wyes gull
Savant
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2017
- Messages
- 424
Finished it. Loved it. I'm heavily biased tho. Far as I care any sort of sci-fi>fantasy, especially of the medieval kind, and I hold cyberpunk especially dear. Heck, I can say I'd been waiting 20 years for the chance to walk around in a cyberpunk city like this and I'd have happily shelled twice the amount just for the city, no peds, no traffic, so long as it had a dynamic weather system or at least perpetual night. It's not perfect but it's still the prettiest thing I've ever seen in a game. I could go through it for hours and find a surprise at every corner and in fact, a lot of my 60-something hours' playthrough was made up of just that. I wouldn't say it's perfect- it's too western for my specific taste, especially the outskirts. But hell, even those parts look fantastic.
I could even mirror most of that praise on the design of the vehicles, the weapons and most of the central characters. Oh and the sound design. That is, when the sound is actually work as intended. But I make no bones about it. The city is the linchpin. And she is gorgeous.
Having said that, all the reasons I like this have nothing to do or are at most tangential to the actual game because as it turns out, there is an actual game in here. I'll give it points for ambition if nothing else. I've never been a fan of the avg modern shooter and as one, this doesn't work particularly well without maps specifically designed to suit it and with an AI that is just not there. The RPG (air-quotes RPG, mind) mechanics don't help either. So it varies from spongy and reasonably hard and boring to fast, easy and satisfying. Similar to how it worked in VtMB if you specialized in combat and were fighting humans. The sound and animations/gibbing really do save the day as blasting someone to shreds looks and sounds... just right, and it's at least reward enough in itself to not expose the lacking areas of the shooting as a mindless chore. Swording and (I imagine) Blunting work pretty much the same way. Fast, easy, satisfying. Too easy, unfortunately. AI aside, my choice for biggest culprit would be the damage breadth that weapons come in. And how easy it is to find a weapon that does, per second, more damage than the avg enemy has HP. Weapons -are- level restricted but that restriction does little to help the PC not easily overpower the NPC 15-20 levels in. Out of a supposed 50. Ouch.
Long and short of it, the game needs rebalancing. Especially when it comes to gains for skills, who just slog the whole fucking game, way behind stats, player level and reputation. And even then combat's too easy. It brings to mind just what the hell are skills for. Right now? Absolutely nothing but gating the last, highest perk (which lets you put infinite points into minuscule improvements), contrary to all other perks, which are gated by stat levels rather than skill. Crafting seems an exception, as it gates the quality of items you can craft, but then that skill levels appropriately via crafting. So someone call Oscuro or le-balance-man because this thing needs an overhaul. Bad. I'll add 1 bit of praise though, in that most combat areas seem to be designed with choice in approach in mind is particularly noteworthy; that after hours and hours you can jump onto a side window of the building in which the objective of some meaningless side-mission is located and be surprised by a hidden entrance and on the way out you find another point of entry is impressive, not to mention the cameras and computers you can use to unleash a number of surprises on unsuspecting mooks.
I have more gripes about the gameplay but it's bugging me that I've gone several paragraphs without mentioning something... buggy. I wouldn't exactly call the game buggy. Bugs sometimes are innocuous, sometimes brick saves, sometimes render the game unfinishable. Happy to report that for me, that wasn't the case. Say what I will but it is finishable. It's just not finished. Which is absolutely NOT an excuse. And the bugs come at you at an alarming rate that I've seldom, if ever, experienced. Fortunately, most of them are graphical in nature (such as the fucking crosshairs that remained on the hud after I'd holstered my weapon, forcing me to un-holster, switch to the katana (that doesn't have a crosshair) and then sheathe that instead to get rid of them. That fucker stayed with me the whole fucking game. Fuck the fuck off, already) and only 2 made me lose game time; one in a mission with Panam wherein, should you die (I died twice thanks to those sneaky explosive barrels and to being run the fuck over by a car with no engine noise, so bugs within bugs now), the 3 or 4 previous autosaves put you in the car with Panam, except on the driver seat she's in rather than the passenger seat where you're supposed to be, rendering you permanently stuck. The other one I can't recall but in all it's 30 minutes of lost game time. Remarkably, for all the bugs, only one quest was rendered unfinishable for me, the 7 proxies one.
Finally there's the story. I liked it quite a bit. Characterization and acting were strong throughout and I'd say the voice acting was great across the board, the weaker cog being Keanu himself, whose performance varied wildly. He's not the most expressive actor in the world (I mean he's pretty much a plank) but even then he manages to be really convincing most of the time. Problem is the rest of the time, when he sounds half asleep and completely unaware of the gravity of the situation the characters are in. I do find his presence and integration welcome enough, though, as it lends a sorely needed bit of banter to even some small side missions in a game where a solo protagonist would be rendered almost speechless and perhaps even characterless for the vast majority of playtime were it not for the opportunity to play off of the voice in his or her head. The plot, however, has 2 major problems. First off it does itself and the player a disservice by separating characters into groups and camping them in their respective islands, never to interact. Party based RPGs have an easy time of this by virtue of there being a party but if that comparison sounds unfair, consider then that Witcher 3 (hell, even 2) accomplishes this splendidly. Characters move about and seem ready to discuss themselves, each other, you and the world at large in a way that seems believable and the game makes no bones about setting up situations where it brings people together. In 2077 Goro and Hanako live on one island, Panam and the Aldecalientes live on another, Misty and Mamá live on another, River, Kerry, Judy, Vic and so on and so forth live in theirs and they -never- interact. Which is not only a waste of perfectly good characters, it only reinforces the feeling that the city -is- dead (a feeling borne of either bugs or missing/unfinished/cut content in the overworld) and at worse, it beggars belief. That one character seems to bring so many people around them who either appreciate or owe them and yet they're completely unaware of one another. V doesn't, ever, even bring them up in random conversations, of which you have a -ton-.
Then there's the ending. As I understand it
That and the whole V being a witness to the murder mattering a single iota (because why the hell would it? It's not like he has a recording of the event, even though HE HAD A FUCKING CYBERNETIC EYE) are among a few seemingly dumb moments that signal "turn on brain-shut-down-mode" but fortunately the sci-fi wets the beak enough that they don't ruin it outright.
Oh, almost completely forgot the OST. Which is telling. There's 3 strong tracks on it and that's yer lot. What disappoints me, though, isn't lack of quality on the ost's part, it's the lack of melody- almost entirely replaced with droning and noise. But the worst is the lack of identity. Some of the most popular cyberpunk movies have instantly recognizable soundtracks whose point isn't that they're memorable, but that they signify/identify their movies and their movies' worlds. This one could fit a number of different games/movies/worlds and yet signifies almost nothing at all. It also doesn't help that you'll be listening to the radio most of the time. So rest assured, Shawn Lee, Bully is still the best open-world game ost.
So that's that. Still have shit to say (something about how modern influences combined with the raw-er eras where cyberpunk genre originated/evolved make this game's world seem incongruous or something of that nature) but I'm reaching critical Durandal levels. Time to die. Besides, if they couldn't be bothered finishing the fucking game, why would I finish the "review"?
TBA/5, would not recommend. Still love it, tho.
I could even mirror most of that praise on the design of the vehicles, the weapons and most of the central characters. Oh and the sound design. That is, when the sound is actually work as intended. But I make no bones about it. The city is the linchpin. And she is gorgeous.
Having said that, all the reasons I like this have nothing to do or are at most tangential to the actual game because as it turns out, there is an actual game in here. I'll give it points for ambition if nothing else. I've never been a fan of the avg modern shooter and as one, this doesn't work particularly well without maps specifically designed to suit it and with an AI that is just not there. The RPG (air-quotes RPG, mind) mechanics don't help either. So it varies from spongy and reasonably hard and boring to fast, easy and satisfying. Similar to how it worked in VtMB if you specialized in combat and were fighting humans. The sound and animations/gibbing really do save the day as blasting someone to shreds looks and sounds... just right, and it's at least reward enough in itself to not expose the lacking areas of the shooting as a mindless chore. Swording and (I imagine) Blunting work pretty much the same way. Fast, easy, satisfying. Too easy, unfortunately. AI aside, my choice for biggest culprit would be the damage breadth that weapons come in. And how easy it is to find a weapon that does, per second, more damage than the avg enemy has HP. Weapons -are- level restricted but that restriction does little to help the PC not easily overpower the NPC 15-20 levels in. Out of a supposed 50. Ouch.
Long and short of it, the game needs rebalancing. Especially when it comes to gains for skills, who just slog the whole fucking game, way behind stats, player level and reputation. And even then combat's too easy. It brings to mind just what the hell are skills for. Right now? Absolutely nothing but gating the last, highest perk (which lets you put infinite points into minuscule improvements), contrary to all other perks, which are gated by stat levels rather than skill. Crafting seems an exception, as it gates the quality of items you can craft, but then that skill levels appropriately via crafting. So someone call Oscuro or le-balance-man because this thing needs an overhaul. Bad. I'll add 1 bit of praise though, in that most combat areas seem to be designed with choice in approach in mind is particularly noteworthy; that after hours and hours you can jump onto a side window of the building in which the objective of some meaningless side-mission is located and be surprised by a hidden entrance and on the way out you find another point of entry is impressive, not to mention the cameras and computers you can use to unleash a number of surprises on unsuspecting mooks.
I have more gripes about the gameplay but it's bugging me that I've gone several paragraphs without mentioning something... buggy. I wouldn't exactly call the game buggy. Bugs sometimes are innocuous, sometimes brick saves, sometimes render the game unfinishable. Happy to report that for me, that wasn't the case. Say what I will but it is finishable. It's just not finished. Which is absolutely NOT an excuse. And the bugs come at you at an alarming rate that I've seldom, if ever, experienced. Fortunately, most of them are graphical in nature (such as the fucking crosshairs that remained on the hud after I'd holstered my weapon, forcing me to un-holster, switch to the katana (that doesn't have a crosshair) and then sheathe that instead to get rid of them. That fucker stayed with me the whole fucking game. Fuck the fuck off, already) and only 2 made me lose game time; one in a mission with Panam wherein, should you die (I died twice thanks to those sneaky explosive barrels and to being run the fuck over by a car with no engine noise, so bugs within bugs now), the 3 or 4 previous autosaves put you in the car with Panam, except on the driver seat she's in rather than the passenger seat where you're supposed to be, rendering you permanently stuck. The other one I can't recall but in all it's 30 minutes of lost game time. Remarkably, for all the bugs, only one quest was rendered unfinishable for me, the 7 proxies one.
Finally there's the story. I liked it quite a bit. Characterization and acting were strong throughout and I'd say the voice acting was great across the board, the weaker cog being Keanu himself, whose performance varied wildly. He's not the most expressive actor in the world (I mean he's pretty much a plank) but even then he manages to be really convincing most of the time. Problem is the rest of the time, when he sounds half asleep and completely unaware of the gravity of the situation the characters are in. I do find his presence and integration welcome enough, though, as it lends a sorely needed bit of banter to even some small side missions in a game where a solo protagonist would be rendered almost speechless and perhaps even characterless for the vast majority of playtime were it not for the opportunity to play off of the voice in his or her head. The plot, however, has 2 major problems. First off it does itself and the player a disservice by separating characters into groups and camping them in their respective islands, never to interact. Party based RPGs have an easy time of this by virtue of there being a party but if that comparison sounds unfair, consider then that Witcher 3 (hell, even 2) accomplishes this splendidly. Characters move about and seem ready to discuss themselves, each other, you and the world at large in a way that seems believable and the game makes no bones about setting up situations where it brings people together. In 2077 Goro and Hanako live on one island, Panam and the Aldecalientes live on another, Misty and Mamá live on another, River, Kerry, Judy, Vic and so on and so forth live in theirs and they -never- interact. Which is not only a waste of perfectly good characters, it only reinforces the feeling that the city -is- dead (a feeling borne of either bugs or missing/unfinished/cut content in the overworld) and at worse, it beggars belief. That one character seems to bring so many people around them who either appreciate or owe them and yet they're completely unaware of one another. V doesn't, ever, even bring them up in random conversations, of which you have a -ton-.
Then there's the ending. As I understand it
what Alt is supposed to do is essentially replace the chip (via software, if not physically) containing Johnny's engram with a chip with V's engram, hereby killing V, having the new chip/software resurrect V and eventually have their original personality+Johnny's overwritten with a new V personality, right? If that is the case, the 6 months thing just sounds like complete arsepull for drama's sake. And if it's not the case... well, why the fuck isn't it the case? They have the chip specs, they have access to V and they know how to make an engram. What's the problem???
Oh, almost completely forgot the OST. Which is telling. There's 3 strong tracks on it and that's yer lot. What disappoints me, though, isn't lack of quality on the ost's part, it's the lack of melody- almost entirely replaced with droning and noise. But the worst is the lack of identity. Some of the most popular cyberpunk movies have instantly recognizable soundtracks whose point isn't that they're memorable, but that they signify/identify their movies and their movies' worlds. This one could fit a number of different games/movies/worlds and yet signifies almost nothing at all. It also doesn't help that you'll be listening to the radio most of the time. So rest assured, Shawn Lee, Bully is still the best open-world game ost.
So that's that. Still have shit to say (something about how modern influences combined with the raw-er eras where cyberpunk genre originated/evolved make this game's world seem incongruous or something of that nature) but I'm reaching critical Durandal levels. Time to die. Besides, if they couldn't be bothered finishing the fucking game, why would I finish the "review"?
TBA/5, would not recommend. Still love it, tho.
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