Finished (playing): Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Playing: Days Gone
I've been playing Days Gone, and my early impressions are that it's a good open world zombie apocalypse game. It doesn't quite feel like a big budget AAA Sony release, it seems like something that would have been released by a third party publisher like Ubisoft or another company copying the Ubisoft open world design structure. The graphics are good, but it does look like a slightly older game when compared to other more recent third person open world games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption II.
The game itself seems somewhat like a mix of Far Cry 5, The Last of Us and State of Decay. It's a third person open world mission based zombie apocalypse action adventure game that takes place in the Oregon mountains/wilderness. You play as a biker named Deacon, and he's a likable main protagonist that is good but has to do bad things similar to Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption II. My only real complaint with him so far is that he seems to mumble and whisper a lot when he talks which makes it difficult to understand what he's saying sometimes. I don't think that the voice actor that they chose for him was the best choice because not only doesn't his voice seem especially fitting for the character, but also because of the aforementioned mumbling and whispering of the delivery of his lines of dialogue sometimes. The voice acting for all of the characters in general isn't the greatest, but it's not bad.
The core gameplay is solid combining melee combat, shooting and stealth. Everything is fairly streamlined making it easy to pick up and play, but it has depth as well with item gathering/crafting and skill unlocking. And your motorcycle is important since it's the only vehicle that you can use in the game. You have to keep it fueled, and repaired. You can find gas canisters around the world to put gas in it, and scrap to repair it with. You can also customize its look, and upgrade it. There's definitely an incentive to explore, and scavenge which I like.
The missions start off somewhat strong, but after a while a lot of them involve clearing out enemy camps and Freaker nests. The zombies in the game are called Freakers, and are similar to the creatures in the movie I Am Legend. They're fast and fierce, and sometimes you come across hordes of them which are scary because you don't have a chance against them. Similar to The Last of Us, human enemies are as much (if not more) of a threat in the game as the creatures.
Based on what I've played of it so far, I would say that $40 is the right price for it if you're interested in playing it now. Otherwise you might want to wait until you can get it for $20-$30.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night comes out this week:
), and I'm really enjoying it. It has picked up in terms of story, characters and missions. It's definitely a good looking and playing game, and there's plenty to do in it. It still feels more like a multiplatform game published by a third party company as opposed to a Sony PS4 exclusive since it somewhat lacks the overall big budget feel, finesse and polish that their games usually offer, but it's still a very quality game. I guess that the main problem is that there have been so many zombie apocalypse games over the years that it doesn't feel that fresh now despite bringing some new things to the table, and somewhat having its own identity. But the fun factor is definitely there, and that's what matters most.
