Days Gone
Estimated playtime: 80 hours (didn't exhaust content, but did most of it).
What a slow burn this game was.
It didn't really get going until 10-15 hours into it - when it really opens up and becomes compelling.
Turns out it's now one of my favorite games of all time. It's up there with Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite when it comes to storytelling - though the presentation is different, being less linear and the unfolding of plot much slower.
It's also one of the best open worlds I've experienced. There's no copy/paste here - and every single location feels handcrafted and meaningful.
It has a lot of diversity when it comes to regions - including forests, swamps, snowy areas, deserts, mud/ash and so forth.
It features the best vehicle implementation I think I've experienced as well, with the fully customizable bike being incredibly detailed - and controls particularly well. Every little detail has been cared for - and you can see everything move and your character manipulate gear shift, brakes, etc.
Progression is also nearly perfect. Even after 80 hours - I still had a few weapons to unlock - as well as some crafting recipes. I did max out skills - but only a few hours before the end.
Weapon variety is very impressive - with at least 50 firearms, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Tons of melee weapons as well.
You get to pick one melee weapon, one primary weapon, one side-arm and one "special" weapon. There really is no perfect loadout - and it all comes down to playstyle and what you're going to do.
Stealth is a bit basic, but it works well - and there's a strong balance of how to approach combat.
I love how suppressors are hand-made and get broken down. This means it's up to you to decide when to attach and detach them, and you have to be very tactical about when you use them.
It's a stroke of genius that your bike is where you save the game - and where you stock ammo. It makes it vital for survival - and it ties almost everything you do to it - meaning you really want to care for it and upgrade it.
There's a good variety of enemies - including around 10 "freakers", bears, wolves, cougars and quite a few human NPCs. The freakers are especially well done - because every single one of them has its own backstory and reason for its specific mutation.
Beyond that, you get a ton of "tourism" collectables to find - all of which seem historically accurate.
The game is set in Oregon - and you get to see a lot of the supposedly famous locations - as well as find historical markers, detailing the background lore.
It's also the best looking PS4 game I've played - and it definitely rivals Red Dead Redemption 2 in the visuals department.
It has great dynamic weather - with snow slowly covering the landscape - completely changing how areas look and feel, and snow even covers things like clothing and dead bodies.
Music is fantastic and includes atmospheric exploration tracks and intense combat stuff. Even better is that it has a handful of performed songs at key moments in the narrative - and they all work very well.
Most combat is good - but does suffer from being played with a controller. You do get "Focus" - which is Days Gone Dead Eye - basically, and it helps. Still, this game would be better on PC with a mouse.
That said, one of the most impressive and unique parts of the game would be the horde fights.
You're literally going up against hundreds of freakers (not-zombies) at once - and those fights are incredibly intense and appropriately challenging at the right difficulty level.
I honestly can't recall another game that gave me that level of intensity - at least not since I played competitive multiplayer shooters 20 years ago. It's really rather amazing.
Best part of the game would be the (very long) narrative - and it's mostly a very subtle piece. It's delightfully free from moralizing - and I don't think there's a single character in the game that doesn't have some level of dark side.
They've also gone out of their way to explain how things work - and you very slowly establish who you are, and how you came to behave like you do.
I started out with a mild dislike/disinterest in the protagonist (a biker called Deacon) - but ended up being very fond of him. It's quite the journey.
It's also probably the best example of how to do a very big open world game without losing the impact of the narrative. At least, it worked very well for me.
It does have its share of filler missions - but most are optional, and they give you good reasons to do them (mostly unique crafting recipes and the like).
I'm sure some people would feel it's just too long or too much content - but it worked for me because of how well progression is handled. You constantly have stuff to look forward to - and if you pick the right difficulty level (I highly recommend Survival mode) - you really feel like you need every upgrade you can get.
I could go on and on about how great this game really is - but I guess I've made my point.
Pros:
Superb storytelling
Great Characters
Fantastic music
Strong visuals
Great world/exploration
Great diversity of main missions
Tons of weapons
Amazing progression and pacing
Near perfect challenge/balance on survival
Cool and slow revelation of plot and lore
Good combat
Super intense horde fights
The bike
Cons:
Ending was merely decent - which is a step down from the rest of the game
Performance issues and stuttering towards the end-game, even on PS4PRO
Too frequent ambushes for my tastes
Day/Night cycle too short
Bike starts out having implausibly low fuel capacity
Overall, I'd probably rate it 9/10.
It would have been 9.5 if the ending was stronger and if the game didn't suffer from a few annoying performance issues towards the end of the game.
It rests comfortably somewhere in my top 10 games of all time.
Here are some videos of some of the cooler features:
