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[RagnarokIV]

nah I'm good

 

[LegendOfKage]

nah I'm good

Well, thanks for bumping the thread anyhow.

I'm glad to see him bringing more attention to this game. Thanks for posting this.

 

[mèx]

I have played the first few hours in coop. Yep, it's as great as everyone said, if it were not for KCD2 it might be my favourite game this year.

I usually despise these kind of games, because they are often aimless and in general just a sandbox without clear objectives.

This is more similar to Subnautica then the other more open ended games in the genre. It has tight level design, clear objectives, cool mechanics and a proper lore/story with a good atmosphere. It's an odd mix of immersive sim and survival/crafting, and it works really well.

I think the best way to play this is either in single player or with 1-2 more people, any more it might get too chaotic and spoil the atmosphere of the game.

Let's see if it keeps this level quality going forward. For now I'm impressed.

 

[LegendOfKage]

I usually despise these kind of games, because they are often aimless and in general just a sandbox without clear objectives.

This is more similar to Subnautica then the other more open ended games in the genre. It has tight level design, clear objectives, cool mechanics and a proper lore/story with a good atmosphere. It's an odd mix of immersive sim and survival/crafting, and it works really well.

I agree. Survival games with goals often lead to everyone going in all sort of directions, working on different things. The design of this game is the perfect solution to that issue.

I think the best way to play this is either in single player or with 1-2 more people, any more it might get too chaotic and spoil the atmosphere of the game.

Having experienced several games of ABF in a few different groups of people, I'd say you're mostly right. I think the game is at its best when playing with at least one other player. Even five or six players still doesn't feel like too many, though. The developers do a good job of scaling the number of enemies and their health.

I have played the first few hours in coop. Yep, it's as great as everyone said, if it were not for KCD2 it might be my favourite game this year.

...

Let's see if it keeps this level quality going forward. For now I'm impressed.

While I haven't finished the game yet, I'd say it starts off good, soon gets even better, and then the quality remains consistent after that. This game just keeps surprising me. Thanks to classic level design with no mini-map or guidance other than an objective marker here and there, the feeling of exploration is so much better than the vast majority of modern games.

I'd also strongly suggest that the best way to experience the game is to go in knowing as little as possible.

 

[mèx]

I'd also strongly suggest that the best way to experience the game is to go in knowing as little as possible.

Yeah, looking stuff up defeats the purpose of the game much like Outer Wilds. Experimenting and finding stuff on your own is half the fun.

Btw the game is doing really well:

Steam :: Abiotic Factor :: Over 1.4 Million Scientists and Growing!

To celebrate our launch into 1.0, and how amazing our scientific community has become over the last year, we’ve gotten Abiotic Factor Community Items up and running!

steamcommunity.com

 

[SomeNorseGuy]

This looks like great fun! Had it on my wishlist for a while. But too many great games in my backlog atm. Will definitely pick it up at a future sale or if I get a hankering for some crafty/survival shenanigans.

 

[mèx]

20 hours in.

The map is really huge and intricate. But it doesn't feel overwhelming since it's balanced well thanks to well-placed shortcuts and a layout that pushes you in the right direction while still giving you tons of flexibility. Exploring is the highlight of this game for me, the level design is crazy good.

I rarely feel I'm wasting time, but if I were playing in single player I would have toned down some of the survival aspects. On Hard it's manageable with 1-2 more people and it's actually nice to split some responsibilities. Good teamwork goes a long way.

The sense of progression is excellent. You keep unlocking new recipes, items, areas and skills at a good pace. Skills are leveled up by just doing stuff, so your character will be built around what you like doing, it feels natural and I think it's well implemented.

I think here on NeoGAF people are mistaking this game for those meme-y coop games that focus on the social aspect more than anything else. But this is a full blown immersive sim with survival/crafting elements and a heavy focus on exploration. Otherwise there would be much more discussion about this.

 

[midasmulligan]

20 hours in.

The map is really huge and intricate. But it doesn't feel overwhelming since it's balanced well thanks to well-placed shortcuts and a layout that pushes you in the right direction while still giving you tons of flexibility. Exploring is the highlight of this game for me, the level design is crazy good.

I rarely feel I'm wasting time, but if I were playing in single player I would have toned down some of the survival aspects. On Hard it's manageable with 1-2 more people and it's actually nice to split some responsibilities. Good teamwork goes a long way.

The sense of progression is excellent. You keep unlocking new recipes, items, areas and skills at a good pace. Skills are leveled up by just doing stuff, so your character will be built around what you like doing, it feels natural and I think it's well implemented.

I think here on NeoGAF people are mistaking this game for those meme-y coop games that focus on the social aspect more than anything else. But this is a full blown immersive sim with survival/crafting elements and a heavy focus on exploration. Otherwise there would be much more discussion about this.

I mean, it looks like trash, so you're going to lose some portion of gamers from that alone. Also, on a surface level, looks fairly generic/derivative which does not help its case. I bought it, it's not bad, it it's not doing anything particularly novel at this stage 5 hours in.

 

[LegendOfKage]

The map is really huge and intricate. But it doesn't feel overwhelming since it's balanced well thanks to well-placed shortcuts and a layout that pushes you in the right direction while still giving you tons of flexibility. Exploring is the highlight of this game for me, the level design is crazy good.

...

The sense of progression is excellent. You keep unlocking new recipes, items, areas and skills at a good pace. Skills are leveled up by just doing stuff, so your character will be built around what you like doing, it feels natural and I think it's well implemented.

Agreed.

I rarely feel I'm wasting time, but if I were playing in single player I would have toned down some of the survival aspects. On Hard it's manageable with 1-2 more people and it's actually nice to split some responsibilities. Good teamwork goes a long way.

The survival aspects become pretty easy to manage fairly early on once you can make soup, and even easier once you find a barrel. It's a great feeling this game gives you, going from minor annoyances, to crafting items that can help with those problems, to crafting items that eliminate those problems, to crafting items to improve things that you didn't even know could get even better.

It also greatly helps that there's almost no punishment for death, so dying a lot early on while you're trying to figure things out is really forgiving.

I think here on NeoGAF people are mistaking this game for those meme-y coop games that focus on the social aspect more than anything else. But this is a full blown immersive sim with survival/crafting elements and a heavy focus on exploration. Otherwise there would be much more discussion about this.

Perhaps so. I think it's also absurd that this game didn't get a lot more reviews and attention from games media.

 

[TintoConCasera]

mèx would you recommend it for playing solo?

 

[mèx]

mèx would you recommend it for playing solo?

From what I've played it can work pretty well in solo, the exploration + progression aspects are truly well done. Also it's interesting on a lore/story level, the game whole atmosphere is SCP-adjacent, so quite mysterious with a lot of weird stuff going on.

But this is still a survival/crafting game, so you will need to do some "chores". Not sure how fun that is in single player. Luckily, you can customize that pretty easily in the Sandbox Settings, so you can focus more on the parts of the game you like more. You can totally remove thirst/hunger for example (not that I recommend it). There is also a lot of looting to be done, so you need to enjoy that to some degree.

If you have played Subnautica and enjoyed it, there is a high chance you are going to like this. The level design here is WAY better though.

Btw don't take my word for it, I've played 90% of the time in coop so that is my actual experience with the game.

 

[apowhungo]

This is more similar to Subnautica then the other more open ended games in the genre.

If you have played Subnautica and enjoyed it, there is a high chance you are going to like this. The level design here is WAY better though.

I'm coming for you if I don't love this game

 

[LegendOfKage]

mèx would you recommend it for playing solo?

This is one of the most popular comments on Cohh Carnage's latest Abiotic Factor video:

"It's odd to me that the devs themselves have said they love co op games, and this works very well as co op. But imo it's a masterpiece solo game where the solitary experience is where the story and atmosphere really shine."

I fully agree with that statement. It's really quite amazing how this game works so well with any number of players that you can throw at it. Depending on the amount of players, the focus of the game changes.

Five or six players and everyone is just flying through exploration as a team, debating resource use, deciding who gets to make what and when, and going out in teams to farm resources so everyone can stay relatively well equipped.

Two or three players and everyone is working together, generally has enough resources to play without too much farming for materials, and is still able to safely revive each other.

One player can focus on the story much more effectively, as you can read through logs that you probably wouldn't focus on as much in co-op. It feels like more of a survival game, and there's no one else there to revive you. But you also don't ever have to worry about sharing resources, so you'll always be able to make and equip the strongest items that you can get.

Also, if you enjoy the feeling of isolation in "you vs science gone wrong" games like Half-Life, Prey, or BioShock, single player can provide that in ways that co-op just can't. Every number of players gets something different out of this game, and I can't think of another game that has managed that with this level of success.

 

[mèx]

Finished it in around ~70 hours, playing in coop with a friend. I said it already but this game is massive.

It's one of my favourite games of the year, for sure a GOTY contender for me.

As I've said in my post above, the level design is fantastic, finally a game that respects your intelligence. This is by far the highlight for me. The overall lore and atmosphere are really strong too.

The thing is that this game does not really do anything new if you think about it, but it combines many different things so well that is punches way (way) above its weight. For example, the combat is not that great mechanically, but in context with all the other systems the game offers it becomes fun.

The ending was a bit meh but it doesn't detract from the game, just wish it was a bit better.

Highly recommended, if you like exploration and intricate level design this is a must play. This is still a survival/crafting game though so you need to like that too to a certain degree.

LegendOfKage Ty for making the OT otherwise I would have missed this gem!

 

[kat_on_the_roof]

I just started the game with friends and I think it's incredibly brilliant. We played Manufacturing West yesterday, and I think it's one of the most brilliant survival games in recent memory. I hope the rest of the game is just as good.

It's almost criminal how empty the OT is here.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I just started the game with friends and I think it's incredibly brilliant. We played Manufacturing West yesterday, and I think it's one of the most brilliant survival games in recent memory. I hope the rest of the game is just as good.

It's almost criminal how empty the OT is here.

GAF sees the graphics or crafting/survival and the words online and they yell at clouds.

It's one of the few in that genre that I was addicted to play coop with a friend. The map is insane in this game.

 

[mèx]

I hope the rest of the game is just as good.

It is.

Every area has its own flavour/gimmick but the level design is great throughout.