
For one, we must talk about the combat system. The original Disillusion Game seemed to have inherited Hylic's combat system. Here, it was scrapped for a more 3D like combat system. It’s cool in theory, right? Well… it’s also broken. The RNG seems to really hate hard attacks because I feel like they never land. Accuracy is usually indicated via textboxes, yet it seems like I end up with blanks whenever I press G. What's even worse is that it's easy to get ganged up by so many enemies. Even worse, dying really no stakes whatsoever. Yume Nikki has this issue too, but there there are actual consequences when you ‘die’. Here, you just get teleported to yet another random room. You also can’t really get level-ups either, so there is no real incentive to win battles aside from just exploring whatever room you are currently in.
The card system is also worth talking about. It sadly suffers from the similar issue of being ambitious in concept but broken in practice. The person who goes second has an immeasurable advantage, making winning ultimately RNG dependent. The other mechanic I would like to talk about is the Cherub system, which basically gives you a pet that you can feed and take care of. It doesn’t seem fully fleshed out though, since you can’t really interact with it that much aside from animations of races.
The biggest issue, however, is the game’s progression. I get that surrealist games tend to have a pretty awkward relationship with game progression. Yume Nikki and LSD Dream Emulator prioritize exploration over game progression anyways, while Hylics is linear despite the surrealist presentation. Disillusion tries to combine both aspects, but the execution really suffers as a result. Everything is randomized in this game. The only way to go from Point A to B is through interacting doors, but the locations you arrive are randomized for every door you go in. It doesn’t take long until you realize that the game basically becomes variance hell, especially in Combat mode The game is aware of this though, but it just doesn’t make for a satisfying experience.
Lastly, the environments are kind of a mixed bag. I will have to applaud the creator for making good use of animations throughout this game, but the interactive aspect is largely a mixed bag. There are some cool zones, namely the bright and colorful LSD-inspired, church and city environments, but also a bunch of dead grey zone with no life to them. This was likely intentional since it fits the story, but it doesn’t take long to notice that some of the rooms are just recycled with slightly modified textures.
Overall, I really want to like this game. There is no denying that there are a ton of cool ideas. And while some of those ideas this game has delivered, the overall product feels more like an interactive art project than a game. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but I just wish the mechanics of the game were as good as the presentation.
the games progression is horrible compared to the OG. it's all random and RNG which is such a horrible idea. RNG can be fun but when the entire progress is revolved around just praying that you get a door that takes you to an area where you get an item is such a horrible idea.
the OG game was very straight forward and you could meet everyone and even the secrets were in the same spots. In yume nikki all the secrets are in the same spots it helps you get further.
imagine if yume nikki's doors were randomized- and everyone time you thought you were gonna get to an old zone you liked before it just takes you to a random place. that would get extremely frustrating and also borining quickly.
another thing with this game is the dev confirmed that he made the boring levels much higher on the RNG pool to get so most of the time you are just exploring the same pool or maps over and over again.
RNG ruins it for me, made an account just to say this. The original is so much better. its nice to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.
After playing ST and going back to the original it just feels so much better, it had so much life, ST feels plastic and the RNG ruins it. just makes everything feel too random.
I've been a follower for a very long time and i absolutely adore this game, this is the first time ive come so close to the end though. Love the game and its updates, cant wait till full release!!!!
I've been playing this game a lot over the past month or so. I'm not really sure if there's an end goal, or a way to get every key item, or how many NPCs you can interact with using the key items. But, I just feel good spending time in the world. Something about the melancholy atmosphere is just really calming and relaxing to me, especially during periods where I feel depressed.
I say all of this to basically say, I think you've made something really special. If this was all the game was, I think I'd be happy with it. Being happy with it feels good. But, if there ends up being more, I'd be happy with that too. I think that shows that no matter what, this is something really cool and interesting to think about.
Very nicely designed game with good animations in the cutscenes along with character design. Combat mode needs work though as it feels overwhelming but I look forward to when the game fully comes out
i have never seen a better bliss in my life, i have never experianced such bliss, bliss i tell you bliss, bliss in this and only world, its full of ever lasting bliss, disillusion's bliss
I'm having an issue where every time the room loads, I get the tab screen of items. In the previous version, the item screen would only show up after pressing tab. Is there a way to fix this? I've tried reinstalling but that didn't work. I'm playing on combat mode btw.
(p.s. My gf and I love this game...we play every update together. Huge inspiration, keep up the good work)
Alright, we got an update about an hour ago, and I've been playing the hell out of the last version. Can I get a functional link to the discord, to get some help on transferring my file over?
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probably one of the most impactful games i’ve ever played. makes you reflect and appreciate things in life a lot more. incredible atmosphere, characters, art, music. you will absolutely enjoy if you’ve played lsd dream emulator, yume nikki, hylics… basically any other amazing surreal game out there, this game should be alongside them. some people might not enjoy the RNG, but i think it was a very brave choice that contributes so much to the storytelling.
Oh dang, didn't know the game was finally released. Hope you and the people who help you work on it are proud. I personally enjoy this game, despite the criticisms, so I hope it garners success!
I think you said you'll continue adding more to the game, no? If so, Are you gonna do bigger loads of content now or just continue the same way like pre-release updates?
Is this version with parity to the steam release?
yeah
Does the steam version have drm, out of curiosity? as itch does not do DRM. I would like to be able to play the game offline.
I have bought it on steam and it seems it runs without needing steam to launch, so my question is satisfied. I would have bought on itch but the original disillusion appears to only be on steam so i preferred to have them on the same platform. I do note that the original Disillusion does require steam to run.
i never added drm to either so i’m not really sure why that is, maybe just a steam thing.
Hard to say, steam games that can launch without steam (e.g. Disillusion ST, the Hylics series if you know that one), can launch from in their folder without turning the app on (or if it's on, without showing as 'running', but this isn't a guarantee that it won't work without steam on). Just have to try it without the app on to see
Feels like the comments have turned really negative lately. Just wanted to chime in that while I haven't played a new version for a while, I really enjoy this game for what it is.
I can understand some people's frustration with the RNG. I can understand how some people can feel that the amount of wandering in the game is boring or "pointless", too. I can't even claim I haven't felt it myself at various points, but at the end of the day its part of the experience, and overall I enjoy it.
Perfectly authentic visuals , indistinguishable from bryce3D / Povray renders or early Macromind games . Hovewer the game itself is unbearably boring .. most dialogue is bland or quirky for the sake of quirky , and the gameplay merely acts as a sloggy thickener of sort , so you don't overdose on cutscenes (i would gladly just watch all of them like a movie). Sorry . I just couldn't help but not care the slightest about the characters or what happens next .
No offense . Wish it to get better at the release .
I'd have to agree. i would definitely love to watch all of the cutscenes like a movie, but the gameplay is just so meh and slushy that it detracts from the cutscenes, which i think are excellent.
i actually like the characters a lot, but as you said, the gameplay wasn't made for the sake of gameplay but for the sake of novelty
will the game receive further optimization before its final release?
only if mz3d gets updated, it’s an rpg maker game
I wasn't sure what was I expecting and ended up with a rather grateful surprise. Very unique gameplay, the card minigame is also pretty fun. Recommended, looking forward to its finished version!!!
Now that I have given v0.19.1 a go..I'm not sure how I feel about the paintings. On the one hand, it helps with getting to some locations easier. On the other hand, farming Jomon and Mel's Aid is now possible. I guess, in a way, makes early game combat mode less annoying. Hopefully, you can expand on the painting idea more later on.
Either way keep up the good work.
I really like this game :3 I think it makes a lot of improvements.
But I think it has one really big issue, compared to the first game the level design is really boring and bland 3: I don't like how it looks at all. Most of the levels look the same. The level design feels extremely rushed. I assume most of the time was spent on the 3D animations. A lot of the layouts of the levels are just down right frustrating, tons of maze's that lead to dead ends, or high up places that lead to dead ends.
Hope the level design gets reworked and maybe a few zones purged. First game's level design was so much more colorful and pretty. This ones just looks all the same.
Just to briefly add an additional opinion to this discussion... For me, the RNG mechanics were never really questionable. They achieve what they set out to accomplish very well, and it clicked for me almost immediately.
There is no shortage of games that cater to maximizing fun and pure engagement & progress. This game seeks to be something different. It would seem that this game could be described as, among many other things, an experiment to test how the removal of some quality-of-life features typical of adventure games and rpgs can emulate a particular experience and induce a specific mood and state of mind in the player.
Not all experiments succeed, of course, and in this case success can hardly be measured empirically, but for me this works perfectly, and only seems to be getting better as the dev tweaks and iterates on the concept.
As has been said, this game does an excellent job of synthesizing aspects of Samsara as the concept has been interpreted in different ways by various Eastern strains of thought. It succeeds in transposing this synthesis into an experience for the player. This was probably difficult for the dev to conceptualize, and the transposition was probably even more of a challenge. It would be a shame for that to be left on the table.
Obviously this is not going to click for everyone. But it is much better for that. This game, even in its current state, leaps well above the lowest common denominator. It's very special and I want the dev to know that there are many people who appreciate what they are creating here. Can't wait for the release, I know many many people who will be interested in playing this.
RNG mechanics are not that bad, its just that you got lucky with it and got a bit further than someone like me has. That's the issue with a game having this much RNG in it is that everyone's experience is going to be so different. But that also comes with bad that some people are just going to have a horrible time with it.
You're assuming that I was able to access the scripted content faster than average but that isn't really true. I've played through the game twice at different stages in its development and I had different experiences with pacing. I enjoyed the game during the scripted content, and I enjoyed it when I was wandering the world for long periods of time between scripted sequences. This is why I think it succeeds, even in the traditional RNG "Worst-case scenario", I still found the experience to be engaging. I found value regardless. You might not, and that's fine! But, in my opinion, this game would lose a lot of its impact if a player could brute force rush through the more quiet parts in order to access all scripted content ASAP. I know that would have lessened my experience.
I feel the same way. Even when I was wandering I was having a good time. It always felt like a dream (which makes sense, it was in LSDJAM 2023). I personally am totally fine with the game being a visual novel and exploration sandbox, I just think some people didn't know that was the experience they were signing up for. I think that's mostly what it comes down to.
I also agree that personally a "skip" button would have made the experience worse for me.
Me thinks if the zones were more fun and pretty to look at I wouldn't mind it so much. A lot of the zones just are so bland... and grey... and boring compared to the first game.
Cool concept for a "sequel" but feels unfinished like a beta version of the first game.
I'm a little confused why the game is so RNG? The orbs make it a bit more easy to navigate but in the end its more just like a second chance in the RNG loop.
30% of the zones could just be scrapped cause they are super boring. hate being thrown into the same zone over and over again cause RNG.
This is a worse version of the first game, I get its in beta but with the release getting closer this is very disheartening to see.
Glad I'm not alone in feeling the RNG ruins this game, super unfun. most of the grey boring levels just need to be purged- no one wants to be trapped in an RNG loop.
It is extremely common in the games industry for the final months to have the most progress.
I hope so I really loved the original game.
I think this is a phenomenal piece of art. I think the RNG mechanics and "wandering" perfectly encapsulate Samsara. The worldbuilding and atmosphere are both unrivaled by most indie games. Between this and the original I have been very inspired (though my medium isn't game creation).
The art style is so unique and interesting, and the music fits perfectly. I couldn't describe the feelings I got while playing the game sometimes, it was trance-like and almost scary and confusing at times, in the best ways.
I think this is a niche of gaming that will turn some people off heavily, but for people like myself, it is one I have been looking forward to very much. Even if wandering felt a little aimless at times, that fit with the themes enough for me to still feel engrossed. It felt like I was living in a loop, and I got excited for even small changes.
I'm sad to hear there likely won't be another Disillusion game after this, because I think you do incredible work. It genuinely feels like art, and I won't ever forget these games. I doubt ST will be a big commercial success, but that's not what art is about. I think your vision is unique and what you have done with it is inspiring. Thanks for the great game!
I have been following since the announcement of this title, and it's been a pleasure to watch the game take shape. I do think there are issues with the title currently, but even if the game released in a state similar to this I would enjoy it very much. When this game releases I will be playing it a ton and shilling it to my friends, for sure.
Yeah but sometimes things dont belong in games even if it re-creates that feeling of "Samsara" It's annoying to get thrown into the same ugly zone over and over again.
No characters feel special cause you just see them all the time randomly in other zones and they just say the same thing.
I enjoyed seeing characters all the time, it felt like a bit of familiarity in an otherwise strange scenario. I wish Disillusiondev had the resources to make each NPC have 3x as much dialogue, but I get that is just unreasonable for one person to do. That would be my only major complaint, personally. I wish the NPCs did more.
I love this game, and for me I really didn't mind the RNG loop. I thought it was a unique idea and executed well. Sure there were times I had to wander, but I really don't care. I completed everything in like a dozen hours or so when I played, I really don't see it as this insane RNG trash-heap.
I've been gaming a long ass time, I'd rather see a game come out and try to do something new and stumble a bit than something boring and common. I can almost promise we won't see another game like this, at least for a long long time.
I see it as an RNG trash-heap. I think this game will be very mixed on release.
Valid. I just disagree with the first point, and don't care at all about the second point.
"trash-heap" is a bit of a push, but I do agree with the RNG being too much in this game. Hard to make progress when getting back to a zone for an NPC that needs an item is just a matter of RNG. And you get more items, and more quests, and more NPC's and it just becomes very cluttered very quickly.
Why are you pretending its fun to be sent back to the exact same zone 70 times in a row right when things get interesting? If gameplay sucks than it doesn't matter how much its like samara. Lore doesn't matter if gameplay sucks.
and the truth is the RNG sucks, its horrible and lots of people have also agreed with this
the RNG makes it feel incomplete
characters dont feel special cause you see them all the time
zones dont feel special because you just get thrown back to the same ones over and over again
just makes the entire thing feel rushed, like someone just opening up garrys mod and spawning a bunch of stuff. it feels random, rushed and lazy to just have all this stuff thrown everywhere.
I get this is harsh criticism but this game is just so much worse than the original. I feel if it didnt have all these beautiful 3D animations that everyone would agree thats its just worse than the original
every level is just so dark and dull, and grey, you just get thrown into RNG loops over and over again.
I'm not pretending, I genuinely enjoyed this game much more than the first. People can have different opinions. I'm not disregarding your opinion; you have a right to not like it. I'm just sharing my experience with the game. That is the whole point of this comment section. I just listed things I liked about the game in the exact way you have listed things you dislike about the game in like 10+ comments.
Personally I don't care what anyone else's opinion is about the media or art I consume. I had my experience with the game and I am sharing it. I'm not some ambassador of the game, sorry if I somehow made your experience feel invalid by enjoying something. I really loved this game and am excited to see it release.
I enjoy art-house games that are more about a message than gameplay. I liked things about the game that heavily overshadowed the negatives for me. That is all. I didn't say it was perfect or that it didn't have flaws. I shared my experience with the game.
I like the idea of wandering too but the levels just don't look fun 3: LSD dream emulator was great cause all the zones looked so cool. but in thus game they all look really bland grey and boring I don't like them.
That's valid. I just disagree, I like how they look a lot. That's probably a big difference maker in opinion on the game.
Game still feels unpolished- I've been following this game since its first announcement and the same issues still plague this title.
THE RNG is a horrible idea in terms of how to get progression.
Being stuck and to the mercy of some random RNG loop to get something interesting to finally happen.
The most common zones in the "RNG prize pool" being bland basic grey maps that are impossible to tell apart from one another. I felt like in the original game every single floor had a purpose and it stood out to you all of them were unique but in this game, all of them are just depressing grey dull area's (COLOR VOMIT FTW!)
Cherub race is still unbeatable-
the UI is still glitchy and confusing
the controls are horrible
Pacifist mode leaves a bunch to be desired- its impossible to find any sort of room in this game, its just RNG, no matter how a door looks it just doesn't matter, cause you end up in the same place over and over again. just to get to a cool zone just to be sent right back to the same lame snow area.
I was in a call with all four of my friends, all of us loved the OG and when we were done with the game we were just like "thats it?" I feel so much time went into these 3D animations which are so beautiful and look fantastic and fits the early PC gaming vibe so darn well.
and not enough time into creating the zones, and a proper progression system.
there are npcs put in place that are beginning to take you directly to where is needed, it’s easier to put these things in place once the game nears completion. i don’t plan to change the rng but hand placing things in a given home has slowishly been rolling out. i think given the second ending is nearing completion i can focus more on these things, changing the flow of the game.
coming soon means another few months, maybe even a year. i am in no rush and i will probably never do another disillusion title.
i think in the coming weeks i will have more free time to focus though.
i will probably continue to add to the game even after it fully releases, i think that would be enjoyable. ideally i’d like there to be MANY MORE floors. i’ve been adding more colorful floors with upbeat music to create more variety that should be coming soon in larger swaths, but i’d prefer if the balance between the grey areas and the colorful floral places be 50/50. my favorite floor is the beige white angelic locations
The cherub race is litterally not possible to win, if your cherub goes a tiny bit faster than the rest she straight up dissapears and can not win, THEY SHOT DEAD MY CHILD JUST TO SEE HER FAIL!!!
Just finished the game and all I'll say is that it has potential, but its early state shows.
A post on steam just stated that this game is going to come out soon. THis game feels extremely uncomplete compared to the OG game. I loved the og game so much but I feel like ST is going to be a flop. it took such a drastic change in both visual style as well as gameplay.
If it doesn't have drastic changes its just going to be seen as the dark souls 2 of disillusion who knows..... maybe disillusion 3 will be better. very upset with how this game is coming out
Yah it feels a bit unpolished right now, mainly with things being too RNG based. Though it'll be nice once guides pop up because looking into the game files, seems like some character stories can go different routes.
I remember the creator saying in the discord server that he doesn't plan on making the RNG go away and that its going to stay in the final version of the game. It ruins it- an entire game being based around RNG is a horrible... horrible idea and anyone could have said that. I get it... it makes it more mysterious and dream like.
but some rules in games are there for a reason- and sometimes things dont need to change. this is one of the things that don't need to change.
I think ST is going to be very mixed in terms of how its received by the players. I'm very unhappy with how this game is coming out. I thought i myself that maybe maybe its just early on...
but no- the dev make a post on steam saying that its almost finished. if this is close to a finished product thats concerning
I'm not unhappy with it, just slightly annoyed.
yeah but that annoyance reeaaaalllyyy adds up after a while! I was only able to like one playthrough in before it just becomes so annoying.... the paintings are nice but the game is just so RNG that it makes it feel unfinished
Weird question, but what is the font used on this page?
megrim
Thanks
I really enjoyed this game, it's beautifully done. I love the bits and pieces of story that you get from passively wandering. I also enjoyed nerding out at seeing the nijiura maids scattered about and gushing over the 3D renders.
going to eat this game.
i love this game, this game and first disillusion is such an unique expirience!
Played the original and currently playing this. Liking it so far, but one question: is anything currently missable? The last game was a major case of "guide dang it" and I feel like I keep picking the wrong dialogue options.
There probably is some stuff you can miss, but seeing as how the game is pretty much randomly generated you'll probs get another chance at getting what you missed.
The entire game is randomly generated which is a big issue with this game, it's gonna make it hard to get and see everything. I think it ruins the replayablity of the entire game
Can't play the game since I'm on mobile, though the game kinda reminds me of Baroque tho idk why. It's probably because of the first person thing with stylized graphics.
Amazing game! it's got a really cool atmosphere and interesting characters, the story and world is very interesting also, i got sucked in for hours. the combat is kinda clunky and i feel you miss (even if you do choose attack type based on enemy) and get swarmed too often, but it's not too bad once you get a decent sword.
though i must ask, could it be possible to add an option to keep your weapons on death? it's really hard to come across a decent weapon, at least i only found one about 6 hours in and that let me deal with foes more easily, but it was pretty disappointing to lose it once i died, especially since you keep everything else... plus, i think it'd be neat if you could get to collect all swords at once at some point without resorting to save scumming.
hope it'll be out soon, cheers!
finished the game around 3 days ago, came back to say it's really good again! looking back on it i'd say losing weapons isn't such a big deal, just didn't realize their appearance rate was tied to game progress, and that it becomes much harder to die once you've got plenty of warp orbs, hp, and good weapons.
my only real complaint would be that the encounter with the "useless" npc is very rare and it took me quite some time to get the hand drill, that i didn't know it would lead to that and that by that point you've already seen almost all the encounters and whatnot didn't help. the hanuman enemies are very dodgy and tanky as well, though i can see that being on purpose to provide a challenge when you've got the best equips.
once again, this is an incredible game, may it be complete soon!
Oh wow, I didn't even know this prequel was a thing until it happened to show up on my youtube feed. Gonna try it out now.
This game is genuinely quite special. Its unfinished, which is currently its greatest flaw, but it is an incredibly unique and haunting experience until then. My honest recommendation is to wait until this game is done, but when it is, you absolutely must play it.
if you havent played the game, I recommend you stop reading any reviews, as I think it is best experienced raw.
The atmosphere is just harrowing. I felt such genuine sorrow, yet all the same I was intrigued and felt implored to explore further. Its strength is in the wide unique cast of characters and storylines. This is where the issue lies with the current release, I ran out of unique dialogue by the time the story ground to a halt. there is immense potential here, I am begging you to see this game through to completion developer.
Props to all of the lovely people in the making of this game, all of these character designs are very great! I made 2 rough sketches of one of my favourite characters, again, Awesome job to Rick Tempest and to those who helped to create this game!
Ok, I have a lot to say about this game. I think it's really promising and has a lot of effort put into it, but there are some issues that kind of need to be addressed. However, I will get the positives out of the way first.
It's obvious this game is a love letter to LSD Dream emulator. The graphics and animations are close by proxy. There are also plenty of other references such as Hylics, Yume Nikki, ENA, Lain, and a pinch of Greek Mythology. I am pretty much a sucker for those types of games anyways, so I mean this in a positive way if anything.
The dialogue is also surprisingly snappy. There is a lot of philosophy going on in the interactions, which is honestly fine. Melpomene, or Mel as I prefer to call here, is a standout character, she is told to be the gloomy, depressing goddess of Disillusion's world, yet her interactions with Golem make her surprisingly more nuanced than expected from your typical RPG sidekick. The other interactions in the game are also lifted with the strong dialogue.
It's also impressive that you managed to get all of this done in RPG Maker. There are already a lot of games that push the engine to it's limits, but this is one of the more impressive ones. I never really imagined someone would make a 3D game of this caliber.
Sadly, this is where the positives end, cuz there are a lot of issues that I must go over.
For one, we must talk about the combat system. The original Disillusion Game seemed to have inherited Hylic's combat system. Here, it was scrapped for a more 3D like combat system. It’s cool in theory, right? Well… it’s also broken. The RNG seems to really hate hard attacks because I feel like they never land. Accuracy is usually indicated via textboxes, yet it seems like I end up with blanks whenever I press G. What's even worse is that it's easy to get ganged up by so many enemies. Even worse, dying really no stakes whatsoever. Yume Nikki has this issue too, but there there are actual consequences when you ‘die’. Here, you just get teleported to yet another random room. You also can’t really get level-ups either, so there is no real incentive to win battles aside from just exploring whatever room you are currently in.
The card system is also worth talking about. It sadly suffers from the similar issue of being ambitious in concept but broken in practice. The person who goes second has an immeasurable advantage, making winning ultimately RNG dependent. The other mechanic I would like to talk about is the Cherub system, which basically gives you a pet that you can feed and take care of. It doesn’t seem fully fleshed out though, since you can’t really interact with it that much aside from animations of races.
The biggest issue, however, is the game’s progression. I get that surrealist games tend to have a pretty awkward relationship with game progression. Yume Nikki and LSD Dream Emulator prioritize exploration over game progression anyways, while Hylics is linear despite the surrealist presentation. Disillusion tries to combine both aspects, but the execution really suffers as a result. Everything is randomized in this game. The only way to go from Point A to B is through interacting doors, but the locations you arrive are randomized for every door you go in. It doesn’t take long until you realize that the game basically becomes variance hell, especially in Combat mode The game is aware of this though, but it just doesn’t make for a satisfying experience.
Lastly, the environments are kind of a mixed bag. I will have to applaud the creator for making good use of animations throughout this game, but the interactive aspect is largely a mixed bag. There are some cool zones, namely the bright and colorful LSD-inspired, church and city environments, but also a bunch of dead grey zone with no life to them. This was likely intentional since it fits the story, but it doesn’t take long to notice that some of the rooms are just recycled with slightly modified textures.
Overall, I really want to like this game. There is no denying that there are a ton of cool ideas. And while some of those ideas this game has delivered, the overall product feels more like an interactive art project than a game. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but I just wish the mechanics of the game were as good as the presentation.
the games progression is horrible compared to the OG. it's all random and RNG which is such a horrible idea. RNG can be fun but when the entire progress is revolved around just praying that you get a door that takes you to an area where you get an item is such a horrible idea.
the OG game was very straight forward and you could meet everyone and even the secrets were in the same spots. In yume nikki all the secrets are in the same spots it helps you get further.
imagine if yume nikki's doors were randomized- and everyone time you thought you were gonna get to an old zone you liked before it just takes you to a random place. that would get extremely frustrating and also borining quickly.
another thing with this game is the dev confirmed that he made the boring levels much higher on the RNG pool to get so most of the time you are just exploring the same pool or maps over and over again.
RNG ruins it for me, made an account just to say this. The original is so much better. its nice to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.
After playing ST and going back to the original it just feels so much better, it had so much life, ST feels plastic and the RNG ruins it. just makes everything feel too random.
feels lazy.
I've been a follower for a very long time and i absolutely adore this game, this is the first time ive come so close to the end though. Love the game and its updates, cant wait till full release!!!!
I've been playing this game a lot over the past month or so. I'm not really sure if there's an end goal, or a way to get every key item, or how many NPCs you can interact with using the key items. But, I just feel good spending time in the world. Something about the melancholy atmosphere is just really calming and relaxing to me, especially during periods where I feel depressed.
I say all of this to basically say, I think you've made something really special. If this was all the game was, I think I'd be happy with it. Being happy with it feels good. But, if there ends up being more, I'd be happy with that too. I think that shows that no matter what, this is something really cool and interesting to think about.
Very nicely designed game with good animations in the cutscenes along with character design. Combat mode needs work though as it feels overwhelming but I look forward to when the game fully comes out
i am in love, D9 bladee, dear gatekeeper
i have never seen a better bliss in my life, i have never experianced such bliss, bliss i tell you bliss, bliss in this and only world, its full of ever lasting bliss, disillusion's bliss
I am so hyped for this project as a lover of surreal, spiritual and dungeon crawlers.
Glad to be here
Everyday I come here to check if a new version is out.
It has become a tradition
Will I ever espace samsara?
I'm having an issue where every time the room loads, I get the tab screen of items. In the previous version, the item screen would only show up after pressing tab. Is there a way to fix this? I've tried reinstalling but that didn't work. I'm playing on combat mode btw.
(p.s. My gf and I love this game...we play every update together. Huge inspiration, keep up the good work)
yooooooo keeep going!
So I went to download and i extracted the file but its not opening? how do i start it?
I MADE AN ACCT TO SAY THIS
Is THAT HYATT/EXCEL SAGA REFERENCE?!?!
i cannot wait to see more of this game !! ♡
Hello, maybe someone has already asked this, but I couldn't find any information about it. When is the release planned for the Steam platform?
there is no time line, it could be a few months to a year or more.
it won’t be on steam till it’s finished
Alright, we got an update about an hour ago, and I've been playing the hell out of the last version. Can I get a functional link to the discord, to get some help on transferring my file over?
https://discord.gg/fevj9cEnVm
This game is really good. Especially the dialogue and character interactions. Also, very weird, which I entirely embrace and enjoy.