The Backlog Check-in Vol. 127: 6/6/20: Beyond Blue Edition
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:27 am
Played: Outward
Finished: Nothing
Playing: ?
I put a lot of time into Outward, and not much has really happened in that time. The game world consists of four somewhat big open regions each with their own distinct look, but they seem bigger than they actually are because you have to traverse them on foot. They're rather open and empty without much in them. There's some bandits and monsters to fight once in a while, a little loot to find and some caves/dungeons/forts/ruins. That's about it. For a game that focuses on exploration, there's really not all that much to explore. If you had a mount such as a horse you could traverse the entirety of the regions fairly quickly, but of course on foot it takes a long time to traverse them.
You have a map that shows landmarks on it, but it doesn't show your position or any quest markers. It makes traversal confusing when you can't see where you're at in the world or where you need to go for a quest, and there's no fast travel so you have to backtrack long distances to get back to previously visited locations. It just makes traversing the world a much bigger slog than it should be. If there were mounts it wouldn't be as big of an issue, but traversing the entire game world back and forth on foot is daunting.
As for quests, there's really only ones connected to the three different factions that you can join. You can only join one per game, and they each offer their own quest line. This is to give the game replay value, but I don't think that I'm even going to finish it once since I'm finding the overall experience to be rather dull. There's too much of an emphasis on trying to figure out where you're supposed to go based on vague directions, and spending long periods of time traversing big empty landscapes not really feeling like you're making much progress in the process.
They basically made a fairly big game world, but failed to put much in it. The emphasis is supposed to be on exploring, but if there's not much to discover then what's the point. Open world RPGs are usually packed with quests and things to do in them, but not this one. It's supposed to be more about exploration, traversal and survival with light sim elements, but it just feels like they failed to put a lot to do in the game.
And if all of this wasn't bad enough, the graphics are technically dated/poor and the performance of the game drops considerably at times with chugging frame rates. With how low quality the graphics are the game should run at a buttery smooth 60fps, not 30fps and lower.
There's things that I like about the game such as its old school design structure of basically no handholding, its crafting/mechanics/systems and its weapons/combat which is why I've stuck with it for as long as I have, but its lack of showing where you are on the map, no quest markers and no fast travel really hurt the experience. Not to mention the overall lack of quests, or things to discover in the game world. The foundation for a really good action RPG is present, but it all feels half-baked.
Beyond Blue comes out this week.
Finished: Nothing
Playing: ?
I put a lot of time into Outward, and not much has really happened in that time. The game world consists of four somewhat big open regions each with their own distinct look, but they seem bigger than they actually are because you have to traverse them on foot. They're rather open and empty without much in them. There's some bandits and monsters to fight once in a while, a little loot to find and some caves/dungeons/forts/ruins. That's about it. For a game that focuses on exploration, there's really not all that much to explore. If you had a mount such as a horse you could traverse the entirety of the regions fairly quickly, but of course on foot it takes a long time to traverse them.
You have a map that shows landmarks on it, but it doesn't show your position or any quest markers. It makes traversal confusing when you can't see where you're at in the world or where you need to go for a quest, and there's no fast travel so you have to backtrack long distances to get back to previously visited locations. It just makes traversing the world a much bigger slog than it should be. If there were mounts it wouldn't be as big of an issue, but traversing the entire game world back and forth on foot is daunting.
As for quests, there's really only ones connected to the three different factions that you can join. You can only join one per game, and they each offer their own quest line. This is to give the game replay value, but I don't think that I'm even going to finish it once since I'm finding the overall experience to be rather dull. There's too much of an emphasis on trying to figure out where you're supposed to go based on vague directions, and spending long periods of time traversing big empty landscapes not really feeling like you're making much progress in the process.
They basically made a fairly big game world, but failed to put much in it. The emphasis is supposed to be on exploring, but if there's not much to discover then what's the point. Open world RPGs are usually packed with quests and things to do in them, but not this one. It's supposed to be more about exploration, traversal and survival with light sim elements, but it just feels like they failed to put a lot to do in the game.
And if all of this wasn't bad enough, the graphics are technically dated/poor and the performance of the game drops considerably at times with chugging frame rates. With how low quality the graphics are the game should run at a buttery smooth 60fps, not 30fps and lower.
There's things that I like about the game such as its old school design structure of basically no handholding, its crafting/mechanics/systems and its weapons/combat which is why I've stuck with it for as long as I have, but its lack of showing where you are on the map, no quest markers and no fast travel really hurt the experience. Not to mention the overall lack of quests, or things to discover in the game world. The foundation for a really good action RPG is present, but it all feels half-baked.
Beyond Blue comes out this week.
. I want a a PS5. Horizon 2, Miles Morales AND RATCHET AND CLANK ARE BACK?!?! Plus, I really would most likely grab the all digital PS5 from jump street. I own so few PS4 games and have no desire for a physical collection. Especially if it plays PS4 games and is cheaper, I am thoroughly down to get one sooner than later.