Greedfall - Initial Impressions (late to the party)

I know I'm a few years late, but I thought I'd put my impressions down for anyone interested.

I started playing Greedfall this week and I am really enjoying it. Overall the story and atmosphere are quite good for me. The writing isn't the best, but I still like the faction system and how they are all quite distinct from one another.

The gameworld is very pretty but I found it annoying that it isn't very accessible - i.e. I can't climb everywhere. Only in pre-determined places.

Whilst the exploration is quite fun, I do find that very few places have anything amazing hidden. This males exploration mostly a moot point, but I still do it for the occasional find. For example, I walked in a place I wasn't meant to go and had to fight a Guardian, which destroyed me a few times. Luckily I tried out a few different tactics and then managed to beat it. I was then assaulted by even more difficult beasts and got destroyed. Fun times.

The main things hampering my fun are the following:
- backtracking - this game seems to like sending you to places and then back again. This serves no value, but to prolong the game.
- compass - I'd like to turn this off but couldn't find a mod that does it.

One more nag is the re-use of assets - I know the game is not AAA but I didn't think every tavern in the world would have the exact same layout.

Overall however, I am really enjoying the game. I saw people finished this game in 30 hours or so. That seems pretty low to me as I doubt I've done a third of the game and I've played 10 hours by now.

Aren't you worried about spoilers starting a thread after just 10 hours?

I started the game but didn't finish it. I enjoyed the overall story/atmosphere but I found the combats and the gameplay too mmo-like hack'n'slash. Very repetitive. I lost interest.

Originally Posted by lackblogger
Aren't you worried about spoilers starting a thread after just 10 hours?

Not really, since I've not really asked any questions I'm assuming no one will come in just revealing late game story elements for no reason.

Maybe I'm naïve.

Originally Posted by vanedor
I started the game but didn't finish it. I enjoyed the overall story/atmosphere but I found the combats and the gameplay too mmo-like hack'n'slash. Very repetitive. I lost interest.

I can see that coming if the game ends up being too long, but for now I'm still ok with it.
Combat isn't amazing, but doesn't (yet) detract from my experience.

Originally Posted by Pladio
I can see that coming if the game ends up being too long, but for now I'm still ok with it.
Combat isn't amazing, but doesn't (yet) detract from my experience.

Yeah, I was "ok" at first, too. But after 15 hours, I had enough.

Originally Posted by Pladio
Overall however, I am really enjoying the game. I saw people finished this game in 30 hours or so. That seems pretty low to me as I doubt I've done a third of the game and I've played 10 hours by now.

According to Steam, I spent 104 hours in Greedfall. It was a completionist playthrough, but that total probably isn't entirely accurate. I likely left it running a few times while I was doing other things.

My first play through, more focused on the story, was 59.6 hours according to steam.

100 hours for me, really enjoyed it

Thanks, I don't know where I'll get to but I feel like wgd is probably closest.

Originally Posted by Pladio
Thanks, I don't know where I'll get to but I feel like wgd is probably closest.

Wgd?
…

Originally Posted by JDR13
Wgd?
…

Wolfgrimdark

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
Wolfgrimdark

I've been playing more almost every day and still enjoying it.

One thing I find stunning is the natural atmosphere. It really is well done. Makes it nice to just walk around.

I've played for some more hours last night and I have realised something. The devs seemed to have frontloaded a lot of the experience. There are more quests in the first 2 cities than it seems like to me the rest of the game combined.

It's a bit of a shame since it does really look like a beautiful game, but it seems like exploring the other locations prior to receiving quests serves little purpose.

Originally Posted by Pladio
I've played for some more hours last night and I have realised something. The devs seemed to have frontloaded a lot of the experience. There are more quests in the first 2 cities than it seems like to me the rest of the game combined.

It's a bit of a shame since it does really look like a beautiful game, but it seems like exploring the other locations prior to receiving quests serves little purpose.

Yeah, it's no Bethesda or Piranha Bytes game when it comes to exploration. I guess I'd say Greedfall's strengths are the story and characters.

I also thought it started to drag towards the end. I was able to finish it, but I was glad when it was over.

So I finished the game. Overall, I have to say the fun factor was great. I could nitpick at or nag about so many individual things, but I really found it a fun game.
The story was relatively original and I enjoyed the different factions.

I heartily recommend it to any fan of the genre. As advice I would say, don't go exploring entire maps from the get go. The game does not have the same exploration levels of PB games and other than having to come back to those places again anyway, you will not gain anything substantial.

I played the game as a melee focused character, which I enjoyed. Some enemies gave me some trouble to the very end (e.g. those lizards) but I sense a great deal of progression with all of the weapon/armour/skill upgrades.

So that's a big plus in my book too.

I won't go on about the negatives as I've mentioned the main ones for me a couple of times already.

Yeah, I agree. It's a good game, and it shows the progress the developers of Spiders has made. They've come a long way.