Speaking from 15 hours or so of play on the PS5 in Fidelity with Ray Tracing mode, the game is gorgeous and plays smoothly for me. I did search up some recommended HDR settings which helped extensively, though as some sites recommended turning off frame capping, i chose not to as i felt it made the backgrounds pretty bad when moving the camera. Capping the framerate has kept it smooth. I haven't experienced any loading screens transitioning from room to room, only when using the Floo network to travel have i had a brief loading screen. As for the story and content, if you are a fan of the Wizarding World and lore, then you will likely find this a 9 as you are likely to overlook the fact that the story is somewhat cookie cutter like most of the usual tropes used in RPG games these days. Like most modern media, the ability to tell truly original tales gets harder and harder. If you know absolutely nothing about Harry Potter or the world it all exists in, you will likely find the game pretty, but once the sights' and sounds' newness wears off, you will find it entertaining but not earth shattering. In that respect i'd say a 9 if you enjoyed any of the Wizarding World movies, books, or previous games, 7.5-8 if you've heard of Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts but never actually watched a movie for any of them. You might like it, but it won't wow you the same way.
As for the hooplah surrounding JKR, I think folks can think for themselves and make their own decisions as to whether they buy the game or not. The views of the world creator that optioned rights to use her world and lore to a game company is not germane to how good or ill the game itself is. If your personal views and politics means you won't play the game, that is not commentary on the quality of the game. There are plenty of games, movies, books, and other entertainment vehicles where the views/behaviors of the creators, or the subject matter of the content does not sit well with everyone. This is especially true in film. That doesn't mean the quality of the production itself is poor. For all the slinging of names at JKR and for all the aspersions as to her character that have been hurled, what has become quite obvious is that there will never be discussions that can lead to changing hearts and minds as long as one side claims sole authority that any counter view automatically is null and void, and can only be attributed to the worst motivations. There are a host of competing rights surrounding this issue, and it is pure arrogance to assume that any one side has the sole monopoly on determining whose rights are more important. Regardless of all of that, games CAN be a unifying force where gamers can check their personal beliefs at the door and enjoy a game for what it is with their fellow gamers. That all of the social commentary is turning this game into a source of division in some circles is probably the greater tragedy.
I think there are definitely unknowns regarding the story content. For the alpha, they started you at the very beginning with the opening tutorial like mission with a couple follow-on missions that actually gave you a starting point and point of reference with the story. The demo (beta, hate calling it a demo) dropped somewhere farther in the soup at level 10 with no point of reference or context for the story. Pretty much how I'd expect a D2 player to feel without knowing anything about lore or story from D1. So in that respect, it makes it hard to judge the story content quality. I enjoyed the story part much more in the alpha just because it slowly lead you into the story. Your Cortex would populate as you went to fill in the story details and references, instead of dropping you in partway then telling you "now go read this encyclopedia on this other screen to understand what is going on and what anything means.".
Fort Tarsis/1st person walking definitely needs some help. At a minimum, add a sprint option. Nobody wants to saunter to their Javelin.
Performance is a mixed bag, and it's a bag they need straightened out. I was playing on a PS4 Pro with 150mbps service, my 2 friends were on original PS4's. 1 with 500mbps and 1 at 60mbps. Outside of the insanity that was rubber banding hell in free roam on Friday and Saturday morning, we didn't really experience much in the way of performance issues once we were actually in the mission or Stronghold (getting booted counting as connection issue not performance), but obviously there were a lot of people who had consistently crappy performance. I know a friend on Xbox said the frames per second were abysmal to the point of unplayable Friday and most of Saturday but seemed to stabilize Saturday night. Can't speak to what I didn't see though, can only say what I saw.
Mission replay is absolutely an issue. I just don't know though if that was as an issue just related to alpha/demo, or if it will be the same at launch. There have been tooltips saying you can replay a mission a from the map, but i know it was disabled in both alpha and demo. Only way you were replaying a mission you completed is if you matchmaked and landed in one, or if you were partied (premade) with someone who hadn't completed a mission in which case as the party leader, you can select it, even if you personally no longer had that mission. I'm going to assume you will be able to replay those in full release, otherwise, yeah, content burn is gonna be real. On the matchmaking side, I never solo matched myself into anything, I was either solo in missions and set to private, or i had 2 others, launched the Stronghold, and had our 1 vacant spot filled by a pug. We never failed to get our 1 pug.
Totally agree about getting pulled forward by the leader. Highly annoying. If Free Roam areas are going to have artificial boundaries that send you back into the zone, that too is going to be annoying and disappointing. I haven't seen details yet (that i know of) regarding how the free roam is supposed to be implemented at launch. My hope is that all those zones will be connected, and that the artificial boundaries were just gating off areas they didnt want players going to during the limited content/context of the demo.
I'm a total D1 and D2 fan. I just don't consider D2 a good comparison because it is built on the story, lore, and character development of a whole other game (D1), and the extremely harsh lessons learned from D1. Heck, even D2 post Forsaken is a vastly improved game over original launch (Gambit, where have you been my whole life?!). The early days (i.e. the 1st 6 months) of D1 were rough. It was pretty, and the gameplay were fun, but nobody could follow the story. The Dinklebot cost them a crud ton of money. And it wasn't until they got a Cayde 6 centric expansion (thank you Nathan Fillion) that folks suddenly went "Man these other Guardians are awesome!". I chalk that squarely in the column of a big win by improving their story/dialogue writers. There was a long slow walk though from launch to Taken King.
Bungie made it's name on Halo. It's what gave them the buzz for people to be so hyped for a new IP from them when they first announced Destiny. Even though they didn't deliver much of what they talked about during development, they did bring the game along to a place that most people were happy with. They learned from some brutal missteps so that D2 was a good follow-up. Bioware has been known for doing good story content, writing, and RPG's for a while. They suffer from the same high expectations, that also gets clouded by the crapstorm of distaste (rightfully earned) for EA and the way they do business. The open beta this weekend will either improve opinions, or confirm for some that it's a visually pretty crap sandwich. Come launch time, it'll have the goods to make people play, or it'll be a bitter disapointment....or somewhere in between. By then, there will plenty of reviewers, streamers, and commentators throwing out how they see things, and the gaming population will do the rest.
At least i know if it does turn out to be a crap sammich, i can be content that it won't be my first or last roll of the dice (Damn you Monster Hunter World!!!!).
So just some points from the Demo weekend (be real, closed beta).
Water: There is no combat, it's just movement. Whether it's just load masking, really don't know. I remember during the alpha that there was a door you had to interact with while underwater on amission, but again, it's always movement/traversal stuff, not combat. Whether there is something more significant that will be done in water when the full content is online, totally unknown.
Connection/Load Issues: The struggle was real for a lot of people. 2 of my friends couldn't get in until Saturday morning, while I was able to get in on Friday with no login issues. The 95% load then freeze bug happened to everyone, repeatedly. You'd kill the game, relaunch, rejoin your expedition and move on. They know it's one of the biggest issues from this weekend, so I imagine they're working to solve that and the initial login glut before the open beta this next weekend.
Crashes: i only crashed once to the blue "report the error" screen, and only kicked back to Fort Tarsis from a stronghold mission once. This doesn't mean that Stronghold runs were problem free beyond that, just that a true crash was rare. Had a couple times where someone got booted during the last fight on the Stronghold, and when they reconnected, were on the the wrong side of a locked door to the boss room.
Actual Gameplay: Not gonna lie, it's beautiful on a PS4 pro, with a 4k TV and HDR. While there was rubberbanding for me in Free Roam areas on Friday, i didnt really experience rubberbanding after that. Some did. At least those in my party really didn't. The transition from ground, to flight, to hover, and back, all works really well. It's like web swinging in Spiderman, it never really gets old. The mission maps feel really large and open, with really high "ceilings" so that you get the feel that elevation/flight changes your battlefield conditions. Some of the areas of the Stronghold run really played into that. Down on the ground was turning into pure chaos. Sitting on a high mountain ledge outside the immediate area of combat destroying things with a sniper rifle firing explosive rounds is immensely satisfying. The Javelins are very distinctive and unique both in their gameplay, customizations, and roles. You want slow, clunky, and a butt load of weapons, Colussus is your Javelin of choice (i played it most over the weekend). You want speed and melee, the Interceptor is your power armored ninja suit of choice. My friend played Storm almost all weekend, his take was "Total glass canon, but once I figured out the finesse behind it, i can setup combos for everyone for days, and still live." The weapon, components, and support loadouts change the javelins fairly significantly. Example being a Colossus that swaps out mortars from the Ordnance Launcher to a Shock Coil that generates an electric AoE field around him that wrecks shields for anyone near him. Or swapping out a Support component that allows him to taunt mobs in an area, for one that gives everyone a 33% incoming damage reduction buff. There are a lot of weapon, gear, component, and support component options, and some that are very particular to specific Javelins. You can stack a team with 4 Colossus, and have every single one of them with completely different loadouts.
Single/MP: With the exception of Free Roam areas, and Strongholds, the game can be set to private, and you can run solo. The mobs scale in strength and number based off the amount of people in it, so yes, you can solo in the game. There is no denying that it is meant to shine and encourage mp play though. Performing combos (1 player freezes a group and another drops explosive damage on them) gives bonus XP, playing with other people rewards additional XP. Loot you pickup along the way is awarded at the end of a mission/Stronghold/Free Roam, so it encourages seeing something through instead of "Oh, i got this gun i was looking for, im out". There was no forced voice chat or anything, and 85% of my matchmaker partners were helpful and fun. 15% were the "run ahead and die all the time" type.
Challenges: I like the challenge system. Complete challenges (like get 50 kills with the CloudBurst auto cannon on a collusus) and you unlock blueprints to craft your own gear. Not just the initial items, but increasing rariety as well (the usual basic, uncommon, rare, epic). Again, something where MP play pays off. Lot easier to wrack up combos with other people, though, you can loadout a javelin with the right gear so that you can do your own combos (a la Ranger javelin with a frost grenade and a seeker missile).
Javelins: Customize aesthetics to your heart's content. Originally in the demo they limited you to 1 to start with, and the ability to unlock one additional 2 levels later. Yesterday they flipped the switch and let you unlock them all. Played everything but the Storm.
They absolutely have some issues to fix. If they can resolve the big 3 (login issue, 95% load issue, and rubberbanding/latency for some), then i think they can probably get enough breathing room to get the game off the ground and fix/tune as they go from there. End of the day, there were very real problems, but for those that actually got to get into the content, it shined and looks to be a pretty awesome experience to jump in.
Just an after note: Destiny 1 did not launch in a beautiful bundle of perfect stable joy. It was a sh*t show that they had to patch the heck out of to bring along. They got there, and they took the lessons learned into D2 to make a much better (and smoother) launch. They also started with 1 raid and a handful of strikes. Comparing D1 or D2 at this stage of their roadmap to a new IP is not apples to apples. Yes, it is absolutely possible that Anthem will not have enough launch content to appease the masses, and if they don't, it will show, and they'll suffer for it. It's also just as likely that there will be a decent amount of launch content with additional content as time goes on. They turned Star Wars Old Republic F2P years ago, and they are still cranking out new content for it. At this stage, it's moot for me. I preordered before there was even mention of the VIP demo because Ironman suits + Bioware was enough to have me roll dice that it wouldnt suck. The rest will be what it will be once it actually launches.
Comments 3
Re: Hogwarts Legacy (PS5) - A Harry Potter Dream Come True
Speaking from 15 hours or so of play on the PS5 in Fidelity with Ray Tracing mode, the game is gorgeous and plays smoothly for me. I did search up some recommended HDR settings which helped extensively, though as some sites recommended turning off frame capping, i chose not to as i felt it made the backgrounds pretty bad when moving the camera. Capping the framerate has kept it smooth. I haven't experienced any loading screens transitioning from room to room, only when using the Floo network to travel have i had a brief loading screen. As for the story and content, if you are a fan of the Wizarding World and lore, then you will likely find this a 9 as you are likely to overlook the fact that the story is somewhat cookie cutter like most of the usual tropes used in RPG games these days. Like most modern media, the ability to tell truly original tales gets harder and harder. If you know absolutely nothing about Harry Potter or the world it all exists in, you will likely find the game pretty, but once the sights' and sounds' newness wears off, you will find it entertaining but not earth shattering. In that respect i'd say a 9 if you enjoyed any of the Wizarding World movies, books, or previous games, 7.5-8 if you've heard of Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts but never actually watched a movie for any of them. You might like it, but it won't wow you the same way.
As for the hooplah surrounding JKR, I think folks can think for themselves and make their own decisions as to whether they buy the game or not. The views of the world creator that optioned rights to use her world and lore to a game company is not germane to how good or ill the game itself is. If your personal views and politics means you won't play the game, that is not commentary on the quality of the game. There are plenty of games, movies, books, and other entertainment vehicles where the views/behaviors of the creators, or the subject matter of the content does not sit well with everyone. This is especially true in film. That doesn't mean the quality of the production itself is poor. For all the slinging of names at JKR and for all the aspersions as to her character that have been hurled, what has become quite obvious is that there will never be discussions that can lead to changing hearts and minds as long as one side claims sole authority that any counter view automatically is null and void, and can only be attributed to the worst motivations. There are a host of competing rights surrounding this issue, and it is pure arrogance to assume that any one side has the sole monopoly on determining whose rights are more important. Regardless of all of that, games CAN be a unifying force where gamers can check their personal beliefs at the door and enjoy a game for what it is with their fellow gamers. That all of the social commentary is turning this game into a source of division in some circles is probably the greater tragedy.
Re: Hands On: ANTHEM Shows Promise in VIP Demo, But the Finished Game Needs to Be So Much Better
I think there are definitely unknowns regarding the story content. For the alpha, they started you at the very beginning with the opening tutorial like mission with a couple follow-on missions that actually gave you a starting point and point of reference with the story. The demo (beta, hate calling it a demo) dropped somewhere farther in the soup at level 10 with no point of reference or context for the story. Pretty much how I'd expect a D2 player to feel without knowing anything about lore or story from D1. So in that respect, it makes it hard to judge the story content quality. I enjoyed the story part much more in the alpha just because it slowly lead you into the story. Your Cortex would populate as you went to fill in the story details and references, instead of dropping you in partway then telling you "now go read this encyclopedia on this other screen to understand what is going on and what anything means.".
Fort Tarsis/1st person walking definitely needs some help. At a minimum, add a sprint option. Nobody wants to saunter to their Javelin.
Performance is a mixed bag, and it's a bag they need straightened out. I was playing on a PS4 Pro with 150mbps service, my 2 friends were on original PS4's. 1 with 500mbps and 1 at 60mbps. Outside of the insanity that was rubber banding hell in free roam on Friday and Saturday morning, we didn't really experience much in the way of performance issues once we were actually in the mission or Stronghold (getting booted counting as connection issue not performance), but obviously there were a lot of people who had consistently crappy performance. I know a friend on Xbox said the frames per second were abysmal to the point of unplayable Friday and most of Saturday but seemed to stabilize Saturday night. Can't speak to what I didn't see though, can only say what I saw.
Mission replay is absolutely an issue. I just don't know though if that was as an issue just related to alpha/demo, or if it will be the same at launch. There have been tooltips saying you can replay a mission a from the map, but i know it was disabled in both alpha and demo. Only way you were replaying a mission you completed is if you matchmaked and landed in one, or if you were partied (premade) with someone who hadn't completed a mission in which case as the party leader, you can select it, even if you personally no longer had that mission. I'm going to assume you will be able to replay those in full release, otherwise, yeah, content burn is gonna be real. On the matchmaking side, I never solo matched myself into anything, I was either solo in missions and set to private, or i had 2 others, launched the Stronghold, and had our 1 vacant spot filled by a pug. We never failed to get our 1 pug.
Totally agree about getting pulled forward by the leader. Highly annoying. If Free Roam areas are going to have artificial boundaries that send you back into the zone, that too is going to be annoying and disappointing. I haven't seen details yet (that i know of) regarding how the free roam is supposed to be implemented at launch. My hope is that all those zones will be connected, and that the artificial boundaries were just gating off areas they didnt want players going to during the limited content/context of the demo.
I'm a total D1 and D2 fan. I just don't consider D2 a good comparison because it is built on the story, lore, and character development of a whole other game (D1), and the extremely harsh lessons learned from D1. Heck, even D2 post Forsaken is a vastly improved game over original launch (Gambit, where have you been my whole life?!). The early days (i.e. the 1st 6 months) of D1 were rough. It was pretty, and the gameplay were fun, but nobody could follow the story. The Dinklebot cost them a crud ton of money. And it wasn't until they got a Cayde 6 centric expansion (thank you Nathan Fillion) that folks suddenly went "Man these other Guardians are awesome!". I chalk that squarely in the column of a big win by improving their story/dialogue writers. There was a long slow walk though from launch to Taken King.
Bungie made it's name on Halo. It's what gave them the buzz for people to be so hyped for a new IP from them when they first announced Destiny. Even though they didn't deliver much of what they talked about during development, they did bring the game along to a place that most people were happy with. They learned from some brutal missteps so that D2 was a good follow-up. Bioware has been known for doing good story content, writing, and RPG's for a while. They suffer from the same high expectations, that also gets clouded by the crapstorm of distaste (rightfully earned) for EA and the way they do business. The open beta this weekend will either improve opinions, or confirm for some that it's a visually pretty crap sandwich. Come launch time, it'll have the goods to make people play, or it'll be a bitter disapointment....or somewhere in between. By then, there will plenty of reviewers, streamers, and commentators throwing out how they see things, and the gaming population will do the rest.
At least i know if it does turn out to be a crap sammich, i can be content that it won't be my first or last roll of the dice (Damn you Monster Hunter World!!!!).
Re: Hands On: ANTHEM Shows Promise in VIP Demo, But the Finished Game Needs to Be So Much Better
So just some points from the Demo weekend (be real, closed beta).
Water: There is no combat, it's just movement. Whether it's just load masking, really don't know. I remember during the alpha that there was a door you had to interact with while underwater on amission, but again, it's always movement/traversal stuff, not combat. Whether there is something more significant that will be done in water when the full content is online, totally unknown.
Connection/Load Issues: The struggle was real for a lot of people. 2 of my friends couldn't get in until Saturday morning, while I was able to get in on Friday with no login issues. The 95% load then freeze bug happened to everyone, repeatedly. You'd kill the game, relaunch, rejoin your expedition and move on. They know it's one of the biggest issues from this weekend, so I imagine they're working to solve that and the initial login glut before the open beta this next weekend.
Crashes: i only crashed once to the blue "report the error" screen, and only kicked back to Fort Tarsis from a stronghold mission once. This doesn't mean that Stronghold runs were problem free beyond that, just that a true crash was rare. Had a couple times where someone got booted during the last fight on the Stronghold, and when they reconnected, were on the the wrong side of a locked door to the boss room.
Actual Gameplay: Not gonna lie, it's beautiful on a PS4 pro, with a 4k TV and HDR. While there was rubberbanding for me in Free Roam areas on Friday, i didnt really experience rubberbanding after that. Some did. At least those in my party really didn't. The transition from ground, to flight, to hover, and back, all works really well. It's like web swinging in Spiderman, it never really gets old. The mission maps feel really large and open, with really high "ceilings" so that you get the feel that elevation/flight changes your battlefield conditions. Some of the areas of the Stronghold run really played into that. Down on the ground was turning into pure chaos. Sitting on a high mountain ledge outside the immediate area of combat destroying things with a sniper rifle firing explosive rounds is immensely satisfying. The Javelins are very distinctive and unique both in their gameplay, customizations, and roles. You want slow, clunky, and a butt load of weapons, Colussus is your Javelin of choice (i played it most over the weekend). You want speed and melee, the Interceptor is your power armored ninja suit of choice. My friend played Storm almost all weekend, his take was "Total glass canon, but once I figured out the finesse behind it, i can setup combos for everyone for days, and still live." The weapon, components, and support loadouts change the javelins fairly significantly. Example being a Colossus that swaps out mortars from the Ordnance Launcher to a Shock Coil that generates an electric AoE field around him that wrecks shields for anyone near him. Or swapping out a Support component that allows him to taunt mobs in an area, for one that gives everyone a 33% incoming damage reduction buff. There are a lot of weapon, gear, component, and support component options, and some that are very particular to specific Javelins. You can stack a team with 4 Colossus, and have every single one of them with completely different loadouts.
Single/MP: With the exception of Free Roam areas, and Strongholds, the game can be set to private, and you can run solo. The mobs scale in strength and number based off the amount of people in it, so yes, you can solo in the game. There is no denying that it is meant to shine and encourage mp play though. Performing combos (1 player freezes a group and another drops explosive damage on them) gives bonus XP, playing with other people rewards additional XP. Loot you pickup along the way is awarded at the end of a mission/Stronghold/Free Roam, so it encourages seeing something through instead of "Oh, i got this gun i was looking for, im out". There was no forced voice chat or anything, and 85% of my matchmaker partners were helpful and fun. 15% were the "run ahead and die all the time" type.
Challenges: I like the challenge system. Complete challenges (like get 50 kills with the CloudBurst auto cannon on a collusus) and you unlock blueprints to craft your own gear. Not just the initial items, but increasing rariety as well (the usual basic, uncommon, rare, epic). Again, something where MP play pays off. Lot easier to wrack up combos with other people, though, you can loadout a javelin with the right gear so that you can do your own combos (a la Ranger javelin with a frost grenade and a seeker missile).
Javelins: Customize aesthetics to your heart's content. Originally in the demo they limited you to 1 to start with, and the ability to unlock one additional 2 levels later. Yesterday they flipped the switch and let you unlock them all. Played everything but the Storm.
They absolutely have some issues to fix. If they can resolve the big 3 (login issue, 95% load issue, and rubberbanding/latency for some), then i think they can probably get enough breathing room to get the game off the ground and fix/tune as they go from there. End of the day, there were very real problems, but for those that actually got to get into the content, it shined and looks to be a pretty awesome experience to jump in.
Just an after note: Destiny 1 did not launch in a beautiful bundle of perfect stable joy. It was a sh*t show that they had to patch the heck out of to bring along. They got there, and they took the lessons learned into D2 to make a much better (and smoother) launch. They also started with 1 raid and a handful of strikes. Comparing D1 or D2 at this stage of their roadmap to a new IP is not apples to apples. Yes, it is absolutely possible that Anthem will not have enough launch content to appease the masses, and if they don't, it will show, and they'll suffer for it. It's also just as likely that there will be a decent amount of launch content with additional content as time goes on. They turned Star Wars Old Republic F2P years ago, and they are still cranking out new content for it. At this stage, it's moot for me. I preordered before there was even mention of the VIP demo because Ironman suits + Bioware was enough to have me roll dice that it wouldnt suck. The rest will be what it will be once it actually launches.