This review contains spoilers
The story of even the first game was never a massive driving factor to begin with, so I won't dwell on it too much here, except to say that Catalyst's story certainly has "more" in it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's "better" - in fact, I think certain specific changes actually made it worse than the original, one example being (SPOILER) the central antagonist's daughter turning out to be, very predictably I might add, Faith's long-lost sister. Insert sarcastic Kirk meme, yawwwn.(/SPOILER)
Thankfully, the game part of the game is still pretty decent. I'd say it feels overall better than the original, but not by much, really. I acknowledge a good deal of this for me personally is just due to the fact I could actually play with the keybindings I like, and didn't need external software to adjust the FOV to my liking, two factors the first game was sorely lacking.
Catalyst feels speedier but also less weighty than the original, so that sense of building up to full momentum you got from the first game is kinda gone; the movement in the end feels more obviously video game-y. While this doesn't personally bother me too much tbh, it's something I noticed and felt worth mentioning.
The skill-tree was poorly implemented imo, and the choice to lock certain moves behind an upgrade wall that the player had available to them from the get-go in the first game was certainly... a choice. Yes, it'd bother me more if it weren't for the fact that all of Faith's cool moves from the original (and most of the ones I wound up using) are unlockable early on, but it's still annoying and I recognise the half-baked illusion of progression for what it is.
I like the idea of the Mag-rope (a grappling hook in my insane parkour game? YES PLEASE!) but one thing that makes it... not as cool as it could've been is the fact that use of the Magrope's three functions are restricted to very specific areas on the world map. Part of the fun with grappling hooks in video games for me is the ability to literally just grapple wherever, on my terms. The way it's implemented in practice is restrictive and doesn't really allow for emergent gameplay, which I think ultimately works against what an open-world parkour game is aiming to be, conceptually.
Finally, to end this on some positive notes:
Breezing through Catalyst's open world is great fun, and I genuinely enjoyed some of the setpieces the story mode had to offer (e.g. Elysium was cool, and I enjoyed the less-daunting callback to the Ropeburn-esque riding on top of a moving train in a tunnel near the endgame). The Frostbite Engine is beautiful, smooth (this is the only Frostbite game I've played aaaaaaa) and lends itself well to the Mirror's Edge aesthetic.
Despite my misgivings regarding the story itself (which is very easily ignorable so I don't care), and what I think are gameplay flaws or at least foibles, or things I'd prefer were different but it's fine, I think I could see myself returning to this one from time to time, rather than writing it off completely and leaving it to collect dust somewhere.
Thankfully, the game part of the game is still pretty decent. I'd say it feels overall better than the original, but not by much, really. I acknowledge a good deal of this for me personally is just due to the fact I could actually play with the keybindings I like, and didn't need external software to adjust the FOV to my liking, two factors the first game was sorely lacking.
Catalyst feels speedier but also less weighty than the original, so that sense of building up to full momentum you got from the first game is kinda gone; the movement in the end feels more obviously video game-y. While this doesn't personally bother me too much tbh, it's something I noticed and felt worth mentioning.
The skill-tree was poorly implemented imo, and the choice to lock certain moves behind an upgrade wall that the player had available to them from the get-go in the first game was certainly... a choice. Yes, it'd bother me more if it weren't for the fact that all of Faith's cool moves from the original (and most of the ones I wound up using) are unlockable early on, but it's still annoying and I recognise the half-baked illusion of progression for what it is.
I like the idea of the Mag-rope (a grappling hook in my insane parkour game? YES PLEASE!) but one thing that makes it... not as cool as it could've been is the fact that use of the Magrope's three functions are restricted to very specific areas on the world map. Part of the fun with grappling hooks in video games for me is the ability to literally just grapple wherever, on my terms. The way it's implemented in practice is restrictive and doesn't really allow for emergent gameplay, which I think ultimately works against what an open-world parkour game is aiming to be, conceptually.
Finally, to end this on some positive notes:
Breezing through Catalyst's open world is great fun, and I genuinely enjoyed some of the setpieces the story mode had to offer (e.g. Elysium was cool, and I enjoyed the less-daunting callback to the Ropeburn-esque riding on top of a moving train in a tunnel near the endgame). The Frostbite Engine is beautiful, smooth (this is the only Frostbite game I've played aaaaaaa) and lends itself well to the Mirror's Edge aesthetic.
Despite my misgivings regarding the story itself (which is very easily ignorable so I don't care), and what I think are gameplay flaws or at least foibles, or things I'd prefer were different but it's fine, I think I could see myself returning to this one from time to time, rather than writing it off completely and leaving it to collect dust somewhere.