Deathloop

johnny_ultimate

Digital Foundry early analysis here, and they highly recommend Performance mode over the two others on PS5: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2021-deathloop-ps5-graphics-modes-compared-which-is-the-best-way-to-play

Apparently quite a heavy game so some reports of performance struggles on PC. But would it truly be an Arkane game without performance struggles? :)

Mr Crispy

I'm sure the presence of Denuvo isn't helping.

Cordell

I really don't get why the industry is still using this kind of invasive DRM when it was proven times and times again (and a few times embarrassingly so) that it doesn't stop piracy and it only makes things worse for the honest gamer.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117890908#Comment_117890908

I played about an hour so far on PS5, and in a menu to add trinkets to my gun, the menu overlay wouldn't go away when I exited out of it, even back to the main menu. Had to close the game (luckily was finishing up anyway). So not the best of starts in that sense.

Enjoyed the gameplay so far though. Simplistic so far, but obviously no real abilities or anything yet. Story and world seems interesting.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117890877#Comment_117890877

You never say something is impossible to a speedrunner.

johnny_ultimate

Enjoying it so far, but too early to have much more of an opinion than ‘a more action-orientated Dishonoured’.

The turrets seem delightfully overpowered? Just pop one up quietly behind a group of enemies and let the machine do the hard work for you.

Runs well on PS5 but had one nasty temporary lock up after leaving the apartment for the first time. Thought it was going to crash but it didn’t in the end. Thankfully survived the firefight it happened in the middle of!

Where's the cheapest place to get this on Ps5?

nullObjects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117891111#Comment_117891111

Same I've seen a few small glitches and things. I'd say they'll have them patched quick enough.

I had one where I couldn't move, could just rotate on the spot, was a bit weird.

Enjoying it so far too but haven't really uncovered much of the plot, have just been messing around and exploring

Soby

Enjoying it so far , tried to play as Julianna but couldn't get into a game

Retr0gamer

Looking like this game is a total mess on PC. Wondering if it's denuvo or the actual engine. I remember having severe issues with Dishonored 2 on launch. Had a new top end pc and was getting less than 10 frames per second. Could be the void engine.

iamtony

Had very little interest in this game but the reviews and Smyth's vouchers I have, have persuadede. On my way to drop kids to the pavillion and I'll hit Smyths on my way back.

Penn

Threw a few hours into it last night. Have progressed to where I can infuse and start following proper leads etc.

The game is fantastic so far. Only issue is it can be very difficult to track enemies, and maps of the areas are near pointless. The nail gun is ridiculously OP though, which I'm really thankful for.

Really wish the game was third-person though. I generally dislike first-person games which involve platforming, climbing and shooting. Most of my deaths so far have been from falling into water due to mis-judging a jump.

Zero-Cool

Okay, with all the kerfuffle with this recently, I decided to check it out and it actually sounds class. But then, so did Dishonored and I couldn't get into either of those games (didn't give them a good enough go probably but they didn't grab me). I don't know what it is about Arkane games and me but really really want to try this.

johnny_ultimate

To be honest, I've been struck by how similar to Dishonoured it is. There's a lot of the fundamental gameplay mechanics that are identical, and the basic sneaking/planning is very similar moment to moment (although that's true of many immersive sims). Even visually it's quite similar - things like the shutters used to show which doors you can't go through immediately reminded me of Dishonoured.

What's interesting is how they've changed the formula. Bodies disappearing instantly adds a major point of difference, and shows the focus on more action. The structure also suggests to me designers working out a reason to have players try different approaches to the same content. With Dishonoured many (myself included) will have played through the campaign one way and been done with it. This game's repetition pretty much demands you explore more to keep things interesting.

I am enjoying it plenty so far, now that it's settled into its groove. The tutorial is clunky as hell at times and way too long, and the menus / UI needed another few passes as they're an absolute mess at the moment (cursor navigation on console 👎🏻). It's also far more linear / hand-holdy in its objectives than I expected. Not entirely sold on whether the locations are interesting enough to keep revisiting over and over. But it certainly has plenty going for it, and it's certainly fun figuring out some of the secrets the games hold. It is very Dishonoured IMO, but it's always interesting to see a familiar style from a fresh design perspective.

Deathloop is to Dishonoured as Bloodborne is to Dark Souls - an action-focused take on a very familiar formula.

Zero-Cool

Well I'm intrigued about, have it reserved for collection tomorrow, looking forward to giving it a lash at the weekend.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899540#Comment_117899540

I never said it was just an action-focused Dishonoured, but I do think it feels remarkably like a faster version of that game in much of the minute to minute gameplay :) I mean, all the powers - pivotal to how we play the game - are borrowed directly from that D1+2 with a few tweaks here and there. But certainly all the structural things, the tone and lots of small details ensure this has significant points of difference to Arkane’s most famous series. It’s a mix of the new and familiar - again, similar to Bloodborne / Sekiro.

UI wise I just think a lot of info is buried under layers of menus and submenus. There’s lots of poorly explained icons scattered throughout the menus - for example, the way some objectives have an extra triangular emphasis or the separate icons for non-infused and equipped items. I’m not a UI designer so can only say it feels a bit confusing to use - albeit one Ive adjusted to as I progress. I’d certainly make navigating menus non-cursor based or at the very least have the cursor snap to different boxes as appropriate. I think there’s also some unnecessary ‘hold button for a second too long to do this prompt’ bits - not always instinctively clear you need to hold down a particular button rather than just press it. Also think the way some of the tutorial text pops up in little white text in the middle of the screen was awkward. It just feels somewhat unpolished and messy in some UI details - partially a result of lots of interlocking systems to illustrate, but I definitely don’t think it’s particularly controller friendly with its free-moving cursor (ironically, I’ve heard some PC users complain the interface seems too console focused 🤷🏻‍♂️).

The ‘detective’ angle has certainly come more to the forefront as I dig deeper, and I’m really enjoying it. I do think the game fills in a lot of the blanks for you before you even have a chance to do it yourself, and ultimately by default the game gives you lots of overt objectives about what you can do next - ‘handholdy’ in that sense. BUT there’s still plenty of satisfaction to be found in putting the many pieces in the right place, figuring out little puzzles, and digging up secrets. If it’s a little bit less satisfying than say Outer Wilds or Obra Dinn in that sense, it’s still fantastic to see bigger games embrace some of the design lessons and choices from those games.

Zero-Cool

Had a quick go, just got to the start of the complex, man I love Colt already, what a great character. Really liking the premise and looking forward to it opening up like ye say. Had some bad freezing issues in the first section but i read that stop happening and my ps5 makes a weird noise during loading screens.

I usually turn off haptics and vibration in games but loving it in this, great use of it for the weapons.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117907796#Comment_117907796

Just to stress, it's not the menu / UI I find handholdy (although obviously it influences the UI prompts) - it's the way information and objectives are handled in gameplay. I think the game often puts 2 + 2 together for the player before they even have a chance to really have that 'aha!' moment for themselves :) A lot of the investigation work is automated, with the game always highlighting the right critical path for the player. I understand why they settled on that as a design choice, of course, just means the 'aha' moments aren't quite the thrill of an Obra Dinn revelation or similar game. Still think it's a lot of fun sneaking around and often seeing what Cole's seeing for the first time too, especially when you're a step ahead of what the game's going to add to your list of intel, leads and objectives.

And yes I still believe the menus are messy and confusing at first - I have absolutely adjusted to them, albeit simply because it's what's in front of me. I do think it's counter-intuitive to have an icon for an item that's equipped and an item that's not infused right beside each other, for example - I understand it now that I've played the game, just think it's a clunky design choice. With triangular emphasis, I mean this little icon beneath the second objective. Looks visually messy to me on top of the diamond icon:

None of these are anywhere near gamebreakers, and if it seems like I'm nitpicking it's simply to explain my issues - I've adjusted to them, and certainly don't underestimate the task the designers had in pulling everything together. But I also can't deny the first hour or two and first real dig around in the menus felt a tad unpolished and clunky to me - you're more than free to disagree. Thankfully, it's a damn good game overall and I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with it - although the cursor-based navigation is still shite ;)

Cordell

So far the best game I've played this year bar Ancient Gods part 2 which I don't consider a full game.

Penn

Think I'm close to zeroing in on the main plan of attack. Only thing I'm having trouble with is trying to remember which codes etc I might need and whether or not they change every loop.

I've only been playing single player, but man even when the AI Julianna invades, the tenseness goes through the roof.

johnny_ultimate

I do really like that Juliana and the other visionaries only take a few hits to go down (or indeed can be stealth killed if you play your cards right). They obviously have their skills to give them an edge over the randoms, but feels very satisfying that they’re not overpowered bullet sponges.

Penn

To be honest, I wouldn't be a huge fan of some of the menu and UI design either. The menu when it comes to sorting out trinkets can be a pain, especially later in the game when you can collect so many in one map (Including multiples of same). Plus not being able to check what the weapon trait is on your weapon while in the game (other than dropping your weapon by picking up another one). That one annoyed me a few times.

It's all manageable, but just feels clunky at times.