Anthem Review Thread

Reven Wolf · Feb 21, 2019

Prismatico said:
It's pretty egregious regardless of intended targets, which reminded me of what I've seen in other threads regarding this game lately. But yes we can agree no one explicitly said that, though I don't think I've ever seen someone use those words exactly.

If that's irrelevant to you then that's fine. I'm noticing it more often as of late which is disappointing.

It was irrelevant because it had nothing to do with what was being discussed (in this case the claim that there are many posts claiming it's not ok to like/enjoy the game in this thread).

A poster wanted to prove the above claim, and used that post (which while clearly inflammatory) that does not actually say that, and even through interpretation doesn't really say that.

It's not a matter of that post not bothering me,, it's a matter that in the context of the discussion I was in, that post didn't really prove the point.

Era of not Yakuza · Feb 21, 2019

Well, this time people can't say that is good for a "free' game at least

oni-link · Feb 21, 2019

82 pages in and only a handful of reviews

This games launch strategy has been a disaster

Ricelord · Feb 21, 2019

so...when is EA next star wars game coming out? I really hope its not another GaaS.

Deleted member 35071 · Feb 21, 2019

oni-link said:
82 pages in and only a handful of reviews

This games launch strategy has been a disaster

if u remove the ppl that just hate EA....ppl that are mad that Bioware didn't make a singleplayer RPG.....territorial destiny and/or division fans. Then this thread would be like 25 pages max.

oni-link · Feb 21, 2019

Ricelord said:
so...when is EA next star wars game coming out? I really hope its not another GaaS.

The Fallen Order is down as 2019 currently

I expect it will be shifted to a GaaS model or cancelled though, based on EA's track record and a smidgen of my own cynicism

oni-link · Feb 21, 2019

eastcoastkody said:
if u remove the ppl that just hate EA....ppl that are mad that Bioware didn't make a singleplayer RPG.....territorial destiny and/or division fans. Then this thread would be like 25 pages max.

Yeah I'm sure there is an element of that, but most review threads discuss the reviews, and as there are barely any, all people can discuss are impressions, and those tend to be somewhat negative so far

The way this game has been released has been terrible though. I have no idea if that's EA or Biowares fault, but this rushed staggered release hasn't done anything to help the game at all

It should have been delayed till September or released now as early access with 1.0 down for September

Kyuuji · Feb 21, 2019

eastcoastkody said:
if u remove the ppl that just hate EA....ppl that are mad that Bioware didn't make a singleplayer RPG.....territorial destiny and/or division fans. Then this thread would be like 25 pages max.

Game is a huge high-profile AAA release that has shit the bed to an astonishing degree. One that has had a horrible staggered release and until now, relied heavily on the recent patch as a means to assure players all wasn't as bad as what they were playing. Except the patch has now dropped and there's more bugs and ones that were claimed to be fixed are still present.

Of course the thread is busy, it's a pretty crazy circumstance that's unravelling. So kindly fuck off with this pathetic defence of "thread is only big because of haters" bullshit.

Game massively dropped the ball, is universally being panned for its issues and has a (still broken) day one patch releasing on day six, before the launch. It's a fucking mess, of course it's garnering a lot of discussion and thoughts.

MetalBoi · Feb 21, 2019

Yikes. Looks like I dodged a bullet with this one. Hopefully down the road this product can become a good game with content.

bighugeguns · Feb 21, 2019

Feel really bad for the folks at Bioware, I'm sure this was supposed to be some kind of RPG or something, probably not this, right? What the hell happened? :(

WhovianGamer · Feb 21, 2019

So which of the major issues has been fixed with the patch? Or is it more of a case of fiddling while Rome burns?

OtterMatic · Feb 21, 2019

Kadey said:
So which is the bigger blow up. This or Fallout 76? Both of these games were on my radar but damn did they drop the ball.

Just listened to the Bombcast, and it seems that FO76 was way worse.

They, mainly Jeff, just mentioned that BioWare made some terrible decisions with Anthem and every aspect of the game is mediocre. For FO76, they even bother talking that long, but just fuck this shit.

I tried the beta and didn't enjoy it, but I can see why some people enjoy Anthem. The game at least looks good (due to Frostbite) and let you be an Ironman-lite.

ShadowAUS · Feb 21, 2019

bighugeguns said:
Feel really bad for the folks at Bioware, I'm sure this was supposed to be some kind of RPG or something, probably not this, right? What the hell happened? :(

Apparently, it was always meant to be an evolving multiplayer rpg from what I've heard, whether they wanted to go full GaaS or smaller scale Borderlands style co-op originally I don't know but I don't believe it was ever meant to be a traditional RPG.

Edit: Also yes, FO76 was wayyyy worse. Anthem fucked a lot of things up but at least it is competent at some of the things it tries to do. I also feel like 76 did way more to hurt Bethesda's rep than what Anthem will to Bioware, even if it's only because Bioware's rep was a bit rocky after their last couple of releases already.

bighugeguns · Feb 21, 2019

OtterMatic said:
Just listened to the Bombcast, and it seems that FO76 was way worse.

They, mainly Jeff, just mentioned that BioWare made some terrible decisions with Anthem and every aspect of the game is mediocre. For FO76, they even bother talking that long, but just fuck this shit.

I tried the beta and didn't enjoy it, but I can see why some people enjoy Anthem. The game at least looks good (due to Frostbite) and let you be an Ironman-lite.

You catch the part where Jeff mentioned that he told his partner he doesn't think Dragon Age 4 is happening due to this? Pretty grim stuff.

john miller · Feb 21, 2019

WhovianGamer said:
So which of the major issues has been fixed with the patch? Or is it more of a case of fiddling while Rome burns?

They fixed the long loading times and other bugs. I think it's better now.

bighugeguns · Feb 21, 2019

ShadowAUS said:
Apparently, it was always meant to be an evolving multiplayer rpg from what I've heard, whether they wanted to go full GaaS or smaller scale Borderlands style co-op originally I don't know but I don't believe it was ever meant to be a traditional RPG.

Edit: Also yes, FO76 was wayyyy worse. Anthem fucked a lot of things up but at least it is competent at some of the things it tries to do. I also feel like 76 did way more to hurt Bethesda's rep than what Anthem will to Bioware, even if it's only because Bioware's rep was a bit rocky after their last couple of releases already.

They've always classically been very good at RPGs, this is such a weird and wild departure, it's like ordering TellTale to make me a Rally game.

Joeku · Feb 21, 2019

john miller said:
They fixed the long loading times and other bugs. I think it's better now.

Based on the few hours I put into it tonight, the loading times are less long. They're still kinda long, and interrupt things in the middle of missions/prove a huge barrier to just swapping out weapons/components in freeplay.

Deleted member 35071 · Feb 21, 2019

Kyuuji said:
Game is a huge high-profile AAA release that has shit the bed to an astonishing degree. One that has had a horrible staggered release and until now, relied heavily on the recent patch as a means to assure players all wasn't as bad as what they were playing. Except the patch has now dropped and there's more bugs and ones that were claimed to be fixed are still present.

Of course the thread is busy, it's a pretty crazy circumstance that's unravelling.

i keep seeing "staggered release". Isn't it pretty normal for EA access or what have u to get the early trial or game. Isn't that one of the perks of the subscription service? I dont recall everyone getting whipped into a jackinape frenzy over previous games on EA's service doing this. BFV got beat up about everything...except this. I dont recall anyone flipping their lids like this over playing that early.

Is the PC version just unplayable? Because ive been playing on Xbox, and am really not connecting the dots on what cardinal sin this game has committed to have everyone with their pitchforks out. It was a little buggy. But then patch notes came out. I expected the launch day patch to tighten things up. All of a sudden the patch is out today. And now things seem a little worse. Which sucks. But its certainly not some end of the world situation. Look at these anthem threads. They have like a million views total. And 90% of them are ppl jumping off the deep end...frothing at the mouth.

ShadowAUS · Feb 21, 2019

eastcoastkody said:
i keep seeing "staggered release". Isn't it pretty normal for EA access or what have u to get the early trial or game. Isn't that one of the perks of the subscription service? I dont recall everyone getting whipped into a jackinape frenzy over previous games on EA's service doing this. BFV got beat up about everything...except this. I dont recall anyone flipping their lids like this over playing that early.

Is the PC version just unplayable? Because ive been playing on Xbox, and am really not connecting the dots on what cardinal sin this game has committed to have everyone with their pitchforks out. It was a little buggy. But then patch notes came out. I expected the launch day patch to tighten things up. All of a sudden the patch is out today. And now things seem a little worse. Which sucks. But its certainly not some end of the world situation. Look at these anthem threads. They have like a million views total. And 90% of them are ppl jumping off the deep end...frothing at the mouth.

Maybe I'm blind but other than 1 or 2 posters across both this thread and the OT one I haven't seen much frothing at the mouth, more just disappointment at the state of a potentially great game and a once great studio.

Steiner_Zi · Feb 21, 2019

EA used to be able to ship safe and generic but technically competent and polished games. What has happened to them? That both Bioware and DICE have shat the bed lately is a testament to poor management from the EA higher-ups, not just in terms of the usual predatory monetisation that EA (rightfully) gets a lot of flak for but also in terms of the game production and quality control. It's baffling that Bioware went from making Mass Effect 1/2/3 and Dragon Age 1/2 last gen to this after so many years in the oven.

Kyuuji · Feb 21, 2019

OtterMatic said:
Just listened to the Bombcast, and it seems that FO76 was way worse.

Disagree, there's a reason FO76 didn't make the most disappointing. No one there thought it would be a great game because, well, Fallout 4 and 2018 Bethesda, and the coverage was mainly over how crazy it was that so many parts of it were coming undone. From the bags to the game itself.

Anthem on the other hand is a massive high profile release, new IP, sold as a Destiny killer etc. EA pouring money into it, BioWare onboard, the A-team this time. Then everyone is playing it and is like "what the fuck even is this". Core design oversights, bugs, no real good loot in a loot shooter. Like, what the fuck happened. Why even make this, what is it even trying to be? Level of questions. Questions to where the discussion of whether EA should/would support it becomes part of the talk, and whether the fundamental parts of the game can be fixed in any realistic time.

Fallout 76 is a steaming pile of shit, but at best I think people thought it might be a polished turd with redeeming features. Better than that granted but still a strong sense of having a low ceiling of expectation. Anthem I feel is different, and falls far, far shorter of where people thought it could be.

People seem legitimately stunned by what the final game is, whereas people were more "sounds about right" when it came to FO76.

Deleted member 8674 · Feb 21, 2019

oni-link said:
82 pages in and only a handful of reviews

This games launch strategy has been a disaster

There's no such thing as bad publicity I guess?

bighugeguns · Feb 21, 2019

ShadowAUS said:
Maybe I'm blind but other than 1 or 2 posters across both this thread and the OT one I haven't seen much frothing at the mouth, more just disappointment at the state of a potentially great game and a once great studio.

Maybe people are just ripping on it because of the current state? I'm sure patching and post-release work will iron things out, sounds like there's a lot of stuff to fix / add though. Didn't Jason Schreier also mention people internal to Bioware were mad the game got released this early, it's clear they weren't completely done with everything.

Interficium · Feb 21, 2019

eastcoastkody said:
if u remove the ppl that just hate EA....ppl that are mad that Bioware didn't make a singleplayer RPG.....territorial destiny and/or division fans. Then this thread would be like 25 pages max.

You just listed basically all of ResetEra, dude.

Deleted member 46948 · Feb 21, 2019

ShadowAUS said:
Maybe I'm blind but other than 1 or 2 posters across both this thread and the OT one I haven't seen much frothing at the mouth, more just disappointment at the state of a potentially great game and a once great studio.

He's been trying to sell the idea that everyone who sees that Anthem has flaws is a hater with an agenda for a while now.

Nightengale · Feb 21, 2019

From the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast:

Jason Schreier: The way Bioware developers saw it; my understanding is that they... I've heard this from a couple of different Bioware people, they expected a Metacritic score (***) in the high-70s, which is an average game by review game score standards, or a very flawed game, and they expected that it would have a very rocky launch and it would have the same narrative as other games like Destiny/Division/etc.

*** Jason added here 'which is how people talk about this stuff internally, is that they have mock reviewers/etc to give an estimate score, etc ***

bighugeguns · Feb 21, 2019

Claven said:
He's been trying to sell the idea that everyone who sees that Anthem has flaws is a hater with an agenda for a while now.

Why do people do that? I've seen it a lot on Reddit as well.

shimon · Feb 21, 2019

I guess Bioware saw what Bethesda did with 76 and said: "Hold my beer". I don't know what else to say...
What happened here? Was the game rebooted halfway through and they "only" had like 3 years or something? Because this game is clearly not ready for launch. I'm lost...

Reven Wolf · Feb 21, 2019

bighugeguns said:
Why do people do that? I've seen it a lot on Reddit as well.

I imagine for the same reason some try to argue that only blind fanboys can like something, to essentially discredit the side they disagree with.

It's sad on both sides because it stifles discussion.

ShadowAUS · Feb 21, 2019

bighugeguns said:
Maybe people are just ripping on it because of the current state? I'm sure patching and post-release work will iron things out, sounds like there's a lot of stuff to fix / add though. Didn't Jason Schreier also mention people internal to Bioware were mad the game got released this early, it's clear they weren't completely done with everything.

Oh for sure, there is no question, this game was NOT ready to go gold, even just at a basic level, it needed at least 3 or 4 more months of polish and basic content so I imagine no one at Bioware is happy at having their hand forced. Whether the game should be in this state after 6 years in development or not is another question entirely.

My personal review - I think the game in its current state removed of all the performance issues and bugs is still a disappointment and some of the core design decisions truly baffle me along with missing features that I think should be default inclusions like map markers, guilds, text chat etc. I think if they polish the game and add the basic features it would be around a 7/10 but due to some of the core design issues, I don't see this game ever being truly great for me personally unless they decide to rebuild the game from the ground up FFXIV style.

Deleted member 11421 · Feb 21, 2019

Reven Wolf said:
It was irrelevant because it had nothing to do with what was being discussed (in this case the claim that there are many posts claiming it's not ok to like/enjoy the game in this thread).

A poster wanted to prove the above claim, and used that post (which while clearly inflammatory) that does not actually say that, and even through interpretation doesn't really say that.

It's not a matter of that post not bothering me,, it's a matter that in the context of the discussion I was in, that post didn't really prove the point.

Someone referenced a post I had a problem with. I replied to you, since even though your discussion was centered around a specific derogatory phrase, I still felt that particular post needed to be highlighted more, because we really shouldn't be reaching those levels at all.

I was attempting a different branch of conversation with extra commentary which usually doesn't even get a reply. This somehow seems much worse lol

Interficium · Feb 21, 2019

Heyrule said:
Anthem was toted as a Destiny killer, which thanks to goal post moving was then described as something akin to diablo.

Hah, someone else noticed this too. People on Era REALLY fell in love with the whole "It's copying Diablo, not Destiny, and here's why that's great!" narrative a few weeks ago. Life comes at you quick.

dex3108 · Feb 21, 2019

Nightengale said:
From the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast:

Jason Schreier: The way Bioware developers saw it; my understanding is that they... I've heard this from a couple of different Bioware people, they expected a Metacritic score (***) in the high-70s, which is an average game by review game score standards, or a very flawed game, and they expected that it would have a very rocky launch and it would have the same narrative as other games like Destiny/Division/etc.

*** Jason added here 'which is how people talk about this stuff internally, is that they have mock reviewers/etc to give an estimate score, etc ***

That passed for first few games of this kind but that can pass for every single one, especially one that saw launch of multiple similar games and decided to learn nothing to improve.

bighugeguns · Feb 21, 2019

ShadowAUS said:
Oh for sure, there is no question, this game was NOT ready to go gold, even just at a basic level, it needed at least 3 or 4 more months of polish and basic content so I imagine no one at Bioware is happy at having their hand forced. Whether the game should be in this state after 6 years in development or not is another question entirely.

My personal review - I think the game in its current state removed of all the performance issues and bugs is still a disappointment and some of the core design decisions truly baffle me along with missing features that I think should be default inclusions like map markers, guilds, text chat etc. I think if they polish the game and add the basic features it would be around a 7/10 but due to some of the core design issues, I don't see this game ever being truly great for me personally unless they decide to rebuild the game from the ground up FFXIV style.

This sucks I'd be depressed right now as a Bioware dev, I can imagine they had stuff planned out which they couldn't get done because of this early launch and now they're going to get critically hammered for it. That 6m opening sales expectation is one hell of big demand from the publisher, almost so high that I wonder if this isn't some tactic to trigger some legal clause, bad times for Bioware all round.

MillionIII · Feb 21, 2019

Nightengale said:
From the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast:

Jason Schreier: The way Bioware developers saw it; my understanding is that they... I've heard this from a couple of different Bioware people, they expected a Metacritic score (***) in the high-70s, which is an average game by review game score standards, or a very flawed game, and they expected that it would have a very rocky launch and it would have the same narrative as other games like Destiny/Division/etc.

*** Jason added here 'which is how people talk about this stuff internally, is that they have mock reviewers/etc to give an estimate score, etc ***

Can't wait to read about it in blood, sweat and pixels 2, BioWare really lost their touch, launching this game in this state is even worse than what destiny and the division were, is it frostbite? Lack of vision? Maybe a bit of both.

Eumi · Feb 21, 2019

Claven said:
He's been trying to sell the idea that everyone who sees that Anthem has flaws is a hater with an agenda for a while now.

Honestly I can't see any way to read that post other than as a specific attempt to discredit criticism, or as evidence that that poster is living in a fantasy world.

Honestly the discussion around Anthem, at least he, has been pretty damn good, which is probably due to this being a review thread that's mostly active post-release so there's a wide range of impressions to go on even for those who haven't played it themselves.

I can't see how anyone can claim that 90% of it is people "frothing at the mouth". Hell, whilst I'm sure they exist, I haven't seen a single post I would say seemed that angry, at least not at the game.

shimon · Feb 21, 2019

Maledict · Feb 21, 2019

Nightengale said:
From the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast:

Jason Schreier: The way Bioware developers saw it; my understanding is that they... I've heard this from a couple of different Bioware people, they expected a Metacritic score (***) in the high-70s, which is an average game by review game score standards, or a very flawed game, and they expected that it would have a very rocky launch and it would have the same narrative as other games like Destiny/Division/etc.

*** Jason added here 'which is how people talk about this stuff internally, is that they have mock reviewers/etc to give an estimate score, etc ***

This is the second time this has happened - Andromeda had exactly the same situation with the mock reviews etc. They expected it to get in the high 80s and instead it got burnt alive. What's going wrong with the internal review process at BioWare where they keep missing these things?

(Things which I have to say are blindingly obvious. This is not a game in the 70s by any stretch in the early access period build).

Xx 720 · Feb 21, 2019

The big question....why didn't they just wait? The majority of issues are of technical stuff, an extra couple month would of done wonders. Nintendo never seems to mind delaying games that aren't ready.

Josecitox · Feb 21, 2019

Nightengale said:
From the latest Kotaku Splitscreen podcast:

Jason Schreier: The way Bioware developers saw it; my understanding is that they... I've heard this from a couple of different Bioware people, they expected a Metacritic score (***) in the high-70s, which is an average game by review game score standards, or a very flawed game, and they expected that it would have a very rocky launch and it would have the same narrative as other games like Destiny/Division/etc.

*** Jason added here 'which is how people talk about this stuff internally, is that they have mock reviewers/etc to give an estimate score, etc ***

The fact that they expected that kind of reception and why exactly tells you everything you need to know about this game.

Can't wait to read Jason's article about how they mismanaged a project for 7 years.

Xx 720 said:
The big question....why didn't they just wait? The majority of issues are of technical stuff, an extra couple month would of done wonders. Nintendo never seems to mind delaying games that aren't ready.

Because it needs more than a couple of months and they had 7 years already. And from the quoted post above, they knew they had a chance to get away with it due the installed perception of these types of games.

Nightengale · Feb 21, 2019

Xx 720 said:
The big question....why didn't they just wait? The majority of issues are of technical stuff, an extra couple month would of done wonders. Nintendo never seems to mind delaying games that aren't ready.

Super big publishers are more or less release 3-5 tentpole AAA games per fiscal year, and their earning projections are more or less based on those games meeting their sales forecast. Having one game miss your fiscal calendar means you risk missing 20-30% of your revenue and profit estimates.

Even smaller publishers often never delay a game past March for financial reasons. Companies that have a broader revenue platform and aren't dependent on their AAA-sales making up a huge chunk of their fiscal forecast can afford to delay beyond the financial year.

Maledict · Feb 21, 2019

Xx 720 said:
The big question....why didn't they just wait? The majority of issues are of technical stuff, an extra couple month would of done wonders. Nintendo never seems to mind delaying games that aren't ready.

It's EA. They seem to focus more on end of financial year stuff than any other company, and they have a long history of shoving stuff out the door in the final quarter knowing it's not ready in order to improve financials.

I would also say that a couple of extra months wouldn't fix this though. Even if some of the issues are fixable (loading screens, changing weapons etc) that won't fix the issues around:

- a loot shooter game with boring loot
- incredibly small amounts of guns
- the utterly brain dead AI
- lack of actually interesting enemy variety
- the incredibly short campaign

Amidst other things...

EVA UNIT 01 · Feb 21, 2019

Welp happy to have gone with the new ffxiv expansion for my time commitment game.

Kaffeemann · Feb 21, 2019

shimon said:

Holy shit this day 1 patch, but not day 1 cause its 2 days before the fake release of the already out title

Deleted member 22585 · Feb 21, 2019

Does the "day one" patch fix important issues that were mentioned in the first reviews?

Phabh · Feb 21, 2019

Rat King said:
Too bad they wasted their "dream game" on EA's Gaas bullshit.

If I had known in 2003 that BioWare would be making a looter shooter 15 years later...

Deleted member 46948 · Feb 21, 2019

regawdless said:
Does the "day one" patch fix important issues that were mentioned in the first reviews?

Apparently not, even though the loading times are slightly better (still just as frequent though).

Egida · Feb 21, 2019

Kaffeemann said:

-2 Day patch. We living in the future now.

Fiery Phoenix · Feb 21, 2019

It sounds like the game plays a lot better when using a SSD.

Ruthless · Feb 21, 2019

Interficium said:
Hah, someone else noticed this too. People on Era REALLY fell in love with the whole "It's copying Diablo, not Destiny, and here's why that's great!" narrative a few weeks ago. Life comes at you quick.

If anything, Anthem is more like Warframe. Not even close to Destiny or Division.

The whole game is designed around spamming abilities, very little skill use and focus on earning cosmetics.

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