The Backlog Check-in Vol. 245: 9/10/22: Freedom Planet 2 Edition
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2022 9:32 am
Played: Saints Row
Finished: Saints Row
Playing: The Good Life
Added: The Ascent, Encodya, Final Vendetta, The Good Life, Kaze and the Wild Masks, Lost Ruins, PowerSlave Exhumed
I finished Saints Row, and was fairly satisfied with the experience as a whole. My biggest problem with it were its multitude of bugs and glitches throughout, they unfortunately tarnished the game for me a bit. None were too bad to the point of being gamebreaking, but they occurred frequently enough to be annoying especially when I had to restart the game due to them.
The story and characters were likable for the most part, but the story in general felt a bit rushed to me. It’s a little on the short side, and more story missions would have been welcomed. The ones that it has are quite good, and I would have liked more of them. And I would have also liked some actual backstory to the characters themselves, because the game just kind of throws you into things as if you should already know who they are. Since it’s an entirely new cast, it would have been nice if the game began in a way that let you get a better understanding of how they met and who they were in general. It also didn’t spend enough time showing their rise to becoming the Saints, or spend enough time with them after they became the Saints. Almost as soon as they really start establishing themselves as the Saints and their church base finally gets finished, the game is basically over. And the main villain and what they do just kind of comes out of left field as well. While I was fairly satisfied with the conclusion of the game, it just felt like it came a little too fast.
A lot of the game involves doing its side activities, side hustles and criminal ventures. I enjoyed and finished most of the side content, more than I usually do in these types of games. The combination of story content and side content on offer makes for a fairly lengthy experience, but I would have liked a better balance of the two. The side content felt like it made up a much bigger portion of the game overall causing the story content to feel like it was somewhat taking a backseat at times. The story campaign should have been meatier than it was, and some of the side content should have been left on the cutting room floor as not all of it was good.
The game had the potential to be better than it is, and a lot of the negative complaints about it are warranted IMO. It did release in a somewhat unfinished state, and lacks polish overall. The story content is a bit on the lean side, and there’s a little too much insignificant side content in its place. Character gameplay including melee and shooting combat is decent at best, it would have definitely benefitted from better melee combat. Vehicle gameplay is pretty solid for the most part, driving almost always feels good. The game in general is fun to play the majority of the time, but is missing that certain something to elevate it to greatness.
Games releasing this week
Absolute Tactics: Daughters of Mercy
Amazing Chicken Adventures
Angst
Ankara: Lost Days
Bear and Breakfast
Blind Fate: Edo no Yami
The Dark Prophecy
Dead Water Saloon
Despot’s Game: Dystopian Army Builder
Devoured by Darkness
DreamWorld
Dungeons 3
Europa Universalis IV: Lions of the North
Family Man
Fault - StP - Lightkravte
Food Truck Simulator
Foretales
Freedom Planet 2
From Fear
Grid Force: Mask of the Goddess
Isonzo
King of Retail
Last Beat Enhanced
Little Orpheus
Lost Beyond
Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2
Melatonin
Metal: Hellslinger
Plunder Planet
Roadwarden
SBK 22
Silent Sector
Stardeus
Stones Keeper
Sunday Gold
Technicity
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy
Voice of Cards: Beasts of Burden
The Wandering Village
Warlander
Wayward Strand
Whateverland
You Suck at Parking
Finished: Saints Row
Playing: The Good Life
Added: The Ascent, Encodya, Final Vendetta, The Good Life, Kaze and the Wild Masks, Lost Ruins, PowerSlave Exhumed
I finished Saints Row, and was fairly satisfied with the experience as a whole. My biggest problem with it were its multitude of bugs and glitches throughout, they unfortunately tarnished the game for me a bit. None were too bad to the point of being gamebreaking, but they occurred frequently enough to be annoying especially when I had to restart the game due to them.
The story and characters were likable for the most part, but the story in general felt a bit rushed to me. It’s a little on the short side, and more story missions would have been welcomed. The ones that it has are quite good, and I would have liked more of them. And I would have also liked some actual backstory to the characters themselves, because the game just kind of throws you into things as if you should already know who they are. Since it’s an entirely new cast, it would have been nice if the game began in a way that let you get a better understanding of how they met and who they were in general. It also didn’t spend enough time showing their rise to becoming the Saints, or spend enough time with them after they became the Saints. Almost as soon as they really start establishing themselves as the Saints and their church base finally gets finished, the game is basically over. And the main villain and what they do just kind of comes out of left field as well. While I was fairly satisfied with the conclusion of the game, it just felt like it came a little too fast.
A lot of the game involves doing its side activities, side hustles and criminal ventures. I enjoyed and finished most of the side content, more than I usually do in these types of games. The combination of story content and side content on offer makes for a fairly lengthy experience, but I would have liked a better balance of the two. The side content felt like it made up a much bigger portion of the game overall causing the story content to feel like it was somewhat taking a backseat at times. The story campaign should have been meatier than it was, and some of the side content should have been left on the cutting room floor as not all of it was good.
The game had the potential to be better than it is, and a lot of the negative complaints about it are warranted IMO. It did release in a somewhat unfinished state, and lacks polish overall. The story content is a bit on the lean side, and there’s a little too much insignificant side content in its place. Character gameplay including melee and shooting combat is decent at best, it would have definitely benefitted from better melee combat. Vehicle gameplay is pretty solid for the most part, driving almost always feels good. The game in general is fun to play the majority of the time, but is missing that certain something to elevate it to greatness.
Games releasing this week
Absolute Tactics: Daughters of Mercy
Amazing Chicken Adventures
Angst
Ankara: Lost Days
Bear and Breakfast
Blind Fate: Edo no Yami
The Dark Prophecy
Dead Water Saloon
Despot’s Game: Dystopian Army Builder
Devoured by Darkness
DreamWorld
Dungeons 3
Europa Universalis IV: Lions of the North
Family Man
Fault - StP - Lightkravte
Food Truck Simulator
Foretales
Freedom Planet 2
From Fear
Grid Force: Mask of the Goddess
Isonzo
King of Retail
Last Beat Enhanced
Little Orpheus
Lost Beyond
Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2
Melatonin
Metal: Hellslinger
Plunder Planet
Roadwarden
SBK 22
Silent Sector
Stardeus
Stones Keeper
Sunday Gold
Technicity
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy
Voice of Cards: Beasts of Burden
The Wandering Village
Warlander
Wayward Strand
Whateverland
You Suck at Parking