Suits wrote: ↑May 19th, 2017, 9:30 am
That's a very fair and interesting take on it Sean.
I agree that at times, it did feel as if it was about to start to drag for myself, at that point, I would actively change my approach and do something different.
Whether that's considered acceptable to then not call a game repetitious, or whether it's down to the personal player and how they use the tools available to them to manage it - it's an interesting point.
Don't get me wrong, it's a truly amazing game. I have no issue with the openness or loneliness in the most part, I just think despite the reviews all saying it doesn't suffer from the flaws of games like ACreed where it gets samey, it sort of does. But reviewers weren't to know that as they reviewed it 30-40 hours in before that kicks in.
A sequel gets me really excited already. Think this is an amazing leap forward, but it could be improved on in time (proper fishing!). But no real rush for me to do that; park it for 4-5 years now.
I'm off to the NE part of the map now though which looks a bit more populated and varied. I've missed greenery!
And even in those areas I found a bit dull, I found some wonderful moments to cherish such as mythical moonlight creatures, horses lost to travellers tales, underground temples full of malfunctioning guardians and a giant maze.
It's a hugely ambitious game that the industry will be struggling to catch up with for years. There's a great Games Informer podcast actually where they invite some game developers on to discuss it. The general gist is 'WHERE DID THIS COME FROM AND HOW DID THEY DO IT?!?'
I genuinely think the answer to that in part lies with the Monolith Soft team that came on board as this game literally smashes the very best parts of Xenoblade Chronicles and XC X into one game (albeit sadly without such varied environments and enemies) and throws in the most varied and clever physics engine ever. I reckon one day there'll be a great insider piece about their involvement. If you've played those games, this game is littered with ideas from them; from rebuilding towns, fighting mechanical enemies once your friends with a blue sword, piecing a story together via lost memory cut scenes, twinkling items discreetly guiding you to your next destination, the landscape being designed to indicate where the next secret lies, collectopedia, warp landmarks, etc. It's unbelievably similar in structure.