I can't remember the last time I canceled a game, but Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora successfully managed to be uninstalled from my PS5.
The only positive thing about this game is the open world. Exploring Pandora is really fun, but it didn't improve the gaming experience for me.
To summarize the game in one sentence I'll just say it's like Far Cry only with Avatar skins.
On top of that, the story is poor and very uninteresting, Ubisoft really didn't put any effort into it.

A bad buy for me personally.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting something to change, and my version of this is playing Ubisoft RPGs over and over again and believing in my heart of hearts that the next one will be the one to break the cycle. And man, Avatar: The Frontiers of Pandora had me hook, line and sinker at first. I'm hardly an Avatar fan, but the movies are some sexy ol' eye candy, and this really manages to capture that same visual sauce.

But when the intro is over and you're released into Pandora, the visage drops and the horror begins. Oh, it's just a little magical Navi detective vision. What harm could it do? Wait a minute, these mystical sky plants that make me parkour to reach them act a lot like radio towers. I guess it's just one element. Huh, my weapons feel about as impactful as nerf guns and enemies are exactly the same except with an arbitrary level number above their head which means they tank more damage? Strange. And before you know it, boom, you're back in that cycle of trudging around bored out of your mind completing menial tasks to check off pointless icons from your map. I gave it 6 hours, but it's hard to keep going when the whole thing is just Far Cry except now you're fighting evil spacemen and purple rhinos, and bases are just massive oil wells.

Respect to Ubisoft for trying some new things; I do like how the game encourages exploring more frequently and figuring out the lay of the land. But on the other hand, the game is so linear and goal-driven that most of the time you're just asked to wander somewhere and talk to someone, but the game gives you such crap directions that it's actively not fun to play with navigation hints turned off. If you're looking for a pretty game to test out on your OLED, it looks fantastic, but outside of that its just more Far Cry but without Giancarlo Esposito keeping you a wee bit engaged with the promise of randomly turning up and monologuing at you for three minutes straight.

I like a lot of what this game offered. The story wasn't anything super special, but it did start to ramp up towards the end. And I did enjoy a couple of the characters a solid amount!
Where this game really shines though is in Pandora itself. The world is downright stunning and filled with life. There were so many "wow" moments, and pretty much all of them had to do with an awesome visual reveal in Pandora, accompanied by some good music.
Unfortunately, this game is tanked pretty hard by the gameplay for me. It literally has no fuckin idea what the definition of "easy mode" is, and the combat is just too poor to justify being this hard. It sucked a lot of the actual fun out of the game for me, especially in the last couple of missions, where I died constantly. In fact, as I write this, I'm towards the end of the very last mission and I genuinely don't know if I'm actually going to be able to beat this game. Even if I do, the damage is done.
It's a shame because honestly this game had a really good shot at being in my top 10 this year. It really has a lot going for it. Unfortunately it's just too frustrating for me, and that just is not what I want in a game

Broken medal - 0.5 or 1 star - Technical disaster or bad design
Bronze medal - 1.5 or 2 star or 2.5 star - The games not for me/below average/badly aged(nostalgia)
Silver medal - 3 star or 3.5 star - Doing well
Golden medal - 4 star - Above average games
Platin medal - 4.5 star - Might've masterpiece but somethings missing
Diamond medal - 5 star - The Masterpiece or just special for me
---> Medal: Silver
---> My Game Time: 30 hours 17 min

As someone who became a huge Avatar fan after rewatching the first movie back in 2019 and realizing "Oh, this fucking owns actually." and then having this announced before The Way of Water even had footage for us to see had me so excited for another round at a game that actually could get what the film went for. Well for better or worse Ubisoft was the right publisher for this.

Gonna get it out of the way the movies are peak blockbuster cinema, end of. James Cameron has not lost his touch and continues to not miss (as long as he's not producing a movie or making a documentary). Both Avatars are everything a blockbuster should be perfectly blending spectacle, incredible VFX, and a gaggle of characters you root for. The game on the other hand and I'm not gonna sugercoat it kind of fumbles this. It's story isn't downright terrible and it's serviceable as "event we can't go too crazy with cause it's canon and happens between movie 1 and 2", but man does it really lack that punch Cameron's talents give his movies. It really feels kind of like the new Zelda games where they came up with this insane incredible world to traverse and then remembered they needed a reason for any of that to happen or connect. I don't know how to better explain it than it just feels super bland and safe compared to the movies. When we finally get something akin to the Destruction of the Hometree or the Tulkun Hunt it just sort of feels like "WELL WE NEED A BIT LIKE THAT!" and while it's visually impressive and oppressive it's so late in a story where I haven't been nearly as endeared to these characters that it just feels like filling out a checklist. Also a smaller, but just as problematic issue for me is the music. It's good, nothing really bad about it, but it's a damn shame they don't riff or just straight up use more of James Horner's (absolute real one RIP) or Simon Franglen's incredible work throughout. War and Bad Parents are insane bangers and god I just wish more of the combat music sounded that fucking good. There's good imitations of their works, but that's just it. It feels like imitation. Imagine if a Star Wars game didn't use some John Williams. People would freak the fuck out.

All that aside fuck the story, fuck the kinda not as good as the movie's music. Ignore all of that shit cause where this game owns is capturing the vibe of being on Pandora. Holy shit this phrase is overused for games, but you really feel like a Na'vi. You bump your head on the ceiling indoors and you're so fast and traverse the underbrush and trees like a spider monkey on pure 99.9% genuine meth. It's the closest a game has come to feeling like Titanfall 2 since Titanfall 2 and it's an Avatar game of all things. A game based on a movie that clearly had a heavy influence on Titanfall 2. It's a match made in heaven. I played this shit for 70 hours and never once got tired of slide kicking and Captain Falcon kneeing RDA goons across their skulls. Add in the fun as hell gunplay (with an insane Shotgun holy hell it's so sick) and like the best of games while the story may falter in the place that matters more for video games which is playing it? This shit passes with flying colors.

Being away from Ubisoft open world games since Blood Dragon has probably helped my enjoyment of this too. I don't know what's reused, old, or new and I don't care! I win! I am feasting.

I haven't even talked about being able to fly on an Ikran and how crazy that shit is to be chilling in the skies and then you dive bomb a Scorpion shooting out it's wings. It's good shit. Get it if you like the movies I cannot recommend this enough if that applies to you. Hope to god the DLC stories introduce Recoms I need that insane anime type beat contrast of natural Pandora Na'vi vs Na'vi decked out in future tactical military gear.

FUCK AVATAR IS SO SICK GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH

Played this one coop with TH3 Bouchey. Completed the main quest in 24 hours 46 minutes with a mix of general exploration and side quests. This is one of the best looking games I've seen in a while. Story is a bit simple and at times lacks depth but I really appreciate the world design and fun gameplay with a massive plus that it's coop and we don't get that often in gaming anymore. If you love Avatar do not sleep on this one, grab a friend and get stuck in.

Might even continue to 100% it and if there is ever story DLC I would definitely consider.

Frontiers of Pandora is a graphical showcase with mind-blowing detail and fidelity, bringing Pandora to life like never before. As a fan of the movie, experiencing this vibrant world firsthand was truly awesome. The game follows the familiar Far Cry formula, for better and for worse, offering both engaging and repetitive elements. While the story is quite simple and often serves as a mere excuse to progress, it does feature some nice moments. However, the side content is really repetitive and the quality of side quests varies greatly, so in my playthrough, I focused on the main quest line.

I may be one of the few people who actually enjoys the Ubisoft formula (I actually LIKED Far Cry's towers!), but even this game can be a bit much. The gameplay itself emulates Far Cry but with enemies who are either 4 feet smaller than you or in mech suits, so it's of good quality. The world for this game is easily one of the best looking games I've ever seen, and the amount of imagination and love poured into both fern and fauna is astonishing. What really hurts this game is it's open world exploration loop. While you no longer need to climb towers or anything else to arbitrarily reveal nearby landmarks, anything that you CAN find in the world struggles to be interesting. No interesting quest lines, no secret easter eggs, and no major sense of variety.

The repetition cannot be overstated. You will find either a plant you tap to receive skill points, a plant you tap to give you a (very) small permanent health boost, or do a small twirl of your looking joystick to fix an object. While there are some exceptions, such as the memory painting activities and the totem scavenger hunts, these are absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer number of other repetitive functions.

The writing itself also struggles to be particularly interesting with very flat characters and unremarkable dialogue. Some credit has to be given to the player VOs, as they absolutely sell the joy, terror, and surprise you will put them through in the 30-60 hours it takes to beat this game. They'll even emit an audible "Ow!" when you bonk your head against an object above you! Unfortunately, almost nothing notable happens outside the already mostly ho-hum main campaign. My only other exception is the final level, which actually manages to live up to it's expectations and deliver a memorable conclusion to the game. If only it didn't take dozens upon dozens of hours doing boring fetch quests and touching plants to get there.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora é o mais recente jogo de mundo aberto da Ubisoft, e eu sinceramente amei cada segundo nesse game. Ele conta uma história em Pandora e, assim como nos dois primeiros filmes de James Cameron, é incrivelmente belo e único. No entanto, assim como os filmes na época foram uma experiência única de cinema, o game do Avatar também é uma experiência única onde me vi conectando com a franquia de uma maneira que ia além do visual. Frontiers of Pandora é um game incrível, um dos melhores games que já experimentei, tanto em terra quanto no ar. Para os fãs da franquia, é um sonho realizado poder vagar, voar e lutar por essa paisagem incrível de Pandora.

O jogo começa com o seu personagem e alguns outros filhos dos Na'vi sendo treinados pela RDA (vilões do game) para serem uma ponte para eles em sua conquista de Pandora. Você escolherá sua aparência e eventualmente embarcará em uma sequência de fuga. O jogo é envolvente, e correr, pular e deslizar como um ser enorme é incrível. Ao escapar de sua escola/prisão e entrar no mundo aberto pela primeira vez, é um verdadeiro choque de realidade a ótima jogabilidade, música e ação, tudo isso fica em segundo plano em comparação com o esplendor que é Pandora neste jogo.

Eu joguei o game em duas plataformas, a principal foi onde eu testei que foi o Xbox Series, e depois comecei a jogar no PC, onde o game, na minha visão, parecia bem ok no sentido de otimização. Tanto no meu Xbox quanto no PC, o jogo parece rodar incrivelmente bem em ambos.

Avatar é um jogo de mapa aberto, mas não é cheio de ícones. A exploração está no centro do título, embora aqueles que procuram uma experiência mais direta possam optar por serem guiados por waypoints, se desejarem. Olhando de longe, o game parece ser um tipo de jogo semelhante ao Far Cry, mas na prática e na execução desse game ele parece bemmmm diferente. Você é rápido, o mundo é alienígena e, eventualmente, você pode voar para quase qualquer lugar nas costas de sua montaria.

As missões principais do game são excelentes. Elas alternam habilmente entre missões menores focadas nos personagens e frenéticas batalhas sem restrições quando o momento é adequado. Completei o jogo em aproximadamente 50 horas e ainda tenho conteúdo secundário suficiente para mais de 20 horas, se quiser. Embora a campanha principal seja consistentemente de alta qualidade, o conteúdo secundário é variado. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora tem um foco em viver da terra. Você estará constantemente criando, cozinhando e realizando missões para seus companheiros Na'vi e humanos na resistência.

Este jogo parece ter um orçamento elevado, na maior parte. Quando não parece assim é principalmente durante missões secundárias ou atividades de mundo aberto. Você passará de um conjunto incrível de animações e diálogos em uma missão, para respostas copiadas e coladas. As missões secundarias lhe darão presentes como materiais de cozinha, armaduras, armas, etc. Eu encontrei vários NPCs que simplesmente tinham a mesma situação ou diálogo pelo menos umas 40 vezes.Tudo bem que isso não é um Red Dead Redemption 2, famoso por sua incrível e custosa dedicação à variedade, porém dá uma tristeza ver coisas desse tipo.

Por falar em atividades, há muitas atividades secundárias que você pode fazer para fortalecer seu personagem. Você tem alguns sistemas para evoluir. Primeiro, há o sistema básico de experiência para pontos de habilidade. Você pode melhorar sua capacidade de sobrevivência, eficácia em combate, habilidades de caça e mais. Existem pontos de habilidade espalhados pelo mundo aberto, certas plantas, quando interagidas, concedem pontos, e todos os pontos de habilidade gastos contribuem para sua eficácia em combate. Este é um sistema que indica o quão preparado você está para enfrentar os diversos inimigos de alto nível no jogo. Cada vez que você equipa uma peça de armadura ou arma, os números aumentam ou diminuem, e isso funciona muito bem.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora encerra com chave de ouro um incrível ano de 2023 para mim jogador de video game. Para mim, é um dos melhores jogos de mundo aberto da Ubisoft, com foco em uma jogabilidade divertida, narrativa excelente e claro um visual incrivelmente lindo. É certamente um dos jogos mais bonitos que vi em 2023. Uma delícia para os fãs de Avatar, e esse jogo é tão incrível que literalmente qualquer um pode pegar, jogar e simplesmente se apaixonar por ele.

Pontos positivos:

- Gráficos impressionantes
- Trilha sonora incrível
- Ótima jogabilidade
- Roteiro legal

Pontos negativos:

- Conteúdo secundário chato

Versão utilizada para análise: Xbox Series.

Full review here (Dutch): https://www.budgetgaming.nl/game-review/avatar:+frontiers+of+pandora_ps5.html

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora straddles the line between visual splendor and a lack of depth. Ubisoft manages to accurately portray the world of James Cameron's Avatar films in a game, but unfortunately it also takes on the film's drawbacks, especially the story. Add to this the limited gameplay and all this makes Frontiers of Pandora a breathtaking, if very shallow, expansion of the Avatar universe.

"Avatar é um novo Far Cry com a skin de Na'vi, mas isso é ruim? Claro que não! É um bom jogo, diverte, tem gráficos extremamente lindos, cenários e uma iluminação de cair o queixo, sendo um dos melhores da geração e da Ubi. Possui um bom gameplay, mas apresenta os mesmos problemas de todos os jogos da Ubisoft em que, em determinado momento, tudo se torna repetitivo, missões secundárias sem graça e sem recompensa, e excesso de colecionáveis, entre outros.

No entanto, o maior problema neste jogo para mim são os bugs! Estou fazendo esta análise com base na versão de PC. Presenciei vários bugs, como:

Bug na progressão da história (fiquei preso na missão de pegar o Ikran pela primeira vez, a animação do NPC não funcionava para dar continuidade, sendo necessário voltar ao mapa, forçando outro bug para ativar a animação que precisava acontecer antes de chegar ao local).
Bug no som que cortava a música do jogo a toda hora por alguns segundos, quebrando a imersão.
Delay na morte de inimigos (você "matava" o inimigo, e a vida dele não descia; do nada, ele morria 5 segundos depois).
Há problemas com a IA; quando algum inimigo identificava um corpo, entrava em modo de alerta, e todos os inimigos do cenário já sabiam sua posição (chatão -_-).

Apesar de todos os problemas, no final, é um bom jogo, mas é mais do mesmo da Ubisoft. Para os fãs dos filmes, será uma ótima experiência."

Quem quiser MUITO jogar recomendo pegar o Ubi+ e testar.

Si Ubisoft a respecté l’univers d’Avatar, ce n’est pas le cas de ses joueurs. En effet passées les deux premières heures de jeu où nous avons l’impression de voir quelque chose de nouveau, d’innovant, nous nous rendons vite compte de la supercherie. Si nous pouvions penser que ce jeu allait être un Far Cry déguisé, nous avions tords. Il s’agit en réalité d’un sous Far Cry. Beaucoup d’éléments y sont mais en moins biens. A l’instar des avant-postes que pouvez terminer sans tuer aucun ennemis. Il vous suffit juste de rusher les objectifs seul ou à plusieurs. En dehors de cela, beaucoup d’éléments du jeu sont répétitifs jusqu’à frôler l’indigestion… Mais nous avons l’habitude avec Ubisoft, les champions du recyclage. Cependant, faire ce jeu en coopération et avoir l’univers d’avatar sous nos yeux reste sympathique. Le jeu est parfois joli, (de jour dans la forêt par exemple) et quelques éléments scénaristes sont sympathiques. Vous pouvez faire ce jeu une fois entre potes mais sachez avant de vous lancer qu’il ne vous laissera certainement pas un souvenir impérissable.