Days Gone is... Actually pretty great?

SubvertedTrope · May 14, 2020

I thought it was really bad, like FFXV bad. I gave it a very fair shot something like 10 hours, it's honestly one of the worst games I've ever played (though I very rarely play bad games so there's that)

Some of my favorite games ever have godawful intros and opening hours so when people say it gets better later I totally understand, but in the meantime I need something to be interesting be it the story or the gameplay, the characters, the worldbuilding, you know literally anything to hold my attention and DG had nothing even resembling that.

The gunplay was the worst I've ever had to sit through, the guns themselves felt like throwaway cheap toys, the motorcycle travel felt like useless padding which wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't so much of it. Then there was a boss fight against a random giant bear that felt like something you'd find in steam shovelware.

The most exciting thing to happen was some bandits or whatever setting a wire in the road leading to an ambush with snipers and stuff, so I guess 1 interesting thing happened in those 10 hours...

I'd honestly tell people to save their money and especially time cause this is mediocrity in game form.

Gallows Bat · May 14, 2020

Kolx said:
Did I just enter another site? what are these responses lol

I know!! I'm surprised, pleasantly haha.

JMY86 said:
I thought the game was impressive visually and I really tried to like it but everything in the game just felt like a chore to me. I will admit that I didn't have much interest in it beforehand and only played around 8 hours or so before I dropped it but really did not enjoy my time with it at all. I may jump back in at some point and try again but I have played my fill for a while...

Did you get get to lost lake camp? It was a few missions into that area that I really started to enjoy it. Watching the horde with iron mike was my "oh this is pretty cool" moment. Worth sticking with it until then at least.

BarryFishFinger · May 14, 2020

I didn't fast travel once, that's how good the world and the bike traversal is. Love it.

TheSpaceBetween · May 14, 2020

Yeah, I enjoyed it. It can be something really special if they smooth out the rough edges and trim the fat with a potential sequel.

Konosuke · May 14, 2020

I guess I'll give it a shot on ps4, aren't the tech issue bad on base ps4?

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

Kolx said:
Did I just enter another site? what are these responses lol

It's like a total tonal shift from the last 4 years. Idk when it happened but it feels good lol. Still remember my everything we know about days gone thread making it to 3 pages before getting locked cuz of trolls. You couldn't even talk about the game in the first party thread

-Tetsuo- · May 14, 2020

I got in a few hours, like a dozen or so, when it first released and just couldn't get into it. Something about it feels very disruptive. Lots of cuts to black and loading when I feel there wouldn't be in other games similar. I tried again a few weeks ago and came away feeling similar.

Video Games Are Dumb · May 14, 2020

It's chill. I really don't think it's great but its fun enough to pass the time on a tuesday night.

But totally better than I expected.

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

Konosuke said:
I guess I'll give it a shot on ps4, aren't the tech issue bad on base ps4?

At launch it was really bad. They fixed it up a ton now. Still alil janky tho Im still on base not to bad

bonch00ski · May 14, 2020

My sleeper of last year, went into it with Lowe expectations. Ended up playing through it and enjoying the fuck out of it great game!

Shairi · May 14, 2020

I really enjoyed it. Played it after RDR2 which was a chore to play and burned me on open world games.

But hell, Days Gone was fun. One of the better open world games this generation. Pretty much everything you could do in the game was fun to do and never felt like working on a check list.

Faced my first horde quite early in the game and got them down with a pumpgun and molotovs. Great feeling.

Once the games opens up and gives you more weapons and stuff to craft to fight the hordes it becomes really, really good.

Though, I think the story overstayed it's welcome a bit. The game could be 5 hours shorter without losing much.

Pankratous · May 14, 2020

Absolutely brilliant game.

HardRojo · May 14, 2020

I have it but haven't played it yet. How long is it? I fear if I start it after I'm done with Yakuza 0 (which will probably take me 2 to 3 more weeks), I won't finish it by the time TLoU Part II releases and I'd really hate to drop it :/

Nugnip · May 14, 2020

I fucking loved Days Gone, flaws and all. It's a great game. Enjoyed farming the platinum too.

HardRojo said:
I have it but haven't played it yet. How long is it?

It's pretty long. Maybe too long even, that one of its main issues. You can mainline it in 35-40h I'd say.

Wise · May 14, 2020

Not sure why it got panned critically. Gave it another try and liked it

Traxus · May 14, 2020

best game

Nooblet · May 14, 2020

I love how absurdly angry Decon gets after every single radio broadcast from Copeland.

hydro94530 · May 14, 2020

One of the best games I played this year. Very, very good and that was even before all the dope shit they've added since.

Edit: Or last year I mean lol

Dysun · May 14, 2020

I had alot of fun with it, although the frame rate drops in the later parts of the game were pretty aggravating and it went on for too long. Excited to see what they do with the sequel.

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

Nooblet said:
I love how absurdly angry Decon gets after every single radio broadcast from Copeland.

Not now Copeland!!!!!

hydro94530 said:
One of the best games I played this year. Very, very good and that was even before all the dope shit they've added since.

Edit: Or last year I mean lol

its ok I like to pretend 2020 ain't happened either

Ryo · May 14, 2020

It's a very unusual game, by the end I wanted more but for most of the journey it felt like a slog. I platted it and would say it's an 8.5/10 but I first experienced the game long after launch.

hydro94530 · May 14, 2020

Blackleg-sanji1 said:
its ok I like to pretend 2020 ain't happened either

lol true dat

HardRojo · May 14, 2020

Nugnip said:
It's pretty long. Maybe too long even, that one of its main issues. You can mainline it in 35-40h I'd say.

30+ just to mainline it? Yeah, I'm saving it for after TLoU and GoT for sure.

Sausage_Poison · May 14, 2020

Interesting. Never actually played Days Gone but I really liked Mad Max and I hear a lot of people say that these two games are pretty similar.

LilBiscuit · May 14, 2020

Yeah I really enjoyed days gone. It felt janky a bit at first but then it really came to its own a couple of hours in. I honestly liked it more than horizon to the point where many others are talking about how much they can't wait for horizon 2. Whereas all I'm doing is sitting here quietly thinking to myself when's days gone 2?

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

HardRojo said:
30+ just to mainline it? Yeah, I'm saving it for after TLoU and GoT for sure.

Days gone is without a doubt the longest first party game Sony released this gen lol. Unless ghost real long

Sausage_Poison said:
Interesting. Never actually played Days Gone but I really liked Mad Max and I hear a lot of people say that these two games are pretty similar.

what!? They similar in a lot of ways you def would like days gone

Bede-x · May 14, 2020

It's a great game that I simply couldn't put down until the credits finally rolled. It felt tense and terrifying sneaking around with the hordes close by in the first half and equally satisfying when you finally start becoming strong enough to handle them in the second. It's also very impressive seeing such a large group of enemies and dynamic encounters unfold in an open world game.

Fisty · May 14, 2020

Transistor said:
It's a fantastic game that got written off by some people for some weird-ass reasons

Lots of disingenuous arguments, people docked it big time because of "zombie fatigue" despite RE2 getting tons of GOTY awards the same year. There was also some "Sony's Crackdown 3" sprinkled in there too despite how laughable that comparison was

Swearing.circle · May 14, 2020

I enjoyed my time with it. I felt a lot of natural emergent scenarios coming up during my playtime which I really enjoyed. Taking a stop to loot for supplies whilst dangerously low on gas. It could be really thrilling at times and managing the hordes took some preplanning and thought. I stopped playing it for a while because things came up and I never went back to finish it. I think it had a strong foundation to build off and I'm hoping a sequel gets announced. Then I will likely go back. The story didnt really grip me unfortunately.

mcruz79 · May 14, 2020

I loved it...
One of my only 6 platinum...
game has flaus and is far for perfect but had many good things to...

thePopaShots · May 14, 2020

I'm doing an end of gen backlog blitz, and once I crank through the last couple Assassin's Creeds I'd like to give this a try. I remember CohhCarnage speaking highly of it last year, and it seems like it's only improved since launch. I'll definitely look for a sale after I beat GoT and TLoU.

metalgear89 · May 14, 2020

Cant wait to see what bend do with hordes, taking them on was probably the most fun I've had this gen alongside luring them towards enemy camps.

Linus815 · May 14, 2020

Transistor said:
It's a fantastic game that got written off by some people for some weird-ass reasons

Well, I disagree, as one of the most common criticisms seems to be that the game has a very weak, messy start. And I don't think that's a weird reason at all.

In the amount of time it takes to reach the 3rd camp (which is basically where the real meat of the game begins), you can actually complete the campaigns of full games. 10 hours or so. I don't mind slow pacing, but Days Gone isn't just slow at the start, it feels messy, and really try-hard with how it's immediately trying to evoke emotions from the player. It's like trying to have the "Red Dead moment" after an hour of gameplay... it just doesn't work, the bond isn't there yet.

I'm glad I stuck with it though. The gameplay dramatically improves after you get a few upgrades, and from the 3rd camp, the story becomes much more straightforward, and enjoyable. The game has some emotional moments later on that actually feel earned too. But really, I don't blame people for dropping it early. It really does leave a poor first impression (and tbh the pacing does fuck up right before the end again, but at that point I'd wager most people are too invested to drop the game anyway)

mordecaii83 · May 14, 2020

I agree OP, it's an excellent game with some caveats: Make it past the first 6-8 hours and play it with all the patches. It was rough when it first released.

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

Transistor said:
It's a fantastic game that got written off by some people for some weird-ass reasons

You mean like deacon being white. That was weird to see the media finally deciding to Gaf about that

Omnistalgic · May 14, 2020

Claven said:
Outside of some pacing issues and Deacon coming across as an unlikeable asshole for the first third of the game, it was pretty good.

Now in quarantine, I'm much more forgiving of a slow start. DG will be my final game on my backlog.

Still I do feel like some of positive post sugar coat just how long a "slow start is"...Some ppl don't have the patience to play-through something that just isn't fun for a while. That's a big miss for a AAA production for a large chunk of your game to be not fun.

Bradford · May 14, 2020

If not for the really awful gating and pretty wonk writing I probably would have liked it more. Pretty much all of my complaints were mirrored in Noah Caldwell-Gervais's video about the game.

DrKelpo · May 14, 2020

Gallows Bat said:
I will preface this by saying the first five ish hours are so much worse than the rest of the game I almost gave up.

Maybe I should push through then. I'm maybe 2-3 hours in, tried multiple times but can't bring myself to keep going.

giallo · May 14, 2020

Great game, but I'm stuck at the first horde mission. I can't figure out how to take them all down.

Y2Kev · May 14, 2020

The first 6-8 hours are bad but the rest is good?

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

giallo said:
Great game, but I'm stuck at the first horde mission. I can't figure out how to take them all down.

Got some explosives? They really op they got nerfed and I still feel like they take a big chunk off. Also keep moving only time you really should be shooting for more than 10 seconds is when you got the slow mo on or you covered a large distance in the environment

Snake Eater · May 14, 2020

How has the game got better after launch?

Deleted member 16876 · May 14, 2020

Y2Kev said:
The first 6-8 hours are bad but the rest is good?

Potentially. I personally loved the game since the start.

The atomsphere, the somewhat bleak tone and the slow paced story was cool. With that said, not everybody likes that and the game gets even better later on.

beau_beaumont · May 14, 2020

I agree. I think the story is pretty bad, but it's a pretty average video game story. The human AI is pretty dumb, but the hordes are great, the late game weapons are cool and the map is pretty big once you've unlocked it all. The game makes a bad first impression, which is unfortunate, but it gets better once you get some good gear.

giallo · May 14, 2020

Blackleg-sanji1 said:
Got some explosives? They really op they got nerfed and I still feel like they take a big chunk off. Also keep moving only time you really should be shooting for more than 10 seconds is when you got the slow mo on or you covered a large distance in the environment

Yeah. I've got six of those big explosive barrel things, and a mix of grenades, pipe bombs and molotovs.

I think that's my problem; I stop, and try to take a bunch out with my machine gun, and end up getting surrounded. I've got to find a better strategy.

ToddBonzalez · May 14, 2020

It's a really solid game. I liked it enough to get the platinum. Sucks that the critics decided to collectively ravage it for some reason.

Edit: I agree the writing on the whole is very uneven. And the climax/ ending had the the tone of a Marvel movie. Was way too triumphant with everything resolved cleanly given the bleakness of the world imo.

Blackleg-sanji1 · May 14, 2020

Snake Eater said:
How has the game got better after launch?

Fixed up performance greatly, added some solid improvements, they added challenges(that are there to stay btw they don't come and go, 11 of them in fact) one of them being a crazy taxi like mode

I could go on it's really changed up since

giallo said:
Yeah. I've got six of those big explosive barrel things, and a mix of gernades, pipe bombs and molotovs.

I think that's my problem; I stop, and try to take to take a bunch out with my machine gun, and end up getting surrounded. I've got to find a better strategy.

yea the Ai don't come at you in a straight line so if you stay still and focus on the front some will come at you from the side or from a building it's really intense

Nola · May 14, 2020

giallo said:
Great game, but I'm stuck at the first horde mission. I can't figure out how to take them all down.

My advice is plan your route, including choke points. Embrace explosives and run like a mother fucker.

Deleted member 13328 · May 14, 2020

I bought it on sale since it's didn't get great reviews, but I would gladly have payed 60$ for the game after finishing it.

One of my favorites.

giallo · May 14, 2020

Nola said:
My advice is plan your route, including choke points. Embrace explosives and run like a mother fucker.

I'm playing too haphazard, and not planning a proper route. I'm sure a bit more trial and error is needed, but I'll get it.

Thanks for the help, guys.

Days Gone is... Actually pretty great?

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