Deathloop

JimBurnley · 19-09-2021 10:29AM

I don't play many first person games, find myself getting disorientated too easily. But couldn't resist this based on the style in previews and then glowing reviews. Couple of hours in and zero regrets so far. Colt is a cracking character, could have been written by Tarantino. There's a genuine sense of multiple ways of doing stuff, yet you can follow the highlighted objectives if getting stuck or looking for something more linear. Looking forward to diving further in

Penn · 19-09-2021 06:25PM

Broke the loop. Really loved it. By the time all the pieces fall into place its actually quite easy because you'll have been through the areas and enacted the parts of the plan a few times before doing it as a whole.

Hardest part is just Julianna and her tendency to show up at the worst moments (usually with Havoc too making her a bit of a bullet sponge).

Still finding new side quest items as I was going along too, some things I want to see how they play out or what the rewards are. Plus I haven't tried playing as Julianna yet either.

The Phantom Pain · 19-09-2021 11:15PM

There's still stuff I'm discovering all the time. Like the guy in Karl's Bay playing guitar on the high rock:

If you don't kill him and observe him throughout the entire loop he eventually improves and starts playing like a badass.

The Phantom Pain · 19-09-2021 11:16PM

btw really like this song that plays in Fristad Rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPPM7YNsiO8

McDermotX · 20-09-2021 06:40PM

Probably come back to it when it's patched up.......way too many lockups resulting in game exits to be really enjoyable. Still at the point of it of waiting for it to grab me in any case........want to like it given what seems to be popular opinion with regard to its inventiveness, despite the rudimentary UI, but too many bugs at play for now.

Cordell · 20-09-2021 06:51PM

No issues so far on PC bar some NPCs rubberbanding/teleporting which is weird considering I play offline.

juliannashotme unlocks the public beta channel on Steam, just in case.

Penn · 20-09-2021 08:06PM

Never had issues as Colt, but twice now playing as Julianna I've gotten stuck in the landscape and unable to move, making me easy pickings for Colt (as it usually happens while I'm trying to dodge, duck, dip, dive and... dodge during a fight).

Playing as Julianna kinda sucks too. As most players play stealthily it can take ages trying to find Colt. And then it's usually over pretty quickly.

The Phantom Pain · 20-09-2021 10:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117917038#Comment_117917038

Not for me. There's nowhere a player Colt can hide from me. 😜

I remember somebody tried to camp under Aleksis manor with mines and tripwires. Couldn't see the Colt player but the mines were a dead giveaway and seeing as I knew the manor pretty well I figured they were likely just camping there expecting me to try and shoot or defuse the mines. The silly moo didn't seem to clock that they were surrounded by gas tanks so I just shot the tanks and the next thing I knew I got the notification that the player was dead.

If you know the maps well the player Colt is easy to find and extremely predictable.

The Phantom Pain · 21-09-2021 12:04AM

Also, place a mine next to the antenna or the tunnels. They tend to panic on their last life and try to escape without thinking. Got someone just now doing that lol.

Niska · 21-09-2021 10:39AM

Broke the loop last night - really enjoyed the game. Goo d mixture of the what I liked about Dishonored series (the powers and open world / open path maps) and nice gunplay. Nice progression of power as you advance, until that magic point where you feel the minions are trivial (but don't get cocky, kid).

Will give Julianna a go this evening and might go back to some areas to find all the secrets.

SomeSayKos · 21-09-2021 12:00PM

I pretty much ignored this game for the last couple of years as the marketing seemed really off, however i impulsively bought it at the weekend due to no other PS5 tickling my fancy and I'm really enjoying it so far.

The game starts pretty slow and it seemed like i was still in tutorial mode for a couple of hours but once the game begins to open up it's very impressive.

My main quibbles are some of the dialogue seems a bit too 'try hard' at times in terms of the swearing. Don't get me wrong, I like swearing as much as the next c**t but it seems a bit naff at times. Having said that though I think the characters are very interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more as the game goes on.

The AI is really really dumb which is pretty immersion-breaking at times. You can be in a full blown firefight and there's enemies that are clearly in range but don't get aggro'd.

The thing I'm enjoying most about the game is the world and for me it's the real star of the show. The graphic design, architecture and environmental storytelling are top notch.

Cordell · 21-09-2021 12:36PM

I really hate that you can only equip 2 slabs.

johnny_ultimate · 21-09-2021 12:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117919033#Comment_117919033

Really you can only choose one as the game isn't the same without Shift 😁

Cordell · 21-09-2021 01:13PM

True, and for me the second one is Karnesis, and I never touched them again.

Penn · 21-09-2021 01:26PM

Aether and Nexus for me the majority of the time. Most roofs etc were easy enough to climb without needing Shift (and oftentimes trying to see where you'd land with shift was a bit of a nightmare). Never bothered with Karnesis or Havoc at all, I went pure stealth as much as possible. Taking out groups of enemies with one nail due to Nexus... sublime.

By the end I was only switching Aether to Shift for Aleksis' party to make it easier to get into position.

EoinMcLovin · 22-09-2021 08:26PM

https://youtu.be/3ra-jkrurR4

----

Potential-Monke · 22-09-2021 09:37PM

So for those who have this, is it worth it? Is it worth all the big scores it's getting? Probably pick it up Friday.

The Phantom Pain · 22-09-2021 09:42PM

Literally just finished watching that! I love how noclip has just become the Arkane studios show lol

I laughed when Dinga said, "for some reason I'm used to seeing reviews come out slowly."

Yeah, you know exactly the reason why haha. Really insightful and confirmed a lot of my theories about how the game came about.

In other news, Deathloop is number 1 in the UK:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-09-21-deathloop-takes-no-1-in-dominant-week-for-ps5-uk-boxed-charts

The Phantom Pain · 22-09-2021 09:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117926376#Comment_117926376

I love it and can't get enough of it but no, you won't like it. If you have other games you're interested in getting probs best get them instead.

recyclops · 23-09-2021 11:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117926376#Comment_117926376

I am still waiting for it to grab me, I am almost certain it will but I probably need to give it a proper session, I do think some of the annoyances mentioned above about UI etc are true but if I get used to them over time it'll be a minor gripe.

Cordell · 23-09-2021 11:55AM

I have all lined up waiting for me to break the loop this evening :)

johnny_ultimate · 25-09-2021 02:53PM

Loop broken. Enjoyed the game a lot on the whole, although perhaps just ever so shy of peak Arkane for me. While I enjoyed the final loop, throughout the game I couldn't help but wish the game gave the player a little more leeway to put two-and-two together themselves. There are satisfying moments of discovery here, but compared to the peak exploration or 'information' games it definitely lacks that incredible sense of figuring out the big secrets or something major finally clicking into place. But there is fun to be had gradually lining up the dominoes for that one final push, even if the final push is very overtly spelt out for you.

The game is definitely more willing to make you completely overpowered compared to Dishonoured, which I do think works to its benefit. Towards the end when you have a few special weapons loaded with purple trinkets you'll be absolutely mowing through enemies - far more so than Dishonoured, Deathloop almost seems to prod you towards the chaotic path. Stealth is fine, especially when you finally have a decent slab and trinket setup (the hack from great distances trinket is hilariously overpowered), although with a couple of exceptions - such as the party - I often found it more efficient to simply let all hell break loose and pick off the dumb AI in a localised area.

Not entirely sure whether I liked or disliked the looter shooter element, although I'm perhaps leaning towards the latter. It was very satisfying to find one of the orange tier weapons by solving the puzzle attached to them. But the nature of the other random drops meant there was a whole lot of junk thrown the player's way. For example, I held off on the library and arsenal sections until later in the game... but in the end just found a bunch of generic weapons that weren't a patch on the ones I'd had for hours.

It's a good game overall with plenty to like. If it fell just a little short for me it was because it's doing some of the things a few of my favourite games from recent years are doing, just without the same level of trust in the player. But as a different spin on Arkane's brand of the immersive sim, it's a solid mix of the familiar and the refreshing.

Penn · 25-09-2021 04:09PM

I nearly wish more than anything that there were multiple ways to break the loop. Just one or two more options where you can gather different people into different configurations/locations.

The Phantom Pain · 25-09-2021 05:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117937957#Comment_117937957

That would have been pretty cool actually.

@ JU, stealth is very viable once you have the right trinkets and silent weapons. I stealthed the entirety of Updaam at night (Aleksis' party level) as it was one of the trophies needed for platinum and that is ridiculously easier than it first appears. The only thing I had to watch out for was the Julianna invasion but you can avoid her altogether if you keep your head down and use all the secret passageways.

Penn · 25-09-2021 06:10PM

Yeah I went stealth pretty much the entire game. Never even used Havoc or Karnesis until playing as Juliette. Aether, Nexus and Spiker gun. Probably made things take longer, but Nexus in particular made it so damn satisfying taking multiple enemies out with one shot.

johnny_ultimate · 25-09-2021 06:21PM

Stealth is definitely viable, although I found the nail gun I had (which tagged enemies in the area) was just a bit too inaccurate to be wholly relied on. Might have a look for other silenced weapons as I’d like to do a silent party run.

In contrast, I had two incredible shotguns to pick from and the incredible dual pistol / assault rifle combo weapon. They’d pick every enemy off with one shot. Just felt like the quickest way to clear a room or area, especially since the alarm systems usually seemed localised rather than level-wide.

Penn · 25-09-2021 06:26PM

The biggest issue I had with the nail gun was just that if I was using aether and was invisible, so was the sight on the gun, making it a lot harder to aim. But even then you're practically invisible when peeking over something anyway so it was usually the viable option.

johnny_ultimate · 25-09-2021 06:39PM

Ha, I ran into that invisible sights issue as well during my final run, was an absolute pain!

I do think the ending was pretty underwhelming:

Played through the perfect loop twice to see two of the different ones and while neither was great I much preferred the ‘don’t kill Juliana’ option. The two bantering for eternity seemed oddly apt to me. The ‘kill Juliana and break the loop’ one seemed far less satisfying, although I believe that’s considered the ‘good’ one 😅

The Phantom Pain · 25-09-2021 06:56PM

If you put trinkets on to make the nail gun more accurate you'll never miss. I memorised where the reticle was so the missing sights stopped being an issue when aether was activated. The silence tribunal is supposed to be very good but it's a rare drop and comes with the pre-order deluxe edition which I am sure is entirely coincidental... I prefer mainly close range takedowns anyway (you can take the gal out of Assassin's Creed...).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117938590#Comment_117938590

eta: Why does clicking on a quote send the post now ????

Anyway, what I was trying to say is that it's considered the "good ending" because not killing her just repeats the cycle. They've done the whole, "let's go for drinks" thing before and it always ends with him forgetting everything and trying to break the loop. At least with the loop broken they have a chance at a real relationship even if she is mad at him. There's actually a third ending you missed that I won't spoil.

I hope in the sequel we play as the other Colts. Alternatively, they may even introduce new characters seeing as the Aeon program can select any bright mind.

johnny_ultimate · 25-09-2021 07:47PM

I’m actually confused now which endings are considered ‘good’ and ‘bad’ - from what I was reading online the one I liked more wasn’t considered the ‘good’ one 😅 Will have to try the third one to see if that settles it 😎

Deathloop

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