Sony Days Gone preview thread

[SaysWho?]

 

 

 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-03-06-heres-all-we-learnt-after-three-hours-playing-days-gone

 

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"So there's a couple of things we've done - everything in the game is tonally consistent so everything you're doing in the open world relates directly to the thesis of the game, which is, what would you do to survive and what kind of an impact will that have on you and how you can make the world a better place and how do you survive in a world that's constantly trying to kill you? We don't have a lot of goofy side activities or side characters you meet in the open world because the world's just too dangerous, you're not going to be able to run into them. So having everything you're doing in the world being centred around the survivor encampments and trying to make the world safe around them those feed back into the core storylines and having a really strong narrative that is told through cutscenes and voice over in a way that is easy to follow because of the storylines featured."

 

Game Informer: Ten Takeaways

 

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Deacon’s Pretty Likeable

I had my doubts about Deacon St. John that went beyond his parents’ decision to name a human baby “Deacon St. John.” Was this guy going to be anything more than a watered-down Sons of Anarchy archetype? After spending an extensive amount of time with him, I have to say that he definitely grew on me.

 

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Days Gone has an incredibly satisfying stealth loop, with expertly placed enemies and long sections that seem tailored for that style of play. I was able to navigate a densely populated neighborhood undetected, methodically knifing my way through enemies by being patient and alert. At the end of that particular mission, I convinced a young survivor who had been living alone that she should follow me to safety. She seemed to understand the importance of stealth, too, as she stayed hidden and crept along behind me without any trouble – even hiding in a trash bin when I ran into an angry bear. I would have happily accepted a little help there, Lisa Jackson, but whatever.

 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/days-gone-is-a-familiar-experience-but-that-might-/1100-6465365/

 

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I hate being reductive, but I really think the best way to describe this game is a narrative- and character-focused State Of Decay with a Far Cry level of freedom in approaching scenarios.

 

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Alessandro: Yeah, your bike is like your best friend in this game. It's your lifeline and it'll get you out of trouble fast. In addition to some general upkeep and keeping it gassed up, you can also upgrade the different parts to make it more durable. This all ties back into the survivor camps as well, since you can only upgrade it with their mechanics once you've built up enough trust with these camps.

 

Edmond: ...which you do by completing missions, side stories, and bringing back freaker ears, animal pelts, that sort of thing. The bike really felt like my own, I had to protect it and keep an eye on it at all times, especially since I couldn't just whistle for it like a horse. I'm sure you can steal other bikes and maybe even buy a new one later in the game, but man I did not want this bike to get ruined, especially since Deacon loses his souped-up bike as part of the story in the first hour.

 

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My biggest takeaway from this game was how much I enjoyed the different ways you could use your variety of abilities and the environment to complete objectives, whether that be to get into a place, or destroy people or things. I respect any game that attempts to emphasise a flexibility to move back and forth between stealthy and loud approaches, or the fluidity to switch between ranged, melee, and guerilla combat techniques on the fly. I like mixing things up.

 

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/06/days-gone-open-world-gameplay-impressions?abthid=5c7f7fc3c94459997900137d

 

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Days Gone makes some interesting choices that kept my play session engaging, and the sections of its story that I experienced piqued my interest enough that I was legitimately frustrated that I couldn’t continue playing at the end of the demo. While I’ll admit that I initially rolled my eyes at yet another Gruff White Male Protagonist™ in a grim world - especially one with such a Gruff White Male Protagonist™-ey name as Deacon St. John - I ended up getting far more invested than I’d initially expected. I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose - this is a first-party Sony title, and Bend is no stranger to writing around well-developed characters and games with a strong narrative focus, either.

 

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You’ll need the best equipment possible, too, since it seems that the developers weren’t kidding with their “the world comes for you” tagline. I explored two of Days Gone’s biomes - the heavily forested Cascade Wilderness, which has been shown off in most of the press material so far, and the newly-debuted Belknap Hotsprings, a stretch of high desert pocked with small pools and rivulets - and while I never saw any of the massive hundreds-strong zombie freaker hordes that we’ve been shown previously, there was always some sort of danger lurking right around the next corner. I quickly learned that the blue “?” icons that appeared on the mini-map when Deacon perceived something nearby were not to be trusted - where I expected a cache or treasure, I more often than not ended up ambushed by bandits or, worse yet, at the mercy of a pack of freakers. With barely any ammo. And no gas in my bike. Because I was stupid and didn’t take any from the station I passed a few miles back cause a pack of Newts (the legit skin-crawley product of freaker-plagued children) were scuttling around the roof and scared me off.

 

https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/06/days-gone-hands-on-preview-and-interview-we-have-the-ingredients-to-create-a-really-unique-experience-8826097/?ito=cbshare

 

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Nothing is broken or unnecessarily awkward but, apart from the hordes, there’s also nothing you haven’t seen a hundred times before. From giant angry bears to clueless enemies that bob up and down from the same small bit of cover there is nothing in Days Gone that seems to have any capacity to surprise you. Perhaps the story will have a sting in the tail but even that seems sadly predictable from an early stage. With a promised 30+ hour storyline maybe the final game will improve in its later stages but at the moment it feels a lot like the weakest link in Sony’s line-up. It’s almost certainly not a disaster but it really doesn’t seem like another classic in the making.

 

Polygon: I’ve changed my mind about Days Gone

 

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As I play through, I find myself engrossed and impressed. I’ve pretty much forgotten that I came to this media event expecting to be disappointed. Days Goneis one to watch. It’s out for PlayStation 4 on April 26. I really didn’t think I was going to say this, but I’m looking forward to it.

 

https://powerup-gaming.com/2019/03/06/days-gone-preview-event/

 

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This might take some imagination, but the trap a lot of games fall into is giving you direct control over the bike. It’s like the second the character steps onto the bike they turn into some kind of motorbike-centaur. Whereas when you’re riding in the real world, you move your weight to move the bike, and the bike follows what you do.

 

That’s what Days Gone has nailed out of the gate.

 

https://press-start.com.au/previews/2019/03/06/days-gone-hands-on-preview-big-brutal-world/

 

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One of the first things that the game introduces you to the menu system, which is pretty unique. It uses the DualShock 4 in a way that I can’t recall a game doing. You basically can get to any of the four main screens with a swipe of the DualShock 4.

 

Swiping Up will get you to Storylines
Swiping Left will get you to Inventory and crafting
Swiping Down will take you to your skill tree
Swiping Right will take you to your map

 

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Days Gone has the potential to be another stellar game in Sony’s first party line up, but I’m a little bit less confident than I have been in the past few years (with games such as God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn). Everything is there, but it’ll be how well it’s brought together over a 30-hour period.

 

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/03/hands_on_can_days_gone_keep_sonys_first-party_streak_alive

 

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The pressure must be immense for the first-party studio: the game follows a spate of award-winners, including last year’s God of War, Detroit: Become Human, and Marvel’s Spider-Man. But after an enormous three hour hands on session, we can safely say that the ex-Syphon Filter studio has comfortably risen to the occasion, and while this survival horror-tinged open world title doesn’t have quite the same creative flair as some of the aforementioned, it does have an air of comfort food to it that is sure to satisfy even the most discerning gamer.

 

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/days-gone-interview

 

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Garvin adds, "Me personally, I don't follow Copeland's line of thinking, but it's definitely represented in Days Gone because all viewpoints are represented in Days Gone. That is one of the things we want to do is say, 'Hey, if the world ends and people start building their own societies, what would they base those on?' And how would each of these encampments feel, and how different would they be based on who their leaders are?"

 

https://venturebeat.com/2019/03/06/days-gone-hands-on-preview-great-expectations-from-hours-of-gameplay/

 

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I’m more than willing to give Days Gone a chance to be great. I expect it to be so, based on what I’ve seen. The hordes will make it seem different from every other zombie game (save maybe World War Z), and the story and characters could elevate it, giving the player both a great single-player narrative and a lot of action.

 

But every preview I play leaves me wondering whether there’s more to it, in terms of that story or action or characterization. I hope it’s going to all come together as a great narrative experience with fine gameplay action. I’ve got my fingers crossed, as I know there could be a lot of haters out there ready to dismiss this game as one more zombie apocalypse title.

 

https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/06/days-gone-gameplay-ps4-preview/

 

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But here’s the thing – I played for four hours straight, and never got bored. If the preview event hadn’t ended, I would have been quite happy to keep going. There’s something here. It’s a clumsy game, but it’s charming and big and increasingly engaging as it goes on. I even started to come around on Deacon a bit the more he was fleshed out. Days Gone might not be another immediate classic, but there’s more to it than I expected

 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I hope I like this better than RDR2. 

[crispy4000]

Most of the previews seem to say it's better than they were expecting, even if it's very much the game it appears to be.  Apparently that's still a lot of fun and meshes well.

I like the resource management ideas I've read over: Scavenging nets you items you can mostly buy in camps, but that you'll also need to venture further and further out.  So if you're loaded up, you won't need to go around picking up everything.  Fast traveling costs gas.  You're encouraged to 'coast' down hills to keep your reserves up.  The tension in the core gameplay loop comes from taking the wrong gambles and encountering world events you aren't fully prepared for.

I wonder if the bike is left out at the point you died.  That'd be neat, like a sort of open world equivalent to what a lot of Souls-like games are trying.  But it'd also suck if you went far away from the camps.  Though you can pay a (large) sum to retrieve it.

[Dexterryu]

"a narrative- and character-focused State Of Decay with a Far Cry level of freedom in approaching scenarios."

 

This sounds really good to me. Like most of the previewers I had more or less written this one off, but the fact that almost all of the previews seemed to be saying the same good things means either the game is actually good (and better than we were all expecting) or the marketing team did an excellent job convincing them.

 

[SaysWho?]

 

[Keyser_Soze]

Dan Ryckert didn’t sound like he enjoyed it much.

[crispy4000]

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Dan Ryckert didn’t sound like he enjoyed it much.

 

I was expecting more reactions like his honestly.  Which made about faces like Polygon’s stance more surprising.

 

Some of Dan’s complaints were pretty asinine.  He didn’t encounter a horde in the 3 hours he played, and holds it against the game.  One was in the demo - he missed it.  That’s a trouble with demoing an open world game I suppose.

 

[SaysWho?]

8 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

I was expecting more reactions like his honestly.  Which made about faces like Polygon’s stance more surprising.

 

Some of Dan’s complaints were pretty asinine.  He didn’t encounter a horde in the 3 hours he played, and holds it against the game.  One was in the demo - he missed it.  That’s a trouble with demoing an open world game I suppose.

 

 

The thing I like about previews is there aren't scores, so we can actually read wtf people say that got them to the opinion they have.  

 

The about-faces were great. Clearly, Bend is doing their most ambitious project, and while other Sony First Party studios have been doing that this gen, Bend is up there as one of the longest streaks of not doing a big console game. I don't think they did one console game last gen; it was all handheld.

 

So this has taken a while, and Sony's given them a lot of time to mold it, improve it, and refine it. Seems like it's paying off, so regardless as to whether or not it's on the level as Bloodborne/UC4/Horizon/Lost Legacy/GTS/GOW/SOTC/Spidey, it looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun with it and that it's come a long way.

[Keyser_Soze]

1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

 

I was expecting more reactions like his honestly.  Which made about faces like Polygon’s stance more surprising.

 

Some of Dan’s complaints were pretty asinine.  He didn’t encounter a horde in the 3 hours he played, and holds it against the game.  One was in the demo - he missed it.  That’s a trouble with demoing an open world game I suppose.

 

 

Dan has some kind of odd tastes so I'm not sure his opinion is the gold standard. I was more concerned with the comment it's like they put everything that was cool in 2013 in the game and now that it's 2019 it's no longer cool anymore.

[crispy4000]

15 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I was more concerned with the comment it's like they put everything that was cool in 2013 in the game and now that it's 2019 it's no longer cool anymore.

He might need to check himself on his praise for Dead Cells then.

[Duderino]

Impressions from Kinda Funny at 41 min.

Some points:

- Impressed with the narrative and acting.  Want to see how the story plays out.

- Praised the UI, specifically the "Storylines", wheel, and touchpad enabled menus.

- "Storylines" help connect the world activities with the narrative.  There is a % complete associated with each storyline that they like.
- Greg compares it to AC: Odyssey quite a bit:

     - Quality of Life features like looting multiple items at once.

     - Progression that allows players to focus on different play styles.

     - The world overall is pulling Greg in like ACO.

     - Implies that visually Days Gone makes ACO look rough.

- They bounce back and forth between Horizon, TLOU, and ACO comparisons.

- The bike maintenance is a natural extension of the activities in the game.  Not a pain.

- Didn't expect this quality given Sony Bend's history of handheld tittles.  The experience working on an Uncharted game shows here.

- Question marks pop up on your radar that imply something is happening near by the player may want to explore.  Could be an ambush.  

 

(Lots more in the video)
 

[SaysWho?]

12 minutes ago, Duderino said:

- Question marks pop up on your radar that imply something is happening near by the player may want to explore.  Could be an ambush.  

 

I love what I'm hearing about the world. They've tried to put as few safe zones on the world map as possible where even something you may want to investigate is something out to get you.

[RedSoxFan9]

Can you customize your kutte?

[SaysWho?]

https://www.vgn.it/anteprima/90665/days-gone-le-nostre-impressioni-dopo-una-prova-di-tre-ore-su-ps4-pro/

 

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I must admit that this in-depth test has made me re-evaluate the potential of Days Gone: the game structure works, the mix of TPS, open-world and survival is well balanced, the presence of skills to unlock for the character and the bike gives the title a much wider depth than previously imagined, and the canvas at the base of the adventure, while not innovating the kind of belonging, manages to capture the attention of the player thanks to the presence of a complex character, with an intriguing personality, that is masterfully interpreted by the actor Sam Witwer. 

The premises are very good and are articulated in an extremely vast world, really well characterized and with some postcard views. At a technical level, the proven build seems a step forward compared to the one presented at the last Milan Games Week, but not yet perfect. Bend Studio assured us that it was a version far from the one that will be released on the market in April, and with more than a month available before the finalization of the game, we are sure that the software house will reach a high level and in line with Sony's other first-party productions.

 

https://www.gamerbraves.com/days-gone-hands-on-experience-great-survival-game-that-you-will-definitely-find-challenging/

 

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We think Days Gone is definitely a game worth spending time on. It offers so much room for creative play as in there are so many ways to complete a mission, depending on your playstyle. The graphics and contrast are very good. The scenery of this post-apocalyptic world is extremely pleasing to the eyes. Most of all, the gameplay is realistic especially when it comes to you fighting against the Freakers. The melee actions are extremely smooth as well. Overall, very aesthetic and a decent storyline.

 

https://www.cgmagonline.com/2019/03/06/days-gone-an-apocalypse-filled-with-hope-and-bikers/

 

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Gunplay and combat have a feeling that is an odd mix of Grand Theft Auto and The Last of Us. Combat felt very fluid overall, making the execution of takedowns and stealth rewarding, but Days Gone also straddles that line between rewarding violence, and the brutal reality of what your character is doing. There are moments that push the envelope by opting for a realistic concept of what each method of murder would look like rather than glorifying the violent act.

 

It takes a lot to carry players through a 20-30 hour experience, and fetching gas tank X from location Y may get old fast. In my time with the game, there were hints of such problems, but also a glimmer of the potential under the surface. Days Gone has a lot going for it, and if it can stick that landing come April 2019 I will be onboard, battling freakers and riding off into the sunset.

 

 

[Biggie]

On 3/6/2019 at 10:07 PM, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I hope I like this better than RDR2. 

How could you not?  

[SaysWho?]

 

 

 

[Mercury33]

39 minutes ago, Biggie said:

How could you not?  

 

A car ran over my foot yesterday. I yelled out to the driver in pain “hey what’s your damn problem?!?!?” He stopped and yelled back “don’t be such a baby, it’s not like I’m forcing you to play RDR2”  I couldn’t argue with that so I just sucked it up and limped away. 

[SaysWho?]

I'm looking forward to replaying RDR2 in the future.    I loved it.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

50 minutes ago, Biggie said:

How could you not?  

True, it's a low bar to clear. As long as it controls decently and is fun. That's all I'm asking.