Criticism and what I would improve about Doom Eternal

Let’s get this out of the way first, I fucking love Doom Eternal.

however, after reading multiple posts in this forum and thinking about it for a while, I’ve realized that the game while great, could do with some tweaks to make it better. My problem with the game is the inherent fat and lack of streamline in game mechanics.

some fixes I would’ve done include:

- removal of grenades. They’re cool, but we already have the grenade launcher attachment for that.

- keep the flame-belch

- less cool down based gameplay. For example, to recharge the chainsaw you don’t have to wait for a timer, instead you could charge it through glory kills, a bit like the Blood Punch so you don’t have to stand around waiting for it to charge. The more demons you glory kill, the larger the charge.

- remove blood punch. That’s it.

- Crucible can deflect projectiles, make it more melee based instead of a one kill weapon. 
- keep weapons as is, but I’d probably change the HAR to look more similar to ‘16.

thats all I can think off.

While also really enjoy Eternal (especially the DLC so far), I would like to see more levels with labyrinth-esq design. Blood Swamps are a good start, but it doesn't quite reach some of the insanely explorative heights in classic Doom like E3M6, or the Map 27 of Doom 2. 

Also, I would also like to see the crucible reworked into something more interesting, though I'm sure how to integrate a melee weapon with disturbing the balance of Eternal's combat.

@BetaMarine I only really like the idea of the Chainsaw refueling with glory kills, but I would probably make it a rune.

If you got rid of the grenades and blood punch you would need to weaken heavy demons. These are must use tools in higher difficulties.

I would like to see the Crucible be more effective against Marauders. Not kill them but disable their shields for the fight. A second swipe would kill them. Heavy cost in Crucible ammo but an option for quick Marauder kills.

I would also have the Unmaker a Marauder shield breaker at expense of some ammo.

My biggest and most frequent criticism of Eternal is the pacing of the story, difficulty and mechanic inclusions. Essentially they all happen so suddenly and forcefully.

If they had the ice grenade in Doom 2016 it may have helped players understand its value in Eternal. More realistically many developers create dedicated segments that warrants and teaches the players about a newly introduced mechanic. Eternal's tutorials feels disruptive and didn't ease me in using it until I learned the hard way.

-Not remplacing granades as there it's importance of them, but maybe adding more as Doom 2016, because Ice bomb it's the more OP.

Making the Crucible trow laser slades, something like the Marauder Axe trows. But that make charges low, but will help to kill from a middle range in 1 shot.

Maybe changes the chaingun to have explosives shots. But that's overkill.

4 hours ago, BetaMarine said:

- removal of grenades. They’re cool, but we already have the grenade launcher attachment for that.

- remove blood punch. That’s it.

No. Ice Bomb is invaluable and you are rarely ever going to use the shotgun late game.

Why would you want to remove useful crowd control? You gain literally nothing by removing BP.

Blood punch and ice grenade definitely should stay. Maybe the normal grenades can go because there’s explosive weaponry in the standard arsenal (shotgun, Balista, rocket launcher, even upgraded HAR).

They took the stun mod from the plasma rifle so the ice bomb is the only thing that can freeze enemies in a fight

Give me the Gauss and I’m happy. Give me the Pistol as well and it’s Christmas

In regards to grenades,

The problem with the combat shotgun grenade launcher is that is that the L1/left button grenade is 10x more efficient. It allows you to launch a grenade while you're using another gun. You don't have to switch from ballista to grenade launcher before you can explode some demons.

So, if they were to remove one method for grenade utilization, it 100% should be the combat shotgun.

I don't really like the idea of the glory kill recharging the chainsaw, it would work if, like with the cool down, it only recharges one slot, but if you were able to get infinite charges (allowing you to take out mid-tier demons) it would basically be an infinite crucible. I would also not remove the grenades and blood punch, it would make taking out cyber mancubuses way more painful, the blood punch is also a good tool for crowd control, I use it a lot, actually.

Damn this is some good shit. Keep it up bois and girls cuz y’all got some useful insight i loved reading!

Abt the cool downs, i can see it being pretty difficult to rebalance because there’s the unintended side-effect of making or braking the entire game.

@Egg Boy exactly my thoughts abt how the Chainsaw should be handled. Def would’ve been better if it charges one slot, not multiple lol.

@Dr. Toboggan agreed. But the ice grenade is too op.

@Super Mighty G we wont gain anything from removing BP, nor will we lose anything by removing it ;)

Getting rid of platforming and adding some actual exploration in maps. That's it.

28 minutes ago, Martin-CAI said:

Getting rid of platforming and adding some actual exploration in maps. That's it.

You mean get rid of boring platforming, not platforming entirely. My problem is shit like wall-climbing. Wouldn’t it be more interesting if more platforming sections used elements of the gameplays combat? I’m talking using Cacodemons to get to a flying platform instead of dashing, wall-climb rinse and repeat yknow?

-Better writing/more cohesive storytelling

-Removal of floating lore cards

-Removal of boring/pointless platforming

-Toning down of the more arcade looking powerups and pickups

-More focus on grim atmosphere

-More master levels/more replayability

-Arcade mode like 2016

-Bring back and improve SnapMap

-Better multiplayer, ditch Battlemode

-Improvement of enemy models. 2016 had a lot of models that were more detailed than the ones in DE

-Better implementation of the chainsaw in regards to refueling

-Maps that encourage more exploration

-Add a pistol that is useful like 2016

-Better/more boss battles

17 minutes ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

-Better writing/more cohesive storytelling

-Removal of floating lore cards

-Removal of boring/pointless platforming

-Toning down of the more arcade looking powerups and pickups

-More focus on grim atmosphere

-More master levels/more replayability

-Arcade mode like 2016

-Bring back and improve SnapMap

-Better multiplayer, ditch Battlemode

-Improvement of enemy models. 2016 had a lot of models that were more detailed than the ones in DE

-Better implementation of the chainsaw in regards to refueling

-Maps that encourage more exploration

-Add a pistol that is useful like 2016

-Better/more boss battles

 

I believe and agree with everything you said. Thumbs up 👍 

- Work on the pacing and making the campaign flow better, the game doesn't take enough time to ease you in, this stops being an issue with repeated replays, but it can be a turn-off to other people, it's something to keep in mind for the future.

- Bring back the multiplayer modes from 2016, or at least TDM / DM, Warpath and Clan Arena. a co-op campaign would be sweet too. Battle Mode is kinda lame imo, but I guess you can leave it as an option.

- Tell your story in a better way, I don't want to read dozens of codex words just to get an idea of what's going on.

- Bring back the more creepy looking monsters and the darker vibes of 2016, give me more of that stupid, edgy shit.

Most of these are unlikely to happen without another proper sequel, I don't think just updates and DLCs are going to address these, but a man can dream.

All I'd like is a bit more seriousness in the story and darker tone/atmosphere.

-Give bosses some more attacks, but get rid of constantly spawning enemies. Instead have minions confined to specific phases or have the boss actually need to use an attack to summon them.

-Make the Argent Blade into a more versatile and unique melee rather than a better chainsaw (That aside, I was slightly disappointed you don't get to have a sword fight with Hayden >_>)

-Make the platforming more challenging. I once read that "The difficulty is in figuring out where to go, rather than actually doing it", and I completely agree with them there. Some combat during the platforming would be nice too, what with all the mobility you've got in this game.

-Permanent gibs and corpses option for the PCs that can handle it.

-Make the Marauder more dynamic. If you don't know how to fight him, he's basically untouchable, but when you do, he's a joke. If he didn't have this unbreakable autoshield but were smarter then he'd feel a lot more like a "Rival" than just some exploitable AI.

- Ditto on the Crucible point @xdarkmasterx said. You can't tease lightsabers and battleaxes, then not follow through with it!

- Meat Hook targeting needs a lot of work. It's still way too unreliable. 

- Rework the Marauder so he's more like a Quake 3/ Unreal Tournament bot, not a "Invincible except when he winks" thing.

- Refocus the story a bit more. I don't mind if it's goofy or serious, but right now it's just a mountain of "stuff" that doesn't have any coherence to it, while being passed off as if it does. 

- Bring back Deathmatch. Even if it still has fodder enemies for ammo and stuff, bring back DM and TDM, and for gods sake, no two weapon load-out system. 

A slightly faster movement speed would be gud

Grenades and the combat shotgun’s grenade launcher fulfill different purposes, removing one because the other exists doesn’t make sense.

Combat shotgun grenades are for clearing hordes, and is all around a reliable weapon that cost minimal ammo. Actual grenades are much more powerful and are used as a guaranteed falter against demons, and play a large role in other combos in general. Same with blood punch, since it’s also a guaranteed falter used for combos.

Remove either one or both and all demons heavy and above need to be nerfed because they can not longer be reliably faltered, and if you want to know how bad it is to play against demons who can’t be faltered, look at the Spirit and now imagine that with every demon minus their extra health/speed.

I would reconsider the platforming elements. They’re not bad per se but they do tend to halt every bit of forward momentum. A little bit goes a long way. 

I would also like to see some variety in movement mechanics—a slide (maybe even a slide tackle/takedown) or wall jump. And homeboy needs a quick turn badly. 

The maps are a bit big. Wouldn’t be a problem if there was more to do/see. 

Generally, weapon trees are too big without being particularly interesting. Choice is good but a) make them choices and b) make them matter. Maybe a controversial take but I don’t think you should be able to max out every weapon; you should be forced to specialize and make sacrifices. 

EDIT: for the love of god please let me ADS. The weak points on some of these monsters aren’t really amenable to hipfire. 

more enviro hazards and arena gimmicks. Love kiting monsters into crushers. 

if they have to have a story at least make it a good one with more show and less exposition dumps and lore pages. 

bring back real infighting :( I imagine it was sacrifice for the sake of the GAMEPLAY LOOP and with how many enemies have ground pounds and aoe attacks but I miss those funny incidental moments where a hell knight craters an imp or a pinky plows thru zombies like bowling pins. 

7 hours ago, uzi said:

 

 

EDIT: for the love of god please let me ADS. The weak points on some of these monsters aren’t really amenable to hipfire. 

That’s what the precision bolt is for, and the switch speed for it is so fast it’s hard to not incorporate it into everything you do eventually.

Add cheats that let 68 year old guys like me play the game. I am to slow to jump (maybe that's called platforming) What are ya gonna do though, eh?

All you'd have to do is double the max ammo and the problems with the game go away. I understand that id/Hugo wanted to put an emphasis on making your shots count, and I'm sure they didn't intend for Rich get Richer and certain weapon upgrades to completely bust Doom 4, but you don't have to fucking make the ammo count half of what you got in the IWADs without the backpack. 

I'm pretty sure a lot of that is due to using high capacity magazines as a reference for the max ammo. For example:

-The shotgun ammo maxes out at 24 because Eternal's shotgun has some distinct visual similarities to the Kel-Tec KSG-25, which can carry 25 shells.

-The heavy cannon maxes out at 100 because drum magazines for M-16/AR platforms are in that range.

-The plasma rifle maxes out at 150 because that's a standard box magazine size for light machine guns.

The ammo limit especially bites you in the ass early in the game since in theory when you pick the first weapon mod for the shotgun, both should be equally effective, but in practice you're all but forced to pick the sticky grenade because you don't have enough ammo to make the full auto mod viable until late game. "But then you wouldn't use the chainsaw", you'd say, but simply doubling the ammo would encourage the player to use it even more. I'd also add an alt-fire to the chainsaw where you use it like in classic Doom, so there's a viable method of attacking when you're out of ammo and waiting for the cooldown to end instead of having to endlessly wander around the map waiting for a Possessed to spawn.

I apologize if some of these points have already been said, but here's what I think:

-Give the Flame Belch upgrades so it feels more like a weapon and less like an armor generator

-Either cut back on the gratuitous lore or at least make it feel more like Doom 2016 where the game was actively thumbing its nose at the concept of plot

-Either have more bits like in Cultist Base where you get to control demons just so it feels less like a Battlemode plug, or completely cut out the one bit that's already in there

-Give Sentinel Prime more battles before the Gladiator fight

-Have there be some more risk/reward incentive for using the Chainsaw on bigger demons, like temporarily raising your ammo count past the limit if you do so

-This ties into point #2, but never make Doomguy speak again, ever

I waffle on whether I like D16 or DE more, but I think a replay of both would help me decide. I want to say DE does more interesting things but I have more criticisms with it than its predecessor. Tough call.

It's perhaps worth noting that I'm not actually done with Doom Eternal yet (just got to Taras Nabad) so forgive me if any of this sounds stupid, but here's what comes to my mind:

1. Remove 1-ups. Just kill me the old-fashioned way. I'm an adult, I can take it.

2. Remove improved air control as a rune, and just give you its effects by default. In both 2016 and Eternal this was the rune I got first because it alone makes the game feel so much more fluid and fun, and I can't imagine taking it off for any reason whatsoever which basically means I'm only choosing 2 runes I like instead of 3.

3. Why in god's green earth is there a button to switch between Flame Belch and Ice Bomb and a button to fire the selected one?? If there are only two options you're switching between, just have one button to shoot one and the other button to shoot the other.

4. Potentially a hot take, but bring the number of mods per weapon down from 2 to 1. Having such a huge number of options feels more overwhelming than exciting to me, and for almost every weapon there's one mod that is clearly much better than the other (like why would you EVER use Remote Detonate when Lock-on Burst is an option, why would you EVER use Micro Missiles when Precision Bolt is an option, etc.). This is exacerbated by the fact that switching mods mid-fight is a much bigger commitment than just switching weapons, and often yields less significant effects (for instance, if I have the Shotgun with Sticky Bombs equipped and all of a sudden I need to apply sustained fire, I'll never switch to Full Auto. I'll just pull out the Chaingun.), so altogether I barely ever switch mods once I find the better one. I think the Super Shotgun is one of the most fun and intuitive weapons to use in part because it has only a single mod which fulfills a very unique function specifically designed to synergize well with the core weapon instead of having to be held back by being just one of two options, and seeing that design philosophy spread to all the other weapons would trim a lot of fat from the player's arsenal, imo. Obviously this would take a LOT of rebalancing compared to all the points aforementioned, so this would be a full-on sequel thing instead of a "man I wish this slight change was implemented in Eternal" thing, but still.

5. I'm not altogether sure how I feel about Blood Punch; it is undoubtedly useful and there is a fair amount of gameplay content balanced to accommodate for its existence, but it still just feels kinda superfluous to me and I think with some rebalancing it could easily be phased out of the gameplay loop without losing much substantial. Frag Grenade and Ice Bomb are already crowd control options you can use to do up-close bursts of AOE damage; while you're missing out on the instantaneousness of the Blood Punch, I think the timing and spacing and situational awareness required by the grenades makes them more inherently interesting options because it leads to a greater sense of risk that you'll be punished if you don't use them well for their intended purpose. You can just kinda throw out Blood Punch if you're uncomfortable and not much bad will usually come of it.

1. Go back to 2016's writing direction. That cutscene where the Slayer's reaction to Hayden's prattle is conveyed entirely by where he moves his gaze? Perfection. That cutscene in Eternal where he speaks? Terrible.

2. Cut down on the memes and references. You're winking at the player, that's fine, but it's a wink, you know? It's supposed to be subtle. You're not supposed to put a flashing light on your head and scream "I'm winking at you, lolz" at the top of your lungs to try to cover the foghorn noise you're also making at the same time.

3 hours ago, CammyBanana said:

1. Remove 1-ups. Just kill me the old-fashioned way. I'm an adult, I can take it.

2. Remove improved air control as a rune, and just give you its effects by default. 

3. Why in god's green earth is there a button to switch between Flame Belch and Ice Bomb and a button to fire the selected one?? 

4. Potentially a hot take, but bring the number of mods per weapon down from 2 to 1. 

5. I'm not altogether sure how I feel about Blood Punch; 

1. I trink 1-ups have a place for the more frenetic levels in high difficulty, and i trink it's balanced for the nigthmare difficulty. There's also the option to play without 1-Ups already, so don't remove.

2. Yes please, sometimes when i got the chance to play, i don't use always the air control and while it's good for small arenas, it's still a let down for the speed that you gain, should be default or something that you get in game (like the jump boots on Doom 2016)

3. Yes please.

4. A Hot take, and really i dont see it, in really Eternal gameplay it's a level of replayability and complex that removing the weapons mods it's a let down it's something happens in futures Doom, as really the level of gameplay that's give some weapons mods changes are really great.

Try the plasma wavecannon+ FullAuto Shotgun to remove any mid tier enemy fast, and change to Remote Detonation to stun more Demons already stunned for the wave cannon, it's really great combos that's remind me of full action game that's it's better that fasted fps because if you make all this and destroy the arena, it's not only was the mods, it's was how you make the combo and you're playing better.

5- I feel it they just fix the bug where it's sometimes don't do nothing it's will be like a good fasted berserker punch so i'll love it to use it more.

For the story topics of @Gez i don't really care, i enjoyed how the game explained the story and i liked better that 2016 but i understand it's really different, but i hope they get a better middle ground. 

Kindly note that I finished both games DOOM 2016 & Eternal on the nightmare difficulty and fairly enjoyed them both…

The game is just  too action oriented … it leaves no room for a tense and horror like atmosphere like Doom 3… which basically was following up the main guidelines of the originals but fell short in the combat section. Doom 1 & 2 are heavily focused on combat but they can be very atmospheric and scary at the same time… this is what Eternal is missing!  It has good combat but it lacks atmosphere. It just feels too arcade like …Doom 2016 had a better atmosphere but less effective combat. Originals remain the most versatile. I mean you cannot feel excited to get a pickup in Eternal when your health is 3% like in Doom 1 & 2 it just doesn’t happen. Those games can provoke different feelings in gameplay by the virtue of their simple design. They can make you feel scared, threatened and/or they can make you feel the heat of combat. Doom 3 nailed the atmosphere but missed the combat part… Doom 2016 & Eternal had great Combat … but to a certain extent missed the atmosphere…

After playing Doom Eternal I started pressing the shift key in my Quake Champions sessions; then wondered why my DOOM Slayer isn’t dashing! LOL …

By the way DOOM Eternal Feels like playing many champions at the same time … You are fast like Anarki  You can burn Enemies like Death Knight, etc.…. too much to count u are basically all in one

On what i think could have been added:

* Ingame gallery for concept art, specially because there's still art that neither the 2016 or Eternal art books have and it having some sort of "digital" preservation in the games is like the closest to the ideas being in the game, even if non-directly.

* Same for a music jukebox, specially for cut/unused music or even hidden/obscure tracks like the Sweet Little Dead Bunny track.

* A horde mode is technically a no-brainer, specially if making use of new features, additions, a bit of expansion of the enemy roster or even guns like the unused pistol. Like, a mode mostly just to dick around for the fun of it.

On what i think could have been changed:

* Giving specific action buttons to the shoulder cannon abilities is something everyone agrees could have been considered. Because i still remember when the ice bomb wasn't considered (before a stream in October i think), so you can tell that ability was added later ingame and they forgot to change how you would use it.

* Air control being detault is also a good one.

* Armor being a literal second HP could have at least either be an upgrade or from a specific item, because otherwise, it sounds lazy.

* I also feel like actual armor/health bonuses could return, even with the RPG style of upgrade systems.

* The overall 1-up/arcade aesthetic of items is a solution for a problem that technically existed (might as well be because of the "overly complex" art style in style) but i feel like it could have been a lot better. Whether it means simplifying the overall art style a bit more, so items are more "object/lore/aesthetic friendly" like, because i feel like they could have gone creative with objects in the setting(s). Specially with different variants like the collectable toys being inside of boxes in different themes (UAC box, Cultist box, Earth cardboard box, Hell chest, Maykr chest, Sentinel chest etc) and even if Doom was always videogamey, it never really had that arcade direction that was in maybe Wolfenstein 3D.

* It's even moreso the case with mandatory/one-time/story items like the Dash, because they're not even in heated combat situations. Not only did they miss the opportunities for more interesting/memorable/fitting items, they also may be an indication of the art style being to "triple A-ish" that it either has those types of pick ups or the ones in 2016, that felt like weird items barely being distinguished from their environments. (i know id was always about graphical achievments but still)

* Something Doom 2016's multiplayer did right is having every DLC available after a while, because the time based event methods behind cosmetics and other contents (and also the Twitch Prime subscrition and maybe stuff tied to Slayer's Club and all) could hurt preservation/access/longevity. It feels like a very "FOMO/Fear Of Missing Out" method to get players "hooked" when the game doesn't really need to. I can tell effort went into those, so with that in mind, making content only for it to disappear is technically an unfortunate trend in the industry and seeing it in Doom of all places (even besides the open source/mod part or John Carmack's beliefs) seems a bit worried. Like, who knows what precendent it could set for the future.

* Speaking of longevity, in general they should consider what would happen once Eternal stops being supported, because i don't recall even 2016's multiplayer (or even the one of Doom 3) having actual off-line bots modes. Might be wrong but the clock is technically ticking. Even if something doesn't seem much, it's still history that could've been preserved and trying to do so isn't really going to harm sales or public interest, regardless of what Nintendo tells you.

* A lot of later updates on rebalancing the singleplayer also seemed odd, specially making some cheats not affect certain weapons when them being game-breaking is technically the point.

As for things i thought might be suited more for an expansion, sequel or even a technically different game:

* I still feel like a lot can be done with enemy variety, in terms of attacks, abilities and new types. Even if you had to figure out strategies for enemies, weaknesses, placement or ways to empower the player a bit.

* The new games are technically their type of Doom, so they don't need to be the "Doom in HD" some people dreamed of in 2008 but i feel like there's still some things to take from classic designs, like Doomguy's helmet being painted grey or white seemed more of a crucial aspect of the original marine than whether or not the arms are exposed.

* Speaking of that and how i talked about classic Doom Hell, maybe doing more on what that Hell presented because there's a potential for versatility/abstraction/horror/surrealism in classic Hell that doesn't seem to be present in modern levels. Not sure if it's just the art direction or even lore but i feel like anyone that played Inferno and past that would assume of Hell being some weird shapeshifting dimension with different themes and even the Super Gore Nest and Cultist base technically feel different from the SKINTEK textures and how people imagined Hell to be like. If anything, the amount of stuff that was done in some mods and even some designs in Doom 3 could prove how weird Hell can technically be, even if it breaks the new established lore. (would it be weird to take inspiration from something like SMT)

* While at it, that may also apply to the chittin looks of the demons. And since these games want to be cartoony, maybe either taking a bit more from older designs/style or even something cel-shaded could work. A good combo of cartoonyness but also a bit of grittyness. (Doom was never super edgy but it was the kind of series some people would think of contradicting a certain status of sorts, even if not as much as Duke 3D)

* Even if Urdak is settled as the "Doom Heaven" i feel like they could still use more variety and weirdness, because if Hell in Doom was a mixbag of themes (most of which even reflected on enemies and had potential for more diversity) i feel like Heaven/Urdak could have been more than what it is too.

* If they ever do bring back Doomguy's status bar face in the HUD, i feel like that could lead to it being retouched a bit so he feels a bit more faithfull.

* Speaking of Doomguy, him being hurt or "doomed" is what i think to be important to him. Even if he's tough, a dynamic of Doomer and Doomed would make him deeper and representative of the series as a whole.

* When it comes to platforming and experimental on level design, i don't mind most of the things being done and would probably want to see more new ideas implemented.

* In terms of fanservice and references, not only could it be a bit more subtle but it could also be a bit more than what it is. I know these games are technically inspired by certain memes around Doom, but both the series and the fanbase/outside of it have more history being what a more general take from pop culture thought Doom was. Because otherwise, you get the feeling they're aiming for more super casual fans when referencing something less popular could maybe make newcomers even more interested in a Doom universe that is deeper than what it seems at first.

* As for story and lore, i feel like the least/most i could say is that Doom as a series may not really need a universe. To me, anything being done with Doom, regardless of art style, continuity or gameplay, is already expansion and because of that, creating a universe could limit some potential ideas, depending on how strict some rules can be. Specially a game with a different art style and story gets to experiment with 2016/Eternal originated ideas, like for example, the Soulcube from Doom 3 having a unique design in Doom 2 RPG or just the recurring Doom 2 roster and their changes. Doom as a series being about experimentation and innovation could also apply here. It's also in case some concepts could be executed differently or how much you can do with them. Or even what could be done with other corners of the franchise. And by the looks at the fanbase and the series' impact, the setting being "open" or even a bit of a mess probably has its benefits, even today.

* Even if by "innovation" i mean taking ideas that one could see from elsewhere but would technically be fresh in Doom, whether it's other games or even some mods.

I feel like i forgot some points i wanted to bring or even what else to say about them and also may have fucked something up.

Probably because most of these are points i said elsewhere and maybe too many times.

But also because some of it could technically be wrong or argued against, specially with taking more from classic Doom designs as an example.

Edit: might also add that the Prowler could have been under fodder and next time, upgrades could have been pick ups or interactable objects that give one specific change to the player, if it's telegraphic in some way, because RPG menu's in Doom are still a weird concept.