Uhg...where do I begin?

Let's start with how I came to purchase this game. Like many I was sucked into the marketing of Sony prestige titles, or the promise of greatness: Cinematic storytelling, deep gameplay mechanics, excellent writing and voice-acting - basically the blueprint of a successful and beloved AAA title in 2018. I bought this game assuming I would at least be able to enjoy it.

And did I? Well, it's complicated. But you've seen the thumbs-down, so overall I wouldn't say I recommend it, and the reason for that is so much more than just what Days Gone has to offer.

Let's start with the mediocre engagement loop. The story, the world design and the gameplay - They are all serviceable. But after 21 hours of playing I found myself wondering: Is that it? Even if it gets better afterwards, what was all the padding that I played to get to the point when it does "eventually get better"? That's when I realised what Days Gone, like other Sony prestige titles such as God of War, is about - A dripfed and bare-minimuming of everything to keep the player engaged. Doing just enough things fine (good even) so that you keep playing: The gameplay is tense, but repetitive and barely evolves; the world is beautiful, but ultimately static and unresponsive to the choices you make as a player; the skill progression is there, but ultimately just keeping skills locked behind hours of padded playtime so that you have something tangible to work towards at the expense of moment-to-moment gameplay.

The whole game feels like a promise more than what it actually delivers. And this ties into my feeling that most of the game is just padding: Forcing you to ride constantly from point A to point B, repeating the same 3 mission types between different NPCs - the game does not "take it slow", it IS slow because that's the whole point. The story does not emerge from the mundane tasks but is written around them. Forcing yourself through the drivel does little to deepen your connection with the world or its characters, it's exposure therapy through excessive contact: Do I really need to clear bandit camps for a slaver 100 times to finally "see where she is coming from"? Can I not live with the fact that Deacon is just a morally grey character like TLOU Joel in a mission or two?

And the worst sin of it all, is the signature Sony "walk-and-talks". So much of this game is just me following NPCs while they exposition dump. This is not cinematic, this is just your classic telling not showing, and masquerading padding as cinematic story-teling. There is nothing more immersion breaking than getting the acute sense of what I'm doing while playing a game. In this case, it is pushing the left joystick foward while listening to awkward lines being delivered by someone whom I couldn't quite decide if he's a good voice actor or not.

I think after Spider Man and God of War, and now this, I've finally wised up and realised something distinct about these Sony open-world titles: They are not just casual games because you can't just listen to a podcast and sip on some coffee while mindless smashing boxes like in a Lego Game. They demand your time, attention and recognition, yet ultimately they do so little to iterate on existing games that they just end up feeling milquetoast and completely uninteresting.

So while I sometimes I had fun playing this, I'm afraid I won't be finishing the game. The game does not get better, the story does not take its time withe the set up - It is a game that was padded, and a story that is too constricted by an uninspired gameplay loop than it deserves.

This is a semi old game and its still one of my favs to this day. Takes the zombies to a whole new level and the story is just too good! I would rate this game a solid 9/10.

left me wanting days gone 2 fr fr