I'm someone who really likes story telling. Dialogue is kind of essential to this end and this game is so beyond obnoxious with forced feminist ideology to the point you can't really get away from it. Damn near every man Aloy speaks to acts like a timid simp with her bringing up the 'cuz I'm a woman?!' grievance. I get this chick comes from a matriarchal tribe but everywhere you go men act all submissive like they've done something wrong and half the damn sidequests involve chicks telling Aloy how useless men are in a post apocalyptic society where battle prowess, strength, and toughness are essential for survival. This is so fake/forced as well as mind numbingly stupid that I can't enjoy the sidequests, which make up the overwhelming majority of what you can do in this game. It's not a handful of quests either it's damn near half of them. I've sunk over 25 hours into this game and it has become insufferable. I play games to get away from mainstream propaganda and idiotic nonsense. I get this is a video game with robot monsters everywhere but can there be any connection with the real world when it comes to people? If I had seen any of this mentioned in a review on youtube or here I would never have even considered purchasing this game. On the plus the main quest storyline is not that bad. Much more believable/entertaining despite the ridiculousness of its overall premise. The world you play in is truly beautiful/enormous and the tactics used for hunting different enemy types is pretty fun. Weapon/armor modification and purchasing is nothing special for an open world rpg but it's fine. Exploration through the landscape is my favorite part of this game (mainly because no talking is involved) and the different environments mix it up enough to make exploring fun. Especially with all the relics and loot you can scavenge and find. All in all this is a game that had huge potential with story but ultimately fell flat on its face with shit dialogue. Good sandbox bad RPG.
So I just beat this game but this not for casual players in the least. I'm not and I typically consider myself pretty damn good with Souls games and others that are considered hard. But this game was insanely difficult. To the point it made no sense at all. I know it sounds like the kind of whining where I'd typically say 'git gud' but this game really made no sense with its basic mechanics. Wall running in particular seems to be determined by a random number generator on whether or not it will work. Several of the enemy types consistently seem to be able to melee you through walls and that's when they're not popping through them. Seems like navmesh issues maybe? The dash ability also doesn't seem to consistently work as intended for going in any particular direction. I don't begrudge souls games because the rules are the same and the basic mechanics are the same. Same thing with games like hotline Miami. But when a game gives you basic abilities the controls should work consistently. Understand I had to git gud like you wouldn't believe but there were so many times that it seemed more determined by a random number generator on whether I was able to get through the platforming sections. Took all sense of accomplishment away when it seemed more due to luck than skill that I got through those sections. Nevertheless this games absolutely nailed down the aesthetics both visually and sound-wise. Amazing soundtrack and great lighting effects if you've got the CPU and RTX combo to handle it. The enemies are smart and require speed and aggression from multiple directions to really nail down and the abilities you unlock throughout the game come in very handy. Ultimately this is a game I would only recommend to people who are very stubborn and are gluttons for abuse that refuse to quit.
