The amount of filler and padded out content in this game is downright retarded. It's been years since I played a game that required me to do prolong its life like this.
You got a quest with some guy who got attacked by something and you go there and the nurse says she needs a potion she doesn't have. She wants me to craft it. Ok. Except that the closest workbench is 200m away. After a serpentine. Filled with monsters. I stopped grinding the arena so I can grind this shit? Whatever. I go, craft it, return.
She thanks me and tells me to come back after 24 hours to let that guy recover. I'm like "bitch, in order to come back after 24 hours I have to go back to camp, which is still 200m away, advance time and then run again 200m" just so I can hear that guy telling me that I should investigate some area. Ok.
I go there and De Shite starts monologuing before the prompts to examine appear. I go to one, examine it and De Shite spends around 30 secs explaining everything, basically putting CSI to shame with how much stuff he deduces. And that's on one examination prompt. There are 4 or 5 on that area.
Anyway some undetermined amount of time after, I go do some other quest. This one asks me to go speak to 3 leaders. Ok. I go to one and he doesn't trust me so I have to win his trust by doing 1 or 2 fetch quests across the map, because, you know, I haven't walked enough. I swear, I walked in this game more than I actually did quests, fought, engaged in dialogue. And this is just the main quest BTW. Also, related to quests, the stat checks you see in Serene, the tutorial map, drop by like 90% in the other areas. Wtf? Some vigor checks, science non existent, intuition here and there, lockpicking I haven't used since, well, arriving on New Serene.
Outside of some brilliant moments and quest design, this game sucks. Fucking ELEX was better than this and I never thought I'd say this with a straight face. I haven't played Technomancer, but if this is better than that then ........holy shit.
Invisible walls, travelling between areas stops you at a camp with a shop EVERY TIME, dungeons have Skyrim doors, those navaim/Navin/whatever the fuck stupid name they have bosses have ultra inflated HP bars, my fingers literally hurting after a while, SO much fucking walking between quest areas or quest givers, backtracking and some more walking, quests that sub divide into more quests and fetch quests just to complete that one initial quest, quest objectives being all over the damn map, going back to inform that retarded cousin of yours about everything you do (you take a dump, you have to go back and tell him all about it), enemies that return to their areas just like it happens in MMOs, killing mobs and having to wait for that loot prompt to actually work or else you'll talk with your dumb meat shields, I mean companions, because they're standing so close to you and it's the same button for talking to them and for looting, you can't control them, talking to Kurt in the beginning only gives you the option to profess your homo love to him (it felt so good when he betrayed me and I finally killed him), Petrus is good, really having good suggestions about quests, following his advice actually led me to a favorable outcome for a quest, Vasco dies like no one's business even fully upgraded, Aphra goes into melee range to throw bombs, Siora/Fiora/whatever her name is heals me when I'm at full health but not when I need it, stealth is shit, disguises don't come into play anymore, climbing ladders animation is slow and dumb, De Shite trying his best not to fall from the ladder at soon as he grabs it, the only good looking armors are the native ones and I'm going to stop here.
At this point I'm level 42 and I actually don't know how to finish the game faster so I can use my favorite tool, uninstall.exe.
Repetitive quests, walking and more walking, whoever called Skyrim a walking simulator hasn't played this game. This takes walking to a whole new level. Being in combat and opening the inventory, journal, map doesn't actually pause the game which is just lol.
In one word, archaic is what this game is. Archaic design. In this day and age, to come out with stuff like this is embarrassing. I understand small studio, limited budget and that but still, shouldn't have bitten more than they can chew.
I just talked with the god tree now and wow, what a great time spent that was, telling me in an Irish voice that the people of the continent are to blame for the disease and how they poison the environment. Felt like listening to a green activist, fight against pollution and all that. Awesome.
Also, Siora/Fiora left me, just like that. Fuck her. Fuck all of them. I don't need them. I got power now.
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones can't come out soon enough.
How much more do I have of the main story? In hours, minutes? How close I am to the end? All I've done in the past 4 hours was just rushing the story.
Edit: typos.