Goddamn, this is impossible to rate. I had an hour long talk with my friend after finishing this, because of how much I felt about the overall scope. After a long time of juggling and thinking... yeah, this is a 5. And there's little more you can say.
A game of this magnitude, of this level of quality, I feel like it's impossible to really dislike outside of your own personal taste not matching up (which, of course, is entirely valid). There's so much to say, so much to write about, so much to think about, that I feel like I'd be writing this review for as long as it took me just to play it. I guess I'll note down some of the major points.
- Arthur Morgan is one of the best protagonists in any media ever. This has already been said, but you need to hear it again. He really is that good. The feeling I got when he would talk and interact with other people, other camp members, it was like watching a friend that I'd known my entire life.
- Yes, the game suffers from Rockstar syndrome, and it starts to get at you around halfway through. Repetitive missions that can be boiled down to "start at point A, go to point B, talk to people, shoot people, go to point C or back to point A." However, in a paradoxical situation, it's a story that I feel couldn't have gone to any other studio. No one can make such vast open worlds like Rockstar can, and that's what gives this game the longevity in my eyes, which leads into...
- Holy lord, the world. I don't love Western settings that much (despite loving Fallout: New Vegas), but the natural beauty that feels so real rather than created, the flowing streams and roaming wildlife, the dynamic weather patterns that affect how said wildlife and other people interact, it feels like such an in-depth snapshot of a world that came before us instead of a generic, shallow recreation.
- The emphasis on realism allowing for a more immersive feeling throughout the game, while never being intrusive to the player, only advising you play more delicately and less recklessly. Your horses can die and you lose all your bonding, you can gain or lose weight depending on your eating habits, you can't magically grow your hair back like in GTA; once it's cut, you have to grow it back out, shops will treat you poorly if you're a known bad person. Granted, some might see the constant omniscient honor system as being immersion-breaking, but... c'mon, there had to be something to prevent you from being constantly evil.
And a whole bunch of other stuff that would probably go into spoiler territory, and as much as I'd like to, Backloggd won't let you spoiler-tag certain areas, so until then, this'll be the review as is. If you're a fan of open world games, play this. If you're a fan of rich, real, immersive stories, play this. Don't let the studio fool you, this is not a humorous or satirical game at all (for the most part), it is a beautifully crafted Western epic that will go down in the history books as a masterpiece of game design.
A game of this magnitude, of this level of quality, I feel like it's impossible to really dislike outside of your own personal taste not matching up (which, of course, is entirely valid). There's so much to say, so much to write about, so much to think about, that I feel like I'd be writing this review for as long as it took me just to play it. I guess I'll note down some of the major points.
- Arthur Morgan is one of the best protagonists in any media ever. This has already been said, but you need to hear it again. He really is that good. The feeling I got when he would talk and interact with other people, other camp members, it was like watching a friend that I'd known my entire life.
- Yes, the game suffers from Rockstar syndrome, and it starts to get at you around halfway through. Repetitive missions that can be boiled down to "start at point A, go to point B, talk to people, shoot people, go to point C or back to point A." However, in a paradoxical situation, it's a story that I feel couldn't have gone to any other studio. No one can make such vast open worlds like Rockstar can, and that's what gives this game the longevity in my eyes, which leads into...
- Holy lord, the world. I don't love Western settings that much (despite loving Fallout: New Vegas), but the natural beauty that feels so real rather than created, the flowing streams and roaming wildlife, the dynamic weather patterns that affect how said wildlife and other people interact, it feels like such an in-depth snapshot of a world that came before us instead of a generic, shallow recreation.
- The emphasis on realism allowing for a more immersive feeling throughout the game, while never being intrusive to the player, only advising you play more delicately and less recklessly. Your horses can die and you lose all your bonding, you can gain or lose weight depending on your eating habits, you can't magically grow your hair back like in GTA; once it's cut, you have to grow it back out, shops will treat you poorly if you're a known bad person. Granted, some might see the constant omniscient honor system as being immersion-breaking, but... c'mon, there had to be something to prevent you from being constantly evil.
And a whole bunch of other stuff that would probably go into spoiler territory, and as much as I'd like to, Backloggd won't let you spoiler-tag certain areas, so until then, this'll be the review as is. If you're a fan of open world games, play this. If you're a fan of rich, real, immersive stories, play this. Don't let the studio fool you, this is not a humorous or satirical game at all (for the most part), it is a beautifully crafted Western epic that will go down in the history books as a masterpiece of game design.