Arkane PREY - Arkane's immersive coffee cup transformation sim - now with Mooncrash roguelike mode DLC

[ciox]

So in that latest footage the Scientist tree is still gutted and has maybe 1/4 the upgrades of the other trees, that's embarassing. There aren't even that many non-spell upgrades left, and most of what's left you've acquired in the last Deus Ex games with a similar interface for buying them even, bigger jumps, more stamina and picking up heavy objects. Only two months left but I hope they do something.

Skill trees aside, player choice regarding the arsenal is also pretty low, there's few weapons (7 going by the radial select? they're few either way), they don't degrade, they are often multi-purpose, they take up very little space even in an un-upgraded inventory, and you can fabricate their ammo if you run out. Even something as simple as making the GLOO cannon be a huge object in the inventory would help tons with making you decide to maybe leave it on the ground sometimes, as it is, it's basically the game's Gravity Gun.
I can't find it easily but early into the game's promotion they were bragging about SS2-like interactions like the GLOO breaking for a character that wasn't equipped with repair skills, and the broken cannon was enough dead weight that it had to be left behind for a while.

I can't even tell what's supposed to fill your inventory and stress you out even a little about what you're going to keep, weapons would need to be 2 to 3 times bigger than they are and that would only be a start.

 

[Morgoth]

 

[Durandal]

Increasing your alien magic also increases the increases the likelyhood of aliens of noticing you and a Nemesis-type alien spawning? Maybe we'll finally have an Arkane game where magic isn't blatantly OP
I did see an oxygen meter there too. I do wish they didn't hammer the idea of ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES so hard, fucking Beth playtesters not knowing unless they're told again

How many Yu puns can Yu make?

 

[ciox]

That trailer had lots of very old footage which is why you saw weapon condition and oxygen, Christ, are they toying with us?

 

[Morgoth]

Increasing your alien magic also increases the increases the likelyhood of aliens of noticing you and a Nemesis-type alien spawning? Maybe we'll finally have an Arkane game where magic isn't blatantly OP
I did see an oxygen meter there too. I do wish they didn't hammer the idea of ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES so hard, fucking Beth playtesters not knowing unless they're told again

How many Yu puns can Yu make?

That is well known. More Alien neuromods also means sentry guns will likely mow you down on sight because they detect you as a Typhon. And then there's this yuge Godzilla-type Typhon hunting you down throughout Talos I, which is unkillable.

 

[ciox]

Increasing your alien magic also increases the increases the likelyhood of aliens of noticing you and a Nemesis-type alien spawning? Maybe we'll finally have an Arkane game where magic isn't blatantly OP
I did see an oxygen meter there too. I do wish they didn't hammer the idea of ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES so hard, fucking Beth playtesters not knowing unless they're told again

How many Yu puns can Yu make?

That is well known. More Alien neuromods also means sentry guns will likely mow you down on sight because they detect you as a Typhon. And then there's this yuge Godzilla-type Typhon hunting you down throughout Talos I, which is unkillable.

Yep, and the only purpose of turret hacking is to prevent them from shooting you once you're Typhon'd up, bit strange since you can always hack turrets but it doesn't do anything early on.

Last we saw of the Nightmare it took pretty heavy damage from being hit with a shipping crate, it will probably respawn later if you manage to defeat it.

 

[Hines]

Besides the dead guy sitting on chair which turned into mimic, that was terrible trailer. Prey continues to disappoint. I hope everything released so far is in no way indicative of the final game.

 

[Siel]

 

[Tom Selleck]

man victor lucas is still doing his shit? guy must be 86 years old by now

 

[Ivan]

just me or is Raphael a man's man?

 

[Morgoth]

 

[Siel]

ENERGY TREE

Kinetic Blast (I, II and II)

Create a physical blast that deals up to 70 damage and pushes away anything within 5 meters of the targeted area.

Upgrade Kinetic Blast to increase the damage and push radius around the targeted area.

Lift Field (I and II)

Manipulate gravity to create a column of upward force up to 7 meters tall that last 15 seconds and can trap enemies.

Upgrade Lift Field to increase the height of the column.

Shown in the video at 00:10-00:16

Electrostatic Burst (I, II and III)

Create an electrostatic burst that deals up to 25 damage within 3 meters of the targeted area. Additionally, the burst disrupts electronic equipment, stuns robotic targets for 3 seconds, and stuns biological targets for 2 seconds.

Upgrade Electrostatic Burst to increase the damage and area of effect, as well as the stun periods for both robotic enemies and biological enemies.

Shown in the video at 00:23-00:26

Electrostatic Absorption

Absorb 50% of all electrical damage as psi points.

Electrostatic Resistance

Negate stun and take 50% less damage from electrical attacks and hazards.

Superthermal (I, II and III)

Create a trap of super-heated plasma that deals up to 80 fire damage within 4 meters when triggered.

Upgrade Superthermal to increase the damage and area of effect.

Shown in the video at 00:39-00:48

Thermal Resistance

Take 50% less damage from fire attacks and hazards.

Thermal Absorption

Absorb 50% of all fire damage as psi points.

MORPH TREE

Mimic Matter (I, II and III)

Camouflage yourself by taking the form of a nearby object. Movement is possible but may draw attention. Uses 2 psi per second.

Upgrade Mimic Matter to mimic more complex machinery, like turrets and Operator bots around Talos I.

Regeneration (I and II)

Regenerate up to 10 health immediately after taking damage.

Upgrade Regeneration to increase the amount of health you regenerate.

Phantom Shift (I and II)

Rapidly change position up to 6 meters away and leave behind a double that fools enemies for 4 seconds.

Upgrade Phantom Shift to increase the distance you move and the length of time your double distracts your enemies.

Shown in the video at 00:33-00:39

Ether Resistance

Take 50% less damage from ether attacks and hazards.

Ether Absorption

Absorb 50% of all ether damage at psi points.

Phantom Genesis (I and II)

Create a Phantom that will fight for you from a human corpse.

Upgrade Phantom Genesis to create a more powerful Phantom to fight for you. Phantom type is randomly determined.

Shown in the video at 00:26-00:33

TELEPATHY TREE

Backlash (I, II and III)

Create a shield for 20 seconds, which prevents the next enemy attack from damaging you. Enemies that attack the shield are repelled.

Upgrade Backlash to increase the number of attacks the shield can block.

Fear Resistance

Reduce duration of fear effects by 25%.

Psychoshock (I, II and III)

Execute a direct psychic shock attack against biological targets for 45 damage and nullify psi abilities for 10 seconds.

Upgade Psychoshock to increase the amount of damage the attack does, as well as the amount of time psi abilities will be nullified.

Mindjack (I, II and III)

Force biological enemies to end hostilities and fight for you for up to 20 seconds. Also frees humans from Typhon mind control.

Upgrade Mindjack to increase the amount of time enemies will fight for you.
Remote Manipulation (I, II and III)

Use your mind to retrieve distant objects and interact with devices up to 10 meters away.

Upgrade Remote Manipulation to increase your range.

Machine Mind (I, II and III)

Force robotic enemies to end hostilities and fight for you for up to 30 seconds.

Upgrade Machine Mind to increase the amount of time hostile robotic enemies will fight for you.

Shown in the video at 00:20-00:23

https://bethesda.net/en/article/1wf37WAY6Em66S6aaSsC8g/prey-powers-guide-and-video

 

[Morgoth]

 

[Siel]

Screams 'Bioshock'

 

[Tom Selleck]

More like NAPture amirite (bc its boren ahhahahaha zzzzzzzzzz)

 

[LESS T_T]

 

[Morgoth]

I was supposed to post this, but I forgot.

 

[ciox]

Looks like the Scientist tree does get filled out later with more stuff like Psychoscope upgrades and what are probably Psi Hypo efficiency upgrades, nice I guess.
Meanwhile from the latest EGX footage the game still has loading tips telling you how fabricators are quick and efficient but they make unreliable items, an obvious nod to the weapon durability system which got removed and is still removed.

 

[Ash]

All the decline-enablers hyped for Bioshock 2.0 I see.

 

[ciox]

All the decline-enablers hyped for Bioshock 2.0 I see.

I'm not seeing it.

Here's that EGX footage I was talking about https://www.twitch.tv/videos/132239748?t=07m33s

 

[Morgoth]

Don't argue with Ash, just give him the shit rating.

 

[Morgoth]

 

[RoSoDude]

THE GOOD:

• Stylistic direction of the game is neat and I like the sound design. Comparisons to Bioshock give me nausea, though.
• Inventory system looks solid, and resource management might be a real thing, although they could just be showing you with limited ammo as a misdirect.
• AI interactions are intriguing, but exploitability looks very high. Unsure how much is them showing off as much as possible, and how much is the AI taking every opportunity to ignore you.

THE BAD:

• Powers and equipment look like gimmicks or one-hit KO cheese. Psi costs for abilities seemed super low. Raph talks about "breaking their games" and how the "Dishonored community" finds ways to exploit their game systems, but I don't know if he realizes how true that really is. Watch any speedrun of Dishonored and you can see how much of a joke the game is, in terms of challenge. You can literally blink your way through the levels and chug mana elixirs without a care. With that sort of sandbox design ethos, Prey could be the same.
• Hacking minigame looks extremely bland. This was something that EM's Deus Ex games got really right (except for upgrades that let you cheese it), and even System Shock 2's deceptively simple RNG affair had some real tension. This looks like an attempt to make something "skill based", but it seems super dull.
• All tension is removed from the spacewalk with no limits to your oxygen/thrust. There's a supreme unease that should come with floating untethered high in Earth's orbit. I don't get how a space survival horror game that lets you actually spacewalk would ignore this opportunity.

THE UGLY:

• Why does a black gradient show up on the top and bottom of your screen when you crouch? Do kids really need a visual indicator for when they're in sup3r sn3ak mode?
• Musical cues whenever you pick up an item or complete an objective are immersion-breaking and dumb. Are we playing Zelda or what?
  
• I actually don't care for the fact that you interact with computer terminals in a 1st person view. A free mouse would be far more convenient. This doesn't increase immersion; you don't keep your arm locked in a forward position when you interact with a touch screen.

 

[agris]

RoSoDude dude, the answer to all your bads and uglies are: because it makes the game easier, and thus ameniable to the widest possible audience. how on earth are you unfamiliar with the thought processes behind such design decisions?

 

[RoSoDude]

RoSoDude dude, the answer to all your bads and uglies are: because it makes the game easier, and thus ameniable to the widest possible audience. how on earth are you unfamiliar with the thought processes behind such design decisions?

You think I don't know this? When I ask "why", it's rhetorical. I know it's to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but I can still lament the fact anyway.

I'm complaining about them because this game has/had potential, and it's a shame to see what appears to be a legitimate spiritual successor to System Shock 2 dumbed down right before our very eyes. It's a further shame that Arkane is getting heaps of praise for "bringing back the immersive sim" on top of it all.