Classes - Do all classes feel distinct and useful? Does the progression of their abilities seem consistent? Do any classes feel too high-maintenance? Do any classes feel too uninvolved?
So far, classes seem diverse and unique, haven't progressed far enough to attest to progression.
Races - Do the races and their subtypes feel distinct? Do their models and textures appeal to you? Do their bonuses and special abilities seem worthwhile?
Humans seem a bit generic, no apparent stat change due to region/background. Models/textures are few, assume this is for beta release, but more would be appreciated.
Attributes - Do you find any attributes invaluable, such that you would never build a character without emphasizing that attribute? Are there any attributes you consistently dump because they don't seem to have apparent value? Do the attributes seem to skew away or toward different classes?
Attributes seem adequate, and like most RPG's you need to specialize to be effective, having a weak stat is part of character identity.
Equipment - Did you like or dislike the variety of weapons, armor, shields, potions, scrolls, and miscellaneous items? What items did you find invaluable or useless?
Haven't found much, but appears to have several armor types and weapons. A bit better info on weapons would be useful, there is one that priest carries, that is 2 handed, but does not state as much (won't allow to equip shield, assume 2-hander). Also, many of the items are broken/don't have icons (medium heater = bag). Also other items have interesting names like "string not found" (code not found!).
Crafting and Enchanting - How easy were the systems to understand and use? Did you find them worthwhile?
Haven't tried.
Conversations and Quests - Did you enjoy the conversations and quests in the Backer Beta? Were there any aspects of the aesthetics, presentation, or flow of conversations or quests that you didn't enjoy?
So far so good, like the different options, and like that some are shown, even if you don't have required skills. However, I hope that some responses are hidden unless you are close to having the required skill (increases replay value).
Combat - Did you enjoy the overall experience of combat, especially pacing, difficulty, and mechanics? Did the basic attack/defense resolution system (Miss/Graze/Hit/Crit) make sense? Was the relationship between damage and damage threshold clear? Was the relationship between stamina and health clear?
Combat = currently, much fail. Decision was made to not have turn based combat (cry), and the alternative, is set up trigger events to pause combat. Doing this causes combat to pause every .5 seconds (not really very useful). Game is playable with manual pausing, but the auto-pause is effectively useless. Pathing = none. Target baddie to be attacked by whole party = 2-3 party members seem baffled by the fact that 2 other party members are standing in front of them. It can be i a wide open field, characters will not attempt to move around to close range with target.
User Interface - Was character creation enjoyable and clear? Did each stage of the process give you all the information you needed to make choices? Was the main game HUD easy to understand and use? Were any portions of it confusing, poorly-positioned, or did they use visual language that was hard to decipher? Were the inventory, character sheet, and journal interfaces clear and easy to understand/use?
UI for character creation was fine, more portrait/voice/hair options would be nice, but I assume it is stripped down for beta release.
Broken: After creating character, getting a few saves and deciding that I need a ranged main character due to insta-gib due to unknown source (final damage reporting could be better, as far as I know I was killed by hand of god), combined with the doggy pile combat technique of party as a whole. After deleting all saves, load new game. Character creation is skipped, and I appear to be now a human barbarian named player (not what I had intended). Verify integrity of Steam files corrected issue.
Overall = Very pleased, but much room for improvement!
