The story is very involved and the lore is amazing. The areas are pretty. Sometimes I just zoom in and check out the details. I think if I played it thru again, I'd have a much better appreciation for the quests and the characters. It took me a long time to settle into the world and appreciate what was going on. Combat has cool mechanics (hit/crit/graze and varying penalty/buffs all on timers), and equipping and leveling your characters have many options. My gripe is that combat, even with lots of pausing, is chaotic and it's hard to tell what is even going on. I pause to see if a spell worked, because I can't tell from the visuals, and am often not sure when a character has done what I assigned except I told combat to auto-pause after each character action. After a big fight, I find myself reviewing the combat log for 10min just to see what happened. I just beat the alpine dragon and I'm still barely sure what I did to win versus the other times that I lost. Overall, glad I got this.
I like that I can get into this game within 60 seconds and finish a run in an hour-and-a-half or less. Or, just save it and come back. This game is strategic, but it isn't taxing to play - just easy to learn, fast paced fun. Runs become interesting as you unlock more cards and relics. And, the daily challenges keep it interesting. I've put in 40 hours in 25 days.
You will never know the genius of this game until you finish it. Just when I thought I understood the scope of the story it got bigger. Props on such an intricate story driven by the various personalities in the game world. Kingmaker delivered to me a large number of "that's so cool" moments. To list a few: When I first realized the grander scheme you are part of. When I thought I knew who the final showdown is with but then realized it wasn't. When I was beset by Irrovetti and scrambling for my survival. When I realized how things from very early in the game tie in at the end. When I started to see just how deeply developed this game world is. When the characters started to completely impress me. Their fireside banter, interjections in conversations, personal quest lines, handling of kingdom affairs, the nuance of their beliefs and reasoning, and ties to the game world all added up until I felt like I really know them. When I first felt like a real baron/king having to deal with endless issues coming from every possible direction. When I tried to settle the mob outside the palace and realized the effects of everything I'd been doing. When I restarted (my kingdom failed) and realized that the game and companions changed a fair bit from my first play through (I never got Harrim the second time). I was really expecting to just repeat everything as before, but the difference in choices I made and where I went altered things beyond my expectations. When the game tied up and showed me how many of my actions played out.
Far Cry has been so enjoyable that I am compelled to add a review. From the first time I got into the sand buggy and raced wrecklessly across the beach while trying to negotiate another buggy and rockets from a patrol boat to running scared through the jungle I thouroughly enjoyed you, Far Cry. There was that one time when I ran up to that watchtower and threw a grenade in it and saw the merc bodies go flying off. Oh man, I was still smiling the next morning. There was that segment, or maybe fifty of them, that I died in over and over and over, yet it just didn't get old. It was fun, amusing, challenging and entertaining every dang time. How do you do it Far Cry? How do you make it so much fun to win and lose all at once!? Then I beat the game and did what any reasonable person would do, I immediately started over at max difficulty and got as far as I could go with a pistol before using another gun. Now, Far Cry, you must know that I am not a person who reads a book or watches a movie twice. But I'm glad I did this again, because I didn't realize that even the third time through I was still finding different ways to go about completing segments. In all the ways you impressed me Far Cry you got me in one way I didn't ever expect. The scenic tropical island beaches, beautiful blue water and lush flora. I think I see a tropical island vacation coming next year.
