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interactions go far beyond just talking to people,
Commenting on your look
Commenting on your car
Reacting to you staring
Reacting to your weapon and its type
Reacting to j-walking
Reacting to running
Reacting to jumping
Reacting to off path/parkour
stuff like that. You are correct that normally you don't talk or converse with the masses but you do interact with them constantly in many small ways. People look at you, sometimes people talk about you amongst themselves or react to what your doing by avoiding slowing down commenting etc. None of this exists in the game with the exception of them running off and either disappearing or cowering on the spot. You can bump into them for a one line comment with no other reaction but thats it. There is no interaction with them they are just mindless zombies
Ultimately the only choices that matter are
Gender - will determine who you romance, if your so inclined, i say romance i mean what sex scene you get.
Did you or did you not complete a specific set of side quests - determines what endings there are open to you.
There is variations in dialogue, certain ways to express said dialogue and many ways to approach a mission which can result in ultimately the same result but can vary and will not impact much if anything, case in point punch or dont punch fingers? Punch he stays as is, dont he has a ripper inventory.
Dialogues fairly useless apart from forwarding the questlines to there conclusion regardless what anyone thinks, case in point Judy, it doesn't matter what i say to her or how i say it aslong as i do her missions i can always "romance" her and i can always do her missions even after i've said no, all you got to do is phone an say i changed my mind and everythings back to the scripted outcome.
There is supply differences as i said and thats what keeps me playing, things like the fingers outcome or in judys case mission specific approaches/dialogues that will slightly tweak a scene etc but as i also said ultimately nothing matters apart from doing the quests, however you want to do them, that are relevant to unlocking the end you prefer.
It's a bleak picture i paint and i apologise because what i said doesnt make it a bad game, buggy sure, frustrating definitely, bad? No
Ultimately it's pretty linear with just check boxes for your flavoured end but that doesn't take into account some of the writing, the voice acting, the characters, relationships, builds, and yes the life path dialogue options that dont matter but still provide something different in the moment.
I seem to pick on Judy in this post and its no my intention, she just happens to be a great example of how nothing V does matters but she also provides a great example of how everything V does does matter.
"Roleplaying" in this game is easy, not the best, but certainly alot more on offer than anything W3 had in terms of customization, build diversity and character interaction. As i said earlier the story's pretty linear with little to no cause and effect outside check boxes but i dont look at it like that, i look at it like a path, a journey if you like, and even though ultimately every V does a heist and gets a ticking time bomb stuck in there head its the interactions, the dialogue, relationships they build, each different from the last that make each journey (although the same) different.
You can approach judys "story" from different angles, have different dialogue and completely shut her down, same with panam and its upto you.
You can look at everything as a check box or you can try look at each playthrough with different eyes and a different approach, im a corpo guy i dont trust these nomads but i need them to get this one guy so i'll use them, then when panam phones to ask for help you say no, simple. It's upto you how to play noones telling you you have to do it, does it lock you out the nomad end? Yes but thats the consequence of how you played, every approch doesnt lead to rainbows and unicorns nor should it, each and every ending plays into a theme, want to be a legend? There you go but theres a price, want to suck corp dick? There you go and there your price, waht to be free with family and friends? There you go but theres a price, had enough? Boom gotcha
All consequences of your actions and the game provides enough subtle differences in dialogue, scenes, approach to mission to make every character different.
I've finished this game with judy dumping my ass, crying herself to sleep over my death, cursing me and being head over heels in love with me
I've finished with panam threatening to hunt johnny tio the ends of the earth and strangle him, Johnny being a completely transformed person to johnny still being a dick.
Some of the "endings" to my choices
Ultimately what you do doesn't matter because you'll get there but ultimately everything you do matters to you and the ppl you encounter, it's just upto you, the player how you approch it and do it
Gender - will determine who you romance, if your so inclined, i say romance i mean what sex scene you get.
Did you or did you not complete a specific set of side quests - determines what endings there are open to you.
There is variations in dialogue, certain ways to express said dialogue and many ways to approach a mission which can result in ultimately the same result but can vary and will not impact much if anything, case in point punch or dont punch fingers? Punch he stays as is, dont he has a ripper inventory.
Dialogues fairly useless apart from forwarding the questlines to there conclusion regardless what anyone thinks, case in point Judy, it doesn't matter what i say to her or how i say it aslong as i do her missions i can always "romance" her and i can always do her missions even after i've said no, all you got to do is phone an say i changed my mind and everythings back to the scripted outcome.
There is supply differences as i said and thats what keeps me playing, things like the fingers outcome or in judys case mission specific approaches/dialogues that will slightly tweak a scene etc but as i also said ultimately nothing matters apart from doing the quests, however you want to do them, that are relevant to unlocking the end you prefer.
It's a bleak picture i paint and i apologise because what i said doesnt make it a bad game, buggy sure, frustrating definitely, bad? No
Ultimately it's pretty linear with just check boxes for your flavoured end but that doesn't take into account some of the writing, the voice acting, the characters, relationships, builds, and yes the life path dialogue options that dont matter but still provide something different in the moment.
I seem to pick on Judy in this post and its no my intention, she just happens to be a great example of how nothing V does matters but she also provides a great example of how everything V does does matter.
"Roleplaying" in this game is easy, not the best, but certainly alot more on offer than anything W3 had in terms of customization, build diversity and character interaction. As i said earlier the story's pretty linear with little to no cause and effect outside check boxes but i dont look at it like that, i look at it like a path, a journey if you like, and even though ultimately every V does a heist and gets a ticking time bomb stuck in there head its the interactions, the dialogue, relationships they build, each different from the last that make each journey (although the same) different.
You can approach judys "story" from different angles, have different dialogue and completely shut her down, same with panam and its upto you.
You can look at everything as a check box or you can try look at each playthrough with different eyes and a different approach, im a corpo guy i dont trust these nomads but i need them to get this one guy so i'll use them, then when panam phones to ask for help you say no, simple. It's upto you how to play noones telling you you have to do it, does it lock you out the nomad end? Yes but thats the consequence of how you played, every approch doesnt lead to rainbows and unicorns nor should it, each and every ending plays into a theme, want to be a legend? There you go but theres a price, want to suck corp dick? There you go and there your price, waht to be free with family and friends? There you go but theres a price, had enough? Boom gotcha
All consequences of your actions and the game provides enough subtle differences in dialogue, scenes, approach to mission to make every character different.
I've finished this game with judy dumping my ass, crying herself to sleep over my death, cursing me and being head over heels in love with me
I've finished with panam threatening to hunt johnny tio the ends of the earth and strangle him, Johnny being a completely transformed person to johnny still being a dick.
Some of the "endings" to my choices
Ultimately what you do doesn't matter because you'll get there but ultimately everything you do matters to you and the ppl you encounter, it's just upto you, the player how you approch it and do it
Well you're making up stuff. Because I just did a mission where they commented on the fact that I killed people on the inside of the mission but refused to kill the target and delivered her alive despite it being a hit. The NPCs constantly react to how you do missions and whether you go loud, stealthy, or bloody. If you talk to NPCs using Lifepath dialogue, they change their attitudes to you and often conversations go very different.
How far have you gotten in the game?
Interestingly, my daughter and I are playing this game, and it feels different for both of us. Johnny likes her and hates me. She received rep a lot faster than me, and I received side quests that she has never seen. Regarding NPC talking about the appearance, an NPC told my character that she looks nice.
Given most video games don't have more than one or two, this is actually pretty damn impressive.
all cut. happened after the descoping of 2019 and keanu reeves was brough in to pull the wool over our eyes.
217 Hours into the game with all marked side missions, most unmarked ones and the story done right up until the final mission but thats irrelevant because your missing the point.
What you are referring to there is scripted NPC's triggered by mission progression/completion and not dynamically generated reactions.
Try going into a shop outside of a mission and kill everyone inside. You won't find anyone outside commenting on your actions, or in fact any NPC's at all because they probably all despawned the second they were out of view.
I don't think that the low/mid- level devs had a say in the release date debacle or a change of the game genre from RPG to AAG/AAS. The failure comes from the top level, who are not exactly "developers" but who are the decision makers.
No, you instead get the cops manifesting on you. Which is a reasonable reaction to a massacre.
There are already many videos like this on YT.
At first people were only focused on bugs, but now are starting to wake up and see the game for what it really is. A shallow mediocrity of over-promised futures, but non present in the final cut.
To this day they still refuse to come clean and acknowledge everything that is wrong with this game. And I don't believe they will ever do that. Just look how they responded to Sony pulling the game from their store, or how condescending their response was about the save limit...
At first people were only focused on bugs, but now are starting to wake up and see the game for what it really is. A shallow mediocrity of over-promised futures, but non present in the final cut.
To this day they still refuse to come clean and acknowledge everything that is wrong with this game. And I don't believe they will ever do that. Just look how they responded to Sony pulling the game from their store, or how condescending their response was about the save limit...
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This doesn't really address his point. Sure cops teleport in magically as a response, but that's not the kind of deep character interaction and world-building people are looking for. It would be better if, as in his example, after massacring up the hotel and escaped from the cops that this had lasting consequences. NPC's might recognize you hours down the line and respond in fear; you would be kill-on-sight from ALL cops in the game for the next few in-game days/weeks; you could get access to a special mission chain or fixer who offers jobs similar to the Dark Brotherhood questline in Oblivion/Skyrim reserved for only the most brutal mercs; main quest characters might reveal new dialogue revealing how they distrust you or are scared of you, Misty might try to cleanse your chakra because she is worried about the person you're becoming, etc. etc.
Well that seems like a glorified Game Over because a huge chunk of the characters would not deal with a mass murderer.
Its not Grand Theft Auto, it's a game where you work to stop a pedophile serial killer and help an aging rocker put on a tour.
Why wouldn't the characters deal with a mass murderer? The districts are all ran by gangs that primarily engage in murdering and drug dealing. How many street corners have seemingly innocent civilians being zeroed by gangs? So I don't think there's any basis for your assertion. Night City is cynical and brutal, most are just in it for the eddies. Why would the fixers care about your escapades if you can still handle the jobs they give you professionally? Plus, you're actually helping the point. Maybe certain vendors, ripperdocs who have a smidge of a conscience would refuse to do business with you if you were some evil mass murderer. That dynamic sounds even more interesting!
And no it's not GTA, but the difference is between an enjoyable and immersive open-world and a bland train ride with a skin-deep aesthetic. You don't need to be GTA to have characters react in convincing and satisfying ways. And even if this game involves you stopping a pedophile serial killer and helping an aging rocker put on a tour, why would having more realistic NPC's and character interactions in any way detract from the quality of the game? It would only make it better.
Stop feeding the trolls, sadly Geralt won't come to the rescue anytime soon.
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