I'm currently sitting at 14 hours game time, and 58% complete with the game. I've just completed the
and now we're in that
, and a
.
I wasn't expecting to have such a long game time and only be halfway through the game. By this point, I had already beaten Uncharted 1, 2, and 3, as I usually beat those around the 12 hour mark.
This game is gorgeous though. The area I'm in now just had me marveling at ND's art design. The world just feels so lived in and alive. Simply breathtaking. The intensity of the scenarios are so fantastic. This game is just a different beast than Uncharted. Uncharted was going for Summer blockbuster. This is going for a more subdued, atmospheric and somber approach. The "setpieces," revolve more around intensity and tension, as opposed to, say, falling out of a plane over the desert (which was fricking amazing). ND is just an insane group of talented developers who clearly enjoy creating video games. Flawed to be sure, but man, you can feel the heart they put into their work.
As much as David Cage tries to elevate gaming to a new level of emotional depth(and I enjoy his games, and appreciate his efforts as well), I think ND is nailing that emotional resonance and is being much more effective with pretty much just visual storytelling (and some of the notes and letters you find in people's homes) without feeling forced or heavy handed. Me and my wife were practically in tears during last nights play session.
Getting back to ND's art design, though, this isn't a spoiler I think, but there was a section in the game where me and my wife spent 10 minutes walking around somebody's apartment, piecing together their life, based solely around the paintings they had on their wall, the bird cage and cat posts in the living room, the single pillow on the bed indicating a single parent, and the second bedroom with posters of movies and video games indicating she perhaps had a teenage to college age kid. The tea set and chess board on the coffee table. The fact that a large chunk of these explorable homes have unique assets (with a few things like bookshelves carrying over), just gives the world a believability that is lacking in so many other games that just go for realistic textures and objects, but recycle them throughout 80% of the game. The recycled elements in TLoU are easier to brush aside when there are so many unique elements.
The design of this game should be taught in game design classes, because ND is doing a lot of things with narrative, game play, and art design that not many developers attempt (with some notable exceptions like Valve and Quantic Dream).
Alright, enough gushing. The game isn't perfect, and I've been frustrated during my stealth run, but man, the highs outweigh the lows to the point that the lows just don't bother me (like the spotty stealth and hilarious, "immersion breaking" companion AI).
sewers section where the survivors hid out with the children; oh god, that part was heartbreaking!
beautiful town overlooking the tower we're trying to get to
sniper is trying to kill us
I wasn't expecting to have such a long game time and only be halfway through the game. By this point, I had already beaten Uncharted 1, 2, and 3, as I usually beat those around the 12 hour mark.
This game is gorgeous though. The area I'm in now just had me marveling at ND's art design. The world just feels so lived in and alive. Simply breathtaking. The intensity of the scenarios are so fantastic. This game is just a different beast than Uncharted. Uncharted was going for Summer blockbuster. This is going for a more subdued, atmospheric and somber approach. The "setpieces," revolve more around intensity and tension, as opposed to, say, falling out of a plane over the desert (which was fricking amazing). ND is just an insane group of talented developers who clearly enjoy creating video games. Flawed to be sure, but man, you can feel the heart they put into their work.
As much as David Cage tries to elevate gaming to a new level of emotional depth(and I enjoy his games, and appreciate his efforts as well), I think ND is nailing that emotional resonance and is being much more effective with pretty much just visual storytelling (and some of the notes and letters you find in people's homes) without feeling forced or heavy handed. Me and my wife were practically in tears during last nights play session.
Getting back to ND's art design, though, this isn't a spoiler I think, but there was a section in the game where me and my wife spent 10 minutes walking around somebody's apartment, piecing together their life, based solely around the paintings they had on their wall, the bird cage and cat posts in the living room, the single pillow on the bed indicating a single parent, and the second bedroom with posters of movies and video games indicating she perhaps had a teenage to college age kid. The tea set and chess board on the coffee table. The fact that a large chunk of these explorable homes have unique assets (with a few things like bookshelves carrying over), just gives the world a believability that is lacking in so many other games that just go for realistic textures and objects, but recycle them throughout 80% of the game. The recycled elements in TLoU are easier to brush aside when there are so many unique elements.
The design of this game should be taught in game design classes, because ND is doing a lot of things with narrative, game play, and art design that not many developers attempt (with some notable exceptions like Valve and Quantic Dream).
Alright, enough gushing. The game isn't perfect, and I've been frustrated during my stealth run, but man, the highs outweigh the lows to the point that the lows just don't bother me (like the spotty stealth and hilarious, "immersion breaking" companion AI).
