This game is so great, and yet so awful at the same time

Gameplay
#1

To start, I’m playing on PS4. I absolutely love the core gameplay and immersion of this game, but man, there are so many things that just take away from the experience. I’m going to list the things that I would change to make the game better, but I don’t want this to come off as hating the game. The things the game gets right, combat, story telling, realism of armor, weapons, etc. is absolutely fantastic. So that said, to improve this game here’s what I would have change:

  1. The save system. It’s not quite as bad once you have a ton of money later in the game, b/c you can buy or make the potion needed to save at will, but it SUCKS early in the game. Especially with some of the bugs and other issues, you can lose hours and hours of gameplay, something just having a save when you wish system would keep from happening. Losing so much time of gameplay is absolutely infuriating, especially in an RPG.

  2. The loading screens. This game is so good and immersive, when it’s not loading various screens. Maybe this is worse on PS4, I don’t know, but the loading screens take a VERY long time, like a TON of time. I actually keep my phone next to me while playing so I can do other things during all the loading. It absolutely destroys the otherwise great immersion. I mean, I even get loading screens just dunking my head in a trough many times.

  3. Fast travel is not fast at all, it’s painfully slow.

  4. Waiting for time to pass takes way too long as well.

  5. I get having the realism of merchants being open only certain hours, but with all the extremely slow loading in this game, it just leads to more wasted time, waiting, and loading.

  6. Why do Inn Keepers only have certain hours that you can talk to them and get a room, to save the game? More wasted time and waiting and loading.

  7. Probably yet more to do with things loading, but sometimes the graphics are extremely slow to load. I’ll be running along and come to a complete stop, then a few seconds later a wall or tree or something will appear in front of me. Detailed textures also take awhile to show up even if the basic structures are present. I’ve also been in combat with an enemy RIGHT in front of me and the arrow somehow misses (happens often). I’m guessing it’s b/c there is a lag in the graphics. It would be impossible to miss that close that often. And no, this isn’t happening in the early game, still later on with leveling up and more skill.

Anyway, the core of the game is so very good, but I don’t remember ever playing a game where you just wasted so much time waiting on things to happen and/or load. It’s nuts.

2 Likes
#2

All your points are about not understanding engine and game mechanics. Soon there will be people to explain this to you.

#3

Haha, I won’t claim to understand coding a game at all. But I can tell you as a LONG time player, there is FAR too much waiting and loading in this otherwise brilliant game.

1 Like
#4

The only real issue with saving is the bugs.

Apart from this, saving is not a problem. Use a bed or the snaps, I’ll admit the no save on exit was an oversight in the beginning and could see how this would be annoying. They fixed this. Again the bugs arr.

The merchants thing I totally disagree with you on . The schedule work days are what allows you to interact with them and the system on other levels. If they stayed open all night how or when would the people who like to role play as thieves rob them, have you sat outside a shop and followed a merchant to his home, maybe fucked with him. Some poison in his food or robbing his house because he/she were snotty to you.

The graphical issues have been noted since day one. They have said they still work on it. Can only hope they do get it back at the very least pre patch 1.6.

1 Like
#5

Number 5 is one of the best feature in this game.
NPC schedule system boost my immersion by 90%.
Waiting time is not too long for me either.

#6

It really is one of the biggest teases of this generation. This is the game I’ve been waiting for since I finally shelved Skyrim and The Witcher 3. A deep, immersive RPG experience that doesn’t hold your hand and is grounded in reality.

It offered everything I wanted in a video game. A rich open world to explore, dialogue trees, hundreds of customizable armor options, a survival based hardcore mode, a save system that requires you to plan ahead, armor and weapon degradation, engaging swordplay. I could write dozens of pages on what this game has to offer that I love.

But it fails on the most critical aspect, playability.

Horrible asset pop in, clipping textures, the halberd bug, corrupt save files 75 hours in, controller wonkiness after extended play. I could write dozens of pages on what brings this game from possibly the best game of all time, to a possible “trade it in while it’s still worth something”.

I just hope some of the AAA devs take a hard look at KCD, and the demand for a hardcore RPG, and we get a game like it in the near future that actually functions correctly.

4 Likes
#7

If you keep your phone next to you so you can do other stuff while you wait, you aree simply not interested in immersion. Some of the pauses in kc:d are made for slowing things down. Just think about the reason for the black screen while you eat from the pots. There is a reason.

You are interested in whatever can entertain you at all times. If there isn’t any, you have to look for something else because you can’t stand thinking.

#8

Or you can locate places to sleep/save and get a power nap once in a while.

2 Likes
#9

I’m a LONG time player as well. Been playing since “Pong”.
I got more and more frustrated as time went on about all those games where constant onslaught and fast paced action was getting to be the norm.

So. As an even longer time player I can tell you that this game is very good at getting the pace down and forcing you to contemplate and plan.

1 Like
#10

One line to fix it all. One line to save you. One line to make you smile and in the darknes help you.

“Play on pc.”

3 Likes
#11

The waiting and loading (eg clock slow down during last hour) has nothing to do with contemplation and planning. It has everything to do with KCD building the world you’re about to embark upon (per Jan Rucker)

#12

The save system is a piece of cake. Just look online on how to brew schavior scnapps, it’s incredibly easy and only requires nettle and belladonna I believe. You can literally brew 10 savior schnapps in 10 minutes or less. The loading screens are non existent on PC which this game was designed for… Developer’s cant be blamed for consoles that still use 5400RPM drives. Same goes for texture pop ins. It’s because of consoles.

1 Like
#13

It fails in playablitly??? Really? I think i’m 250 hours in now.

#14

Devs can’t be blamed for the limitations of the consoles, but they can be blamed ignoring those limitations as they marketed their product’s ‘high-end graphics’ on console adverts without any disclaimer (first bullet point in PSN advert)

High-end graphics mind you that are in some ways worse than a somewhat popular game released on console in November of 2015

A good number of PS4 users were ok with 1.5 performance. So your statement is off

#15

No, neither of my statements are off… This was a game designed for a PC… The only way they could fix the problems you are talking about is if this game was just released on a PC.

It’s kind of like how us PC players have to play pathetic console ports all the time.

#16

Sloppy wording. The game is on console. It didn’t get their without design intent. Intent that was expressed in Kickstarter ad

Which problems am I talking about? In my response I mention popins were ok in 1.5. That means fixed enough

#17

Wait, did I just read you posted the graphics were high end for 2015??? lol

Maybe on consoles.

#18

Translation FO4 performs better in some regards than KCD on my vanilla PS4

#19

That is because FO4 was built for consoles only to be ported to PC. Like every other Bethesda game. And I’ve had fewer bugs with KCD than FO4, New Vegas, Skyrim, etc.

#20

High-end graphics are high-end graphics. WH marketed. Not me. That makes it a dev responsibility… unless the dev wants to engage in deceptive or misleading advertising

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