EABanBoy

I was hoping for a combination of New Vegas (which exemplifies the old goodness of fallout, with factions, story and dialogue ) and Fallout 3 (the open world and game play). instead it was just an evolution of fallout 3, and meh on the whole, it has its great moments and terrible. Story and dialogue have reached an all time low (voice acting was fine, but the lack of options and lack of an evil karma options were sorely missed.) Game play is great, and the world on a whole is great, it's what Bethesda is good at. But they are bad at story and making you feel like you ultimately accomplished something, can't put my finger on it, but New Vegas did do that aspect much better. I don't think Bethesda will be getting game of the year sadly, which ruins their streak, but still for all it's flaws the game is DEFINITELY worth the price of admission. I had just really hoped for more of an evolution in the storytelling and dialogue, and not a streamlining. Hopefully they can turn it around for their next game, and we can get more "RPG" to match their strides in "Action" but I doubt it. Here's to you fallout 1 and 2.

The good: Astounding game that made me feel all sorts of emotions, I'm completely invested in the story and characters, and I would say that Dontnod does the formula better then telltale. Going off of telltale I have not experienced any immersion breaking graphical glitches (unlike telltale games where you will have body parts/ weapons fading through clothing etc) and the game tries to keep it so that the information you need to remember is provided within each episode (with one exception), which is handy since the business model has the episodes coming out every 2 or so months. The time travel mechanics are also very fresh (and thus unclear) and makes me wonder at the possibilities for time travel in future games. The bad: Some have pointed out issues with lip syncing but I have not noticed, also there is one exception to what I previously stated in that you do need to remember how the time travel mechanics work (which isn't very clear in the first place) from previous episodes, for example there were two puzzles in episode 3 which had me stumped for a good 10-15 minutes each, the first puzzle relies on using time travel mechanics in an unconventional way that you may or may not figure out as the game doesn't tell you (or if it does I don't remember it telling me which is a fault in clarity and guiding the player as several others have experienced this problem). The second puzzle I can't really get into without spoiling, but it was a failure in terms of game design, but not one that relies on the time travel mechanics. The ugly: Now for the business model, I abhor this business model (the episodic business model) and is one of the oldest tricks in the book in terms of television, it makes you want the next episode encourages you constantly thinking about it throughout the weekly, month;y or yearly, release schedule. This is a common marketing ploy used to keep you thinking about a product and is very effective in making you want more. However I am still willing to give this game a 10, which I suppose speaks to its effectiveness. TL:DNR Great game, while not a "game changer", like games such as Telltales the Walking Dead, it is still one of the finest examples of the genre and of storytelling in video games.

The good: Astounding game that made me feel all sorts of emotions, I'm completely invested in the story and characters, and I would say that Dontnod does the formula better then telltale. Going off of telltale I have not experienced any immersion breaking graphical glitches (unlike telltale games where you will have body parts/ weapons fading through clothing etc) and the game tries to keep it so that the information you need to remember is provided within each episode (with one exception), which is handy since the business model has the episodes coming out every 2 or so months. The time travel mechanics are also very fresh (and thus unclear) and makes me wonder at the possibilities for time travel in future games. The bad: Some have pointed out issues with lip syncing but I have not noticed, also there is one exception to what I previously stated in that you do need to remember how the time travel mechanics work (which isn't very clear in the first place) from previous episodes, for example there were two puzzles in episode 3 which had me stumped for a good 10-15 minutes each, the first puzzle relies on using time travel mechanics in an unconventional way that you may or may not figure out as the game doesn't tell you (or if it does I don't remember it telling me which is a fault in clarity and guiding the player as several others have experienced this problem). The second puzzle I can't really get into without spoiling, but it was a failure in terms of game design, but not one that relies on the time travel mechanics. The ugly: Now for the business model, I abhor this business model (the episodic business model) and is one of the oldest tricks in the book in terms of television, it makes you want the next episode encourages you constantly thinking about it throughout the weekly, month;y or yearly, release schedule. This is a common marketing ploy used to keep you thinking about a product and is very effective in making you want more. However I am still willing to give this game a 10, which I suppose speaks to its effectiveness. TL:DNR Great game, while not a "game changer", like games such as Telltales the Walking Dead, it is still one of the finest examples of the genre and of storytelling in video games.

This must have been made post MF3 ending because this is a gigantic step up, its what people truly loved about the series; it's characters. No reapers, no Cerberus, no foolish gun game play; just well written dialogue.

EA After years of destroying franchises and companies, they have finally broke the camels back for me. Thus I have now boycotted all products with EA's name on it. Their "Worst Company In America" award is well deserved.