Let me preface this that I have played spiral knights since Beta, since before the elevator update and removal of Mist Energy. |
I love this game, I have practically grown up with this game, playing it on and off over the years. I have "beat" the game on one account, and are currently replaying the game with a childhood friend of mine, currently on the 4* to 5* grind.
841 hours on record according to steam.
This games strengths lie in its combat, story, replay-ability and community.
Combat: I may have not played many MMORPGS in my time, or not many to the extent I have SK, but I haven't found a game that plays quite like it. The weapon types and possible builds are very varied and encourage experimentation amongst loadouts. Dual brandishes play different from Brandish + Flourish differ from Cutter + gun differ from Mist Bomb + BAB and the list goes on and on. Along with niche techniques to master such as shield cancelling, shield bumping and switch firing, as well as charge attacks and the like, leads to a gameplay style that is easy to get into but hard to master.
This combat style also easily ties in the Replayability: The procedurally generated levels, though sometimes can feel bland, lead a different experience within the same missions and gates in the Arcade. GM-designed levels are exempt naturally, but I find that hand crafted levels are often very high quality and memorable, that- well, let me put it this way: I, amongst with many others, didn't particularly mind doing Vana 14+ times.
This, tied into the wide variety of builds can lead to very different experiences between multiple runs of SK's "campaign." Choosing to go Swordsman vs Mixed vs Bomber- choosing a different starting Battle Sprite-you get my point.
Story: The games story and lore, I find fascinating, especially in 5* and post-vanguard missions. Arkus, Vaelyn, Seerus, as well as the whole Recon Squad are amazing characters (about half my dnd characters are named after SK characters lol.) How you slowly uncover what happened to the Recon Squad as you beat the game's bosses, how numerous equipment descriptions really help build out the world, how Scenario Rooms can sometimes just take your breath away.... I love it.
Like, the final mission, Dreams and Nightmares... it is a FANTASTIC final mission. Without spoiling it, let's just say that it is the prime definition of a properly executed Mechanical Ending, where you have to use all your SK knowledge to beat down hordes
Community: SK's community is undoubtedly small. But, overall, it is by far the most welcoming and helpful community I've every been apart of. In my early days, even way back pre-elevator, there were Vanguards all to willing to help my, a who was about 9 at the time, beat Snarby for the first time. Or how some of my fondest memories in gaming were with by old guilds Dragon's Might and what is currently Embermist Scavengers. Planning guild raids, guild events in Haven, guild lockdown... or just how about the time, when only a few days ago, I asked Haven to sell me a Blaze Pepper for 300cr so that I could craft my Vog Cub Coat. Instead, some guy came up to me and threw 49 of them at me for no charge and a :D.
Or like how whenever anyone drops a snowball bucket, all of Haven turns into mindless childlike joy for a few minutes.
I love this game's community, and I think it's one of the strongest aspects of this game.
I'd also like to point out how The Arcade, SK's official unofficial discord server is extremely active - I don't have a point but the server exists GMs. Take a look https://discord.gg/0owCmcPUQe5cJLRj
Soundtrack: I know I didn't list this at the beginning but the soundtrack of this game, especially for the Void levels, is fantastic. It may be nostalgia, but I can't get enough.
This game is undoubtedly precious to me. Which is what makes me sad to say that this game's biggest flaw lies in it's grind-walls. Specifically, completing the "Hall of Heroes" missions.
I have attempted to get numerous of my friends into this game over the years. They were all interested, up until the first grind wall, 2*-3*. I've only managed to get one friend past that 3* since.
I understand this is a F2P MMO, I understand the grind is there to encourage monetization, but the grind-walls can often be soul-crushing, especially because it destroys any pacing the "campaign" may have had. Sure, all of the Recon Module's log entry's may have been well written, but nobody really makes connections between them if its a 2-3 month gap between each. Or how very, very few people ever make it to Champion, let alone Vanguard, in order to see this game's strongest aspect.
Like, by just going to Haven, you can see this effect in action. More than half of all people in Haven are highly decorated vanguards with waaay to much cosmetics, and the other half are new recruits wandering around Haven. All still in either their Proto gear, or simply Cobalt. There are very very few imbetween.
I think SK should lean into its rogue-like origins. If SK wants to improve, this grind wall needs to be lessened. Make the grind for Orbs and Crystals less. Give away more via campaign missions. Have an orb drop from a clover box "guaranteed" on the first time you complete any boss run. Or have like Daily missions, or like login rewards. Something to just decrease the intimidation of staring down a grind wall you think you'll never climb over.
I know that since the switch to GH, SK has been on a "living museum" content philosophy. Reactivating seasonal events, adding cosmetic lootboxes for the whales, keeping the servers up for those who want to still play the game... I don't expect a Spiral Knights 2. I don't expect a massive new campaign. I'm not asking for particularly more content.
I just want this game I grew up with to be experienced by as many people as possible, for as long as possible.
So please, Grey Havens, whoever is in charge up there. Please take these things into consideration.
Other gripes I've gotten from the people of my local Haven:
- Make blue and green minerals great again (battle sprites for those two minerals?)
- ping
- generic gripes for more content and lower prices
- Lockdown balance
- Build balance in general - this is a lesser issue as most of this game is PvE.
- Unbind costs
- Neutral damage IE how Cautery Sword Line does less damage against Slimes than the Acheron line, same with the WHB and the Flourish.
- "Paid" trinket slots IE how you only get trinket slots for Energy
- Bombers suck in general, or at least solo
- The forging system in general
- How giving away the Cobalt line decreases player retention in the long run b/c the Cobalt line is boring
Thank you for listening to my ted talk.
Doubt anyone is going to take your post as seriously as you would like Krakob but thanks for posting anyway
The only two things I would like to see in Spiral Knights are elemental acheron and allied guilds
We can already use blue and green minerals for prestige, so it's up to you to make them as great as you want, I have made and deleted countless vanguards over the years after beta since I like leveling without overpowered equipment
The orb and fire crystal grind is too easy in my opinion, you can pretty much get at least some crystals every time you run through a stratum and if you at least play prestige every day you can expect multiple orbs every month
Feel free to join and talk about anything in these two spiral knights servers:
https://discord.gg/7VcMfrh
https://discord.gg/hbha7JY