As a preamble, I truly tip my hat to the team who built this game. I can only imagine the hell you went through to get this title out the door. I hope you all feel it was worth it.

I have started and re-started this game four times since I bought it back during the Covid pandemic. Each time I reboot this process, I end up playing for about 2-3 hours and then I stop. I do not pick it back up again for several months, and then I try again. I do not know what it is about this game that stops me from continuing to play, so I thought I would write my thoughts down and try to sort it out.

From a story line perspective, it does not grip me in the first few hours or compel to continue playing. There is no mystery that is revealed in the first few hours. There is no great calamity or evil threatening the land. No one has been captured, and no one or nothing has been lost. There is no pull, other than curiosity.

There are many decisions to make and things to learn in this short period of time. Perhaps too many. I recall feeling a bit overwhelmed at just the input control scheme.

You have an arsenal of weapons to choose from over the course of the first few hours, and your inventory will continue to swell for a long time after that according to some reviews I have read. You can change your clothing into a near infinite number of combinations, and anything else about your body you find undesirable, including the size of your genitals (if you are playing with those options enabled). You can hack machines and people using novel skills and technical mods. Fancy a sharp stick instead of a pee shooter? Swords and daggers are options along with a bevy of special fighting manoeuvres. Don’t feel like walking? Buy, steal, or earn your wheels; the selection is truly insane and the vehicles are nicely modelled. Anyway, I could go on, but I am starting to feel overwhelmed just listing the options out.

The voice acting and script is top notch. They had access to some real talent when they made this game. You have three different starting paths at the beginning of the game and you need to choose one. I don’t remember the option, I think it was nomad or something along those lines. Some games do have annoying dialog and voice talent, which can lead to burn out, but this game isn’t one of them.

It’s not that I avoid complex games. I have played many games with deep plots, vast skill trees, and control schemes that leave your hands feeling nicely tenderized.

My symptoms are not unique. I have read and listened to similar comments from other people. At some point on their journey, a few decided to clench their buttocks and learn this system. This system that is posing as a game. In the aftermath, all of them said that it was worth the effort. In this round, I would like to get a little further than I did in my last attempt.

Basically, I am trying to find the fun, and I will let you know when I do.

Categories: Games, Steam
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