When I first played this, I was gobsmacked at just how good this game was and the stark contrast it made with other Triple A releases in recent history. I had a hard time finding anything wrong with it. I recently started a new playthrough of this after having been away from itnfor months, and I have to admit, now that the novelty has died down a little and I'm in my play groove, I've started noting some things I'm not the biggest fan of, aside from the strange graphical choices they made.
I'm not crazy about the inventory system, for starters. I'm a big fan of the Fallout franchise, and I really like being able to loot guns and armour off of enemies, but with this it's either preset loot like quest items or randomized loot. I want to be able to get a hunting rifle or heavy machine gun by taking down an enemy with that equipped and see it despawn off their character model once I've taken it. Stuff like that.
Speaking of inventory, this game comes from the minds behind New Vegas, something they leaned into hard in the ads for the game. I'd love to see factional costumes. I like the holodisguise enough, but maybe add a boost to your disguise if you're already wearing the appropriate clothing or armour for your cover? And even when not using the holodisguise, wearing Marauder armour will trigger dialogue options, or wearing nice clothing in Byzantium will let you blend in and have local NPCs comment appropriately. I got so sick and tired of having Byzantium locals talking about how grimy I looked when wearing literally the nicest clothes in the game. It kinda killed the immersion for me.
Another thing, there aren't really any playstyles. My first character was a sniper/pistol guy and my second is a heavy weapons guy. But there aren't too many things that separate the two aside from what I choose to pick up for a given firefight. I'd like to see more perks or even flaws devoted to my play style. Oh, you've used a sniper rifle on so many enemies? Here's a boost to accuracy but a debuff on combat within twenty feet. Something like that.
Speaking of flaws, my first play through I didn't take a single flaw, simply because the reward wasn't worth the debuffs offered. A single perk point for lower damage against a certain enemy or damage type? Or lower damage when at a certain altitude? No thanks. The perk system just didn't have a whole lot on offer that was so incredibly useful that would justify the debuff.
I did my first run almost entirely without using TTD or compainion abilities. Granted, they're side things and not an essential part of gameplay which allows for custom play experiences. But I don't think they're really advertised enough. Maybe offer a brief tutorial on companion management like Mass Effect did, since that's pretty close to what's on offer here. Have me use TTD to solve a puzzle or something. I don't know. This run through I've been using it to hit those measly sprats.
Anyways, those were a few things that bugged me about this game. I still love it and I'm very much looking forward to the DLC dropping later this year, and hopefully future installments. I also appreciate how you can spot a lot of foreshadowing, like there's a note in the hanger in Phineas' hideout from a bunch of characters you probably won't meet for a while. I never saw it the first time around, but now it makes a lot of sense in hindsight.
So what about you? Was there anything that bugged you about this game? Maybe things you'd like to see done differently or fixed in a future installment? Maybe like taking that chrome filter off of everything. . . ?
