The Riftstorm playtest concluded on October 30th, 2024, leaving players with a bittersweet taste. While the update introduced some exciting new features, it also brought along significant drawbacks.
The Good
New Content and Gameplay:
- Expanded Mission and Tier System: A fresh set of missions and a challenging Tier 4 have been added to the game.
- Skill-Based Challenge Tower: The Challenge Tower has been refined to focus solely on player skill, removing weapon drops and encouraging strategic gameplay.
- Intense Boss Rush Mode: A high-difficulty mode for players seeking a real test of their abilities.
- Enhanced Weapon Crafting: Players can now scrape unwanted weapon stats and craft the perfect weapon.
- Shared Weapon Vault: Weavers can now share weapons across their roster, increasing strategic flexibility.
Competitive Features:
- Community-Based Leaderboards: New community-based leaderboards offer increased competition and a sense of belonging.
- Escaping Steve: The notorious Steve can now be escaped through button-mashing, allowing for more solo play and reducing frustration.
The Bad
Balancing Issues:
- Flawed Crafting System: The current crafting system lacks balance, with rare items often outperforming legendaries, leading to confusion and frustration.
- Tower Design Flaws: Later floors of the Challenge Tower, especially Floor 27, have been criticized for their difficulty spikes, repetitive design, and reliance on specific strategies.
Competitive Integrity:
- Leaderboard and Competition Concerns: Issues with leaderboard manipulation and exploit usage have tarnished the competitive experience, raising concerns about fairness and transparency.
Endgame Content and Progression:
- Reduced Farming Efficiency: The removal of efficient farming methods like Ultimate Showdown and Operation Tombstone has left players frustrated, impacting character progression and endgame content.
Looking Ahead
The community has provided valuable feedback, with common suggestions including:
- Improved Settings Menu: More granular control over graphics options, keybinds, and accessibility settings.
- Weaver Proficiency Overhaul: A more flexible system allowing for a wider range of weapon choices and playstyles.
- Enhanced Narrative Direction: A clearer and more engaging story, particularly for new players.
- Quality-of-Life Improvements: Essential features like a return-to-lobby option, a more balanced Steve encounter, and improved inventory management.
- Flashpoint Woes: A better developed flashpoint choice to remove the QTE trained players performing a task that skews results.
- Fair Tournaments: A more equitable approach to tournaments, ensuring fair rules and regulations for all participants.
While the Riftstorm playtest offered a glimpse into the game’s future, it’s clear that there’s still work to be done. The balance issues, frustrating design choices, and lack of end-game content have left many players disappointed. However, with the right adjustments and community feedback, Riftstorm has the potential to become a truly exceptional gaming experience. As the development team continues to refine the game, it’s crucial to prioritize player experience and address the concerns raised by the community. Only then can Riftstorm deliver the thrilling, challenging, and rewarding gameplay that fans crave.
