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[Fbh]

This is one of those games that didn't quite interest me enough to get at launch and then I sort of forgot about in between other releases. But it was on sale for $7 or $8 not so long ago and it seemed like a good chance to pick it up. After 50 hours of open world in Assassins Creed I was looking forward to a short cinematic experience so it was the perfect time to finally play this.
Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect. I like Chloe but wasn't a big fan of Nadine in U4, also a lot of talk pre release was about the more open level design which I had my doubts about on top of it focusing on a single location which I wasn't too excited about either.

Overall it was really fun. It definitely feels like a lower scale release with a lot of recycled elements from Uncharted 4 but the pacing was much better with a more balanced mix of exploration, shooting and puzzle solving on top of the usual amazing presentation and cool setpiece moments. ND continues to make some of the absolute best looking games in the market.

Spoiler: Late game spoilers

The whole area inside the "old city" was visually amazing and I was surprised that they went with a train section for the end since it implied they were going to try and top the U2 train section which is one of the best moments in the franchise..... and they sort of did. Visually it's not as memorable (the surroundings aren't as nice) but in terms of gameplay with the swinging, better gunplay and the jeep sections I definitely liked it more

The story is the usual Uncharted stuff, nothing amazing but enjoyable. I still don't like Nadine though, with her being angry for like half of the story I don't think the game makes a very good case for her being a part of the main cast and the usual banter was a bit less enjoyable because of it

Spoiler: late game spoiler

I was glad they brought in Sam towards the end even though he is mostly used as comedic relief

Finally, the more open part of the game was fairly enjoyable and felt like a good break from the usual linear design. I really liked how it was designed so you could go to a bunch of locations instead of there being one specific place or order.
But I think ND still struggle with actually having things to fill the world with. The collectable treasures continue to be completely worthless for people who don't care about trophies and while they had some side activities in the open area it was really disappointing for the reward for doing it all to be even more useless treasures. I still think they should give some small passive buffs or something

 

[Shai-Tan]

Yeah I agree with the praise for the structure. The puzzles weren't too difficult but were actually fun and sometimes required traversal. And the exploration did feel a bit more meaningful even if making it open ended cut it off a bit from story beats

The primary issue I had with it was how rote the story is. It's very paint by numbers. The Chloe/Nadine foil worked pretty well but it didn't get anywhere interesting beyond light comedy and had little connection with how the story unfolded even on an episodic level of this or that event.

 

[Fbh]

The primary issue I had with it was how rote the story is. It's very paint by numbers. The Chloe/Nadine foil worked pretty well but it didn't get anywhere interesting beyond light comedy and had little connection with how the story unfolded even on an episodic level of this or that event.

Yup.
Also, I know not everyone liked them but I still miss the supernatural elements from U1-3

 

[Shai-Tan]

Yup.
Also, I know not everyone liked them but I still miss the supernatural elements from U1-3

I feel the same. For me the first game was the best in how the story was structured to build the mystery beginning with the sub on the river, with the bad guys intervening on that path but once you hit sequels it tends to suffer a bit from sequelitus where everything has to be bigger, better, more epic - the game equivalent of a cgi-fest and you can't play back the twist or the tension between characters so you end up geting e.g. The Mummy 1 vs 2. I loved some of the set pieces for how they played but some of the magic of a tight story was lost in the later games in my opinion.

Lost Legacy did a great job showing the scale of the lost civiliation but it failed to convey any wonder or mystery, of being part of mythology, of something hidden or understanding how it collapsed with some residue of horror or other supernatural elements.

edit: that rambling above reminded me of a that Lost Legacy and Uncharted 1 both follow a mostly unbroken perspective compared to the fragmented storytelling in 2-4 which are all over the place diluting the sense of being isolated in nature enhancing the sense of adventure into the unknown, like the same feeling you get when you're 12 walking in some ravine and following it to see where it goes

 

[Bogroll]

Only about 3 hours in but its a 7.5 so far for me. The graphics are really nice at certain times and it's mainly that why i'm continuing for the moment. I prefer the Tomb Raider games i think.