TLDR: A fun roguelike talent-tree builder. While it does give the dopamine hit of talent building, the shallow gameplay and repetition tends to bring it down. Still easily worth the low price. PROS: ➕Excellent build possibilities ➕Multiple different classes each with unique interactions with the talent tree ➕Multiple different avenues of gameplay (standard, waves, endless, challenges) NEUTRALS: 🔹Graphics/art is boring CONS: ➖Inability to save in the middle of a run(!) ➖Lack of some mechanic descriptions - what are combo points? ➖Runs tend to get repetitive after a few hours Content (Game world/Narrative) – The game world is simple here, it's just four lanes with you in the middle. There is very little interactivity in the environment as I only noticed in a map that came with the DLC. The only other part of the game world is the vast talent tree. Largely, I wouldn’t consider the world to be great, as it's simple, repetitive, and unengaging. There is no narrative. Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – The main mechanic is to build out your talent tree between each run. You have 20 levels and each level you gain levels, then spend those levels on talent points, which consist of active and passive abilities. The talent tree itself reminds me of something like the Final Fantasy X sphere grid, or the Path of Exile tree, but it is randomized each run. There are also different classes to unlock and level as you tackle higher difficulties called Masteries. Each class has a couple unique aspects to them that provide different gameplay or different interactions with the talent tree. Some of the differences are creative, others are clearly an underpowered afterthought. The classes are able to be leveled and each level provides an unlock like a different starting active/passive, or a new talent tree cluster that strengthens the classes unique playstyles. These are crucial to runs and it's much easier to level up a class before going for higher Mastery levels. The biggest downside here is the active mechanic playstyle, which is just literally choosing a direction to shoot down, and using abilities when needed. The difficulty I found to be relatively easy. Since there are around 30 levels of Mastery difficulty, anything pre-level 5 is fairly easy and a good stepping stone to try out a new class so you can level it. Graphics (Quality/Technical) – Uninspiring, bland, boring. Graphics are normally different shades of black and white. The main thing though is that the font is good enough to read on the talent tree, which is where you’ll be spending half your time reading abilities and planning paths. The UI seems okay, but I would like more detailed explanations on abilities or what they do. After multiple runs and levels with the Archer, I still have no idea what they use combo points for or even what they do. From the technical side, I experienced no issues and no notable bugs. i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD Audio – Basic and generic. There are pretty much two different songs always - the lvl 1-19 song and the lvl 20 song. They are decent, but it's the same thing over and over. There’s no voice acting. Replay Factor (Longevity) – This has a good amount of replayability. There’s an absolute ton of achievements, difficulties, and unlockables as you go through the game. My only concern here is the repetition, and the lack of a SAVE GAME. That’s right, you cannot save the game mid run, so you must finish the entire run in a single go. Final Verdict – Talented is what you would get if you made an entire playable game off of the Path of Building client. Arguably, Path of Building can by itself be a game, but Talented adds some simple gameplay onto the decision making that comes with creating builds with vast talent trees. For my biggest negatives, it would without a doubt have to be the lack of autosave or manual saves, with the lack of engaging gameplay as a second. The lack of saving is almost a dealbreaker for me. Despite this working on my Steam Deck, the inability to put the game down in the middle of a run is just bonkers bad design. Each run takes about ~20-30 minutes, depending on the speed interval you set as well as how well-versed you are with the class's talent tree. Imagine if you played a game of Slay the Spire and couldn’t quit in the middle of it due to some random real life thing taking priority. This seriously needs to be rethought, and if there is ever a Talented 2, needs to be integrated in the game. In regards to the gameplay, I’ve started to feel the boring repetition after only 10 hours. The lack of exciting gameplay is a big hindrance when the only thing worthwhile is your talent selection/choice. Part of this is because with each run the entire talent tree is randomized, so trying different things, or to optimize your runs can be near impossible. For my biggest positives, it would have to be the expansive talent tree and unique classes. The talent tree, while it does it repetitive after a dozen or so hours, is still fun to play around with and create builds. This goes hand-in-hand with the unique classes which not only have their own unique mechanics, but also influence the talent tree in their own way. Overall, I found Talented to be a fun diversion, but that ultimately lacks depth. I liked playing around with the talent tree and coming up with builds, but after that run, or an endless run, there just doesn’t seem to be much of a point, especially because of the lack of interesting gameplay. For me, a big part of the fun of creating builds in talent-oriented games like Path of Exile, or Diablo, is to actually play around with the build for a while in a somewhat meaningful gameplay loop, which is what I think Talented ultimately lacks. It’s the roguelike nature of the game that takes the most thrilling part of talent builds, the build longevity, and throws it out the window. Still, that being said, I do think Talented is worth a purchase, and a play. It’s absurdly cheap for what you get. This could easily be a $15 game. Recommend? [Y/N] Yes You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR
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