I'm in a bit of a down period as STALKER 2 is coming out soon so I don't want to pick up a new story campaign from my backlog in the meantime (Metro: Exodus, Bioshock Infinite and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided are on the docket) in case I'm not finished in time for release day.
Still playing lots of Deadlock, but for a single player story game I've gone back to some bits of RDR 2 when I'm not in the competitive mood. I started it earlier this year but abandoned it as I burnt out on it a bit. Coming back to it has been a very mixed experience, there is still so much about it I love - but also some very deep frustrations. And absence hasn't really made the heart grow fonder in that regard. I don't really like the mission structure. I know it's been brought up by others, but I too seem to be among those who are bothered by it. I also find the sheer body count forced on you through main story missions to be so ludicrous as to regularly ruin my immersion. I'm not even that far in and I've already basically committed genocide levels of murder! And then the mission is over and nobody is talking about the massacre of hundreds of lawmen?
The only real qualm I have is the lack of Ukrainian and Russian accents on the English dub. I don't really understand the thought process as I felt like it added a lot of character and immersion to both the originals and to the Metro games.
Otherwise I'm optimistic, I think the game looks good and they've been saying all the right things. Game journalists who have played it also report things that make me feel very hopeful, both in terms of micro gameplay (atmosphere, tension and isolation without reliance on jump scares) and macro gameplay (decisions mattering, branching stories and factions).
I pre-ordered the ultimate edition regardless to support the studio after the horrors they've survived over the war, including losing colleagues to the frontline.
The lack of accent is an odd choice, I agree! Maybe they went the Chernobyl route (fitting) where they let the voice actors use their regular voices so they wouldn’t have to be faking an accent the whole time? I thought it worked well there. Thanks for the rundown, might have to preorder it!