- Joined
- May 30, 2018
- Messages
- 1,890 (0.78/day)
- Location
- Cusp Of Mania, FL
| Processor | Ryzen 9 3900X |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | Asus ROG Strix X370-F |
| Cooling | Dark Rock 4, 3x Corsair ML140 front intake, 1x rear exhaust |
| Memory | 2x8GB TridentZ RGB [3600Mhz CL16] |
| Video Card(s) | EVGA 3060ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming |
| Storage | 970 EVO 500GB nvme, 860 EVO 250GB SATA, Seagate Barracuda 1TB + 4TB HDDs |
| Display(s) | 27" MSI G27C4 FHD 165hz |
| Case | NZXT H710 |
| Audio Device(s) | Modi Multibit, Vali 2, Shortest Way 51+ - LSR 305's, Focal Clear, HD6xx, HE5xx, LCD-2 Classic |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM650x v2 |
| Mouse | iunno whatever cheap crap logitech *clutches Xbox 360 controller security blanket* |
| Keyboard | HyperX Alloy Pro |
| Software | Windows 10 Pro |
| Benchmark Scores | ask your mother |
Thank you! Very flattering of my sloppy rambling
I'm glad you find it exciting. I am indeed very excited about the game. I get like that sometimes - it's almost like a drug-induced state... all of these things are sort of just 'there" and it becomes a race to make my words keep up with my thoughts. The subjects at hand are all I see. I'll be writing one paragraph while I'm thinking about the next.But no, I have the same problem. I think that's why every time I try to pin it down I wind up just going on and on. But maybe that's the way to approach it, you know? I could probably go through and just break down a bunch of little details - almost too many things come to mind. That's something I would probably enjoy. And if I get the urge to write more about it, I think I already know where to start. I'll probably play through it a few more times anyway. We'll see what happens. If I find myself in that mode again I would love to break it down more and do something more polished/focused. I glossed over so much! This is one of those games that really deserves a careful point-to-point analysis.
There's definitely a bigger picture to be had somewhere in just breaking down little details and events... there are things you see, events transpiring, and just common aspects of the gameplay that encapsulate what makes the game good in a broader sense... and it comes off in a way that conveys more information than simple terms have the power to condense. It's full of these microcosms that make you think "Oh, THIS is how it's supposed to be." It's an important release. You can describe the game in general terms as is often done in reviews... just line up parameters and gauge them comparatively. But doing so kind of negates many of the things that really make the game stand out, imo. I've seen this in a few reviews of the game already. They compare the game favorably to others, but don't showcase the stuff that really makes it such an amazingly 'complete' and all-consuming experience. You're lucky if they barely touch on it. I think that's something you can probably only glean with time most reviewers most likely don't have. It can't really be packed-down into a text the length of a page or two in a book. When you sit and play the game, it's immediately obvious that you are in good hands, but the reasons for that are less obvious... which to me is another mark of quality craftsmanship. It's a nascent, flowing experience, from start to finish. The inner workings and deeper reasons are difficult to pick out. It just is - much like the sun rising and setting. It has the illusion of being self-manifesting, when in reality, people worked to create the experiences you're having in just such a way that you forget you're simply being taken for a ride. The barrier between the player and the game drops off and you become "plugged-in" to it. Makes it very difficult to ascertain what exactly you're experiencing and why because it transcends your usual means of interpretation. There just isn't that hard line to draw between what you experience and what is generating that, a lot of times.
That might be the nicest thing I can say about it. It really is one of those games where you sit down and forget that you're just sitting and playing a game... for hours.
I think I've said before, you lose nothing without RTX. That doesn't make the game and it looks every bit as good without it. Mostly what I'm looking at is the implementation and the impact. I think it adds something interesting to the overall visual impact and I think it has enormous potential. In itself, it's nothing major. Being able to see it reasonably and have it do something very noticeably good is a plus. 4A didn't need GI to make the game look absolutely fantastic! But I am happy to be able to see what it adds and how it changes things in a game where light behavior is paramount to the whole feel. With the placement of the light sources in this game, I think it works really, really well. Surprisingly so.
I feel the same. The dialogue sequences are pretty good, occasional cheesy voice acting and all. But those scenes where you're clearly having a conversation, but Artyom isn't saying anything, are awkward. It reads like an unfinished ad-lib. I'm fine with the "silent protagonist" approach. Plenty of ways to make that work. But you have to pick one or the other. Either flesh out the player character with lots of interaction, or keep it brief and allow the game and the way you choose to play define the player character in the player's mind. It's really pretty egregious here when you consider that there are 3 books featuring Artyom as a main character. Surely it wouldn't have been too hard to pull some dialogue for him out of those.
Though I guess it is a compromise. There aren't too many real, dedicated cutscenes... when you're getting that 'extra' diologue and interaction, the player is free to move around, look at stuff, stand at the workbench... what have you. You can even just walk away. It would be equally awkward to have Artyom getting into involved conversations while just faffing about the place. These things are made less jarring and more natural-feeling because Artyom *doesn't* talk. So it's like... do they lock you in to experiencing this dialogue and making a fixed set of choices that determine how it goes or is the sense of agency and freedom of interaction (or non-interaction) more important? I've seen many different approaches to dealing with this and none of them are too ideal. Definitely room for improvement in the Metro series, though. I don't think the current solution is perfect.
Oh yes... there is a lot of that. Some of them are quite silly, but add tons of character. All I can say there is... train whistleMan, playing Metro: Exodus I have already experienced things I didnt the first time, especially listening to people talk. Deep subjects and long conversations. The coolest was just now picking up a guitar and playing with Stepan on the. Train. Little details.
Oh good lord... I can see why. My god is that bad. I mean, it's not the easiest game, but it's like the player there completely doesn't understand the mechanics. How do you not know you're blowing through enough resources to clear two major areas before you even reach the first one in the hub!? By that point in the game you gotta know that you're completely crippling yourself. There's no way they made it out of the Volga playing that way. You'd just be terribly stuck. Horrible way to showcase the gameplay. Sometimes even experienced gamers have those little moments of noobish stupidity. This cat lives it. I'd hate to see them attempting one of the steath passages. That is just embarrassing, man.
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I replayed it a few months ago. It was 13 hours for me on hard.
