I've finally beat the game on PS5 and man...I have thoughts.
The debate around this game has always been super interesting, and one thing mentioned by both supporters and detractors is that the game is maybe too long. A common recommendation is that the first third of the game being cut would've improved the experience. Having done it all, I totally disagree.
The absolute best part of the game is having crap weapons, coasting down every incline to save a drop of gas, running out anyway, and needing to sneak into the nearest random house--absolutely terrified of the like 8 swarmers in there. The atmosphere is better too: just Deacon and injured Boozer agains the world. Cordial relationships with the existing camps but nothing that felt reliable. It really felt like a hardbitten dude's bad life in a broken world. I loved that.
Lost Lake onwards is just so...videogamey, and escalatingly so. The ending itself is a silly on top. The main enemy just going abruptly genocidal--I get that he was already unhinged, but the pivot was Game of Thrones level of sudden--, an old foe reappearing with the thinnest justification, the sacrifice of a friend--whoops, just kidding! Iron Mike basically recanting his whole philosophy on his death bed "Sorry Deek: preemptively killing potential enemies IS good, actually!"
Gameplay wise it's similar: toward the mid-game I was just causally erasing hordes, with very little preparation or strategy, and waltzing terminator-like through ambush camps while tanking sniper bullets to the face. Or letting infected bears just grapple me so I could insta-kill them on escape.
Real weird game. In a lot of ways it feels like a leftover from the PS360 era.
There's also some silly stuff that didn't affect my enjoyment at all, but stuck in my mind. Why is everyone riding motorcycles everywhere? I get Deacon and Boozer, but every random camper has a bike too. The "hidden pass" over the mountains that was just...a very obvious trailer that goes up and over in both directions. The complete waste of Carlos as an actual potentially interesting villain. Also what the hell are they mining at Tucker's slave camp?
I think Bend has a great game in them, and I'm looking forward to what they put out next. I'm am glad it won't be Days Gone 2. I don't regret my time with it, but at the end of it all it felt more like an academic exercise than an especially fun experience.
