While this is technically a replay, it's almost entirely me starting fresh with little memory of the first time I played it to truly enjoy the level of depth the game has. And if there's one thing Prey does right, it's the depth of nearly each and every element it offers you.
There is little to no wasted effort put into every faucet of what you can do in the game; each situation can be approached in ways that require creative thinking, using the guns and abilities in ways they weren't built for but you can use simply because it encourages creative thinking is astounding. Even extremely minute details that seem to serve no function outside of world-building, such as the crew listings that allow you to pin specific npcs, are just another solution to whatever problem you might be facing.
Even the characters are fully realized. Despite me not agreeing with all of their ideas, I could feel the interpersonal history of them as I played and understood exactly what might drive them to do these things. The only ones I didn't feel that way for were the ones specifically designed not to do so, which I won't go into detail for because I try to be as spoiler-free as possible.
Legitimately, the only thing I think that keeps it from being absolutely perfect is the Typhon. They're not bad enemies, per se. Their designs and concepts are cool, the mystery surrounding them gives way to the atmosphere, all the good things to be expected from an immersive sim that has some horror elements. The one thing they lack is an identity: despite the fact that they were built on and studied so heavily, I can't fully say I thought them as anything more than creepy, psychic xenomorphs who just killed people and reproduced in weird ways to take over structures built by other species. They weren't bad, but they certainly weren't interesting enough for me to buy into wanting to preserve them or agree with some npcs about understanding them.
All in all, I would say this is definitively Arkane's best work. They put their all into this, and they delivered. Even if I enjoy Dishonored more, and even if I don't think it'll get the recognition it deserves cause of the im-sim curse, I will never disagree or argue that anything tops this in their lineup.
There is little to no wasted effort put into every faucet of what you can do in the game; each situation can be approached in ways that require creative thinking, using the guns and abilities in ways they weren't built for but you can use simply because it encourages creative thinking is astounding. Even extremely minute details that seem to serve no function outside of world-building, such as the crew listings that allow you to pin specific npcs, are just another solution to whatever problem you might be facing.
Even the characters are fully realized. Despite me not agreeing with all of their ideas, I could feel the interpersonal history of them as I played and understood exactly what might drive them to do these things. The only ones I didn't feel that way for were the ones specifically designed not to do so, which I won't go into detail for because I try to be as spoiler-free as possible.
Legitimately, the only thing I think that keeps it from being absolutely perfect is the Typhon. They're not bad enemies, per se. Their designs and concepts are cool, the mystery surrounding them gives way to the atmosphere, all the good things to be expected from an immersive sim that has some horror elements. The one thing they lack is an identity: despite the fact that they were built on and studied so heavily, I can't fully say I thought them as anything more than creepy, psychic xenomorphs who just killed people and reproduced in weird ways to take over structures built by other species. They weren't bad, but they certainly weren't interesting enough for me to buy into wanting to preserve them or agree with some npcs about understanding them.
All in all, I would say this is definitively Arkane's best work. They put their all into this, and they delivered. Even if I enjoy Dishonored more, and even if I don't think it'll get the recognition it deserves cause of the im-sim curse, I will never disagree or argue that anything tops this in their lineup.