The_Sloth_Sleeps
Arcane
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2016
- Messages
- 1,914
Alright so I've finished the demo so I'll give my thoughts here while my memory is still fresh.
Game's definitely got potential, but needs a lot more work.
The Good:
- Classes seem to have different amounts of usable equipment slots based on their class.
- Morality system unlocks special perks based on player's attitude towards the world and how they handle problems.
- Seems to be a lot of different items in the game and (I'm hoping) lots of uses for said items (wrenches, screwdrivers, radio equipment, etc.)
- Some parts of the atmosphere are pretty good like the dust blowing in the wind, random emus running around, lots of desert vegetation, etc.
- Pretty open-ended way to solve problems, but not yet at its full potential (see below)
The Meh:
- Animations in combat are a bit too slow. Should be a slider to adjust that.
- Combat action menu should grey out the actions that the player can't use due to insufficient AP/MP. Otherwise they have to constantly check their available MP/AP.
- Soundtrack ranges from OK to somewhat interesting. Definitely could be improved.
- Characters are pretty uninspiring. Not really any memorable ones that I can remember (except for that dude with the shits was pretty funny).
- Dialogue ranges from mediocre to acceptable. Nothing groundbreaking here.
- AI is pretty iffy. Enemies tend to stand in one area and then shoot. There were some that ran for cover, but it definitely can be improved.
The Bad:
- The morality system is pretty flawed. Instead of simply increasing the value of each of the 4 quadrants based on one's choices, it eventually locks you out of a lot of choices that are out of your current "spectrum". This is pretty bad as it severely limits one's choices. You should have all of those choices available to use in dialogue (of course some should be gated behind charisma checks) and they should simply increase one's percentage in that quadrant when they are used. It would still allow for the player to gain certain perks based on these choices as they should only be able to max out one of the quadrants fully per playthrough.
- The game doesn't feel like a post-apocalypse. This is a similar mistake than in Fallout 4. The buildings are too clean. There's not enough dust and grime and the whole place looks like an Aussie open market instead of a post-apocalyptic trading town. Traders have unlimited money. There's stuff like whole stalls of fresh vegetables available. Really? In a post-apocalypse, that should be a luxury. There's not enough strife in this world and everything looks too 'nice'. You should definitely add some misery to it, otherwise it will feel like a desert walking simulator.
- There's very little sense of exploration. Not sure if this is just how the demo is set up but the game basically keeps you on rails by sending you from town to town instead of letting the player explore the world map on their own. You can only explore the towns themselves but there's only so much exploration to be had this way.
- That encounter with the kid on the road didn't make much sense. I shot him in the foot, so he wouldn't shoot himself and thought I could then bandage his leg, but the narrative just stopped there and that was it. Should be a speech check of some sort to help him out afterward.
- The caravan guy you come to the last town with is laying it on really thick against that emissary from the other town for no other reason than the game to tell you that "this is the bad guy". Seems very forced and doesn't make sense other than to set you up for the obvious raid.
- Bugs. There was a weird bug that locked the camera on my party for a few secs then went back to normal (happened a couple of times and was pretty annoying). Lots of info markers on the various PoIs were bugged (couldn't click them, or they were offset).
That's all from the top of my head. There's much room for improvement but it probably require quite a few re-writes and/or expansions of what's already there.
A release in november after that review makes me think it's going to be a disaster...
Its a lost cause.Definitely needs more development time.Alright so I've finished the demo so I'll give my thoughts here while my memory is still fresh.
Game's definitely got potential, but needs a lot more work.
The Good:
- Classes seem to have different amounts of usable equipment slots based on their class.
- Morality system unlocks special perks based on player's attitude towards the world and how they handle problems.
- Seems to be a lot of different items in the game and (I'm hoping) lots of uses for said items (wrenches, screwdrivers, radio equipment, etc.)
- Some parts of the atmosphere are pretty good like the dust blowing in the wind, random emus running around, lots of desert vegetation, etc.
- Pretty open-ended way to solve problems, but not yet at its full potential (see below)
The Meh:
- Animations in combat are a bit too slow. Should be a slider to adjust that.
- Combat action menu should grey out the actions that the player can't use due to insufficient AP/MP. Otherwise they have to constantly check their available MP/AP.
- Soundtrack ranges from OK to somewhat interesting. Definitely could be improved.
- Characters are pretty uninspiring. Not really any memorable ones that I can remember (except for that dude with the shits was pretty funny).
- Dialogue ranges from mediocre to acceptable. Nothing groundbreaking here.
- AI is pretty iffy. Enemies tend to stand in one area and then shoot. There were some that ran for cover, but it definitely can be improved.
The Bad:
- The morality system is pretty flawed. Instead of simply increasing the value of each of the 4 quadrants based on one's choices, it eventually locks you out of a lot of choices that are out of your current "spectrum". This is pretty bad as it severely limits one's choices. You should have all of those choices available to use in dialogue (of course some should be gated behind charisma checks) and they should simply increase one's percentage in that quadrant when they are used. It would still allow for the player to gain certain perks based on these choices as they should only be able to max out one of the quadrants fully per playthrough.
- The game doesn't feel like a post-apocalypse. This is a similar mistake than in Fallout 4. The buildings are too clean. There's not enough dust and grime and the whole place looks like an Aussie open market instead of a post-apocalyptic trading town. Traders have unlimited money. There's stuff like whole stalls of fresh vegetables available. Really? In a post-apocalypse, that should be a luxury. There's not enough strife in this world and everything looks too 'nice'. You should definitely add some misery to it, otherwise it will feel like a desert walking simulator.
- There's very little sense of exploration. Not sure if this is just how the demo is set up but the game basically keeps you on rails by sending you from town to town instead of letting the player explore the world map on their own. You can only explore the towns themselves but there's only so much exploration to be had this way.
- That encounter with the kid on the road didn't make much sense. I shot him in the foot, so he wouldn't shoot himself and thought I could then bandage his leg, but the narrative just stopped there and that was it. Should be a speech check of some sort to help him out afterward.
- The caravan guy you come to the last town with is laying it on really thick against that emissary from the other town for no other reason than the game to tell you that "this is the bad guy". Seems very forced and doesn't make sense other than to set you up for the obvious raid.
- Bugs. There was a weird bug that locked the camera on my party for a few secs then went back to normal (happened a couple of times and was pretty annoying). Lots of info markers on the various PoIs were bugged (couldn't click them, or they were offset).
That's all from the top of my head. There's much room for improvement but it probably require quite a few re-writes and/or expansions of what's already there.
A release in november after that review makes me think it's going to be a disaster...
