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Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 44.9 hrs on record
Posted: 14 Oct, 2024 @ 5:13pm
Updated: 14 Oct, 2024 @ 5:38pm

Days Gone is a fun and engaging open-world game with great visuals, fun combat, and a pretty decent story with what feels like a genuine relationship at the forefront. The replay value is low and it has its annoying quirks and awful tropes, but the experience is still really worth it.
Spent 15h in one day (two sessions).

Settings
  • Used mouse and keyboard
  • Aim Snap: OFF
  • FOV: 90
  • Graphics Preset: Very High
  • Motion Blur: OFF
  • VSync: OFF
  • Difficulty: Survival 2

Story
Story is mostly good, but there are quite a few decisions I find myself scratching my head at and that soured my overall experience. Underrated.
Pros
  • The story can often be really compelling and intense; at certain points I found myself mirroring Deacon's emotions; I really felt like I was in his shoes, but he still had his own character traits. I even teared up a couple of times! Sarah's reveal was nuts. Grabbing the centrifuge at the lab and Sarah killing Jim was a real "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" moment, the latter for especially how it shatters this idea of Sarah making everything "normal" again, when the truth is that this is the new normal and they can't ever go back. Sarah has been changed just as much as Deacon has by the world around her.
  • Dunkey painted the relationship between Deacon and his wife as weird but their banter is actually really charming. The wedding moment is actually really cute in its own weird way. You can tell they love each other. The game is also funny when it intends to be.
  • Attention to detail in cutscenes: in a good portion of cutscenes, Deacon excercises trigger discipline. Nice touch!
  • For the final big assault, it's cool that a high trust level with camps will result in them helping you and a special cutscene.
Cons
  • Big spoiler here, but basically I was unsatisfied with some of the major elements of the main plotline of the game. Finding Sarah is not treated with the gravity it deserves. It feels so anticlimactic, and it doesn't feel like Sarah is really happy to see Deacon? It doesn't feel like they had the same need to see each other again, which I think is not intended. Deacon also never really opens up to Sarah on the things he's done to get here. Really would've appreciated that moment and seeing how Sarah would react to that. Their relationship was good for the most part but I really was disappointed that a lot of stuff I wish they talked about, they never did.
  • The MC is sexist (something that isn't treated as a real character flaw and isn't really resolved, even though the game continually shows that most of the time women can absolutely hold their own)
  • Radio Free Oregon is constantly spewing right-wing ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ at you, and while the game acknowledges he's a nutjob by multiple decent characters, it's still spewing it at you constantly and wanting you to listen. I can't turn the radio off so I stop hearing his ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, I have to choose to skip it each time.
  • From the above two points, I can only assume that most of the people involved in this project were against some of these ideas, but the infamously right-wing schizo game director insisted upon their inclusion and force-feeding.
  • Did we really NEED to have Rikki cheat on Addy? It would be great if the notable queer character was just able to have a stable relationship with another queer person without cheating. And after resolving it with Addy, later she admits she still wants Deacon!!! WHY
  • The ending for Boozer is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ass. The fakeout death is lame, and the way the good/bad ending for him works is also lame.
  • Quite a few unresolved plot threads (Deacon being sexist, Boozer not ever being willing to get help, the girl we saved from Marion at the slave camp, what to do with the slave camp where they obviously overwork and bully)
  • Intro's pacing is a bit too fast at first; initial cutscene spam is insane. First 50 minutes are basically a movie (the game later replays one of the cutscenes)
  • I wish side jobs had more complexity and separate endings for some of them. His character doesn't really get challenged doing most of these side quests, which is a wasted opportunity. Side jobs are mostly one-note.
  • Characters tend to be boring, but have good moments

Gameplay
The motorcycle riding is peak. Fighting enemies in general is fun, with lots of cool systems and mechanics that enhance the experience. Helps the world feel more alive. Sadly, boss fights are almost always bad, and some enemies/areas are really awful to fight. Mostly positive, but still kinda a mixed bag at times.
Pros
  • I love the motorcycle riding. The game forces you to make decisions on when and where to fill up, and it can get you into bad situations that are very good for keeping the game feeling fresh. I've had to stealth my way into and out of infested gas stations just to get gas. Some of the best parts of the game is just knowing vaguely where your destination is and crafting the best route out of the terrain to get there.
  • Stealth is EXTREMELY rewarding and satisfying
  • Gunplay is actually fun for something that technically features random bullet spread on every shot
  • Clearing out nests to lessen zombie influence in an area is a cool give and take
  • The fact that gunshots can ACTUALLY attract unwanted attention and result in some bad outcomes is very interesting. I've been screwed over because I used my pistol and have had to fight my way out of a really bad situation
  • Hordes have impressive AI that lets them feel smart while also feeling somewhat predictable. It's definitely not what I would buy the game for but it is a very nice aspect of it.
Cons
  • Boss fights are always meh and buggy. Results in super unsatisfying conclusions to arcs
  • Wolves have WAY too much health and have ZERO headshot hitbox. They suck to fight and they pop up somewhat often
  • Clearing out nests became so boring that after the first few after setting fire to a nest, I would run away, save, then reload so the zombies that spawned from the nest despawned
  • Horde-killing is a storyline that unlocks stuff, but it isn't mentioned to you until the end of the game when you probably already have the best weapons and thus all hordes are extremely trivial

QoL
Quality of life is something that can easily not be noticed, but when it's not there, it's bad. Game needed more testing on the best mode, which is Survival 2. NPCs can be extremely annoying with the whole "come back to camp for a quest" shtick. Definitely would appreciate a patch for this stuff. Not sure if you can fix some of this stuff with mods.
Pros
  • Game lets you know when you are entering a point of no return
Cons
  • Autosaves WAY too often; can lead to encounters feeling cheap because there's not as high of stakes
  • Due to Surival mode, you have to press M every few seconds to check your map to make sure you're going on the right route. You also have to get off your bike to check your gas tank, which sucks.
  • Game would've benefitted from a radio with licensed songs. Without the option of fast-travel on Survival, you end up driving to places a LOT so some backing music would be nice
  • The map doesn't have clearly defined borders around the edge, so it's hard to tell what areas you can explore and what is just not accessible
  • The classic open-world system of "I've got a job for you; come by when you can" *goes by* "I could've told you this over the radio, but instead I made you come all the way here for no reason!"
  • Quest givers will also wait for you to leave their camp, and then call you to come back so they can give you a quest in person lol. It's agonizing.

Review continued in comments. (char limit)
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blake++ 14 Oct, 2024 @ 6:10pm 
Misc
Pros
- The variety of weather affecting hordes as well as riding terrain is really cool.
- Visuals are great; Decent animations; fighting looks satisfying
Cons
- Low replay value IMO. I can't see myself ever replaying this.
- Music often keeps playing even when it isn't applicable to what's happening on screen
- Soundtrack can be overbearing; otherwise it's just okay. Sarah's Theme is pretty great
- Unskippable 20 second intro company logo sequence
- There's a reoccurring quest where you can go save a survivor, and the survivor has a unique model. They re-use that model 8 times
- Strange lag during the final big mission. Wasn't present anywhere else throughout the game. Also a bug with the boss fight, where it requires you to press F to fight off the boss, but that also turns off/on your flashlight, so it's totally immersion breaking. Also the "freaks don't kill unarmed women" line is just suuuper lame. And also totally inaccurate.
blake++ 14 Oct, 2024 @ 6:09pm 
Notes:
- Driving on M&K is odd but still very decent. Takes some getting used to
- Deacon LOVES the idea of killing all these bad people, to the point of where I think he's almost aroused by the idea. It's a bit off-putting at times. Dunno if this is intentional
- The ammo system is mildly confusing, to the point where I had to look it up; enemies have to use the same weapon as you in order for you to loot their ammo
- Used https://mapgenie.io/days-gone/maps/oregon and https://www.reddit.com/r/DaysGone/comments/q3cvp0/list_of_which_hordes_spawn_when_and_how_large/ for figuring out hordes before we're allowed to clear them.
- Endgame weapons are beastly
- After playing on Survival 2, I can't imagine this game with fast travel. It feels like it was intended to be played without it.