S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

[Animalmother]

I know what you mean mate. It's a mixture of support for the developers and pure fucking stubbornness that has stopped me uninstalling this multiple times. I shall press on and see if I finish the story or it finally breaks me.

I've sank 112 hours into it... Jesus

[eny]

I am the game's biggest fan, but even I have not bothered with it since I reached where Malachite got thingy-majigged in the storyline...I had a general dis-ease playing it, sort of an enduring cloud of doom that just got exhausting eventually...

[Wrathbone]

I've yet to go back to it (was caught up in a whole bunch of other game releases), but I did enjoy the few hours I played. Will have to get back into it soon.

[Sly Boots]

It feels like it's basically a fantastic 50-hour game stretched out into a gruelling 100+ hours slog.

[Animalmother]

Got the mission to head to Pripyat but as soon as I step out of the traders a group of soldiers attack. Some people shoot back while others do nothing. Everyone stops fighting so I make a move and suddenly everyone is shooting at me. I can't make it out of the camp without being shredded. I have no idea what the fuck is going on anymore, I gave up following the plot a long time ago.

I'm just so close to the end now I want to finish and get it over and done with.

[Hatredsheart]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... 1143207687

[Animalmother]

130 hours and I'm still not fucking finished this game. You think you're at the end then it throws another mission at you, followed by another and another. You have to fight 20+ enemies in an area then move onto the next. This is filled with more enemies and anomalies etc. It's a mind numbing slog at this stage and I just want to be done with and uninstall. I don't think I've had my goodwill for a game just eroded away like this before.
It's not a bad game by any means, it's just too much space with too little to do, it's a fucking grind. I'd say in a few years once modders have had a good go it'll be an excellent experience.

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, prior to my previous post, when I was around the 80 hours mark or whatever and still not at Pripyat yet I just quickly looked up a walkthrough just to get an idea of how much was still to go... and it was largely that and the way my heart fell seeing how much was left that led to me uninstalling. If I'd found the story unmissable I'd have probably tried to plough through and see it to the end, but the prospect of more of the same for another 40-50 hours just wasn't appealing.

It's a shame as like you say it's a good game, it just outstays its welcome. It could have been an incredible 30-40 hour game if they'd kept it tighter, the main issue for me in stopping was simply fatigue.

[Animalmother]

So I finished the game at last, 131 hours exactly to complete. I had my finger hovering over the uninstall option towards the end due to utter frustration, I was literally one doorway from completion without realizing it. Watched the last cutscene then pressed that uninstall button. Bittersweet feeling in the end, happy I got to play it all the way through but it left a very bad taste in my mouth. I won't be revisiting this series again I think.

Had anyone else finished it here?

[ManBearSquid]

I took a break from it after 38 hours, tried going back and just realised that I wasn't really enjoying it any longer after more and more niggles and issues reared their heads.

A big one for me is that I just don't really find the combat very fun: the enemies barely react, if at all, to being hit until their deaths, and for the most part they all tend to collapse in a very similar way; they tend to just walk towards you while soaking up the bullets, so there isn't much of a tactical fight happening; stealth is near non-existant with the AI being how it is (although I think there may have been recent improvements that I haven't played); and mutants often just felt more like a chore than a tense fight.

With the above being said, I did have cool moments that didn't quite fit the mould of my regular gripes, but they were fewer and farther between the more I played.

I think the final nail that made me uninstall was when I was tasked with going after kingpin who was hiding out with his crew in a makeshift camp of cargo containers; I'd recently acquired a sniper rifle and was looking forward to trying a different approach as I neared this encampment. I hid in the trees adjacent to it and started to scope the place out - deserted. After a short time, they all just piled out of - or from behind - one of the containers, I opened fire and they just proceeded to all rush me from across an open field. It was so utterly unsatisfying that I just couldn't be arsed any more.

I had some fun with the game, I'm glad I supported it, but I doubt I'll return without significant changes.

[Animalmother]

I'm sure Soli would be on his 5th playthrough by now

[Sly Boots]

Made #6 on the list:

[Lenny Solidus]

As I now have the hardware that would more than reasonably run the game (as far as I can tell what with its endless updates since I last tried) I've now become somewhat apprehensive about buying it again, would everyone who has played it care to share with me their one main gripe with the Stalker 2 experience outside of the games length? I'd be most appreciative.

Guess I'd rather not start the investment of my time with something that captures me quite strong initially but tails off dramatically meaning like so many others it will be a game I never complete, I've waited so very long to experience it upgrade and all so I'm rather cautious from everything I've been hearing lately.

Yet GabeN himself has somehow completed the game in full a total of four times, fucking four! Mad man.

[Sly Boots]

The main gripes are solved easily enough with mods - raise carry weight, reduce the cost of repairs and upgrades, reduce health of some of the mutants (bloodsuckers in particular are an absolute bitch early on).

With those solved it remains a game that is honestly great for the first 40-50 hours.

[Animalmother]

It's a very ambitious game that was made in some extremely difficult circumstances so I'll never knock it for that. But it does have some major issues that I couldn't ignore.

The plot ceased to make any sense or relevance after a period of time, I genuinely had no idea what was happening for the majority of the game. So many characters and factions that look almost identical each spewing gallons of worthless exposition.

The map is just too large for a game with no vehicles and a very limited fast travel system. You have to walk kilometers between mission objectives over very similar looking scenery. Often areas are blocked by walls and fences so you need to retrace your steps and find a way around.

Near constant attacks from A Life enemies is exhausting. I've had to turn the game off and leave it after my 3rd or 4th bloodsucker attack just trying to get to an objective. Human enemies that can see and hit you from ridiculous distances and as you try to run away, usually straight into one of the insane amount of anomalies that litter the zone.

The crippling weight system matched with an unreasonable weapon and armor degradation often leaves you at a constant disadvantage in most situations. All your credits go on the constant maintenance of your gear, which is insanely expensive. Mission rewards are paltry, 3000 credits to clear out a bandit camp that could end up costing you 10000 in repairs and ammo is pointless.

Nights that drag on for far too long with your only light a very weak torch that can attract the attention of enemies. I had to ramp up the gamma in the setting to actually make it playable. Flashlight attachments to weapons would have solved this but they don't exist in this game. I often found weapon damage to be wildly inconsistent, a single shotgun blast or maybe 4 to drop the same enemy at different encounters.

It's a bit of a spoiler but the last portion of the game is just a soul crushing grind of wave after wave of heavily armed and armoured opponents often from all sides at once. At least ammo is no longer a problem by this point, it's everywhere. Think I finished with over 200 shotgun shells in my inventory.

I could go on and on for hours here and that's just what I can remember. Most of the above problems can be fixed by updates. I was on the Xbox version which has no access to mods which is a massive disadvantage. The PC has a mod to mix most of the above I believe. I'd say definitely give it a go once you can get it at a reasonable price. It is a great game hindered by some bad design decisions and an insanely stressful development.