This review contains spoilers
I've left a negative Review for this thing back when it released, because I believe that shitty performance on launch day should be reflected in the review score. I originally planned to wait a few months, play it and then write another review, but I was told that the performance gets better after Koboh. So I went back, only to find out that "better" just means "less shitty".
But to get past Koboh, I had already put in 15-20 hours, that I was unwilling to replay, so I kept going, fully determined to finish it and I am sad to say, that this probably is the Star Wars Game kid-me always wanted, but I will never remember it that way. The Performance issues just thoroughly soiled the experience.
I haven't played a game this broken on launch since Cyberpunk 2077 and honestly I'd call this worse than cyberpunk, because at least I could enjoy the story, world and gameplay in CP77 (as long as I ignored all the promised features they cut). This Games issues corroded nearly every element to a point where its hard to enjoy anything about it.
The Cutscenes are hard to appreciate, when everything looks super pixelated and blurry, because the game can't handle high resolutions. As is the gameplay, when the FPS is more inconsistent than Kanye Wests political beliefs. Its also difficult to get into the "build your own town" aspect of the game, when 90% of those characters are in a bar, where every visit includes a 60 second wait at the door, because its still loading.
Really the only thing I could enjoy here are the characters. I really loved where they took Cal, Merrin, Cere and Greez. All of their start and ending points in this game perfectly line up with who we've gotten to know them as in the last game. New characters are also a hoot. I loved talking to Skoova, Moran and Pili, because of their varied vibes and insights into the Galaxy.
Cody Fern absolutely crushed it as Dagan, but his performance wasn't quite enough to save a Villain with such severly underwritten motivations. Bode is the most interesting Dark Side Antagonist we've gotten since Kylo Ren (pre-RoS), but also needed some work in the motivation department. Its just hard to believe that a guy like him, would needlessly shoot Cordova or even escalate things to that level in the first place, before they ever visited Tanalorr. To make these actions make sense, all of Bodes good Character Qualities would have to have been fake, which fits a spy I guess, but makes for a boring Villain.
In the end, I really wanted to see this game succeed. I wanted to see it realize its full potential and soar. Not just because I loved Fallen Order. Not just because I have been following and loving Respawn Entertainment since their inception. Not just because I am a huge proponent of Homeoffice and this is the first Triple A Game to be fully developed from Homeoffice and thus important for setting a standard in the industry.
But also because Mainstream Star Wars is currently in a tough place (Comics and Book Fans be eating tho). And seeing a good Star Wars Story squandered hurts that much more, when you only get 1-2 per Year on Average.
But to get past Koboh, I had already put in 15-20 hours, that I was unwilling to replay, so I kept going, fully determined to finish it and I am sad to say, that this probably is the Star Wars Game kid-me always wanted, but I will never remember it that way. The Performance issues just thoroughly soiled the experience.
I haven't played a game this broken on launch since Cyberpunk 2077 and honestly I'd call this worse than cyberpunk, because at least I could enjoy the story, world and gameplay in CP77 (as long as I ignored all the promised features they cut). This Games issues corroded nearly every element to a point where its hard to enjoy anything about it.
The Cutscenes are hard to appreciate, when everything looks super pixelated and blurry, because the game can't handle high resolutions. As is the gameplay, when the FPS is more inconsistent than Kanye Wests political beliefs. Its also difficult to get into the "build your own town" aspect of the game, when 90% of those characters are in a bar, where every visit includes a 60 second wait at the door, because its still loading.
Really the only thing I could enjoy here are the characters. I really loved where they took Cal, Merrin, Cere and Greez. All of their start and ending points in this game perfectly line up with who we've gotten to know them as in the last game. New characters are also a hoot. I loved talking to Skoova, Moran and Pili, because of their varied vibes and insights into the Galaxy.
Cody Fern absolutely crushed it as Dagan, but his performance wasn't quite enough to save a Villain with such severly underwritten motivations. Bode is the most interesting Dark Side Antagonist we've gotten since Kylo Ren (pre-RoS), but also needed some work in the motivation department. Its just hard to believe that a guy like him, would needlessly shoot Cordova or even escalate things to that level in the first place, before they ever visited Tanalorr. To make these actions make sense, all of Bodes good Character Qualities would have to have been fake, which fits a spy I guess, but makes for a boring Villain.
In the end, I really wanted to see this game succeed. I wanted to see it realize its full potential and soar. Not just because I loved Fallen Order. Not just because I have been following and loving Respawn Entertainment since their inception. Not just because I am a huge proponent of Homeoffice and this is the first Triple A Game to be fully developed from Homeoffice and thus important for setting a standard in the industry.
But also because Mainstream Star Wars is currently in a tough place (Comics and Book Fans be eating tho). And seeing a good Star Wars Story squandered hurts that much more, when you only get 1-2 per Year on Average.