Played through chapter 8 (stopped at start of chapter 9)
- new stealth system - too much assassin's creed & doesn't feel right here
- new stealth system makes npcs feel more OP than previous games - one spots you and they all instant aim at you; pretty much the same as before, but feels worse
During my second session of playing Uncharted 4, I was introduced to the new stealth system. It is a decently well-done system, but I did not feel as though it really fit into Uncharted. Yes, it made great use of the cover mechanics, including the new tall grass, and it made sure the player was aware of when they were stealthed versus when they had been spotted, but it made the stealth play feel too similar to Assassin's Creed for me. It felt like it put far too much emphasis on staying hidden when Uncharted has always felt like a series that put more emphasis into the gun combat than the stealth. The system encourages stealth, which isn't a bad thing, of course, but when I pick up an RPG from an enemy, and feel like I'm being punished for breaking stealth to use it, I believe there is a discordant play of mechanics.
In previous Uncharted games, there was no indicator on NPCs informing the player when they'd been spotted. It was done mostly through auditory cues, along with the fact that the player would be getting shot at. It worked decently well. With the new stealth system in place, though, this feels much worse. It makes less sense to the player that everyone in the area is now informed simultaneously of the player's exact position based on the information they are given that a particular NPC has spotted them. It made the NPCs feel much stronger than in previous iterations, and not in a necessarily good way.
- don't need to always show me my gun HUD when i'm hanging on a ledge - screen clutter
Something I noticed while playing was that anytime I am hanging on a ledge, whether enemies are around or not, the HUD element showing me my weapon & ammo is visible. The first time I noticed, I was in the middle of a climbing puzzle and was really worried that there were enemies around I needed to shoot. I was taken out of my flow of solving the puzzle to look around and check for enemies. I feel that this HUD element does not need to be shown every time I hang from a ledge - let it wait until I take out the weapon, or until the game forces the weapon to be out, as in all other circumstances.
- levels feel more cluttered than in previous games, but never lost/confused for too long
The level design hasn't changed much, but it certainly feels like there is a great deal more environmental clutter around. It makes the levels feel more natural and realistic, but also a bit messier than in previous games. With so much clutter in the world, it makes it a bit more challenging to find the correct direction when moving through levels. This does not apply so much to areas where the player is climbing, but rather areas where the player is traversing via walking/running. The clutter makes it more difficult to see the level design, making it far easier to get lost while exploring, which is not ideal in most games.
- new highlighting on dropped weapons with matching ammo is great - makes them stand out in the world
The way weapons and ammo were highlighted on the ground was a huge step up from previous games. Prior to 4, weapons and ammo would shimmer, but they could be hard to see against the environment. With the new highlight, a glow that extended into the air above the item, the player was able to find new weapons and ammo much easier.
- new treasure UI/HUD makes me feel worse about collecting than previously - assume there are still 100 treasures to collect, but don't know for sure - feel like i missed so much because of the way they are revealed in the list as I gather them
Uncharted 4 updated the UI for collecting treasures. While it does look nice, I do not believe that it enhances the player experience when collecting treasures for the most part. It no longer tells me how many treasures there are. I assume there are 100 because the previous games have all had 100 treasures, but I no longer know for sure. Not am I certain how many I have collected. With the removal of the numerous achievements for collecting treasures, I now only know when I've found 1 treasure, 50 treasures, and all of the treasures. The achievements made treasure collecting feel stronger. Without the achievements every ten treasures or so, the desire to find them seems slightly smaller; and without knowing how many there really are, I am, as a player, less inclined to try to find all of them because I can't tell how long it will take. It is nice, in a way, that I can see where I'm missing treasures in order, but since there are no indicators telling me how far three and four are into the story, I can't really tell where they are - and that is only if I decided to go back and replay in order to find them all, which is already seeming unlikely. Despite the pro of being able to sort of see where a treasure was missed, I also now feel worse for missing them.
- did not like playing as Sam; first time ever in entire series playing as a different character, and it felt weird and wrong
When chapter 5 started, I was playing as Sam escaping the prison. It was not something I enjoyed. It felt strange and out of place, but it also worked. There was no other way to do this section, and I believe the choice to have the player play as Sam was the correct one; however, it feel felt weird since the player has never played as a character other than Nate throughout the series.
- chapter 4 was really cute; attic had all the call backs to previous games; toy gun segment was fun but doesn't *really* satisfy desire for action here
I believe that chapter 4 was here for a good deal of fan service. There were cute, fun callbacks to previous adventures, and it brought up feelings of nostalgia. It was nice to see all of the pieces of Nate's story in one place. However, I believe that the toy gun part of this chapter did not really satisfy the desire for action in the sequence. It was a nice way to teach anyone new to the series the buttons for gun combat, and a good way to remind returning players as well, but it did not feel quite as exciting as it was perhaps intended to.
- having to play Crash Bandicoot was interesting; not bad, not good; cute, though, to see the PS1 & old game, but makes me feel like this story is no longer set in our time period??
- levels are good, ledges & things to climb on aren't as prominent as they have been in previous games
- almost feels like a little too much was taken from Last Of Us for this game, but thankfully still manages to feel like Uncharted; but really, its just the moving crates around to climb to higher places; didn't enjoy this sequence in Scotland where dynamite is introduced; a lot of relying on the other character to boost me up or lift me up
- exploring feels a lot harder than in previous games; is this why i'm not finding treasures?
- there are places I expect treasures to be, and then they aren't there
- great that several areas i've been in, I've noticed multiple ways to get to my goal; climb here or there, or go around and climb later
- player controller does not feel as smooth as in previous games; nate feels bulkier, clunkier, and harder to control; could it be because of new mechanics?
- strongly dislike having to hold L1 to climb/descend a rope; want to just use the stick like in previous games; never had problems with rope controls until this game
- cover system doesn't feel quite as robust; sometimes nate just won't go into cover; again, part of the clunkiness of player controller?
Will write this out into coherent thoughts later
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