Night’s Dawn was so immensely frustrating. He revisits some of the same ideas in later books to much better effect IMO and skips over some of the terrible stuff.
The biological starships were great but then we have the ghost of Al Capone possessing a body and leading a war against unpossessed humanity? That was fucking awful.
The Culture is nothing but gold though. Recently revisited Inversions and it’s still amazing.
As a counterpoint, I’ve not had any problem with the weapons. I went with the whip though. I think there are 4 or 5 - you pick one to start with and unlock the rest throughout the game.
It does take a minute to get the timing right on the burrow mechanic because you do jump up before diving underground and you’re vulnerable during that jump. I grew up with the NES though, so that old school style is what I got used to. I learned how to swim through the underwater plants in TMNT; I beat Link’s Adventure without the…cheat thing I can’t remember because I’m old now… Game Genie.
It is far darker than the art style let’s on though.
I read Great North Road and several other of his books before I read Nights Dawn, so those “repeated” ideas added to my frustration with the trilogy. Had I read them the other way around, I bet that would changed my opinion some.
Have you read Exodus yet? I have it on my shelf but have been in the mood for shorter reads lately.