Maybe it will get better when you join a faction like you were told!!
I dunno what the deal is, but this game looks pretty cool to me from what I’m seeing.
Then again, I totally loved Witcher 3’s combat, so I guess I’m an outlier? I thought other folks liked it too.
I certainly put The Witcher 3 combat ahead of most open world RPGs - any Bethesda game, Gothic / Risen. I can’t think of any off the top of my head that I liked better than W3, except for Dark Souls - and that is a different beast.
I think Dark Souls is the gold standard for combat.
When I looked the PS4 version was 10% lower than the pc version on metacritic. I’ll be downloading tonight :)
Witcher 3 has the best combat for the type of storydriven open world RPG that it is. Dragon’s Dogma might be deeper, but it is a game all centered around combat (and personally I dropped it after 5 hours because I found it immensely boring). Skyrim is…eh.
Gothic 1/2 had great combat for its time though. It was brilliant how as a total noob, you even held onehanded sword with two hands, but then when trained started holding it properly, then learn some combos…it worked well and every new skill was visible and useful.
It was so good that PB never managed to top it, or even match it :(
Yup. Combat in Gothic I was so satisfying as you improved. It felt like I was getting better at fighting along with the character. Going back and taking on enemies that would have slaughtered me earlier was incredibly satisfying in a way that went way beyond “I’ve leveled up and am stronger now” to feeling like I, the player, was more skilled. That’s why it is one of my all-time favorites. Gothic was slammed for having poor controls, but the controls weren’t the issue, imo, it was the lack of documentation.
Yeah G1 had bad controls for inventory, the rest was ok, the game could be remapped to standard wsad+mouse and it played perfectly fine. G2 fixed the inventory as well. I remember arguing with someone on qt3 8 years ago about controls in gothic :)
Put it like this, you’ve bought a PB game. If you’re familiar with Risen, expect to be playing more of same. I’ve played an hour or so (on PC) and its pretty much as I expected. For Risen 2 and 3, they basically took Risen’s fantasy setting and added pirates. So far it kind of looks like they’ve done the same thing except its not pirates its sci-fi. I’ve even fought some monsters that are suspiciously similar to those found in Risen.
Early days but I’m not dissatisfied with my purchase (yet).
I think it’s just a matter of how long it takes for me to get sick of the combat. TW3 was fine, but I got tired of it after 100 hours (and more if you include TW2). I got sick of Dark Souls after 500 hours too.
I only played Risen, but I was surprised how compelling it was despite being mechanically simple. I guess I don’t need much.
Ignoring that “horrible” is a highly uncharitable opinion that I disagree with (I’d say most are serviceable but not great), one of my favorites combat-wise remains Kingdoms of Amalur which I recall had pretty cool combat feel and mechanics.
And would you consider Nier: Automata an open world RPG? :)
Loved the combat in that one. Soooo good. How I wish we’d get a Kingdoms of Amalur 2 that fixed the issues in the first one while improving the things it did right…
Did you enjoy Risen 3? How’s it compare?
So I played my first hour and I disagree with @Razgon on everything. Well, the sound levels are indeed a bit off, I give him that. Overall it is janky like all PB Games in the past and I must wonder if Razgon has played (and liked) any of those that came before.
The game looks nice enough and runs good on my machine. The landscape is actually very nice and invites one to wander off into tons of nooks and crannies. Where you probably die or find loot. I have cool music and had no issues with the guy you follow in the beginning. You actually do not have to follow him at all, you can tell him there to shove off and you can wander wherever you please. As you could in previous PB games. Also you do not have to make a faction choice in the beginning either, you first must prove your worth and work your way up. Until you can actually join you will have done several quests already and probably met at least one other faction and learned more about the game and the world. Like in all other PB games before. Animations are the normal PB fare, don`t think they changed the walking animation since Gothic 1. Graphics are good enough, not sure what one would expect from a “small” 30 person studio. A bit dated in parts for sure when compared to recent AAA games but that’s not what Elex is. That there is no customization and you play an ugly dude is… like in all other PB games. Melee combat is also pretty much the same as well. You have light and heavy attacks and must time them right to create combos or gather energy for a special move. You can parry or dodge. Controls are not as responsive as I would like but so far I managed. I did not have any ranged attacks besides the bow yet and that works but was boring.
I think there are two issues. Razgon either has no idea what PB games are and has not played any of the ones before or forgotten how they are. The world is new but game-play feels just like in those. If you liked the predecessors, warts and all, you should like this as well. Secondly from his descriptions it sounds to me like his install borked, especially the mention of missing music.
What is correct that this is not a huge leap forward for PB. They pretty much made the same game since Gothic 1 with slight variations on the theme and this is no different. The first hour gave me amazing flashbacks from the earlier games. Especially since in Germany they have been using the same speakers since Gothic 1 in all their games, You know the voices and that is something you either hate or that gives you a feel of “familiarity”. One hour is absolutely not enough to make a judgement call on the overall game yet of course, but my first impression is very positive.
Okay, about 20 minutes into the PC version and it isn’t horrible. It runs well, there’s no ballooning foliage, and I died to the lone newbie beastie about six times before I killed it and found an amulet. I’m hooked.
I know the exact moment you mean, was my “Holy shit this feels like Gothic again” moment as well.
That’s what I was expecting, and why I’ve been keen for this game. :)
Looking forward to finally playing it when I get home from work today.
I just wish there games hadn’t gotten progressively more open world. I’d love another game like the original Gothic.
I played Risen 1, and enjoyed it. Now, that was a while ago, and I don’t remember the graphics being so dated, so I kinda assume they weren’t.
its fine people like this because its more of the same as Gothic 1 or 2 or whatever - that still doesn’t change the fact that at the graphics ARE incredibly dated, the animations as well, the dialogue not making any sense, the combat being awful - Is that the hallmark of a great series? Or is it just rose-tinted glasses and memories hitting full-force here?
Anyways - If people expect a modern ps4 game, they will be disappointed. If people expect a 2001 game, then I guess they get a great game?
The point is they are a great series despite it’s shortcomings. They are definitely not for everyone. The mechanics have only changed little, but then I never felt they where totally broken. The good thing is because of that muscle memory helps me play the game so far without too much hassle because it is more of the same. I look forward to play more and discover if their world building is still as great as it was.