/v2/ - The King's Vidya

I'm about 40 hours into the game and I'm still enjoying it greatly, and I'm only halfway through the game if other comments are to be believed. Easily the second best game of this year, if not decade, after Divinity: Original Sin.

The game features terrific writing and I was more than happy to indulge myself in it. There's a lot of subtlety to it and it doesn't spout exposition every chance it gets to make sure the player gets it. It counts on that you're paying attention, and if you're not you'll lose out on options to complete the missions you're assigned. MEMORABLE characters, everywhere!

Environments are key, with the majority of character building focused towards interaction with the surroundings. Despite the stale theme of a beige wasteland, the artists managed to make every area unique and HUGE. Enormous to the point you'll get bored backtracking. You'll definitely need to take advantage of your map as you navigate through new areas.

Recruitable NPCs, or companions, add flair to the world and gives the player a sense of continuity as they progress from one area to another while also giving the player a greater seens their playthrough is unique. However, they're not as in-depth as one would like, as you cannot directly engage in a conversation with them besides the initial talk.

Aesthetics are there and works with the setting, but some parts of the game really look rubbish, in particular the character models look like something made a decade ago. The models themselves look like poor puppets, made of a childs disfigured clay put to together. Giving an uncanny feeling of disparity between the fantastic environments and the poor quality characters. On a sidenote, repeating portraits really fucks with the unique sense each NPC should give the player.

Combat feels great, weapons sound good enough and each bullet feels like a gamechanger, but it's not as tactically inclined as it would have you think initially. Your weapons, equipment and stats are all that is brought into your arsenal and you'll only find upgrades and never really increase a characters repertoire in their specialization. There are no unique abilities to learn and put into use.

On a last note, the radio is awesome all around.

TL;DR
It's great, but got flaws. Flaws that are easily overlooked when you indulge yourself to some Wastelandan.

>>135
I played the living hell out the early release. All of my gaming time for days on end was focused on it. I wish I hadn't done that because the final game (while it still has some flaws) is fucking amazing. It was dumb to burn myself out on it and I hope soon I get the craving to play it all the way through.