Hello all! So I've been playing For Honor a lot over this Alpha weekend and I have to say I really like it, you've made something genuinely fun and rewarding. However, the game isn't perfect is it? 'course not so I'm going to split my criticism into two categories, gameplay (which will no doubt have many sub-sections) and progression/customization.

So lets start with the latter.

I was surprised with the depth of customisation of For Honor, I didn't expect gear to be a thing and the aesthetic choices are really nice. The problem is once you have shown a little, I want a lot. I'm sure this is something already in mind or even complete but the more armour sets, weapon additions colour schemes and symbols/engravings I have the option for, the better. Pure and simple. I can see, as each gear item has three stats, that it would make sense to have three separate sets or armour/weapons for each character, each with it's own look and purpose. The ability to keep an items buff but apply anothers aesthetic is very pleasing. The colour scheme system is somewhat restrictive, it might have simply been better to allow players to pick individual colours for themselves but I'm not put off by the system in place, my advice would be to make the colour wheels more accessible maybe make unlocking them not as arduous as the gear sets are.
Outfits are an interesting one. I was hoping they would be a skin system which radically changes the look of ones character but bar the Dev exclusives they look exactly the same with different colours. If a skin system was implemented I wouldn't even mind paying for them individually (Micro-transactions for purely aesthetic things I don't mind) as long as they aren't expensive, non of these £10 skins, more £2-£3 would be enticing. The idea of picking my own executions and emotes was also a really pleasant surprise, something more to make the character my own. You know what I'll say here, more more more...please. One idea I did have, one that I thought that would really fit in the duel system would be some form of victory poses, similar to that of Overwatch. Instead of seeing the character just stand there I would absolutely love to see a Viking bash his shield or a Samurai slice across his throat with his Katana you know? something that extenuates that satisfaction of a win.

The progression system of For Honor is interesting, leveling up characters only impacts colour/symbol options and feats, which are only available in a single game mode. For simply unlocking symbols to put on your armour I felt it was way too slow. the earlier i get those colour wheels and symbols the more fun I'll have making my character individual, if I have to play 100+ games just to unlock one Celtic cross that I might change later...it makes me wonder why I'm playing so much at all.
The gear progression was also interesting, i feel it needs to be streamlined, especially the UI. it could look a lot cleaner and explain itself a lot better I wasn't really sure if holding X would destroy the right gear piece and upgrade the one I wanted maybe use steel as the middle man? dismantle gear into steel and then use steel to upgrade gear? I feel that would turn gear into a more typical loot system which would be more appealing.

Feats I really liked, there are some that seem to have little impact, some which seem really good. The passives are great as there is often a lot to concentrate on and pressing yet another button at the right time is often a little too much for me. I felt the progression to unlock feats, whilst slow, wasn't punishingly so. I'm aching to get a longbow or catapult but doubt I'll get there in time I think that if there were more, lesser feats dotted along the path to the big flashy abilities it would make the progression and character level system a lot more appealing and fun.



Now onto the big stuff. Gameplay. I'll start with game modes as I think all else revolves around them.

Duel

Duel is probably my favorite mode, as this is where the combat system shines. You can concentrate on one opponent and it's all about timing and maneuvering. There are two criticisms I have of Duel, one of which I've already mentioned. I think they need to be more personal, more of an event. Victory poses would be amazing for this. The other thing is that I realise that quite often people don't like the idea of one on one PvP in which it is entirely about skill level as you tend to either win big or lose hard. I'd really like to see staggered difficulties of the AI for duel, it could couple up as a training system in which players can duel the AI stepping up difficulty, getting better at the game and at other game modes. I'd like to think the current AI would be intermediate, it could be easier but it could also be a lot harder, I'm not talking bots that auto parry everything you throw at them but aggressive AI, turtle AI, a bot that will try and outmaneuver you to throw you off ledges ect try and make it throw different things at us so we can experience all the facets of the combat system.

Also I need to be able to duel friends, I'm positive that will be in the game but just in case. I tried in the Alpha and I got a '1 person party required for duel' message.

Brawl

This mode is similar to duel but throws a little spice in there. The big problem this mode shows is the 2v1 combat. I'll talk a lot more about that in Dominion but I think it requires a mention here too. It's too difficult. Now you might want to keep it that way but I feel that giving players the ability to beat 2v1 more often would be great because right now it seems unless your lucky or the two opponents aren't great (i.e getting in each others way) it's a 99% win rate for the two often with heavy attack spam from two directions. I'd be reluctant to say add victory poses in here as I really like the idea of that being Duel only to make that mode appeal more, plus I think poses with multiple people is a request too far.

Dominion

This is the stinker. For all the good in your game this is where it seems to fall down, for multiple reasons. By far the worst thing in Dominion (and I've seen this mentioned a lot) is other players, friendlies more so oddly enough. I love the moments of 1v1 and whoever wins gets the reward of capturing the point, yet without fail as I ready to strike a friendly player will run in like a meat blender spamming the heavy attack button over and over whilst each guardbreak I attempt is broken by my own player. The kill-stealing and 'ganking' is a big problem with this game mode and was the primary reason why I think it's the worst, there are a couple of ideas that I think could alleviate this. Firstly make defending points very important. Every game I see players running after one another, ignoring minions and points as they try to just get that hit in, if they kill someone on a point? great they will stay a second or two to capture and then run off in search for more kills. If you gave the players an incentive to stay on the points and protect them from other heroes I feel the players running around trying to last hit wouldn't do very well. With 3 points and 4 heroes it could add a layer of strategy also, where do you send your extra hero? quickly 2v1 and grab a point or help combat the other 2v1? it would also add a great reward for winning a 1v2 fight as it would give your team a great boost. Right now hero kills are king, control points second. That needs to be flipped to allow the control points to become the focal points of duels.

My second suggestion is one I have little faith in, because I doubt very much it will be implemented or even thought about, and it's something which I think ties into the game as a whole. Scale. There is no scale in For Honor Duels are great but the other side of the spectrum is a 4v4 in what I would describe as a tiny map. This game has no sense of a real war, everything is a skirmish I would have loved to see a 10v10 game on a map the size of say...a Battlefield 1 map. Where distribution of heroes is key, where 1v1s are encouraged and running from point to point last hitting is actually impossible. More soldiers in different points would work well and allow character to level up without much threat, at least for a while. You don't have to make it a MOBA, make it a melee FPS with minions.

I was going to make a point about friendly fire also but if the kill-steal problem is alleviated I don't feel it will matter as much.


There are a few other points I'd like to make before I finish my post a couple mechanical faults and a couple improvements that I feel would benefit the game as a whole. Firstly I think the tutorial system is a little lax and the move set list is too difficult to utilize. I like the idea of a video to show me the techniques but getting half my characters move set in a very in depth combat system in one go is bad. You can't absorb everything it's telling you and more often than not I found myself picking on technique, going to duel and practicing that combo or attack until I had it down, and repeating till I felt I had enough in my locker to play properly. Whats more every time I needed a reminder of the buttons I had to back out of the duel go into heroes, pick the hero go to move set and look for it, I could use the in game menu because it didn't pause the game and I'd die before I found the button sequences. I think a way to better acclimatize new players to the combat system and all its facets is a must.

Secondly the factions as a whole, I don't see much barring aesthetic that really sets them apart? Knights have a tank and an all rounder, Vikings are probably the most cohesive but they have a counter-attacker and a grappler. Samurai have a counter-attacker and..well I don't understand Kensei I'm terrible with him/her. I'd like to see better cohesion under the factions if/when new characters come out. Maybe Knights should be the defensive point holders, Vikings the glass cannon damage dealers and Samurai the counter-attacking assassins. Right now I feel that Beserker, Kensei and probably Warden could be interchanged to any other faction whilst Conqueror, Raider and Orochi give me that sense of diversity.

Next to mechanical sugestions and I promise I'll make this quick. I'd really like some form of indicator in dominion mode that will show friendlies that a team-mate is in trouble. quite often I'll have two opponents to deal with and I'll watch a friendly run by as they seemingly have somewhere to go. Tell players that they are needed somewhere that doesn't require more player input i.e chat or pings. Which brings me to my next point, I lose a lot of kills to simply running away. I've played Orochi a lot lately and its difficult to kill with one combo but once I've hit and hit hard they don't simply play more defensively or even more aggressively they just turn and run and whilst it might be my own problem that I can't catch them I feel there needs to be more punishment for running from a fight, especially in the game called 'For Honor' maybe the attacker gets a movement boost if someone runs?

Last but not least Minions give too many points. I can not kill another hero or take a control point but if I sit in the middle and kill minions all game I'll end up at the top of the leader board. I don't feel that's right.

Anywho's that is my two cents and I hope its all seen as constructive criticism rather than 'Oh he is just salty, he is bad, I win lots so the game is perfect'. I'd really like some form of confirmation that someone important has read by thoughts? and maybe a reply about what might happen in the future or how these points might be tackled would be ******* lovely. So, all in all, great game loved it and eager to play more and watch it improve!!

Oh I'm a PS4 player by the way.