It took about 3.5 years, but now it's actually coming out in less than two weeks. I'm really excited to see what people think of it and it has been cool watching streamers react to the demo. Somehow my two story tall tree guy is really good at sneaking up on people. :D

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[–] [email protected] 119 points 6 months ago

I played the demo for a few hours. Might be a solo dev, but his experience is definitely noticeable. Game looks great, albeit unoptimized. Progression is simple and fair. Artwork is incredible for a solo dev. Combat is decent, and unexpectedly satisfying.

Someone else mentioned the excessive blood explosion - it’s the best feeling when you land one of those shots from across a field.

[–] [email protected] 75 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Looks interesting, but the music should hit WAY harder, IMO. Based on the visuals, I was expecting early 2000s Opeth, and I got late 2010s Opeth instead.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (18 children)

The music is all written by a member of ISIS, which is pretty heavy, but in an "atmospheric sludge/post-metal" way. So I can see how you'd think that if you're looking for something more death metal (which would fit in the fight scenes, although atmospheric sludge or funeral doom would go pretty well in the rest of the game)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (7 children)

Oh snap thanks for pointing this out! Been a long time and I haven't kept up with ISIS, but their Panopticon was damn near genre-defining for me at the time.

[–] RedditRefugee69 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm glad to see they've turned a corner in their careers. Last I heard they were mostly producing beheading videos.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Lol yeah, name became a wee bit unfortunate thanks to those angry rascals

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Not really all that related, but if you like Panopticon by ISIS, you might also appreciate the best Appalachian atmospheric black metal I've ever heard, Kentucky by Panopticon.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Buddy, "Appalachian atmospheric black metal" is a weird combination of words I've never seen before and I'm stoked to give it a whirl. Praise Satan for keeping metal interesting.

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[–] [email protected] 69 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ahh, a game dedicated to being a stealth archer, fuck yeah, I'm in.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago (5 children)

I know right. He knew that was the best way to play Skyrim. This game looks bad ass.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 6 months ago

Why the f I see vertical gameplay of someone playing 16:9?

[–] [email protected] 46 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Still took less time than Elder Scrolls 6 to come out

[–] [email protected] 41 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Think we know why (this guy quit)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

You’d think it would be a blow to Bethesda that their sole programmer quit, but fortunately the creation engine is so cutting edge that I’m sure they’ll lean on it just as it is for years to come.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 6 months ago (2 children)

GPU: 4 GB VRAM GeForce GTX 980/Radeon RX 580

Dammit, my iGPU has more than enough computing power but only half of the VRAM.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (3 children)

iGPU's can use system RAM to supplement VRAM. Might still be doable

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 6 months ago (8 children)

I feel like credentials such as used to work at Bethesda, aren't as good as they think they are... Or is it just me?

[–] [email protected] 95 points 6 months ago (2 children)

You shouldn't dismiss someone's 14 year career, including a game of the year, because you don't like the studio he came from.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't blame the devs for bad AAA games, with like 300 people working in one game, if it becomes shit it's management fault.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Okay but I don't see how it's a net positive credential, how it even actually means anything?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

😞

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What specifically are you disagreeing with? Bad games are bad largely due to design and monetization reasons, both of which developers don't participate in deciding. But, they do witness all of the good decisions that get cut from the design. Buggy games are one thing you can partially attribute to developers, but saying Bethesda devs have a net negative credential without explaining is willfully obtuse and borderline troll behavior.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I understood it as "they were fed up with the henhouse and proved they could do better alone".

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

if they were a lead game designer or writer I would agree. but I think this guy did environmental design, and Bethesda has had pretty cool environments in their games. though not all of them are very believable (in feeling lived-in), they sure do provide some spectacle, and memorability. in fact many of their games have been mostly carried by environments.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's just you. That a company makes terrible decisions tells not that much about a dev. If a dev says he worked on multiple projects does tell something about the dev regardless of the company. Don't forget that Bethesda sold their soul to MS and now has a lot more "steering" at the top, devs don't participate in that.

Edit: a word

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Everything but starfield seemed like a plus to me

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Especially if we are going back only 14 years. So what did they work on, skyrim remasters or Fallout 4 remasters?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Starfield. Active development started 9 years ago.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (10 children)

Meaning the last 6 years of his career there were on starfield, which he wasn't a manager of, if he quit 3 years ago.

This feels like a standard toxic gaming community thread where dismissing someone's achievements is for some reason fair game.

Dude held a job at a huge publisher for 14 years, then quit and developed his own thing.

Good on him!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

You're missing that he quit during the development of that crappy game, which gives him extra points for judgement.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Noclip's interview with Nate

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago

This looks like skyrim sneaky archer: the game.

Definitely gunna play this.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago

Looks fun. I cracked up when dude shot the deer thing and the blood exploded. I'll definitely check this out.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

Is that heavy metal music actually in the game, or is it just for the trailer?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Turok 2024

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Can I play a stealth archer

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

What is publishers role anyway in digital age of 2024? Marketing?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Financing.

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[–] 21Cabbage 5 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Ah just Windows, at least on the demo. Wine and such have never had great results for me either. Shame.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I think you must be doing something wrong. Proton has been able to play pretty much everything without unsupported anti-cheat for a long while now.

[–] 21Cabbage 7 points 6 months ago

Could just be a specific combo of hardware/software issues too.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Eh? I have a Steam Deck and I rarely ever run into a game that performs badly or has issues. Proton and GE Proton have done amazing things for bringing mainstream gaming to Linux.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

Give him a bit to respond. He's living in the past.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Seems to be not so great on Linux atm: https://www.protondb.com/app/1807810

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

That's one review from Steam Deck. Game just might too resource hungry and/or unoptimized for it at the moment. The user also didn't state what Proton version they used. I'm going to install it on my other Linux PC and report back later.

Edit: Works fine on my PC, running latest version of Nobara (Linux distro focused on gaming) and Nvidia drivers. I also used GE Proton 9.11 in Steam.

I had it auto-detect graphics quality (seemed to be about High settings) @ 1080p, and enabled Fur Shadows. I set DLSS to Balanced. Averaged 60-70FPS, dips down to 45ish when I entered an area with heavy rain. Played for about 15 minutes and entered the open world area after the intro. I was playing on my HTPC hooked up to an older spare TV, so I apologize for those that use 1440p or 4k since I cant test the performance at those resolutions.

My specs are:

-Ryzen 5700X

-RTX 3070 FE

-16GB DDR4 3200

-1TB nvme SSD

Edit 2: Played for another 30sh minutes, no issues. Performance did dip a bit in some open world areas, but I never saw it go below 45 FPS.

My quick review: The game has some interesting ideas, but the combat and presentation are pretty jank. Many of the early monsters just ram you like a goat, which launches you in the air and gravity is kind of floaty, so you can end up getting repeatedly tossed around. Their animations are very stiff, so sometimes it looks as though the monsters are just gliding at you versus running. The aesthetic/style of the world looks great, though. The giant tree/Ent thing stomping thru the forest was intense and surreal, I enjoyed trying to hide from it and failing.

The UI is not good, not awful. All of your important information is in the inside of your bow shaft, but it isn't presented in a clear and easily understood way. Not being able to easily tell how many arrows you have in the middle of combat is frustrating. I also think the wind direction should be easily referenced without needing to hold down a button, sort of how Ghost of Tsushima did it.

Lastly, and this is subjective, the music is not very heavy metal IMO. I was expecting something like Doom 2016, but with Cannibal Corpse, Cradle of Filth, or even Slayer type heavy metal. Instead, it's more ambient and slower; not intense at all.

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