GymWolf
Member
Fucking lol...
My fault for falling for the hype after hearing people saying that this felt like old stalkers or even better.
Hardcore fanboys are a fucking cancer.
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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl | Review Thread
My fault for falling for the hype after hearing people saying that this felt like old stalkers or even better.
Hardcore fanboys are a fucking cancer.
Lucifers Beard
Member
I've fallen for this a couple of times. I refuse to buy a game based on hardcore fans opinions now. They'll accept any old shit most of the time.
Trilobit
Member
I've learned enough from No Man's Land, Cyberpunk -77 and Jedi Survivor that modern games aren't actually finished when they release. Unless it's Nintendo or some one-man developers. I am intrigued by the Stalker series and would like to dip my toes into the world with this sequel, but I'll wait until I know what I'm getting.
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Von Hugh
Member
How did your "objective reviewing" work out with Concord which you praised until the bitter end?
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
The new Zelda game has a day one patch that fixes or modifies at least 280 files.
So not even they are immune anymore.
Gen.Grievous
Member
I do hope it is in the game. they might have sacrificed it for optimisation reasons and not wanting to postpone the release again. I don't plan on playing it yet anyway.
I have free PC gamepass until March I believe and the only game I played directly after release in recent times was Starfield, it had surprisingly little issues except for being boring. I'll try it out in a few months and if it's great I'll buy it on steam, epic or gog.
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HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
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GymWolf
Member
The no downgrade part, i'm playing the game maxed out in 4k on pc and it doesn't look as impressive as the first reveal.
And pretty much everyone agree on that if you read around forums etc.
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HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
Like what? Textures look the way I remember, character models, atmosphere, lighting. It’s all there. Unless we have visual highlights to state otherwise, in which case, I’m happy to have that discussion.
Btw, people around forums can say what they want. They also said the Series S would be a big hit. How’d that turn out?
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GymWolf
Member
Not every hardcore fanboys is the same tho, i'm an hardcore monster hunter fanboy and half of my posts about wilds are negative because i'm not gonna put my head in the sand if the game has clear flaws.
GymWolf
Member
I'm too lazy to take pics, the game just doesn't wow me like the reveal.
Textures are uneven, human characters\faces are uneven, it definitely look worse than other ue5 games we had this year.
Of course if you think that it looks identical, good for you, i'm notoriously picky when it comes to graphic.
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twilo99
Member
Non of them seem too severe and game is.. well.. playable
Holy fuckSTALKER 2 can be called a lot of things, but "GamePass fodder"??? Jank? Sure - it's STALKER, that's a given. But you're seriously trying to tell people these devs of all people dumped STALKER 2 without a care as fodder for some quick Microsoft bucks? Really? Really!?
I don’t think you understand the level of hate some people feel lol
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
The textures/faces were always uneven and other UE5 games have always looked better.
“Good for you”. It’s not really about me. Picky when it comes to graphics? I’m a 3D artist. It’s what I do. Everyday. Irrelevant really, but I know a thing or two about pickiness when it comes to visuals.
Over time, other games come out and the final version of a game long in development may not wow like it did before. I just don’t see a notable downgrade like I expected to find, even if some of the art/assets have changed (which again, is Game Development 101).
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from Bugaga
This post just gave me whiplash.
GymWolf
Member
That's why i said good for you, if you don't notice any downgrade what else should i say??
I was not trying to be an asshole, sorry if it came out that way.
Later i'm gonna rewatch the trailer so maybe i can be more specific, althought i don't plan to really play the game again until they fix the A-life system because i basically bought the game for that (i'm a sucker for advanced AI and sandbox ecosystems in videogames)
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HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
Nah my man, we’re definitely all good! I think we’re all just waiting on that true, current gen WOW! Every gen has it, and while this gen’s games look good, it’s just that. Good! I don’t feel like we’ve been hit with the big stuff yet!
Besides, I have a soft spot for the graphics junkies around here!
Trilobit
Member
Yeah, that's true. I was thinking more about games that still have big issues weeks or months after release. Day one patches can be somewhat acceptable to me.
A meh game would be one that is bland and without redeeming qualities. On the other hand the reviews have praised the atmosphere, world building and narrative, while highlighting bugs, technical issues and a lack of polish. So that would put in a similar situation to Cyberpunk at launch. Unfinished but with a lot of potential.
Of course I understand that since the game is on Game Pass, we should ignore any potential it has, while evaluating it as part of Microsoft's "service" and not as an independent work of art in its own right.
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Bumblebeetuna
Member
proandrad
Member
That’s a you problem.
DavidGzz
Gold Member
No Game Pass? Anyway, I'm no fanboy of the original. Never beat it, not even close but I put 6 hours into this one on PC Game Pass and am having a blast.
Btw, this has the best foliage in a open world first person game I have played so far. Dense and beautiful.
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MiguelItUp
Member
Honestly it's been that way for awhile. There's just way too many varied opinions and experiences, especially for PC. But Steam's refund policy makes it all worth while if you're extremely curious and can hardly wait.
I mean, maybe they're being honest and it's just their opinion? I don't think anyone said the performance has been flawless, at least from what I've seen. I've seen people comparing this to Cyberpunk, and I was able to beat Cyberpunk on PC on launch week without any serious issues. I personally feel like Cyberpunk was a lot worse in some regard, though in my experience it was still enjoyable and doable. I say that because there were genuine gameplay bugs that affected the experience like the whole police system and some other stuff. But I haven't seen anything like that in Stalker 2 yet...
3 hours into Stalker 2 I've seen discolored textures, some random small object getting stuck to my body, ragdolls/items randomly get launched or fly, some weird (and very minor) sound bugs, but that's really it. Nothing that's really breaking my experience.
GymWolf
Member
A-life and smart enemy ia were a massive and fundamental component of the past games, it was a big part of what make them special, the moment you say that stalker 2 feels like the past games or improve upon them when a fundamental system is broken, you are kinda bullshitting me, hard to think otherwise.
We are not talking about bugs, my 2 hours with the game were kinda bug free so it's not that.
This would be the same as me playing a monster hunter game when you can't craft weapons and armours after killing monsters and saying that feel like a classic monster hunter or that it's even better.
Imagine how people would call me.
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GymWolf
Member
Gamepass version of games are usually trash (this one aswell it runs worse and controllers don't work unless you do tricks) so if i can chose, i always buy a steam key.
GymWolf
Member
and the framerate still turn into absolute shit the more companions you have with you or during hectic combat scenarios, so they hardly fixed everything.
KungFucius
King Snowflake
I consider it poor service to not have a day 1 patch. Even if the game was ready to roll when it went gold, why shouldn't the devs use the weeks from gold date to launch to improve the product?
R6Rider
Gold Member
There's moments where scripted attacks can happen if you stray to far from what the game wants you to do. In a particular "mission" if you check the wrong building the game determines you are leaving and instantly aggros all the nearby enemies.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I think the issue with day one patches is a few fold.
Not everyone is online so offline gamers get screwed.
Day one patches are fine for digital online gamers who got to download the game anyway. But let’s say they miss the launch patch and it comes two weeks later. Then launch gamers get kinda screwed playing a gimped game.
I totally get what they are doing though. It’s like manufacturing. They are trying to do some just in time processes where they can release the game while a patch made concurrently hopefully perfectly coincides with the launch. But when it’s not and a major patch comes a month later it’s messy for early gamers playing a shittier version when they could had waited an extra couple weeks or a month. But they rushed the game for sales.
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Wolves hunt in packs
Member
I.
Solid 7-8 so far for gameplay, it's hard.. died 20 times in 2 hours.. that's about the amount i die in some full games playthrough, gunplay is not satisfying yet but it's only the starting guns, rest is very cool, the world looks awesome and so does the enemies. sounds are awesome. Playing on Xbox SX and it's solid so far, tho i'm only 2 hours in, looks nice and while not the smoothest it's 700 times better then no performance mode at all.
I can keep on blabbering but it's very soild, no way it's less then 7, tho if some people played the unpatched version and had major issues then it's indeed a problem, game itself is about what you saw in trailers and while my hype is lower now as i had huge hype before, i still thinking about the game while at work and want to jump in asap.
Shrap
Member
I think in this case it's just people are really, really, really over big games releasing broken. Cyberpunk's launch was supposed to be the wakeup call but it just keeps happening, and that's because gamers are dumbasses that preorder and buy a game day one without even checking reviews and then complain after the fact. Publishers don't give a damn at that point as they've already got their money.
I will play this down the road for sure, but not until it's actually finished and working properly. I wish more people would do the same as games would end up in much better shape on day one.
DavidGzz
Gold Member
Really? The controller works fine for me. It didn't detect my PS one but the Xbox one was plug and play.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I agree.
Historically, top budget games should look, play and be more polished than some noname $10 indie game. People can understand junk like big rigs racing is trash, but a AAA game should at least be polished. Maybe the gameplay itself is crap or boring but at least the game works well.
geary
Member
Since when GSC is an AAA developer?
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
Very much this. People here (myself included) are so quick to jump in and fling shit because it’s not something they like or isn’t on their preferred system. We can’t just say, “not my cup of tea.” We have to call it shit, or put down the system/service.
I’ll try to post better.
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Northeastmonk
Gold Member
I’d like to get it for Steam Deck, but I doubt it’ll run that great. Only Stalker game I ever hated was Clear Sky. That was awful. The other games were good.
MiguelItUp
Member
I can't comment on that as I said earlier I tried playing OG Stalker at launch and it did nothing for me, so I wouldn't know. All I can say is that I've read and seen plenty of OG fans say they really enjoy it. Mind you I haven't seen any of those people make comments on "A-life" or AI related things. I can just add that I'm enjoying it quite a bit even with the bits of jank here and there.
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FoxMcChief
Gold Member
Clear Sky was the lesser of the three. I think they were trying to capitalize on the graphics more than anything with that game, because when it launched, it was one of the best looking games at that time.
Aguero9320
Member
I did this a while ago, when I realized I was getting sucked in to hoping some things fail. Now I try to only post about games I like, and try to go into each release hoping it's great. It's reinvigorated my gaming to be honest, and for the first time in a while I'm playing pretty much every day and having a great time. I can see now that the negativity was ruining my experience, and I'm having a much better time having consciously decided to enjoy gaming again.
GymWolf
Member
Other people had problems and one dude on reeee tried both version and said that the steam version run better, since i know these were common problems in the past (gamepass version lacking 2-3 patches because steam is way faster with the release of patches or straight up lacking stuff like dlss or framegen) it was really not hard to believe, in my experience, gamepass pc\xbox app pc are BY FAR the worst launchers\store on pc.
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Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Day one patch to maybe fix some minor issues it's fine. But it's getting ridiculous when you have to fix or alter 280 files and for the game to run decently at all you need it. It turns the physical media into nothing but a coaster.
Js562
Member
Only a couple hrs in and this is crack. I'm playing on the series x. Yeah it's janky on some parts but so far so good. I can't stop looking for for new guns. It's a survival game minus all that crafting. I'll play anything if it's fun. I beat cyberpunk before all the patches made it good on consoles. Shit I'm not a fanboy of stalker either. I only tried the first one a couple days ago before anyone says some shit lol
Metro Exodus has the same setting (eastern europe) but it's not a big zone that you explore as you want; You move in an area, do stuff then move to another without possibility to go back. Be aware of that if you want to do all the side quests.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
You'd get righteously laughed at if you said this for a game from one of the "bad" publishers like EA or TakeTwo.
It shouldn't be par for the course for anything. The blanket attitude to games like this is to not pre-order (especially if you strongly suspect it's going to be broken), and not buy until it's fixed. This game was on prime time stages and has backing from Microsoft. This state of launch is unacceptable.
hououinkyouma00
Member
I have 13 hours in it and it's tied for GOTY for me besides Rebirth but I'm also a long time fan of Stalker.
FPS could be better but I also have a Ryzen 3600 and the game is very CPU limited (4070S gpu). I'm getting generally 70-90 fps at a mix of High/Epic settings with DLSS Quality and FG turned on at 1440p. The game drops down to like 40s/50s in towns and it's noticeable but not enough to break the game. Controls are much improved compared to previous entries at least on KBM.
I think if you are playing on console I would say no based off of the DF video, but if you have a relatively good PC I would go for it. Refund it if you don't like it on Steam.
I've been playing on an OLED monitor and the game looks absolutely nuts.
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rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
This time DLSS, framegen and controller (DS4 on DS4Windows) are working without any trick necessary.
Hopey
Member
Thanks i'll try it out
ZehDon
Member
I played up to the first town and did two side quests. Coming from the OGs, the immediate AI interactions are on par. Bandits doing their thing properly, random animals scattering and running. Haven't tapped into military yet, so can't comment on their tactics which were always pretty in your face in STALKER. The devs have confirmed the A-Life stuff is bugged, but not how. I suspect the wider interactions - leaving kill quests to be organically completed by random mutant AIs downing the target - might not be functioning, but at least at a surface level, the AI systems are OK.
What are some of the more specifics A-Life interactions you're looking for?
GymWolf
Member
Well for once i don't want random spawn of enemies out of thin air like many people on gaf and outside of here had, i haven't played enough myself to judge tbh, i just had 3 enemies encounters and all of them were probably scripted.
I just want the thing to work as intended without any shanenigans.
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