I’ve spent 8 hours in the game so far.
At first, the lack of a local map was annoying, until I noticed the kiosks and signs and I realized this was deliberate. Bethesda wants you to explore and is basically saying, “Fuck you, figure it out on your own”. Which, knowing that, is awesome. Brings me back to navigating Balmora in Morrowind for the first time. So this no longer bothers me. It’s so fun to explore. Once you get down the cities, it’s a piece of cake.
The fast travel system is still a LITTLE annoying but not as much as before. I’m getting used to it. Same with the loading screens. What makes up for all of that is the amount of content that exists on major planets and systems, and choosing deliberately when to fast travel, and when to use your ship and go through the cuteness. I find that helps balance the immersion and annoyance factor. Overall, I still give this game an 8/10. It’s absolutely fantastic. Better than Fallout 4 but not quite as good as Skyrim.
What is so cool though is that if any of you remember, when Fallout 4 came out it was pretty much a collective agreement that the game was disappointing. Not bad, but not good. Now it’s looked upon more positively but still ranked much lower than Skyrim and Oblivion.
This fucking game though? I’ve never seen a fan base so split. Not since TLOU Part 2. You got the other half who says it’s freaking fantastic and was everything they wanted, and then the other half who says it’s fucking awful and a disappointment. I think AWFUL is a bit harsh but I can understand the disappointment. But…can we take a minute here? And take a step back?
We have a game that has made such an impact for players. That does a great job at showing what different people expect. That’s a GOOD thing. It means Bethesda got a lot right. The fact that it can split people’s opinions and put eachother at their throats. I mean, is that not insane?
You got people that fucking love the Souls games and who think they’re the greatest games of all time, and then others who just can’t stand them and find them ridiculously counter intuitive messes. (Myself, please don’t kill me). But that’s good. We SHOULD debate.
So I think we should all respect each other’s opinions ultimately, and recognize that even if you personally don’t like it, what a major influence this is creating. Even bug wise, I’ve encountered maybe 10 bugs in my 8 hour playthrough, and they’ve all been very, VERY minor for a Bethesda game. I’ve been thoroughly impressed.
…You don’t just pick up garbage. The whole thing is about exploring POI. That’s what Bethesda excells at. Plus the well implemented RPG elements and story elements. That’s why people play these games including myself.
It sounds like Bethesda games just aren’t for you. Which is okay. I hate the Souls games but it would be aggregious to say they’re bad.
My exploration of POIs is going to them and picking up the litter. After making sure nothing is left alive, anyway.
I don’t think you quite understood what I mean, since I did not say or even imply that it’s bad.
What’s POI? Because I definitely spend a lot of time (mostly accidentally) picking up garbage. So much so Sarah tells me to stop lol
POI = Point Of Interest
I say dungeons still, and the gameplay loop is
Yeah, I mean it’s kinda that, you’re not wrong. I love the game for it, though, because I want it to advance the story.
To me a game is an interactive story. I suspect it’s something different for you. I don’t think either of us is wrong.
I totally agree that a game can be an interactive story. But if I can’t even have an appreciable affect through my choices, the gameplay is what’s going to decide if it’s something that I continue to enjoy or just play through once and then never touch again.
Something like Baldur’s Gate is way better for the story and player agency. You can do the same dialogue 5 different ways with 5 different outcomes. With Starfield and other more recent BGS games, the dialogue outcomes are exactly the same no matter what dialogue choices you made. Morrowind had more player agency toward affecting quests and the story at large than Skyrim did. Fallout 4 came down to “accept quest” “decline quest politely” “decline quest rudely” as the only things that affected anything. All the other options are fluff and do jack shit mechanically.
Since my story interactions mean nothing, the story part of the game becomes way less interesting than the shooting and building. Now, Disco Elysium on the other hand… That is one helluva good interactive story.