I had mentionned the Zelda-like open world game "Pine"
in a previous post.Finally completed the 3rd vault and i'm working to settle my people somewhere. So i guess i'm on some of the last parts of the storyline.
Some impression after the time i spent in its world :
The Bad
- loading time are long, wouldn't be that much of a problem if it was only the original loading time (when you start the game) , but if you die, there will be another long loading time.
When you're in early game in which you die in basically 2 hits because you hit for so few damage and you have paper-thin protection, it's extremely annoying.
(also annoying that at the new start game/loading saved game you can't ALT+TAB to do something else , because it seems to pause the loading in the background too, so can't even browse the net while it's loading.)
- performance, sadly it's just not good (v-sync seems to be a complete killer on my system), as it's sad that to get a smooth play i had to lower the options so much, considering how more smooth some more visually intensive other open world game like those just cause can be.
- clunky movement, this problem shows in combat (how much times the attack go through my targets, it seems to be even worse if i "lock" a target, in fact i hit things a lot more if i don't lock a target for some reason) and is even worse in the platform sequences (the camera deciding to change suddenly and obscuring the view of where i try to land is just bad)
I even got a few time a jump that landed me between 2 rocks, making the character stuck in its falling animation forever.
- interface bug , there are a lot of times i got this problem :
When i use the Interact key (to talk or to activate something like a button/lever), there is a chance that it will not actually trigger anything that should happen
And once this problem occurs, from then there will not be any possibility to use the Interact key anywhere (the little icon is not present anymore and no Interact key pressing will do anything)
Additionally when this happens when you go to the options (save, load, quit) you will notice there's no text displayed anymore (though fortunately the buttons work).
The only solution is to quit to the main menu and load your saved game, it fixes it all.
It's not happening often, but it is not rare either.
- trigger bug , at several occasions i got a quest-related event not happenning when i reach a location in which said event should happen (like a cutscene)
Again, a go to main menu -> load your saved game and go again at location always worked to fix that.
- storyline forcing tribe relations change : this basically made me feel that most of everything i did to influence the politics up to the 2nd vault was an useless waste of time.
Because regardless, everyone will turn hostile again after the 2nd vault. At least this annoyance cease in the last parts of the storyline as the relations will change according to your actions again, not according to story scripts (well i hope).
- the "dungeon puzzles" , as the game is very Zelda-like it's not a surprise those big dungeons are filled with puzzles that block your path.
That blocking was my problem because some of those dungeon puzzle blocked your path so much that you couldn't just go back exit said dungeon (well they're called vaults) to go have fun elsewhere, you were forced to find the puzzle solution or just stay there forever.
The Good
- the world, it's very well designed, the many biomes that build a very varied atmosphere, the landscapes that are interesting to move around (as in not random generated without making much sense), the exploration that is actually fun as there's a lot of immersive vista around.
The world feels absolutely great , it's rare that i get a character in an open world setup just sit down and watch a scenery.
- the setting, while i'm usually not fond of cartoony/anime type of characters, i must admit that in Pine it works completely, in fact it surprised me that i developped some particular hatred for some of the tribes (damn those fox things, those bomb lobbing bastards) and wanted to help some other, i think it's a sign of a world building very well done.
The ancient story, the secrets , etc... it all shows that the game world has some depth, it's not just some empty fastfood-environment put quickly together, there's a consistency.
- the game mechanics, this tribe influencing and game of conquest and peace is just genius and introduce a lot of fun and motivation to the player to become involved into the game.
- the storyline, while some quests and outcome are too telegraphed unfortunately, there are some very good quest chain that makes you involved in the character actions. Overall i enjoyed the storyline so far.
- the "dungeon puzzles" , while i put a part of them in "The Bad" , another part of them is good , i enjoyed those powering up the various engines areas in the "futuristic" Moria-like vault.
Conclusion
Its an average game that could have been a good game but is marred by some technical problems that prevent it to live up to how great it could be (there's lot of potential for Pine to be a great game, good atmosphere, good open world, good mechanisms) if those problems weren't existing.
I wish your character had more personnality though, if a game does not leave you the choice to make your own character , at least make the guy not some emotionless robot. Even the animal people of those many tribes react to things better.