IĀ“m rewatching the stream and yeah, not a big fan of these new enders in their current state.
I get what they were going for: play up the impact and distinctiveness of level 4 enders. But right now I donĀ“t think itās working. They look different alright, but they just donĀ“t look good.
Orchidās damage ender, for example, makes it look like we have transitioned from a fast paced game to a slideshow. It just looks bad.
Other look more fluid, but still feel stiff and unnatural. TuskĀ“s hard knockdown ender looks fine, but the transition from the normal background to the black smoke isnĀ“t smooth. It just appears out of nowhere and suddenly vanishes, which creates a feeling of non-sequitur, or discontinuation. Other enders, like Aganos switch ender, seem to lose impact, rather than gaining.
More than anything, thereās a general feeling of awkwardness that emanate from them, as if they were a feature that hasnĀ“t been integrated to the flow of the game well enough so that it felt like a natural part of it (I know itās literally a work in progress, but still).
They are also non-sensical when you take Shadow Enders into account. You see, Shadow Enders function as though they add a level to the combo you are finishing, meaning that when you perform a Level 4 Shadow Ender, the damage is akin to a sort of Level 5 ender. ThatĀ“s the most damage an ender can deal. However, since the shadow enders do not trigger the new Level 4 animations, it seems like they are less powerful, less special than a regular, non-shadow Level 4 Ender.
I think there were some other ways to play up the Level fours that they could play with. Things like increasing the impact of the shockwaves generated by each hit, add some kind of spark or particles to each hit, maybe some kind of explosion to the last hit. Anything to make level 4 enders feel more special while not feeling too silly or disrupting the flow of the game.
Anyway, the new character select screen is fantastic.
