eh this game is not that bad. imma giving it
75/100. had fun , clocked it around 16 hrs.
can't say I regret playing it. the game got so much heat because of its optimization problems. can't quite say it is justified or not. It feels like game actually has some real groundbreaking graphics behind it, if you CAN... give it some "resolution". I found 1440p FSR balanced (835p internal) where game shined "a bit". at 4K Frs quality (internal 1440p), it looked truly BREATHTAKING but my VRAM gave out. I still enjoyed the graphics at 1440p FSR balanced. But I wish I had more VRAM. I could be okay playing this at 30 FPS locked at 4K FSR quality lol.
as for the game;
I didn't like side content and maps and their overall design. But I cared for story and characters weren't really bad. I admire the attempt of creating some resemblance of lore around the story actually. They really put some thoughts into it and supported it with a lot of lore texts which I found enjoyable to read at times. This game certianly could've benefitted from a longer development phase. Could've become something bigger and more impressive...
For
GAMEPLAY and COMBAT... Yeah it is a highpoint of the game. Not a super one, but enjoyable. enemies become stale though as enemy variety is at MINIMUM... green skills and green talents are underdeveloped and I didn't like them, and that's bad because they compromise1/3 of the gameplay elements. I really didn't care about switching to "green goo" skill that slowed enemies. I liked red and blue stuff though. especially bash skill was quite fun. Some of the skills there made the game Doom-esque. Only problem, not enough enemy and not enough tempo!
I think combat could've benefitted from more and varied enemies. sometimes game clicks in with me but just as I get into the rhythm, fight ends. that's not cool. underlying core gameplay is really fun. It truly is a battlemage simulator.
STORY... is below average . nothing groundbreaking. at least they tried to link everything together through lore pieces. it got me somewhat interested towards the second half. the concepts are cool, again, execution is just poor. main character is workable, somewhat likeable. but needed more time in the oven at the beginning of the game. events happen too quickly for character development. some slow burn would be beneficial. same goes for side characters. stuff happens so quickly. I don't like quick transitions. I dislike "5 year has passed and stuff happened and this is what I am now" trope.
GRAPHICS are cool. first ue5 game I played and finished. my 3070 endured. DLSS is broken at the time (broken motion blur in cutscenes. way to go AMD, way to go developers. do everything in your power to prevent DLSS from implemented or working properly)
i had around 40 to 60 fps . interiors and caves definitely were a 60 lock which made those parts super enjoyable. VRR saved the day most of the time. I played at Magnus difficulty, it wasn't super easy or hard. performance wasn't a limiting factor and experience was enjoyable. Image quality as I said previously was okay. At times game shined, at times it looked bad. It depends. more resolution would've been much better.
HIGHEST POINT however is cutscene and cutscene animation quality. some rare scenes are prerendered but some of them are not! they're legit engine renders. which is super impressive. I hope it's a welcome addition for unreal 5. cutscenes and facial animations with most ue4 games were whack. at least they got this one right.
ALSO... WHY NO PHOTO MODE?? I DON'T WANT TO install unreal engine unlocker or whatever. it is a game of graphical showcase. how can you not add a photo mode????
Amazingly detailed tree trunk. Mesh quality is off the charts
At times game is photorealistic indeed.
Impeccable long distance details. At times I'm really surprised. I guess this is one part of UE5 that really justifies its existence. It almost feels like 0 compromises are being made in the distance rendering. Which adds to the overall experience and presentation, surely
and Kenzie is a sweetheart
lowest points:
- hair and beard rendering (probably needs higher resolution inputs. even at static scenes, It appears rough. looks acceptable but rough.
- non existent physics. no proper wind or ragdoll etc. very basic levels of implementations.
- horrible water quality. looks like cardboard. especially looks horrible where water meets land. I have no idea how they shipped the game like that lmao