GreedFall

I wanted to play a decent RPG similar to Dragon Age or The Witcher but without having to put 80+ hrs into it. So Greedfall seemed to be the right choice. And I did have quite a good time with it. But as mentioned already in several other reviews, the repetitive gameplay, clunky controls, lack of NPC/enemy variety and recycled environments do leave a somewhat bitter aftertaste. Still, the good outweighs the bad. The story is interesting and the main characters are convincing enough to make you feel for them. The weapon and amour variety is pretty good too (with plenty of details). I found myself spending quite some time with just changing/assigning outfits and crafting. I mean, protection is good but you also gotta look the part. The soundtrack is subtle and fitting. I often get annoyed by combat music which was not the case here, as it's never too obtrusive. Some quests dragged on for too long due to the sort of rinse and repeat vibe (and the aforementioned lack of variety). The story changes but the formula is often the same in the sense that you do a lot of running back and forth between 2-3 NPCs and that you usually visit the same places over and over again. Still, you need to give kudos to Spiders since they make up for most of the repetitive gameplay with good storytelling. The romance part is pretty nice too. However, seeing your protagonist fool around with their love interest in full amour was a bit ridiculous and spoiled the moment for me. The world is generally beautiful but a lot of it feels samey. The interiors of the buildings in the three major cities all look alike even though you're dealing with three different cultures (excluding the natives). Often NPCs just stand around and do absolutely nothing, which gives certain areas a rather lifeless and sometimes even creepy feel. All flaws aside, Greedfall is a solid game considering the budget and I'm curious to see what the studio does next. I'd even be up for a sequel.

I've currently put over 70 hours into the game (still not finished with the story) and I will admit right out of the stables that it isn't the best (RPG) game ever made. The combat is fine, but simplistic once you figure out how it works. Spells from enemies do far more damage than yours do, but I prefer melee and bombs so it's not a big deal to me personally. Where the game fails is that while it is open world, it's got a more linear path throughout it. I was playing Greedfall between Witcher 3 replays and I noticed the stark contrast between the open world and quests. Greedfall quests weren't as plentiful or intriguing, but they weren't endless fetch quests either so it had versatility in quest design and how you wanted to complete them which was nice. It's open world was closer to Witcher 2, but far more open than Mass Effect 3. The world is open in the sense that you have a large open space to traverse, but once you have fleshed it out you can start finding where it became more linear. NOW! Where the game shines is that it handles really well. I play it on PC and I don't have a beast of a machine anymore, but I can easily handle high-ultra settings and not have a single issue (outside of 3 dialogue scenes where the face was showing the geometric design and it wasn't "flesh"). Greedfall's story is pretty interesting. It's a new take and it allows you to craft how you want the story to pan out however you wish. You can side with the tree huggers, the Deus Vult bros, the towlies, everyone or simply piss everyone off. It's a nice feel. Aggravating/pleasing factions loses/provides you gear. The armor customization is nice in that deciding how you want to upgrade armor changes how the armor piece looks depending upon what you choose. It's a nice touch. Is it really simplistic? Yes. Good? Yes. Enemy placement in the open world makes sense. You don't have humans just running out at you randomly. They'll be found around camps or along paths and the same with animals.

This game is pretty good not perfect but decent. Graphics, story, and voice acting are nice but combat can sometimes feel cheap when enemies knock you over 12 times in a row. Plus there is few bugs and the controls are kinda bad. There is a lot to do though and most of the side quests are well done and interesting. My first run took me just under 60 hours so if u pick it up on sale i think its absolutley worth it.

Story - 3/5 -The plot is engrossing enough, however it felt like the kind of plot that would normally be a 100 hr + RPG like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, The Witcher, or Final Fantasy. Gameplay - 2/5 - The core mechanics work well enough, but there isn't enough meat on its bones to support the length of plot, so while new and interesting things are described, your gameplay experience doesn't unlock new mechanics. It isn't as open form as the game describes itself - a a small variety of enemies, each having certain attack types they are heavily resistant to, so you have to use a varity of tactics in not just your party but your characer too. Some of the bosses devloved into endless circle-strafing, as their attacks could kill you if hit multiple times. Graphics - 4/5 -Some other reviewers have said the graphics looking dated, and while they certainly aren't up to 2020 triple-A title standards, are more than adequate. Engine - 4/5 - For a darksouls-esqe combat game, the choice of pausing wrecked the immersion for me. I only used it to queue up the quick bar while out of combat. The loading screens allow you to manage your companions and equipment while transitioning areas, but later in the game i found myself thinking that it would be quicker to just load the actual destination as it was wasting time as I had nothing left to manage. Length - 3/5 - While there is some fast travel, there is an inordinate amount of revisting the same areas repeatedly. I feel the game was maybe 5 hours longer than I wanted it to be, as it felt like am MMORPG without any other players around so i just wanted it to be over towards the end of my playthrough. Overall - 3/5 - Greedfall is ambitious in its scope, but fails to deliver. I feel this could have benefited from a smaller scope, or being released in installments, in order to secure more funding for development.

SUMMARY : Truly great narrative experience with a good-to-average gameplay and a weird (and sometimes annoying) pacing due to objectives requiring many round trips within and between regions, with sometimes ill-placed or absent fast travel points. REVIEW BASED ON: One finished playthrough of 40 hours at easy-normal difficulty (switch a few times) with a diplomat (maxed charisma and intuition) and mage (all magic skills maxed out) ; all side quests finished except finding the professors notes hidden in different regions ; friendly with every companions and factions. REPLAYIBILITY: Average. Some decisions seems to make a real difference at the end and the feel of combat can varies depending on your character, but the cores of the missions will not change and the narrative is about discovering and exploring, so it might not be as fun the second time around. ADVICES FOR FUTURE/NEW PLAYERS : It is possible to combine skills from different "archetype", but I advice to specialize in one at the beginning, considering the interaction between skills and talents, and only invest in others later. Also, look for the Skill altars early, since they don't matter as much later, once you character gets stronger. THE ACTUAL REVIEW : - Decent graphics and great artistic design ; - Really stable and no crashes in 40 hours (CPU i7-7700K 4.2 GHZ + GTX 1070 Ti + 16Go RAM) ; - Good audio with music and sounds that strengthen the ambiance ; - Diverse companions and characters with strong identities ; - Interesting major and minor factions that are not monolithic, in the sense that you will find individuals and groups following different goals and paths within each one ; - Interesting main missions, if not perfect toward the end ; - Great side quests that complement the main quests (except the few really awful "fetch and run around" missions) ; - Good-to-average combat mechanisms that sometimes suffers from weird cameras angles and unprecise dodge and block.