It's sorta like I Am Legend I found, where the zombies were less like "civilians still wearing the stuff they died in", and more like mutated lookalikes.So I started playing this for the first time, and I really think its a looker at 4k60, but the game itself is struggling to grasp me. I'll definitely give it more time, but right now I'm unsure.
There was a cutscene early on where Deacon just exploded in rage for no reason, and it was so sudden and I was so confused, it just felt poorly executed.
My biggest issue with it visually though, is why do all of the zombies look exactly the same? Then I encountered the rippers and all of them look the same too... and the Newts, and they all look the same too...
So I started playing this for the first time, and I really think its a looker at 4k60, but the game itself is struggling to grasp me. I'll definitely give it more time, but right now I'm unsure.
I never really had issue with visuals and perfromance , its the acting , writing and general aesthetic that was so bleh
There's not some universal rule, it depends on the code changes necessary and the publisher's whims.The confusion arises because EA have specifically said they could offer the same degree of enhancements to Star Wars Squadrons when compared to Series X. Furthermore, why are the likes of GoW, TLOU2 not offering these enhancements if they're as trivial to apply as DG and GoT make it appear? Why is No Man's Sky an entire new PS5 SKU? It's not clear how this all operates. This is probably best for another thread, however, so I'll end it here.
You definitely encounter new variants later on, but variety of the zombies is not really what distinguishes them - rather how many you'll be dealing with at a time.So I started playing this for the first time, and I really think its a looker at 4k60, but the game itself is struggling to grasp me. I'll definitely give it more time, but right now I'm unsure.
There was a cutscene early on where Deacon just exploded in rage for no reason, and it was so sudden and I was so confused, it just felt poorly executed.
My biggest issue with it visually though, is why do all of the zombies look exactly the same? Then I encountered the rippers and all of them look the same too... and the Newts, and they all look the same too...
Not sure how far you are but I highly recommend exploring the areas you're in to find the horde locations . On the previous page I stated it's a bit annoying that you can play a good bit without seeing many hordes.
I'm not sure if that'll help the game grab you but it worked for me. Just make sure you have an automatic weapon before you start tackling those.
The hordes around the first camp or two are fairly smallish.
I don't think normal has auto aim.You guys weren't kidding. The game looks amazing, runs amazing and it's a lot of fun too. I'm just 90 minutes into the game and I'm afraid the normal difficulty is too easy. Should I restart on hard?
edit: Is it true the hard mode disables auto aim? I can't aim for shit with a controller.
I played through on Hard originally and it really makes you appreciate the skill progression, starting out deathly afraid every lone freaker in the dark and eventually tearing through hordes in the hundreds. I'd recommend it.You guys weren't kidding. The game looks amazing, runs amazing and it's a lot of fun too. I'm just 90 minutes into the game and I'm afraid the normal difficulty is too easy. Should I restart on hard?
edit: Is it true the hard mode disables auto aim? I can't aim for shit with a controller.
Its there you have to turn it on, or you you saying it not working at all?Man this game slaps. I heard there was gyro aiming on PS4. It's definitely not working with my DualSense. Anybody know more about this?
In settings it's called motion control or something and it is set at 0 by default. Move it to 2-3 and try it out subtly at first.Man this game slaps. I heard there was gyro aiming on PS4. It's definitely not working with my DualSense. Anybody know more about this?
It was just really janky then. The transition went from walking on a path (gameplay) to starting to walk down a hill (gameplay) to a sudden cutscene where we're standing over his bleeding body at the bottom of the ridge.
I kind of wish I played this before TLOU2, because the lack of polish in so many of these areas is super evident. I know they're 2 pretty different games in terms of world size and scope, but the cutscenes and characters are just so grating here. Hope the gameplay convinces me to keep going.
Days Gone is all about the emergent moments.
Finding yourself stranded in the woods at night with no gas, checking your map to find a small town is within walking distance, making the jog over to find resources and back, all while making sure nothing, y'know, eats you.
FWIW the storytelling in the beginning is very janky. I don't think we ever got details on what happened but it looks like that they made a tremendous number of very sloppy edits to the opening hours of the game. It actually smooths out after the first few hours and the super jarring scene cuts go away.
There's a much more egregious cut that will come up when Boozer and Deacon return to their home base.
So I started playing this for the first time, and I really think its a looker at 4k60, but the game itself is struggling to grasp me. I'll definitely give it more time, but right now I'm unsure.
There was a cutscene early on where Deacon just exploded in rage for no reason, and it was so sudden and I was so confused, it just felt poorly executed.
My biggest issue with it visually though, is why do all of the zombies look exactly the same? Then I encountered the rippers and all of them look the same too... and the Newts, and they all look the same too...
It's sorta like I Am Legend I found, where the zombies were less like "civilians still wearing the stuff they died in", and more like mutated lookalikes.
This is what sold me on the game when they talked about it.Definitely a huge highlight of the experience for me. Those emergent moments work so, so well in this game.
Like moments where you're just cruising around, going from point A to point B, and you're suddenly ambushed by a Sniper camped out somewhere, who shoots you off your bike, and you have to scramble for cover, try to figure out where they're at, and systematically take down the bandits trying to gank you while avoiding sniper fire. Then, you have to see to your bike, that may have been damaged pretty significantly. It's even more tense when you don't have any spare parts to repair it, which sends you on a quest to find the resources you need to get you back into the world.
All I want from Days Gone 2 is more elements that add to that feeling of the world being alive and lived in, which this game did rather well, especially for a first time open world game from Bend.
This is what sold me on the game when they talked about it.
That they actually delivered on this promise was amazing. Especially when we learned that it was just a small number of people working on the open world (I could be wrong but I remember reading that there was under 10 people who worked on it).
The open world was honestly one of the most realized open worlds I have ever seen. It feels so well designed and actually earns it's place unlike many games where the open world is copy pasted and is a chore to explore (looking at you Far Cry 4).
Days Gone 2 is going to be amazing if they continue on with this formula and improve it further.
You nailed what I love about Deacon.Yeah, the horde aspect of the game was one of the big selling points of the title, but also the one that I was the most skeptical about when I first saw the game. I know I've said it before, but I was initially completely disinterested in Days Gone. Dismissing it as a TLOU wannabe. I honestly don't remember what changed my mind (I think one of the demos they showed off closer to launch), but they nailed the horde combat, even on PS4. Now it runs like a dream, and fighting hordes is even more intense and immersive.
Overall, the atmosphere of the game is fantastic. They went all out in areas most open world games ignore when it comes to the environment feeling alive. GoT does this with it's wind and constantly moving foliage, but DG nails the subtleties of the environment in terms of weather effects. It may be the best weather effects I've experienced in a game thus far. From the day night transitions, to the rain (from light rain, to full on thunderstorms), and the snow (I still can't get over the fact that they bothered to implement snow slowly piling up and covering the ground if you stay in an area long enough as it begins to fall; such an unnecessary detail, yet adds, subliminally, to the believability of the world).
I've also grown to appreciate the variety of the map, as, initially, I thought it was very samey and easy to get lost, but after sinking so many hours into it (about 100 so far), it really does become familiar and comfortable, and you can get a feel for where on the map you are based on the environment.
I hear a lot of praise for the horde, but I don't think enough praise is given to the craftwork they put into the world itself, that adds so much to the overall experience.
I don't even think Days Gone is the most amazing game ever, but it's the definition of a sleeper hit to me, with the narrative being the element of the game that surprised me the most, after being completely disinterested in Deacon as a protagonist.
I think a really interesting discussion can be had on video game protagonists, and what us, as gamers, expect of a protagonist, and how Deacon subverts it (at least initially), in a way that is usually reserved for television and film characters. I used Walter White as an example earlier, and I think Deacon's arc is the inverse of Walter's. You start empathizing and feeling for Walter, and as the show progresses, you begin to dislike him and hope for some comeuppance due to his shittery (at least I did; I know some folks root for Walt). Deacon was the opposite. Much like Abby in TLOU2. I went from hating her to loving her. Same for Deacon (though "love" is a strong word in the case of Deacon; it's more that I went from disliking him, to understanding, empathizing him, and appreciating his growth and development over the course of the story).
Most video game protagonists are pretty static, and by design. The goal is to make you love the character from jump, and don't do anything to rock that boat for the duration of the game. He/She is our avatar, so they tend to have traits that are, broadly, appealing to the largest player base. Even anti-heroes and characters with rough edges don't cross any particular lines that are a bridge to far (anti-heroes like Kratos notwithstanding, but seeing how his world is this fantastical setting of greek mythology and monsters, his callousness is a little more palatable, as opposed to what Naughty Dog boldly did with Ellie and the characters in TLOU2; which is a more grounded and realistic world, which characters that strive to be human; the choices they make in that game hit us differently than the choices a Kratos makes). Deacon isn't Nathan Drake. He's not a likeable quipster and rogue. He's just a "hardass" biker and all the toxic masculinity that can often entail, but what impressed me the most over the course of the game and the narrative, is that those layers don't get pealed away to reveal a heart of gold, more that the narrative itself tears that aspect of Deacon down, and he actually changes as a person over the course of the game, as a direct result of the events in the narrative. And he actually wrestles with it during some of the better quest lines and storylines in the game. He's not a fantastic character, but I really enjoyed seeing his transformation, and was a large part as to why I warmed up to him eventually.
You nailed what I love about Deacon.
He is a really fresh protagonist with a lot of layers and is very interesting. I even found the rantings of his really interesting. Someone complained a while ago that Deacon feels like a very different person while out in the wild compared to when he meets other characters in the camps. I believe that to be interesting because while playing the game I could feel that Deacon was very close to snapping and going crazy. He is trying to survive and his brother's arm is injured in a really bad way and while this is going on he isn't even sure if his wife is still alive (or rather he probably knows she is dead but can't accept it), and while all of that is going on he has to deal with people like Tucker or Copeland who are really unlikable for a guy like him. Now while he is out there and nobody who knows him are out there he can let loose a little and thus he just goes insane and releases all the stress and hatred against his enemies (whether it is the freaks or the countless other survivors who go against him). There is a part late into the game involving the Rippers (you know the one) that is interesting because his other persona (the insane one he has while on his own in the world) gets somewhat revealed to others and their reactions are interesting.
I also think the hordes were introduced a bit too late into the game. It wasn't until near the end did I feel equipped to handle them.