Content Warning: This piece contains graphic descriptions of violence, including towards children.
Yiiiiikes.
Days Gone is a weird one. I had no expectations whatsoever for the first, what, two years of info? And that seemed to be the consensus. Then, in the last few months, there was a quiet groundswell of āDays Gone might actually be good.ā The late review embargo was worrisome, especially given Sonyās unusually long leads for Horizon and God of War, but some of the gameplay actually looked decent (and the story about how Unreal Engine 4 doesnāt support two-wheeled vehicles, so your motorcycle has two invisible, non-functional tires squished into it gave it some seat-of-their-pants charm).
Iāll still check a couple other reviews, of course, but hey, maybe Iāll be able to give Sonyās new refund policy a test drive.
I was quietly rooting for this game, seeing as how EVERYONE was shitting on it throughout the production.
Ah well, sometimes the underdog is actually just under.
Also, correct me if Iām wrong, but I had read that the big horde stuff that was advertised when this game was announced is reserved for the late game. Patrick seems to say that he didnāt come across any of it. I think I saw a video where the devs talked about being given some late game quests that have you clearing the hordes of āfreakers.ā Is this quest line completely gone, or did Patrick just lose interest before opening that quest line? (Which is perfectly fine by the way, 20 hours is enough to know if you like a game or not.)
Shame, days gone seems to be basically what everyone expected.
Who thought that human slavery was a good idea?
Damn. Iād really been optimistic for this is a systematic open world with a passable narrative. But yeah, Iām with Patrick here - Iām real fucking tired of compromised moral codes in the apocalypse. Honestly, the whole premise of a post-catastrophe world turning everyone into murderers only makes sense in the individualist superhero logic of fiction, where murdering everyone you meet doesnāt immediately get you murdered back. Itās totally disconnected from the reality of how people respond to disaster; look at any city ruined by some natural catastrophe and you see people coming together, not murdering each other for a temporary leg up. Hierarchy and the associated violence are a result of stability, not chaos.
It is a shame, because I was honestly looking forward to this.
*whispers to himself quietly in the dark
TloU doesnāt actually do a good job of exploring any of these themes either, itās just very pretty and has decent gameplayā¦
What TLoU does do is create a character we can connect to and understand their moral dilemma. Joelās violence isnāt automatically directed at every single person he meets, but Days Gone has you literally attack and murder people without any provocation out in the open world. While TLoU doesnāt really deliver on the themes, it delivers on the characters.
I was quietly rooting for this game. Not anymore.
Any time a game includes slavery in a capacity that does not include dismantling it, even at the micro level by freeing individual slaves/killing their oppressors, that game is suspicious to me.
Like, you made a character with a ācodeā and made the CHOICE to make him participate in this gross thing when you could have made it so when you encounter these camps he uhā¦ doesnāt sell people to slavers?
Why are those the only verbs? Who thought that was a good idea?
Deacon St. John? Are you fucking kidding me? Why not just name him Jesus Buddha? lol gimme a break
Excuse me do you have time to hear about our lord and savior Buddhist Christ
Canāt believe an open world zombie shooter thatās been in development since like 2012 is bad.
Is his wifeās nameā¦tattooed on his neckā¦
like a whole third of his neck
Ugh, this one makes me especially sad because they are one of the few game companies in Oregon (definitely the biggest). Wouldāve been nice to have a winner come from there lol
I guess weāll always have Fullbright!!!
I mean I wonāt lie I am hype to play this for 45 minutes and then uninstall it after getting it as a PS+ game in eight months.
Same.
I meanā¦ Vinny seems to be enjoying himself in the Giant Bomb quick look. So at least thereās that?
I donāt usually align with Patrick on what games are fun mechanically but I appreciate him discussing other aspects of the game (like the fact that thereās slavery), so I think i could still have a good timeā¦ for like 45 minutes after getting the game for free.
Iām the resident TloU denier so Iām biased, but I donāt really agree.
Functionally, outside of a few key people he mostly personally knows, Joel basically does just wander around from place to place and ruthlessly murder everyone he comes across. TloU just does a slightly better job creating a thin veneer of justification for it. Joel isnāt just a random murderer, not at all, heās just violently killing dozens of human beings because they attacked first you see? They were ambushed on the road cruelly, therefor there is no possible moral qualm for shooting them all in the head with arrows. Also, I personally feel that the characters are fairly one note and predictable, theyāre just salvaged by incredible performances.
I bet The Gamers are so disappointed this is getting bad reviews because where else on Earth can you play a video game as such a unique and interesting character as Bearded White Man With Tattoo
