• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Callisto Protocol |OT| Galaxy of Terror

Nautilus

Banned
Dodging is not hard, just hold the stick left or right long before the monster attacks (which means you'll be moving to the side at the same time). And just to be safe you can do that again (different direction) because some monsters attack twice in melee combat. You NEED to learn to dodge properly or you're not gonna pass the boss battles.
Its the moving to the side at the same time thats throwing me off. Im getting used to it, but its not especially elegant, since moving to the side waiting for the enemy to attack might open myself to being attacked by someone that might come from that direction.

Im still on 1v1 for now, but Im really liking so far
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Its the moving to the side at the same time thats throwing me off. Im getting used to it, but its not especially elegant, since moving to the side waiting for the enemy to attack might open myself to being attacked by someone that might come from that direction.

Im still on 1v1 for now, but Im really liking so far
I feel like they wanted to do something different than QTE's or front button presses... and this idea of using the analogue stick just doesn't work that well. With multiple enemies it's best to use the GRP or firearms to ensure you'll be fighting only one at a time. Thankfully this is not a game where you'll be dealing with hordes of enemies.
 
Last edited:

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
SkillUp kinda says similar things to what others said. Its a boring and badly designed game :/


Yet John from DF was praising the design.
I think its safe to say this game is not on Dead Space's level. Its too barebones..
No, no it not safe to say anything.
Like I can't say they're wrong or right.
I'm playing it (PS5) and I am kinda confused about the complaints.
So far I'm really engaged into it and having fun.
the graphics are fantastic and the atmosphere is top notch.
sound design is awesome and it really working my speakers.
And so far the combat with the melee is good & yeah it does feel like a Russian roulette like it should be
And the dodge system seems so natural & obvious.
And as for the difficulty? I think the check points are too often and would have preferred save stations like Dead Space.
But it's not save to say my opinion won't change by the end of the game because it might.
But so far this is up there with IGN's "It was too hard because the AI was too unpredictable 5.9/10." Alien Isolation review
 
Last edited:

Nautilus

Banned
I feel like they wanted to do something different than QTE's or front button presses... and this idea of using the analogue stick just doesn't work that well. With multiple enemies it's best to use the GRP or firearms to ensure you'll be fighting only one at a time. Thankfully this is not a game where you'll be dealing with hordes of enemies.
Yeah. Now that I got used to it, 1v1 fights(with the first type of enemy at least) became quite easy. Its not bad, and its quite fun, but its a flawed system for sure.
 

MaKTaiL

Member
Digital Foundry analysis has mentioned the raised blacks and according to them the best way to play the game at the moment is with HDR disabled and Gama set to SRGB in the game settings (you cannot change Gama level with HDR on unfortunately).

TyMUrB6.jpg
 

K' Dash

Member
Yeah. Now that I got used to it, 1v1 fights(with the first type of enemy at least) became quite easy. Its not bad, and its quite fun, but its a flawed system for sure.

Hhmm weird, enemies can’t hit you while you’re attacking one of them, I have done 4 v 1 and 3 v 1 without issue, also they usually give you health after a fight if you’re low on it.
 

JusticeForAll

Gold Member
Ok, I go have to admit fighting multiple enemies at once is rather frustrating. I'm now in a place where I have to wait until something charges up while I'm swarmed with enemies. It's not fun, or scary. Just annoying. For the rest, this is solid 8 for me right now.
 

Nautilus

Banned
Hhmm weird, enemies can’t hit you while you’re attacking one of them, I have done 4 v 1 and 3 v 1 without issue, also they usually give you health after a fight if you’re low on it.
Only fought 2 max at once, so wouldn't be able to say.

But as I learn more and more how the game works, this is becoming more and more fun. Melee isn't the end-all. You can easily use the gun after being hit or hitting an enemy to try to take him or another one down fast, or just to push him away and create some space between you and them. As a general rule, with a gun in my hands now, this seems as hard as any Dead Space game.And the melee system is quite forgiving.

Still at the beginning, but its becomming more and more clear that the guys who reviewed this game are simply bad at gaming.
 
Last edited:
Yet John from DF was praising the design.

No, no it not safe to say anything.
Like I can't say they're wrong or right.
I'm playing it (PS5) and I am kinda confused about the complaints.
So far I'm really engaged into it and having fun.
the graphics are fantastic and the atmosphere is top notch.
sound design is awesome and it really working my speakers.
And so far the combat with the melee is good & yeah it does feel like a Russian roulette like it should be
And the dodge system seems so natural & obvious.
And as for the difficulty? I think the check points are too often and would have preferred save stations like Dead Space.
But it's not save to say my opinion won't change by the end of the game because it might.
But so far this is up there with IGN's "It was too hard because the AI was too unpredictable 5.9/10." Alien Isolation review
Furthermore, trusting whatever Skill Up is saying in his reviews is like trusting IGN's reviews.
Every person has their own opinion.

Buy the game, try it, and refund it within 2 hours if you don't like it. I liked it and I believe most reviewers unfairly voted it a lot low than it should (ie. 5 from gamespot).
 

Nautilus

Banned
Honestly, an easy way to bypass all those reviewers giving lower scores because they are bad at the game is by releasing a very generous demo that goes up until a bit later after you get the Hand Cannon, which is when combat becomes really great and has a lot of options.

Don't know if they would do it, given its a sizable portion, but that would convince a lot of the skepticals.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
I kinda want to play it. Not enough to pay $70 for it but it looks like it will probably be cheap pretty soon.
 

Nando13

Member
I don't think the reviewers are saying that the dodging does not work, I think what they are saying is that it's useless when you're dealing with >= 2 enemies.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I kinda want to play it. Not enough to pay $70 for it but it looks like it will probably be cheap pretty soon.
Is it $70 in the US?
£44.99 here in the UK, no NextGen Tax
Furthermore, trusting whatever Skill Up is saying in his reviews is like trusting IGN's reviews.
Every person has their own opinion.

Buy the game, try it, and refund it within 2 hours if you don't like it. I liked it and I believe most reviewers unfairly voted it a lot low than it should (ie. 5 from gamespot).
Haven't trusted reviews in most publications in over a decade.
Most the time I'm reviewing the review instead which tells me all I need to know about trusting them.
They lack heart & passion for the subject to be convincing of someone you should listen to.
Instead they fail to convince you to buy or not buy the product they are reviewing because their review lacks substance.
When was the last time you read a review and could reference it when you actually played it?

At least John from DF shows his love for games in how he talks about them in his DF review, but he isn't a reviewer.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Curious where all the “hiding reviews until day of release doesn’t mean a game is bad” folks are ? It’s more often than not indicative something is not up to snuff or has some mixed reviews tossed in with valid concerns.

Anyway, earlier I tried lowering lots of settings and going with 1440P instead of 4k to play. Had stutters galore at the beginning .

Came back a hour and a half later and put the game back to max settings, turned off ray tracing of course, back to 4K, and changed the temporal setting to performance. Before I think I had it on quality and tried balanced as well. My guess is putting it on performance is what saved it.

The stutter now only happens when a new area is loaded like going through a door. The rest is locked at a buttery 60FPS. Not sure if it was this one setting or if the intro to the game is just that dog shit for stutters.

After 3 hours of play my biggest gripe is the dumb shimmy sideways between pipes shit to hide the fact the game is loading a new area is beyond overdone here. I think I’ve done it like 15 times or more in 3 hours where other games like god of war I do it once every 5-7 hours.

This mechanic needs to rot in hell in gaming.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Look the Sony didn't pay them to shaft the Series versions. What your suggesting is just console warring nonsense.
Dude, do you create imaginary realities. Where did I say Sony paid to shaft the series version. I said it looks like the ps5 got priority from the dev due to the marketing deal and the PC version and Series version was an afterthought by the dev.

Which is pretty damn obvious when you look at the PC and series versions on launch day. They should have delayed the game to have all versions up to scratch or don't bother releasing those versions.
 
Last edited:

Pedro Motta

Gold Member
So what is it?

When this game gets patched in the coming months will it just be that the series consoles are harder for them to develop for ....or maybe that they prioritised ps5 and the game should have been delayed?
Dude, right now we have over several dozens of cases where DX12 is causing issues with games. Games that allow rollback to DX11 suddenly stop having issues. Are all the developers lazy and being paid by Sony to fuck up the games on other platforms?
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
I've basically neutralized the stutter issue on PC. Happens now for sure only when new areas load.

The biggest issue though? This game is so poorly designed in how often it needs to load new areas and how the developers must think everyone is an ape not realizing that when you climb through a vent, and shimmy sideways past pipes that it isn't a loading screen. There are SO many of these. One is guaranteed every 1-2 rooms.

Glen needs to retire from the business or needs to fire whoever went with this design choice. How do you go from Dead Space 1 & 2 to this? I will finish the game, but I really need this to ramp up somehow. This has to be my biggest disappointment of 2022 so far. Even with another year to iron out kinks the vision and scope for this game so far sucks and has some of the worst pacing. 0 scares. I think the sound and visuals are outstanding, and currently the combat is "ok", but if combat never ramps up and the story doesn't land, then this will be a giant flop for my book.

Fingers crossed it gets better.
 
Last edited:

Arachnid

Member
@GymWolf

- Does the dodge feel good after mastering it?
- Is the game super linear or more Metroidvania?
- Controlling the character feels like RE2R/TLoU or the same Dead Space, or it's a rigid unresponsive piece of shit like The Evil Within 2?

Don't give a shit about its scores personally as it's basically the same as Alien: Isolation and Days Gone which I both loved to death, but especially the last question will determine whether I'll give them €70 or not.
I'm not him, but I can take a crack at answering. I'm gonna go ahead and say don't buy it or wait for a sale.

-The dodge feels good after mastering it. IMO it works potentially too well. The dodging system makes every encounter almost stress free (I'm on hard mode, and it's to the point where I'm selling extra health injectors and GRP batteries; I've used less than half of what I've found for both, and the automatic health consumables you find scattered around are more than enough to keep me topped off; I don't even use all of those). It's also weird when fighting multiple enemies. It's like other enemies wait their turn when you're comboing or in the middle of a dodge, like an old school martial arts movie or something. I've been able to take on 4 enemies dodging and meleeing since they're so nice about waiting behind and timing their attacks. They also don't attack if you have your back turned to them (so far, they haven't for me). Melee the ever loving piece of shit out of one enemy with your back turned, and at worst, the one behind you will wait for you to finish your combo, and then do this animation where he grabs you and pushes you a few feet to face towards him (this does no damage). Kind of corny.

-This is one of the most linear games I've ever played. Think Gears of War style corridor shooting without the actual focus on shooting and weapon options (or the fluid movement). Think The Order: 1886 (a more apt comparison). I've been waiting for this game to open up. I thought it would after the first few chapters, but it doesn't. It's corridor after corridor. There is no map cohesion or depth to exploring the prison (which sucks since it was potentially such a cool setting). You'd think at least the shooting sections would be more open/sandboxy like Dead Space or RE4, but even that's not there. It's EXTREMELY linear.

-IDK about your Evil Within 2 comparison since IMO Seb in that game controlled like a dream. This controls way more slow/rigid and janky than any of the games you brought up there.

It's a huge downgrade from Dead Space in every way. I'm still having fun with it, but the more I get into it, the more I realize its shortcomings in design. Enemy encounters have largely been the same for me so far. No real moment-to-moment decision making or tension. With how linear it is, I almost think I'd get the same experience just watching, and I'm usually very against spoiling a horror game for myself like that.

Also, holy shit am I tired of slowly crawling through vents, crouching under obstacles, or shimmying through gaps. It's CONSTANT.

Anyone else have a bug where audio files dont play, and you cant hear people on the radio?
I did. You on Xbox? I fixed mine by going into the Xbox audio settings, and switching from Windows Sonic to stereo uncompressed, and then back again.

This is what I like to read. People coming to their own conclusions about a game instead of ramblings on the net.

Going to purchase later today as I was interested since reveal.
Potentially hold off unless you've got disposable income. It's a fun experience, but doesn't have much depth to the gameplay unfortunately. :(
 
Last edited:

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
The biggest issue though? This game is so poorly designed in how often it needs to load new areas and how the developers must think everyone is an ape not realizing that when you climb through a vent, and shimmy sideways past pipes that it isn't a loading screen. There are SO many of these. One is guaranteed every 1-2 rooms.
But those vents and shimmy parts don't lead to new area's.
Most are rooms you can see behind glass that go nowhere else or the gap is small and the rest is shown but the can't get past.
The mash button to open door seems more like a loading area.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
But those vents and shimmy parts don't lead to new area's.
Most are rooms you can see behind glass that go nowhere else or the gap is small and the rest is shown but the can't get past.
The mash button to open door seems more like a loading area.

Honestly, if it isn't to help load an area, then this team doesn't deserve to make another game. Whoever in their god damn mind thought this should be every single room/other room is a baboon if this wasn't to mask loading of geometry, effects, items, etc.
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
I'm not him, but I can take a crack at answering. I'm gonna go ahead and say don't buy it or wait for a sale.

-The dodge feels good after mastering it. IMO it works potentially too well. The dodging system makes every encounter almost stress free (I'm on hard mode, and it's to the point where I'm selling extra health injectors and GRP batteries; I've used less than half of what I've found for both, and the automatic health consumables you find scattered around are more than enough to keep me topped off; I don't even use all of those). It's also weird when fighting multiple enemies. It's like other enemies wait their turn when you're comboing or in the middle of a dodge, like an old school martial arts movie or something. I've been able to take on 4 enemies dodging and meleeing since they're so nice about waiting behind and timing their attacks. They also don't attack if you have your back turned to them (so far, they haven't for me). Melee the ever loving piece of shit out of one enemy with your back turned, and at worst, the one behind you will wait for you to finish your combo, and then do this animation where he grabs you and pushes you a few feet to face towards him (this does no damage). Kind of corny.

-This is one of the most linear games I've ever played. Think Gears of War style corridor shooting without the actual focus on shooting and weapon options (or the fluid movement). Think The Order: 1886 (a more apt comparison). I've been waiting for this game to open up. I thought it would after the first few chapters, but it doesn't. It's corridor after corridor. There is no map cohesion or depth to exploring the prison (which sucks since it was potentially such a cool setting). You'd think at least the shooting sections would be more open/sandboxy like Dead Space or RE4, but even that's not there. It's EXTREMELY linear.

-IDK about your Evil Within 2 comparison since IMO Seb in that game controlled like a dream. This controls way more slow/rigid and janky than any of the games you brought up there.

It's a huge downgrade from Dead Space in every way. I'm still having fun with it, but the more I get into it, the more I realize its shortcomings in design. Enemy encounters have largely been the same for me so far. No real moment-to-moment decision making or tension. With how linear it is, I almost think I'd get the same experience just watching, and I'm usually very against spoiling a horror game for myself like that.

Also, holy shit am I tired of slowly crawling through vents, crouching under obstacles, or shimmying through gaps. It's CONSTANT.


I did. You on Xbox? I fixed mine by going into the Xbox audio settings, and switching from Windows Sonic to stereo uncompressed, and then back again.


Potentially hold off unless you've got disposable income. It's a fun experience, but doesn't have much depth to the gameplay unfortunately. :(
Thanks i figured it out. Im on ps5, audio logs come out of the controller and i had to change the settings so it came out of the tv instead lol
 

K' Dash

Member
I don't think the reviewers are saying that the dodging does not work, I think what they are saying is that it's useless when you're dealing with >= 2 enemies.
That would be completely incorrect.

This combat is different and people thinking this is dead space are in for a rude awakening.
 
Last edited:
The fact almost every game releasing this year is still last and current gen is a blessing and a curse, it allows for 60fps performance modes since devs cant really push too far so we have wiggle room for fast frame rates as it has to run on 10yr old hardware as well but on the other hand we have to deal with the limits of old 5400rpm hard drives and it really shows here with the constant vents and slow animations that clearly mask loading.

I went into this game expecting a high production value linear story campaign, i dont need rpg elements and open worlds or semi open hubs, every other fucking game has that. I supported this game with a preorder at full price because if I don't, games like this wont be made and we'll be stuck playing fifa 29 or assassins creed 17, cod 18, etc. etc.

The game is visceral, the graphics and atmosphere is incredible and while some of the design decisions are surprising giving the fact the studio has veterans working on this, it is not a bad game by any stretch whatsoever. It's a solid 8.5 for me or higher (im halfway through).

I wish Sony had a Pro version and Standard at launch for PS5, like the xbox so I could run latest games at 4k upscaled 60fps. This game in its fidelity mode looks SPECTACULAR and I wish I could experience it at faster frame rates on console currently since performance mode misses the RT shadows and additional effects and resolution bump.
 
Last edited:

kiphalfton

Member
Probably gonna be like Days Gone, and bad scores are going to prevent there being a sequel.

And to think horror walking sims are somehow able to get a free pass, despite all of them having zero gameplay, being low budget, and looking like crap.

What a world.
 
Loving the game so far; I actually like the combat in this game; feels well thought out. The dodge reminds me of the Surge2 works pretty much the same; maybe I like this more because PS3,360, Wii Gen games (Gen7) are my favorite type of games. Works out like a blast for me :messenger_beaming: Great job to the devs as far as I'm concerned.
 

Salz01

Member
I’m okay with one enemy, but when there are multiple…… it’s tough. I hope I get that gun soon. Plus miss that dead space beacon. I’m already getting lost and back tracking because I don’t see a button to push…. Everything else is great. Graphics are awesome.
 
So played a few hours now.

Good:

Atmosphere is great.

Combat feels really visceral - I don’t often say this but reviews like the I think Gamespot one that said it’s impossible to deal with more than one enemy are 100% a learn to play issue. People may not like the combat and how you dodge on the stick but you have all the tools you need. There’s a perfect dodge that speeds up the melee a lot so I’m not having the 30 second fights I see the media having.

Doesn’t hand hold - refreshing after playing Ragnarok that someone doesn’t come over the radio every time you face a new enemy and tell you what to do. Feels good working out the best strategy.

Mostly great production values.

Mixed:

Graphics - I can’t play 30fps anymore so the game effectively has no RT for me on console and you miss out on a lot. If they fix the stutters then PC will be the definitive version by a mile so I might pick it up there as I assume the price will plummet thanks to the reviews. Without RT the lighting can make it go between looking like one of the best looking games I’ve ever played to a high res x360 game in the same scene.

Bad:

Too many vents. Too many spam button to open doors. Cross-gen stuff maybe.

Super linear. While I don’t love backtracking this is too far the other way imo.

Audio logs only playable in menus - no, just no - go back to game design school.

7.5 to 8/10 so far but not a game for everyone.
 

Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
Well, PC patch is out and it sure did fixed stutters for the most part. I mean, when you turn on DX12 and start the game, there's this 1FPS slide show for like ~30s and then it stops. RT shadows are still broked af, RT performance is still trash even in 1440p with FSR with RT reflections on medium (I can run Cyberpunk with RT almost maxed out in 1440p 60 without psycho settings). DX12 is at least way better than it used to be at launch day, but I can't say anything else and good about it cuz RT is just as unoptimized as it was before so it's pointles to even play in DX12 mode.

DX11 is pretty much the same as DX12 minus RT, still can't get locked 60 at 1440p without FSR and with it enabled with every other settings maxed. Here's my theory here - in game settings are complete trash. They've combined together a bunch of settings into very few, slapped a few presets and called it a day. There is no traditional GFX settings menu like in Cyberpunk with a crap ton of settings to tweak and gain more frames without loosing much fidelity if any. Also, CPU utilizations is still trash and hangs around 20% ish mark.

The Callisto Protocol as of right now is not a good PC port even after day 2 patch. They need to add way more options to tweak, fix RT performance to Cyberpunk level (at least), fix RT shadows and add DLSS 2.0. The probkem is, they need to work fast on this cuz otherwise PC launch will hurt their reputation in the long run even more so than completely trash press reviews and scores. I just can't see them turn things around in just two weeks though, but we'll see. At least stutters are mostly gone now based on my testing.
 
Last edited:
Dude, do you create imaginary realities. Where did I say Sony paid to shaft the series version. I said it looks like the ps5 got priority from the dev due to the marketing deal and the PC version and Series version was an afterthought by the dev.

Which is pretty damn obvious when you look at the PC and series versions on launch day. They should have delayed the game to have all versions up to scratch or don't bother releasing those versions.

Not really because after watching @Nxvideo it appeers that the marketing deal didn't have an influence at all. Your the one that suggested it.

woah, looks like im getting it on PS5...glad I waited until launch day.

Another game with Sony marketing running shite on everything but PS5? Rough.

NXgamers comparison in case your interested.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/ign-...rmance-review-ps5-vs-xbox-series-s-x.1646943/

Just next time don't complain about the marketing deal.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: GHG

Rac3r

Member
Game is awesome, but the washed out HDR is a huge negative for me. How do you release a game with broken HDR in 2022? There's no possible way the devs thought it looked good.
 

ZehDon

Gold Member
Jumped in once the stutter fix dropped for PC. i910900k, RTX 3090, 64GB RAM, 3440x1440, PCIe Gen3 NVMe, all settings maxed.

Game definitely has some optimisation work to be done; stutters are minimal, but they are present. They have lessened the impact a few moments, which is unfortunate. FPS swings wildly between 60FPS and 30FPS, tempted to lock it to 30FPS to smooth it out. The good news is that, even with the tech hiccups, the game is visually really spectacular. It's clear why it's having issues, with it really pushing the envelope in terms of shadows, lighting, and texture work.

I'm digging the melee combat; took a bit to actually figure out the back forth you're supposed to do - dodge left, dodge right, land the two or three hit combo, and go again. It's a lot better than Dead Space's wild swings. The story isn't doing too much for me so far, just made it to Chapter 3, but the atmosphere is pretty top notch, and more than makes up for it. Enjoying the characters too, simple but effective. Really loving the blood and metal aesthetic with this level of fidelity, too. Reminds me a little of Doom 3, which is never a bad thing. Can't wait to see what else is in store.

Hopefully they continue to iron out the tech issues, because I can see myself playing through this a couple of times.
 

SpearHea.:D

Member
Oh man, loving this game. Such a fantastic combat and atmosphere. Its like alien isolation and evil within1 all over, masterpieces in survival horror medium and poorly rated by critics.

Stutters almost none post patch

 
Top Bottom