GreedFall 2 - Impressions

HiddenX

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Gamepressure checked out GreedFall 2:

GreedFall 2: The Dying World Early Access Hands-on - “Look How They Massacred My Boy”

GreedFall 2 doesn't look like a sequel to the quite successful first game but rather like something completely new from a different team.

I remember the first GreedFall from 2019 perfectly. I didn't expect much, but instead I got a quite addictive game that took a lot of inspiration from The Witcher 3 and some Bioware games. After the quite successful Technomancer, the developers from Spiders studio created an even better action RPG with beautiful locations, great boss designs and a satisfying combat system. Sure, you could feel that it was a bit of a budget title, lacking in quality compared to the leading games, but this didn't affect its overall reception.

So it seemed that after such an uphill march, the second GreedFall could only be better. But the truth was quite surprising. GreedFall 2: The Dying World doesn't feel like a sequel, but rather a completely new game, made by a new team that focused on completely different mechanics. Moreover, only a very small portion of the game has been made available in early access so far, which does not help the overall reception. On the contrary – the poorly outlined plot and the terrible combat system are topped off by the poor technical condition of GreedFall 2. It's clear that this time the developers have changed their inspirations from The Witcher 3 to Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3 - and they might have slipped up a bit on this.

[...]
Thanks Couchpotato!

More information.
 
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As I noted in other threads earlier, I finished replay of my Greedfall and enjoyed it a lot (unlike my 1st run) - so now I am curious why GF2 EA is getting such a bad reception.

Reading through EA information and Steam reviews, I think other than change in combat from RT to RTwP, these are things I'm concerned about the nature of the main character. De Sardet was an interesting character because he/she was in a position of a legate / ambassador, trying to keep peace between all factions as a representative of Merchant Congregation. In GF2, you play as a Native and so far, they are presented as a victim (thus, less reason to maintain good relationship with other factions) which makes the character far less interesting than De Sardet (from what I read anyway).

Another thing that concerns me is, how well is this game presenting history / lore that was told in GF1? I got emotionally engaged with some of the companions and their factions from GF1 and some of the characters are returning in GF2 - which immediately caught my attention. But I'm sure there are newcomers for this game who haven't played / finished GF1. How well will the game fill in the lore and story for these people? This was an issue I had with Dragon's Dogma 2 - I had almost no knowledge about DD's world and lore and DD2 did a horrible job of recapping lore told from DD1 - which costed me significant amount of fun in my 1st playthrough. And Greedfall in general is more story driven game than DD. So very curious on this.
 
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Well based on stats and early previews looks like the game isn't doing so well.

As for me I wont play it till it's fully released.
 
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Isn't Greedfall 1 also RTwP? At least that's how I remember it.
Greedfall is more similar to ME2 combat (you don't need to pause often since you only control your character during combat) whereas Greedfall 2 is similar to Dragon Age: Origins combat (you can take control of all your party members so you pause more often). Also GF1 has block/parry mechanic which is more common with RT action combat. Hence GF1/ME2 combat felt more RT than RTwP.
 
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I purchased Greedfall 2 EA and playing it through now. I've played about 5 hours so far and here are my thoughts:

  • I love the art direction and details put into this game. It's so lovely, I'm in love the starting village. I wish we had housing option where we can decorate with these lovely assets.
  • They did a very good job of introducing players to new world and lore.
  • There is input lag when pressing on keys - not just during the combat but just in general (e.g. when I press M for the map, sometimes it doesn't register and I have to wait a bit and press M again. It's quite annoying.
  • Instead of the normal "highlight object" they implemented this thing called "tracking" and I'm not a big fan it because it turns the screen black/white and also slows down character movement.
  • Button bind is un-intuitive - we need to select slot then press Q then select move you want to bind. I don't understand why we can't just drop the ability/item into each slot using mouse.
  • Combat uses action point system that seem overly fussy. If I understand correctly, there is stat called "focus" which determines the max action point and it only gets recharged during combat by auto attacking. So, if you finished combat with 0 action point, then next combat, you need to auto attack enemies in order to generate action points before you can use any abilities. I'm finding it annoying. This also puts a huge focus on looting everything and/or investing in crafting so you can chug potions to heal instead of relying on your healing spells (because you can't cast healing spells without action point even outside of combat).
  • We can only equip 1 weapon this time instead of having option to equip melee, magic ring and ranged gun like in Greedfall 1. It's very limiting, making combat even more boring.
  • I think the beginning lacks charming characters to lift up the mood. Nilan (permanent Native companion) is really negative and its dampening the enjoyment. I like Sheda (temporary Native companion) but she isn't much of a mood lifter either. I guess devs intention maybe to set the darker tone of how Natives are suffering due to foreigners but its just less appealing than the beginning of GF1 with charming characters like Kurt, Vasco and Constantin.
  • Nilan is a real asshole and he is the only healer we get.... I hate him so much.
 
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Thanks for the feedback @purpleblob - how receptive are the devs to feedback in the EA (do they actually communicate...)? Sounds like there is quite a bit that could be tweaked to make the game more enjoyable...
According discord users, devs are active but I haven't seen a single dev joining in conversation so far. Maybe because it was weekend and they will be more active in next day or so.
 
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Ah ok, hope they respond to criticism and refine the game - that is supposedly the point of EA, not just early cash. I'll definitely keep an eye on it though
Unfortunately, I don't think devs are actually active on discord. If anything, there are some hardcore fans trying to rebuke any feedback that they don't agree with lol.

I will continue share my thoughts as I play through the game more and as EA gets updated but honestly, it's a shame. It has some really good parts but overall the experience is bogged down by terrible combat implementation and other technical issues currently.
 
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Unfortunately, I don't think devs are actually active on discord.
They read it. Community managers are active.

It has some really good parts but overall the experience is bogged down by terrible combat implementation and other technical issues
1. Its early in EA.
2. They are going to overhaul combat.
 
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1730791319118.jpeg

This kick animation is gold :ROFLMAO:
 
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More impression:

  • Ok, the game is crashing more often the more I play. It's crashed 10 times during my 10 hour game play so far. There were no crashes earlier on but now it's crashing every 0.5-1 hour or so.
  • I've been to quite a few different zones in EA and each zone is uniquely beautiful. I really wish we can get a house we can decorate. I'm particularly in love with Uxantis at the moment.
  • I didn't like that the game rushed me out of some areas. In GF1, we explored Teer Fradee. This time, we are exploring the main continent - i.e. where "renaigse" came from (so far, I've been to Olima (I think this is Bridge Alliance territory), regional area (I forgot the name of region), and Uxantis (Naut island)). I was hoping I can take time to explore these areas fully but my party is constantly on a run that I've only got to explore sewers of Olima before the game took us to next area. One of the Spiders Community Manager on discord said we will get a chance to explore this area again in future so that's good at least.
  • Storytelling's been great so far - GF2 is really build upon lore introduced in GF1. But it feels very railroaded at the moment. I'm 10 hours in and it still feels like I'm going through intro of the game. I wonder how long the finished version of the game will be.
  • As I said before, Nilan is unpleasant prick but other companions are much more pleasant and interesting. I really like Sybille and Ludwig. Voice acting is excellent too.
  • Fashion is great but sadly, pretty outfits are mostly exclusive to NPC and companions atm. I only got a few Bridge Alliance outfits so far but I really want Naut outfit and fancy hat. EDIT: I finally got some Naut outfit! But I'm sad I can't seem to unlock class tree which uses one handed sword! :(
  • Combat is starting to grow on me but more that I'm getting used to it than actually being fun - I still think GF1 combat was much more fun. There are many issues with combat: strange action point system (which I noted before), bugs (some companions stopped responding to my input at times, just stand there and eat damage), 1 weapon restriction (apparently the devs are working on giving us more weapon slot), terrible pathing, abilities bound to weapon type etc)
  • There is also a bug that resets attribute points for companions. I'm level 16 and had to reassign 40 points of attributes for one of my companions. Super annoying.
  • I think devs are using Dragon age as one of their inspirations. I encountered my first boss fight today and the design of the boss reminded me of darkspawn / monster transformation via bloodmagic

I think I'm close to end of EA content. I think it has potential to be a decent game but at this point, I prefer GF1 over GF2 (De Sardet is just so much more interesting protagonist than Vriden Gerr).

I'm not sure when more contents will be added to EA but I think I will take at least 3-6 months break before I try playing it again.
 
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Are you on discord?
Yes.

1. Yes, and?
2. Sure, but only time will tell whether overhaul will actually improve combat or not.
1. A lot of things will be added and changed.
2. Of course, but the same can be said about any game in development. And EA allow them to change a lot before finish line.

I wonder if they will change the hilarious kick. :)

EDIT: I know that Nilan is more traditional and "proud native" so he has that role of your "opponent" to present more opinions in your decisions. But do you really feel like he is a prick? What did he do? :)
 
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EDIT: I know that Nilan is more traditional and "proud native" so he has that role of your "opponent" to present more opinions in your decisions. But do you really feel like he is a prick? What did he do? :)
He keeps provoking my protagonist in a asshole-y way, I particulary hated his comment on you might not become doneigada because of your friendliness with renagise. I also didn't like him continuously referring to protagonist as "rootless" - yes, I know Vriden Gerr means rootless and its chosen "name" for the protagonist in GF2 but it feel so negative when he refers you to that while others have more warmth even if they use the same term. I wanted him to come across as more rival in brother-like way, but he comes across as an actual asshole.

And almost everytime he opens his damned mouth, we get in combat (unless I pass charisma check) and combat in EA currently is tedious. It really doesn't help narratively as well. Dude, get over it. Vriden Gerr isn't happy with the situation she is in either but being angry and mad unpleasant all the time doesn't help situation.

He is not traditional and "proud" - he is narrowminded and arrogant.
 
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Discord users on GF2 is doing real awesome toxic positive job to drive away any users who don't share their view. I'm sure this game will do great with fan base like that. They remind me of Vaelith a lot :D
 
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