A game I appreciate more than I like, I suspect. I respected that the big Xbox One launch title was this, when an FPS of any sort would've made for a much safer bet. Really made it seem like the X-Bone was trying for a different identity from what worked with the 360. The gamble didn't really pay off, and Ryse had little cultural impact - but it tried all the same.
Ryse interests me because it's a rare example of a dedicated Western AAA hack-and-slash, a genre still popular but usually as a component of character action or action-adventure titles rather than chiefly its own thing. A decent point of comparison is Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - both are titles interested in modeling sword battles with extreme precision and little else. I'm not as in-love with Revengeance as most folks are, but I'll readily admit that that game's strength lies in how over-the-top metal it is. Ryse is more interested in being mostly straight historical fiction, so there's little fooling around - all right if that's what you want, but little in the way of a hook otherwise. Some artistic license comes up with a few divine agents and misplacing where certain historic battles occurred, but the only really egregious thing is that line at the end where Marius's exploits somehow make the Roman Empire endure until the end of the human race. It's good to tie things up with a bow, but there is such a thing as tying the bow too tightly.
The Colosseum mode is where the devs wanted you to spend most of your time with the game. Again, if you got into the game, this mode is what you're looking for: pure, perpetual gameplay... with paid DLC. Frankly, I don't really get the appeal of the DLC, given it's all different maps for the same basic gauntlet modes. Maybe I'm just spoiled, if I don't appreciate how a studio must earn its money back? Regardless, it'll hold you for a little bit, but like everything else to the game, there's little to give it staying power.
Ryse interests me because it's a rare example of a dedicated Western AAA hack-and-slash, a genre still popular but usually as a component of character action or action-adventure titles rather than chiefly its own thing. A decent point of comparison is Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - both are titles interested in modeling sword battles with extreme precision and little else. I'm not as in-love with Revengeance as most folks are, but I'll readily admit that that game's strength lies in how over-the-top metal it is. Ryse is more interested in being mostly straight historical fiction, so there's little fooling around - all right if that's what you want, but little in the way of a hook otherwise. Some artistic license comes up with a few divine agents and misplacing where certain historic battles occurred, but the only really egregious thing is that line at the end where Marius's exploits somehow make the Roman Empire endure until the end of the human race. It's good to tie things up with a bow, but there is such a thing as tying the bow too tightly.
The Colosseum mode is where the devs wanted you to spend most of your time with the game. Again, if you got into the game, this mode is what you're looking for: pure, perpetual gameplay... with paid DLC. Frankly, I don't really get the appeal of the DLC, given it's all different maps for the same basic gauntlet modes. Maybe I'm just spoiled, if I don't appreciate how a studio must earn its money back? Regardless, it'll hold you for a little bit, but like everything else to the game, there's little to give it staying power.