SPICEBAG
I tried several times to get into The Division 2 but just can't.
Everything here is improved upon from the first game yet somehow it feels worse to play. After a lot of thought I have come to the conclusion that both this and its predecessor aren't particularly fun games, they have working mechanics and systems but the core gameplay is dull. The first game however has an extremely comfy setting, a world that felt lived in and real.
This version feels a lot more lifeless and dull. It looks good on the surface but fails to immerse or do anything visually stimulating.
It's a skinnerbox grind right the way through which would be fine if it camouflaged that to any degree but it doesn't. No interesting stories or characters. No crazy loot.
The scaling is really off here too. I was level 16 finding weapons that did a quarter of the damage of some guns I found around level 4. Weapon classes also don't matter a sniper can be fired with 100% accuracy from the hip, at which case it outclasses assault rifles and SMGs. I was forcing myself to use weaker weapons just for the sake of variety.
Everything here is improved upon from the first game yet somehow it feels worse to play. After a lot of thought I have come to the conclusion that both this and its predecessor aren't particularly fun games, they have working mechanics and systems but the core gameplay is dull. The first game however has an extremely comfy setting, a world that felt lived in and real.
This version feels a lot more lifeless and dull. It looks good on the surface but fails to immerse or do anything visually stimulating.
It's a skinnerbox grind right the way through which would be fine if it camouflaged that to any degree but it doesn't. No interesting stories or characters. No crazy loot.
The scaling is really off here too. I was level 16 finding weapons that did a quarter of the damage of some guns I found around level 4. Weapon classes also don't matter a sniper can be fired with 100% accuracy from the hip, at which case it outclasses assault rifles and SMGs. I was forcing myself to use weaker weapons just for the sake of variety.
2011
Very much a timeless game.
I first played in 2012 and still go back every year or two for a few weeks at a time. The gaps between those play sessions are getting longer and longer however.
Of any major game right now I think Minecraft probably has the slowest and least productive development cycle, content is dangled infront of players and they are told to choose via voting, with the losers never seen again. With how much money this game has behind it adding all of those option shouldn't be an issue.
It doesn't hold the same magic it once did but it's genuinely a revolutionary game that is essentially perfect in its own right.
I first played in 2012 and still go back every year or two for a few weeks at a time. The gaps between those play sessions are getting longer and longer however.
Of any major game right now I think Minecraft probably has the slowest and least productive development cycle, content is dangled infront of players and they are told to choose via voting, with the losers never seen again. With how much money this game has behind it adding all of those option shouldn't be an issue.
It doesn't hold the same magic it once did but it's genuinely a revolutionary game that is essentially perfect in its own right.
I've got about 60 hours logged in Red Dead with probably 50ish dedicated to the story and I am still not finished. It's a game of impressive scope and detail and one I would absolutely recommend but it's got a lot of issues, there's a million reviews that will you tell everything good about it but I want to highlight the bad elements people seem to ignore.
First, and most obviously, the beginning chapters are a bore, they create a poor first impression, they drag on, the gameplay is dull and it's not fun interacting with the characters when you know absolutely nothing about them, it serves as a good tutorial but one that makes you want to avoid playing the story when the world finally opens up. It isn't until chapter 3 that I actually started to become invested in the story, before that point I only did missions in the hopes of getting into fun shootouts and robberies.
Secondly, the controls aren't the best. Unlike most other Rockstar games I actually found this played on keyboard better than controller. Your horse controls terribly at times, often circling back on itself, falling over nothing, veering off to the right when you press left, etc. I can only assume it's a quirk of the game trying to adjust your horse on uneven surfaces but it feels like you fight with the animal most of the time. On foot controls are better but I've had situations occur where my guns that were equipped before I got off my horse become unequipped and likewise when I go to interact with an NPC I accidentally shoot them when I meant to say hello. A lot of issues comes from the way Rockstar has tried to make animations blend together, glitches occur when you go from sprinting to a slow so that your character can believably turn a door knob slowly to get inside, or when looting a body Arthur just locks up and freezes for a few seconds because the body is laying over an object. If you try to aim down sights while friendlies are nearby often times you'll lock onto them and you will need to reposition yourself in order to actually fire at enemies.
The next issue is that the game is too easy. Rockstar games are designed to be story-heavy and accessible, which is fine, but I found some missions to be laughably easy. You'll start to notice that your horse will often steer itself with no regard for your input in missions because it is scripted to do so, you'll notice enemies standing 3ft away from you can't hit you or that they will keep running right at you and dropping dead in the same spot as their allies. Half of the missions in this game could be completed without even seeing the game, if you could only see the mini-map you'd be able to beat them as the mini-map just makes everything trivial. An NPC might ask you to look for something but then game will immediately highlight the exact spot it is at, removing any hint of a brief challenge, it's as if the game doesn't want you to ever fail. There's no mission that I ever struggled with and I probably died less than 10 times in missions. I'm not saying the game needs to be punishing but it feels like Rockstar would have been better off making a movie rather than a game when the gameplay is so light.
Additionally the game is held back by its setting. It's detailed and authentic but it can make for a boring game. There's no variety in weapons, pistols and rifles feel almost indistinguishable at times, there's no variety in the law you fight it's the same gunfight over and over and spending half of every mission on horseback listening to exposition gets tiresome very quick. I'm grateful they included the option of the cinematic camera where you can just let your horse ride without any input but that doesn't make for an engaging game, it's a means of getting around an annoying piece of gameplay. There are better ways to deliver exposition, I became grateful for missions that would skip time and have me start at the location of the mission rather than needing to ride from camp. I also found myself ignoring NPC encounters along routes to missions because often they needed me to travel in the opposite direction I was coming from, something that I didn't want to be slowed down by.
Red Dead Online is a huge let down, not that you should expect much when you compare it to GTA:O. It's typical Rockstar fare: Lock anything fun behind a paywall/grind, do nothing about hackers, add updates to Online and nothing to singleplayer. Anything worth doing requires goldbars which cost money or weeks of grinding, the missions aren't rewarding, the graphics are downgraded for the online portion, the story isn't engaging and the world feels far more empty. It's fun to mess around in it with friends for a while but there's better games to waste your time and money in.
Finally, the PC optimisation is poor, I can only imagine how bad it was on launch. Everytime my game starts my resolution is messed up and I need to adjust it twice for it to work. I also have to alt-tab twice on launch to use the menus. The game has a 50% chance of crashing when loading singleplayer for the first time or a 75% chance of crashing when loading the online portion. Worth nothing if Rockstar servers are down you can't play this game, I really wish you didn't need a connection for offline games.
If you can put up with the first 3-6 hours there is a rewarding experience to be found here, the story gets very interesting, the characters more intriguing and the world is a beautiful backdrop for it all. I would highly recommend it but just be aware of what you're in for.
First, and most obviously, the beginning chapters are a bore, they create a poor first impression, they drag on, the gameplay is dull and it's not fun interacting with the characters when you know absolutely nothing about them, it serves as a good tutorial but one that makes you want to avoid playing the story when the world finally opens up. It isn't until chapter 3 that I actually started to become invested in the story, before that point I only did missions in the hopes of getting into fun shootouts and robberies.
Secondly, the controls aren't the best. Unlike most other Rockstar games I actually found this played on keyboard better than controller. Your horse controls terribly at times, often circling back on itself, falling over nothing, veering off to the right when you press left, etc. I can only assume it's a quirk of the game trying to adjust your horse on uneven surfaces but it feels like you fight with the animal most of the time. On foot controls are better but I've had situations occur where my guns that were equipped before I got off my horse become unequipped and likewise when I go to interact with an NPC I accidentally shoot them when I meant to say hello. A lot of issues comes from the way Rockstar has tried to make animations blend together, glitches occur when you go from sprinting to a slow so that your character can believably turn a door knob slowly to get inside, or when looting a body Arthur just locks up and freezes for a few seconds because the body is laying over an object. If you try to aim down sights while friendlies are nearby often times you'll lock onto them and you will need to reposition yourself in order to actually fire at enemies.
The next issue is that the game is too easy. Rockstar games are designed to be story-heavy and accessible, which is fine, but I found some missions to be laughably easy. You'll start to notice that your horse will often steer itself with no regard for your input in missions because it is scripted to do so, you'll notice enemies standing 3ft away from you can't hit you or that they will keep running right at you and dropping dead in the same spot as their allies. Half of the missions in this game could be completed without even seeing the game, if you could only see the mini-map you'd be able to beat them as the mini-map just makes everything trivial. An NPC might ask you to look for something but then game will immediately highlight the exact spot it is at, removing any hint of a brief challenge, it's as if the game doesn't want you to ever fail. There's no mission that I ever struggled with and I probably died less than 10 times in missions. I'm not saying the game needs to be punishing but it feels like Rockstar would have been better off making a movie rather than a game when the gameplay is so light.
Additionally the game is held back by its setting. It's detailed and authentic but it can make for a boring game. There's no variety in weapons, pistols and rifles feel almost indistinguishable at times, there's no variety in the law you fight it's the same gunfight over and over and spending half of every mission on horseback listening to exposition gets tiresome very quick. I'm grateful they included the option of the cinematic camera where you can just let your horse ride without any input but that doesn't make for an engaging game, it's a means of getting around an annoying piece of gameplay. There are better ways to deliver exposition, I became grateful for missions that would skip time and have me start at the location of the mission rather than needing to ride from camp. I also found myself ignoring NPC encounters along routes to missions because often they needed me to travel in the opposite direction I was coming from, something that I didn't want to be slowed down by.
Red Dead Online is a huge let down, not that you should expect much when you compare it to GTA:O. It's typical Rockstar fare: Lock anything fun behind a paywall/grind, do nothing about hackers, add updates to Online and nothing to singleplayer. Anything worth doing requires goldbars which cost money or weeks of grinding, the missions aren't rewarding, the graphics are downgraded for the online portion, the story isn't engaging and the world feels far more empty. It's fun to mess around in it with friends for a while but there's better games to waste your time and money in.
Finally, the PC optimisation is poor, I can only imagine how bad it was on launch. Everytime my game starts my resolution is messed up and I need to adjust it twice for it to work. I also have to alt-tab twice on launch to use the menus. The game has a 50% chance of crashing when loading singleplayer for the first time or a 75% chance of crashing when loading the online portion. Worth nothing if Rockstar servers are down you can't play this game, I really wish you didn't need a connection for offline games.
If you can put up with the first 3-6 hours there is a rewarding experience to be found here, the story gets very interesting, the characters more intriguing and the world is a beautiful backdrop for it all. I would highly recommend it but just be aware of what you're in for.
The GOAT.
2021
An interesting idea but it didn't hold my attention for the full run. I appreciate the aesthetics a lot. It's probably a great game for the right kind of person, that's just not me however.
Initially when I reviewed this game I did not recommend it but having put more hours in I feel I have a better understanding of it now and while I would recommend it there are some glaring issues.
Positives
Sekiro is not Dark Souls and you should not expect it to be, the game is not about dodging attacks, tanking damage and watching for openings in an enemy's attack pattern. Instead Sekiro is all about preventing openings from ever occurring, that's the key to the gameplay, get in your enemies face, attack as much as you can, deflect as much as you can and break their posture without ever letting up. It's fun when it works and it's impressive to watch. Pair this with the ability to grapple and you have a very mobile and exciting game with a wonderful setting. It's not as magical as Dark Souls but somehow giant serpents, phantom monkeys in kimonos and lightning wielding samurais don't feel out of place. The world isn't as sprawling or intricate as Lordran but it is much more detailed and feels more lived in.
Negatives
I will start off with the biggest flaw in this game. It is linear as hell, not just in world design or story but in how it expects you to play the game, From Software want you to approach each boss in a pre-defined way. For example, Lady Butterfly caused me a lot of trouble in my first playthrough I spent hours trying to learn her attack patterns, trying to counter her, doing everything I could but still struggling. I eventually caved in and checked a guide which taught me that in order to beat her I just need to spam the dodge-counter-attack over and over, locking her into a loop of posture damage. This wasn't even a cheese, this was the way the game wants you to beat her as it mentions the use of the counter-attack before the fight but I didn't think it wanted me to essentially stun-lock her to win. I beat her in less than 2 minutes once I realised this. Juzuo is an annoying fight because in order to have a chance you have to stealth kill the 7 or 8 enemies surrounding him and this takes time which makes dying feel even more punishing as you have to spend another 10/15 minutes setting the fight up before it even happens and it's such a slog trying to fight him without doing this that it's not worth even trying. There's no room to experiment in these boss fights at all, it's From's way or nothing.
The next problem is how imprecise counters are. This whole game is about precision and accuracy, timing dodges and deflections is an important skill and so you would think timing counters would be the same except it's not. I found the Mikiri counter very difficult to get right in the beginning until I realised you don't need to get it right, as soon as you think you need to use it you just spam the button over and over and it will work, same with the lightning-counter, accuracy is not required at all. This feels very at odds with the rest of the game and it also leads to animations getting janky and weird which looks odd in a game where combat flows so well.
The story of Sekiro is also not that interesting in my opinion. During my first playthrough I restarted the game because I honestly lost track of why I was doing anything or where I was going. Even in my new playthrough I really couldn't care less for anyone's motivations, it just feels like text boxes to skim through before moving onto a new area or unlocking a new upgrade, it's utterly forgettable; especially when compared to Dark Souls where it does its best to obscure any actual story and requires lots of investment in the lore which is far more interesting.
Also having to kill bosses twice feels like padding in a lot of the fights, especially the mini-boss fights. Items don't really have uses either, I never used the ceramic tiles, the various balloons or anything like that, you could play the game without ever picking them up.
Also Sunken Valley is so poorly designed, platforming while being shot by 4 enemies who are dead accurate that you can't counter because you're struggling to use the half-broken ledge grab is not fun or fair. Gun enemies in general are a bad experience.
Verdict
Sekiro is a unique game worth trying whether you like Souls games or not. I would nearly suggest it to people who don't like Souls games more than those that do. I would never ever recommend using a guide for Dark Souls but for Sekiro it almost feels like a necessity, if a boss is giving you too much trouble it is probably because you're not playing the game in a way From intended for you to, so maybe keep that in mind.
Positives
Sekiro is not Dark Souls and you should not expect it to be, the game is not about dodging attacks, tanking damage and watching for openings in an enemy's attack pattern. Instead Sekiro is all about preventing openings from ever occurring, that's the key to the gameplay, get in your enemies face, attack as much as you can, deflect as much as you can and break their posture without ever letting up. It's fun when it works and it's impressive to watch. Pair this with the ability to grapple and you have a very mobile and exciting game with a wonderful setting. It's not as magical as Dark Souls but somehow giant serpents, phantom monkeys in kimonos and lightning wielding samurais don't feel out of place. The world isn't as sprawling or intricate as Lordran but it is much more detailed and feels more lived in.
Negatives
I will start off with the biggest flaw in this game. It is linear as hell, not just in world design or story but in how it expects you to play the game, From Software want you to approach each boss in a pre-defined way. For example, Lady Butterfly caused me a lot of trouble in my first playthrough I spent hours trying to learn her attack patterns, trying to counter her, doing everything I could but still struggling. I eventually caved in and checked a guide which taught me that in order to beat her I just need to spam the dodge-counter-attack over and over, locking her into a loop of posture damage. This wasn't even a cheese, this was the way the game wants you to beat her as it mentions the use of the counter-attack before the fight but I didn't think it wanted me to essentially stun-lock her to win. I beat her in less than 2 minutes once I realised this. Juzuo is an annoying fight because in order to have a chance you have to stealth kill the 7 or 8 enemies surrounding him and this takes time which makes dying feel even more punishing as you have to spend another 10/15 minutes setting the fight up before it even happens and it's such a slog trying to fight him without doing this that it's not worth even trying. There's no room to experiment in these boss fights at all, it's From's way or nothing.
The next problem is how imprecise counters are. This whole game is about precision and accuracy, timing dodges and deflections is an important skill and so you would think timing counters would be the same except it's not. I found the Mikiri counter very difficult to get right in the beginning until I realised you don't need to get it right, as soon as you think you need to use it you just spam the button over and over and it will work, same with the lightning-counter, accuracy is not required at all. This feels very at odds with the rest of the game and it also leads to animations getting janky and weird which looks odd in a game where combat flows so well.
The story of Sekiro is also not that interesting in my opinion. During my first playthrough I restarted the game because I honestly lost track of why I was doing anything or where I was going. Even in my new playthrough I really couldn't care less for anyone's motivations, it just feels like text boxes to skim through before moving onto a new area or unlocking a new upgrade, it's utterly forgettable; especially when compared to Dark Souls where it does its best to obscure any actual story and requires lots of investment in the lore which is far more interesting.
Also having to kill bosses twice feels like padding in a lot of the fights, especially the mini-boss fights. Items don't really have uses either, I never used the ceramic tiles, the various balloons or anything like that, you could play the game without ever picking them up.
Also Sunken Valley is so poorly designed, platforming while being shot by 4 enemies who are dead accurate that you can't counter because you're struggling to use the half-broken ledge grab is not fun or fair. Gun enemies in general are a bad experience.
Verdict
Sekiro is a unique game worth trying whether you like Souls games or not. I would nearly suggest it to people who don't like Souls games more than those that do. I would never ever recommend using a guide for Dark Souls but for Sekiro it almost feels like a necessity, if a boss is giving you too much trouble it is probably because you're not playing the game in a way From intended for you to, so maybe keep that in mind.
2017
A beautiful passion project, and it has great co-op.
I am not the biggest fan of platformers, especially one as consistently difficult as this one. I've never beaten it but I like loading it up every year or so to throw myself at it again, it's difficult not to enjoy it, very much an example of you get out what the devs put in.
I am not the biggest fan of platformers, especially one as consistently difficult as this one. I've never beaten it but I like loading it up every year or so to throw myself at it again, it's difficult not to enjoy it, very much an example of you get out what the devs put in.
A game that didn't deserve its fate.
2019
This game opened my eyes to Roguelikes and I will forever be thankful.
2022
As a massive From Soft fan Elden Ring frustrates me.
I appreciate the new things they tried here but I can't understand the insane hype around this game. I was there for it since the very first teaser trailer, I pre-ordered, I played on launch, I have yet to actually finish it over two years later.
The biggest flaw with this game is the fact it's open world. That wonderful, flowing world design of DS1 and DS3 has been swapped for an empty map where you just fast travel from point to point. I think they really struggled to fill this world as there are so many reused enemies, especially reused bosses. No, fighting the tree sentinel again isn't fun. Neither is fighting the Watch Dogs for the fourth time. Nor is running through the same dungeon with the same traps and enemies.
Being open world I expected more variety but by the time I cleared out all of Limgrave I felt bored. Likewise, the bosses on offer here run the entire spectrum from "this is absolutely busted and borderline unfair" to "how is this not just a common enemy". The Valiant Gargoyles to me are the hardest bosses in the game, harder than Radahn or Mohg, because they are poorly designed.
Rennala probably has the most "interesting" boss fight but she isn't particularly difficult or fun, but visually creative. Most other bosses are just forgettable.
I found myself frustrated by how little the game gives you in terms of items. 4 hours of gameplay in DS1/3 would net you several full armour sets and a full page of weapons. 4 hours in Elden Ring nets you a handful of crafting items, some gloves if you're lucky and several of the same plain sword. Exploration feels unrewarding to me here, more like padding.
The best area in the game by a country-mile is Lyndell, it's beautiful, it's maze-like at points, the enemies feel like a fair fit for the location. It reminds me of the better areas of Dark Souls 3, but it's too short and not long after you hit the late-game difficulty spikes of getting ganked DS2 style.
The lore here never grabbed me either, unlike DS3 where I want to know the story of every minor character only mentioned in passing, here I couldn't tell you who is who or what their motivations are, they just never got me interested.
I may sound harsh but it's only because I love these games and this feels like a clear step back. It's still a phenomenal game, probably the most accessible and easiest starting point for a new player to these games, but as a long time fan this isn't for me.
Sidenote: Seamless coop mod makes this game significantly more fun but it does break it in some ways.
I appreciate the new things they tried here but I can't understand the insane hype around this game. I was there for it since the very first teaser trailer, I pre-ordered, I played on launch, I have yet to actually finish it over two years later.
The biggest flaw with this game is the fact it's open world. That wonderful, flowing world design of DS1 and DS3 has been swapped for an empty map where you just fast travel from point to point. I think they really struggled to fill this world as there are so many reused enemies, especially reused bosses. No, fighting the tree sentinel again isn't fun. Neither is fighting the Watch Dogs for the fourth time. Nor is running through the same dungeon with the same traps and enemies.
Being open world I expected more variety but by the time I cleared out all of Limgrave I felt bored. Likewise, the bosses on offer here run the entire spectrum from "this is absolutely busted and borderline unfair" to "how is this not just a common enemy". The Valiant Gargoyles to me are the hardest bosses in the game, harder than Radahn or Mohg, because they are poorly designed.
Rennala probably has the most "interesting" boss fight but she isn't particularly difficult or fun, but visually creative. Most other bosses are just forgettable.
I found myself frustrated by how little the game gives you in terms of items. 4 hours of gameplay in DS1/3 would net you several full armour sets and a full page of weapons. 4 hours in Elden Ring nets you a handful of crafting items, some gloves if you're lucky and several of the same plain sword. Exploration feels unrewarding to me here, more like padding.
The best area in the game by a country-mile is Lyndell, it's beautiful, it's maze-like at points, the enemies feel like a fair fit for the location. It reminds me of the better areas of Dark Souls 3, but it's too short and not long after you hit the late-game difficulty spikes of getting ganked DS2 style.
The lore here never grabbed me either, unlike DS3 where I want to know the story of every minor character only mentioned in passing, here I couldn't tell you who is who or what their motivations are, they just never got me interested.
I may sound harsh but it's only because I love these games and this feels like a clear step back. It's still a phenomenal game, probably the most accessible and easiest starting point for a new player to these games, but as a long time fan this isn't for me.
Sidenote: Seamless coop mod makes this game significantly more fun but it does break it in some ways.
sending client info...
WELCOME TO ADVAN. CED. GUN. GAME.
WOOHOO
Holy SHITTTTTT
admin he is doing it sideways
*the best version of counter strike
I owe my 16 year old Steam account to a friend who's brother left his Steam logged in so we played this all day
WELCOME TO ADVAN. CED. GUN. GAME.
WOOHOO
Holy SHITTTTTT
admin he is doing it sideways
*the best version of counter strike
I owe my 16 year old Steam account to a friend who's brother left his Steam logged in so we played this all day
2018
Very fun co-op game, especially if you like throwing your controller at the screen.
2013
Infinite always felt like a significant step back from prior entries, it was a nice change of setting but nothing else.
1999
There are entire YouTube essays upwards of 4+ hours that can describe why this game is so phenomenal and for good reason.
It is outdated by today's standards in terms of graphics, settings and UI. It was ahead of its time in terms of sound design, level design, storytelling and world building.
Get it, fix it up with mods and enjoy a piece of history.
It is outdated by today's standards in terms of graphics, settings and UI. It was ahead of its time in terms of sound design, level design, storytelling and world building.
Get it, fix it up with mods and enjoy a piece of history.
2019
Borderlands 3 makes me sad.
It is SO good. Gearbox nailed the combat in this one, killing enemies is satisfying, loot progression is just perfect, abilities and grenades are so fun, the core experience is nearly perfect.
What makes me sad is that every time I want to go back and put more time into it I am reminded of the writing. Borderlands 3 stands out in my head for having the absolute worst writing of any game I have ever played. The main antagonists are so incredibly cringe, they are meant to be (almost as a parody), but the game takes them so seriously that it fails in its irony and is just bad. They aren't the worst however, Lorelai gets that award. Lorelai is a character you have to endure for atleast an hour, and it's excruciating. If you've ever spent time around someone who thinks a coffee mug that says "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" is a replacement for a personality then you've met Lorelai.
The writers also smoked crack and decided that Tannis for some reason is a fan favourite I guess because she has been around since the first game? She is bad. Her story arc is atrocious. I can't properly put to words how lame it is, it really feels like an 11 year old creating their Mary-Sue OC. I genuinely burst out laughing at the final cutscene when "That Girl Is on Fire" starts playing earnestly as what can only be described as a YA fiction GMOD scene happens.
All of this would be fine if it weren't for the fact you cannot skip any dialogue or cutscenes. If I could do that I would probably have upwards of several hundred hours in this game but the narrative experience is always (literally) slowing you down or blocking your progression for minutes at a time. I have very little gripes with the actual gameplay, except maybe exploration being boring and vehicles still being bad, but everything else ruins what would otherwise be a 5/5 game.
It is SO good. Gearbox nailed the combat in this one, killing enemies is satisfying, loot progression is just perfect, abilities and grenades are so fun, the core experience is nearly perfect.
What makes me sad is that every time I want to go back and put more time into it I am reminded of the writing. Borderlands 3 stands out in my head for having the absolute worst writing of any game I have ever played. The main antagonists are so incredibly cringe, they are meant to be (almost as a parody), but the game takes them so seriously that it fails in its irony and is just bad. They aren't the worst however, Lorelai gets that award. Lorelai is a character you have to endure for atleast an hour, and it's excruciating. If you've ever spent time around someone who thinks a coffee mug that says "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" is a replacement for a personality then you've met Lorelai.
The writers also smoked crack and decided that Tannis for some reason is a fan favourite I guess because she has been around since the first game? She is bad. Her story arc is atrocious. I can't properly put to words how lame it is, it really feels like an 11 year old creating their Mary-Sue OC. I genuinely burst out laughing at the final cutscene when "That Girl Is on Fire" starts playing earnestly as what can only be described as a YA fiction GMOD scene happens.
All of this would be fine if it weren't for the fact you cannot skip any dialogue or cutscenes. If I could do that I would probably have upwards of several hundred hours in this game but the narrative experience is always (literally) slowing you down or blocking your progression for minutes at a time. I have very little gripes with the actual gameplay, except maybe exploration being boring and vehicles still being bad, but everything else ruins what would otherwise be a 5/5 game.