Agreed. Let's be honest, it suffered performance issues at launch, which were fixed after a few weeks, but that doesn't make Garvin wrong here.
The most cutting reviews barely mentioned the technical aspects, focusing instead on their woke outrage at yet another gruff, white, male protagonist. That was apparently the 'cool' take at the time...
We can all look back on those reviews and laugh at them, particularly because anyone with a PS5 gets to play the game for free (along with 20-odd other classics) and can see how wrong those reviewers were for themselves.
I believe the IP will return. Given the crap flung at the game at launch )and how it impacted the views of people that hadn't even played it) it was the right decision to rest the franchise instead of going straight into a sequel.
I hope to see it again, now so many have enjoyed it for themselves.
Played it for "free" on the ps5 and I usually am much harsher on free games course there is so called no money invested. But it's honestly one of the better games I've played. The only thing i maybe didn't like was the fuel mechanic, but it becomes better once you upgrade.
You know what's really annoying? Seeing the term "woke" be co-opted by people who don't know what woke means.
Word has been used as slang almost as long as I've been alive. Now the squares are using it to describe socially sensitive people.
It's one of those things like a guy getting their ear pierced. It meant something, and now that everyone doing it, the meaning is lost.
Anyway, just ranting. I think that's a weird take from Garvin (and ironic for him to focus on characteristics he blames others for focusing on as the issue). I honestly think a lot of reviewers went into it with the impression left by trailers: largely generic. No matter what Deacon looked like, it was an open world zombie game with a motorcycle. I can see enough reasons for reviewers to feel some type of way and other people feeling compelled to kinda wait for it to hit the bargain bin and being a new IP isn't an advantage.
I think it was only literally a couple reviews that went that route, even then one probably just piggybacked off the other.
Game was great, I loved the hordes and tenseness that I felt or just driving around on the bike, and I hate motorcycles with a passion. It was fun. Parts couldve been better but It was still great imo. and I got that secret ending.
Plat'ed it, it's a deserved score IMHO. It's a good game, but not great and not mediocre. Just in between.
And my issues had nothing to do with any of the stuff this guy mentions but more gameplay, performance, and generally how annoying it is to hear Deacon shout out things to people he hears on the radio while he rides his motorcycle across the landscape.
It was an unfair attribution by a very minor few as another "gruff white male" but those are people who look for this stuff for clicks and were only seen because gamers can't not click on controversial stuff to save their lives. Always have to give these people clicks, and they keep doing it just for the clicks. Good job gamers. You've played yourselves.
I don't find anything wrong with having an itchy left-click finger when it comes to controversial news. I actually find that attractive in women. If I find a woman who's prepared to potentially burn a bridge between someone close to her, simply because she feels passionate enough to speak her truth on a hot topic, I think that's sexy.
Gamers are hot. We're hot 😎
I just make sure mom bathes me at least once per month, when she's not making me hot pockets... And I'm good!
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I have a motorbike and you shout while having the mic on because of the bike engine noise being so loud, so it was actually realistic.
Having said that because it's a game it would have come across to the gamer better having a more toned down voice in those instances when it happened.
It's like when you talk having a headset on, you talk louder without realising it.
@EvertonFC. That's the thing, he wasn't talking into a microphone or to someone else in the face. He was just yelling to himself. Literally yelling at the player and nothing else.
Note, by radio I mean the radio broadcasts, not the type to communicate to others. You don't have that.
I just realized that my mom joke unintentionally may come across as incestuous. Whoops... I didn't mean that.
Cartman's mom giving him hot pockets during the South Park World of Warcraft episode still depicts the archetypal gamer I think. That's all I was shooting for with my funny 🙃
There used to be a longer compilation video with more stuff like this and his insane ramblings. Thinking back on the game now, I don't think I really liked any character in the game.
Christopher I disagree about the game with you, I do agree about your 2nd take
Far as him talking to himself , or yelling eh no big deal, he was kind of a loner for awhile in a zombie infested ruined world, Id probably talk to and yell myself out there
You can keep pushing that narrative, but that's not true.
It was simply shot down by Sony. Obviously the original didn't meet expectations for a sequel.
There were multiplayer elements pitched and greenlit for the original game. They just didn't make it in due to time constraints. They were to be a separate element from the single player, just as was true when they pitched a sequel.
Sony wouldn't just shoot down a game for providing more content that they already were happy to see originally but never made it to the final product.
It gets old watching people just make stuff up to back a narrative they want to convey.
That is exactly the problem when a lot of people say a review is simply someone’s opinion but that opinion could affect how much other people make on their jobs and whether or not they get to keep their job or make a sequel. Yes it’s subjective but review the game fair and square ago in with an open mind please
I think he means like, you know, everyone calling Deacon from the start because he was a white biker looking guy, most likely relating him to some right wing bikers in the world, that stereotype.
Gavin said it got bad reviews because he white and he love looking at ass lol wtf but snake and Dante and Kratos and Drake and Author from RdR2 say other wise.
Him being white got nothing to do with the game being bad, all the bugs and glitches had something to do with the meta score and bland writing.
I still just find it a copout excuse. There's a couple reviews that mentioned that. The majority just stated he was a weak, generic written protagonist in general.
The game got less than stellar reviews due to Luke warm writing, performance issues, the glitches, and the terrible pacing.
I played and enjoyed the game, I'd give it a 7. Good, but not great.
I dont care if the main character is white black yellow red female or male just make a good game with a good story and Days Gone was definitely a good game .
Reviewers need to focus on what is there not what isn’t . The technical issues should have knocked the score down some and how they liked the game or didn’t not who they character is
"The technical issues should have knocked the score down some and how they liked the game or didn’t not who they character is"
Was the character's identity given more weight in the reviews than more important elements, like the ones you mentioned, or are people ignoring more significant critiques in certain reviews and leaping to the conclusion that observations about his identity resulted in lower scores and that it occurred in enough reviews to have the effect the former creative director is attributing to it?
Sonyslave3 dont you have a wall to stare at. I know you aint got no games to play. I played it 1 year or so after release and had no issue, not saying there wasnt at launch but lets be honest what AAA game doesnt these days since last gen. Far as the writing and story thats debatable and just opinion.
I mean... I looked into some of them back then and found the accusation wanting. I have changed my mind and *DO* believe some 'woke' unprofessionalism seeped into it, but it still seems quite limited. I'm open for more evidence though, b/c Gamespot's Kallie Plagge was an eye-opener.
I think a lot of reviewers went into this game with their mind already made up, that being said it is one of the roughest games from Sony's 1st party and dont think it deserves some of the very high praise it gets from fans. I think it was very good, with a 2nd act that drags on. I also dont get why they didn't put more focus on the hoards, you're only required to encounter the 2 smallest hoards throughout the entire campaign and the rest of them are just up to you, shame cause that's the biggest thing that sets it apart and it's super fun. I would love a sequel so they can improve on the formula, but we'll just have to wait and see what Bend announces next, hopefully during the VGAs tomorrow
Did we play the same game? The sawmill hoard maybe? The other big hoard you test the napalm on? Both of those hoards are story related.
Edit: There's also a hoard in a cave you run into if you aren't quiet, while looking for something for O'Brian. Might be with Skizzo that you're helping. Can't remember who exactly.
Yes those are the hoards im talking about, and though they are crazy big hoards, compared to ALL the hoards in the game, those two are some of the smallest.
Most are so big you really REALLY have to plan your route with ammo resupply points (like your bike) choke points and traps, even fully upgraded
The sawmill hoard is the biggest one in the game with around 500 freakers. The hoard you test the napalm on is about the same size as the rest of the big hoards in the southern area. Certainly not smaller then the rest of the southern hoards.
The campaign doesnt require you to fight the full hoard at the sawmill, you encounter a hoard, but the full hoard is still there after that mission. Either way still doesn't change my point of not focusing on the hoards. There's lots of them, yet the game doesn't focus on them till you beat the game, honestly i feel like that should've been used to fill out that dragging 2nd act
Nope, beat the game at just under 100hrs, did every side mission, cleared every nest, 100% upgraded, did pretty much everything except the bird nests and clear all hoards
I agree that this was the roughest PS4 first-party title. The dialogue was bad because Deacon was such a bitter character, not because he fulfilled any stereotype. It was so annoying his constant grunting and his dismissiveness towards the NPCs that dealt with his condescending attitude.
The mixed-race lesbian couple was a total cloche stereotype though. They checked three diversity boxes by writing two shallow characters who had personality traits that contrasted harshly with the game world, one so needy and dependant that it doesn't make any sense that person would survive even a day in the apocalypse.
In terms of gameplay, it took dozens of hours before you could upgrade your bike to drive a decent length. But once you get to the meat of the game, with weapons of decent ammo capacity and a bike that can drive a few miles, there wasn't anything else that felt quite like it and the bike itself was some of my favorite feeling open-world traversal.
At the end I'd give it a 6/10, because the first 30 hours were really awful but the last 30 were dramatically better, like a sequel was built into it already. I've got no interest in a Days Gone sequel, even less so if Deacon returns, but Bend demonstrated in the second half that they do know how to build a big, relatively cohesive world with a multilayered story.
They could've done more hoards if they didn't waste 30 hours RPGing the player to level up enough to handle even the lightest of them.
Can't remember any reviews about that topic, but even if, Garvin seems to be the guy who likes to blame everyone else (The players who didn't buy it day one, the reviewers, Sony, the Woke, the Shiba Inu owners, the deep state and god knows what he rants about in private).
Even though he, as the writer of Days Gone, should have taken responsibility of slapping a predictable B-Movie plot onto an AAA game. The gameplay from Days Gone was fun, I also enjoyed the characters, but let's be honest here, rarely anyone claims that the best part of it was the story. Reviewers expect that all departments bring in their A game on a Sony AAA game.
The launch bugs have cost them a solid 8 out 10 from many reviewers, would Garvin had made more effort in his story, they could have reached that even with all the launch bugs.
Which is fine, you like what you like, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. For me, it was the weakest part of the game, but at least it was serviceable enough for me to not be distracting.
The zombie fad is long gone (the over saturation might have played a part in the reviews/sales too), so I don't think Sony wants to touch the IP again anytime soon, sadly. Garvins regular rants about it is not helping either.
I have yet to encounter one bug in Days Gone infact it was one of the very few games I can say that about. Perhaps the reviewers got earlier copies than everyone else and it was buggy for them however games like The Witcher 3 were riddled with bugs and nobody complained even the Reviewers said nothing
I played from launch on PS4 Pro and the only actual bug I remember encountering was going into an empty cave and then have a hoard literally spawn on top of me, which was pretty crazy but I think I just ran for the exit and made it out alive. No big deal.
I don't recall any performance issues in the second area, but I was playing on Pro.
I mean I remember multiple reviews literally criticising the game as one of their main negatives for having a straight white biker as the main protagonist.
Great und underrated game! I hope Days Gone 2 will release soon on PS5 ;)
Lol what
I think a lot of reviewers went into this game with their mind already made up, that being said it is one of the roughest games from Sony's 1st party and dont think it deserves some of the very high praise it gets from fans. I think it was very good, with a 2nd act that drags on. I also dont get why they didn't put more focus on the hoards, you're only required to encounter the 2 smallest hoards throughout the entire campaign and the rest of them are just up to you, shame cause that's the biggest thing that sets it apart and it's super fun. I would love a sequel so they can improve on the formula, but we'll just have to wait and see what Bend announces next, hopefully during the VGAs tomorrow
A 7-8/10 game that got 7/10 reviews. That's OK.
Dude seems to like making some bitter statements every few months to get some coverage (stay relevant) after being let go.