after playing the game some more, i think a lot of the enjoyment of the slow sections comes from hearing the dialog between characters, is a way to keep conversations going without a cutscene and giving you as much control as posible. It kinda follows the principle from uncharted 2 and onward, they try to give players the control as much as posible while keeping the narrative always going.
So obviously, if someone doesn't enjoy those conversations and dialogue so much, the slow moments will probably seem dull.
And yes, Scottland is the best moment in the game probably, the way they mix the narrative, the plaforming and combat is quite impresive.
I hope their next franchise is some kind of action movie, maybe something like lethal weapon in space or something.
I wholeheartedly disagree. It was making me hunt deer on Winter in TLoU right after a major cliffhanger in Fall all over again. I explored every nook and cranny of that mansion btoh because I was enjoying it and because I wanted to know what happened next.
Yeah, Winter was largely my least favorite part of TLoU as well, similarly a very strong bit of plot juxtaposed with gameplay I didn't care for.
There's no comparison whatsoever in the quality of transition though in my opinion. Winter was a perfect transition from the end of Fall both literally, metaphorically, and in terms of appropriately breaking tension.
Chapter 16 in this was more like having a show finally start getting good, the episode ends on a cliffhanger, and then the next episode is a mid-season clip show.
The information and character development in Ch 16 is certainly essential, but it's in the wrong place. But no, I can't claim to know where it would have been more appropriate.
Wrapped up last night. What a disjointed mess. This entry achieves a weird combination of treading more physical, mechanical, and emotional ground than any of the previous entries, but still ends up feeling the thinnest and most unfinished of the entire series.
Middle to late game and ending spoilers:
Chapter 12 finally makes the open environment feel like exploring. Sadly, this is the only part of the game that really achieves this. After some more of the same from 13 to 15, the Chapter 16 trainwreck hits. I appreciated the plot, but it really underscores just how poorly the game handles tension and buildup. The Sam twist was predictable, although not as dark as I expected, but to transition from finally getting interesting to another pacing slog was just about the dumbest thing they've done storytelling-wise since the beginning of the series.
Chapter 17 was basically a slightly more interesting rehash of chapter 10, then the game basically coasts along until Chapter 20 when it suddenly remembers it's Uncharted, and the really quite excellent stealth combat approach is abandoned for the last 3 chapters as it's back to the dull cover-shooting antics interspersed with forced mobility and bullet sponge encounters that are the trademark of the first 3 games.
The game wraps up with the most anti-climactic finish of the series, worse I think than even UC3, with a boss fight that feels roughly like what would happen if you tried to strip down Godhand for smartphones. I'm still on the fence as to whether the numbskull fistfight at the end of UC3 or this is the worst way to end either game.
Ultimately, the game just never felt like it knew what it wanted to be. Part an homage to the series, part an homage to Naughty Dog's other work, part open world, part setpieces, never fully feeling committed to justifying any of it.
The best parts of the game are where you choose how to approach a combat situation and then scramble to make the most of it - something done so much better and with so much more tension in TLoU, but still as to make the best parts of this game largely not feel like Uncharted at all. The worst parts of the game are the parts which also aped TLoU's worst qualities - walking around looking at scenery. However, in TLoU there was always tension, anticipation. There is none of that here. You always know you can survive an ambush, you always know something is going to crumble and you'll have to go jump around safely for another 30 minutes, seemingly for its own sake.
The Uncharted formula doesn't lend itself well to padding. The only justification for the mind-numbing traversal of the series was that it made the most sense to bookend setpieces and give a pause to combat without interfering with the pacing. In this entry, the traversal itself interferes with the pacing, and it leaves you cold and unsatisfied, and in the worst cases, bored. No game that had this much effort and care put into it deserves to end up boring.
For all its best intentions and massive production values, UC4 feels incomplete. It's an odd product that is so obviously not a combination of first ideas, not (just) a cash grab, and makes an honest attempt to not be a cynical spoon-fed experience, but somehow ends up feeling less cohesive and nearly as unsatisfying as any of the above. It almost feels as if an attempt was made to address the critics of the series while not turning its back on long-time fans, and the result is something that fully satisfies neither camp.
Ultimately the pacing is called out as the game's main flaw as it is the net result of all of the game's offenses. More stealth encounters, more enemy variety, more puzzles, leaning more heavily on the rope and less on walking along walls for half of Chapter - these things would have improved the whole experience enormously I think. I'd go so far as to say less also could have been more. Heavily editing individual chapters - even without providing more of them with greater variety to make up the difference - might have made a stronger game.
Pretty enjoyable game. But again it fails to reach the level of quality (for me) that people keep claiming these games have. Pacing felt off for most of the journey. Traversal (specifically the climbing) lasted too long in many parts, making me want a shootout far too many times. But the traversal was better than other games. The sliding, rope, and pick add a lot and I wish the were mixed up more in the middle game, but they do come together quite well in the end game. That and the other things like the truck add a lot to break up the pace. But the basic walking around doing rudimentary platforming lasts far too long. The shootouts never reached their full potential. The quality of the shootouts felt almost randomly decided. Like... if you stealth all the way through it leaves it kind of boring because the stealth isn't that interesting. But if you fail stealth too early or in a stupid way, I felt like I failed and was left in a bad place with new enemies flooding in from nowhere. But.. If I stealth early, then fail at just the right time then get into a few scraps, then break line of sight, etc. then the combat is amazing. Really fun. But it just feels like a coin flip whether or not the scenarios line up properly. And then of course the back quarter of the game is filled with too many shootouts which mess up the pace, and they don't even take place in good arenas like the early portions of the game. You're either too cramped in underground hallways, or too open with not enough cover/options. And some chapters (in which you're basically doing nothing) drag on for far too long. Sure, they're important to the plot, sure they are enjoyable at first and then again near the end, but the middle (aka the majority of it) becomes boring because they simply last far too long. And of course there's the horrible
final boss. I'm not sure how Naughty Dog thought they could get away with that after all the flack The Order got for its final boss. Sure Uncharted's final boss made more sense for the story, and the dialogue and setting were more interesting, but it still commits the worst fault any game can commit. The actions the player performs are both too boring to be interesting, and too vague for the player to perform them smoothly the first time through. So the chances of messing up are high enough that the player can easily fail once or twice, but the mechanics are not enjoyable enough to make successive attempts enjoyable. It's the kind of scenario that must be completed on the first try to be fully impactful. But that just probably won't happen.
The individual parts vary from good-great, but they don't fit together well enough for me. The combat can be amazing if the arenas are good and it's given time to breath, so I'd like to just see a simple challenge mode added to the game. Even a mode where it's just platforming could be interesting if they really go crazy with it like timed based challenges with successive rope swings and huuuge jumps where you have to catch yourself with the pick, and several other more risky maneuvers that you just don't see in the main game. Basically, the game is made of many great parts, but over the course of the adventure, the only part that shines is the presentation and the story. The other parts either never get enough time to shine, or never reach their full potential. Which has been my problem with every ND game since they started making Uncharted. I like the games. I like playing them. I'll probably jump into multiplayer. I'll probably replay chapters to find the secrets, experience combat again, and get all the extras. But the first playthrough is always full of too many little holes for me to enjoy it to the level other people seem to.
Also the stupid
exploding mummies
. That simply should not have been in the game. It wasn't interesting. It was frustrating. And even if it wasn't frustrating, it still would have added nothing to the game, so it wasn't worth the frustration like other parts of the game might be.
I can't believe I'm saying this, since I was firmly on the #ibelieveindruckley camp when that mess happened, but now I wonder if her Uncharted 4 wouldn't have turned out much more interesting.
God, I LOVE that part in TLOU where Winter starts. I remember feeling stunned when that scene happened and then it just goes black and the word 'winter' hits. It's one of the best scenes of any game ever.
On the Hennig thing, it looked like (to my eye) it was shaping up to be a chase across the globe where Drake would be toe to toe against his own brother. It could have been a pacier game, but more cliche in its story and characters. It would have felt more like Uncharted 3 and not at all like TLOU.
This one is different, and that makes it interesting. Making it like the old games would have felt recycled (as UC3 was starting to feel).
Who knows, though. It might have been better (more 'Uncharted') in some ways.
? In an otherwise phenomenal game and easily the best in the series the dropped the ball
with this final battle. They threw away all the mechanics you've been building upon for a glorified QTE that was very difficult to learn at first (so a left attack means my left or his left? If he swings from his right to his left does that mean I make a Right Block or a Left Block?). It took so many deaths and trial and error to get my bearings. No gunplay, barely any punching, no rope mechanic made this for a dissapointing fight.
you haven't really been "building upon" mechanics in the game. The only difference I can think of in gameplay between the first part of the game and the last is you get a shiv for climbing (which I can't see being incorporated in the final boss). The final boss fight was more about being cinematic than it was about calling upon everything you learned throughout the game to take him down. Which, given the type of game it is, makes sense.
Just finished last night. While I loved it, and can't wait to replay it, I wish at least some of the encounters were a little longer or larger with more enemies i.e. the
moat, the ship graveyard, and the market place before the tank shows up
. I feel like most of the fights end before I finally get warmed up. Maybe that's what makes me want to replay...
It's great to see some really well-rounded critique of the game emerge. It's cracker but it has flaws and it'll be interesting to see how we all look at it in a few months.
? In an otherwise phenomenal game and easily the best in the series the dropped the ball
with this final battle. They threw away all the mechanics you've been building upon for a glorified QTE that was very difficult to learn at first (so a left attack means my left or his left? If he swings from his right to his left does that mean I make a Right Block or a Left Block?). It took so many deaths and trial and error to get my bearings. No gunplay, barely any punching, no rope mechanic made this for a dissapointing fight.
I didn't mind it too much, most of the time I could tell which way he was going, later in the fight though he seemed to use his right arm to sweep left, that caught me out a few times. I didn't mind the different mechanic, to be honest I was just in the moment, it had great atmosphere and I did admire the animation of Rafe's fencing technique. Am I the only once super impressed that they messed up his hair?
Choose New Game and it will ask if you want to carry your stat/treasure progression over. Select Yes. Then pick a save slot. I'm currently on my Crushing+Mods run now.
Choose New Game and it will ask if you want to carry your stat/treasure progression over. Select Yes. Then pick a save slot. I'm currently on my Crushing+Mods run now.
if you spend the time in the mansion to look around and read the letters from the husband and son, you see that Evelyn essentially chose adventuring over her family, has been dying of cancer with no loving support and ultimately dies alone and unloved surrounded by her relics. In the context of Drake's past and his current life with Elena, this memory is another powerful catalyst for Drake to choose life and love over adventure. Awaking to find Elena immediately afterwards, with this memory fresh in his mind just reinforces what he has to lose
If any game proves that old adage that you really can't please everyone, this is it.
The reality is that its basically one of the best games ever made from a technical, artistic and creative standpoint. Which isn't to say that everyone has to like it, just that it deserves an enormous amount of respect as a piece of work.
Anyone felt that this game is HEAVILY influenced by Shenmue?
Huge character development. Obsessive detail. Countless homages to past games from the developer.
And so on.
Uncharted 2 had the beginning of the Nepal chapter which definitely felt like Shenmue. But this game goes beyond that with all the nostalgic scenes and stuff like that.
From my experience there's preset enemies that your companion will kill. Snipers aren't one of them. In Chapter 20, take out the first two snipers first whilst you have ammo, then the last sniper after you've sorted the machine gunners out.
I'm going to be open for two weeks so I wanna get a game. UC4 or Ratchet? Asking because I also listen to podcasts so I need something to increase my playing.
I'm going to be open for two weeks so I wanna get a game. UC4 or Ratchet? Asking because I also listen to podcasts so I need something to increase my playing.
I'm going to be open for two weeks so I wanna get a game. UC4 or Ratchet? Asking because I also listen to podcasts so I need something to increase my playing.
Really wish they added some flavor text to the collectibles like in the recent tomb raider games. Just feels like such a 'checkbox collectible' than anything meaningful which stands out a lot when the rest of the game felt so nicely put together.
Always had this problem with the series though, weird that its the one aspect that hasn't really changed much since the beginning.
Really wish they added some flavor text to the collectibles like in the recent tomb raider games. Just feels like such a 'checkbox collectible' than anything meaningful which stands out a lot when the rest of the game felt so nicely put together.
Always had this problem with the series though, weird that its the one aspect that hasn't really changed much since the beginning.
Oh god no, I was just downloading the 5 gig update, fuck PSN and their shitty servers, the download literally took 9 hours with a 200mbps connection :|
I finished the game on monday, thought about it and i still have no idea how to feel about the game. In fact, while i replayed both UC1 and 2 about 4 or 5 times each, i shelved UC4 after my first playthrough since i'm not sure i would enjoy going through it again. Mainly because i already know the story and the locations and there doesn't seem to be all that much else to this game. Which is why i think i'll wait to replay until i forget some of it.
It's strange. It doesn't feel like GOTY material at all at this point. And still, i enjoyed it as the last game in a fantastic franchise. It feels like a seriously flawed game wrapped in a beautiful and dazzling package.
but its not like the bonuses affect the campaign gameplay at all. I guess I just don't really see the incentive to explore the map much if I'm not interested in multiplayer or replaying the game with other stuff. Maybe if they put some of the letters in more scattered locations than just on the main path?
So I was watching a gameplay video since I haven't yet the game and I was surprised by the amount of bugs/glitches that I saw. Is Uncharted 4 a bit less polished than his predecessors or it's just my impression (or maybe is because U4 design is more "open world")?
Link to the video (if you want to see only the bugs/glitches go to min 1:00 Drake animation glitch, 3:15 IA animation glitch, 4:50 Drake animation glitch, 5:50 water glitch, 6:20 big animation clipping... all from almost 20 minutes of gameplay).
So I was watching a gameplay video since I haven't yet the game and I was surprised by the amount of bugs/glitches that I saw. Is Uncharted 4 a bit less polished than his predecessors or it's just my impression (or maybe is because U4 design is more "open world")?
Link to the video (if you want to see only the bugs/glitches go to min 1:00 Drake animation glitch, 3:15 IA animation glitch, 4:50 Drake animation glitch, 5:50 water glitch, 6:20 big animation clipping... all from almost 20 minutes of gameplay).
I think it's pretty easily the most polished Naughty Dog game. Shit can still break obviously as it is still a piece of software, but it's rare to the point that the worst I encountered on my first play-through was a walkie talkie disappearing during a cutscene, and with the refinements to literally every facet of the game, and the level of polish everything received, it's better than their previous games on that front. I never saw anything like this, for example:
That video isn't really representative as it's clearly edited with the intent of showing a bunch of goofy shit.
You can certainly force oddities in the game, especially with the rope.
I had to close the video because moronic yelling isn't really on the list of things I like to watch so maybe there is more.
I'm not fretting over animation glitch videos. I think this game is the current peak of animation quality just like RDR and AC3 on their respective releases and you can find lots of glitch videos from those games.
I believe I am most of the way through the campaign. I've been avoiding this thread because I didn't want to spoil anything, but man, this game is a masterwork. This sets a new precedent, one that I feel won't be topped for quite some time. The story and it's delivery . . . . ., It's just, wow. They don't have words to describe how fantastic this is. It's ridiculous that this is Naughty Dog's last Uncharted. This is such a jump ahead from previous Uncharteds that it's unbelivable. I did not expect this.
I have a few issues though.
Any fight where I can't perform functions I was previously able to in standard hand to hand, should be cutscenes. That's my opinion anyways. And lastly, for the move boxes bit, they should be more varied in design. I felt like the box on wheels just decided to tag along on my adventure at some point.
I finished the game on monday, thought about it and i still have no idea how to feel about the game. In fact, while i replayed both UC1 and 2 about 4 or 5 times each, i shelved UC4 after my first playthrough since i'm not sure i would enjoy going through it again. Mainly because i already know the story and the locations and there doesn't seem to be all that much else to this game. Which is why i think i'll wait to replay until i forget some of it.
It's strange. It doesn't feel like GOTY material at all at this point. And still, i enjoyed it as the last game in a fantastic franchise. It feels like a seriously flawed game wrapped in a beautiful and dazzling package.
It's a good experience. Just not a good uncharted game.
It's the first game in the series i didn't feel like starting a new playthrough right after beating it.
Miss you already Nate...
