Hey guys,
I’m having a blast with Underrail! The game will definitely become a new classic. I will make a proper review afterwards. Below follows some suggestions to improve the game. If they were already made or are mistaken, just ignore.
The Journal
The journal (aka notes) needs to be look with care. Some quests are poorly presented. For instance, the quest about the outposts is presented in a way that lead me to believe that I should activate at least three power generators in the outposts. Most players would not expect that you can activate the outposts using just the switches, which for all purposes look exactly like light switches.
Another big problem is that in most of the time the journal does not keep the player updated. Based on his experience with other games and common sense, the player will naturally assume that he didn’t accomplished a task if the journal doesn’t track his actions. This is especially problematic when a NPC say one important thing only one time. If you don't take notes yourself, you are fucked. For instance, in "Study the rock creatures", I talked to Quinton about the creatures and said that he wanted to study a Borer. I thought that bringing him just a gland would be enough, but he wanted a live creature.
Please understand that I don’t think that the games should treat the players as babies and hold their hands. I thought that the lack of maps adds value to the gameplay, making the player more focused. This is a good frustration, in a manner of speaking. But I can’t say the same thing about the journal, which is just plain obscure.
The Foundry
The foundry's mayor is too hidden. I spend a ridiculous amount of time killing every creatures at the cave, talking to everyone, doing every side quest. I was kind getting desperate until I found the mayor. You should make Marcus and Saban mention that you should talk to the mayor on the west part of the foundry, or something similar.
If the player decides to kill Olivia, her body stands there and nobody gives a dam, even after killing the beast. This looks so lame. At least make Marcus or Saban look what happened after the car in the mine hits her, or something similar.
Mercantile
The mercantile skill, like in most games, is broken. I thought that it would be useful since the vendors are so selective about what they want to buy, but I was wrong. Especially after the beginning, your enemies provide an enormous quantity of loot, including money. I have 30 points in mercantile, but felt that I waste these points. After finishing the first quests in SGS and opening the tunnel, I had a lot of money. Now I have more money that I can spend. The only opportunities to use the skill is with bargains that I don’t need. I don’t know if there are some skill checks that I don’t know, but It would be interesting providing some special item or dialogue opportunity with this skill. You could also restrict a little more the amount of money in NPCs, but I imagine this would upset most players.
A “compare” button
It would be nice if the game had a “compare” button in the inventory, like the one Pillars of Eternity is using. The player is always trying to compare his armor, vest, gear, helmet, headband, etc., with the ones he will eventually discover or take.
Other stuff
Quinton old lines don’t disappear. This is a hassle because I have to select the trade option in the middle of all the other options (“Which creature is that?”, etc), every single time I talk to him again. The same thing holds about Elzar and other NPCs.
Font in the character screen should be adjustable.
Tabi boots
Taylor requirements don’t appear.
Typos
Intelligence “that focuses on science as all disciplines [that] are dependent on it”
In Core City, Ai Fabet says “Why do even you carry all that junk with you?”, but the correct is “Why do you even carry all that junk with you?”
