Another month, another list. I didn't spend as much time in front of
the monitor as I should have; too much time spent outdoors doing
'exercise' and 'enjoying the good weather' and 'spending quality time
with friends and family'. I didn't spend thousands on a new PC to
waste time on nonsense like that! I should be gaming 24/7! But alas,
no, the lure of warm sunlight and tasty food keep pulling me away.
I'll try harder next month.
Game Summaries Where I Respect Your Time ---------------------------------------
* Cyberpunk 2077 (continued)
* Ghost Tokyo (new)
Game Summaries Where I Take Up All Your Time ---------------------------------------
* Cyberpunk 2077 (continued from last month)
I largely stand by my initial impressions from last month's round-up.
The creation of Cyberpunk 2077's world took an impressive amount of
effort, and yet I'm sadly left wanting. The story was engaging, and so
were the characters; there was a lot of polish and content, and the
gameplay - while not groundbreaking - was largely satisfying. I could
have done without the bugs - which got increasingly worse as I neared
the finale - and the climatic mission was a bit of a let down, but
overall, a good game.
But still, I'm disappointed. And I struggle to express why I think the
game didn't live up to its potential.
I've already made a few guesses as to the cause of my unhappiness in
other posts: the mazelike design of the city, some odd decisions in
the gameplay design, the grindy crafting mechanic. But I think the
biggest fault is Night City itself. For all its beauty and for all its detail, Night City lacks life and character. It doesn't feel like a
place; it feels like a generic sci-fi metropolis. It might as well
have been San Andreas from GTA5 for all the city itself played a role
in the actual game. And I think part of the failure in its design is
how static the city feels. Nothing changes in the city from start to
finish; even if, narratively, I defeat a major power in the city's
politics, you wouldn't be able to tell from how anything in the city
looks or acts.
I suppose, from the perspective of the setting, this is accurate - one
of the themes of the game is how powerless individuals are to effect
any real change - but from a story and gameplay perspective? It's
awful. Nobody - not the gangbangers, not the cops, not the corporates
- reacts differently to the protagonist regardless if you're a level 1 nobody or a level 50 legend. Despite wiping the map clean of every
mission icon, there's not one change to how the map looks; no
destroyed buildings or revitalized neighborhoods in my wake.
This stasis absolutely ruins the appeal of progressing through the
game; why keep chugging along if nothing changes? Even when there
should be changes - like when I helped a politico realize he was
secretly being manipulated by unknown hackers - the plot-lines get
dropped before anything ever resolves.
Too many of the missions themselves are pointless busywork too. Oh,
the main quest and companion side-quests are all well worth it; if
anyone rings you up in the game and asks you to assist in a mission, I strongly recommend you say yes because that's where all the variety
is. But the various assault hotspots and mercenary gigs you do for the fixers? You can skip those because they don't do anything except give
you piddling amounts of XP and gold. And that's half the game right
there. Similarly, you can ignore buying all the cars and apartments
because the former all drive the same, and the latter offer you no
benefit. The gear is repetitive and hardly worth chasing after, and
the uninspired AI makes every combat feel very much the same.
I hate bringing up all these faults because the game IS NOT bad. It
kept me occupied for over 100 hours, after all. I've nothing to do
after concluding the main quest because I've done every possible side-mission. And I quite enjoyed the story (even if it was sometimes
a bit overwrought and ended on something of a let down). But
"Cyberpunk 2077" could have been - it SHOULD have been - one of those classics we talk about for decades. It's overflowing with talent and
hard work and great ideas. You can see it in every scene, in every
model; there was so much love put into its design. Yet it just doesn't
come close to achieving its potential, and it's heartbreaking.
* Ghostwire: Tokyo (new)
I'm still in the early stages of this one, so I haven't come to a real conclusion about this game yet. But I'm fairly certain it was a
mistake to play it right after "Cyberpunk 2077"; even though in terms
of gameplay and theme the two games are quite different, the fact that
they both are single-player games that take place in a near-future open-world means that I was tired of "Ghostwire: Tokyo" even before I started it.
Which is unfortunate, because "Ghost Tokyo" has some obvious
strengths. It's visuals are quite nice, to start with. It's not quite
as detailed as "Cyberpunk 2077" and the special effects and lighting
aren't nearly as sophisticated... but it's pretty close and the game
is very pretty. But - like "Cyberpunk", its world suffers from a lack
of real interactivity and - thanks to the eponymous ghosts - there's
no wandering AI to add the necessary verisimilitude. There's no real
reason - at least not so far - to hang around in one neighborhood,
other than to maybe scrounge for hidden goodies and supplies. For all
its size, the city serves little purpose beyond being a static
backdrop.
But the game's conceit is interesting; after an apocalyptic
supernatural event, the protagonist survives - thanks to a lucky
possession by a friendly ghost - as the only one left to fight off the bad-guys. Combat is a mix of spell-slinging, unconvincing melee and at
least one ranged weapon. The monsters are suitably creepy - as only
Japanese monsters can be - although there doesn't seem to be much
variety. But then again, I haven't gotten too far into the game. The voice-acting is well done too.
But the sheer scale of the world is daunting; not so much because it's incredibly large (it's not), but because there just doesn't seem all
that much of interest to do. Sure, I can peek into the alleys to find
hidden coins and lost souls to rescue; there's Torri Gates to cleanse
and various side-quests to fulfill. But none of the activities are
very fulfilling and it all seems like so much busy-work. Despite my
usual desire to scour the map of every adventure I'm increasingly
tempted to just speed-run the main quest so I can say I've finished
the game.
I resist, so far, telling myself not to give up on the game just yet,
and to fight the ennui caused by 100+ hours of playing "Cyberpunk
2077". I'm not sure it's a winnable battle, though. "Ghostwire: Tokyo"
may be a great game, but at the moment I think I'm just too burned out
by open-world adventuring to find out for myself.
---------------------------------------
So that's it for me. And how about you? Were you wisely ensconced in
front of your computer playing video games, or did summer cruelly draw
you away from what was important? Tell us...
What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2023?
Spalls, you are still here... after many decades.
On Mon, 14 Aug 2023 04:46:37 -0700 (PDT), Antonio Huerta
<[email protected]> wrote:
Spalls, you are still here... after many decades.
Of course I'm here. Why wouldn't I be here? I'm always here.
Wait... is this how you're letting me go? Is this a sort of, "You're
still here? I thought we dismissed you last month?" thing? I mean,
sure you moved me down to the sub-basement level and made me pay for
my access, but I thought that was all due to Usenet struggling
financially. Was it all just a ploy to get me to leave? Surely at
minimum I get some sort of pension? Severance? A small muffin with a
candle on it? All those years of service, you'd think I'd get
something.
Can I at least keep the little red stapler?
<mutter mutter burn the whole place down mutter mutter>
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