It's more and more often that I try an open world game and think to myself how much better it would have been if I could just select a mission from a menu.
Well, there’s an audience for it. I love long-form critiques, to the point where I’m generally less inclined to bother with anything less than around 45 minutes because it’s just not enough time to explore anything with the kind of depth that interests me the most (that’s a pretty loose rule though, some topics can be incredibly interesting but just don’t need a long-form analysis).
This essay actually covers about…9 games in the series I think? (1, 2, Tactics, Brotherhood of Steel, 3, New Vegas, a mobile game, 4, and 76). That includes all DLC as well, so it averages about 1-1.5 hours per game (variably, BoS and the mobile game both get significantly less time). And it is split into chapters with the YouTube feature.
I do know that’s still not appealing for everyone. I appreciate the top comment on the video: “Sweet baby Jesus.”
Yeah, I feel like I gave the impression this is just a full gameplay video or something. It’s not, it’s a critical analysis.
He does essentially review each game, but he also talks about stuff like the different paradigms of art in games: narrative, gameplay, choice, environmental design and storytelling, as well as their intersections (or their lack). For this series especially, he highlights those elements in contrast between the Interplay/Obsidian games and the Bethesda games.
I’m not actually interested in playing the games, but I love this kind of critique.
Items are usually at the center of each "puzzle" but it's mostly trial and error. Blocks covering the item can't be broken and become marked if you try - it's pretty simplistic on that front.
There are different types of blocks surrounding the item that require different approach (some need multiple prods, others have to be tackled from a specific side) but, at least in its current form, it's not a complicated system. I hope they'll add some challenge later on but that depends on what kind of experience they're aiming for.
I'd say give it a shot if you're curious - they have a demo on their Steam page.
An honest-to-goodness single-player Arkane game, with Dishonored 2’s caliber of level design, would probably be the catalyst that finally convinced me to get an Xbox.
I was almost relieved that Redfall arrived as such a dud because I didn’t have to make this decision on that game’s behalf. Still boggles my mind Bethesda took the minds behind the greatest modern immersive sims and assigned them a live service game. What a waste.
They did this over and over again with a lot of their teams, didn't find a breakout hit like they wanted, and then looked for a buyer, which seemingly was nearly Sony and ended up being Microsoft. Chasing the live service thing is why we got Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Fallout 76, as well as Redfall. Hopefully they're done with that nonsense now.
People quite liked Prey. There was an article that came out about Redfall's development where they had something like 70% of the studio leaving because they were put to work on a live service game, but the kind of person who applies to Arkane is interested in the type of game that Arkane is known for, not what they were tasked with building. This led to them filling out the studio with inexperienced developers as they replaced more experienced talent that moved on to other companies.
I’m not terribly familiar with the franchise personally. I had twice tried and failed to get into Fallout 3 back when it was released, and I’ve seen a video or two elsewhere (I think Hbomberguy did a video on a couple of the games a while back).
This video goes through every single game in the series (including Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel) sequentially, starting with the main game and then each expansion/DLC. He talks about story and gameplay, but also about the stories of their productions, the various influences that inspired the general feel of the universe, successes and failures, and how the identity of the series shifted as it changed hands.
So to answer your question, the highlight is that I feel like a certified expert without ever having really played any of the games. It’s also just ultimately 9.5 hours (7.5 confirmed) of high quality critical content.
I’m coming back here a day later to say that in the couple hours I’ve played this game, I don’t think I’m having fun.
Maybe if you want a really light survival sim, this would be good. But as a building game, it’s not that enjoyable. You are not going to quickly or easily build up interesting structures like in Minecraft (or even Dragon Quest Builders). I spent so much time trying to make my own little shack, but the roof piece they provide wouldn’t fit on my walls at all until it was structured more like their pre-made recipe of how a shack should be.
And I couldn’t even really tell why my roof wasn’t attaching because I was on the ground. There’s no quick way to build up some makeshift stairs like you might in those other games to get a better view. You just have to stand on the ground and try to maneuver the piece somewhat blindly.
There was a moment that I needed an axe because I needed wood because I needed to build more walls. But my workbench was out in the open and it started to rain. You can’t craft anything in the rain; it has to be sheltered (and I was trying to build up shelter for the darn workbenches to begin with!). So your option at that point is to punch trees/shrubs for wood. Not the end of the world. But it’s just frustrating you can’t craft a tool in that situation. So if you want to explore out and make a new camp, you definitely have to cover any new workbench. And in something like Minecraft, that’s trivial. That’s like 20 seconds. But here it’s a process.
youtu.be
Aktywne