Disclaimer: The following post may sound a bit critical but I am just trying to be as clear/direct as possible. As given its also just my personal opinion
When playing through LE one of the weakest points that I noticed is the lore/story and the setting that the game is set in, for example in some cases the game comes off as cliche/predictable and also lacks subtly/nuance. This also happens to be one of the hardest things to do well, actually in my opinion the only games that do it well are D2/PoE (and Grim Dawn to a lesser extent). Here are some examples, thoughts that are giving me this impression
- In terms of art design in general, the necrotic comes off as very cliche/generic with standard skeletons with green glowing eyes. This is kind of a trope that is overdone and the way it looks like right now in LE is its a bit cartoony, the avian cimeras are probably the worst example of this. I think artwise the biggest issue is that the skeletons just look too clean, it would look more convincing and less cliche for example if the bones were dirty/still had old flesh on them, something like Warhammer I think is a great inspiration here (i.e. look at Flayed One | Warhammer 40k Wiki | Fandom, Flayed Ones). Also in terms of setting, we are in the imperial era of Eterra so having a fusion of mechanics/metal with skeletons can add a more unique flavor (i.e. think Doom).
- One standout model that I think is done very well is Spymaster Zerrick, I think the model just needs some tuning in terms of quality
- On the other hand Admiral Harton doesnât seem to be that disturbing. In terms of 4 legged/human hybrids I find the design of Fidelitas, the Mourning - Path of Exile Wiki as a very good example. One issue is that the model hides his head so he kind of looks like an overgrown humanoid crab/beetle
- The Necrotic Emperor is the worst example of a cliche skeleton. I think its the same problem as before however due to the model being so big and the angle when you have the fight its much more obvious (i.e. skeleton looks completely clean, very generic).
- Monsters such as Soul Cage and Aiven Chimera are the worst examples of what I am speaking about
- Also the general necrotic look in the Imperial age can also be made to look more gruesom/British victorionesqe.
- The void in contrast to necrotic seems to have been done a bit better. The biggest issue here is the whole purple corruption is also an overdone trope so it has the same issues as necrotic in that it comes across as this âgeneric evil purple colour based themeâ.
- Newer monsters that have come out such as the Void Centipede and Elder Pannon are executed much better, they look more distubing/corrupted than normal and also the introduction of having this brown sludge/clay adds a good contrast to what is normally a very purple color scheme
- In contrast, existing monsters like Dark Seer, Devoured Husk, Ravenous Voidform and bosses like Omen of Silence remind me of 80s,90âs style JARPGs which recolored generic monsters on a purple pallet to save on memory
- I get the impression that this is gradually being fixed since the newer monsters that seem to be coming look much better
- Monsters like the corrupted bear look hilarious and not in a good way (i.e. they look too comical)
- Take the new brown clay/sludge that is used for the new bosses to the extreme for the environment, i.e. have bodies that are half fused with this material in the levels
- The hanging dead bodies in trees/lines across trees although disturbing feels a bit out of place because there isnât an explanation of how its related to the void, i.e. if we were dealing with cannibal/blood seeking enemies this might make more sense but thematically the void is something that corrupts you from within.
- The fight between Heriot and Rahyeh is to me just cringeworthy. This scene has the same generic problem as D3 in which I like to call the âpower rangerâ problem, i.e. rather than being subtle and having layers of complexity in characters instead you have âgodâ like figures that just yell generic âYou are weakâ, âGet out of my wayâ, âI will now destroy youâ sentiments. For example, in the dialog between the two rather than Rayheh just saying âso fine, but it thenâ and mortally wounding Heriot you can instead phrase the whole dialog as an argument (think partner and ex-partner) and that rather then Rayheh trying to kill Heriot he just âhitsâ Heriot out of frustration (which ends up turning into a mortal wound but wasnât the original intention). This is just an idea that came off the top of my head but I am trying to illustrate the stark contrast between the two. Giving heriot more depth is also an opportunity to more expose his dark side (which we can see in the altered mono timeline) and likewise with Rayheh who just currently seems to kill Heriot because essentially he thinks Heriot is useless/weak without any real complexity/explanation for this.
- These problems make it incredibly difficult to connect with either of the characters
- Lagon which appears to be heavily inspired by Câthulu/lovecraft has similar issues as the Rayheh/Heriot dialog but not as extreme. I commend the act of doing something different, i.e. him being annoyed/bored at you and is just trying to play with you but I think in this case its just not executed that well. The voice of of Lagon I find a bit annoying (and not the good type of annoying), the visual design of Lagon similar to Necrotic is a bit too clean/cartoony (but not as bad). One of the biggest problems here is that due to him repeating limit voice lines he just ends up being annoying himself and there are a couple of missed opportunities in this regard
- Rather than constantly saying âyou bore meâ (or w/e it is) ad-nauseum he can say this in the middle of the fight when you get thrown into bottom of the arena, there is actual context here as well (i.e. he is sick of fighting you and thats why you are being thrown in a different area)
- Although hard to do, something where he has a rare attack (i.e. 2-3 times during the fight) where he toys with your character using his tentacles, this is also a good time for a voice line. For a character thats meant to be unpredictable he doesnât seem that way.
- His blood/drop in the ocean line can be said when he actually hits (ideally with heavy damage) rather than randomly
- Make his model and even the arena look more disturbing.
- Most importantly, his general expressions doesnât seem to indicate that hes bored. You donât see him sighing and his animations look overall a bit stiff. For example if he was leaning his head to one side in a relaxed posture (lets say he was sitting on some kind of throne) it would give the impression that hes bored. Even his entrance at the start of the fight gives off more of a âhow dare you enter my domainâ/âdramatic entranceâ vibe rather than him being bored, i.e. rather than him coming out of the water he could just already be there half submerged and just lazing around. In summary with good animation work I think a lot can be done here.
- Monsters like the ice elemental looks like it comes straight out of Korean MMO to me. The ice Goliath/Dryad/Jailer is better here since it looks less typical. The lightning elemental has a much more unique flavor to it
- Eastern Archyrean looks great to me
- Dragons in general need work, especially the ability where they shoot their respective element above from their bodies seems like they are wiggling their ass like a cat, i.e. Shaq Cat GIF - Shaq Cat Pounce - Discover & Share GIFs
- Hulking Overgrowth looks great and really well done
- The voice lines of the Osprix race again feels like the generic âevil bad guysâ vibe. Especially the very first boss battle has the same power rangers problem. I get the impression that the whole Osprix race needs to be fleshed out a bit.
- The fallen Osprix in the imperial ere on the other hand are done better however there can still be improvements made here i.e. add maggots onto their bodies in some of the models (seeing as maggots are in the area and one of the bosses is themed around maggots).
If more springs to mind I will add to the topic