This game, like the RE4 remake, Red Dead 2, Hollow Knight, and Dark Souls before it, taught me a very valuable lesson that I really need to start heeding for once in my life: Sometimes, the cool mainstream thing that everyone is raving about won't be for you. Problem is, I can't know until I try. And, boy howdy, did I try with this one.
I've tried getting into this several times, and my god, I just cannot bring myself to enjoy anything about this game. You'd think someone like me, who's normally really into turn-based combat, strategy games, and character-driven stories would really like this (like, in my online friend group, I'm known as the Fire Emblem guy; I've played all of them, for crying out loud), but nope, I bounced off of this game harder than a Taunt targeting a Hatterene. No matter how often all my friends, and their friends, and seemingly everyone else ever, rave about how incredible and fun this game is, I can't see what they're all seeing.
Probably the biggest thing is just how overwhelming this game is to actually grasp. (Just be warned, this part is very rambly.) Combat especially; to understand it, it feels like you either have to be an omnipotent god the moment you boot up the game, or already be deeply familiar with how D&D and/or CRPGs work (of which, I am neither), to be able to get the hang of things in a timely manner. It's gotta have one of the highest skill floors I've ever seen in a game; Either I'm just too stupid for this game (which is probably the most likely one, I'm quite famously a dumbass) or this game is just as bad, if not worse, at explaining its mechanics, than Xenoblade 2 is. As a result, I found myself barely scraping by every combat encounter this game forces you into (of which, it felt like there were a lot in the short time I played, and boy howdy, do they drag), barely escaping with the skin of my teeth, despite having literally every handicap turned on that might help me in combat. This is an instance where I'd actually like to be handheld in a game; that's what handholdy tutorials are for, so dumbasses like me can actually know what they're supposed to be doing and how. It felt like this game just threw me right into the thick of things and expected me to pick up every intricate little detail as quickly as it threw them at me. And I don't like that. I don't want to have to look up and constantly refer back to guides on how to play your game after I've already spent 8 hours in it, because at that point, I'm just reading about how to play the game the way someone smarter than me did, instead of actually learning things for myself and applying that knowledge to my experience. At least with Xenoblade 2, you can get by in the game without knowing the intricacies of the combat system, and still have a fun time; I sure as hell did, or Xenoblade 2 wouldn't be one of my favorite games. In short, please handhold me more, I'm a fucking idiot and don't know how your game works because you didn't tell me, and there's way too much going on for me to be able to learn all of this in a timely manner. The feel of combat is another thing entirely, but that's probably more this game being very clearly designed with mouse and keyboard in mind, and me playing this on a PS5; combat on PS5 is clunk city to attempt to control, especially in tight spaces.
This game prides itself on its astounding freedom of choice, and that every single choice you make will affect something down the road. I don't like that. Not the freedom of choice itself, that's really cool. The problem I have is with just how much your choices matter. I know that's the name of the game, and is exactly what I signed up for, but it spikes my anxiety way too much, and that's something I didn't think would happen when I got the game and heard about that. I'm used to your choices not really mattering much in the grand scheme of things, only affecting some lines of dialogue, or maybe an ending if we're pushing it. Undertale and Chrono Trigger are the only games I've played where it feels like every choice can matter, but even then, it only affects those aforementioned things in the grand scheme of things. With this game, every little thing; every dialogue choice, every combat encounter, every action, every inaction; feels like it matters, and can affect the outcome of even the most minor of events. While that is a technical marvel for a video game to accomplish, it feels too much like real life for me. Yes, I'm complaining that this fantasy life-simulator video game is too immersive and realistic. Life's already stressful enough as-is as someone riddled with several anxiety disorders and struggles to communicate with people; feeling that way while trying to play a singleplayer video game is not something I want to feel. As a result, I get stunlocked and end up not doing anything because I'm too stressed about making the wrong decision.
So, uh...I don't know how to end this, so rambly rant over, I guess. I didn't like this game, and have no intention of ever finishing it, for reasons I'd like to think are valid. I'm gonna stick with more linear games from now on.
I've tried getting into this several times, and my god, I just cannot bring myself to enjoy anything about this game. You'd think someone like me, who's normally really into turn-based combat, strategy games, and character-driven stories would really like this (like, in my online friend group, I'm known as the Fire Emblem guy; I've played all of them, for crying out loud), but nope, I bounced off of this game harder than a Taunt targeting a Hatterene. No matter how often all my friends, and their friends, and seemingly everyone else ever, rave about how incredible and fun this game is, I can't see what they're all seeing.
Probably the biggest thing is just how overwhelming this game is to actually grasp. (Just be warned, this part is very rambly.) Combat especially; to understand it, it feels like you either have to be an omnipotent god the moment you boot up the game, or already be deeply familiar with how D&D and/or CRPGs work (of which, I am neither), to be able to get the hang of things in a timely manner. It's gotta have one of the highest skill floors I've ever seen in a game; Either I'm just too stupid for this game (which is probably the most likely one, I'm quite famously a dumbass) or this game is just as bad, if not worse, at explaining its mechanics, than Xenoblade 2 is. As a result, I found myself barely scraping by every combat encounter this game forces you into (of which, it felt like there were a lot in the short time I played, and boy howdy, do they drag), barely escaping with the skin of my teeth, despite having literally every handicap turned on that might help me in combat. This is an instance where I'd actually like to be handheld in a game; that's what handholdy tutorials are for, so dumbasses like me can actually know what they're supposed to be doing and how. It felt like this game just threw me right into the thick of things and expected me to pick up every intricate little detail as quickly as it threw them at me. And I don't like that. I don't want to have to look up and constantly refer back to guides on how to play your game after I've already spent 8 hours in it, because at that point, I'm just reading about how to play the game the way someone smarter than me did, instead of actually learning things for myself and applying that knowledge to my experience. At least with Xenoblade 2, you can get by in the game without knowing the intricacies of the combat system, and still have a fun time; I sure as hell did, or Xenoblade 2 wouldn't be one of my favorite games. In short, please handhold me more, I'm a fucking idiot and don't know how your game works because you didn't tell me, and there's way too much going on for me to be able to learn all of this in a timely manner. The feel of combat is another thing entirely, but that's probably more this game being very clearly designed with mouse and keyboard in mind, and me playing this on a PS5; combat on PS5 is clunk city to attempt to control, especially in tight spaces.
This game prides itself on its astounding freedom of choice, and that every single choice you make will affect something down the road. I don't like that. Not the freedom of choice itself, that's really cool. The problem I have is with just how much your choices matter. I know that's the name of the game, and is exactly what I signed up for, but it spikes my anxiety way too much, and that's something I didn't think would happen when I got the game and heard about that. I'm used to your choices not really mattering much in the grand scheme of things, only affecting some lines of dialogue, or maybe an ending if we're pushing it. Undertale and Chrono Trigger are the only games I've played where it feels like every choice can matter, but even then, it only affects those aforementioned things in the grand scheme of things. With this game, every little thing; every dialogue choice, every combat encounter, every action, every inaction; feels like it matters, and can affect the outcome of even the most minor of events. While that is a technical marvel for a video game to accomplish, it feels too much like real life for me. Yes, I'm complaining that this fantasy life-simulator video game is too immersive and realistic. Life's already stressful enough as-is as someone riddled with several anxiety disorders and struggles to communicate with people; feeling that way while trying to play a singleplayer video game is not something I want to feel. As a result, I get stunlocked and end up not doing anything because I'm too stressed about making the wrong decision.
So, uh...I don't know how to end this, so rambly rant over, I guess. I didn't like this game, and have no intention of ever finishing it, for reasons I'd like to think are valid. I'm gonna stick with more linear games from now on.