http://dbd.game/killswitch
My review of Dead by Daylight [Warning: Long]
Good evening community. I would like to share my opinions / analysis / criticisms / suggestions regarding the game. I have been playing for about 2 years on the console (PS4) and I found it interesting to share my observations. (un)Fortunately I will not address bugs / DCs.
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This game is not noob-friendly:
For both killer and survivor. I say this because when I tried to play survivor I stopped playing and only came back because of a friend who invited me to SWF and that's when I escaped for the first time. If it weren't for him, I would have quit the game for good. At the time I needed about 2 to 3 matches to collect 3k points and be able to buy something on the bloodweb because I didn't understand the mechanics of the game in general and most of the time my team didn't either. When playing killer, you have the feeling that you can never reach that survivor, even if ironically you are faster than him.
"Play more and you will understand" dilemma:
If you tell me that in order to have fun I need to have "amazing skills", the first thing I'm going to think is: ok, how do I do it? The only problem is that the game don't tell me. I am not against building or developing skill in gameplay as long as I can understand basic mechanics that help me in my survival / killing without having to leave the game to seek more information as a beginner in a youtube channel or a streamer.
A game may be asymmetrical by nature of gameplay but it must be fair in the distribution of information on both sides so that a novice is not at an abyssal disadvantage with someone who has been playing for a long time.
Suggestion: add an intermediate tutorial that explains loops, junglegym, strategies, applaying pressure and the importance of the team.
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"Unlock endless perks to diversify your fun now ... and for the next 3 months too"
I believe that I don't need to justify or make a long text to say that this game is overly grindy. I appreciate that my "dedication" is noticed when unlocking things for playing, but for god sake. Worst of all, this only tends to get worse with the release of more chapters.
Suggestion 1: The survivor starts with their 3 main perks at level 3.
Suggestion 2: Update the sanctuary of secrets to be 8 teachable perks each week.
Note: I have no ideas to contribute to the bloodweb of each character but I still think that 2 perks per page at level 50 is not enough.
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"Useless Offers and Add-Ons"
Inevitably when leveling up my character on the bloodweb I am forced to spend bloodpoints for offerings that do not benefit me or add-on that do not fit my gameplay. Why would I want to go to Mont Ormond or Haddonfield as a killer? Yeah, I don't want to, so I have dozens of these items saved and that I will never use. Or better yet: I was forced to buy an event offering to progress on the bloodweb and I have to wait for that event to come back, who knows when. The same applies to add-ons.
Suggestion for offering: add a mechanic in which either I get my bloodpoints back / partially, or that I can transform one offering into another.
Example 1: event offers that cost 4k can be returned for 4k or 2k.
Example 2: join 3 offerings of a map so that it gives me the possibility to choose another one, etc.
Add-on suggestion: a system that allows me to disassemble a very rare add-on to get a common one and vice versa.
I honestly don't know how people don't bother with how many bloodpoints we spend on items we don't want.
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"Killer is too stressful"
It is not the first, second or tenth time that I hear this and certainly you too. The vast majority of killers in this community are saying that their role is stressful / frustrating / a pain. The vast majority are NOT saying they can't get kills, they have been saying for a long time that the role demands way more and is stressful. One of my biggest concerns is the developers silence in the face of this frustration.
Find out why / how to improve and listen to this player base that is just as important as survivors.
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Anyway ...
These are my final considerations. Dead by daylight is a fun game but the feeling is that it takes too long, it takes waaaaay too long to make simple adjustments to improve game quality for both sides.
One of the things I would love to see in DbD would be another gamemode, whatever it is. The game itself is cool but 3 and a half years with the same recipe makes me yearn for something different.
I am currently watching Marth play Last Year and I am amazed how the game has improved. I will be watching this promising game more closely while also waiting for REsistance and Predator Hunting Grounds. I believe that having a game competing with DbD will be very beneficial for the asymmetric games category and its playerbase in general.
In addition, I thank you for spending your time reading my feedback and I hope the game improves.