Yo this game has some of the most replayable game design in games. Let me tell you why:
- the level design is fluid, it transitions seamlessly through cutscene and in-game with no loading screens, making it optimal for replays
- checkpoints are frequent and often
- the accessibility options are through the roof. This makes it to where even more people can play it again and again
- YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE THE DIFFICULTY OPTIONS - We played Hard and Survivor mode with default difficulty options but high item encounter rate, that way we could enjoy the brutal AI difficulty but still have access to plenty of items for creative encounter management.
- each major encounter is set in a mini-sandbox where you choose if/when you will engage your enemy in a very metal gear solid-esque manner, where you also choose how to engage your enemy.
- the enemy types are varied enough to flex different gameplay styles, and I argue that this is interesting and effective. Trying to stealth your way through an encounter with dogs and armed guards is really a special kind of AI interplay with the player that I've never experienced in games before now. But also guns blazing approaches to zombies and humans feels just as fun and rewarding as stealthing through an encounter (at least for me).
- the enemy AI is astounding, possibly the most intelligent and complex individual and team AI I've ever seen. Not only do teammates call out specific locations where they saw you to each other, they see you if you are visible, period, unless you're so far away you could be mistaken for another object. This makes the gameplay very fun and intense. And when you see them interact with another enemy of yours like the infected and there's a 3-way conflict going on, the AI really shines. You see enemies make priority decisions based off your proximity and the danger of its other enemy as well.
- the upgrading and crafting based off realistic looting is some of the best for a 30 hour action game genre.
- you can bring your upgrades with you to NG+.
- you can repeatedly do the above.
- this means you can play the game at least 4 times with increasing difficulty and reward: regular mode, hard mode+, survivor+, grounded+, grounded (no stats/upgrade carryovers).
- Grounded mode. Oh my fucking god. This is the best third person gameplay challenge I've ever enjoyed. I'm halfway thru Grounded+ right now and it's just (chefs kiss). The scenario where you encounter dogs and they're looking for you and there's a dozen human guards out there but you only have like 3 bullets and your sides are kinda bleeding, let me tell you there hasn't been a more intense and gruesome experience. Because my next point:
- the animations make the gameplay shine. The perfect balance between realism and urgency of the moment and contextual reaction time is achieved skillfully, with every animation portraying very realistic grabbing, dodging, stabbing, cutting, shooting, blasting, darting, and fiddling in your backpack. With grounded removing the UI, it feels like you need all your senses and cues from the games animations to make lightning quick decisions. I can even read the dogs' ear animations for cues on if it notices me.
- there is so much detail density in all the fabric of the level design that it's impossible to list all the details you'll miss until you play the game MULTIPLE times.
- I promise you also that you will not experience the richness of the gore physics working here unless you play each scenario multiple times. The first time I noticed that bloodied bodies in water diffuse blood with realistic lighting and physics into the water was my third play through. The first time I noticed that blood will stream and drip down Ellie's knuckles or arms if she gets cut. was now on Grounded+. You may notice details in a different order, but I promise you with multiple playthroughs you'll notice a lot of care and detail went into every system powering this game.
I could blather more about how much I love this game but I guess I'll just see if anyone out there feels kinda like I do.
inb4 "I hate TLOU and it was boring and don't tell me what to do I don't like playing games more than once"
- the level design is fluid, it transitions seamlessly through cutscene and in-game with no loading screens, making it optimal for replays
- checkpoints are frequent and often
- the accessibility options are through the roof. This makes it to where even more people can play it again and again
- YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE THE DIFFICULTY OPTIONS - We played Hard and Survivor mode with default difficulty options but high item encounter rate, that way we could enjoy the brutal AI difficulty but still have access to plenty of items for creative encounter management.
- each major encounter is set in a mini-sandbox where you choose if/when you will engage your enemy in a very metal gear solid-esque manner, where you also choose how to engage your enemy.
- the enemy types are varied enough to flex different gameplay styles, and I argue that this is interesting and effective. Trying to stealth your way through an encounter with dogs and armed guards is really a special kind of AI interplay with the player that I've never experienced in games before now. But also guns blazing approaches to zombies and humans feels just as fun and rewarding as stealthing through an encounter (at least for me).
- the enemy AI is astounding, possibly the most intelligent and complex individual and team AI I've ever seen. Not only do teammates call out specific locations where they saw you to each other, they see you if you are visible, period, unless you're so far away you could be mistaken for another object. This makes the gameplay very fun and intense. And when you see them interact with another enemy of yours like the infected and there's a 3-way conflict going on, the AI really shines. You see enemies make priority decisions based off your proximity and the danger of its other enemy as well.
- the upgrading and crafting based off realistic looting is some of the best for a 30 hour action game genre.
- you can bring your upgrades with you to NG+.
- you can repeatedly do the above.
- this means you can play the game at least 4 times with increasing difficulty and reward: regular mode, hard mode+, survivor+, grounded+, grounded (no stats/upgrade carryovers).
- Grounded mode. Oh my fucking god. This is the best third person gameplay challenge I've ever enjoyed. I'm halfway thru Grounded+ right now and it's just (chefs kiss). The scenario where you encounter dogs and they're looking for you and there's a dozen human guards out there but you only have like 3 bullets and your sides are kinda bleeding, let me tell you there hasn't been a more intense and gruesome experience. Because my next point:
- the animations make the gameplay shine. The perfect balance between realism and urgency of the moment and contextual reaction time is achieved skillfully, with every animation portraying very realistic grabbing, dodging, stabbing, cutting, shooting, blasting, darting, and fiddling in your backpack. With grounded removing the UI, it feels like you need all your senses and cues from the games animations to make lightning quick decisions. I can even read the dogs' ear animations for cues on if it notices me.
- there is so much detail density in all the fabric of the level design that it's impossible to list all the details you'll miss until you play the game MULTIPLE times.
- I promise you also that you will not experience the richness of the gore physics working here unless you play each scenario multiple times. The first time I noticed that bloodied bodies in water diffuse blood with realistic lighting and physics into the water was my third play through. The first time I noticed that blood will stream and drip down Ellie's knuckles or arms if she gets cut. was now on Grounded+. You may notice details in a different order, but I promise you with multiple playthroughs you'll notice a lot of care and detail went into every system powering this game.
I could blather more about how much I love this game but I guess I'll just see if anyone out there feels kinda like I do.
inb4 "I hate TLOU and it was boring and don't tell me what to do I don't like playing games more than once"
