Let me start by saying, it was a great advantage to wait for the ps5 to play this game. The biggest strength of GoT is it's technical polish and sheer beauty on display. It was a true next-gen experience for me - not only because it ran at a butter smooth 60fps with NO noticeable framedrops at all, but also (and I don't say this lightly) this is just one of the most beautiful open worlds ever built in a game. And the devs sure know how to play out this strength. The best content this game has to offer, shines because of the beauty of this world. Exploring paths to a shrine, writing haikus with sensational views in front of you and just riding into the sunset on your horse through grasslands with unbelievable fidelity and level of detail. The HUD is only visible if you need it in a fight, the atmospheric music is minimalist and everything from menus to cutscenes is just suuuuper polished and clean. The cinematography is pure art and deserves the highest praise. For me this is right up there with the all-time great RDR2, at least visually. Because what made RDR2 so special for me, was its world building and this is something that sadly was average at best in GoT, as mind-boggling as this was for me. The world is beautiful yes, but its practically empty. You have a handful of side tasks, that are repetitive collectibles, you have side quests that are boring and uninteresting with generic stories and than you have the main story, that picks up after a while, but never really captivates.
It just feels lazy and uninspired in every term of the world design, this is as generic as open world games get and that's a shame. The npcs never really move from their spot, they do the exact same thing for as long as you play this game. Enemy AI is as terrible as it gets. Often time you slaughter an entire camp, just to find two or three more guards just a couple of feet away standing still in front of their tent. This happens almost every single time you capture a camp, which is basically 90% of the mission design. No matter what you do, or who you do it with, you end up at some place and just kill every living thing. There is just no variety in the mission design. The only reason this is kinda bearable, is because this game has such a robust fighting mechanic. Fighting is FUN and super stylish. I totally get, why they released the Legends mode as a separate multiplayer experience, because it would've been a waste to only experience it in the singleplayer world.
It's such a shame I did not enjoy my time in this world more. It should've been a much better experience, but Sucker Punch missed the mark here and ends up delivering a slightly better than average AC clone, that’s just much much more stylish.
Also: bonus points for Kurosawa-Mode <3
It just feels lazy and uninspired in every term of the world design, this is as generic as open world games get and that's a shame. The npcs never really move from their spot, they do the exact same thing for as long as you play this game. Enemy AI is as terrible as it gets. Often time you slaughter an entire camp, just to find two or three more guards just a couple of feet away standing still in front of their tent. This happens almost every single time you capture a camp, which is basically 90% of the mission design. No matter what you do, or who you do it with, you end up at some place and just kill every living thing. There is just no variety in the mission design. The only reason this is kinda bearable, is because this game has such a robust fighting mechanic. Fighting is FUN and super stylish. I totally get, why they released the Legends mode as a separate multiplayer experience, because it would've been a waste to only experience it in the singleplayer world.
It's such a shame I did not enjoy my time in this world more. It should've been a much better experience, but Sucker Punch missed the mark here and ends up delivering a slightly better than average AC clone, that’s just much much more stylish.
Also: bonus points for Kurosawa-Mode <3