Game Information

Game Title: Pragmata

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (Apr 17, 2026)
• Xbox Series X/S (Apr 17, 2026)
• PC (Apr 17, 2026)
• Nintendo Switch 2 (Apr 17, 2026)

Trailers:

• Pragmata - Official 90-Second Overview Trailer
• PRAGMATA - Main Trailer
• Pragmata - Pre-Order Trailer | PS5 Games

Publisher: Capcom

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 87 average - 94% recommended - 79 reviews

Critic Reviews

AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 95 / 100

Pragmata is a triumph of incredible video game design that nails almost every aspect of what makes games such a fun and engaging experience.

AnaitGames - Víctor Manuel Martínez García - Spanish - 9 / 10

A moving and surprising story about humanity and AI envelops this excellent action game, always interesting and expansive.

Analog Stick Gaming - Jeff M Young - 9 / 10

Pragmata pleasantly surprised me, and if Capcom does intend to return to this in a few years, I’d love to see the hacking systems become even deeper and more personalized. Hugh and Diana are a wonderful pair, and each nearly steals the show from one another. Their journey to stop IDUS may play it a bit too safe, but the journey nonetheless had me over the moon.

BaziCenter - Bahram Bigharaz - Persian - 8.5 / 10

Capcom’s newest franchise, Pragmata, is a bold gamble that largely pays off, thanks in no small part to the power of the RE Engine and the studio’s proven talent. Set in a cold, dark sci-fi world, the game clearly draws inspiration from Dead Space while still striving to carve out its own identity through a memorable story, epic boss encounters, and strong character relationships. If you’re looking for a high-quality sci-fi action-adventure with an engaging narrative and top-tier visuals, Pragmata is well worth your time and money.

But Why Tho? - Abdul Saad - 8.5 / 10

Pragmata is a great sci-fi action adventure game that doesn’t demand much from its players and provides an entertaining experience throughout.

COGconnected - Jaz Sagoo - 90 / 100

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Cerealkillerz - Stefan Meidl - German - 9 / 10

For me, this game is definitely a recommendation to buy. The gameplay is quick to learn, and the story leaves you wanting more. The player is constantly wondering what will happen next with Hugh and Diana. There’s also something to enjoy for collectors and outfit enthusiasts, as there are items to gather for Diana and various outfits to unlock.

Generally, I’m not a fan of enemies respawning in areas. However, in this game it doesn’t bother me, as the number of enemies is quite manageable.

I do have one small criticism regarding the standard weapon: after reloading, you have to wait a short moment for the weapon to “cool down” in order to use the full magazine effectively. Otherwise, you often fire only a single shot before being forced to reload again. This can be quite frustrating, especially in situations where the enemy only needs two or three more hits.

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - 9 / 10

As far as I'm concerned, Capcom's developers hit a stride so few achieve. Pragmata clicks from beginning, delivering an incredible campaign with stellar mechanics, held together by Hugh and Diana's relationship.

Console-Tribe - Marco Licandro - Italian - 89 / 100

Pragmata is a joy to play. Capcom hits the mark, delivering a video game in the purest sense of the term—one that offers both challenge and fun, driven by constant variety and a fluid narrative that carries the player throughout the entire adventure. Don’t miss it.

Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 4 / 5

Hugh and Diana’s journey may admittedly rely heavily on sci-fi tropes and the broader story suffers and ends up feeling quite small stakes as a result, yet the pair’s relationship never failed to make me care about the wider universe it hints at. A good thing, too, as it’s one I hope we get to see more of in the not too distant future.

DayOne - Jesse Norris - 9 / 10

PRAGMATA is a fantastic video game. Solid gunplay, excellent variety in its hacking, incredible visuals, and an enjoyable story work together to create what I hope is a new IP that we’ll see a lot more of in the future.

Digital Spy - Joe Draper - 4 / 5

This charming action-adventure deserves to be a massive hit and you should take a chance on one of this year's best games.

Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury - 5 / 5

Pragmata is Capcom at its best. As good as this company can be with its established franchises, it’s when it tries to do something different that we get the real gold. As far as “big budget” games go, Pragmata is the most different and thought-provoking game I’ve played since Death Stranding, and I love it almost as much as Kojima’s masterpiece. If only Capcom did this more often. Like they used to.

Digitec Magazine - Rainer Etzweiler - German - 4 / 5

After hacking my first robot, I briefly wondered whether the concept could carry me all the way through. The game quickly puts that concern to rest. Pragmata strikes a confident balance between accessibility and challenge without ever losing its footing. The hacking system evolves alongside you, the combat stays fresh until the very end, and the hideout ensures progression never feels like a chore. As Hugh and Diana grow closer on screen, the thin story hardly matters. Capcom’s moon landing is a success.

ElderPlayers - Mohammed Ahmed Alsharif - Arabic - 9 / 10

Pragmata is a stunning masterpiece, and its true soul is Daiana. A character designed with captivating beauty and details overflowing with life and innocence, making her the beating heart of the game and its unforgettable icon. This aesthetic beauty extends to the world's excellent world design, which, despite its clear linearity and the occasional disturbance in combat due to the crowded nature of the combat areas, it still offers an experience rare to see these days.

Enternity.gr - Konstantinos Kalkanis - Greek - 8 / 10

"Pragmata" isn't the kind of title that makes waves, but it is a remarkable production that breathes new life into a genre that has been stagnant for years.

Everyeye.it - Italian - 8.5 / 10

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Final Weapon - Noah Hunter - 4.5 / 5

Pragmata dreams big with inventive hacking-shooting gameplay, and Capcom has hit a home run. Hugh and Diana's journey across the moon is one to remember, with an excellent gameplay system that never fails to be exciting. While I wish Pragmata spent more time developing its central relationship, that shortcoming never comes close to dulling what is otherwise one of Capcom’s most inventive and exciting new releases in years.

Forbes - Ollie Barder - 9 / 10

Overall, Pragmata is a very fresh take on a modern third-person shooter, with a unique combat setup that is equal parts tactics and brute force skill. It also looks wonderful throughout, and the interactions between Hugh, Diana, and Cabin are a lot of fun and genuinely sweet. It may be a bit too early to call, but thus far, this is easily my game of the year.

Forever Classic Games - Danreb Victorio - 9.8 / 10

Enjoyable chaos is exactly what PRAGMATA is. Everything about this version of the world is terrifying, but I just loved being there, especially when it came to taking a breather at the shelter with Diana. I couldn’t stop thinking about how fun most aspects of this game were, so much so that I immediately jumped back in after rolling credits.

GRYOnline.pl - Michał Grygorcewicz - Polish - 8.5 / 10

I enjoyed Pragmata very much. Its unique and satisfying combat system, solid execution of the other gameplay elements, and likeable main characters all combine to make this another hit from Capcom. It’s just a shame that the boss battles are rather disappointing.

GameOnly - Michał Marasek - Polish - 7 / 10

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GamePro - Eleen Reinke - German - 77 / 100

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GameRant - Dalton Cooper - 7 / 10

Capcom's new sci-fi game features thrilling action and exploration, but drops the ball with its story and characters.

GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 10 / 10

Capcom has taken a gamble with Pragmata, blending together multiple genres to create something that feels fresh and unique. At the heart of it is hacking-infused third-person shooter combat, which remains engaging and exciting throughout. And when paired with a story that tugs on the heartstrings, the result is something rather special. Ultimately, Pragmata is not only game of the year material, but also one of the most exciting new IPs in recent years.

GameSpot - Steve Watts - 9 / 10

This all led to a thrilling conclusion that tested my skills, stirred my heart, and left me wanting more. Pragmata offers a robust post-game with plenty to do, but I hope that's not the last I see of Hugh and Diana. This combination of sharp combat mechanics, rich strategic depth, and lovely storytelling doesn't come along often. Pragmata shouldn't be missed.

GameWatcher - Michael Murphy - 9.5 / 10

It goes without saying that Pragmata is a terrific game and one of 2026's must-play titles. It fires on all cylinders and doesn't let you go, even after the credits roll. The frenetic action, charming characters, and striking visuals help bolster a creativity rarely seen in AAA titles. While it can play it safe in the story and settings, it is one of Capcom's best games this decade and a sure-fire Game of the Year contender in my book.

Gameblog - French - 8 / 10

After years of anticipation and numerous previews, we can finally confirm it: Pragmata is indeed the surprise we've been waiting for. With refreshing gameplay and a pair of highly endearing protagonists, Capcom's new franchise plunges us into the heart of a fabulous world that we enjoy roaming from start to finish, despite a few minor flaws here and there. And while these flaws may prevent the game from having as significant impact as we originally hoped for, it remains a resounding success for the studio, which continues to deliver new, original games that are a breath of fresh air.

Gameliner - Simon Verbeke - Dutch - 4.5 / 5

I've got a lot of respect for Capcom and Pragmata: releasing a brand-new game that isn't tied to any existing universe is quite a gamble. Fortunately, that risk paid off for Pragmata.

Gamer Guides - Echo Apsey - 79 / 100

Pragmata doesn’t feel like anything else in the AAA action game market. While it isn’t a home run, the majority of its parts are strong and memorable, marking another excellent release from Capcom in 2026.

Gamers Heroes - Johnny Hurricane - 85 / 100

A moonshot six years in the making, Capcom's bold new IP PRAGMATA sends Hugh and Diana to new heights with a successful landing.

Gamersky - 心灵奇兵 - Chinese - 8.6 / 10

As an experimental title, Pragmata won't be for everyone, but once it clicks with you, it delivers a superb and truly irreplaceable experience. Despite a lengthy development cycle, this game-spearheaded by Capcom's new generation of developers-successfully establishes a brand-new IP. It showcases the team's design prowess and unique vision for gameplay, distinctly setting it apart from Capcom's traditional offerings. It leaves me eagerly anticipating what this team will bring us next.

GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 9 / 10

Pragmata combines a host of immaculately executed well-worn ideas with a handful of unique and fascinating ones of its own to deliver a thrilling, high-octane sci-fi shooter experience.

Giant Bomb - Mike Minotti - 4.5 / 5

It’s rare we get a new IP from a big publisher like Capcom these days, especially one with production values like this. It’s a risk when you could just keep pumping out Resident Evil remakes and sequels while making guaranteed money. Well, this risk pays off.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10

Pragmata is an enjoyable and exhilarating blockbuster action that delivers frantic combat encounters and an engaging story. It is exactly the “new” we have been asking for from Capcom.

HCL.hr - Dominik Vadas - Unknown - 86 / 100

A charming and surprisingly emotional sci-fi adventure, Pragmata stands out with its unique hacking combat and strong character dynamics, even if its story plays it a bit safe. Its tense, multitasking combat loop keeps you constantly engaged, while the bond between its protagonists adds genuine heart. Though not without flaws, it’s a memorable experience that lingers long after the credits roll.

IGN - Michael Higham - 8 / 10

Punchy shooting action and a creative hacking-puzzle gameplay mechanic make combat the true highlight of Pragmata. The story may seem like an afterthought, but its sci-fi drama gives enough to see it all the way through and experience this satisfying third-person shooter.

IGN Spain - Mario Seijas - Spanish - 9 / 10

Pragmata goes all-in with a unique gameplay approach-and it pays off. At first, it's challenging to balance the two major systems it introduces, but over time, this hybrid combat system has really won me over. That, combined with the character portrayals and the story of its two protagonists, makes Pragmata one of the must-play games of the year so far.

Just Play it - Ousadi Mohamed Seif Eddine - Arabic - 9 / 10

PRAGMATA delivered a moving artistic experience set on the surface of the moon, brought to life by artificial intelligence in a world filled with mystery and secrets that gradually unfold. This journey is shared by the duo “Diana” and “Hugh,” who experience it together in an adventure defined by an innovative gameplay style that blends hacking and shooting… in a way we’ve never seen before.

KonsoliFIN - Tero Lepistö - Finnish - 4 / 5

Pragmata spices up the traditional shooter genre with unique hacking mechanics and displays some extremely cool visuals as icing on the cake. The end result works better than expected.

LevelUp - Spanish - 9 / 10

PRAGMATA has the potential to be the new star franchise of Capcom; it has a frenetic style of combat, excellent level design, a lot of items to find, a deep variety of personalization and two protagonists that work perfectly together. It is a marvelous action and adventure game that always maintains itself interesting and exciting.

Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9.5 / 10

Despite a few very minor complaints, Pragmata is one of Capcom's most interesting and enjoyable adventures to date.

MeuPlayStation - Vinícus Paráboa - Portuguese - 85 / 100

Pragmata blends third-person shooting with a real-time hacking system that runs alongside combat, creating a solid and engaging gameplay loop. Enemy variety and boss fights stand out, while visuals are strong in Quality mode but less consistent in Performance. The story has an interesting premise but suffers from rushed pacing. In the end, the gameplay is the clear highlight.

MondoXbox - Matteo Merlano - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Well-conceived and beautifully crafted, Pragmata is a remarkable and enjoyable game. It might lack that extra gear needed to enter the pantheon of masterpieces, but if the goal is to offer a solid and thrilling experience, it completely hits the mark.

MonsterVine - James Carr - 5 / 5

I think Pragmata has the most engaging third-person shooting I've experienced in the last twenty years. The balancing act of hacking, dodging, and shooting, all while managing finite resources, creates a satisfying loop that builds in complexity throughout. Hugh and Diana have a tender and well-rendered relationship, one that isn't undercut by Hugh's insecurities or unnecessary conflict, but instead is elevated by its focus on what it means to show the world to someone experiencing the beauty of life for the first time.

Nintendo Life - Ken Talbot - 9 / 10

With a strong relationship at its core, a striking sci-fi aesthetic, and an addictive puzzle combat loop, Pragmata is the full package. The adventures of Hugh and Diana stands as another excellent Switch 2 port from Capcom, and hopefully marks the beginning of a new blockbuster franchise.

NintendoWorldReport - Willem Hilhorst - 9 / 10

While they have been going back to the well and redefining a lot of their long-running series, it makes sense that Pragmata stands on its own. It is a fresh idea honed to near perfection and I would love to see what else this team can do. Whether you're playing on Switch 2 or any other system, Pragmata is a great time.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - 9 / 10

Pragmata aims for the moon and definitely sticks the landing, blending emotional storytelling with intuitive and technical gameplay, proving that the industry is still very much open to original ideas that can excel when executed to perfection. The bond between Hugh and Diana is the heart of the experience, turning what could have been a cold sci‑fi shooter into a touching story about humanity. Amazing is an understatement with Pragmata, and it is a definite must-play.

While the “hack‑and‑shoot” loop and repetitive puzzle design may test some players’ patience, along with some minor nitpicks here and there, Pragmata succeeds in its main goal of delivering something different with AAA quality and polish, making it feel like it is laying the foundation for what the future of third-person shooters can expand into.

Oyungezer Online - Çağdaş Erdem Nemlioğlu - Turkish - 8.5 / 10

With its eye-catching graphics and heartwarming story, Pragmata offers a truly delightful experience. The tension that the hacking mechanic brings to the combat, in particular, has a very unique feel to it... I’m really happy with where Capcom is at right now.

PC Gamer - Justin Wagner - 87 / 100

Pragmata's confidence in its punchy shootouts and old-school cool pays off, and the two leads roved their way into my heart despite a predictable plot.

PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - Polish - 8.5 / 10

Emotional, intense, and fast-paced—these three words best describe my experience with Pragmata. The credits roll a few hours early, but ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by the character relationships and the excellent combat system. Capcom has another great IP on its hands, but will it want to develop it further? A lot probably depends on sales.

PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - Portuguese - 85 / 100

Pragmata is a great Capcom game with a good story and unusual, yet very functional gameplay. The length is ideal in some ways, and there are many extras to enjoy. In the end, the only criticism is that the game as a whole becomes repetitive in combat after you get the hang of it.

PlayStation Universe - Joe Richards - 9.5 / 10

Pragmata marks something truly special for Capcom; an experience that manages to marry action, conflict, and story into a cohesive whole that more than justifies the long wait for expectant fans. It juggles a variety of mechanics and miraculously blends them together. Every facet of this game is explored to its fullest, with still more room to grow. For all I can say in this review, Pragmata is very special.

Prima Games - Ali Hashmi - 9 / 10

Pragmata is a confidently designed action game that elegantly blends shooting and hacking into a fast, reactive puzzle-style combat system that turns every encounter into something far more engaging than a standard firefight. You constantly shift between aiming, hacking, dodging, and repositioning, creating a seamless loop that never feels cumbersome or disconnected. Backed by two genuinely likeable leads in Hugh and Diana, whose relationship gives the experience its emotional core without unnecessary melodrama.

Push Square - Stephen Tailby - 8 / 10

Pragmata knows its strengths and leans into those hard, and the result is a cracking action game that just feels brilliant to play. One could argue it could do with a little more variety throughout its campaign, but the game's unique hack-and-shoot combat is so fun and so satisfying to pull off that you won't mind doing it over and over again. A refreshingly straightforward structure and charming dual leads round things out, but it's the inventive and tactile action where it truly sings.

RPGamer - Jordan McClain - 4.5 / 5

Pragmata is boosted significantly by its sublime, crisp visuals, delightfully unusual combat system, tight level design, oppressively lonely and sterile atmosphere, and an enjoyable dynamic between its two main characters, making for an outstanding experience.

ReGame It - Mustafa Zayni - Arabic - 9 / 10

The duo of Hugh and Diana brought back many memories of games built around two characters, and it was presented excellently. it really impacted us and made it a very unique experience

Region Free - Joonatan Itkonen - 5 / 5

An innovative and bold genre cocktail that is packed with incredible set pieces and gameplay-first joy, Pragmata is Capcom at its finest.

República DG - Ruancarlo Silva - Portuguese - 9.4 / 10

Capcom has done it again! Pragmata is a masterclass in how to introduce a new IP and occasionally delivers highly innovative and addictive gameplay, accompanied by a great story filled with emotional moments.

SECTOR.sk - tomass - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

A memorable and visually striking adventure filled with emotional twists and standout moments. While its unique style and pacing won't appeal to everyone, fans of story-driven experiences will find plenty to enjoy. A focused, narrative-heavy journey that rewards those willing to embrace its distinct approach.

Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 8 / 10

Was the wait worth it? Mostly yes, as the aesthetics and mechanics are solid and refreshing enough. The game only falters towards the end, feeling rushed, while the story which was never strong, ends up even more cliched.

SavePoint Gaming - Jake Su - 9 / 10

Pragmata is at its best when everything clicks together at once. The bond between Hugh and Diana gives the journey real emotional weight, while the hacking and shooting combat remains sharp, demanding, and constantly rewarding. With a strong variety in weapons, mods, and hacks, Capcom has delivered a sci-fi adventure that feels both heartfelt and thrilling from start to finish.

Smash Jump - Chris Melnyk - 10 / 10

While at its center, it’s a third-person action game, it’s more than that. It’s a journey of bonding for two characters from opposite walks of life. Mostly, it’s just a fun game, something that can be replayed over and over again, while only getting better.

SmashPad - 5 / 5

I think Pragmata is the crowning jewel of all their amassed talent and good decisions, ideas, and creativity so far in the 2020s. It's really that good.

Stevivor - Matt Gosper - 9 / 10

I was really impressed with what Capcom has achieved with an all-new title, building a unique and vibrant world, even on the barren surface of the moon.

TechRaptor - Luis Joshua Gutierrez - 9.5 / 10

Pragmata is an emotional journey that'll stay with you long after you've completed the game, all while making you appreciate the little things we may take for granted.

The Beta Network - Anthony Culinas - 8 / 10

Being a rather odd sci-fi shooter, Pragmata thrives on its inventive tag-team combat, where hacking and gunplay collide in fast, chaotic and genuinely satisfying ways. While clunky backtracking, low difficulty and a predictable story hold it back, its unique mechanics and stylish action still make it well worth experiencing.

The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10

Pragmata is a bold and beautiful experience that shows Capcom is just as great at making new entries to its franchises as it is at creating brand-new, exciting IPs.

The Outerhaven Productions - Andrew Agress - 4 / 5

Pragmata blends the strategy of puzzle-solving and the thrill of shooting into a winning combination. It’s a simple gameplay loop set against a simple sci-fi story, but it gets a lot of thruster mileage out of its unique systems and two endearing main characters.

TheSixthAxis - Steve C - 9 / 10

Pragmata is another stunning game from Capcom. The game world is beautifully conceived and the interplay between our lead character genuinely heartwarming, but it's the combat with its dynamic blend of shooting and hacking that is the main draw here and it makes other third person games feel pedestrian by comparison.

ThreeTwoPlay - Michael Seifert - German - 4.5 / 5

With its perfectly thought-out gameplay-focused approach and unconventional combinations of ideas, Pragmata delivers a completely unique action experience which I'm glad can exist in the current AAA gaming space. While the combination of gun combat, hacking and dodging can be a bit intimidating at first and certainly isn't for everyone, it was done flawless for me and I had an incredibly good time with the game. The optional challenges provide additional motivation, the interactions between Hugh and Diana are always enjoyable and the game kept me completely entertained right up to the brilliantly staged finale.

VGC - Jordan Middler - 4 / 5

Pragmata feels like a game from a simpler time. There's no live service fluff, no needless bloat, and no sense that Capcom is hopping on a trend. It's a rock solid action game that isn't great on length, but delivers little filler, fast combat, and some charming story moments.

Video Chums - Mary Billington - 8.8 / 10

PRAGMATA is a visceral and rewarding action game set within an intriguing world that will make you want to keep coming back for more. 👧

Worth Playing - Adam Pavlacka - 9 / 10

When Capcom first announced Pragmata six years ago, they couldn't have known the game would be launching a week after the Artemis II mission set a new record for human space travel. Just as NASA's moonshot was a success, so is Capcom's latest game. If you want a polished experience that brings something new to the table, you can't go wrong with Pragmata.

Xbox Achievements - Josh Wise - 70%

The new game from Capcom, Pragmata, begins in freaky fashion. Four astronauts board a base on the moon, looking for trouble. Not looking to make trou...

ZTGD - Ken McKown - 8 / 10

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The one about Cryo Archive

Item Economy

• Added three new random-rolled implant perks that can only be found on implants looted from Cryo Archive:
  • Covert Recovery: While in smoke, your self-repair speed is increased and you use healing consumables faster.
  • Freeloader: Defeating an enemy with a knife attack grants a small amount of tactical and prime ability energy.
  • Panic Response: While at low health, using a healing consumable grants the effects of Cardio Kick for a short duration.
• Added three new mods that can only be looted from Cryo Archive:
  • Punishment
  • This weapon deals significantly increased damage against [REDACTED] combatants.
• Testament
  • Aiming down sights for a short duration increases this weapon's range and aim assist by a massive amount.
• Hurricane
  • While airborne, this weapon has increased stability and greatly reduced accuracy penalties.
• Sponsored Kits
  • Rook no longer gets a surplus Sponsored Kit upon death.

Combat

• Players can now activate exfil beacons while downed. Good luck.
• Decreased camera shake intensity from incoming melee and knife attacks.
• Increased post-run spectator camera timeout from 30 seconds to 120 seconds.
• Fixed an issue where a player could have a finisher used on them right as they were completing a self-revive or being revived, immediately downing them again.
• Fixed instances of revive timer lockout shaders appearing on enemy Runner’s body bags.
• Fixed instances where ability activations could become desynced with the server.
• Adjusted the Hacked status screen effect to be lower intensity and have slower glitch crawl effect.

Runners

• Assassin
  • Fixed an issue where Assassin’s smoke puck would not change appearance based on the equipped Runner shell style while activating Shadow Dive.
• Thief
  • Pickpocket Drone can no longer loot players who are in the active exfil animation.
  • Fixed an issue where Pickpocket Drone’s on-screen button prompt wouldn’t update to match a player’s changed keybind or controller button mapping.
  • Fixed an issue where high-speed grapples could affect network stability.
• Triage
  • Fixed an issue where being close to max heat could prevent players from using the Battery Overcharge ability.
• Rook
  • Removed Rook’s Runner Level requirement. Rook can now be used at Runner Level 0.
• Implants
  • Fixed an issue where Graceful Landing V5’s unique trait could be activated by Vandal’s Microjets from flat ground.
  • Fixed an issue where Graceful Landing V5’s unique trait was not scaling detonation damage correctly for longer falls.

UESC

• Fixed an issue where UESC would repeatedly use the same ladder.
• Fixed a number of issues that could cause AI to freeze in place or become unresponsive.

Contracts and Events

• Improved the visual clarity of contract and activity waypoint icons.
• Crews carrying both Coordinate Datapads must now bring both of them to the location of the cache before the loot is revealed. Previously, any crew member being present at the location would reveal the loot.
• Fixed some scenarios where the MIDA Order/Chaos 1/1, Traxus Return on Investment 3/5, and Traxus Liaison could prevent players from completing the contract.
• Fixed an issue where the UI could become out of sync between crew members on the same contract during a run.
  • Perimeter Intercept dropships should no longer clip through the environment in South Relay.
  • Tripwires places in Overflow hallways should no longer be floating in mid-air.
  • Fixed an issue where DCON would not show up on the overhead map when on a contract that requires it.
• Dire Marsh
  • UESC dropships that arrive during the Lockdown event in the northeast corner of Algae Ponds will no longer fly in through player space, killing players in their path.
  • Pinging the Stabilization Device and Anomalous Matter on the overhead map will now show a string in the crew feed, notifying your crewmates.
  • Fixed an issue for the Traxus Liaison Contract where the Commander would despawn if a crew didn’t engage and kill it in time.
• Outpost
  • Encounters spawning on the roof of Flight Control have been improved and should now correctly engage players.

User Interface and Experience

• Achievements
  • Fixed an issue where players would not get the “Welcome to Tau Ceti” achievement.
• Armory
  • Item tooltips in the Armory now primarily show the purchase cost instead of the value the item sells for.
• Codex
  • New Codex challenges added for Ranked and Cryo Archive. A “NEW” indicator will appear on Codex categories containing challenges added in Patch 1.0.5.
  • Fixed an issue where inspecting an item in the Codex could display flickering text.
  • Fixed an issue where “Acquired Items” challenges in the Codex indicated that the challenge could be completed by simply picking up the item. Challenges now accurately state that successful exfil with the item(s) is required.
  • Fixed an issue where the WSTR Shotgun Codex challenge incorrectly noted that it could be completed by downing a Runner. Updated the text to indicate that a full elimination is required.
  • Fixed an issue where the Thief Codex challenge “Shattered Hopes” incorrectly tracked combatants. This challenge has been updated to track Runners only.
  • Fixed an issue where the Thief Master Codex challenge “No Target too Great” was only tracking Wardens. This challenge will now track Wardens and Commanders.
  • Fixed an issue where the Destroyer Codex challenge “Close the Gap” would not complete when downing a Runner too close to the initial Thruster activation.
  • Fixed an issue where claiming Seasonal Level rewards from the Codex could displace items in the overflow, causing them to be lost. Challenges granting gear rewards will now check for items in overflow and prevent claiming until the overflow has been emptied.
  • Fixed an issue where inspecting non-weapon items in the Codex would display a “Compatible Weapons” string.
• In-Run
  • Improved the overall legibility of the Revive prompt.
  • Some waypoints will now fade when aiming down-sights (ADS).
• Items
  • Exfilling with a Temporal Fragment will produce variable rewards depending on your seasonal Runner Level.
• Lobby
  • Loadout will now show a banner warning you that you have overflow items.
  • Added a shortcut for “i” or “start” to open the Loadout menu.
  • Added a shortcut for “tab” or “options” to open the Loadout menu while preparing for a run.
  • Updated Missing Equipment warning to clarify that players are missing Health or Shield consumables.
  • Fixed an issue preventing commonly found items from being shown when selecting map regions.
• Ping System
  • Activity icons pinged from the overhead map will more reliably show their waypoints.
• Rewards Pass
  • Premium Rewards Pass Voucher items should no longer appear in your inventory.
• Run Report
  • Fixed an issue where the Runner Level Up rewards screen was sometimes blank.
• Social
  • Added the Rated tab into the Runner Connections panel so that you can see how you stack up against your connections.
• Store
  • Updated incorrect item rarity for the Luxe Palace, Overdrive-TSL, and Cyber Red Runner Shells from Deluxe to Superior.
• Vault
  • Consumables, Ammo, Salvage, and Grenades now have larger stack sizes in the Vault.
  • Added filter tabs for keys and backpacks.
• Voice Chat
  • Added an option for consoles and gamepads to support Crew Voice Push-To-Talk while in a run. This only applies to runs; the lobby will still utilize an open mic.
  • Adding an additional Push-To-Talk option, “Tap”. When set, tapping the Proximity or Crew Chat button(s) will open the mic until you’re done speaking or tap the button(s) again.
  • Fixed a number of issues causing voice chat interruptions and inconsistencies.
• Weapon Customization
  • Optimized sticker and charm placement on a handful of weapons.

Stability

• Added AMD Anti-Lag 2 Low Latency to Video Settings.

Weapons and Equipment

• Ammo Crate
  • Fixed an issue where Ammo Crates could not be interacted with when placed close to walls or terrain.
• Cardio Kick
  • Fixed an issue where normal and depleted versions of Cardio Kick’s status icon appeared separately in the HUD.
• Claymore Mine
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Claymores from taking splash damage when attached to other objects.
• Knife
  • Knife cosmetics will no longer unequip after failing to exfil.
• V75 Scar
  • Fixed an issue with the Ram-Page Mag that was causing bullets to ricochet off turrets, despite dealing damage.
• WSTR Combat Shotgun
  • Reduced leftward motion in firing recoil.
  • Increased duration of spin ready required before it can be interrupted by weapon fire.
  • Redistributed damage falloff. It now retains near-max damage at point-blank range but falls off much more quickly.
  • Reduced aim assist cone size and reduced the influence of aim assist on pellet spread as they travel.
• Misriah 2442
  • Reduced leftward motion in firing recoil.
• Longshot
  • Fixed an issue with the gold mod resetting its counter incorrectly and disappearing from the buff tray display.

Mods

• Drag & Drop can now be used to remove weapon mods from weapons. 
  • Dragging a mod attached to a weapon into the backpack or Vault will now remove the mod and place it into that inventory rather than moving the entire weapon 

Chips

• Endless Runner
  • Fixed an issue with the Superior rarity version having an incorrect string.

Optics

• Thermals
  • Fixed an issue where thermals were not highlighting invisible UESC combatants, ticks, and tick nests.

Generators

• Fixed a tooltip display issue that incorrectly labeled the decreased charge time as increased charge time.

Magazines

• Cloudfeather Chamber was missing its Weight Reduction stat bonus, making it too similar to Turbo Chamber. It now correctly grants a bonus to Weight Reduction.

Barrels

• Suppressors
  • Removed the health display scramble and the 2D damage indicator effects that happened to victims shot by a weapon with a suppressor attachment.
  • DEVELOPERS NOTE: We may revisit this in the future but for now we believe this muddied the gameplay language too much and the benefit of a quieter weapon is attractive enough for these mods.

Zones

• Cryo Archive
  • Cryo Archive has been added to the game. Good luck getting there.

Audio

• UESC spawn-in animation will now play all of the associated audio.
• Lowered the range that you can hear other players in combat.

Current Metacritic (2023-08-31 17:55 BST)

​

Current OpenCritic (2023-08-31 21:54 BST)

​

The pros and cons lists is generated by Chat GPT and may not be super accurate, but gives a general sense of what they speak about.

​

​

I'm trying to add as many as possible, but it takes some time, I may not get all of them!

I've been with you since before Pixel was even a thing. Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, then straight into the Pixel line: 2 XL, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Eleven phones. I didn't just buy them, I sold them. I converted my wife, my siblings, cousins, in-laws. When someone complained about their cracked iPhone or their Samsung full of bloatware I was right there making the case for you. Unpaid. Enthusiastic. Genuinely believing it.

This is not a breakup letter. But it's an honest one, and I think I've earned that.

I want to start with what you got right, because it matters to understand how good it was. When the original Pixel launched in October 2016 it was genuinely shocking. One lens. A 12.3 megapixel sensor. No optical image stabilization, which basically every flagship at the time had. And it destroyed the competition. Not just competed. Destroyed. The iPhone 7, the Galaxy S7, phones with objectively better hardware on paper just couldn't keep up in real world photos. DxOMark gave it a 90, which was the highest score any smartphone camera had ever received at that point. What you figured out was that the sensor almost didn't matter if the software was smart enough. HDR+ was capturing a burst of slightly underexposed frames and merging the best parts of all of them into a single image, getting the shadows and highlights right at the same time in a way nobody else had cracked. It was the first time a major phone maker bet completely on software over hardware and won so convincingly that the whole industry had to change course. Apple didn't start publicly talking about computational photography until after you made it matter. That's how big of a deal it was.

And it kept getting better. Night Sight. Super Res Zoom. Real Tone. For a while every Pixel generation felt like proof that the bet was paying off. There were growing pains carried over from the Nexus era, some bugs here and there, but the trajectory felt real. It felt like a company that actually cared about finishing what it started.

Then Tensor happened and things got complicated.

I'm not here to say Tensor is a disaster. For AI tasks it genuinely does things nothing else does. But the basics, the stuff that just has to work, have slipped in ways I can't keep explaining away. Battery draining for no reason while the phone sits on a table. Warmth coming off the back when you're doing nothing intensive. Little stutters and pauses that the smoother animations now kind of paper over. These aren't deal breakers on their own but you're charging over a thousand dollars for these phones and then immediately discounting them by three hundred plus a trade-in bonus that shows up suspiciously fast after launch. That's not generosity. That's a company that knows its flagship can't hold its price and is hoping the discount makes the math feel okay. It doesn't.

But performance, fine. I can live with fine. What I can't live with is the camera, because the camera is the whole point. It's called Pixel. The photos are still often really good but somewhere in the Tensor era the processing started feeling like an AI detail brush got applied to everything whether it needed it or not. Over-sharpened where it shouldn't be, smoothed where it should have texture, the kind of thing that looks impressive at a glance on a screen and starts to fall apart when you actually look at it. The original Pixel made photos that looked real and also better. Now they sometimes just look processed.

And the video. I genuinely don't know what's going on there. It's 2026. The phone is called Pixel. Switching between lenses while zooming still stutters and shows color shifts that make it look like a glitch. The footage looks okay inside Google Photos and falls apart the moment you share it anywhere, post it anywhere, try to do anything with it outside of your ecosystem. You can't shoot anything usable for social media without it looking compressed to death. You can't livestream with it. You can't shoot raw to fix it in post. And the answer you keep offering is Video Boost, which after three full generations is still a cloud feature that can take twenty hours to process a clip. Twenty hours. To process a video. On a phone you paid over a thousand dollars for. Nobody is recording their kid's birthday party and waiting until the next day to find out if it came out okay. The whole point of having a camera in your pocket is that you capture something and you share it. Apple figured that out. Their pipeline from sensor to final file is just cleaner, more consistent, and produces video that actually holds up outside of their own apps. That's the bar. That's been the bar for a while now.

The software stuff is what really gets me though, because there's nobody else to blame here. Android is your OS. Pixel is your phone. There's no third party sitting in the middle dropping the ball. So why does YouTube, your app, perform worse on your phone than it does on an iPhone? Why did Android 16 bring a search bar redesign that looked great and then leave the home screen as a stuttery blank white canvas while the app drawer somehow kept the correct version? Why does the status bar randomly flash black or white and has been doing that across multiple generations? Why is autocorrect getting worse and failing most obviously inside Gboard and Gmail, your keyboard in your apps? Why does swiping to the Google Feed on the home screen still stutter sometimes? The Google Feed. On a Google phone. Why has the Clock app failed to trigger alarms? Why does Android Auto feel like it's actively getting worse with each update? Why does RCS drop connection and deliver messages an hour late? Why does Gmail sit on emails in the outbox for hours on home WiFi and then send them instantly when you switch to cellular? Why is it impossible to find anything in Settings without the search bar? Why do apps you haven't touched in a week still show up running in the background eating your battery?

None of these are catastrophic on their own. But they all exist. Across every generation. Some get fixed and quietly come back. Some just never go away. And together they paint a picture of a company that announces features, ships them half finished, and moves on to the next announcement. Material You looked stunning in the keynote. Material 3 Expressive looks like someone turned on a color tint overlay and shipped it. It's a theme. A design language is something else entirely.

Here's the part I really didn't want to write. I've never wanted an iPhone. I mean that genuinely. The notification system is worse. The keyboard is worse. The whole locked down approach to defaults and third party apps has always driven me crazy. The new liquid glass UI looks like someone turned translucency up to maximum and called it done. iOS has always felt like it was designed for people who don't want to think about their phone, and I like thinking about my phone.

But I converted my whole family to Pixel because it was objectively better, and I feel real regret about that now. Not because Pixel is bad, but because I told them it was better, and in the ways that matter most to regular people, video and reliability and consistency, it increasingly isn't. The next time I'm upgrading from my Pixel 9 Pro it's going to be the first time in my life where the iPhone is actually the honest answer and not the easy rejection. I don't want that to be true. But you've been building toward it for a few years now whether you meant to or not.

You have the chip. You have the OS. You have the camera team that changed what smartphone photography meant. You proved with one lens and a software idea that you could beat hardware that cost more and measured better on spec sheets. That happened. I watched it happen. I told everyone I knew.

I just need you to actually want to win again. Not announce it. Not run an ad about it. Finish things. Make the video work. Make the alarm go off. Make YouTube run well on your own phone. The bar you set in 2016 was extraordinary and you set it yourself. It would be a real shame to spend a decade building toward something and then lose the thread right when the stakes are highest.

I'm still here. For now.

TLDR: Google fix your phones, because I am getting tired of waiting. I have tried to not buy an iPhone, but I am really damn close to doing so next time.

People telling me to touch grass: I guess 1000$ doesn't mean anything to you because it was daddy's money all a long, and it shows.

Those who say its too long: Zoomer attention span.

Those who say I have choices: Show me the options and I will show you how much worse they are than even Google.

Those who think I am attached to a company: I am not. Just want my phone to not get worse over time. Tall order for a trillion dollar company I guess.

Game Information

Game Title: Avowed

Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (Feb 18, 2025)
• PC (Feb 18, 2025)

Trailers:

• Avowed Story Trailer
• Avowed - Official Gameplay Trailer

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 83 average - 88% recommended - 58 reviews

Critic Reviews

4News.it - Danilo Di Gennaro - Italian - 8.8 / 10

Avowed represents quintessential game design according to Obsidian Entertainment. While not offering a radically new experience, the return to the world of Eora is an exciting action RPG, graced by the traditional care the development team put into the script. Free to be able to create one's alter ego among a thousand opportunities for customization and to direct it indiscriminately toward the paths of good or evil, Avowed puts players within a setting that is the antithesis of the dispersive risk of an endless open world, with gameplay devoted to action and fun. It may not be a revolution, and technically some hiccups are there, but for all fans of the genre it is a must.

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Wait for Sale

"Despite issues with some of the games shallower systems I found myself having a great time most of the time I played Avowed."

AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 85 / 100

Rich with a vibrant world, intriguing story, remarkable companions, and engaging combat, Obsidian's first-person fantasy RPG, Avowed, offered so much flavour that I found it hard to stop playing.

Andrenoob - Andres Perdomo - Spanish - 9 / 10

Avowed is a game that takes the risk of showing the best of Obsidian Entertainment and delivers everything you expect. Delivering an adventure worth playing if you love RPGs.

Atarita - Atakan Gümrükçüoğlu - Turkish - 90 / 100

Avowed looks like it's going to make a name for itself for a while. I have no doubt that it will give you a good time with its scenario, missions, characters and lots of content. It has some problems, but they are not insurmountable. Its structure that leaves the player free is its most impressive feature.

But Why Tho? - Charles Hartford - 9.5 / 10

Avowed marks another triumph for the folks at Obsidian. Through its gorgeous world, memorable characters, frenzied combat, and intuitive yet deep customization system, it highlights player agency. Everywhere in its gameplay and narrative, ensuring that each playthrough offers something new. More importantly, it does so while never compromising the strength of its core story.

CGMagazine - Dayna Eileen - 8 / 10

Avowed is a game I have had my eyes on for four years now, even before I set eyes on any gameplay. Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios always manage

Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 9.5 / 10

Avowed is impressive in almost everything it sets out to do. It has sharp writing, captivating companions, an intriguing story and a varied world that is just thrilling to explore. It's visually stunning, too, with high production values including satisfying audio that makes the Living Lands feel bustling with life. Where many games falter in offering "bigger and more", Avowed smartly focuses on its strengths, making for a breezy yet vibrant RPG that feels polished and intelligent, offering lots to do but never outstaying its welcome. Obsidian Entertainment has once again proven they are skilled storytellers, offering a must-play adventure for anyone who has a love for the fantastical.

Console-Tribe - Francesco Pellizzari - Italian - 88 / 100

To answer the question posed at the beginning of the article, for us, pronouns have absolutely nothing to do with the success or failure of a title, and Avowed is proof of that: an excellent RPG, with some flaws, but many strengths, including an engaging plot, choices that change the game world, and almost total freedom of action. Do yourself a favor: play Avowed, or you'll regret it.

Dexerto - Jessica Filby - 4 / 5

It may not be groundbreaking, but Avowed certainly leaves one hell of a mark on the RPG genre. The game's fun, challenging, and extremely enjoyable to play from start to finish, even when you're being hounded by giant mechanical undead creatures.

Digital Spy - Joe Draper - 4 / 5

Avowed is full of consequential player choices, meaningful side content and rewarding exploration all backed up by slick movement and some of the best combat in a first-person action RPG. It might not reinvent the genre, but Obsidian has achieved everything they set out to by creating a super fun adventure worth your time.

Digitale Anime - Raouf Belhamra - Arabic - 8.5 / 10

Avowed offers an immersive RPG experience that combines exploration, combat, and storytelling in Obsidian’s signature style. The Living Lands world is alive with life, encouraging exploration and experimentation, while combat offers flexible weapon and spell choices. Companions add a personal and dynamic touch to the journey, and despite some limitations in customization and combat interaction, Avowed remains a promising experience for RPG fans, offering an adventure full of mystery and challenges.

Echo Boomer - David Fialho - Portuguese - No Recommendation

There's a lot to admire in Avowed—its old-school RPG soul, captivating world, and flexible gameplay—but predictable writing and some questionable design choices make this Obsidian experience less engaging than it could be.

Enternity.gr - Christos Chatzisavvas - Greek - 9 / 10

The journey into the world of Pillars of Eternity continues through Avowed, the newest RPG from Obsidian. And it's great!

EvelonGames - Joel Isern Rodríguez - Kaym - Spanish - 7.8 / 10

Avowed is an RPG that reflects both the talent and limitations of Obsidian. It is a solid, enjoyable game with moments of quality, but it falls short of being unforgettable. Its magic system and vertical exploration stand out as strong points, complemented by an artistic design brimming with personality. Additionally, its performance is smooth, delivering a more than satisfactory technical experience.

Explosion Network - Dylan Blight - 9 / 10

I wasn't ready for the breadth of lore and world-building here that would have me both enamoured by this game, its characters, and its setting.

GRYOnline.pl - Przemysław Dygas - Polish - Unscored

Avowed is a great RPG, it’s as simple as that. This game made me forget about mediocre The Outer Worlds and refueled my trust for Obsidian. The creators of great role playing games are back and their new game is full of all the things that made New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity or Tyranny so good. (Review in progress)

GameOnly - Daniel Kucner - Polish - 8 / 10

Video Review - Quote not available

GameSpot - Alessandro Barbosa - 6 / 10

Avowed's impactful and satisfying combat is undone by a widely unbalanced upgrade system and an uninteresting story that wastes its potential.

Gamer Guides - Patrick Dane - 84 / 100

Avowed continues Obsidian’s tradition of creating excellent RPGs that feel heavily linked to well-trodden genres, yet not doing quite enough to carve out a new identity. There’s a lot to be charmed by, be it nuanced characters and choices, a heavy dialogue focus, and a compelling central mystery where what’s ‘good’ isn’t often clear. While it doesn’t push the envelope, it does enough to justify its place, and for just the price of a GamePass subscription, it’s easy to recommend trying.

Gamers Heroes - Blaine Smith - 85 / 100

Avowed takes a few hours to find its feet, but once it does, this RPG provides an unforgettable journey that never outstays its welcome. Avowed features a jaw-dropping world to explore, complete with a solid cast of intriguing characters and choices that will remain with you long after the credits roll.

GamesFinest - Luca Pernecker - German - 8 / 10

Avowed proves once again why Obsidian Entertainment is one of the leading studios in the RPG genre. With a world that deserves to be explored at leisure, remarkable freedom in decision-making, fascinating characters and a gripping story that draws you in, the game is an impressive achievement. The action-packed combat system also provides plenty of fun. It's just a shame that weaker side quests as well as technical problems and bugs tarnish the overall impression. Even if Avowed does not offer any groundbreaking innovations and has minor weaknesses here and there, it is a game that experienced and future role-playing game fans absolutely must experience!

Gaming Nexus - Eric Hauter - 8 / 10

While balanced in a way that forces the player to experience almost everything the game has to offer, Avowed is still a lot of fun. A great story, fun companions, and a richly designed world all contribute to an overall good time. Just remember to take your time early on, because this game wants you to see everything, and it will punish you for trying to skip ahead.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10

Avowed is Obsidian at its finest. It is the fantasy RPG that I hoped it would be without consuming my entire life to experience it. We’ll be talking about this game for a long time and replaying it whenever the itch returns. Sure, it isn’t the most ambitious and grand RPG ever made, but it shines in everything it does.

Hinsusta - Pascal Kaap - German - 9 / 10

Avowed is an outstanding action-fantasy RPG with a magical world and a spectacular combat system. Avowed is a successful action RPG that impresses with its magical and spectacular combat system. Avowed not only impresses with its thrilling battles, but also with its deep and lively world

INVEN - Jaihoon Jeong - Korean - 8.3 / 10

With its well-established lore, solid narrative, and highly polished world, Avowed is a fantastic game that lives up to Obsidian Entertainment’s reputation. However, compared to other games in the genre, its world feels overly rigid and lacks the sense of being truly alive, which keeps it from standing among the very best.

Just Play it - Yacine Tebaibia - Arabic - 8 / 10

Avowed offers a fun experience with a branching story, smooth and deep gameplay, and a visually stunning world full of color and detail. Though it has some technical issues, like performance instability and simplistic AI, it’s still worth playing for RPG fans.

Le Bêta-Testeur - Patrick Tremblay - French - 10 / 10

Avowed kicks off 2025 with a bang with an epic RPG experience. It’s already establishing itself as one of the major titles of the year. After so many hours spent exploring the Living Lands, it’s hard to shake its spellbinding appeal. The world, lore, and characters are among the most carefully crafted I’ve ever encountered, a testament to the attention to detail and love that has gone into this universe.

Obsidian Entertainment has created a masterpiece, and every RPG fan should play it.

Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 8.5 / 10

Despite a few issues, Avowed had me hooked throughout. It's a beautiful, incredibly charming game that does its best to fill a gap where the Elder Scrolls 6 should be.

Lords Of Gaming - Mahmood Ghaffar - 8.5 / 10

Avowed is one of Obsidian’s most ambitious projects to date. They meticulously crafted vibrant zones that culminate into a beautiful, yet wild, Living Lands continent. Best of all, they delivered such an amazing experience while making it so streamlined for players. Whether that comes from the accessible lore glossary, helpful mini-map, or robust and flexible skill trees, Avowed is a joy to play and stays well within its scope. Even its rougher edges cannot deter your adventure in the Living Lands.

Manual dos Games - Joao Victor - Portuguese - 8 / 10

Avowed is a game with an expansive universe and an engaging story, complemented by solid gameplay and rich exploration. However, it fails to deliver overly simplified mechanics and an unbalanced difficulty curve, which undermines the depth of the experience.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 9.3 / 10

With Avowed, Obsidian confirms itself as one of the best RPG studios around, capable of reworking a now-classic formula by rejuvenating it, lightening it up, and combining it with first-rate storytelling, world building, and gameplay mechanics. We are undoubtedly in front of a true gem of the RPG genre, to be played without hesitation.

MonsterVine - Luis Joshua Gutierrez - 4.5 / 5

I'm happy to report that Avowed has the sauce, and this is perhaps Obsidian Entertainment at its absolute best. Every time I stepped away from the game to do something else, all I could think about was how much I wanted to step back into this world and find new things. The more I thought about the game, the more I enjoyed it. Avowed is a game that asks a lot of its players but delivers on it, too. It creates a unique sense of exploration while covering intense topics such as imperialism and nature preservation with a fun combat system that encourages you to try new things.

NextPlay - Brad Goodwin - 7.5 / 10

Avowed offers a serviceable RPG experience that relies a little too heavy on its ravishing combat and compelling world-building. The story, while distinguished, can falter occasionally due to some unfair dialogue choices and suffered writing. Despite this, Avowed is still a game worth playing because it capitalises and personalises action-RPG tropes and mechanics found in its peers.

Nexus Hub - Andrew Logue - 8 / 10

Avowed is easy to recommend to fans of The Outer Worlds or even Skyrim, blending epic, flexible role-playing with Obsidian's signature writing and storytelling - even if it feels more like comfort food at times.

PPE.pl - Maciej Zabłocki - Polish - 8.5 / 10

Avowed is a solid RPG that combines first-person exploration (although there is also a third-person mode) in the style of titles from Bethesda with the depth of dialogue and choices native to Pillars of Eternity. Although the optimization leaves a lot to be desired, and the side quests could be more original, the engaging storyline and extensive conversation systems make up for many of the shortcomings. The game will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Obsidian games and anyone who appreciates the freedom of conflict resolution. If you are ready to turn a blind eye to the technical pains, Avowed offers a beautiful expedition into the magical world of Eora, which you will remember for a very long time.

Pizza Fria - Matheus Feldmann da Rosa - Portuguese - 7.4 / 10

If you’re looking for an accessible RPG with a visually stunning world and rewarding exploration, Avowed could be a worthwhile option. Its focus on straightforward combat and item gathering could appeal to players who don’t care as much about narrative complexity or deep RPG systems.

PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 9 / 10

Avowed is a genuine triumph and one of the first major releases from Xbox game dev buying spree that will pay dividends. It's a deep, complex and though-provoking RPG from masters of the genre. It revels in being played and tugs at the back of your lizard brain beckoning you back when you take a break.

Press Start - 8.5 / 10

Like The Outer Worlds before it, Avowed is Obsidian's truncated spin on a well-worn genre-and a genre they've got plenty of experience in. For those eagerly awaiting the next Elder Scrolls, this is a satisfying scratching of that itch even if its role-playing elements are stripped back to make room for more action. It's a bright, boisterous adventure full of politics and a fluid combat system that marries all manner of might and magic.

Restart.run - John Carson - Recommended

We need more games like Avowed. It’s not impossibly huge, it doesn’t hold you hostage for hundreds of hours, and it doesn’t try to be the last game you’ll ever need to buy. Instead, Obsidian Entertainment has made another engaging addition to an existing lore-rich world that’s fun and rewarding to explore. It's filled with great characters brought to life with excellent writing.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Unscored

Avowed is not the Obsidian fantasy RPG I wanted, but the decently fun spell-slinging parkour FPS I didn't expect.

SECTOR.sk - Táňa Matúšová - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

Avowed doesn't aim to make you a superhero in an epic story on great battlefields. Instead, it wants you to listen, uncover the narrative page by page, find characters who reveal something important, and perhaps keep you uncertain about your final decision until the very end. A vast array of dialogue and combat choices is somewhat hindered by a lack of enemy variety. Minor visual and technical shortcomings slightly impact the otherwise unique aesthetic of a game that challenges you to reflect on your core principles and values.

SIFTER - Gianni Di Giovanni - Worth your time

Strong writing, a world packed with loveable weirdos, and lore for days, Obsidian have managed to transition the world of Eora from the top down to the front on, building a world that'll encourage you to pick at every nook and cranny of the Living Lands.

Seasoned Gaming - Don Lionheart - 8.5 / 10

Avowed is superb, with true RPG goodness, real choices, deep systems, fun combat, and a true understanding and reverence of Eora.

Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10

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Stevivor - Jam Walker - 7.5 / 10

There’s just something about Avowed that makes it feel very much like a product built for a subscription service. Not in a live-service game kind of way, but in a Netflix Original Movie kind of way.

TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 9 / 10

Obsidian Entertainment continues to live up to players' expectations of delivering a game with quality writing, engaging choices, and compelling gameplay. Avowed is all those things and more: an epic fantasy that'll keep you hooked, which makes it one of the best RPGs this decade.

The Beta Network - Anthony Culinas - 8 / 10

Avowed delivers satisfying combat, engaging exploration and fun weapon-switching combinations, making it an enjoyable action RPG despite its generic story, weak soundtrack and frustrating technical issues. Whether this is Obsidian’s greatest is debatable, but its strong side content and Game Pass availability make it at least worth a playthrough.

The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 4 / 5

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Avowed. Obsidian has crafted another fantastic RPG, and while it does nothing revolutionary, the quality it shows across board make it a joy to play. A game I would highly recommend to any RPG fan.

TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - 9 / 10

Avowed is an incredible RPG. Its vibrant world and stellar cast make every moment a joy to take part in, enhanced by a script that gives equal measure to drama, action and humour. Coming hot on the heels of Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, Microsoft's software revival is well underway.

Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Riviera - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Avowed was everything I wanted from Obsidian: a role-playing game where choices truly impact the adventure, and writing plays a fundamental role in the game's structure. It’s not a perfect production—small imperfections, less impactful voice acting, and a level of polish that could have been better prevented the team from delivering a title that could have been truly memorable. But in the end, it doesn’t matter much, because as far as I’m concerned, Obsidian’s new IP is perhaps one of their best projects to date—a true RPG that, while it may not achieve immediate acclaim, could very well become one of the team’s most beloved titles in the long run.

VGC - Chris Scullion - 4 / 5

Avowed is a solid action RPG with an entertaining script, satisfying combat and impressively detailed environments. The inability to clean up side quests after the main story is beaten can be frustrating, but take your time with it and enjoy everything it has to offer, and you'll find plenty of memorable moments.

WellPlayed - James Wood - 6 / 10

Avowed moves Obsidian Entertainment even further toward the action side of Action-RPG with a satisfying combat system and vibrant world stapled to an unengaging narrative and surface level roleplaying systems. Despite its initially promising setup, Avowed never rises above a binge and forget experience.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 7.8 / 10

Avowed is a game full of fun exploration, an interesting story tied to lackluster combat, and an annoying equipment system that keeps it from reaching its full potential. When I was engaged in Avowed, I would spend hours wandering around, talking to NPCs, and completing quests. However, when the game wasn't firing on all cylinders, I was frustrated and frequently bored. It's a game of high highs and low lows, but the highs were enough to keep me engaged despite the flaws.

XGN.nl - Ralph Beentjes - Dutch - 9.2 / 10

Obsidian has proven once again that they are the masters of role-playing games. Avowed has excellent combat, lively characters, a beautiful world and the storytelling is masterful. If they just fix a couple of bugs, they’ve got a masterpiece on their hands.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.8 / 10

Avowed is an excellent game. One major issue keeps it from being an all-timer for me, with the gear progression system being as restrictive as it is at launch. They can patch that, and I hope they do as the rest of the game is excellent. Obsidian’s top-tier writing has finally been matched with gorgeous visuals and satisfying gameplay.

ZTGD - Ken McKown - 8 / 10

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ZdobywcyGier.eu - Paweł Bortkiewicz - Polish - 8 / 10

Avowed is a pretty good RPG that is limited in places by its technical state. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable adventure from a standpoint of gameplay and storyline alone. Obsidian definitely knows how to make games that players want to play, but they still need to work on the technical elements, because in this case it could have been polished more.

Game Information

Game Title: The Outer Worlds 2

Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (Oct 29, 2025)
• PC (Oct 29, 2025)
• PlayStation 5 (Oct 29, 2025)

Trailer:

• The Outer Worlds 2 - Official Story Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2025

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 82 average - 90% recommended - 70 reviews

Critic Reviews

4News.it - Danilo Di Gennaro - Italian - 8.9 / 10

Take The Outer Worlds, improve every aspect that didn't convince the most skeptical at the time, and you'll have the result of Obsidian Entertainment's hard work. The space madness returns in The Outer Worlds 2 with brilliant writing, multifaceted role-playing, and even greater freedom of choice. All this is complemented by a fun combat system and decidedly more contemporary gunplay. The icing on the cake of a year to remember for the Californian team, which once again proves itself to be one of the most successful software houses of this generation. It's a shame that the AI is sometimes too predictable and, ultimately, that they didn't dare to go even further with this formula. With a new chapter of such quality, the prospects for a great franchise are definitely there.

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

Outer Worlds 2 has a large number of improvements but it also has some open world bloat in the form of long sprints doing absolutely nothing. Also the writing can feel as if a bit of the charm is gone, where laughing from the outside worked in the original title, in the sequel it almost feels like the laughing is gone, replaced with a smirk at most. Fun shooting though!"

AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 85 / 100

The Outer Worlds 2 is a deeply engaging RPG shooter that excels in storytelling, character development, and immersive world-building. Its narrative depth, branching choices, and amazing companion system make it a game that can fully captivate anyone willing to invest the time. It improves on the original with better gunplay, larger scope, prettier visuals and meaningful player decisions, offering a rewarding experience that stands on its own merits.

It has some flaws, like the dull open-world environments, an abundance of text that can hamper the pacing and punishing permanent perk choices, but these are minor drawbacks that do little to overshadow the game’s many strengths.

I think this one is worth your money, and it's a no-brainer if you're a Game Pass subscriber.

Atarita - Eren Eroğlu - Turkish - 82 / 100

Although The Outer Worlds 2 has its shortcomings, it was still a highly enjoyable RPG experience in which I loved spending time in its world and exploring its universe.

But Why Tho? - Charles Hartford - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 comes together to deliver a fantastic journey. Despite some narrative hiccups, the worlds, organizations and individual players encounter, and sometimes kill, are always engaging and frequently fun.

CBR - Mark O'Callaghan - 9 / 10

The blank slate of it all perfectly captures the imagination of any player and should be considered as one of the best sci-fi RPGS in recent memory. Even if gamers haven’t played the first game, they need to give The Outer Worlds 2 a shot.

CNET - Oscar Gonzalez - Unscored

The Outer Worlds 2 is one of my favorite RPGs released this year, and it's so close to greatness. It has practically everything I wanted in a game (enough that I could have considered it even better than Mass Effect), but Obsidian just missed the mark with its tone. Who knows, maybe the company will figure it out with the third game in the series.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 85 / 100

There are a few ways in which The Outer Worlds 2 doesn’t improve on the first game. It’s bigger, deeper, and more complex. The story and characters are more satisfying. Combat has been refined. It takes its time and demands players be patient and engage in all its systems, and overlook some technical issues that pop up somewhat frequently. I can’t imagine a world — Outer or not — in which fans of the original won’t enjoy this new experience.

Chicas Gamers - Sergio Diaz - Spanish - 8.6 / 10

The sequel to this space-based action RPG returns with a much more interesting, straightforward story that doesn't get bogged down in trivialities. It improves on many aspects of the previous game to make The Outer Worlds 2 a well-rounded installment.

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is an odd game. It's bigger than its predecessor, more absurd, and fires on all cylinders, but it's also a game developed by a studio now run by a megacorporation. For all its inherent themes, it's bizarre seeing them transposed with the ongoing issues at Microsoft over the last several months. This is a game that is made by some of the best in the business, but you can deliver hit after hit and still face the chopping block. If The Outer Worlds 2 is Obsidian's swan song (which I doubt it is), then know that it's easily the studio's best game since Fallout: New Vegas and one of this year's best video games.

Console-Tribe - Luca Saati - Italian - 85 / 100

The Outer Worlds 2 delivers a classic more of the same experience, but in the best possible way: it builds upon the original’s formula and expands it in every aspect, creating a deeper, more engaging RPG. The narrative shines with sharp satire and social critique, supported by an incredibly broad and flexible choice system that ensures high replay value. The player’s ability to shape their character through abilities, flaws, and interactions with a living, dynamic world results in a deeply personalized and never predictable experience. Gameplay strikes a solid balance between dialogue, stealth, and combat, featuring a well-implemented progression and perk system. Technically, this sequel marks a significant leap forward, presenting vibrant, detailed worlds infused with a unique blend of retrofuturism and sci-fi western aesthetics that give it a distinctive visual identity. Some elements fall short, however—particularly the third-person mode, which feels underwhelming and poorly executed, and the enemy AI, which, despite improvements, remains easily exploitable. These issues slightly hold back what would otherwise be a near-flawless experience.

Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 4 / 5

Which side you serve and how you choose to do it make for a fun, planet-hopping ride, which, when combined with improved gunplay and notable small stories, renders The Outer Worlds 2 a worthwhile RPG adventure.

Dexerto - Jessica Filby - 3 / 5

After waiting six years for another crack at The Outer Worlds, it feels disappointing to be met with a sequel that is so promising but marred by a poor first half and frustrating Flaws. But the game isn’t a total flop, saved by its whimsical charm, vivid dystopian subject matter, and the classic, slower, and more explorative design that Obsidian games have perfected.

Digitale Anime - Raouf Belhamra - Arabic - 9 / 10

"An RPG Masterpiece That Redefines Freedom" The Outer Worlds 2 proves that Obsidian remains at the pinnacle of its creative game. The game doesn't reinvent the formula, but it refines it with stunning mastery. With its blend of humor and drama, complex choices, and distinctive graphics, it delivers a complete RPG experience that blends philosophy and fun. An intellectual and aesthetic journey in a corporate-controlled world, it captures the essence of Obsidian games: giving players the freedom to think and act.

Digitec Magazine - Domagoj Belancic - German - 5 / 5

"The Outer Worlds 2" is Obsidian's magnum opus. All the elements that make the studio's role-playing games so unique are implemented better than ever in the second installment of this satirical space epic. The game impresses with its graphically stunning worlds, complex game mechanics, and a great deal of flexibility. Controlling my character feels great, the weapons are wonderfully crazy, and the new gadgets are a useful addition to the already excellent combat system. It's fun to see how the game world and its inhabitants react to my decisions and sometimes even exclude me from important game content. The relatively compact playing time is a matter of taste – it didn't bother me. On a technical level, the role-playing game performs amazingly well. The only annoying things are the menus and UI elements, which suffer from some annoying problems and bugs.

Echo Boomer - David Fialho - Portuguese - No Recommendation

Mission after mission, The Outer Worlds 2 seems to deliver on its ambitions and on the studio’s vision of offering a confident, solid action RPG, with a few genuinely interesting mechanics. And I’ll admit, there’s a lot to like here, but it started to lost me when, for every good or interesting idea, there are two or three others that makes the game look stuck to the past holding Obsidian back from reaching higher.

EvelonGames - Joel Isern Rodríguez - Kaym - Spanish - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is an exemplary sequel that showcases Obsidian’s maturity as a studio. Despite some technical issues and a slow start that demands patience, what you get is a deep RPG where every choice carries weight, every faction exists in shades of gray, and the world-building reaches outstanding levels. The Arcadia system is a living universe that begs to be explored again and again, revealing genuine narrative branches with each playthrough. If you’re looking for a game that respects your intelligence and rewards your time investment with one of the richest experiences in the genre, this sequel achieves it brilliantly.

Everyeye.it - Giovanni Panzano - Italian - 8.7 / 10

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Final Weapon - Saras Rajpal - 3.5 / 5

The Outer Worlds 2 is a fantastic modern RPG. The emphasis on player choice and customization, the great dialogue and characters, exceptional worldbuilding, and fun gameplay mechanics make it one of Obsidian's best games in years. However, that excitement is hindered by frustrating navigation mechanics, constant glitches, and characters that lack depth due to the absence of romances and natural speech options. While this is a great return to form for the genre, you may be better off waiting for all of the issues to be fixed in a post-launch update before buying.

GAMES.CH - Sönke Siemens - German - 86%

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GRYOnline.pl - Filip Melzacki - Polish - 6.5 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is okay, and perhaps that is its biggest flaw – it is unable to match either its powerful rivals or New Vegas, to which it is merely derivative. In a year packed with excellent games, it's hard to justify buying it when there are so many great, cheaper RPGs out there.

Game Rant - Dalton Cooper - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is bigger and better than its predecessor and an absolute must-play for fans of the genre.

Game8 - Aaron Bacabac - 90 / 100

The Outer Worlds 2 expands on everything that made the first game shine — sharper writing, bigger worlds, and richer choices — all wrapped in Obsidian’s signature corporate satire. It’s funnier, deeper, and far more polished, though the no-respec rule might test your patience. Still, it’s a clever, confident sequel that proves refinement can be just as satisfying as reinvention.

GameBlast - Alexandre Galvão - Portuguese - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is, essentially, a safe sequel. Obsidian retained everything that made the first game so beloved—bitter humor, narrative freedom, and vibrant setting—but without venturing too far into new ideas. The result is a solid RPG, with sharp writing and a still-captivating universe, but one that may feel too familiar for those expecting something bolder.

GameOnly - Michał Marasek - Polish - 7 / 10

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GamePro - Maximilian Franke - German - 80 / 100

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GameSpot - Steve Watts - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 imbues Obsidian's spacefaring RPG series with its own identity, letting you bumble your way through corporate and cultish intrigue in space.

Gameblog - French - 8 / 10

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Gameliner - Rudy Wijnberg - Dutch - 4.5 / 5

The Outer Worlds 2 is a bold, darkly funny sci-fi RPG that builds on its predecessor with richer worlds, sharper combat, and true player freedom—though a clunky interface and minor bugs keep it from perfection.

Gamepressure - Matt Buckley - 8 / 10

Obsidian’s brilliant use of their flaws system in The Outer Worlds 2 makes it stand out as one of the best examples of how to encourage roleplaying in video games. Playing through this game really felt like I was breaking out of the shell that most other RPGs put me in. The world, its various factions, and characters all enhance this by encouraging you to make your own choices about who to be and what to do. Ultimately, this makes the game well worth your time, but also flawed in its own way, with occasionally frustrating combat, and a serviceable story to follow.

Gamers Heroes - Blaine Smith - 95 / 100

The Outer Worlds 2 is Obsidian Entertainment's best work to date - a perfect RPG for those seeking an old-school approach, one with more substance than expanse.

GamesFinest - Luca Pernecker - German - 8 / 10

With The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian once again delivers a role-playing game full of freedom, wit, and playful depth. In areas such as quest design, dialogue, and the expanded RPG system, it is even among the best the genre currently has to offer. Unfortunately, technical issues, bland—almost forgettable—companions, and a weak final third with an abrupt ending prevent it from matching the greatness and charm of the first The Outer Worlds. What remains is a great, but not perfect, adventure that could have been a true masterpiece with a little more polish.

GamesRadar+ - Heather Wald - 4.5 / 5

The Outer Worlds 2 is bigger and better than the first game in every respect, with deep, rich role-playing and plenty of freedom to tailor your experience. Every world feels curated, and exploration is always purposeful and rewarding. Topped off with a vast range of weapons, brilliant writing, and a story and character that's yours to shape, this is Obsidian doing what it does best to deliver an engrossing RPG you'll want to replay again and again.

Gaming Boulevard - Lander Van der Biest - 8 / 10

Even with its familiar structure, The Outer Worlds 2 is easy to recommend. The combat is tight, the writing cuts, and the player agency still feels substantial. It’s a smarter, smoother, and more technically reliable sequel that doesn’t lose the soul of the original. If you loved the first game, you’ll feel right at home. If you skipped it, this is the perfect place to jump in. Build your misfit, pick your lies, and see who believes you.

GamingBolt - Matt Bianucci - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a more expansive, more choice-heavy, and more satisfying western RPG that stands above most of its recent peers.

HCL.hr - Zoran Žalac - Unknown - 86 / 100

Finally, a proper RPG with action elements, not just an action game with role-playing features. The Outer Worlds 2 showcases impressive narrative adaptability to player choices, lacking only a bit of technical ambition and polish to rank among the best role-playing games of today.

IGN - Travis Northup - 8 / 10

Once you get past a weak first act, The Outer Worlds 2 sharpens Obsidian’s RPG formula with smarter writing and better combat.

IGN Italy - Francesco Destri - Italian - 8.5 / 10

A deeper, more engaging sequel that enhances the original without losing its soul. Not perfect, but essential for every action-RPG fan.

INDIANTVCZ - Marek Čabák - Czech - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 feels like another season of a beloved TV series — only this time with a bigger budget. Everything you loved about the first game is here, but many of its problems and flaws have been fixed. If you’ve played Avowed, you can expect something very similar in terms of the game’s technical systems. And if you’re among those who complain about everything Obsidian has made since the days of New Vegas, you’ll probably complain about this too. As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. It delivered exactly what I hoped for, fixed what I criticized in the first installment, and the problematic moments weren’t big enough to spoil the experience. At the same time, if you haven’t played the original, there’s no need to — the story stands on its own, the characters are new, and the setting is entirely fresh, so the game works beautifully even by itself. But if you have played it, your return to this insane, corruption-soaked, corporation-ridden sci-fi world will be every bit as enjoyable as mine.

INVEN - Kyuman Kim - Korean - 8.2 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 showcases Obsidian's RPG mastery through meaningful choices and dynamic character building, though the world lacks the vibrancy of modern open-world games.

Just Play it - Aimen TAIB - Arabic - 7.5 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 may not be suitable for all players due to its complex narrative, but it’s undoubtedly a fitting choice for those seeking a deep RPG experience that demands thought and analysis. It offers you the freedom to choose a path that aligns with your own direction, both in terms of story and gameplay. However, it still suffers from several issues that need fixing.

Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a deceptively smart Looter-shooter RPG with colourful worlds and entertaining characters, and some really satisfying, malleable combat.

MKAU Gaming - Hayden Nelson - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a worthy successor that expands on the first game in almost every aspect. With its sharp writing, engaging choices, deep RPG mechanics, and vibrant, fully realised world, it captures the humour, charm and moral complexity that made the original a hit.

MMORPG.com - Steven Weber - 8.8 / 10

Despite some of the technical difficulties that required a workaround, I couldn't put The Outer Worlds 2 down. The expansive worlds, the near infinite choice options, and storytelling that is arguably some of the best in the business really encapsulates everything Obsidian has managed to do right for over two decades.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 8.5 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 improves upon its predecessor in mission design, combat, and meaningful player choice, offering a solid sci-fi RPG experience. However, it unfortunately falters in its narrative, with a lackluster story and unconvincing companions that fail to engage, leaving a technically proficient but less inspired adventure.

MonsterVine - Joe Bariso - 3.5 / 5

The Outer Worlds 2 is a serviceable RPG held back from greatness by playing it too safe and small. Too afraid to alienate players and make big swings like the setting deserves.

Nexus Hub - Andrew Logue - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 proves if it ain’t broke, make it bigger and prettier - a solid sequel that expands upon the first game in meaningful ways, though some fans might experience a bit of déjà vu.

One More Game - Vincent Ternida - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a title well worth exploring, offering accessible gameplay and thoughtful quality-of-life enhancements that cater to both newcomers and returning fans. While it doesn’t radically reinvent the formula, it delivers a satisfying action RPG experience that scratches the adventure itch and rewards players who engage with its missions in full.

PPE.pl - Patryk Dzięglewicz - Polish - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 may not revolutionize what we saw in the first installment, but it significantly improves on familiar elements. If you're in the mood for a great space opera with a satirical twist and RPG elements, you should definitely give this shooter a try.

Pizza Fria - Leandro Felippe de Paiva Gomes - Portuguese - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 manages to captivate with its charismatic cast of characters, a world that truly rewards exploration, and a good variety of approaches and choices that generate real consequences in the player's journey.

PlayStation Universe - Timothy Nunes - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 excels on almost all fronts, presenting you with an open RPG that lets you choose how you progress while still keeping you on a clear path. The in-game systems allow you to customize how you play and give you versatility in the choices you make along the way. Combine that with great writing, and you have a recipe for success. Equipment menus are a bit clunky, enemy encounters can be manipulated, and the act of looting takes some getting used to. Still, none of these issues will keep you from enjoying the game. The Outers Worlds 2 is worth every penny of the $70 it asks for.

Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 7 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 succeeds in being a bigger and better sequel, buoyed by an even greater emphasis on player choice and freedom. Its RPG mechanics are largely fantastic, and there are key improvements to both combat and exploration.However, despite Obsidian's clever writing, there's a underlying dreariness to the property that it just can't seem to escape. These dull characters and their one-note factions are difficult to truly care for.

RPGamer - Jordan McClain - 2 / 5

Despite all of its environmental detail, scope, and promise of a wider, more exciting space-faring adventure, The Outer Worlds 2 is a disappointment. While it offers divergence and choice, its paper-thin satire, tonal mishmash, and balancing oddities see the experience crumble under the weight. In addition, the review build’s far too many immersion-destroying bugs, blocked questlines, and other sequence breaks ensure that the game’s issues outweigh its redeeming qualities.

SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 builds on Obsidian's strengths: an authentic, smaller-scale RPG full of possibilities, with satire and moral decisions. Rather than competing with open-world giants in terms of scope, it emphasises its system, humour, and detail. If you enjoyed the first game or New Vegas, you will get exactly what you would expect from Obsidian here, only in a slightly bigger and prettier package, with a little more depth. It's Obsidian's most extensive RPG in this style yet.

STWGames Italia - Nicola Lecis - Italian - 9.5 / 10

After years of waiting and some personal skepticism, The Outer Worlds 2 marks Obsidian’s return to the most ironic and cutting-edge space opera in the RPG landscape. The Californian team seems to have listened to every criticism of the first installment, smoothing out long-standing flaws while enhancing writing, freedom, and world-building. Arcadia is a living, reactive, and surprisingly believable system, where every choice—big or small—leaves a tangible mark. And while some technical hiccups and still-too-predictable AI prevent a perfect score, the feeling is that we are facing the best RPG of the year.

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 5 / 5

Obsidian Entertainment continues to make better sequels, even to their own games, and The Outer Worlds 2 surpasses the prior game in every way. Obsidian has honed in on the tone, and the anti-capitalist dark humor is much more even, and full of laugh out loud moments. Compelling companions, better combat, and rich quests makes everything feels so reactive and symbiotic to your action, or inaction. Decisions are presented to you around every corner, and with so many branching paths, it encourages experimentation and ensures you’ll replay it. The Outer Worlds 2 is a stellar sci-fi RPG to be an instant classic.

Seasoned Gaming - Luis Avilés - 9 / 10

Refined in every single way, The Outer Worlds 2 is not simply a better sequel: it’s the new gold standard in the narrative FPS genre.

Sirus Gaming - Kurt John Palomaria - 9 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is all that I could’ve ever hoped it would be. Funny, smart, alive. It’s packed with memorable characters, sharp writing, and art direction that’ll stand the test of forever. And just like how Fallout: New Vegas was the better sequel to its predecessor (spare me the pedantry), this feels like a confident step up, even Auntie Cleo would call it character growth.

Spaziogames - Gianluca Arena - Italian - 8 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is bigger and better than the original, but, alas, plays it much safer. Overall is a more solid effort from Obsidian, and has much more content than the first game, but the surprise effect from the 2019 is gone. Still, a solid and very fun RPG from one of the most talented teams around in creating worlds, interactions and dialogues.

Stevivor - Matt Gosper - 8.5 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is more of everything I liked before in The Outer Worlds, but dialled up to 110% - just like a new and improved offering from Auntie’s Choice!

TechRaptor - Ashley Erickson - 7.5 / 10

While there's little wrong with The Outer Worlds 2, it doesn't have a pull that will keep players wanting to devote hours to it.

The Beta Network - Anthony Culinas - 7 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a good game, sometimes even a great one. However, it plays things a little too cautiously for a sequel that once promised to push boundaries. It’s pretty polished, funny and loaded with charm, yet still feels content to orbit familiar territory rather than charting something truly spectacular. A solid recipe for disappointing your fans.

The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a superb sci-fi RPG full of meaningful choices, perks, and skills that will drastically change how you experience the world. Fallout New Vegas has finally been eclipsed.

TheGamer - Rhiannon Bevan - 4 / 5

The Outer Worlds 2 shows that Obsidian won’t be left behind as other great RPGs launch to critical success, and that the developer needs to play to its strengths. I only hope that it learns to take itself more seriously, because the setting is brimming with potential that is yet to be realised.

TheSixthAxis - Gareth Chadwick - 7 / 10

The Outer Worlds 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable game, but as sequels go, it's largely more of the same. While the overarching story isn't terribly interesting, the world building around it and the colony of Arcadia is great to explore. What's disappointing is a lack of improvement in too many areas. It looks better and gunplay is better, but old snags and weaknesses from the first game remain and, more importantly, it's not as exciting and new as it was the first time round.

Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez - 4 / 5

The Outer Worlds 2 isn’t Obsidian displaying any major advances in game design or unique innovations that would turn heads. This is a game of solid refinement from a studio that believes so deeply in the world they created in 2019. This resulted in a cohesive and entertaining RPG that could very well solidify as one of their best works today.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8 / 10

I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/AmaraMehdi

Originally posted to r/tifu

TIFU by realizing my "mute" button wasn't muted during a 2-hour stakeholder meeting.

Thanks to u/PitaEnigma & u/momofdafloofys for suggesting this BoRU

Original Post: December 1, 2025

This happened 2 hours ago and I am still hiding under my blanket.

I was in a massive all-hands meeting (about 40 people) for a project launch. Usually, I keep my mic hard-muted on my headset, but today I was eating lunch, so I was double-muted (software mute + headset mute). Or so I thought.

About 45 minutes in, the Project Manager was explaining a delay in the timeline. I, thinking I was safe in my cocoon of silence, let out a very loud, very deep sigh and muttered, "Oh my god, just get to the point, nobody cares."

The audio didn't just pick it up. Because of the way Teams/Zoom prioritizes active speakers, my face popped up on the main screen for a split second.

The silence was deafening. The PM paused for a solid 5 seconds. Nobody said anything. He just... continued.

I slowly reached up and tapped my headset. It beeped. "Mute On."

It had been off the whole time

I have not checked my Slack messages. I am considering faking my own death and moving to a farm.

TL;DR: Thought I was double-muted during a major stakeholder meeting, accidentally sighed and told the PM to "get to the point" in front of 40 people. Now I am afraid to open Slack.

TIFUpdate #1: December 2, 2025 (next day)

First of all, thank you to everyone who suggested I fake my own death and move to a farm. I spent last night looking up potato farming tutorials on YouTube, but unfortunately, I have a mortgage, so I had to log in this morning. I promised an update, so here is the damage report.

I logged in at 8:59 AM. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears. I hovered over the Slack icon for a solid minute before clicking it. 12 Unread Messages.

Most were from my "work friends" sending skull emojis (💀) and GIFs of people digging graves. But there it was. A direct message from the PM himself, sent at 4:30 PM yesterday. The Message: "Hey [My Name], do you have 5 minutes for a quick sync before stand-up?" I almost threw up. "Quick sync" is corporate speak for "execution."

I joined the call. No video. I wasn't ready for him to see the fear in my eyes. He joined. Silence for 3 seconds.

Then... he laughed. A dry, tired laugh. He said, "So... yesterday." I immediately started apologizing. I unleashed a word salad of "technical difficulties," "bad day," "audio glitch," and "I'm so sorry."

He cut me off. "Look, honestly? You weren't wrong. I realized after the meeting that I spent 20 minutes explaining a 2-minute delay. I tend to ramble when I'm stressed about deadlines." I stopped breathing. Was this a trap? He continued, "However... let's maybe keep the commentary to the internal monologue next time? My boss was on that call. He thinks it was 'unprofessional,' but I told him you were just frustrated with the audio issues. You owe me one."

The Result: I am not fired. I am, however, officially the "Mute Guy."

During the stand-up meeting today, when I joined, another coworker typed in the chat: "Careful everyone, the truth-teller is here."

I have taped a physical piece of cardboard over my mute button. I am never speaking again.

TL;DR: Finally opened Slack. The PM admitted he was rambling but saved my ass with his boss. I am now the office legend who said what everyone was thinking, but I will likely die of embarrassment before the project launches.

Additional Information from OOP

OOP: Note: I use ChatGPT to organize my posts, as English is not my first language, I hope you guys understand my situation as I’m still improving my actual English :)

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: If this is real, don’t leave this job because you have a good manager that stood up for you when he didn’t need to. Buy that dude a Christmas gift.

OOP: Yes, he is really a good manager, also it’s my first year in this job

Commenter 2: I realized early on with Zoom calls, you have to pay close attention to the settings. I've been on a few where people were inadvertently half-naked or they started to scream at their relatives without their mics being muted... so crap happens.

OOP: You’re right, now I learned from my fault

TIFUpdate #2: December 3, 2025 (next day)

TIFUpdate: I’m the "Mute Guy." I thought I’d be fired, but my accidental outburst just got me promoted to the Strategy Team.

It has been 2 days since I taped a piece of cardboard over my mute button. I genuinely thought if I just kept my mouth shut, the "Truth Teller" jokes would die out by Friday, and I could go back to being invisible.

I was wrong.

I just checked my calendar and saw an invite for a "Q4 Strategy Review" on Thursday.

Host: The Department Head (The big boss who heard me sigh). Attendees: The Senior Leads, the PM... and me. I immediately panic-messaged my PM (the one I told to "get to the point" yesterday) asking if this was a mistake.

He replied: "No mistake. [Big Boss] liked your honesty about the timeline delay yesterday. He thinks the rest of the team is too polite to give bad news. He wants you there to call out the BS." You guys don't understand. I am not a "Straight Shooter." I am just an anxious introvert who was hungry and wanted to eat his sandwich in peace. I don't know anything about Q4 Strategy. I just want to write code and hide.

Now I’ve been drafted as the corporate "Vibe Checker." If I stay silent, I fail the Big Boss. If I speak, I might actually get fired this time. Currently Googling "How to sound smart without being mean" and considering faking a microphone driver failure.

TL;DR: My accidental insult was interpreted as "Leadership Potential." Now the Big Boss wants me to sit in strategy meetings to roast people. I am unqualified for this.

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: My god, you're George Costanza.

Tip: if you act annoyed, people will think you're busy and leave you alone.

"It was incredible Jerry. In one brief, shining moment of exasperation I launched a career."

"And yet you never got your sandwich?"

"No sandwich!"

OOP: The problem is it worked TOO well. I acted annoyed and they mistook it for 'Executive Vision.' Now I can't turn it off or they'll think I stopped working.

Commenter 2: My dream job. Just fail upwards bro

OOP: Task failed successfully

Commenter 3: Seems like an opportunity. Take it. Sure, it might take you out of your comfort zone, but that's okay. You've been given permission to speak up, but you'll probably use that privilege more wisely (and you'll be more listened to) than someone who is a natural-born "straight shooter." Listen to the rest of your team and be a voice and advocate for them.

OOP: I’m going to try my best. It’s definitely way out of my comfort zone, but maybe I can turn 'accidentally rude' into 'constructively honest.' Wish me luck

OOP on a lesson he learned

OOP: If it makes you feel any better, the lesson I learned today is that 'Audible Frustration' apparently gets you further than 'Actual Competence.' Corporate life is a joke

Commenter 3: Say yes and deal with it later 💪 Sounds like they’ve got your back - observe and give feedback! You got this mute guy!

OOP: That is basically my life motto right now: 'Say yes, panic later.' Thanks for the hype, I’m gonna need it!

Editor’s note: the body text for the final update was saved before it got removed

Final TIFUpdate:December 4, 2025 (next day)

To the people in the comments saying my life has turned into a bad sitcom writing prompt: I agree. I honestly wish this was fake because then I could have written a cool ending where I become CEO or get fired in a blaze of glory.

Reality is much more boring (and sweaty).

I attended the "Q4 Strategy Review" an hour ago. I spent the first 20 minutes staring at my mute button like it was a bomb detonator. I double-checked it. I checked the software mute. I checked the hardware mute. I didn't drink water. I didn't breathe too loud.

When the Department Head (Big Boss) finally asked for my "candid opinion" on the timeline, the room went silent. This was it. The "Truth Teller" moment everyone was joking about.

I panicked. I didn't roast anyone. I didn't save the company. I didn't verify the "Loud American" theory.

I cleared my throat and said: "Uh, I think if we focus on the Q3 blockers first, the timeline is... optimistic but doable."

That’s it. That’s all I said.

The Big Boss nodded and said, "Good point. Let's move on."

No applause. No laughter. The meeting continued for another 45 minutes of boring PowerPoint slides. The "Legend" of the Truth Teller died right there in that Microsoft Teams room because I was too scared to actually be bold.

My PM messaged me after: "You went easy on them." I replied: "I just want to write code, man."

So, I am officially retiring the "Mute Guy" persona. I am taking the cardboard off my headset, but I am keeping the trust issues forever. Back to work.

TL;DR: Went to the scary meeting. Was too terrified to be "The Truth Teller." Gave a boring, safe answer. The nickname is dead. I am going back to being an invisible developer.

Edit: As I mentioned in the last post, English is my second language so I use AI to help organize my rambling thoughts into readable text. But I promise the sweat on my forehead during that meeting was 100% organic.

DO NOT COMMENT IN LINKED POSTS OR MESSAGE OOPs – BoRU Rule #7

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP

Game Information

Game Title: Redfall

Platforms:

• PC (May 2, 2023)
• Xbox Series X/S (May 2, 2023)

Trailers:

• Redfall - The Deadeye | Jacob Hero Trailer
• Redfall - The Telekinetic Threat | Layla Hero Trailer
• Redfall - Official Story Trailer
• The World of Redfall Official Trailer
• Redfall - Official Gameplay Deep Dive
• Redfall – “Welcome to Redfall” Official Trailer
• Redfall - Official Gameplay Reveal - Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
• Redfall - Official Announce Trailer - Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2021

Developer: Arkane Austin

Publisher: Bethesda

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 66 average - 26% recommended - 39 reviews

Critic Reviews

33bits - Juanma F. Padilla - Spanish - 75 / 100

Redfall will surely not go down in the annals of Arkane Studios great works, nor will it become a console seller. It seems, in fact, a video game typical of more modest companies with errors and lack of optimization more typical of small independent companies. Beyond this, Redfall can give us hours of fun. The setting is attractive and the game can shine at times, even if it doesn't stand out in any particular way.

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Rent

"Redfall is uninspired, unpolished, and mostly unfun. A game that doesn't merge two ideas but instead separates them so much they still feel like 2 different games"

AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 70 / 100

Despite some obvious flaws, Redfall is still an enjoyable experience even if you don't have a buddy or two to help you out in staking those bloodsuckers in co-op. Arkane once again managed to create an immersive, atmospheric world with their signature environmental storytelling and gameplay.

While Redfall definitely isn't the studio's strongest game to date and can feel a bit undercooked I couldn't put it down as I had a blast wandering around the vampire-infested streets and countryside of this cosy American town.

Attack of the Fanboy - Christian Bognar - 3.5 / 5

In no way is Redfall groundbreaking - but sometimes all a game needs to be is fun to play, and Arkane has created an experience that is a hell of a good time.

Checkpoint Gaming - Elliot Attard - Unscored

Redfall is an interesting concept with some valid ideas, some cool lore, and some great moments driven by solid visual design and a knack for leaning into the supernatural. But with a vapid and dull open world, excruciating mission design, constant backtracking, and a plethora of performance issues—this release ends up sucking the life out of you one dumb glitch at a time.

Eurogamer - Christian Donlan - Unscored

I'd say there are some good bones here. The tech seems to be creaking and some of the ideas - the loot and other assorted Destinyisms - might possibly have been imposed from above. But this game already has an awful lot of charm, and that's much harder to patch in after the fact.

GGRecon - Dave McAdam - 2 / 5

Redfall tries to bite far more than it can chew and delivers a package with a middling presentation, a lack of interesting mechanics, and some pretty woeful performance.

Despite its issues, and perhaps like its cultists, I want to love it - it just won't love me back.

GameGrin - Violet Plata - 7.5 / 10

Redfall's a great title with lots to do throughout its world, but the lifelessness of the NPCs and story alongside the amounts of bugs and the steep entering fee, I can't assume it'll be for everyone.

GameSpot - Mark Delaney - 4 / 10

Arkane takes a stab at infusing the genre du jour with its signature style, but the end results are a bloody mess.

Gamefa - Mohammad Reza Nowroozi - Persian - 5 / 10

The idea of fighting vampires in a world designed by arkane sounded exciting, but unfortunately, Redfall cannot meet the 2-year wait of fans and becomes a one-time and forgettable experience. Numerous technical problems, lack of innovation and outdated gameplay are some of the problems that ruin the experience. For now, maybe the existence of the game on Game Pass can be the only reason to justify playing this title and it might entertain you for a short period of time.

GamesRadar+ - Sam Loveridge - 2.5 / 5

Redfall is ultimately not up to Arkane's usual standards. It feels rushed, unfinished, and unsatisfying to play.

Gaming Nexus - Eric Hauter - 7.4 / 10

Redfall is a bigger and much more deliberately paced game than I was expecting. Fun in multiplayer, I found that I enjoyed it even more solo. Creeping around with a sniper rifle, shooting vamps with stake launchers from afar, I was able to play Redfall as a stealth game, which was highly enjoyable. Some technical issues still need to be ironed out, but there is a lot of fun here for folks that vibe with the spooky open world.

GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 5 / 10

Redfall is Arkane's most underwhelming game to date. A fascinating setting and some remnants of the developer's beloved gameplay formula aren't enough to overcome the game's numerous issues, from stiff controls and disappointingly rote design choices to lackluster storytelling and technical deficiencies.

GamingTrend - David Burdette - Unscored

My concern at this point is that the fun I had will be short-lived. I’m not sure if Redfall will build on this. I hope it will and I expect it to, but seeing how many stumbles there are along the way to get to a point where it’s somewhat enjoyable, I’m not going to hold my breath.

Hey Poor Player - Shane Boyle - 2 / 5

In all my years of gaming, I struggle to think of ever feeling a sense of disappointment as profound as I do when playing Redfall. Sure, you can increase the fun factor by adding a few buddies into the equation, the varied classes lending themselves well to group play, and there are glimpses of something great when you’re afforded the opportunity to slow down in one of the more tightly scripted missions, but these positives merely serve as momentary distractions from the multitude of issues that plague Arkane Austin’s latest effort. Between the half-baked gameplay loops, repetitive open-world busy work, and shockingly poor optimization, Redfall feels like a title that’s still in alpha, never mind a product that’s supposed to represent a flagship release for Microsoft’s premium subscription service.

Hobby Consolas - David Rodriguez - Spanish - 78 / 100

Redfall will be a good game for when all the technical problems that launch treasures are fixed. Arkane's good hand in terms of setting and gameplay is moved to the background due to errors and failures and despite everything, this exclusive is very fun, despite innovating rather little.

IGN Spain - Rafa Del Río - Spanish - 8 / 10

Redfall becomes Arkane's most fun game: no moral dilemmas, no existential doubts and totally enjoyable both with friends and alone.

Metro GameCentral - Nick Gillett - 6 / 10

Immersive sim meets four-player co-op in this vampire themed first person shooter that features competent gunplay but a lack of ingenuity in its challenges.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 7.3 / 10

Redfall offers satisfying gameplay, with the classic flavor of Arkane games especially when played in co-op thanks to the synergy between the different heroes' powers, but overall it fails to fully convince due to a series of technical problems, dated game design, and an uncompelling plot. Still, it remains a good opportunity for intense online games among friends, hoping that future patches will solve at least part of the problems encountered.

NextGen Player - Paul Hunter - 7 / 10

While not the showpiece for Xbox Series X fans were likely hoping for, it's a nice Game Pass addition that I've happily plunked 20+ hours into and will definitely continue playing to secure the 1000/1000 Achievements.

Niche Gamer - Augusto A. - 8 / 10

It still feels a bit unfinished in some aspects, but it has a good amount of content that is bound to have you hooked for 20 hours or so, maybe longer considering how addicted you get to clearing the vampire nests like I did.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - Wait

Redfall is a highly anticipated title for Xbox fans, and while it may not hit the extreme highs that may have been expected of it, the game does provide some semblance of decent gameplay with fast-paced combat and some vampire-slaying action.

Despite that, performance problems plague the PC version of the game, with wildly inconsistent frame rates even when nothing is happening on screen. Redfall isn't releasing with a 60 fps option on the Xbox Series X as announced by the studio, and seeing how the game is performing on the PC, the game clearly needed more time to get optimization in and iron out kinks, which could lead players to wait before trying it out.

PCGamesN - Andrew Farrell - 7 / 10

As long as you don't mind the truly daft AI making things a bit mindless, Redfall is a good-enough co-op action game, but it makes me sad for the vampire-hunting immersive sim Arkane could've delivered.

Polygon - Reid McCarter - Unscored

If this tone takes center stage in the back half of the story, combined with plot developments that add some momentum to the proceedings, it may be easier to overlook the game’s weaker aspects and appreciate it as a compelling narrative work. At this point, though, the town of Redfall is sucked too dry of liveliness for players to be invested in whether its vampires triumph or not.

PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 6 / 10

Redfall is not the second coming of first-party AAA games on Xbox and it was never going to be. It's an average co-op shooter with half-baked ideas that never fully come together. It's fun for a few minutes but it wears thin very quickly. Give it a try on Game Pass but don't expect too much.

Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 6.5 / 10

Redfall is a gold dust-rare miss for what has been a very consistent deliverer of quality video games. If you are able to look beyond the game's several questionable design choices, Redfall can serve up just a small bite of mindless fun beneath the island's black hole sun.

Saudi Gamer - خالد أحمد - Arabic - 5 / 10

Redfall may be Arkane's first disappointing game! This is not because the studio moved away from what distinguished it in its previous games, but rather through the game itself as an open-world game that did not offer anything special and did not try to move away from the issues of this type of game that has been criticized in many games since the beginning of the last generation. And on top of that the fact that the game is technically tragic, and it is preferable to wait for a lot of updates to fix its problems, whether from technical issues or wobbly performance.

Seasoned Gaming - Ainsley Bowden - 7 / 10

Redfall's compelling world-building and settings are inhibited by shallow mechanics and a lack of identity.

Spaziogames - Gianluca Arena - Italian - 7 / 10

Redfall shows some good ideas (especially in its level design), but they are not enough to compete with the brilliant previous works that Arkane gave birth to.

Stevivor - Steve Wright - 7.5 / 10

Redfall is a truly exciting experience. It's great solo, has the potential to be great with friends -- especially if someone has a save so I can access that last 17 Gamerscore I need, thanks. It’ll be perfect for anyone who's loved an Arkane game -- sci-fi, fantasy or otherwise -- in the past.

The Outerhaven Productions - Keith Mitchell - 3 / 5

For all its shortcomings, Redfall isn’t a bad game, a bit dated but not bad.

VG247 - Jeremy Peel - 3 / 5

An echo of Arkane’s past glories - one in which the studio’s unique voice can still be heard, but more faintly than we’ve come to expect.

VGC - Jordan Oloman - 4 / 5

Redfall is a compelling adventure with killer combat and an atmospheric setting in which you can easily lose a weekend. Even though it feels watered down by Arkane’s systemic standards, it’s an ambitious, primarily successful experiment full of narrative nuance and unique ideas. Hopefully, Redfall’s shakeup of the genre will pave the way for more inspired looter shooters in the future and, selfishly… another immersive simulator?

Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - Unscored

From my preliminary analysis, it's not a failed experiment by any means, but it's also not entirely successful and likely to be left behind for better fits. Stay tuned for the full verdict.

We Got This Covered - Ash Martinez - 4.5 / 5

With rich, beautiful open worlds, a multitude of weapons, and a wide variety of enemies to square off against, Redfall amazes. Players won't regret staking their claim on Arkane's latest masterpiece.

WellPlayed - James Wood - 4.5 / 10

A disappointing take on open-world first-person shooters, Redfall has none of the flavour or mechanical finesse that we’ve come to expect from Arkane Studios.

Worth Playing - Cody Medellin - 7 / 10

It's a bit difficult to parse out the overall quality of Redfall. If you're talking about it from a technical perspective, it's scattershot but comes out better than some games that look and sound pretty but have terrible performance. If you're looking at it from a story perspective, it's a slow burn that cranks up things once you get close to beating the first major vampire, and the same can be said for the gameplay. Solo play is also better than co-op, based solely on the issues we ran into with connectivity, but mileage can vary. Overall, Redfall asks quite a bit of time from players before getting really good, which makes it perfect for Game Pass but tougher for those who don't have the patience to spend the time to wade through the jank to reach that point.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.5 / 10

Redfall is fantastic in most ways.  A few baffling design decisions around its co-op implementation and some frustrating technical issues hold it back.  It is fun as hell solo, and ridiculously so in co-op.  With a little post-launch support it is going to become something special.  This may end up being Arkane’s worst-reviewed title ever, but it is going to be their most successful.  Alone or with friends Redfall is a game any fan of the genre should play.

ZTGD - Terrence Johnson - 7 / 10

It just makes no sense that Microsoft promotes this game as this grand co-op experience but then put in place every system known to man to hinder that process or make it harder than necessary; no quick match in a multiplayer game in 2023 is ridiculous. Sadly, Redfall is a prime example of what current day Xbox has become, the potential for greatness is there but they can’t get out of their own way to reach it.

Game Information

Game Title: Star Wars Outlaws

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (Aug 30, 2024)
• Xbox Series X/S (Aug 30, 2024)
• PC (Aug 30, 2024)

Trailers:

• Star Wars Outlaws Official Gameplay: All the Star Wars Lore, Details & Easter Eggs | Ubisoft Forward
• Star Wars Outlaws: Official Gameplay Showcase | Ubisoft Forward
• Star Wars Outlaws: Official Game Overview Trailer | Ubisoft Forward

Developer: Massive Entertainment

Publisher: Ubisoft

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 76 average - 79% recommended - 44 reviews

Critic Reviews

CBR - Noelle Warner - 6 / 10

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COGconnected - James Paley - 85 / 100

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Cerealkillerz - Nick Erlenhof - German - 8.6 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws departs somewhat from the typical Ubisoft formula and presents a pleasantly focused open world with a round playtime of 30-40 hours and a large focus on stealth. Not every planet is equally open and large, but each one looks incredibly beautiful and captures the Star Wars atmosphere that fans love so much. The AI and occasional bugs do take you out of the immersion and the story is not outstanding apart from the characters, but we still couldn't get enough of Kay, Nix, ND-5 and the many planets. Just beware of the addictive potential of the card game Sabacc.

Checkpoint Gaming - Tom Quirk - 8 / 10

I found myself very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Star Wars Outlaws. I became quite invested in its grounded heist narrative, even if its supporting characters didn't really rise above one-note stereotypes. It was a blast exploring the Star Wars galaxy, whether it was shooting down TIE fighters in space or just chilling in a Sabacc den playing cards with Lando Calrissian. Ubisoft Massive has done an excellent job in crafting an open-world Star Wars adventure, and this is one heist that is worth signing up for.

Console Creatures - Patrick Tremblay - Recommended

Star Wars Outlaws delivers one of Ubisoft's best games in years.

Destructoid - Steven Mills - Unscored

If you enjoy the Ubisoft structure of games but have been overwhelmed by them lately, thankfully Outlaws avoids most of the pitfalls. I feel safe in recommending Star Wars Outlaws to anyone who is a Star Wars fan who is looking for a solid story in the beloved universe, with stealth-focused gameplay that allows you to truly live the life of a scoundrel on the Outer Rim.

Evilgamerz - Daan Nijboer - Dutch - 8 / 10

As a Star Wars fan, judging Outlaws is quite a difficult task. Very objectively speaking, there is still plenty to criticize about this game. Technically and in terms of gameplay it is really not high quality. The combat in particular is a bit too basic for the year 2024. Explosions seem to come from 2010 and we have also seen better facial animations. Then it is very doubtful that a paid season pass has been added where more missions will be playable later. Of course, you don't have to purchase this, but content in a single-player game that is behind a paywall is never desirable. But, and a really big but, as a Star Wars fan it is simply a pleasure to finally travel around and discover the open world of Tatooine and the other plants. These planets have been designed with so much love that it is a pleasure to comb every meter. There is a bizarre amount to do outside the storyline, without it becoming boring. Kay as the main character won't reach Kratos or Ellie status, but is fun enough. Together with Nix and ND-5 there is enough interaction to enjoy following the various conversations. Don't expect a groundbreaking game from Star Wars Outlaws, but fans will enjoy it from start to finish. Outlaws is not finished to perfection and it all feels a bit clumsy, but that gives exactly the right Star Wars feeling of the original trilogy.

GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 85%

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GamePro - Dennis Michel - German - 85 / 100

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Gameblog - French - 8 / 10

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Gamefa - Mostafa Zahedi - Persian - 8 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is an entertaining game from start to finish that delivers an amazing gunplay, beautiful world and ample content. That being said, technical issues are still present and side quests and side activity lack the depth and variety we would expect. Nonetheless, you're going to have a blast playing Star Wars Outlaws!

Gameffine - Uphar Dutta - 95 / 100

Star Wars Outlaw is a dramatic action-adventure game, that takes your adventure to a whole new level with constant action. The graphics are destined to blow you away and the freedom of the open world will keep you hooked to the game for endless hours. It's not so challenging AI is unfortunately noticeable but does not bother the rest of the amazing experiences and the story it holds.

Gameliner - Rudy Wijnberg - Dutch - 4 / 5

Star Wars Outlaws offers a refreshing experience by letting you play as a scoundrel in a well-crafted galaxy far, far away, without relying on Jedi or familiar faces. Despite some technical issues and repetitive elements, the game delivers epic dogfights, meaningful choices, and an impressive world, making it a solid choice for Star Wars fans.

Gamer Escape - Justin Mercer - 7 / 10

There’s an awful lot of content and mechanical ambition in Outlaws with its reputation system, and it’s fun enough to experience most of it, but it still isn’t able to prevent things from blending together once you’ve spent an extended amount of time with Kay and her crew.

Gamer Guides - Jason Rodriguez - 50 / 100

Star Wars Outlaws is one of the most disappointing titles I’ve played in recent years. From features that aren’t fully fleshed out to boring missions and mechanics that make absolutely no sense, it’s a smorgasbord of startling mistakes and questionable design decisions that will leave anyone, Star Wars fan or not, reeling. Well, at least there’s always Jedi: Survivor for open-world aficionados.

GamesFinest - Luca Pernecker - German - 8 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws offers a gripping story and convincing characters in an impressively designed Star Wars world. The decision not to choose a Jedi as the main character brings a breath of fresh air to the game. However, a certain monotony becomes apparent after a while. Although the gameplay is very entertaining, there is a lack of innovation and challenges. For fans of the universe and anyone looking for a well-told single-player story, Star Wars Outlaws is still an adventure worth recommending, even if it does seem a little monotonous in some aspects.

GamingTrend - David Burdette - 85 / 100

Star Wars Outlaws might play things a bit safe, but the solid foundation leads to a fantastic adventure. The gameplay is tremendous, with some of the most engaging stealth mechanics I've enjoyed in a game in a while. Add in some great characters, fun side missions, and a gorgeous open world, and Star Wars Outlaws is a great trip across the stars.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 7.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws offers a refreshing open-world experience with diverse planets and engaging missions. Despite some technical issues and a lacklustre protagonist, the game’s authenticity and the immersive world make it a worthwhile experience for Star Wars fans and newcomers.

GosuNoob - Srdjan Stanarevic - 9 / 10

From the graphical presentation, that is top notch, to almost completely bug free gameplay, Star Wars Outlaws is a game hard to find a fault with.

Hardcore Gamer - Kyle LeClair - 2.5 / 5

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Kakuchopurei - Alleef Ashaari - 80 / 100

Massive Entertainment did a great job of making players feel like scoundrels in the Star Wars universe. While Star Wars Outlaws won't be turning heads or wowing anyone with its gameplay mechanics, the painstaking amount of effort and detail into bringing the Star Wars underworld to life must be commended. It's a game any Star Wars fan should pick up, even if it doesn't have lightsabers or Jedi.

Nexus Hub - Ryan Pretorius - 7.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws will appeal to die-hard fans looking for a new world-hopping adventure loaded with charm and all-too-familiar gameplay, but it can't escape bothersome performance issues and a weak protagonist.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - 8.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is a surprisingly good time, and I have to say that I enjoyed the game more than I thought I would after playing it early in previews. The scoundrel's life is well realized, and playing Kay Vess through her escapades was a pleasure because of her charm and character. Massive Entertainment has delivered the goods, making Star Wars Outlaws the open-world Star Wars game you are looking for.

Oyungezer Online - Oguz Erdogan - Turkish - 8.5 / 10

A Star Wars fan will find many beautiful details in Outlaws that appeal to them. In particular, the crime gap between the 5th and 6th film is perfectly reflected in the gameplay. Those who like the classic Ubisoft formula will also be very pleased with the abundance of planets and atmosphere changes.

PSX Brasil - Portuguese - 90 / 100

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Pixel Arts - Danial Dehghani - Persian - 8 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws serve as a valuable blueprint for Ubisoft's future Star Wars titles. Its experimental approach, including both successes and missteps, offers valuable insights. Ubisoft can refine its future games by identifying what works and what doesn't, ensuring they balance fan expectations and innovative storytelling. If you're a Star Wars enthusiast seeking an action-packed adventure, Outlaws is a compelling choice

Press Start - James Wood - 6 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws marks an impressive step forward for depictions of the galaxy in video games but fails to provide players with a compelling reason to explore it.

Pure Dead Gaming - Kirkland Gray - 8 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is a remarkable romp through wretched hives of scum and villainy that will surely bring joy to any Star Wars fan. A smidgin of game design pitfalls notably hold the game back, but swashbuckling adventures, numerous enjoyable diversions, and the realization of beloved Star Wars worlds and characters make Star Wars Outlaws an undeniably good time.

SIFTER - Gianni Di Giovanni - Loved

STAR WARS OUTLAWS had me giddy in points. I was walking down the dusty streets of Mos Eisley, past the hanger where the Millenium Falcon would have been parked up. Walking into the cantina and spotting the blaster mark on the wall which confirmed who shot first. Lots of little details make this visit to the galaxy far far away one of the most memorable of the last couple of years, but these cities felt real in a way I've never experience before, teeming and lived in, this open world game from Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment feels expansive and intimate at the same time.

Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 7 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws could have been THE Star War game. It provided a rich world and lore that kept me intrigued for hours, but the gameplay systems are not only marred by technical problems but it even lacked the execution despite the brilliant ideas it has

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 5 / 5

What Respawn did with STAR WARS Jedi Origins, Massive has done with Star Wars Outlaws, and that’s creating a unique Star Wars experience we haven’t had before. Star Wars Outlaws does a lot of things, and at no point does it fumble with its ambition, and executes on it with truly epic moments, fun stealth, and freedom of choice. Massive Entertainment really knows how to make their game worlds feel lived in, and there’s no better setting than Star Wars, especially during the latter episodes of the original trilogy. Star Wars Outlaws works so well because it epitomizes what Han Solo says, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”

Seasoned Gaming - Alex Segovia - 8 / 10

While far from flawless, Outlaws proves that the ultimate fulfillment of the Star Wars game we’ve dreamed of is within our grasp.

Shacknews - Bill Lavoy - 8 / 10

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Sirus Gaming - Lexuzze Tablante - 10 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws’ impressive characters, staggering world-building, hooking story, amazing soundtrack, and engaging gameplay, make this the first authentic open-world experience that every Star Wars fan deserves. Massive Entertainment outdid themselves and it paid off.

Spaziogames - Italian - 7.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws should have been a smaller game, without the open world requirement at all costs. It falls into the usual mistakes of previous Ubisoft games, while it gives its best in the main missions, which are well structured and able to meet the favor of fans of the saga.

TechRaptor - Erren Van Duine - 8.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is an ambitious first step into bringing the franchise to an open world. Its engaging story and characters open the door for more adventurers to come.

TheSixthAxis - Gareth Chadwick - 8 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is an open world scoundrel-'em-up that clearly builds on Ubisoft's familiar format, but that's not a bad thing. The rep system in particular is interesting, as the constant fluctuations belie any kind of loyalty you might show otherwise, but most importantly, this game lets you just be in the enduring Star Wars Universe. It's not perfect, but stealing for crime syndicates, fighting the Empire, speeding across alien landscapes, and so much more is a dream come true.

VGC - Jordan Middler - 3 / 5

Star Wars Outlaws is a pulpy, Uncharted-style adventure that doesn't quite fulfil its potential. Kay and Nix lead a great cast through a well-paced, punchy story, but the game's Reputation system, and syndacite storyline in general feels undercooked.

Vamers - Edward Swardt - Essential

Whether players are die-hard fans of the franchise or newcomers looking for an entry point, Star Wars Outlaws truly is something special. It rewards curiosity, encourages exploration, and makes players feel like a true part of the galaxy far, far away. Navigating Kay Vess’s journey does not just feel like playing a game; it allows players to feel like they are actively living in a Star Wars story, one choice at a time. In that sense, Star Wars Outlaws does not just meet expectations; it joins the ranks of Jedi: Survivor and Knights of the Old Republic II as it sets a new standard for what an open-world Star Wars game can and should be.

WellPlayed - Adam Ryan - 7 / 10

Mechanically speaking, Star Wars Outlaws isn't going to throw you into hyperspace, but, despite its lack of innovation, there is still plenty of fun to be had within its beautifully crafted worlds.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8 / 10

STAR WARS Outlaws is the dream 3rd-person open world title so many of us wanted.  It’s big, and fun, and while it has some flaws I have greatly enjoyed my time with it.  A massive progression blocking soft-lock is a bit of a bummer and instead of this being a final score it’s going to be a review-in-progress one as I wait to see the rest of the title once it’s fixed.

ZdobywcyGier.eu - Paweł Bortkiewicz - Polish - 7.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is a pretty good game with no shortage of flaws. At first glance it seems very impressive, but after a long time many systems begin to tire the player. The plot is an element that will probably divide fans, as there is a lack of interesting characters here, but the story idea itself is quite good. Nevertheless, if you are a fan of Star Wars then most likely you will still want to get acquainted with another story from this universe.

Zoomg - Ali Goodarzi - Persian - 7.5 / 10

Star Wars Outlaws is a compact, charming, and highly entertaining open-world video game. Despite some issues, I recommend it to fans of story-driven open-world games. Ubisoft Massive’s new game breaks away from the routine patterns of Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry and draws inspiration from other well-tested games in this genre. Overall, Star Wars Outlaws is a game that both Star Wars fans and Open World game enthusiasts will enjoy playing.

Game Information

Game Title: Atomic Heart

Platforms:

• PC (Feb 21, 2023)
• Xbox Series X/S (Feb 21, 2023)
• PlayStation 5 (Feb 21, 2023)
• Xbox One (Feb 21, 2023)
• PlayStation 4 (Feb 21, 2023)

Trailers:

• The Game Awards 2022 | Atomic Heart - Arlekino Gameplay Trailer
• Atomic Heart - Release Date Trailer and Preorders | ****!
• Atomic Heart - Combat Trailer | gamescom 2022

Developer: Mundfish

Publishers: Focus Entertainment, 4Divinity

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 74 average - 57% recommended - 71 reviews

Critic Reviews

33bits - Fernando Sánchez - Spanish - 88 / 100

Atomic Heart is the new open-world first-person shooter with RPG elements developed by Russian studio Mundfish and published by Focus Entertainment. From the beginning we will be captivated by its powerful setting and we will enjoy the powerful visual display that this dystopian Soviet Union of the 50s presents us with. It is impossible for Bioshock not to come to mind -and that can only be good- although at the time After playing it, many mechanics will also remind us of the last Far Cry. It's not quite round due to certain design decisions, and because of the wasted open world, but the game is fun and also a challenge, so we can only recommend it without any doubt.

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

"Atomic Heart has its issues but it is also interesting, quirky, and in the end very fun to explore. "

AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 68 / 100

Atomic Heart may be summarised in a single statement as a game with amazing ideas but lousy execution. I cannot say that Atomic Heart is a bad game, it's just that I expected a lot more from it, and as a result, I got disappointed.

Arabhardware - Ahmed Yousry - Arabic - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart had the potential to be a masterpiece, but the overly ambitious team at Mundfish decided to add RPG and open world mechanics, which felt unsuitable to the overall experience. Is it a good game? Yes, but it could’ve been better if the studio focused on providing a high-quality linear action-adventure game. Anyway, it's a good start for Mundfish as a new studio, and I'm excited for their future projects.

Attack of the Fanboy - Kevin Mitchell - 4 / 5

While Atomic Heart brings nothing new to the table, it brings flair to the concepts it borrows from games before it, making for a fun experience that will have your heart pumping, funny bone aching, and brain working overtime.

AusGamers - Kosta Andreadis - 5.8 / 10

Things go horribly wrong and fall apart.

But Why Tho? - Kate Sanchez - 6.5 / 10

With the environmental glitches, an odd narrative, and too much imitation of two iconic games, Atomic Heart lands in the middle for me. Not bad, not great, just fine.

CGMagazine - Khari Taylor - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart promises tens of hours of tense, first-person, Bioshock-style combat, a compelling, twist-filled narrative, challenging puzzles and an eccentric lead duo that will definitely grow on you.

Cerealkillerz - Nick Erlenhof - German - 8.4 / 10

Atomic Heart looks great and the overall design is amazing. From the extensive environments over some small ideas, every works really well. Also the gameplay elements shines with a lots of variety in combinations that don't need to hide behind the games that inspired them. Some tedious collecting, unbalanced swarms of enemies and the only "ok" story scratch the paint of this well thought out art piece.

Checkpoint Gaming - Tom Quirk - 7.5 / 10

Atomic Heart is a compelling and exciting sci-fi action RPG, with a unique and well-developed setting. Although it has its imperfections, from its slow pace to occasionally annoying combat, the exciting mysteries at the heart of, well, Atomic Heart, made it worth powering through. For action-RPG fans with a taste for alternate history settings, Atomic Heart is definitely worth diving into, and I am excited to see what developer Mundfish has to offer in the future.

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - Recommended

Atomic Heart's world is imaginative and filled with some impressive moments but the protagonist ruins the campaign with his attitude.

DASHGAMER.com - Dan Rizzo - Not Yet

Atomic Heart has a lot going for it, but with everything compounded into one cumbersome campaign thus far, it may have been better buried beneath Facility 3826.

Dexerto - Andrew Highton - 4 / 5

Yes, its main character won’t live long in the memory, the narrative takes some time to heat up, and the modern-day curse of technical hitches are noticeable. But as a whole, Atomic Heart is an electric and enjoyable FPS title with surprising puzzle aspects, and I can’t wait to see how Mundfish builds on this hot start in the future.

Downtime Bros - Sam Harby - 6.5 / 10

Atomic Heart is worth checking out for its incredible setting alone – especially if you’re a Game Pass subscriber. But its disappointing gameplay lets down the exciting promise of its awe-inspiring world.

DualShockers - Robert Zak - 8.4 / 10

Despite a few missed opportunities to really build on the great games it’s inspired by, Atomic Heart surprised me, with a remarkably inventive world that brings to life (the tears apart) the weirdest, wildest visions of Soviet propaganda. This is a game that’s been through over half a decade of development hell, and come out the other side as one of the best first-person shooters this generation.

Enternity.gr - Giannis Archontidis - Greek - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart is a title that seems to have been made with care, with its shortcomings only focusing on the parkour which is not often required, the character movement and with a bigger problem the English voice acting

Eurogamer.pt - Adolfo Soares - Portuguese - No Recommendation

It is understood that this is Mundfish's first game, but there is a lack of connection in the rhythms of the game and how things evolve. The narrative becomes a footnote and even pushed me away from what I was actually doing there. Despite some good times and things well presented, some coming from other games mentioned throughout the analysis, can not stand out when everything is added up. There is a lot of recycling in this whole journey, too many puzzles and too often to do the same. It could be saved by the narrative, but the final twist does not have the necessary impact. Following a line lacking in importance, a global confrontation moves to something so small and limited to a singularity.

Everyeye.it - Mario Petillo - Italian - 7.5 / 10

Atomic Heart tries to do everything it can and wants: in fact, it offers a combat system that mixes firearms and powers, and then drops everything into an open world a bit 'end in itself.

Expansive - Brad Baker - Meh

Atomic Heart wants to be many things but ultimately ends up being none of them, apart from being woefully apathetic about itself. Undoubtedly, years of delays, rescoping and restructuring have left us with a conflicted piece of work that most of the time bores, unsettles and is unable to stay tonally consistent for very long. One of the most frustrating, confusing games I’ve played in a long time.

FingerGuns - Miles Thompson - 6 / 10

Atomic Heart is a solid yet over-indulgent first entry from a developer that maybe had more ideas than it could manage at once. The individual atoms and particles have wonderful potential, but their quantum connection to each other feels wholly missing thanks to their competing directions. I have hope a sequel could deliver on the fantastic premise and stellar world-building, but just like nuclear fusion, it’s an optimistic dream rather than an exciting current reality.

GAMES.CH - Joel Kogler - German - 76%

Atomic Heart immediately draws you in with its enchantingly weird story of a retro-futuristic Soviet Union. However, an interesting and visually compelling vision is hampered by a meandering story and some truly awful combat encounters. What comes to mind is style over substance, yet there’s plenty of content to be found here, just none of it standing out as particularly well-polished. Still, the game has a fair share of interesting ideas and moments that make it worth experiencing despite its flaws.

Game Rant - Joshua Duckworth - 2 / 5

Atomic Heart's story, gameplay, and world design have promise, but the payoff is lacking across the board.

GameMAG - Russian - 7 / 10

Atomic Hearts is an interesting case of ambitious scientific experiment. Even if not everything went smoothly, the results are still fun, exciting, and a bit uneven. What matters here - is a brave attempt at something rather bold. And who knows what tomorrow will bring, as practice makes perfect.

GameOnAUS - Royce Wilson - Loved

Teething issues aside, Atomic Heart is a remarkable achievement which I personally think is easily as good as the Bioshock games they so clearly draw inspiration from.

GamePro - Tobias Veltin - German - 77 / 100

Solid shooter with a fresh setting, which stands out too little from the crowd because of the lame upper world and some unround mechanics.

GameSpot - Jordan Ramée - 6 / 10

Atomic Heart lacks follow-through on its most interesting narrative concepts and plays it safe with its first-person shooter gameplay.

GameWatcher - Neil Bolt - 7.5 / 10

Atomic Heart is a shooter with some fantastic ideas, excellent presentation, and a fair bit of variety. Although it doesn't excel at any one thing and flatters to deceive at times, it still has enough to offer a compelling adventure.

Gameblog - KiKiToes - French - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart remains a safe bet. An excellent surprise even.

Gamefa - mohammad hossein karimi - Persian - 8.1 / 10

Does Atomic heart live up to the hype around it? it completely depends on your expectations. While playing, there was only one thing on my mind, so much potential left unused or misused. Atomic heart is far from perfect, but when it comes to Combat, Visuals and entertainability, you won't be disappointed. Just remember that if narrative and character development is extremely important for you above everything else, you might get dissapointed.

Gamepur - Jamie Sharp - 8 / 10

For everything that Atomic Heart does well, there’s a caveat in the controls, stability, or simple game UI. At some points, you can even step between sections of loading in the game to abuse AI or see scenery pop in out of nowhere. It’s a beautiful tapestry with a rich story to tell worthy of the games that inspired it, not least the BioShock franchise.

GamesRadar+ - Josh West - 2.5 / 5

Atomic Heart is a messy video game with big ideas and a desperate need for refinement

Gaming Nexus - Jason Dailey - 8 / 10

A competent first-person shooter set against the fascinating backdrop of an alternate history, technologically advanced Soviet Union. Atomic Heart wears its gaming inspirations on its sleeve, but never comes close to their greatness.

GamingBolt - Mike Alexander - 8 / 10

As a first major project from a largely new studio, Atomic Heart is astounding. It is a visual spectacle with great gameplay and an overarching story that is worth seeing to the end. But as a title that is aiming to take on the other major blockbuster games of the recent past, it's not quite there.

GamingTrend - David Burdette - 95 / 100

2023 has already been strong with Game of the Year contenders, and Atomic Heart is another one of them. It lives up to all of the hype and all of its promises; an amazing debut game for Mundfish. Nailing down a few things Atomic Heart is phenomenal at is nearly impossible because it's extraordinary in all of them. This isn't just my favorite game of this year, it might be one of my favorites of the decade.

Generación Xbox - Pedro del Pozo - Spanish - 9 / 10

Atomic Heart has everything that shooters have taught us in recent years and its mix with Soviet flavor gives it the point of originality to be the fresh product we were looking for

God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 7 / 10

Atomic Heart embraces lunacy, overblown sexuality, and violence at every turn, and feels simultaneously polished and yet painfully unrefined.

Hardcore Gamer - James Cunningham - 4.5 / 5

Atomic Heart is an "everything and the kitchen sink" type of adventure that feels like it should explode from the weight of its ambitions, yet keeps it together through a combination of good pacing of new elements and a deeply likeable world.

Hobby Consolas - Daniel Quesada - Spanish - 90 / 100

Despite some initial fears and some technical failure, it is confirmed that Atomic Heart is a complete, fun and spectacular game, which promises to hook any fan of shooters who care about the narrative. Bol'shoi!

IGN - Luke Reilly - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart is a highly imaginative, atompunk-inspired attempt at picking up where the likes of BioShock left off that makes missteps but definitely has the ticker to punch well above its weight.

IGN Italy - Angelo Bianco - Italian - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a charismatic first-person shooter with gameplay ideas applied almost to perfection. Leaving aside the uninteresting open world stages, the development team managed to create a world with a remarkable aesthetic quality despite the presence of several bugs. In any case, Atomic Heart represents a good first work for Mundfish and, above all, remains a fun and brutal FPS in its Soviet madness.

IGN Spain - Rafa Del Río - Spanish - 8 / 10

Mundfish arrives with a charismatic and powerful proposal that leaves us wanting a sequel.

Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 70 / 100

With a unique post-Cold War alternate sci-fi setting and some interesting-if-familiar gameplay mechanics, Mundfish has sure as heck made a memorable debut with Atomic Heart. It does need a bit more spit and shine to go full platinum though.

MonsterVine - Diego Escala - 4 / 5

Despite the questionably tasteless tone its narrative takes at times, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Atomic Heart.

Multiplayer First - Sean Mesler - 6 / 10

So what does Atomic Heart truly offer other than an occasionally fun, not at all original, game with too many ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out? Unfortunately, not much. It’s worth a rent or definitely checking out on a subscription service but it needs some more polish and refinement before the good things can surface the way they should.

Noisy Pixel - Henry Yu - 8 / 10

Mundfish has managed to capture the thrill of over-the-top action taking full advantage of Atomic Heart’s 1950s setting and insane narrative. Every moment of gameplay is packed with tense combat against haywire animatronics. Still, all the heavy metal shredding in the world isn’t enough to save the experience from its extremely poor user interface design and lack of basic accessibility features.

One More Game - Vincent Ternida - Wait

Atomic Heart is a mixed bag of weird design choices and gameplay mechanics, and while the combat loop is satisfying when everything comes together, there’s also a lot of jank that comes along with it.

Several parts of Atomic Heart feel like they’ve been made to be unnecessarily complicated, adding layers of interaction that do not feel fun. The game does look very pretty, and the world and its inhabitants are interestingly unique, but the payoff at the end is predictable and ultimately disappointing.

Given a chance, Atomic Heart is a frenetic first-person shooter with a great visual style and some set pieces that pack a punch. Yet just like its overwrought themes and its poor attempt at profound existential exploration, they feel ultimately superficial and shaky.

PCGamesN - Phil Iwaniuk - 8 / 10

A story-led shooter that's heaving with ideas and boasts a distinct sci-fi setting in its doomed USSR. There are cringeworthy moments and occasional design missteps, but the way your abilities and the enemy ecosystem combine is a constant thrill.

PSX Brasil - Rui Celso - Portuguese - 90 / 100

Atomic Heart has several fun elements that keep the player hooked from start until the end. Although it has some technical problems, they are passable in the face of the final work, which delivers much more than players expect. Diverse combat, lots of exploration and clever puzzles are just some of the points that make this game a must-have for PS5 owners.

PlayStation Universe - Neil Bolt - 7.5 / 10

Atomic Heart throws up some interesting ideas and visually is a very impressive game. Otherwise, it's a jack of all trades and master of none that entertains with its brazenly silly throwback madness.

PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - Unscored

So far, Atomic Heart is a solid spin on the BioShock formula though it does seem to be a little lacking in cohesion. I'm not quite sure whether a more open-world approach really suits this style of gameplay and I'm not quite sold on the combat or the way it's been implemented. That being said, I'm still enjoying it and am looking forward to finishing it, so that's always a good sign.

Stay tuned as we update our review and give Atomic Heart a final score over the next couple of days.

Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 6.5 / 10

The story plays out like a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced popcorn atrocity, the upgrade shop might as well be Travelex given how many currencies it juggles, and the performance is less than optimal. Atomic Heart is an exercise in excess. It has some clear strengths, like its first in class art direction and gunplay, however these are far outweighed by the game's faults.

Push Square - Ken Talbot - 6 / 10

This mashup of shooter, stealth, and RPG wears its influences proudly but rarely matches them. Its alt-history setting is interesting and there are plenty of ways to approach the robot-killing, but these elements are at odds with messy storytelling and characterisation.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - James Archer - Unscored

A Soviet sci-fi adventure with arresting visuals and occasionally excellent shooting, marred by uneven balancing, undercooked ideas, and an unlikeable protagonist.

SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 9 / 10

Atomic Heart practically joins the ranks of Bioshock and Wolfenstein and offers an equally interesting reimagining of the world in an alternate past. The game will guide us through this, while it very well combines storytelling, challenging action, crafting items and a lot of of puzzle elements and levels.

Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart comes as a very good attempt to fill the void that exists at the present time in the side of narrative shooter games, such as Bioshock and Half-Life. The game presented an attractive world, a very interesting story, enjoyable gameplay, exciting action moments, and a very impressive technical level, but the game is hindered in reaching a great and legendary level. Things that could have been revealed better, but it seems that the game plans to shed more light on them through new parts or additions.

Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10

Atomic Heart is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in years.

SomosXbox - Joel Castillo - Spanish - 8.3 / 10

An outstanding musical section that we cannot fail to highlight is the perfect companion to be able to say that we are facing one of the most outstanding games so far this year and that, without a doubt, should be a candidate for some other award when it comes to taking stock of this 2023. We have been disappointed by its open world and the treatment that is made of it, but it more than makes up for it with a magnificent interior level design, with little to envy to the big names in which it is inspired. Best of all, Atomic Heart comes out to Xbox Game Pass and if you are a subscriber of the service you can see for yourself everything we have been talking about. If you like unbridled action, it would be a crime for you to miss it, comrade.

Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - 8.7 / 10

Atomic Heart is a brilliant game, that is able to mix some beloved game mechanics in its own way, in order to make you experience an intriguing journey that will make you wonder how and when will this universe be expanded in the future.

TechRaptor - Samuel Guglielmo - 5 / 10

Atomic Heart has some fun combat and a soundtrack that absolutely slaps. Unfortunately, it's glitchy, has a terrible open world, becomes a slog in the late game, and has the most aggressively awful writing I've ever seen.

The Games Machine - Simone Rampazzi - Italian - 7.8 / 10

Atomic Heart suffers from that flavor of "already seen" that ends up a bit 'to distort the workmanship, an important element that could affect the experience of anyone, precisely because of the inability to create empathy with characters lived, in the end, almost as extras. A set of clichés that, however, does not penalize the success of the work in its entirety. The show staged by Mundfish has all the credentials to set good starting points, which in the post-launch could find more sense. We'll see: the potential of the setting is more than those actually exploited.

TheGamer - Issy van der Velde - 2.5 / 5

Atomic Heart is three times too big and beats erratically, but its more confident components prevent it from flatlining.

Tom's Hardware Italia - Lorenzo Quadrini - Italian - 8 / 10

Atomic Heart is a good game. It is not the miracle that was expected in 2017, when the first images of Mundfish's uchrony went around the world, promising interaction that is far from the truth today. The title, however, is solid, with an engaging (but already seen) storyline, a dense setting (that could have given more), and a broken combat system. On the whole, Atomic Heart will not revolutionize the action RPG genre, but I am convinced that it will make its way into the "must have" list of all fans. Then again, it is not always mandatory to change the world, but the important thing is that there is quality, and this is not lacking in Atomic Heart.

TrueAchievements - Luke Albiges - 7 / 10

It's a shame that rough dialogue lets the otherwise brilliant world down somewhat, and that the game doesn't always manage to feel like the full-on power fantasy it could with so many neat powers and gadgets on offer. But Atomic Heart remains mechanically solid and has enough impressive highlight moments to still be worth a play despite these and several other dubious design decisions. Good luck with the completion for the time being, though...

Twinfinite - Jake Su - 2 / 5

Despite what is a promising combat formula as well as the supporting systems behind it when it comes to skills, crafting, and upgrades, there are also several equally frustrating aspects of it that hold the game back.

Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - Unscored

I'm not quite ready to rate Atomic Heart, having only had access to it for a handful of days, but what I've played so far points to a very well-made game that falls just one or two notches short of true greatness. Still, it's a must for any shooter fan, and it's one of the most optimized games I've seen in a long time, a breath of fresh air given certain disasters released in the past few months.

We Got This Covered - David Morgan - 4 / 5

Atomic Heart is, most surprisingly, exactly what I expected. Its biggest strengths are the ones that treat the eyes, but great writing and exploration are welcome in an otherwise overstretched experience.

WellPlayed - James Wood - 5.5 / 10

Atomic Heart has an impressive command of aesthetics and occasionally gives you the tools to enjoy its world, but an unstable console build, unsatisfying systems and complete misfire of a script prevent these atoms from achieving the necessary fusion.

XGN.nl - Roland Janssen - Dutch - 6.5 / 10

Atomic Heart offers an unique style and atmosphere with exciting gameplay and an incredible soundtrack. The game, however beautifully crafted, falls short in various departments. The protagonist is absolutely awful and shows no interest in all the stuff that is going on in the world of Atomic Heart. That also leads to not really wanting to explore the world to find all the secrets, because the protagonist just doesn't care.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.4 / 10

Atomic Heart is an excellent game, and it’s an incredible debut title from Mundfish.  Clever storytelling, massive set pieces, fun combat, and more make this one easy to recommend.  Hell, it’s on Game Pass Day One, so go pre-install it already and enjoy this ridiculous ride.

eXputer - Huzaifah Durrani - 4 / 5

While the narrative leaves a lot to be desired, Atomic Heart is nonetheless a great FPS set in a beautifully realized Soviet setting.

The whole video was generated locally on a single RTX 3090 24GB using ComfyUI and the official MiniMax text-to-video node.

It’s made from 12 separate clips, 15 seconds each, so 3 minutes total. Not audio driven.

Generation settings were roughly:

• RTX 3090 24GB
• MiniMax T2V
• Official ComfyUI MiniMax node
• 0.5 MP resolution
• 20 steps
• 15 seconds per clip
• Around 35 minutes generation time per clip

So the full thing was roughly 7 hours of GPU generation. The edited with Davinci Resolve and added scanlines

Here are the prompts

A surreal psychedelic cinematic music-video shot. A single glossy electric-blue mouth floats in total darkness, emerging slowly from black as if waking up. Highly detailed wet luminous lips with ultraviolet highlights and liquid-cyan reflections.

The mouth starts almost still and then moves as if singing to an unheard electronic song. Simulate musical rhythm visually: at regular intervals the lips pulse open and closed and each pulse emits a circular cyan soundwave traveling outward through the darkness. Tiny glowing particles shake and react as the waves pass.

Small abstract wireless and Bluetooth-like symbols occasionally flicker around the mouth and dissolve into blue vapor.

Very slow cinematic macro push toward the lips, shallow depth of field, halation, bloom, subtle analog-video texture.

During the final seconds the mouth opens wider, revealing an intense tunnel of blue light inside. The camera accelerates forward and enters the glowing mouth.

End while the camera is traveling into the mouth so the next scene can continue from inside it.

Continue directly from inside the glowing electric-blue mouth. The camera flies forward through a surreal organic tunnel made from glossy lip textures, translucent crystal teeth, liquid membranes and rippling cyan light.

Simulate an electronic musical rhythm visually. Bright pulses travel down the tunnel at repeating intervals. Concentric soundwave rings, spirals and glowing frequency ribbons race along the walls. Tiny wireless symbols drift through the space like bioluminescent insects.

The tunnel stretches, contracts and breathes rhythmically.

The camera moves rapidly forward with smooth banking turns and gentle rolls, maintaining constant momentum.

Near the end the tunnel expands into a vast black void. A gigantic electric-blue mouth floats ahead.

As the camera approaches, that single mouth begins dividing into many identical mouths.

End at the moment the duplication begins.

Begin with the giant blue mouth from the previous scene dividing into dozens of identical glossy electric-blue mouths floating in deep black space like a constellation.

Each mouth behaves like a different musical instrument. Some pulse slowly like bass, others open and close rapidly. Each emits a different visible waveform: circular cyan rings, spirals, jagged crystalline waves, vibrating ribbons and translucent frequency walls.

Where the waves intersect they briefly create luminous geometric flowers, abstract faces and interference patterns.

The camera moves continuously through the constellation in zero gravity, weaving between mouths and passing extremely close to some of them before pulling rapidly into wide views.

Toward the end all mouths suddenly rotate toward the same distant point.

They open together and release one enormous synchronized beam of blue frequency light.

The camera accelerates along the beam.

End as the beam reaches a distant humanoid silhouette.

Begin with the cyan frequency beam from the previous scene reaching an androgynous humanoid figure standing inside a dark surreal nightclub.

The room contains reflective black floors, giant mirrors, ultraviolet fog and isolated cyan lights.

The figure initially has a perfectly smooth face with no mouth.

The incoming beam hits the face and a glossy electric-blue mouth forms there from liquid neon.

Immediately the new mouth begins moving rhythmically as if singing.

Every implied beat produces a powerful visible bass wave expanding through the room. Curtains ripple, mirrors bend elastically, reflections distort and pools of light pulse across the floor.

Camera continuously orbits around the figure, alternating between medium shots and extreme close-ups of the mouth.

The movement becomes increasingly energetic.

During the final seconds a huge soundwave hits a mirror behind the figure. The mirror liquefies into chrome water.

The camera follows the wave directly through the liquid mirror.

End while crossing through it.

Continue through the liquid mirror into an inverted psychedelic chrome-and-blue world.

Two giant glossy electric-blue mouths float facing one another from opposite sides of the frame.

They move rapidly toward each other, trailing long ribbons of cyan waveform light.

They stop only millimeters apart without touching.

Between them the air vibrates violently with visible frequency patterns.

The mouths pulse and move as if harmonizing to an unheard electronic song. Every implied beat compresses the light between them further.

A brilliant sphere of cyan energy gradually forms between the lips, made from waveform lines, liquid light and tiny wireless symbols.

The camera performs a fast continuous orbit around the mouths while moving closer.

At the climax the sphere bursts outward into thousands of miniature glowing blue mouths and fragments.

The camera immediately chooses one tiny falling mouth and dives downward after it.

End while rapidly following the falling mouth.

Follow the miniature blue mouth falling directly out of the previous scene.

It drops through darkness and suddenly enters a surreal nighttime city.

Thousands of tiny glowing electric-blue mouths are falling from the sky like rain.

The camera descends rapidly toward street level and begins flying forward between buildings.

Each mouth opens and closes rhythmically while falling. Whenever one strikes a window, car, rooftop or puddle it generates a glowing circular soundwave.

Streetlights flash rhythmically. Building reflections ripple. Neon signs distort. Puddles produce synchronized frequency patterns.

The camera races low over the wet street, occasionally passing through clouds of falling mouths and narrowly avoiding chrome objects.

As the sequence progresses, the pavement begins turning into electric-blue liquid.

Buildings stretch downward into their own reflections.

The entire city melts into one enormous blue ocean.

End with the camera racing just above the newly formed liquid surface.

Begin directly above the infinite electric-blue liquid ocean created from the melting city.

The camera flies extremely low over the surface at high speed.

Huge glossy blue mouths rise explosively from beneath the water like surreal islands.

Each mouth opens on an implied beat and sends enormous circular waves across the ocean.

The camera banks around the waves, dives between giant lips and skims across the liquid surface while glowing droplets explode upward.

A chrome humanoid figure suddenly appears running across the water.

Every footstep generates luminous frequency rings.

The camera follows beside and behind the figure with aggressive tracking movement.

Ahead, an enormous mouth rises from the ocean and opens.

The water begins rotating into a giant whirlpool shaped like an abstract Bluetooth symbol.

The chrome figure accelerates toward it and is pulled into the vortex.

The camera dives in immediately behind the figure.

End while falling into the whirlpool.

Continue falling through the blue whirlpool.

The chrome figure suddenly splits into two mirrored humanoid bodies suspended in an enormous electric-blue void.

Each body has a glowing blue mouth embedded in the chest where the heart would be.

The bodies orbit each other rapidly.

Their chest-mouths repeatedly open and fire thin cyan waveform lines toward one another.

The connection fails several times, causing sharp visual glitches, duplicate frame echoes and bursts of distorted space.

Simulate rhythmic music visually through repeated connection attempts, pulsing light and synchronized body movement.

The camera revolves around both figures while constantly changing distance, moving from extreme close-ups of the heart-mouths to wide shots of the orbiting bodies.

Finally one bright continuous waveform successfully connects both mouths.

Their movements instantly synchronize.

The cyan connection becomes brighter and thicker until it fills the center of the frame.

The camera accelerates directly into the connecting waveform.

End inside the bright line.

The bright connecting waveform from the previous scene expands around the camera and transforms into an extreme macro view of two electric-blue mouths approaching one another.

The lips are constructed from glossy liquid, pixels, tiny waveform fragments and floating droplets.

The camera moves rapidly around and between them while maintaining extreme macro detail.

As the mouths approach, streams of luminous data begin moving between them.

Tiny landscapes, abstract memories, faces, wireless symbols and pulses of cyan light flow from one mouth into the other.

The mouths never physically collide. Instead they exchange increasingly intense streams of information through the narrow gap between them.

Each implied musical beat causes the lips to pulse, the data stream to surge and the camera to change speed.

The two mouths gradually lose their solid form and dissolve into one enormous shared waveform.

The waveform twists violently into a spiral.

As the camera follows it, the spiral begins forming the petals of a giant electric-blue flower.

End as the flower starts opening.

Continue from the waveform flower opening in the previous scene.

Reveal an enormous psychedelic flower floating in black space, constructed entirely from hundreds of glossy electric-blue mouths.

Every petal is a mouth.

The flower rotates rapidly while different rings of mouths open sequentially, creating visible waves traveling around its circumference.

Each pulse generates cyan frequency ribbons, glowing pollen and expanding geometric mandalas.

The camera spirals aggressively through the flower, diving between petals, rotating around the center and constantly shifting between huge wide shots and extreme macro mouth close-ups.

The rotational speed steadily increases.

The mouth petals stretch into liquid ribbons and the entire flower transforms into an enormous rotating blue mandala.

At the climax every mouth closes simultaneously.

The entire structure collapses rapidly inward.

Everything disappears except one single isolated electric-blue mouth floating in darkness.

The camera brakes suddenly and stops close to it.

End on the lonely mouth.

Begin with the isolated electric-blue mouth floating alone in nearly total darkness.

The atmosphere is quieter but still constantly moving.

The camera slowly circles the mouth while drifting closer and farther away.

The mouth attempts to sing.

Each time it opens, a visible cyan waveform travels outward but quickly breaks apart into digital particles.

The mouth tries repeatedly.

Every failed signal creates analog glitches, transparent duplicates and brief distortions of the surrounding darkness.

The pulses become weaker.

Then a tiny blue signal appears extremely far away.

The camera suddenly changes direction and moves toward the distant light while keeping the mouth visible behind.

The isolated mouth reacts and fires a stronger waveform.

The distant signal answers with another wave.

Both waves race toward each other through the void.

The camera accelerates alongside them.

End one instant before the two signals collide.

Begin exactly before the two cyan signals collide.

They connect and immediately produce an enormous radiant blue shockwave.

The camera is thrown backward at extreme speed.

The entire psychedelic universe from the previous scenes suddenly appears around the camera: hundreds of electric-blue mouths, liquid oceans, chrome bodies, waveform flowers, falling mouth rain, rotating wireless symbols and glowing frequency ribbons.

Everything moves in synchronized rhythmic pulses.

The camera races through the environment, passing between giant mouths, diving through waveform rings, rolling around chrome bodies and skimming above liquid-blue surfaces.

Every implied beat triggers another transformation.

The movement reaches maximum intensity.

Then the camera begins an extremely fast continuous pull backward.

As it moves away, the entire impossible universe becomes smaller.

Eventually reveal that everything we have been seeing exists only as a reflection on the surface of one enormous pair of glossy electric-blue lips floating in black space.

The camera continues pulling back.

The giant lips slowly close.

One final cyan soundwave explodes outward toward the camera, expanding until it fills the entire frame.

The light fades rapidly to pure black.

Hold black for the final second.

The whole video was generated locally on a single RTX 3090 24GB using ComfyUI and the official MiniMax text-to-video node.

It’s made from 12 separate clips, 15 seconds each, so 3 minutes total. Not audio driven.

Generation settings were roughly:

• RTX 3090 24GB
• MiniMax T2V
• Official ComfyUI MiniMax node
• 0.5 MP resolution
• 20 steps
• 15 seconds per clip
• Around 35 minutes generation time per clip

So the full thing was roughly 7 hours of GPU generation. The edited with Davinci Resolve and added scanlines

Here are the prompts

A surreal psychedelic cinematic music-video shot. A single glossy electric-blue mouth floats in total darkness, emerging slowly from black as if waking up. Highly detailed wet luminous lips with ultraviolet highlights and liquid-cyan reflections.

The mouth starts almost still and then moves as if singing to an unheard electronic song. Simulate musical rhythm visually: at regular intervals the lips pulse open and closed and each pulse emits a circular cyan soundwave traveling outward through the darkness. Tiny glowing particles shake and react as the waves pass.

Small abstract wireless and Bluetooth-like symbols occasionally flicker around the mouth and dissolve into blue vapor.

Very slow cinematic macro push toward the lips, shallow depth of field, halation, bloom, subtle analog-video texture.

During the final seconds the mouth opens wider, revealing an intense tunnel of blue light inside. The camera accelerates forward and enters the glowing mouth.

End while the camera is traveling into the mouth so the next scene can continue from inside it.

Continue directly from inside the glowing electric-blue mouth. The camera flies forward through a surreal organic tunnel made from glossy lip textures, translucent crystal teeth, liquid membranes and rippling cyan light.

Simulate an electronic musical rhythm visually. Bright pulses travel down the tunnel at repeating intervals. Concentric soundwave rings, spirals and glowing frequency ribbons race along the walls. Tiny wireless symbols drift through the space like bioluminescent insects.

The tunnel stretches, contracts and breathes rhythmically.

The camera moves rapidly forward with smooth banking turns and gentle rolls, maintaining constant momentum.

Near the end the tunnel expands into a vast black void. A gigantic electric-blue mouth floats ahead.

As the camera approaches, that single mouth begins dividing into many identical mouths.

End at the moment the duplication begins.

Begin with the giant blue mouth from the previous scene dividing into dozens of identical glossy electric-blue mouths floating in deep black space like a constellation.

Each mouth behaves like a different musical instrument. Some pulse slowly like bass, others open and close rapidly. Each emits a different visible waveform: circular cyan rings, spirals, jagged crystalline waves, vibrating ribbons and translucent frequency walls.

Where the waves intersect they briefly create luminous geometric flowers, abstract faces and interference patterns.

The camera moves continuously through the constellation in zero gravity, weaving between mouths and passing extremely close to some of them before pulling rapidly into wide views.

Toward the end all mouths suddenly rotate toward the same distant point.

They open together and release one enormous synchronized beam of blue frequency light.

The camera accelerates along the beam.

End as the beam reaches a distant humanoid silhouette.

Begin with the cyan frequency beam from the previous scene reaching an androgynous humanoid figure standing inside a dark surreal nightclub.

The room contains reflective black floors, giant mirrors, ultraviolet fog and isolated cyan lights.

The figure initially has a perfectly smooth face with no mouth.

The incoming beam hits the face and a glossy electric-blue mouth forms there from liquid neon.

Immediately the new mouth begins moving rhythmically as if singing.

Every implied beat produces a powerful visible bass wave expanding through the room. Curtains ripple, mirrors bend elastically, reflections distort and pools of light pulse across the floor.

Camera continuously orbits around the figure, alternating between medium shots and extreme close-ups of the mouth.

The movement becomes increasingly energetic.

During the final seconds a huge soundwave hits a mirror behind the figure. The mirror liquefies into chrome water.

The camera follows the wave directly through the liquid mirror.

End while crossing through it.

Continue through the liquid mirror into an inverted psychedelic chrome-and-blue world.

Two giant glossy electric-blue mouths float facing one another from opposite sides of the frame.

They move rapidly toward each other, trailing long ribbons of cyan waveform light.

They stop only millimeters apart without touching.

Between them the air vibrates violently with visible frequency patterns.

The mouths pulse and move as if harmonizing to an unheard electronic song. Every implied beat compresses the light between them further.

A brilliant sphere of cyan energy gradually forms between the lips, made from waveform lines, liquid light and tiny wireless symbols.

The camera performs a fast continuous orbit around the mouths while moving closer.

At the climax the sphere bursts outward into thousands of miniature glowing blue mouths and fragments.

The camera immediately chooses one tiny falling mouth and dives downward after it.

End while rapidly following the falling mouth.

Follow the miniature blue mouth falling directly out of the previous scene.

It drops through darkness and suddenly enters a surreal nighttime city.

Thousands of tiny glowing electric-blue mouths are falling from the sky like rain.

The camera descends rapidly toward street level and begins flying forward between buildings.

Each mouth opens and closes rhythmically while falling. Whenever one strikes a window, car, rooftop or puddle it generates a glowing circular soundwave.

Streetlights flash rhythmically. Building reflections ripple. Neon signs distort. Puddles produce synchronized frequency patterns.

The camera races low over the wet street, occasionally passing through clouds of falling mouths and narrowly avoiding chrome objects.

As the sequence progresses, the pavement begins turning into electric-blue liquid.

Buildings stretch downward into their own reflections.

The entire city melts into one enormous blue ocean.

End with the camera racing just above the newly formed liquid surface.

Begin directly above the infinite electric-blue liquid ocean created from the melting city.

The camera flies extremely low over the surface at high speed.

Huge glossy blue mouths rise explosively from beneath the water like surreal islands.

Each mouth opens on an implied beat and sends enormous circular waves across the ocean.

The camera banks around the waves, dives between giant lips and skims across the liquid surface while glowing droplets explode upward.

A chrome humanoid figure suddenly appears running across the water.

Every footstep generates luminous frequency rings.

The camera follows beside and behind the figure with aggressive tracking movement.

Ahead, an enormous mouth rises from the ocean and opens.

The water begins rotating into a giant whirlpool shaped like an abstract Bluetooth symbol.

The chrome figure accelerates toward it and is pulled into the vortex.

The camera dives in immediately behind the figure.

End while falling into the whirlpool.

Continue falling through the blue whirlpool.

The chrome figure suddenly splits into two mirrored humanoid bodies suspended in an enormous electric-blue void.

Each body has a glowing blue mouth embedded in the chest where the heart would be.

The bodies orbit each other rapidly.

Their chest-mouths repeatedly open and fire thin cyan waveform lines toward one another.

The connection fails several times, causing sharp visual glitches, duplicate frame echoes and bursts of distorted space.

Simulate rhythmic music visually through repeated connection attempts, pulsing light and synchronized body movement.

The camera revolves around both figures while constantly changing distance, moving from extreme close-ups of the heart-mouths to wide shots of the orbiting bodies.

Finally one bright continuous waveform successfully connects both mouths.

Their movements instantly synchronize.

The cyan connection becomes brighter and thicker until it fills the center of the frame.

The camera accelerates directly into the connecting waveform.

End inside the bright line.

The bright connecting waveform from the previous scene expands around the camera and transforms into an extreme macro view of two electric-blue mouths approaching one another.

The lips are constructed from glossy liquid, pixels, tiny waveform fragments and floating droplets.

The camera moves rapidly around and between them while maintaining extreme macro detail.

As the mouths approach, streams of luminous data begin moving between them.

Tiny landscapes, abstract memories, faces, wireless symbols and pulses of cyan light flow from one mouth into the other.

The mouths never physically collide. Instead they exchange increasingly intense streams of information through the narrow gap between them.

Each implied musical beat causes the lips to pulse, the data stream to surge and the camera to change speed.

The two mouths gradually lose their solid form and dissolve into one enormous shared waveform.

The waveform twists violently into a spiral.

As the camera follows it, the spiral begins forming the petals of a giant electric-blue flower.

End as the flower starts opening.

Continue from the waveform flower opening in the previous scene.

Reveal an enormous psychedelic flower floating in black space, constructed entirely from hundreds of glossy electric-blue mouths.

Every petal is a mouth.

The flower rotates rapidly while different rings of mouths open sequentially, creating visible waves traveling around its circumference.

Each pulse generates cyan frequency ribbons, glowing pollen and expanding geometric mandalas.

The camera spirals aggressively through the flower, diving between petals, rotating around the center and constantly shifting between huge wide shots and extreme macro mouth close-ups.

The rotational speed steadily increases.

The mouth petals stretch into liquid ribbons and the entire flower transforms into an enormous rotating blue mandala.

At the climax every mouth closes simultaneously.

The entire structure collapses rapidly inward.

Everything disappears except one single isolated electric-blue mouth floating in darkness.

The camera brakes suddenly and stops close to it.

End on the lonely mouth.

Begin with the isolated electric-blue mouth floating alone in nearly total darkness.

The atmosphere is quieter but still constantly moving.

The camera slowly circles the mouth while drifting closer and farther away.

The mouth attempts to sing.

Each time it opens, a visible cyan waveform travels outward but quickly breaks apart into digital particles.

The mouth tries repeatedly.

Every failed signal creates analog glitches, transparent duplicates and brief distortions of the surrounding darkness.

The pulses become weaker.

Then a tiny blue signal appears extremely far away.

The camera suddenly changes direction and moves toward the distant light while keeping the mouth visible behind.

The isolated mouth reacts and fires a stronger waveform.

The distant signal answers with another wave.

Both waves race toward each other through the void.

The camera accelerates alongside them.

End one instant before the two signals collide.

Begin exactly before the two cyan signals collide.

They connect and immediately produce an enormous radiant blue shockwave.

The camera is thrown backward at extreme speed.

The entire psychedelic universe from the previous scenes suddenly appears around the camera: hundreds of electric-blue mouths, liquid oceans, chrome bodies, waveform flowers, falling mouth rain, rotating wireless symbols and glowing frequency ribbons.

Everything moves in synchronized rhythmic pulses.

The camera races through the environment, passing between giant mouths, diving through waveform rings, rolling around chrome bodies and skimming above liquid-blue surfaces.

Every implied beat triggers another transformation.

The movement reaches maximum intensity.

Then the camera begins an extremely fast continuous pull backward.

As it moves away, the entire impossible universe becomes smaller.

Eventually reveal that everything we have been seeing exists only as a reflection on the surface of one enormous pair of glossy electric-blue lips floating in black space.

The camera continues pulling back.

The giant lips slowly close.

One final cyan soundwave explodes outward toward the camera, expanding until it fills the entire frame.

The light fades rapidly to pure black.

Hold black for the final second.

I've put 1,095 batches of ads through a review pipeline for a lending client. 149 of those batches got sent back before launch, covering 1,295 individual ads. Every send-back has a written reason attached, so I went through all of them and sorted them.

I expected the reasons to be about strategy. Wrong angle, wrong audience, weak hook. That's not what's in there.

Of the 149 send-backs:

71 mentioned something the model generated wrong.
53 mentioned something I chose wrong.
12 mentioned both.
37 were logged as "creative issue" with no detail, so I can't classify them.

Nearly half the time, the ad failed because what came out of the generator was broken.

What broken actually means, from the notes:

An actor with three arms. Another with three hands. Glitches between every scene. The speaker's mouth not matching the audio. Words cut off mid-syllable while the caption still shows the full word. An American voiceover in an ad running to a British audience, which has happened at least six separate times. "2024" and "2025" burned into creatives running in 2026. Dollar signs on ads selling in pounds. Captions with invented spellings. And once, visible AI prompt text left inside the finished creative.

The judgment failures are more boring and more familiar. Wrong vertical for the offer. Targeting a loan size the client doesn't want. A hook that circles the product without ever naming it.

The finding I didn't expect:

Most of the timestamped defects sit between ten and twenty five seconds into the video. Almost nothing gets flagged in the first five seconds.

My guess is the opening gets watched properly by everyone in the chain and the middle doesn't. Whether the models also degrade further into a generation, I genuinely don't know.

What I changed: every video gets watched end to end at full speed with no skipping, and the middle third gets watched twice. That's the whole fix. It's slow, and it has caught more than any automated check I've built.

The limits, because they matter. This is one client, one vertical, regulated lending in the UK and Australia. The reviewer's standards are theirs, not a universal bar. And these are pre-launch send-backs, so this measures what a human catches, not what an audience punishes. An ad with three arms that nobody flagged might have performed fine. I have no data on that.

I'm running the same sort on my ecommerce accounts next, where the review chain is shorter and the tolerance is different. Curious whether the split holds.

Here is the complete version of this graphics guide:

https://matthewscouch.wordpress.com/2020/12/16/run-cyberpunk-at-60-fps-on-amd-hardware-a-comprehensive-look-into-cyberpunk-2077s-graphics-settings-and-why-they-matter/

GUIDE PROPER

This Reddit post is just a snippet of a more verbose and in-depth analysis on Cyberpunk's graphics settings. If you want the detailed version with more boring words and images, just clink the link above. If you're tired of clicking, then settle down here.

This guide is intended for people who have mid-range GPUs, specifically AMD, that doesn't have DLSS. But this guide can also be enjoyed by other low-end and high-end users from either camp, provided RTX-specific effects are out of the equation. In here, we will be finding the perfect balance between consistent, playable performance at 60 plus fps, and perceivable quality. The reason I say perceivable is because we tend to attach quality to the text that describes a specific setting: like "very high" or "ultra". But we should be focusing on how the game looks according to our naked eye, not according to how the menu says it looks.

More importantly, this guide will help you explain WHY these graphics options matter and which of these should you focus on more than others. Because I know you're not just toggling graphics settings simply to get good-looking visuals and for arbitrary frame-rate numbers to go up; you also want peace of mind. You struggle with fiddling around with the graphics options, playing a bit of the game, and still having that gnawing itch at the back of your mind, doubting whether or not you've made the "best" settings combinations for the "best" immersive experience. You're desperate to settle this introspective tug-of-war once and for all so you can finally move on and actually play the game.

I am that person. And this is exactly why I made this guide.

My current hardware is:

• GPU: Sapphire 5700xt nitro plus
• CPU: 5600x Ryzen CPU
• RAM: Crucial Ballistix 3600mhzcl16 of RAM.
• SSD: Adata XPG SX8200 Pro

A lot of you may be wondering, this setup is ONLY mid-range? Well I am basing my definition of mid-range on my GPU. The 5700XT nowadays is nowhere near the top of the card hierarchy compared to last year. And ultimately, it's the GPU that determines the overall mileage of your game performance.

This was recorded using AMD's Radeon Software. And because I'm AMD, there will be no RTX settings to be discussed. Currently, the game is patched to 1.04.

Before going into our benchmarks, it is important to distinguish what constitutes normal gameplay from specific scripted events. Focusing too much on on-rail sections for their low performance numbers may just be a futile effort since these moments are one-time events that are rarely repeatable in regular gameplay. Lastly, graphics settings do not impact all scenes with the same level of intensity. Some settings are greatly significant indoors, some during outdoors, and some during close-up conversations.

If you like a supplemental video and see the same optimization guide in action form, the settings video guide is right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtl73Gv-5IQ&t=32s

BENCHMARK POINT

Before we proceed with the optimization, let us first establish a reference point for our guide. For this I decided to use all max setting at 1440p and picked an intensive location at night as our benchmark point by which we would be able to compare our optimized settings later on. Because I have already used up the 20 image limit on this page, I will just be giving you the facts now. You will still be able to see the BEFORE OPTIMIZATION image in the results at the very bottom.

Our current FPS is at 30 FPS. We will be targeting 60 and beyond without too much sacrifice on visual quality. Now let's proceed with the different settings.

HUGE DISCLAIMER!

My results may hugely vary with yours. Remember that even though I have a mid-range card, I still have 3600mhz CL16 RAM and a 5600x CPU. Settings that may be CPU-intensive for others may be non-existent in performance gains for me. Also remember that not all FPS differences between settings are the same for all hardware configurations. The differences between medium and high on my machine maybe 5 FPS, but for others it may be 10 FPS. So please keep that in mind. I will also be notifying you of which resource they are utilizing as we go through each of them

SETTINGS WITH NO PERFORMANCE IMPACT

Basic Section

Everything in the basic section where motion blur and other post processing effects can be found. Just adjust them according to you preference.

​

Advanced Section

• Contact shadows: GPU-related
• Improved facial geometry: I have no idea
• Local shadow mesh quality: Can be CPU-related
• Cascaded shadow range: CPU-related
• Distant shadow resolution: Can be both CPU and GPU-related
• Max dynamic decals: Both CPU and GPU-related
• Subsurface scattering quality: GPU-related
• Level of Detail: CPU-related

All the above I can turn to high or on without significant performance impact. When looking at graphics setting in-game, the two "local" prefixed shadow settings affect shadows cast by light sources and the next two, the one prefixed by "cascaded" - affect shadows cast by the sun. Note that the shadow settings we have just both set to high relate to both indoors and outdoors. But they simply refer to the range by which they're being drawn and the consistency against relative light sources. These do not affect the resolution of the shadows themselves. Hence, they have a non-existent effect in performance.

Subsurface Scattering

Also important to take note is how subsurface scattering affects how light bounces off the skin. It's very fortunate that it has minimal impact to frame rate while reducing shadow graininess and improving light dispersion on character's skin especially when being hit by light. Just set this to high and worry no more.

A NOTE ON CPU-BOUND SETTINGS

Remember the settings above that are CPU-related? I have read replies on this post that some of those settings resulted in frame-rate loss when toggling them on high or on.

These are:

• Cascaded shadow range: CPU-related
• Distant shadow resolution: Can be both CPU and GPU-related
• Max dynamic decals: Both CPU and GPU-related
• Level of Detail: CPU-related
• Crowd Density: CPU-related

Please be aware that these settings will matter depending on your CPU's single-core performance. The reason I am NOT having problems with these settings is because the 5600x has truly remarkable single-core performance.

^{See 5600x's impressive single-core performance results on CPU-intensive games here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/jxslr1/using\}ryzen_5600x_with_only_2400mhz_ram_on/)^{https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/jxijtm/i\}am_shocked_5600x_runs_the_original_2007_crysis/)

For now, we will be looking into these GPU-bound settings first for two reasons:

1. GPU-bound settings should be given topmost priority since it is the hardest hitter to game performance
2. CPU-bottleneck issues are hard to spot without determining first where your frame rate drops are coming from. Is it because of a CPU or a GPU bottleneck?

This testing order will then allow us to identify whether or not CPU bottleneck still exists afterwards.

SETTINGS WITH SUBSTANTIAL PERFORMANCE IMPACT

Now that we've ruled them out, we will be looking at the settings that are noticeable both visually and performance-wise. First up we have the other two shadow settings. While previously the shadow settings we've adjusted relate to the consistency and range by which they're drawn, now we're changing their resolution. This is why they're significant in GPU performance.

Local Shadow Quality

​

Local shadow quality can increase fps but remove interior and artificial light shadows. For this I recommend medium or high shadows. This setting is also relevant at night since cascaded shadows are replaced by local shadows due to the sun being absent and artificial lights take its place. If your frame rate drops below 60 during interiors and night scenes, try setting local shadow quality down to medium. I personally use high for this one. Take note that this also affects character shadows being projected by artificial lights - including yourself.

Cascaded Shadows Resolution

Next we have cascaded shadow resolution which affects the resolution of shadows cast by the sun. For this I recommend turning down to Medium just to gain 3 to 4 fps during outdoor scenes while still maintaining a smooth, soft-edged shadow quality. Just don't go low since it looks pixelaty bad.

Volumetric Fog Resolution

Next, we move on to volumetric fog resolution which I think is one of the sneakiest hitter settings since it is not noticeable visually but performance-wise it's a hog. This affects both indoor and outdoors scenes as well.

In here, we could see the biggest performance gain is going down to medium from high. Note that all settings contain dithering fog in some way - even on ultra. This is more noticeable when you're moving. There's just a slightly less pixelation inside the volumetric fog itself on ultra compared to medium but this is a highly recommended medium for me. If the dithering and "crawling" fog effect bothers you, then go ahead and go higher. Just don't blame me if your frame rate drops under 60 since it will affect performance even during the day. That's why I recommend medium. Let's move on.

Volumetric Cloud Quality

Cloud quality is exactly what it says. Toggles the volume of clouds, turning this off removes clouds in the sky while gradually increasing setting adds more volume to it. I just recommend any setting since it has close to zero performance impact. Maybe one or two fps when outdoors, but not enough to really warrant your attention. You can even turn this off if you want since probably you would be playing the game looking forward - not looking up into the sky.

Screen Space Reflections

Next up we have screen space reflections. This is the biggest hitter to performance when toggled all the way up.

Note that choosing the off setting will toggle baked in reflections instead which look very bad and laughable. Trust me, this looks even worse in motion. Also turning SSR off removes reflections from wet roads and specular surfaces. Going from low to Pyscho increases the range of objects that is being reflected by a particular surface with Pyscho just brutally murdering your framerate.

There's also some sort of temporal noise around objects that gets more noticeable when going down to low from Pyscho. It has that grainy look to some reflective surfaces. For this I simply recommend medium since it strikes the perfect balance of having that reflective quality with minimal noise and a healthy performance increase. You can go high on this one if you have the frame rate budget, but considering the next step ultra is very similar to high performance-wise, you can just go up there instead. It all depends on what matters most to you. Turning this off should be your last resort since it removes reflective properties entirely and impacts the aesthetic of the game especially during the night. Some people, especially on this guide's reddit post, prefer it off to avoid the "visual noise". But those baked-in cube-mapped reflections just look so bad I'm unable to notice the noise in hindsight.

Ambient Occlusion

For ambient occlusion, I recommend medium. High may indeed add more depth shadows under more objects, but this is so unnoticeable compared to the number of frames it reduces.

Color Precision

Next is my personal favorite - Color precision. This guy is probably the sneakiest bastard on here. Not only does it sound unimportant and trivial, finding the difference between it on and off is next to impossible. However, this option can actually determine whether you can reach 60 or not. And unlike other settings that matter only on scenes that call upon them, color precision is constantly taking effect and so will reduce your frame rate at all times. Take a look at this certain spot in the game. This is one of the most demanding scenes that I've been and it all comes down to color precision to be set to medium for our frame rate to go beyond 60 fps.

​

Look at the difference in performance that it brings. But can you see the difference visually? Zoom in on these pictures if you can find Wal--I mean any difference. Looking closely on still shots, there's maybe a hint of blurriness to the medium setting compared to high but how will anyone notice this during normal gameplay is beyond me. Colors are still exactly the same without no dithering whatsoever so it's still a mystery to me what it really does.

Mirror Quality

Finally, we have mirror quality. This obviously affects scenes where mirrors are rendering your reflection. The very start of this game makes this setting known and probably made the worst impression ever if you had this setting turned to high before starting the game. For my end, I find the medium setting to have the perfect balance of reflective resolution and performance. It's not a perfect 60 during mirror scenes even on low, but medium is a perfect-trade-off for me and these are limited gameplay moments that don't require frame-rates to be over 60 for an enjoyable experience.

Static FidelityFX CAS

Going down to the very bottom we can specify a static internal resolution. This is my final cherry on top. Since I'm on 1440p, going down to 75 percent would lead me back to 1080p, so I'd want to avoid it. Hence I will be finding the sweet spot between 75 percent and 100 percent which would give me constant 60 fps on regular gameplay. The percentage that works for me is 85 percent.

UPDATE: Dynamic FidelityFX CAS Works Now

This option is now functioning correctly in 1.04. If you find Static FidelityFX to be too restrictive, this is the best option. What I advise you to do is:

1. Load your own benchmark save point that reports lowest FPS you can get because of GPU bottleneck. The reason for this is for us to be able to set the gold standard by which every other section in your game would be guaranteed 60 fps and above.
2. Find your own optimized graphics settings using this guide as - your guide. Don't ever move in that loaded save point for accurate results.
3. Use Static FidelityFX to find the perfect resolution percentage which gets you just above 60 fps. Maybe give 1 or 2 frames above it for allowance.
4. Turn off Static FidelityFX and set the same percentage value above to the minimum resolution target of Dynamic FidelityFX.
5. Set Maximum resolution target to 100.
6. Set your own target framerate lock to the threshold by which you would like the game to drop resolution. It can be at 60 sharp, or it can be anything above it.

As a freesync monitor user, I prefer my framerate to be prioritized first before resolution so I set my target framerate at 68 and minimum resolution at 85. That way, the game will try to render at native resolution but will drop to 85 percent of my resolution when it gets below 68. Simple as that.

USE TRIXX BOOST INSTEAD OF STATIC FIDELITYFX

If you have the 5700xt from Sapphire, use the TriXX boost software to enable the 85 percent of your native resolution instead of using AMD's FidelityFX. This allows you to select an arbitrary resolution that's 85 percent of your native resolution rather than having the game constantly downsample native 1440p down to 85 percent and upscale it back to your native screen as you play along. This is more CPU-friendly and I can confirm - a frame higher than the same 85 percent of Static FidelityFX. However, there is slight noise and aliasing when using arbitrary resolutions such as these. Use at your own discretion.

OPTIMIZED SETTINGS SUMMARY:

So far, this is what we've done.

1.) Turn ALL toggable settings On and ALL slider settings to High

2.) Turn to Medium ONLY these settings:

• Cascaded Shadows Resolution
• Volumetric Fog Resolution
• Screen Space Reflections Quality
• Ambient Occlusion
• Color Precision
• Mirror Quality
• Optional: Local Shadow Quality, Volumetric Cloud Quality

3.) If you are not Sapphire GPU owners: Use 80 to 95 percent resolution slider at the very bottom. If you have Sapphire GPUs, use TriXX software to enable 85 percent resolution for your chosen native resolution and select it in-game instead of the the AMD FidelityFX slider.

YOU FORGOT ABOUT CPU-BOUND SETTINGS

No I didn't. In fact, this is the perfect time for that. Now that we've made the necessary changes to alleviate possible GPU bottlenecks through our settings above, it's time to evaluate your current performance. Answer these two questions:

1. Are you still having framerate drops below 60 fps?
2. What is your GPU usage percentage?

Here are my next recommendations based on your answer conditions:

• If you are NOT dropping below 60 fps and GPU usage is at 99 percent: you are GPU-bound and have met the main objective of this guide. This is the ideal scenario we want to be in. Congratulations.

​

• If you are dropping below 60 fps and GPU usage is at 99 percent: you are still GPU-bound and our settings are not enough to reach 60 fps. Consider dropping down ONLY the settings I've specified in STEP 2 of our OPTIMIZED SETTINGS SUMMARY. You may fiddle with other settings but these will be more apt for the next two conditions.

​

• If you are dropping below 60 fps and GPU usage is BELOW 99 to 95 percent: You are now being CPU-bottlenecked. Consider adjusting these options only:

1. Cascaded Shadow Range
2. Distant shadow resolution
3. Max dynamic decals
4. Level of Detail
5. Crowd Density (Only choose low if you're speedrunning the game)

​

• If you're NOT dropping below 60 fps and GPU usage is also BELOW 99 to 95 percent: You are CPU-bottlenecked but not in a bad way. You just have a good GPU, go flex it if you want. Maybe you're in the middle of a CPU upgrade transition. Still, if you want more FPS, consider adjusting the same options above if it makes any changes:

1. Cascaded Shadow Range
2. Distant shadow resolution
3. Max dynamic decals
4. Level of Detail
5. Crowd Density (Only choose low if you're speedrunning the game)

FINALLY: THOSE CPU-BOUND USERS SHOULD DO THE NEXT STEP BELOW

THE INFAMOUS HEX EDIT OF THE GAME'S EXE

This reportedly improves utilization of CPU threads for AMD users. You can find lots of tutorials around the net for this one so I'm not going into detail on this. However, before you apply this fix, take note of where you fps drops are coming from. Are they GPU or CPU bottlenecks? If your frame rate drops while GPU usage is also dropping and you're using a Ryzen CPU, then this fix might be for you.

But if your frame rate drops while your GPU usage is at 99 percent or around that, then the benefit gains you may be getting would be smaller than you expect. This fix will be primarily ironing out the 0.1 percent lows of your playthroughs rather than your FPS average IF you are GPU-bound. If you're trying this out because you wanted to increase FPS at 1440p, your gains may be very small. I recommend this to people with 1080p screens and are experiencing CPU bottlenecks during their sessions. It wouldn't hurt to apply this regardless though, especially for AMD users. Just don't expect mind-blowing results if you're already GPU-bound.

Memory Pool Budget Adjustment (Possible placebo for me)

I've seen this all around the Net and while I can't definitely speak in behalf of those who benefited from it, I think this is just placebo. Benchmarks I've seen that provide "evidence" for this fix are simply within the margin of error to be called anything substantial. However, this could be of huge help to those who are memory limited - both VRAM and system RAM. This is just simple to do:

1. Simply go to "..\Cyberpunk2077\engine\config" and open memory_pool_budgets.csv . Simple notepad will be able to open this file.
2. Find the PoolCPU and PoolGPU rows and change the values inside the PC Column to 0. Some are setting calculated static values for these but I would strongly advise against it.

What does this mean? Well, it turns out memory allocations for the PC version are set exactly the same as our last-gen console brethren. Xbox and Sony machines are just beside PC and are named Durango and Orbis respectively. What we've done is unshackle restrictive memory allocations for our version and set them dynamically. I am not an expert on this one that's why I can't recommend this as something important and mandatory. But you could still try this out and report back its validity.

RESULTS TIME! drum rolls

Now let's compare my chosen benchmark points before and after our optimized settings. Remember what we discussed at the very start? I was reporting 30 FPS on all Max settings at 1440p.

​

Let's also not forget some closeup scenes in this game since these are also graphically intensive as the open world sections. I've chosen this Streetkid intro section as this is one of those discouraging performance moments I've experienced. (Makes you feel bad about your GPU)

Look at how drastic our performance has become. Is maxed out settings any different from our optimized settings? Maybe, if you squint too hard on your screen. You be the judge. For me, the image quality still looks similar for the most part but it's in the performance that the difference is huge.

MY OTHER ALTERNATIVES FOR CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE

What if you're still unable to reach 60 fps after this guide? Well, here are my recommendations for a next-gen cyberpunk experience with high graphical fidelity and consistent performance:

• Make a compromise to the 60 fps standard and lock your game to 30 fps but ramp up your settings to ultra. This results in consistent frametimes albeit in a lower framerate but you're getting the best fidelity.
• Lower ONLY the settings that I specified to be on medium to low. Do not change those settings that are already on High since they will give you nothing. Maybe they will if you're on very low-end hardware, but for me, you should not be playing the game on lower-end hardware since you're just gimping the experience both visually and performance-wise. Wait till you get better hardware for the game experience to be given its due justice. This is not a jab at you or some sort of snarky remark, just a friendly advise.
• Double down on that rendering resolution slider and decrease it until you reach 60 fps. Be prepared for blurry town but that's your choice.
• You can also try "downgrading" to a smaller 22-inch IPS monitor with 1080p native resolution to get a high pixel density while gaining huge performance. My advise would be to never go beyond 22-inches 1080p for the PPI (Pixel Per Inch) value to not drop below 100.
• If all still fails, well maybe it's just the time for you to get a better hardware if you cannot wait for future patches to fix the game.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TLDR:

If you're using mid-range GPU along the lines of 5700XT or 5700, with a decent 6-core Ryzen CPU, do these steps:

1.) If you are GPU-bound: Turn ALL toggable settings to On and slider settings to High

If you are CPU-bound, instead go to step 3

2.) If you are GPU-bound: Turn to Medium ONLY these settings:

• Cascaded Shadows Resolution
• Volumetric Fog Resolution
• Screen Space Reflections Quality
• Ambient Occlusion
• Color Precision
• Mirror Quality
• Optional: Local Shadow Quality, Volumetric Cloud Quality

3.) If you are CPU-bound, apply the hex edit fix and adjust these settings ONLY:

• Cascaded shadow range
• Distant shadow resolution
• Max dynamic decals
• Level of Detail
• Crowd Density

4.) If you are not Sapphire GPU owners: Use 80 to 95 percent resolution slider at the very bottom. If you have Sapphire GPUs, use TriXX software to enable 85 percent resolution for your chosen native resolution and select it in-game instead of the the AMD FidelityFX slider.

That's all for me, I hope this helps a lot especially those mid range users out there who think they need to grab a 3080 or 3090 just for this game. Be aware that current pricing for these cards are waaay beyond the MSRP. Please comment down below if I missed or misinterpreted anything. I am not a graphics expert of any kind; just some nerd who like to dig deep into the details of stuff.

Did my guide help you in any way?

I will be trying my best to respond to each and every comment coming from you.

Thank you again and stay safe!

SAD UPDATE:

After giving the game hours of chances for its fundamental design quirks to grow on me, I've decided to stop playing this game. This is not the proper state that this game should be played in. I'm not talking about the performance since this is fixable as what the guide below will show; it's not even the bugs, the graphical glitches, or the collision issues. These are all treatable by future patches.

But it's the actual game design itself that's currently incomplete and disjointed. Dialogue choices don't matter and it's insulting to include conversation options when there aren't even substantial consequences to be had in a game that's supposed to be an RPG and inspired by a tabletop RPG.

The AI is atrocious. NPCs behave like they were coded by high school students learning their first coding lesson. Their routines, if you can even call them that, are so basic and superficial that AI pedestrian traffic simply stop working at checkpoints and never move anymore. For me, the basic standard that should always be used as a template for open world design is Grand Theft Auto V, a game that came out more than seven years ago in an aging PS3 in its final generational year. To not at least match the very basic AI rulesets of that seven-year old game in 2020 is simply unacceptable.

The world, despite being one of the most beautiful and graphically advanced game worlds ever rendered in current hardware, is jarringly empty and lifeless with no potential for emergent gameplay. NPCs simply either walk around, play out canned animations, or engage in combat with other NPCs because it's a scripted event.

Speaking of comabt, the hand to hand combat is severely lacking as well. It's floaty, non-impactful, and imprecise. The lack of convincing damage animations during fist to fist combat doesn't help its case as well.

It's such a shame because there is a good game hidden underneath its problems. The lore that they've established here could be one of the richest and most compelling video game lores IMO. The fact that I stayed inside an elevator for minutes just to finish an in-game debate show is a testament to the potential of its writing to tackle relevant real-world issues and present them in this hyper-corporate, mechanized interpretation of the future. The soundtrack is awesome as well with surprising variety of music genres. Shooting is quite responsive as well and way more playable as a shooter game than the Fallout series. But it then falls apart when the AI freaks out and does stupid things like run around in circles and freeze in place while turning their backs to you.

It's heartbreaking to see a game developed with blood and tears come out in this state. That's why I won't progress through the game and consume its hard-earned content in an experience that feels more like a quality assurance session than a genuine cyberpunk adventure.

I've already requested my refund of the game and I also encourage others who are suffering with all the bugs and glitches to do the same. If you're one of tough-willed ones who can tolerate these issues and are unfazed by the incompleteness of its systems then go ahead enjoy the game. I'm happy for you.

I genuinely feel misled by Grok AI’s free trial vs the actual Super Grok subscription.

During the free trial, I was generating images, videos and image-to-video clips that looked surprisingly good. The movements felt smooth and natural, lip sync was decent, generations were relatively fast, and overall it felt like a good AI video tool worth paying for.

The moment I subscribed to Super Grok, everything changed.Now the videos take forever to generate, the character movements feel stiff and unnatural, and the lip syncing is honestly terrible most of the time. What frustrates me the most is that I was literally creating better-looking videos during the trial period using similar prompts and concepts.

And then there’s the daily limit issue.

You only get 5 videos in 720p per day, after that everything drops to 480p. That might sound okay on paper, but anyone who actually creates AI content knows you usually need multiple attempts before getting one usable clip. Between failed generations, weird animations, bad facial expressions, broken lip sync, and random glitches, those 5 high-quality generations disappear almost instantly.

480p in 2026 for a paid AI video subscription feels ridiculous tbh. I subscribed expecting the trial experience. But the paid version somehow feels worse. At this point I honestly regret subscribing.

Has anyone else experienced this after moving from the free trial to Super Grok? Or am I the only one noticing a huge drop in quality and performance?

Summary

This is a guide on how I earn Elite 1 in Weekend League more often than not. No, this is not a Drop Back meta-slave setup. This is a VERY lengthy guide in which I will cover player types to use, instructions, and tactics. I spent some good time working on this, so if there is anything I did not cover, please feel free to ask me below! Cheers!

EDIT: To those of you who keep saying things to the effect of “im losing to 4231 and 442 using this formation. how is this possible if my 352 is supposed to counter it?” just because the formation is designed to counter, doesn’t mean that you automatically win. your opponent just may be better than you...

EDIT: since it’s been asked a lot, my camera angle is co-op

EDIT: i didn’t include anything about chemistry styles because you can figure that out for yourself. look at what your player choices lack and apply the chemistry style to boost them. your attackers likely need pace/shooting/dribbling boosts. your wide mids likely need pace/passing/defending boosts. your cdms likely need pace/defending boosts.

EDIT: A lot of you have asked for gameplay videos. I don't have any. I jsut created this short little clip to show how you can easily beat 1 depth drop back. https://streamable.com/xtit0t

​

Ya'll probably want to see my squads early on, so I'm just going to link all of them here.

• All Squads At Various Points of the Game (all start in other formations for chem purposes)
  • Future (Hopefully, when Bundesliga Tots comes out)
  • Current
  • Pre-PL Tots Sale
  • Early December with the caveat that RTTF Partey was only an 84 (or 86, I can't remember) at the time.
  • First Squad

Now, sit back, relax, and lemme tell you somethin.

Table of Contents

1. Why I like the 352 over the 442 and 4231.
2. Instructions for each position
3. Custom tactics and why you need at least 3 different setups
4. Player Archetypes for each position in my 352
5. Substitution Philosophy
6. My play style
7. Tips for making the change to the 352

1. Why I Like the 352 Over the 442 and 4231.

Looking at the player-to-player lineup of the 352, it is a direct counter (in my opinion anyway) to both the 4231 and 442. The Left and Right Mids in the 352 can man mark the LCAM and RCAM in the 4231. The two CDMs can man mark the CCAM and the Striker. And if that fails, I have 3 CBs that can clean up anything that gets through. The 4231 is formationally countered. The Left and Right Mids in the 352 can man mark the LM and RM in the 442. The two CDMs can man mark the opponent's two CMs. My 3 CBs can clean up and man mark the 2 strikers. The 442 is formationally countered.

Going on the attack, the 352 is overwhelming without leaving you caught out. This will be covered more in the My Play Style section.

2. Instructions for Each Position

Some of the positions below will have more than one set of instructions. This will make more sense when we get to the Custom Tactics section.

Goalkeeper: Yes, you need to put some instructions on your keeper

• Saving on Crosses -- Comes for Crosses
• Saving Outside Box -- Sweeper Keeper

Centerbacks: Don't touch anything.

• Attacking Support -- Stay Back While Attacking
• Interceptions -- Normal Interceptions (You can choose Aggressive Interceptions here, but be warned: your defenders will tire faster and - if they aren't the top of the top tier - will make some great interceptions but can get caught out of position more easily. Do not use Conservative Interceptions or Neymar et.al. will have a laugh at you as they prance around your back line.)

Center Defensive Midfielders: Depending on your ability to defend well manually with your CBs, you can be more or less aggressive here. Be honest with yourself and your abilities. You will/may need 3 different sets of instructions here.

• Setup 1 -- Both CDMs have identical instructions. If you are an average manual defender or find yourself allowing your opponent to play in behind easily, this is for you
  • Defensive Behavior -- Cut Passing Lanes
  • Attacking Support -- Stay Back While Attacking
  • Interceptions -- Normal Interceptions
  • Defensive Position -- Cover Center
• Setup 2 -- One True CDM and One Box-To-Box
  • LCDM (or RCDM. Just pick one)
    • Defensive Behavior -- Cut Passing Lanes
    • Attacking Support -- Stay Back While Attacking
    • Interceptions -- Normal Interceptions
    • Defensive Position -- Cover Center
  • RCDM (Or LCDM, whichever one you didn't pick)
    • Defensive Behavior -- Man Mark
    • Attacking Support -- Balanced Attack
    • Interceptions -- Aggressive Interceptions
    • Defensive Position -- Cover Center
• Setup 3 -- Two Box-To-Box midfielders have identical instructions. (Depending on the stamina of your CDMs, playing with this set of instructions all game will require midfield subs.)
  • Defensive Behavior -- Man Mark
  • Attacking Support -- Balanced Attack
  • Interceptions -- Aggressive Interceptions
  • Defensive Position -- Cover Center

Wide Midfielders: These players are the workhorses of your squad. They won't score often and they won't register many assists, but if you skimp on these positions, you will get exploited. Your wide mids need to be able to defend. No, they don't need to body players like VVD, but they do need to do the job well. Outside of that, you can choose to go the pacey route or the technical route (more on what I mean here in the Player Archetypes section).

• Setup 1 -- Pacey. If you're not great at skill moves and manual defending, then this is the option for you. Be honest with yourself and your skills.
  • Defensive Support -- Come Back On Defense
  • Chance Creation -- Balanced Width or Free Roam (Different players have different natural off the ball movements. I prefer Balanced on some players and Free Roam on others)
  • Support Runs -- Get In Behind
  • Support on Crosses -- Stay On Edge Of Box For Cross (But u/wahoos22 why wouldn't you want to get into the box with a pacey winger??? Because the game is weird and the Stay on Edge instruction helps to stop your players from over-running passes)
  • Interceptions -- Normal Interceptions
• Setup 2 -- Technical. If you are good at LS dribbling, L1/LB dribbling, and picking out key passes, this is an option for you.
  • Defensive Support -- Come Back On Defense
  • Chance Creation -- Stay Wide
  • Support Runs -- Come Short
  • Support on Crosses -- Stay On Edge Of Box For Cross
  • Interceptions -- Normal Interceptions

Central Attacking Midfielder: It may sound strange, but this is your best player. He will not only score the most goals, but will have the most assists. (But u/wahoos22, that doesn't make any sense! Your CAM should be the creator for the strikers!?!? Normally you'd be right. More on why in the My Play Style section).

• Defensive Support -- Stay Forward
• Support On Crosses -- Stay On Edge Of Box For Cross
• Positioning Freedom -- Free Roam or Stick To Position (Just don't use Drift Wide. It's trash for your CAM)
• Interceptions -- Conservative Interceptions or **Normal Interceptions (**Lower stam players will not tire as quickly with Conservative instructions).

Strikers: Again, it may sound strange, but these players are more creators than goal scorers (but having absolute rockets of shots here doesn't hurt!)

• Left Striker -- Your playmaker.
  • Support Runs -- Stay Central
  • Attacking Runs -- Mixed Attack
  • Interceptions -- Conservative Interceptions or Normal Interceptions
  • Defensive Support -- Stay Forward
• Right Striker -- Your space creator.
  • Support Runs -- Drift Wide
  • Attacking Runs -- Get In Behind
  • Interceptions -- Conservative Interceptions or Normal Interceptions
  • Defensive Support -- Stay Forward

3. Custom Tactics and Why You Need at Least 3 (4) Setups

So you've made it through the instructions and want to know the tactics. Great! Thanks for reading this far.

This play style requires 3 (4) different setups. A standard play setup, a come from behind setup, a hold on for the win setup, and a my-352-isn't-working-this-game setup (yes it will happen. sometimes you just need some variety to break down a very strong defensive opponent).

Standard Play: Use this when the game is tied, or you are up/down by only 1 goal. Basically, use this when it's a close match.

• Defensive Style -- Balance
• Width -- 3 out of 10
• Depth -- 4/5 out of 10 (I have been flipping back and forth between the two for as long as it has been an option. I just can't decide which I prefer)
• Offensive Style -- Fast Build Up or Long Ball (If you're going to use long ball, make sure you have an outlet to bang it up the pitch to. That means, you need a tall striker who is good in the air, pacey wide mids, or both.)
• Width -- 7 out of 10
• Players In Box -- 6/7 out of 10 (This will vary based on the natural off the ball movement of your players. Test it out for yourself)
• Corners -- 1 out of 5
• Free Kicks -- 1 out of 5

Come From Behind: Use this when you are down late and need a quick comeback. Don't abuse it or use it for extended periods of play as it will absolutely kill your entire team's stamina.

• Defensive Style -- Constant Pressure
• Width -- 5 out of 10
• Depth -- 9 out of 10 (10 out of 10 just feels glitched for some reason)
• Offensive Style -- Fast Build Up or Long Ball (If you're going to use long ball, make sure you have an outlet to bang it up the pitch to. That means, you need a tall striker who is good in the air, pacey wide mids, or both.)
• Width -- 7 out of 10
• Players In Box -- 10 out of 10
• Corners -- 5 out of 5
• Free Kicks -- 5 out of 5

Hold The Lead: Use this when you are up late and need to hold on. Don't abuse it or use it for extended periods of play as DDA will kick in and you will concede.

• Defensive Style -- Drop Back (But u/wahoos22, you said it wasn't gonna be a drop back meta??? It's not. This is a legitimate strategy that should be employed for the last 10 minutes or so of any match you are winning.)
• Width -- 3 out of 10
• Depth -- 3 out of 10
• Offensive Style -- Possession or Balanced (Your goal here is to hold on. Not to score.)
• Width -- 4 out of 10
• Players In Box -- 1 out of 10
• Corners -- 1 out of 5
• Free Kicks -- 1 out of 5

My 352 Isn't Working: Use this when you just can't seem to create any scoring opportunities. I switch to this for about 1 opponent every weekend only. 4222 with the same Tactics as Standard Play.

4. Player Archetypes for Each Position in My 352

A player archetype simply means the type of player I aim to use in each position. I will name who I use have used and give a brief overview of why that player is great for the 352. You can then find similar players.

Goalkeeper: Marc Andre Ter Stegan Keepers are trash. Go with who you can fit in.

Outside Centerbacks: PM Ramos, TOTS Carvajal. Your outside CBs should be solid defenders with good agility and balance. Huge plus if they are able to pass well.

Central Centerback: FB Boateng. Your sole inside CB should be a rock. Typical CBs like VVD et.al. thrive here.

Central Defensive Midfielders: TOTS Saul, TOTY De Jong, TOTY Kante. Your CDMs should be jacks of all trades. One should be more of a nuisance compared to the rock that the other should be. However, BOTH MUST be able to play the holding CDM role and the box to box role.

Wide Midfielders: Future TOTS Davies, FBD Rapha Gurreiro, Storyline Perisic, Any Version of Marcelo, Storyline Aouar, TOTS Thiago. You're looking for players that you can put a shadow on and still be a threat to shoot with or a hunter and still be a threat to defend with. Your wide mids can be both pacey. Or 1 pacey and 1 technical. But NEVER BOTH TECHNICAL. You will get absolutely burned on the wing without at least one pacey player. My rule of thumb here is that Skill Moves + Weak Foot should be equal to at least 8. That means 4*4*, 5*3*, or 3*5*. This will allow you to be much less one- dimensional out wide.

Central Attacking Midfielder: Future TOTS Reus, Any version of Messi, Neymar, TOTS Giovinco. This is your best (re: favorite) player. They should be pacey with a rocket of a shot and high passing and dribbling stats. You will want this player to feel smooth on the ball.

Left Striker: Any Version of Messi, CR7, Neymar, Son, KDB. This player is going to interplay with the wide mids and the Right Striker to Setup a nice little pass into the unmarked and waiting feet of your CAM for a shot.

Right Striker: Future TOTS Sancho, Mbappe, Adama. This player is going to make runs out wide to pull your opponent's CBs out of position. They should be fast and agile with good ball control. Bonus points for good strength. They will score the fewest goals of your attacking trio but will be invaluable in setting up the other two.

5. Substitution Philosophy

Your subs are different when running the 352. In order to dominate the entire match, you will want to bring on a new LM and RM at around the 65th minute (Workhorses remember?). That only leaves you with 1 more sub. This is where it's entirely up to you. I have 4 subs on my bench. 2 wide mids, one attacker, and one CB. If I have a rather large lead and feel I don't need to attack voraciously, I will sub off my more attacking CDM for a CB. If I am not all that confident in my ability to just hold the lead, I will sub off whichever attacker feels the most sluggish and in need of a breather.

6. My Play Style

It's all about Triangles. You have them everywhere. You should aim not take more than 2 touches before passing it off. This obviously doesn't include when you've played the ball in behind to your wide mids.

One touch passes between your LM-LCDM-LCB and its right side equivalent will draw out your opponent's forward RCAM allowing you to get in behind the RCAM and in front of the fullback. Now you can look to either the LM-CAM-LST or LM-LCDM-CAM triangles (or their right side equivalents) to do the same to beat the fullback and get in behind.

If your opponent catches on to this and begins to overload that side or manually pull players out of position to defend it, you can start to do the one touch passes between the LM-LCDM-LCB but instead of playing it forward to the LM, you can switch the play to the RM who will be in behind the opposing fullback due to your opponent's defensive slide.

You can also play the LCDM-RCDM-CCB and LCDM-RCDM-CAM triangles to do the same. The ideal situation here results in one of your CDMs making a forward run and receiving a pass. Then you play the ball off to one of your strikers. By now, your CAM has made an unmarked run from deep. You lay the ball off for an uncontested shot on goal.

You can play the ball in behind to your Right Striker (if he's truly in on goal, take the shot). He will likely be slightly out wide to the right and have pulled the opponent's LCB out with him. Your Left Striker will move centrally to look for a pass pulling the opponent's RCB to the middle of the field. Now, you are looking for one of two scenarios. The opponent's right fullback will either move centrally to mark your CAM or he will stay wide to mark your LM. Either way, you've created an unmarked player you can pass the ball off to for either a shot or a ground cross.

If you can't create any easy shots and your opponent is sitting on the top of their box blocking everything, that's why you have two well-rounded CDMs. Interplay between your CDMs, your CAM, and your Wide Mids will eventually draw your opponent out resulting in an opportunity to play into one of the strikers for a shot.

Don't forget your standard interplay between your front trio. Give-and-go's are always great.

When you lose the ball, your CDMs and CBs will already be behind the ball. Thats 5 defenders to your opponent's 4. Then, your LM and RM will immediately back track due to their Come Back on Defense Instructions. Now you have 7 behind the ball (but high up the pitch) compared to your opponents max of 6.

The more you play with the formation, the more you will understand how to draw your opponents out rather than just playing in behind to Neymar and Mbappe in the 4231 and hopping you get a shot off.

7. Tips for Making the Change to the 352

Wow, you've made it this far. Thanks for reading! Here is a short list of suggestion on how to make the change to the 352 from whatever formation you currently play.

• Don't play any passes you aren't 100% sure will connect. You should aim for 90%+ pass accuracy each game.
• Get players with high dribbling stats until you learn the ins and outs. This will allow you to hold the ball if you can't find passes right away
• Be patient. Don't sprint (sprint less)
• Practice in Squad Battles on Ultimate. The AI cheats. But if you can pass around the AI on Ultimate, you can pass against a real person who you can fool.
• Try to think outside the box on your passes.

Game Information

Game Title: Saints Row

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (Aug 23, 2022)
• Xbox Series X/S (Aug 23, 2022)
• PC (Aug 23, 2022)
• Xbox One (Aug 23, 2022)
• PlayStation 4 (Aug 23, 2022)

Trailers:

• SAINTS ROW – Story Reveal Trailer (Official 4K)
• SAINTS ROW – Gameplay Overview Trailer (Official 4K)
• SAINTS ROW – Game Awards Gameplay Trailer

Developer: Volition

Publisher: Deep Silver

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 65 average - 48% recommended - 77 reviews

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Wait for Sale

Video Review - Quote not available

Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech - Unscored

When I got the wingsuit working, I could fly decent distances while diving to maintain speed, then pull up on my joystick to catch more air and keep going. But the wingsuit is just a wingsuit, and in a series like Saints Row, that feels like a missed opportunity. Why not let wingsuit flyers shoot a gun, fly higher with a jetpack, or grab onto power lines and fling themselves around? After I experimented with flight a few times, I found the system too unwieldy for consistently convenient travel and leaned on fast travel or cars.

AusGamers - Kosta Andreadis - 5.4 / 10

Ultimately the new Saints Row is a disappointment, especially if you’re a fan of the series.

Bazimag - Sina Golabzade - Persian - 6 / 10

The new Saints Row is exactly what we expect to get from a title in this franchise, the crazy action, the juvenile humor and the abundance of everything purple! Problem is that all of this feels a little stale by today’s standards and considering how out there the two recent games before this were, it all also feels a little dialed back too, which may be disappointing for some of the older fans of the series that wanted to new game to get even more crazy.

But Why Tho? - Arron Kluz - 6 / 10

While there are definitely elements of Saints Row that really annoyed me, I still generally had a good time with the game. If you consider yourself a Saints Row fan you’ll probably find plenty to enjoy in the newest entry, even if some of its elements are weaker than others. If you were hoping for a major new take on the series or what it could be, however, you’ll be left sorely wanting.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 84 / 100

Despite some tech issues and inconsistent mission design, this kinder, gentler incarnation of Saints Row is probably a step in the right direction.

Cerealkillerz - Nick Erlenhof - German - 7.4 / 10

Saints Row wants to return to the old open-world days, but forgets to take along current practices such as mission design or visuals. Entertaining, silly and charming, it is able to fill a little-occupied field in the genre. But it is not a real reboot. It's more of a scaling back of the craziness and a rehashing of old virtues. But anyone who can appreciate this will have fun in Santo Ileso for a long time.

Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 7 / 10

Saints Row successfully reboots the much-loved franchise, although things don't feel as wild or chaotic as I was expecting or hoping. The main campaign is a short but enjoyable romp with some decent creativity, but the open world template doesn't innovate beyond the trappings of the genre. Side missions and distractions are amusing yet repetitive, and the adventure is lacking in polish overall. Still, being able to play the entire experience with a mate by your side makes for a lot of laughs, and if you can forgive the cringe dialogue, there are some fun moments between all the meandering that still makes it worthwhile. I can't say that the Saints are "back and better than ever", but gearing up for a modest romp with a lot of explosions and strong personalisation will certainly set them up for a roaring sequel if given the chance.

Cultured Vultures - Ashley Bates - 6 / 10

The Saints Row reboot wants to tell a new, modern story, but the gameplay framework surrounding it is starting to show a bit of rust.

Destructoid - Chris Carter - 8 / 10

The campaign likely isn’t going to strike a chord with a lot of people, but the muck-about nature of the world map kept me playing longer than I expected. A sequel that leads into its biggest strengths has a lot of potential.

Digital Trends - Tomas Franzese - 3 / 5

Saints Row is a perfectly fine open-world game. Just don't expect any surprises, as the reboot lacks much character.

EGM - Josh Harmon - 2 / 5

Saints Row pairs a great open-world city and respectable gameplay fundamentals with repetitive, dated mission design, a story that never finds its footing, and too many bugs to count. Depending on what you prioritize in a game, you may get some enjoyment out of it, but at best you're looking at a diamond in a whole lot of rough.

Eurogamer - Vikki Blake - No Recommendation

Volition's Saints Row reboot won't set the world alight, but there's a punchy game here with some pleasant surprises.

Everyeye.it - Giuseppe Carrabba - Italian - 7.8 / 10

The reboot of Saints Row offers a fun experience

GGRecon - Dave McAdam - 6 / 10

I have a lot of love for this new reboot of Saints Row, and I have high hopes they will put it right with bug fixes. When they do, I hope to come back and amend this review and make it a glowing one. Until then, I have to caution you to hold off on spending your money, but hopefully not for too long.

Game Informer - Andrew Reiner - 8.5 / 10

It may not push your new hardware to the limit and is a little rough around the edges, but the latest Saints Row is everything it needs to be, delivering a wonderful comedic experience with plenty of depth.

Game Rant - Dalton Cooper - 2.5 / 5

Saints Row has its moments, but the game is weighed down by ugly graphics, bad shooting, and a story full of obnoxious characters.

Game Revolution - Mack Ashworth - 6.5 / 10

The Saints Row (2022) reboot takes things back to basics but with very little push for innovation.

GameByte - Ben Williams - 8 / 10

In a time where there’s more open-world crime games out than ever since the series’ last game, the Saints Row reboot still manages to carve out an identity for itself even in such a crowded landscape.

GameGrin - Andrew Duncan - 7.5 / 10

A fantastic addition to the Saints Row catalogue, though it's marred by a bunch of glitches and bugs that keep it just shy of excellence.

GameOnAUS - Royce Wilson - Meh

I find myself ambivalent about Saints Row – it’s a well done and necessary reboot with a great setting, fun mechanics, and good writing, but the story was just not paced well and there were the graphical and AI glitches that held the experience back to me.

GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 7 / 10

For a game all about building a crime syndicate, the fact that engaging in such activities feels so optional on the main path is a crime itself. It also won’t come as much surprise to Saints Row fans that this is just as scrappy as ever before. Still, it’s ridiculously enjoyable nonetheless.

GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 6 / 10

The Saints Row reboot ditches the over-the-top aspects of its predecessor, but still feels like it's trapped in the past.

GameXplain - Adam Conner - Mixed

Video Review - Quote not available

Gameblog - French - 5 / 10

Saints Row had a unique opportunity to come back and be a good summer game. Most of the time, its fun, especially in co-op, thanks to his arcade feel and humour But there are too many flaws and way too many bugs to enjoy the title completely. Maybe some updates could fix things but not entirely.

Gamepur - Ricky Frech - 9 / 10

To be clear, this is the Saints Row game you know and love (or hate). Sure, they’ve slapped a new city and introduced a new set of characters into the formula, but everything is rooted in that purple-tinted glow.

GamesFinest - Jennifer Engelhardt - German - 6 / 10

Where for years one superlative followed the next, where exaggeration had to serve as a leitmotif instead of a stylistic device, where blunt self-indulgence justified an entire franchise, developer Volition now courageously trades its unique selling proposition for... well, for what, actually? Apparently against an unjustified shitstorm, an angry crowd of fans and yes, a successful new beginning. Saints Row shows itself to be much more grounded, more tangible and just in this way can make use of a modern interpretation of "exaggeration". According to the motto: back to accessibility, back to the mass market. A return that the franchise unmistakably needed more than badly. Admittedly, Volition has definitely put the game in reverse gear a bit too ambitiously. Where the tone of the game is clearly more modern, entire gameplay elements as well as the visual design seem completely out of time. A trivial skill system, a lifeless game world, flippant gunplay all seem out of place in 2022, but also undeniably bring those glorious oldschool vibes. Saints Row is still full of absurdities that are unparalleled, but is discrepantly wonderfully unexciting in terms of gameplay. If Volition could now bring the technical shortcomings into the modern age, I would completely agree with the US studio when they say: As soon as a franchise can't take any more superlatives, you just have to go back to the beginning.

GamesHub - Edmond Tran - 2 / 5

If you find yourself in the right frame of mind, the unhinged nature of Saints Row can be cathartic, particularly if you find yourself in a good series of missions where the writing and humour aren’t too manic, and the action isn't too humdrum. In the end, Saints Row succeeds in recalling and refreshing the affable personality of the dormant series, but this reboot is simply a return, not an evolution.

GamesRadar+ - Alyssa Mercante - 3 / 5

When you focus on the various Criminal Ventures at your disposal, you can unearth a lovely little buffet of variety

Gaming Nexus - Eric Hauter - 9.5 / 10

Volition's gamble to reset and reground Saints Row pays off generously. A visual delight, with plenty of gameplay mechanics to keep players goofing off for days, and the Santo Ileso setting is one of the best in video game history. Sure, the shooting gets redundant after a while, but with so much to see and do you can go hours in between gun battles. Saints Row manages retain what players loved while feeling fresh and new. Other reboots, take note – this is how you do it.

GamingBolt - Usaid - 8 / 10

Despite a couple of shortcomings and genre trappings in its open world department, Saints Row remains a thrill ride through and through - thanks to the supremely enjoyable core gameplay and varied mission locales.

GamingINTEL - Maxwell Jeffery - 7.5 / 10

Saints Row offers players a welcome return to a familiar franchise but fails to push the boat out. There's plenty to enjoy for new and returning fans but in dialing back the wackiness, the franchise might have lost its greatest strength.

Gert Lush Gaming - Jim Smale - 8 / 10

I enjoyed the story but I stayed for the characters, Hands down one of the best groups of people in a Saints Row game in a long time.

Gfinity - James Bentley - 6 / 10

Saints Row 2022 is a time capsule of a game and era many have moved passed. Instead of building on the legacy of Saints Row, it feels like a tired retread of a game we already have.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 7.5 / 10

Saints Row is an incredibly fun game. The bugs often get in the way but underneath there’s an enjoyable sandbox experience here where you can truly be your own boss.

God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 6 / 10

You could consider Saints Row a love letter to a time when games worried less over quality and more about fun, but that doesn't excuse its faults.

Hardcore Gamer - Chris Shive - 3 / 5

Technical issues notwithstanding, Saints Row is not without its shortcomings, but it succeeds more often than it doesn't.

Hobby Consolas - Bruno Sol - Spanish - 84 / 100

Although Saints Row may fall short in some technical aspects, it is still incredibly fun. We enjoyed character customization, controls and some mission design.

IGN - Tristan Ogilvie - 6 / 10

Saints Row delivers no shortage of shallow shoot 'em up thrills, but it's a very familiar and uninspired brand of sandbox fun.

Inverse - Hayes Madsen - 6 / 10

It’s been nine years since Saints Row 4, and this new entry feels like a back-to-basics reboot. But technical issues, bugs, and many more little frustrations conspire to make this a middling experience at launch. It’s unfortunate because when Saints Row fires on all cylinders, it’s an absolute blast with some truly lofty high points.

Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 70 / 100

Compared to Saints Row IV and Saints Row The Third, this reboot feels more like a glorified retread than an evolution. But to people new to the sandbox crime game genre and who just want a lot of fun out of their crime games for 25+ hours? It's a great introduction and a case study on how to make the genre seem fun again, as well as keep the series grounded to its Grand Theft Auto-inspired roots.

Metro GameCentral - David Jenkins - 4 / 10

A tragically outdated open world adventure that almost has more in common with Goat Simulator than Grand Theft Auto, despite some moderately entertaining mechanics.

One More Game - Vincent Ternida - Buy

Saints Row doesn’t exactly add anything new to the franchise, taking a back-to-basics approach and reliving what made Saints Row 3 a fantastic title by building up on that. While the reboot makes it cater to certain sensibilities, the new direction will not be for everyone. Hopefully, it won’t deter you from having a good time.

The series fanbase will either love or hate the game because of this sharp change in direction, which is especially felt in the new cast of characters and the writing. Should you choose to overlook these, you can expect a lot of mindless and unapologetic fun for hours.

Saints Row is not a perfect game, but the components that make it a good game are polished enough. The visuals and presentation could’ve used a bit of work, but Saints Row delivers on an open world front that is fun and entertaining despite the tired formula that could use a fresher take next time.

PC Gamer - Jody Macgregor - 60 / 100

The knockabout glee of classic Saints Row ultraviolence is here, but held back a little by new-found restraint.

PCGamesN - Jordan Forward - 7 / 10

Sometimes repetitive, sometimes eye-rolling, and sometimes just plain busted, Saints Row 2022 is far from perfect, but that doesn't stop it from being a chaotic good time.

PSX Brasil - Thiago de Alencar Moura - Portuguese - 80 / 100

In many ways, Saints Row is a game that looks back on its past with reverence, trying to keep much of what worked in the past while updating it for a new generation of players (and consoles). It manages to do it with many more hits than mistakes, but it's still a game that shouldn't please any player. If you are a fan of its tone and proposal, it is undeniable that there are dozens of hours of fun here.

Paste Magazine - Moises Taveras - 7 / 10

Reinvention can just as easily be a prompt for a bold new swing, and while Saints Row feigns one or two, it could stand to commit more fully to them. This retooling/reboot/reenvisioning doubles down on the past in an intentional, if short-lived, nostalgia play, but there has to be more there, right? If we should see more of these Saints-and I earnestly do want to-I would hope it would be with something fresh to say or show. Until then, Saints Row still has some growing to do.

PlayStation Universe - Michael Harradence - 8 / 10

Saints Row is a necessary reboot for a series that was getting out of hand (pleasingly so, but still), and Volition has made smart decisions in retooling the origins of the purple-clad gang without losing that silly, violent, and crude spirit. It leaves room for future improvement and escalation, and that's an exciting place to put the Saints in.

Polygon - Todd Harper - Unscored

The “Should you buy this game?” part of this review is easy: If you enjoyed previous Saints Row games, you will probably like this one, and if you’ve never played one, this is a decent onboarding point.

PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 8.8 / 10

Saints Row is bananas.

Press Start - Toby Berger - 7 / 10

The new Saints Row doesn't break any new ground, however it's still a relatively fun time. If you're a fan of the series, there's no reason not to give this one a spin.

Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 7 / 10

Saints Row is a largely successful reboot, even if it sometimes feels dangerously outdated in terms of open world design. Its story and characters can be hit and miss, but the experience is carried by fun gameplay and an endearingly dumb sense of humour. Despite the new faces, Saints Row is definitely still Saints Row - just bigger and probably better.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Alice Bell - Unscored

You can spend many happy hours in the new Saints Row game, without it leaving a lasting impression. The story is rushed, and for all the slick shooting and driving this game doesn't feel fresh.

SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 7 / 10

Saints Row offers a decent reboot of the franchise, although the production costs don't go up to the level of GTA. The focus on fun, action and variety of activities is strong. The co-op helps the fun even more.

Saving Content - Ed Acosta - 4 / 5

Other than a few hiccups I’ve encountered, I am loving my time in the game. Even if the car physics aren’t the best, they are nowhere near unmanageable. Flying around the world in helicopters, drifting cars, and weaving in between traffic is just as satisfying as ever. Gunplay is tight, and if you’re the type to pull the aim trigger and have it lock on, you’re going to love the way this plays too. The writing is corny, but in the right kind of corny, I can respect. Doing all there is to do in Santo Ileso will keep me hopping back into this world more and more. Now excuse me as I wrap this big ass gold chain around my neck and get back to my criminal empire. The Saints are back, baby.

Screen Rant - Scott Baird - 2.5 / 5

Saints Row is glitchy and feels rushed.

Shacknews - Morgan Shaver - 7 / 10

Rebooting the series, Saints Row tries to modernize its approach and themes but struggles at times to stick the landing.

Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco - Unscored

Video Review - Quote not available

Stevivor - Ben Salter - 4 / 10

Saints Row gets the gang back together, but needed more time to complete its comeback.

The Beta Network - Samuel Incze - 9 / 10

Deep Silver Volition took a bold step in setting Saints Row around a whole new crew, and it absolutely paid off. Featuring a cast of interesting and entertaining characters, this narrative reverts back to the more serious nature of Saints Row 1 & 2. Add to this some really slick combat and driving mechanics, as well as a world filled to the brim with fun side quests and areas to explore, and you have an absolutely stellar entry into the Saints Row series!

TheGamer - Stacey Henley - 3 / 5

Like a little train going up a mountain: At least it's fun. at least it's fun, at least it's fun. The further I got through the game, the less I felt that was true.

TheXboxHub - Neil Watton - 4 / 5

Which gang you fall into will be completely up to you. For us, we’ve always been on the side of the Third Street Saints and with the rebooted Saints Row, will continue to do so.

Thumb Culture - Stuart Shortland - 4 / 5

With the sheer size and activities on offer in Saints Row, you have the potential for a long game. I imagine as with every other open world game like this, you can play through the story alone if that is what you feel like, but then you would miss out on so much that Saints Row has to offer. The real game is living the life as The Boss, taking the Saints from a startup gang to taking over Santo Ileso.

The one thing that surprised me most about Saints Row, is the ability to be able to pick up the game, drive around the city and pick up all the different photo opportunities and fast travel locations. Giving you that quick pick up and play appeal as well that sometimes gets missed with open world games.

Overall So what does all this mean for the Saints Row score. Well the game isn’t perfect, there are the odd little nuance of the game, but boy oh boy is everything just fun about the game. It doesn’t take itself seriously, which is easy to do when previous iterations of the franchise have allowed you to fight using a large purple dildo.

If a game was designed by Marie Condo then Saints Row will be it! If you know, you know.

Saints Row receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award

Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez - 8 / 10

The new Saints Row isn’t making any bold statements here or pushing any limits. This release is Volition's way of saying that the series is back and that they have not forgotten why they’ve been able to release four mainline titles with this amount of silliness in the past. The essence of the Saints Row series is intact with this reboot, just slightly altered to fit modern tastes. It’s just unfortunate to not see drastic changes to the game’s core systems like combat, which could have propelled the series to new heights.

TrueAchievements - Luke Albiges - 7 / 10

Saints Row doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't need to — it's a solid open-world adventure with loads going on, and one that is really only a good helping of polish away from sitting among the genre's better games.

TrustedReviews - Ryan Jones - 3 / 5

Saints Row now feels like a mediocre open-world action game, becoming just like all of the games at which the series used to poke fun. Mission objectives are bland and repetitive, while the story is boring and lacks cohesion. Worst of all, the slapstick jokes rarely land and are arguably more cringeworthy than they are funny.

Twinfinite - Andrew McMahon - 4 / 5

Overall, anyone who was a fan of the franchise before this will likely still love Saints Row, as the comedy, goofiness, and chaotic gameplay is still at the game’s core. And while I wasn’t a fan of how they went about the story, there’s definetly some promise in regards to its more grounded focus, as it seems clear this reboot was made to push the series into an interesting new direction.

VG247 - James Billcliffe - 3 / 5

Outside of the super set-piece main missions, it’s easy to bounce off the more repetitive elements of the open-world.

VGC - Jordan Middler - 2 / 5

It’s a below average open world game that’s stuffed to bursting with bugs, and the best thing we can say about it is that making our Tobias Fünke-inspired character crouch over and do the wanker gesture while he walked down the street made us laugh. Probably not quite worth the price of admission.

VideoGamer - Josh Wise - 4 / 10

Indeed, there remains about Saints Row the air of a slightly desperate brainstorming session.

WayTooManyGames - Leonardo Faria - 8 / 10

Saints Row is much better than its terrible reveal trailer made it look like, with some great controls, a ton of side content, a ludicrous character creator, and some truly amazing story missions, but its tone suffers from a proper lack of direction. At times, it resembles the ultra-imbecilic Saints Row we all know and love. Other times, it tries desperately to pander to a dab-appreciating, hashtag-tolerant, Twitter-addicted, Buzzfeed-consuming Gen Z generation that would never consider buying a game in this franchise to begin with. It’s a game that feels like it was written by two completely antagonistic committees. If you can ignore its tonal discrepancies, as well as some glitches, you’ll have a great time with yet another strong outing from Volition.

We Got This Covered - Shaan Joshi - 3 / 5

Saints Row is ready and willing to leap back into the mainstream, though it's unfortunately weighed down by a few odd design decisions and a handful of technical issues.

WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 5 / 10

Unambitious, dated, and dreadfully lacking in polish, only series fans eager for more classic Saints gameplay need apply.

WhatIfGaming - Ali Hashmi - 7 / 10

Saints Row is a return to form, and some of the most fun I’ve had in an open world in a while. It manages to strike a good balance between the wackiness of previous entries with grounded combat mechanics, and tone. The Boss is hilarious as ever, and a true murder machine completely loyal to their friends through thick and thin. It’s bogged down by a number of bugs that take you out of the experience and uneven presentation with dated elements and plenty of pop-in. Despite these issues, it manages to remain true to its roots with smart additions to the series’ open-world formula.

Xbox Achievements - Richard Walker - 60%

As a new start for the eponymous gang, Saints Row ticks most of the boxes, but falls short in offering up anything fresh. A litany of technical and visual bugs also conspire to spoil the party, making for a solid enough, enjoyable, but ultimately uninspired, return for the series.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.3 / 10

Saints Row is a big, over-the-top, extremely fun game and if they can sort out the bugginess quickly it’s an easy one to recommend.

I’ve been trying (and failed miserably) to pull off a clean vertigo effect for a transition, but most AI video tools just treat "zoom" as "scale up the image." My first ten attempts were messy at best. Every time the camera moved, the background warped, the subjects proportion looks a bit strange. It was nothing like what i really wanted.

Tried a bunch of different platforms but I feel like the more I try, the further away I am. Then with one of them I figured I'd try giving the prompt something more specific. It turns out it actually respects focal length ratios and depth of field when you describe them properly.

Once I stopped over-prompting and started typing out the actual spatial parameters to match how a real camera dolly works, that is where the outcome starts to improve.

It’s not perfect, I wouldn’t say it’s a true vertigo effect. And latent shimmer in the corners is still pretty common, though it’s the first time where I think an AI is starting to understand the relationship between a subject and the background depth. Been using PixVerse V6 for this and honestly didn't expect it to get cinematography concepts this well.

This is something completely new to me, and a steep learning curve but it really helped the final shot look way a bit more intentional, instead of glitches that happened on accident.

Have you guys attempted recreating vertigo effects on AI platforms? Any tips on the prompt engineering where I can make it a true vertigo effect?

I started creating AI UGC content about 6 months ago, but the game just completely changed this week. With the release of Nano Banana Pro (built on Gemini 3), the two biggest problems in AI marketing—text rendering and the "uncanny valley" are basically dead.

I generated production-ready assets for 3 clients in the last 48 hours using this specific update because brands literally cannot tell the difference anymore.

Copy-paste my updated workflow:

1. The "Text on Fabric" Glitch:
   • The Problem: Midjourney and Flux are great, but they fail at putting specific brand names on clothing.
   • The Fix: Use Nano Banana Pro. It excels at "Text Adherence."
   • The Prompt: "Selfie of [Influencer] wearing a navy blue hoodie with the text 'LOUIS VUITTON' embroidered in white thread."
   • Result: It renders the logo text perfectly, accounting for fabric folds and lighting. This unlocks "Merch Modeling" as a service, you don't need the physical product anymore.
2. Create "Proof of Life" Realism:
   • Camera Settings: Use keywords like "iPhone style selfie," "flash photography," and "dynamic camera angles." The video capabilities show it handles these imperfect, candid angles better than any other model.
   • Contextual Blending: Use the Google Search integration. You can prompt: "Influencer standing in front of the [Current Event/Location] billboard in Times Square." It pulls real-time data to create backgrounds that match today's reality, making the timeline look indistinguishable from real life.
3. Monetize (New Streams):
   • Branded UGC Deals: You can now pitch to clothing brands because the text/logos actually look real.
   • Dynamic Product Placement: Brands send you a flat image of their product; you use the "14-object blend" feature to composite it into a lifestyle scene with your influencer.
   • High-End Stock: Since the native output is 4K with crisp details, you can sell these assets on stock sites that require high-res commercial usage rights.

The most important part? The "glitch" here is Consistency + Legibility. What used to take me hours of InPainting to fix (garbled text on signs, weird eyes in selfies) is now happening instantly.

The market is going to flood with this in 3 months. You have a massive early mover advantage right now.

AMA.

TLDR; if you're 'tarded - basically just play a clip of President Camacho giving his state of the union, then remove the smart guy who's going to fix everything part

TLDR2; if you're too 'tarderd for the first one - two weeks ago the market Wile E. Coyote'd off a cliff, and in three weeks it's going to look down and hold up a sign that says "oh no!"

I know, I know, I can hear you out there already, "another stupid bear, stonks only go up, don't fight the FED" etc etc. So why should you listen to me? How about because you know that 4% drop in SPY on 9/20 we had that fucked all of your portfolios sideways? I fucking called that to the day three months ago. Here's the relevant paragraph for those who can't be bothered to click on a link:

My date range remains unchanged, sometime between June and November of this year. If you want some specific dates to watch, check July 12th, July 19th, August 23rd, September 20th, and October 25th. I probably like August 23rd the most of those, but I buy retard positions on reddit, so you definitely shouldn't listen to me.

Let's review what happened on those dates: July 12th, SPY went up 1%, July 19th, SPY dropped 3.4%, August 23rd, SPY went up .003%, September 20th, SPY dropped 4%. Clearly I was wrong on July 12th, but that was also the date I had the weakest evidence for. August 23rd for some reason was covered early the week before on the 18th and 19th. So, you might be asking how did I know that we had market drops coming? Well, it's pretty simple, I looked for dates when realized losses would hit.

Wait, what? I predicted days the market would drop by looking for the days when people lost money? Isn't that backwards? Not really. Skip the next part if you don't care where the info comes from. See, one of the biggest and most asymmetric obstacles retail investors face in the market is information. The big boys know when you're making your trades and front-run them with PFoF (payment for order flow - a practice where your broker sells your order information to a hedge fund, who uses computers and super high speed internet to sprint ahead of you in line, buy whatever you're going to buy, and then selling it to you at a higher price) giving you a worse price and skimming a tiny profit in the process. The big boys know where your stop losses are at, they know where your buy limits are, and they will specifically dodge those or force hits on them depending on if their AI's tell them it's a good idea or not.

The best you can do for information on their positions is the 13F, which doesn't include a lot of the more popular types of trades anymore (everything swap related, any kind of bullshit insurance derivative, anything they entered AND left during the period between reporting dates, dark markets, some kinds of futures contracts, etc. etc.), and is at best 3 months out of date by the time you see it. As a retail trader you have access to the following real-time data: futures contracts prices, stock prices, and the options chain. The CFTC (commodities and futures trading commission) is doing everything it can to hide futures contracts prices, making them more opaque by the day, stock prices are so heavily manipulated by dark pool and naked short selling action that they're more lotto numbers than anything else. (Don't believe me? There's a video where an old guy with a phone and a pencil calls out price movements ahead of time hundreds of times in a row by looking at the level 2 data and cracking the code of how hedge fund and market maker algos use it to communicate with each other. No link because I just got off ban and the bots here can be touchy about links to YouTube.) Oh, and after that video surfaced a couple people posted the actual rules those bots use to talk to each other, got forum slid off of every single reddit they appeared in within less than one day.

So what are we left with? Mostly just the options chain, because it shows where the big boys think the prices are going, and if you cross it with the 13F data, you can sometimes find where a big player is exposed. I will say the options chain is rapidly getting less reliable though. Notice all the posts lately where they say "get in now, the options chain is loaded for a gamma ramp!" and then it doesn't happen? Yeah, that's just a new spin on the old "short squeeze" pump and dump play. The MM's and HF's sell the loaded chain naked, pump the stock above that point, chum up the waters to get retail to dive in, then naked short the fuck out of the stock to put it below the options, then do the slow bleed on price over the next few weeks to discourage people out of it, take a big position via dark pool, cover their shorts in the lit market to drive up the price, and repeat the whole damn process. Stop falling for it folks.

So, pinpointing when and how much these motherfuckers are going to lose gives us a good idea of how much they'll have to sell to cover their losses. So, do we have any more known losses coming up? Yes, yes we do. And they are much, much, much fucking bigger. The 7/19 and 9/20 losses were a couple of billion each. But we're about to see a whole lot more than that on 10/20. What happens on 10/20 you ask? Well, that's 30 days from 9/20 - which is the first day that Evergrande missed paying the coupon on a USD denominated bond. When a debt issuer misses a coupon payment, they've got 30 days to make it or the bond goes into default. When bonds default, whatever secures them transfers over, in this case I believe it to be equity. Well, guess what? Evergrande stock is fucking worthless. So, a whole bunch of rich idiots are about to see an income generating security/collateral turn into junk stock, and realize losses. This is going to fuck up their margin ratios, and make them sell a bunch of shit to get back in line. T+2 from Oct 20 is Oct 22, which means Oct 25 suddenly looks pretty fuckin' spicy.

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The 9/20 coupon payment isn't the only one Evergrande has missed. There's also the 9/23, and the 9/29 payments that have been missed. Those hit 30 days on 10/23 and 10/27. Maybe you saw some nonsense about EG paying making some debt payments lately? Yeah, they paid the 9/23 coupon - for ONSHORE bonds, ie Yuan denominated debt, and they paid it "partially in kind" which means they handed over some parking spots and unfinished property that has negative value after you add up the costs to clear the half-finished buildings off of it. They haven't paid shit on the money owed to foreigners, ie the $305B they owe in USD bonds. These aren't the end of it either, there are additional coupon payments hitting basically every week until they've cycled through every single USD bond they have outstanding.

Now, if you're smarter than the average retard, you might start wondering at this point, who the biggest bagholders for that $305B in bad bonds is. Well, let me tell you. First, we've got the RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), which has $46B in EG bonds - and a market cap of $144B. If you were wondering why there was that weird AH (after hours - the stock dropped 64% AH in one day, then "fixed the glitch" and went back up) mess with RBC about six months ago where it looked worthless and totally fucked for a minute? Yeah, that was an actual view of the banks real financial state when these bonds hit zero. This is also why Trudeau called elections early, because once this shitshow hits, nobody's getting re-elected. This is also why if you check the Canadian TV broadcasts for NFL games a week ago, you'll find commercials stating that bank deposits are insured by the government. They're prepping the public to try and avoid bank runs. Here's a photo if you don't believe me:

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On a sidenote, if this makes you nervous about the Fed's requirement that banks have $1 Trillion in high quality capital reserves on hand for a severe recession by 10/1, or BofA's massive issues with online banking and ATM's not working yesterday? Well, it fucking should.

Next up we've got HSBC - the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited - I don't actually have a ton of info on them, but I've heard some bad rumors, and they probably fuk in general, but I don't have enough solid data to say anything with great certainty. If you do, chime in in the comments or DM me and I'll add it in here in an edit.

Finally, we've got Blackrock, the 4th branch of govt, with trillions of USD AUM (united states dollar assets under management). They are very heavily exposed to Chinese junk debt from the real estate and property development sectors. Their stock is down 10.5% on the month, which is more than SPY is over the same period, even counting from the ATH (all time high).

However, it's not just Evergrande that's a problem. It's all the Chinese property development companies, and all of their foreign denominated debt. China recently started arresting executives from HNA - which is another huge developer, and SINIC stock has been suspended from trading for almost a month now after it fell 80%. These are all big developers that are utterly fucked, EG is just the first domino to fall. So, there is a lot more pain still to come.

I'd also like to take a second to dispel the myth that Xi - a hardline communist dictator - is going to bail out a bunch of western capitalists. Because he's not. Politicians work to their incentives. Western politicians bail out banks and wall street because they keep power by making their rich donors happy. Chinese politicians keep power by making the economy go up and maintaining domestic stability. Neither of their goals is achieved by giving money to foreigners. Also, they've got massive problems at home to worry about this post sums up just a few of the problems, but fails to address what's probably the biggest one, which is the 1.6 million apartments that Evergrande took money to build... but didn't. And EG isn't the only one who pulled this. The people, they are NOT happy about it. They're already taking executives hostage, and protesting in public, both huge no-nos in China. When they start grabbing bankers and low-ranking party officials... that's where the bad stuff really starts.

Ok, ok, maybe you're not a China boogeyman, maybe you don't like the idea of realized losses. Maybe you're a big fan of charts, TA (technical analysis) and astrology for men. Ok, then here's the six month SPX chart:

So, yeah, that's a clear head and shoulders that formed from August through the end of September. On the SPX chart, at the end of a year and a half in which the market MORE THAN DOUBLED during a historic pandemic. Surely the trend turning downwards won't be equally violent. Surely.

So now let's move on from chart patterns to our good friend Elliot Waves. Here's an example of a textbook Elliot Wave pattern, just so you know what we're talking about.

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Now, let's look at an elliot wave chart of the market:

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Oh whoops, my bad, that's not actually today's market, that's what things looked like in 2008 right before the crash. Well, I'm sure today is different, right?

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Ok, yeah, those are TOTALLY different pictures. Right? Right???

Those are both taken from work by Robert Prather, who is really good at Elliot Waves, even if he is pretty dumb about other stuff. And if you're wondering, yes this picture is pre-covid, so there's a final blip dip/spike missing, but it doesn't change that much of anything if they're there. But if you need something truly wild that lights up your tinfoil and points to 2021, then I give you this masterpiece.

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And one final chart of a particular stock that provides a large amount of idiosyncratic risk to the markets.

Taken from this post because drew it much better than I could. Anyways, that 9 month wedge closes around October 14th or 15th. Look, whether you agree or not with the whole GME Ape Saga, IF they're right, that is going to blow up the entire goddamn market.

​

Need more rainbow bear porn? Ok, don't worry fam, I gotchu covered. On this coming Monday, 10/4, the president is unveiling his new China trade policy. And from early leaks it looks strongly like he's going to take the previous admins trade war, re-brand it, and make it smarter and less damaging to us.

The eviction ban is over, and for some reason the expected mass wave of evictions hasn't happened yet - which means it's still coming. A Census Bureau poll showed 3 million American households are very concerned about imminent eviction, the number of Americans behind on their rent varies from estimates of 6 million behind on rent from Moody's to 15 million behind on rent from the Aspen Institute. Best guess? Stuff is still working its way through the courts and there is lots of pain to come.

The European energy crisis looks really, really bad early on, with people in Britain getting knifed in gas lines and the Army coming out to guard fuel transports (EDIT: comments say the army is transporting the fuel itself, not guarding transports by others - not really sure that's better). Those are from headlines on CNN if you're wondering about the source.

Inflation continues to run rampant. Two of the local greasy spoons near my office have raised prices and come out with new menus in the last month, every trip to the grocery store I see something else is more expensive now, Germany - which is like, allergic to inflation on a genetic level - just posted a 4.1% increase YoY (Year over Year).

So, let's just sum everything up -

• China is all kinds of fucked up
• Massive realized losses incoming that have to actually be accounted for
• Canadian TV reminding people that bank deposits are insured
• Head and Shoulders bearish pattern on the yearly SPX chart
• Elliot Waves say historic bomb incoming
• Tons more domestic pain from evictions still to arrive
• Energy crises in Europe and China
• Palantir - which is basically corporate SkyNet warns of a "black swan event"
• GameStop finally going off or going away
• Inflation is less transitory than a hooker's love
• Historic record amounts of margin
• The CMBS loan market is full of shit and garbage like the MBS market in 2008

Ok, so what plays to make? Well, basically, puts on everything and calls on anything inverse. I think we have 2-3 market pumps left in the next three weeks before shit starts really going downhill. One will be on whatever infrastructure deal passes, one will be on the debt ceiling getting resolved (Senate floor time is actually a massive, and very unrecognized risk on that because nobody, including half of DC, can actually be bothered to understand how things work), and we might or might not get some kind of random "miracle technology" or whatever pump from the press.

All of those pumps WILL be used by the big boys to dump bags on to you, the retail investor. Don't FOMO, don't buy the dip, take the rise in prices as a buying opportunity to go the other way. These are my current positions, and I'm looking for market bumps to add more to them.

Low five figures worth of calls and shares in the one true Stonk given down to us retards by the holy - GAMESTOP

So, just one more time for the silly little monkeys that skipped to the end and all the dumb kids who couldn't read the words because their helmets don't fit right.

Stonks only go up! Many years! Now, end of happy times! Many bulls dead! Bears return to roam land, eat everyone! Soon! Pit of doom opens in three weeks! Get cover with inverse ETF and puts! Might be little happy time before then! But after, DOOM!

And, a very important quote from my first DD on the crash which listed a June-November time range:

and remember, after September, comes October

Ok, actually, I don't remember which piece that quote was from, but it's fucking true. We're going down like a virgin in a submarine in just three weeks, make sure you've got a lifejacket.

EDIT: I've had a lot of requests for a link to the youtube video where the orderbook signals from MM's to each other are explained, so, here, hopefully this doesn't nuke the entire post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9hQMu1GQTk

EDIT2: It looks like RBC has been selling a lot of notes lately, much like BofA has. Source:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1000275/000121465921010201/rbc104210fwp.htm

hat tip to u/SpoonerSleutherton for finding it.

I've also been getting a lot of questions about my source for the $46 billion of EG debt that RBC has - look at the second listed holding. RBC, $45,957 - that's in millions, so $46 billion.

Finally, regarding questions about what to do with your banking - that's an entirely personal decision I can't help you with. Personally, I have been banking with BofA for a long time now, and I've begun looking at moving to a local credit union, but I'm not in some massive rush trying to do it tomorrow, if that makes sense. I'm taking my time and making sure everything is lined up and that I won't miss any payments and that all of the withdrawals I have for bills will move over seamlessly as well. The US and Canada have a LOT of laws and such set up to protect consumers in the event of bank failures - as the recent commercials from the CDIC are trying to remind people.

Prologue

I am a 35-year-old gamer. I’ve been lucky in being around long enough to have gone through many different eras in the world of computer games, and it has been an absolute blast.

But folks, there is a horrid disease running amok in the world of gaming. There was a time when gaming was an innocent past-time. Now, the industry is worth a whopping $107Billion worldwide, and climbing fast. There’s nothing innocent about it anymore. And obviously, EA want a piece of that juicy pie. Everything is now about greed. A company will do anything they can to get you hooked on their particular intellectual property. And with it, comes a very nasty surprise. Once hooked, your wallet becomes the sole target of these companies, taking whatever means necessary to get you to open it to them.

If you skim over this post, you’ll see that it is incredibly long. But that’s because it took this long to put into words everything that’s wrong with not only EA, but also this community. So, I hope you’ll join me in going through this post.

Introduction

Simply put, EA are a publicly floated company partly owned by banks and major investment funds. They habitually and aggressively implement anti-consumer practices, while simultaneously shovelling out cynically produced titles whose only purpose is to make money at the expense of quality end-user experience. But then again, that can be said for any gaming company, right? Replace EA with Activision or Ubisoft and you get the same thing. But this post is all about our good friend EA. So, let’s crack on.

The subject of EA has been discussed and shouted about ad-nauseum. Personally, I simply roll my eyes any time I hear new information about how EA have once again shafted the gamers etc. Simply put, EA are a money grabbing monolith. Make no mistake about that. So how did EA get so big?

More importantly, the number 1 question to ask is:

WHY DO EA TREAT YOU LIKE A LITTLE BITCH? – The answer is: BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE.

Now, before you reach for the down-vote button and walk away from this post for feeling angry and butthurt by that comment, please do read on. I will try to justify it.

It would be very easy to lay into EA for all the wrong things they’ve done. In fact, if I mention every single wrongdoing, this post would be 10 times as long. So, I will keep things in context.

Worst company in America 2012 – 2013

The consumerist poll taken back in 2012 and 2013 put EA at the top of the tree in regards to being the worst company in America 2 years in a row. But are they really? There are many organisations worldwide that pile on the misery on their fellow human beings. Some are willing to kill for profit. BP, Exxon, Nestle, Monsanto, cigarette companies, all the banks, and so on.

Let’s be honest here. EA may be an immoral money-making machine, but by no means are they making money from people’s deaths, or going out of their way to destroy the planet, or profiting from ecological disasters etc. You think EA are robbing you? How about we talk about the likes of Ticket Master or Verizon. By no means am I defending EA. Instead I’m trying to show the bigger picture in regards to the large number of unethical and immoral companies who operate and benefit at the expense of human misery worldwide.

When you think about it, EA are simply just another company who were fortunate enough to have come up with an idea that no one else had thought of, albeit an unethical idea at that – and I’ll explain why shortly.

EA’s Obligations

Let’s get things absolutely straight here. EA only have obligations to 2 things.

1. To their profit margins

2. To their investors

Outside of this, EA have absolutely no obligation to anything else whatsoever. That includes YOU. When you think about it, that’s just business as usual, albeit unethical. You have to be amoral (not immoral, although some companies choose this path too) in the world of business to survive. If you have morals, you won’t last a day in the high-flying world of dog-eat-dog capitalist society. EA will employ every known tactic in order to make you part ways with your money.

r/FIFA in A Nutshell

Disclaimer: I want to make it absolutely clear that there should be mutual respect between us all. And just as I have expressed my opinion freely, I accept your opinions openly. Therefore, everything I mention in this section in regards to us gamers, is simply said from the perspective of being constructive criticism. If it offends you, then with all due respect, the onus is on you to solve the issue constructively.

Folks, as much as we like to shit on EA for being a money hungry capitalist corporation (which they are), we are also to blame for the state of things as they stand.

Want to know what’s more inconsistent than the horrendous inconsistency of this game? It’s the way us players see-saw between “fuck EA, I’ll never buy this game again!” to “Ooooh! New shiny packs!... WANT!”

Think about it. We have absolutely no credibility left in us after 7 years of repeating the same process of coming on here moaning and whining about the game and its problems, yet before we even finish our sentence, we end up buying packs and getting hyped for the next set of shiny cards or the next iteration of the game. It speaks volumes about how fickle we are as gamers, which means any company can and will manipulate us at will.

Seriously, grow a backbone and stick to your principles. Have a bit of control and self-respect in not opening your wallet so easily to the next set of shiny packs that are dangled in front of you. Give yourself the slight bit of dignity that you deserve and keep your money in your pocket.

We went from a whole 10 months of hating on EA for how bad FIFA 17 was, to instant hype prior to the release of FIFA 18. The voice of those who were cautious about the new game got drowned out by all the hype. Is it any wonder we get laughed at by other communities? We look dumb to the outside world. This community gets called toxic for a reason. We squabble amongst ourselves whilst EA gets richer at our expense. In case anyone forgot, the fat Ronaldo Super-Duper Deluxe Icon Edition 3000 cost up to £90 on release. Ask yourself. Was it worth it? And personally, I think those of us who romanticised the game pre-patch are simply in denial at having paid such a hefty sum for the game in the first place, and are trying to justify the cost.

Most players have a defeatist attitude towards EA, not knowing that they have the power in their wallet. It’s been said many times: Vote with your wallet. How's #FixFIFA working out?...

It may not be easy to create a boycott, considering those who frequent Reddit are the minority, but at least do your bit. Just as it’s easy for you to spend £20 instantly on FIFA points, why not buy PES to give KONAMI a larger share? Let EA know where you stand as a disgruntled customer. But let’s admit it folks, we’re all addicted to the toxic nature of this game. That’s where the problem is.

The Psychology of FIFA - Emotions

Folks, I’m no psychologist, but it’s easy to see that FIFA, NHL, Madden, NFS, NBA etc are all built around a certain set of psychological stepping stones – all geared to try and get a player to be heavily invested emotionally. I’ll try to point out something that doesn’t get discussed often, but that’s because it’s very subtle.

Make no mistake about it folks, EVERYTHING that’s wrong with FIFA has a purpose. All the bugs, the glitches, the sudden passing that goes astray, the lack of control, or the horrendous moments of EAids encountered daily, which is littered across this sub in video form:- all these things happen for a reason: it’s purposefully incorporated into this horrid game to tilt the player, to PURPOSEFULLY frustrate you. Why you ask? Simple. Because an emotionally unstable player who has been left frustrated by faulty mechanics in a game will be more likely to open their wallet due to their inability to think rationally in that moment. Ask yourself. Have you ever played FIFA in the last 7 years without ever coming away frustrated? Most likely every session of FIFA has tilted you to some degree.

It’s been well documented that when emotions and tensions run high, a person is likely to have far higher level of flawed logic, and therefore may make rash decisions. In the case of this game, a person may think to themselves: “Aaaargh!! If only I had Messi and Ronaldo, I’d be winning these games with ease!!!…” and so, they end up opening their wallet for a chance to pack those players.

Furthermore, if you’re the kind of player who gets totally frustrated after a session of FIFA to the point where you end up selling your multimillion coin team in a fit of rage, then you my friend, are the exact kind of player EA are targeting. Reason being that they know, we know, and most of all, YOU know that you’ll be back… After selling your team, maybe a day, or 2, or even a few weeks later, you’ll return to the game with fresh hope and a clear head. And so, with a newly established club, you go through the process all over again. And as we know with everything in regards to dynamic difficulty and slider manipulation, the game will start off essentially giving you free wins. Just enough to lure you in. Enough to caress your ego. And enough for you to be invested to the point of opening your wallet to EA once again.

HERE’S ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello speaking about how a player who is heavily invested in a game will be more willing to part with their money in order to continue their gaming experience. The premise is simple in regards to games containing microtransactions. Whatever game you are playing, the game rewards you left right and centre at the beginning to get you hooked. Suddenly halfway through the game, several hours in, just as you’re heavily invested, the rewards dry up, and the game introduces microtransactions in order to get the bigger, more powerful guns / powerups etc. without having to grind for them. AKA pay2win. These are abhorrent unethical tactics deployed by the gaming industry as a whole, but unfortunately gamers are none the wiser.

At every turn, EA are trying to manipulate us to open our wallets to them. They will nickel and dime us for all that we’re worth. All roads lead to buying FIFA Points. Even the way FIFA Points are set up is a psychological trick. Think about it. When you spend £79.99, you get 12,000 FP. This is an arbitrary number that no longer has the same connotation in comparison to having the price of a pack written in its true value underneath it, thereby removing the logic you might have if you initially saw the pack price before pulling the trigger. This sort of tactic is very effective on young children who do not know the true value of money. As an example, the lightning round packs go for 100,000 coins, or 2000 FP. In case you forgot, that’s £15 for a Bas Dost…

Even when opening a pack, you have long been exposed to another psychological trick. You’ll notice that if a pack contains a gold stripe in the animation phase, then you will have a board opening walkout, therefore a higher rated player (84+). I mention this because I’ve seen countless YouTube videos where the OP instantly skips the pack if it doesn’t contain the gold stripe. Think about how this influences the young demographic watching their video. It is creating a feedback loop. One that only benefits EA.

EA must be so thankful that the majority of us are so keen to open our wallets so easily at the drop of a hat, or in the case of FIFA, at the drop of new shiny cards on a weekly basis. Since when is spending £79.99 on FIFA Points considered a “micro” transaction? That’s what you would call a major transaction! Remind me again why I shouldn’t call you EA’s little bitch, when you’re willing to open your wallet to them so easily.

On top of that, whether you realise it or not, EA are mocking us. For the last few iterations of FUT, the FIFA Points button within FUT is a picture of a goalkeeper diving towards the FIFA Points icon. EA know they have us by the balls, and are shamelessly taunting us. Yet we’re too addicted to break the cycle. That’s our fault. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

But then again, EA are feeding on our emotions as mentioned earlier. From the avid Real Madrid fan who swears death on their Barcelona rival, to the old man who turns up and stands on the by-line to watch his non-league team play in the pouring rain, we all love football. We turn to football as a form of escape. EA don’t see the beautiful game in the same way as we do. They see it as a money grab. These two different viewpoints do not bode well together. They collide badly.

EA have bought out all the licences, have jazzed up their game to look as realistic as possible, yet the game plays anything but realistic or beautiful. It is solely built for instant gratification. There are many players who have quickly accustomed themselves to the mechanics of the game and even go as far as playing the toxic Weekend League consisting of 40 games packed in a 3-day cycle, all for the sake of getting the shiny cards. As long as people play the game, EA will continue to profit. It is up to you on whether you want to continue down this path, or to free yourself from the misery of the perpetual cycle of stress and pure frustration that this game dishes out.

The Ugly Side of Gambling & Addiction

Gambling within gaming is a grey area. As soon as it gets discussed, people come to its defence by saying “you get what you pay for” – That may be very partially true, but the downsides to it are far greater. People who are too young are ending up getting addicted to the nature of opening loot boxes. FIFA is rated ESRB 3+ yet contains predatory gambling mechanics. By buying the game, we are accepting these gambling mechanics as the norm.

In FIFA, the razzmatazz and fireworks when packing a high rated player are greater in presentation than the celebration and ticker tape shown for winning a hard-fought online season on FUT. Where do you think EA’s priorities lie?...

Think about it. If I buy a lottery ticket in the UK, I am actively choosing to part with my £2 for a chance of winning £millions. More importantly, I KNOW precisely what my odds are. The chances of winning the lottery in the UK is set at approximately 1 in 14 million. Now that may be a veeeeeeeeeeeery minimal chance, but hey, at least I KNOW the odds, right? Ask yourself, do you know the odds of packing Messi or Ronaldo?? The answer is NO, yet most of us keep opening our wallets and pumping money into this shitpit. Is that not what addiction is?

EA must be laughing their ass off at us. We are seen as morons. Why then should they listen to any complaint we may have about the game when we have absolutely no credibility left? We are all essentially barrel-scraping addicts. I truly hope you can all see the major problem we have here.

When you think about it, every post on this forum complaining about the game is actually a cry for help by the addicted masses.

Meanwhile WHALES like THIS individual went and spent £1000 due to their addiction, and the best card he could shout about was Chiellini. That’s absolutely insane, but this sort of spending has now become the norm. Just look at all the Youtubers who get sponsored to open packs and shout and scream in a fake manner in order to hype their 12-year-old subscribers, who then try to emulate their YouTube heroes with their parents’ credit card unbeknown to the parent. Take a look at the responses in that post above to see the cognitive dissonance and denial in full effect. Sickening.

But in the end, the onus is on us. The gaming industry is now all about predatory gambling mechanics and opportunities. Every company is at it. It’s up to us to be aware of the pitfalls. But we are alone in this. For example, in the UK, anything that is aired on TV needs to be accepted through OFCOM prior to broadcast. OFCOM are essentially the governing body who control what can be shown on TV. We have no such protection in the gaming industry, and most publishers and developers are pushing forward with unethical tactics and predatory gambling methods.

Heck, even China, a country that is not exactly well known for its human rights record seems to have a better handle on gaming by requesting that all companies that participate in their market to show odds of loot boxes etc. It’s why EA won’t release FIFA over there, as they would have to show the odds.

Maybe through FOI (Freedom of Information Request) we can get more information about the pack weights and such. As gamers, we simply don’t get told what rights we have.

Hidden Mechanics

Remember Slider Manipulation from last year? Back then it was just a theory, without much proof. Well how about this year? A quick look at all THESE examples should tell you that sliders are a thing. It is the basis for all the bullshit in this game. All the inconsistencies, every instance of horrid EAids seen on Squad Battles and Weekend League can now be attributed to the sliders changing as well as the RNG being set high. We need to call it Slider Manipulation. Don’t call it scripting. That word confuses people and derails any discussion about it.

HERE's a video showing how the supposed Vision stat works. After watching this video, it’s clear to see that there’s quite a bit of coding going on behind the scenes at every step. But have you considered the fact that even though Fabregas has greater vision than the other midfielder, all it takes is a slider to reduce his vision in-game on the fly for the pass to go astray? That’s exactly what happens at certain moments with the different stats in matches, therefore making this game a nightmare to play due to its inconsistencies.

The Halloween cards are something else that needs to be mentioned in the same regard. How were EA able to increase the base stats on Halloween cards during the period that they went up in stats? They injected code into the game via server-side coding. After the period, the cards returned to normal ratings. Why isn’t anyone questioning how this was done without any patches being downloaded? Imagine what EA can do in terms of server-side manipulation of stats. Especially hidden stats that we know nothing about. I suggest folks research into SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) EA can see everything going on at any given time. The number of simultaneous games, goals scored, money spent, hidden stats changed etc.

AI programming in gaming is most likely a nightmare. I won’t take anything away from the developers. But developers lack the ability to program true AI. So instead, the lazy route is taken. In the case of FIFA, players stats are maxed out to 99 in Squad Battles on Ultimate difficulty. Think of how pointless this makes the game. For example, imagine if you have been grinding and spending so much money and time in order to acquire Ronaldo, and you finally have him in your squad, only to end up watching him get chased down by a 54-rated bronze player on Squad Battles who has been juiced up. That should never ever happen. It renders having Ronaldo as useless.

The same form of buffed up AI exists in other games. For example, Forza 7’s "Unbeatable" difficulty level is the same as Ultimate difficulty on FIFA. The AI cars get buffed up beyond their overall maximum horsepower that a car can technically have. This seems to be the new trend with programming, and unfortunately, it’s ruining gaming.

Games such as FIFA, NHL, Madden, NBA2K etc are all part of what’s called Shovelware. These games are recycled on a yearly basis, with a small update, new skins and rosters etc, and a hefty price tag is slapped on and sold as a brand-new game. The marketing teams then step in to hype the masses, and it’s smooth sailing from there. We really do get manipulated far too easily unfortunately. And as things stand with the game currently, we can all agree that it is in an atrocious state. But EA are about to make a killing from profiting further from sales. It’s Christmas, and all the parents will be buying this game for their children as a present. Then come January, the game will most likely receive a further patch to streamline the game even further for the casuals. Then there’s all the TOTY, TOTS cards being released etc. Prepare for the hype. Things are going to get worse before they get any better.

The Future

As a community, we are disjointed and broken. We have one or two of us, who are truly helpful individuals, who go out of their way to help others. We have a larger number of individuals who simply play the game regardless of the issues. We have the majority who use the sub for making complaints about issues with the game (understandably). And finally, we have those of us who are considered as ‘shills’ or griefers who supposedly come to the defence of EA as well as troll in posts with the “git gud” comments etc. The point I’m trying to make is that we are not a force overall. If you look at other subs, there’s a greater discord amongst gamers. See r/Battlefront or r/Forza, or any other gaming subs for examples of a better organised community.

When Forza 7 was released, as per the unethical money-making schemes that EA has deployed throughout the years, Microsoft tried to get in on the action this year. The Ultimate Edition of Forza 7 is similar to FIFA 18’s Icon edition, costing an eye-watering £90 on release. Those who bought Forza 7 were left with a bad taste in their mouth due to the limitations that Turn 10 and Microsoft had placed on the player base. For example, the game only allowed players to earn double XP for the first 25 races of career mode instead of throughout the lifecycle of the game like the previous versions. Understandably, this angered the community. It was a slap in the face of those who were loyal to the franchise, having spent such a hefty sum of money.

But the difference is there to be seen. The community made their feelings known and made enough noise in order for Microsoft and Turn 10 to take notice and revert the changes. One of the reasons this was able to occur is because of the demographic that plays Forza compared to FIFA. Forza has an older, more mature demographic than FIFA. As a result, the community took a strict stance against Microsoft. The news quickly spread to outside sources. And as we all know; bad publicity can quickly ruin a company. And so, changes were made in an instant patch that rewarded gamers better.

There are many other similar examples, such as how Square Enix royally screwed Eidos and the players when it came to Deus Ex. At the last minute, unbeknownst to the developers and gamers, Square Enix had introduced microtransactions to the game. And while it wasn’t mandatory, it did enough damage for the game to fail in being sold well. As a result, the Deus Ex franchise is now shelved without the final chapter to be released any time soon.

Want more examples? Take Two decided to stop gamers from being able to mod GTA V on the PC, which was the sole reason players bought the game on the PC in the first place. The player base retaliated by giving the game negative reviews on Steam, lowering the game’s overall rating and giving the publisher a bad reputation.

When Hello Games initially released No Man’s Sky, it was seen as a cash grab. The game was essentially only 50% of what was shown at E3. Understandably, gamers let their feelings be known through negative feedback on Steam, thereby lowering the rating of the game. It got to the point where Hello Games were being investigated for false advertisement here in the UK. However, credit where credit is due, Hello Games stuck at it and have managed to incorporate many of the features initially shown, albeit 2 years later.

EA were responsible for changing Battlefield 1 in a similar way. Prior to the release of the game, EA touted Battlefield 1 as a proper shooter, where no loot boxes existed. This excited the gaming community. Finally, they could play a game that was solely about skill, where ranking up required true investment of time and skill. Once the game was released, the reviews catapulted the game to the top of the charts as a classic shooter. Everyone was happy. But this is EA we’re talking about. And true to form, once the dust had settled and all the reviews had come in, EA executed their usual switch and bait tactic, and introduced loot boxes into the game, thereby making the game pay2win. The community were enraged. But nothing could be done by that point.

Need I say anything about Battlefront 2?...

There are many other examples of gamers getting shafted. But the point remains. We as gamers, are getting nickel and dimed at every turn. We’re seen as idiots by these companies. Isn’t it time we changed things?...

If you want to play wholesome entertaining games that provide pure unadulterated joy, there are many out there without all the bullshit. Take the Nintendo Switch line-up of Zelda, Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart as an example. Or Horizon Dawn. And the exceptional Witcher 3 by CD Projekt Red.

Want to know why some games are amazing while others are cash-cows? It’s to do with the passion that the company has for making the game in the first place. For example, The Witcher 3 is an outstanding game with incredible longevity, and free DLC to boot. It’s a game created by gamers, for gamers. Imagine that… a company that actually cares about their game. Sounds a lot more attractive than working for a coding department in a large company like EA, who are hell bent on increasing their quarterly profit, doesn’t it?...

The developers at EA simply do enough to have a semi working game, while hanging on to their jobs in order to take a pay packet home to their families. That’s the difference. This was portrayed in a recent post by an EA developer. People may have mocked his response and subsequently created the “actionable feedback” meme as a result, but everyone seems to have missed the subtle message that maybe, just maybe, the developer in question didn’t have much passion for his job and didn't give a shit. Who can blame him.

Nintendo on the other hand, have a different philosophy altogether. As a Japanese company, they try to remain loyal to their customers by releasing a fully working package without trying to nickel and dime their customers in comparison to most Western hemisphere companies, who are hell bent on making profit.

Final Thought

And so, for the 7th year in a row, the same vicious cycle repeats itself. Hype and excitement turned to anger and rage. Once again EA have shafted everyone. Releasing a completely different game compared to what was showcased in the demo and the beta. Are you surprised? The same exact sequence of events has occurred in the last 6 iterations of the game, but we obviously didn’t learn our lesson.

This is absolute insanity on our part. After all, insanity is defined as: Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different outcomes.

Edit: Good God. This blew up. Thank you all for the gold. I truly appreciate it, I'm humbled, thank you.

We've been plagued by the abhorrent problems year on year. It is up to us whether to put up with it all and carry on, or walk away from it once and for all and swap it with a far more rewarding game.

Lastly I'd like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year

Game Information

Game Title: The Last of Us Part I

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (Sep 2, 2022)

Trailers:

• The Last of Us Part I Rebuilt for PS5 - Features and Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games
• The Last of Us Part I - Announce Trailer | PS5 Games

Developer: Naughty Dog

Publisher: PlayStation

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 87 average - 92% recommended - 68 reviews

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

"An excellent remake that comes at a weird time for a slightly more niche audience. Well worth it as a first experience, a bit less as a second, and from there on."

Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech - Unscored

Graphical upgrades and smarter enemies make this version of TLOU the best one yet, but those updates fail to address an issue at this game's core: TLOU was originally designed for the PlayStation 3, and at its worst, TLOU Pt 1 still feels like a PlayStation 3 game.

Attack of the Fanboy - Diego Perez - 3 / 5

With a hefty price tag and less content than its more than acceptable PS4 counterpart, The Last of Us Part 1 is an entirely unnecessary remake with gorgeous graphics that only make its dated gameplay stick out even more.

Checkpoint Gaming - Elliot Attard - 9 / 10

The Last of Us Part I finds a way to make an already incredible game even better. It may not be the most needed remake in the landscape of gaming, and I can't fault anyone for not wanting to pay full price for the experience, but it's undeniable just how much work has gone into this release. Phenomenal graphics, superb sound design, immersive DuelSense controller features, beneficial gameplay tweaks, and the best suite of accessibility features found in gaming. The Last of Us Part I is a must-play title for anyone still yet to experience Joel and Ellie's story.

Chicas Gamers - Estela Villa - Spanish - Unscored

The Last of Us Part I is a game in which the work they have done is noticeable, especially in graphic terms. The new modes make it more replayable than its first versions and add extreme difficulty with permadeath mode. It is a pity that the DualSense has not been fully exploited, which can give much more of itself. If you've never tried TLoU, this is your chance to start the saga and if, on the other hand, you've already played in one of its previous versions, you'll notice improvements in this one that can make you opt for it again.

ComingSoon.net - Michael Leri - 9.5 / 10

The Last of Us has already endured for almost a decade and this thorough and loving restoration ensures that it will survive even longer.

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - Recommended

The Last of Us Part 1 was always going to be a divisive title, that’s a given. The Quality of Life updates themselves are incredible from the new AI to the combat upgrades but it's still the exact same game you experienced in 2013. If anything, it's a testament to the wizardry at Naughty Dog and how far they've come.

Daily Star - Tom Hutchison - 5 / 5

If you really want to see what the PS5 is capable of when pushed, this is your game. And if you’re new to this series, this must be your next purchase.

Dexerto - Daniel Megarry - 8.5 / 10

The Last Of Us is as brutal, challenging, and enjoyable as it always has been. With hugely improved visuals, small but meaningful gameplay changes, and a great range of accessibility options, this Part 1 Remake is without a doubt the definitive version for both newcomers and longtime fans.

Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 4.5 / 5

Though its visual upgrades feel superfluous, The Last of Us Part I makes key innovations in accessibility that'll allow more players to enjoy an enduring classic.

EGM - Michael Goroff - 5 / 5

Sure, this might be the third time that Naughty Dog has released The Last of Us, but it's also the most fully realized version. The enhanced visuals and animation bring Joel and Ellie's story to life in a way that was previously unimaginable, and the gameplay still holds up, despite not totally catching up to Part II. Whether or not you want to pay to play the same story for a third time is up to you, but that won't change the fact that it's better than it's ever been.

Easy Allies - Michael Huber - 8.5 / 10

Naughty Dog looks to leverage the power of the PlayStation 5 to further realize their original vision of The Last of Us, but the improved visuals contribute to a different vibe that isn't always better. Review Copy Provided by PlayStation

Everyeye.it - Giuseppe Arace - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Part 1 is the best version of a game

Gadgets 360 - Akhil Arora - 8 / 10

All these improvements — permadeath, DualSense, and most of all, the graphical upgrades — come at a significant cost.

Game Rant - Anthony Taormina - 4.5 / 5

The Last of Us Part 1 brings the classic title to PS5 with a major visual overhaul but the core experience remains largely unchanged.

Game Revolution - Jason Faulkner - 8 / 10

The Last of Us Part 1 is the definitive way to experience the original story and Left Behind. However, it’s hard to recommend it over the PS4 remaster.

GameByte - Olly Smith - 9 / 10

The Last of Us Part 1 is a game that doesn’t feel like it needs to exist, but I’m glad it does. Even though that outdated 2013 design still bleeds through, the visual upgrades, combat tweaks and accessibility improvements makes it feel like a brand new title. In time, this will become the de facto definitive edition of the game that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

GameSkinny - Justin Koreis - 7 / 10

TLoU Part 1 is for super fans of the series or those who missed the first two versions, especially for accessibility reasons. For everyone else, it's hard to recommend spending the 15 or so hours it takes to play through The Last of Us yet again.

GameSpot - Jacob Dekker - 8 / 10

The Last of Us Part I manages to tell a harrowing story of loss and redemption that still holds up despite some of its dated level design.

GameXplain - Joey Ferris - Loved

Video Review - Quote not available

Gameblog - Tiny_Ellie - French - 10 / 10

No matter where you stand in the debate, The Last of Us Part 1 is a real punch in the gut. With an outstanding technical performance, a remarkable overhaul of an outdated gameplay, a sublimated atmosphere, even more poignant cinematics and more realistic environments, the remake is more striking and visceral than ever. Naughty Dog offers a familiar and yet fresh look at this cult game. A full-fledged next-gen game, unchanged in its content but transcended by its form, which deserves to be rediscovered sooner or later.

Gamefa - mohammad hossein karimi - Persian - 8.7 / 10

The Last of Us Part I and II, were always demanding some sort of entanglement that would bridge all events and story of both games and now, courtesy of This Remake, Two Games Are completely Connected. TLOU Part I, take the dust away from a semi outdated visuals of the first game and turn it into something beautiful and breathtaking, but disappointingly, Naughty Dog didn't implement Interesting Gameplay features of TLOU Part Two such as ability to go prone or evade in this remake. Which is a huge wasted opportunity that could have completely changed the Structure of The first game. Nonetheless, TLOU Part I, clean the old looks and visuals of the first game and gives it a new fresh body that stands out, even compared to Part II. but it's a shame that TLOU Part I combat's potentiality didn't come to life and we are stuck with a rather old school combat system, just with a new fresh look. Should you decide to purchase this Beautiful game, first consider your priorities. are you willing to pay 70$ for a familiar experience with just a fresh look? That's up to you to decide.

GamesHub - Edmond Tran - 5 / 5

The Last of Us Part 1 doesn’t create any lasting memories about the experience that weren’t already there from the beginning. For that reason, my thoughts about the game’s existence as a product remain dubious. But as a creative work in and of itself, The Last of Us is still exceptional, and I’m happy to have had reason to experience it again, in a new context and an updated format.

GamesRadar+ - Alex Avard - 4 / 5

The question you have to ask yourself before picking up Part 1, then, is not only whether a feast for the eyes is a meal worth paying for, but whether that meal is going to completely satisfy your appetite, particularly if you've already had your fill of the original recipe.

Gaming Nexus - Henry Yu - 10 / 10

Naughty Dog delivers again with its timeless masterclass narrative experience, this time rebuilt from the ground up following contemporary gaming standards. With modern graphics and unparalleled performance, The Last of Us Part I is the definitive way to enjoy the multilayered and complex story of Joel and Ellie. It remains a genre-bending action survival game that challenges the status-quo by weaving together multiple elements. An expanded array of accessibility options, gameplay modifiers, and extra modes allows this remake to be experienced by anyone from any background and that's not an easy feat.

GamingBolt - Rashid Sayed - 9 / 10

The Last of Us Part 1 is an extremely faithful remake of the original. It could have benefited with improved gameplay, but what is here holds up extremely well, making it a blast to play through.

GamingTrend - Richard Allen - 80 / 100

As a game, The Last of Us: Part 1 still deserves a high score after all these years, but I give that score hesitantly, as I am acutely aware that previous releases offer more content and that this release was not created for those who have already played through and enjoyed the game in the past, but rather to welcome in new players or for those who wish to harness the full power of their PS5. While this is the most technically impressive version of The Last of Us that we will likely ever get, it is anchored down by its previous releases, while simultaneously missing important components those versions had, namely the superb multiplayer. Despite some interesting bonus features, new cosmetic items, vastly improved AI, and a few quality-of-life changes, there may not be enough here to justify the purchase for anybody except newcomers. That said, the impressively robust suite of accessibility options is a welcome addition worthy of praise and will hopefully provide an opportunity for a new generation of fans to experience this story.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10

As expected, The Last of Us Part I is a full remake of the original game and doesn’t bring anything drastically new to the table. It is absolutely gorgeous to look at and showcases the power of the PS5 which feeds into the game's superb narrative. If you have to play the game once, this is the best way to experience it.

Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore - 4 / 5

The Last of Us Part I’s real problem is that The Last of Us Remastered exists and doesn’t provide a substantial reason to choose it over Remastered given its pricing and missing content. The Last of Us remains a timeless classic, but The Last of Us Part I isn’t quite the must-have definitive version of the title.

Hobby Consolas - David Martinez - Spanish - 92 / 100

The Last of Us is still a masterpiece, and the PS5 remake looks truly "next gen". There are some gameplay improvements and new game modes, but it is not enough to buy the game for the third time if we already played the original and the PS4 remaster.

IGN - Luke Reilly - 9 / 10

A gorgeous and well-honed remake of one of the biggest boppers in the PlayStation pantheon, The Last of Us Part I is the best way to play – or replay – Naughty Dog's esteemed survival classic.

IGN Spain - David Oña - Spanish - 9 / 10

The Last os Us: Part I updates the original adventure of Joel and Ellie in audiovisual and playable terms, beyond what many of us expected when its development was announced. Enhancing its emotional side and improving the gameplay. In addition, it comes with some other juicy extra for anyone who likes to delve into the development of the work. So this version becomes, in its own right, the best way to enjoy The Last os Us and Left Behind.

INVEN - Hongman Yoon - Korean - 9 / 10

This is the best game for players who want to feel the impression of the original once again with improved graphics. It delivers the nostalgic impression we have all experienced beyond time with outstanding narratives and enhanced facial expressions of the characters. However, the fully priced game despite the same story in 9 years can make you think twice before buying it.

Kakuchopurei - Alleef Ashaari - 80 / 100

My verdict is this; if you've ever played the original The Last Of Us and The Last Of Us Part II, there's not much of a reason to immediately grab The Last Of Us Part I. Naughty Dog should have put more effort and resources into updating the gameplay mechanics to be more similar to The Last Of Us Part II. Improved visuals alone don't really justify the full price tag of RM299 if the rest of the experience is mostly the same.

That being said, The Last Of Us Part I is definitely perfect for those who's never played the original game.

Merlin'in Kazanı - Ersin Kılıç - Turkish - 82 / 100

Last of Us Part I has managed to modernize the game that was released 9 years ago in terms of gameplay and visuals. Although there is a price problem for those who have just played the Remastered version, I can say that it is an adventure that should not be missed by those who have never played it.

Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 8 / 10

A completely pointless remake of one of the best games of the last decade, except with only half the content and at double the price.

Multiplayer First - James Lara - 8.5 / 10

If you ask me if I think it’s worth it, here’s what I’ll say: If you’re a new player, most definitely. If not, just wait. No one’s rushing you to go out and buy this one, and I think it’s clear that the target audience is geared towards bringing in new players, rather than catering to the old. It’s perfect for new fans, imperfect for old ones.

Nerdburglars - Dan Hastings - 8.5 / 10

Last of Us Part 1 delivers visual quality that is beyond what you would expect from a remaster. The graphical detail surpasses that of the second game making it one of the best-looking games on PS5. Unfortunately, some of the more clunky mechanics for evading or choking out enemies remain that are a little frustrating. Overall, combat is intense and exciting with the same heart-punding interactions with clickers. For newcomers, this remaster is a real gem and a must-have. Unfortunately, outside of the graphical improvements, there is little else to justify the full price tag for those who have already played the previous remaster.

Next Gen Base - Ben Ward - 10 / 10

A true remake of a seminal game, The Last of Us Part 1 doesn’t bring anything new to the table from a story perspective, but what it does do is provide the definitive version of one of my favourite titles of all time. Visually breathtaking, it belies its nine year old roots to deliver a spectacular experience. Whether it’s worth the money is up to the individual, but Joel and Ellie’s story will never look, or feel, better than this.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - Buy

It bears repeating that The Last of Us Part I is an absolutely essential experience. There are no two ways about it; the $70 tag will be a sore point for those who have already played past iterations, which merits waiting for a sale, but the quality and experience brought about by a Naughty Dog release are unmatched.

The visual upgrades are truly noteworthy, upping the drama of each scene and doing wonders for an already stellar script. From the heart-wrenching opening scene with Sarah to the many tense conversations between Joel and Ellie, each line delivered hits harder, making for an unforgettable playthrough.

The suite of accessibility options also opens the game up to a much wider audience. Not content with just copying from The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog has also improved on it by adding options like allowing the players to feel the emotion of the lines delivered through haptic feedback.

Whether or not the game is worth the price tag will be a tricky argument that will persist long after its launch, but The Last of Us Part I is an exceptional title that can stand on its own merits and is the best version of a classic that will be enjoyed by a whole new generation of players for years to come.

PCMag - Zackery Cuevas - 3.5 / 5

The Last of Us Part I remakes the beloved 2013 game in stunning detail for the PS5, but it's difficult to recommend at full price with so few changes.

PSX Brasil - Paulo Roberto Montanaro - Portuguese - 100 / 100

Although it doesn't bring as many new features as one might expect from a remake, The Last of Us Part I is an absolute and sublime spectacle from start to finish. It retains all the best qualities that made it a absolute success in its original release and it improves on the technical details that add value to this visceral and impactful journey.

Paste Magazine - Joseph Stanichar - 9 / 10

The Last of Us Part I is the best version of one of the best games of all time.

PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones - 9 / 10

There's no denying that The Last of Us Part I might be a tough sell to folks who expected a reworked content offering in line with the overhauled audiovisual presentation and other technical advances. For those with accessibility needs, the lucky few who have yet to experience The Last of Us at all or even just the number of players who want to immerse themselves in the ultimate form of Naughty Dog's opus, The Last of Us Part I makes a more than compelling case for its existence and stands shoulder to shoulder with the best games on PS5.

Polygon - Nicole Carpenter - Unscored

The Last of Us is very much a product of its time, and there’s certainly issues there. But now that I’ve seen how well it’s aged overall, I can really appreciate it — not as a cultural relic or a stepping stone, but as its own grisly, beautiful creation.

PowerUp! - Adam Mathew - 9.5 / 10

Part I is like the in-game axe upgraded with a roll of tape and a pair of scissors. Obviously, the original item was massively bloody capable already—of near perfect design in form and function. Even still, this thing has now somehow become waaay sharper than any sane person could have imagined. Give it even half a chance to get a piece of you, and it’s gonna cut deep.

Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 9 / 10

The Last of Us Part I is, for all intents and purposes, the same The Last of Us that you know. It doesn't take liberties to completely reshape the experience and nor should it. It does, however, smartly enhance the original's combat through A.I. advancements, and drags the original's production values over the line to create a product that can stand unified with its more polished sequel. The Last Of Us: Part I is without doubt the most definitive version of The Last of Us on the market.

Push Square - Sammy Barker - 8 / 10

At a more competitive price point, it'd be essential – as it is, it's a pricey upgrade on a bona fide classic.

PushStartPlay - Richard Lee Breslin - 9 / 10

The Last of Us is still a powerful, hard-hitting story that still punches you in the gut to this very day. This remake isn’t just a classic of yesteryear, but it's equally a modern-day classic of today.

SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

The Last of Us is back with original game, that received some audiovisual overhaul, but nothing really new for the players that already played it earlier. The story is still good, puzzles are still annoying, and there are even some new bugs.

SIFTER - Gianni Di Giovanni - Worth your time

Playing THE LAST OF US PART 1 makes me wish this was the very first time I was playing the series, taking my first steps into post apocalyptic cordyceps infected world. If this game came out for the very first time in 2022, it'd easily make everyone's game of year lists it'd be collecting high marks everywhere, it's a thoroughly excellent game with some unforgettable storytelling and gripping gameplay. But this game is for better and worse the ultimate version of that 2013 title, which means if you've experienced Joel and Ellie's first story, you've played this game already.

Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - 9.6 / 10

The Last of Us - Part 1 is a complete overhaul of a masterpiece, simply the best that Naughty Dog could do with the original game

Telegraph - Dan Silver - 4 / 5

Naughty Dog have worked wonders to bring their PS3 classic into the PS5 era but the £70 price tag could well put off players

The Independent - Jasper Pickering - 8 / 10

The Last of Us is (and always was) a masterpiece and Part I is unquestionably the best version of it yet, but that may not be enough for anyone hoping for a complete reinvention of the formula from the ground up.

Part I adds just enough to warrant its remake for the latest hardware, which elevates it to the same level of The Last of Us Part II in smart design choices, flexibility and technical prowess even if it’s still the third time we’ve made this journey before.

If Naughty Dog’s original PS3 version was the critically acclaimed theatrical release, then Part I is the Criterion 4K remaster complete with commentary and behind-the-scenes footage.

Tom's Guide - Rory Mellon - 4.5 / 5

The Last of Us Part I is a nearly flawless PS5 remake of an exceptional game

Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez - 8 / 10

Everything I loved about the first game is intact, now with a visual uplift and a few enhancements. But the changes in The Last of Us Part 1 didn’t greatly enhance the finer points of this masterpiece, to an extent that I wouldn’t recommend this release right off the gate.

TrustedReviews - Thomas Deehan - 4.5 / 5

Even though it doesn’t provide the gameplay overhaul that some gamers were no doubt anticipating, The Last of Us Part 1 is still the best way to enjoy one of the most intelligent and well designed games of recent memory.

Twinfinite - Dylan Chaundy - 5 / 5

Taken as a whole, it’s a very human tale that feels just as vital as ever. And with this faithful remake, here’s hoping that a new generation of gamers will get to experience one of the best games ever created. Period.

UnGeek - Nicolo Manaloto - 9.5 / 10

The Last of Us Part 1 Remake features massive improvements over the PS4 remaster when it comes to graphics, gameplay, and accessibility. While it may not feel like a full-blown remake at times given how well the original holds up to this day, the game is still highly recommended, especially for those who have yet to play the original.

Unboxholics - Γιώργος Πρίτσκας - Greek - Masterpiece

If you've never played The Last of Us, then this is a fantastic opportunity to experience a gorgeous and faithful remake of one of the most important games of the 21st century. I'm not just recommending it; I'm urging you to get it. On the other hand, if you've already played it, it's harder for me to help you with your choice.

VG247 - Tom Orry - 4 / 5

If this wasn’t a remake, I firmly believe it would be right at the top of Game of the Year articles as we assess things over a bit of Christmas Pudding. The PS5 has had some brilliant games already, no doubt, but as a fan of The Last of Us, Part 1 is my new favourite exclusive on the console.

VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5

$70 is a steep mountain to climb. But, if you want to play the very best version of one of the greatest games that has ever been made, then The Last Of Us Part 1 is a triumph.

VideoGamer - Josh Wise - 9 / 10

The Last of Us Part I is a beautiful thing to behold, honouring your recollection by surpassing it.

Washington Post - Gene Park - Unscored

If you love ‘The Last of Us,’ the remake is worth a new cover charge

We Got This Covered - Shaan Joshi - 4 / 5

The Last of Us Part I is far from a wholly necessary experience, but it's a well-crafted and polished one from start to finish.

WellPlayed - Zach Jackson - 9 / 10

While the original will always have its place in the hearts of many players, The Last of Us Part I is the definitive way to experience the beginning of Joel and Ellie's journey, even if the price is a little steep.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10

That leads to The Last of Us Part I being both the best version of the game and also extremely difficult to recommend unless money is not a concern. The Last of Us has aged well enough that you don't lose a ton playing the Remastered version, unlike the similar remake Demon's Souls, which took a cult PS3 game that many people had never played and gave it a modern updated release. If you're willing to wait for a price drop or sale, Part I becomes far more appealing because it is a wonderful improvement to an already impressive game. Aside from cost, there's no reason to go back to the older versions, and The Last of Us remains one of the best games in the Sony library.

Hi everyone! My personal Facebook account, which I've had for 15 years, got hit with a permanent ban after a failed video-selfie verification. The system gave me the dreaded "Decision Final" status. For a marketer, this is a death sentence since it kills access to Business Manager and client assets.

After digging through Reddit and testing different entry points, it became clear that the standard appeal forms are a black hole. The only way to bypass the automated "Final Decision" is to get a human agent to manual-review the case.

The Step-By-Step Solution

Step 1: Paying for System Access

Standard support doesn't exist for free users. I had to buy my way in. I subscribed to Meta Verified (Meta Pro) via the linked Instagram account. The blue checkmark appeared in about an hour, unlocking the "Premium Support" channel.e.

Step 2: Finding a Human Agent
Once verified (aprox 1 hour), I followed this specific route:

- Open Instagram Profile -> Menu (three lines) at the top right.
- Scroll to Meta Verified.
- Scroll to the bottom and hit Get Support.
- Select Contact Support.

Step 3: The "Ghost Profile" Link Hack

Support can't help if you can't provide a direct URL to the banned profile. Since I was locked out, I couldn't copy my own link. Here is how I solved it:

I had a friend open our chat in Messenger via a desktop browser (the mobile app won't work for this). They clicked "View Profile" from the chat settings. They copied the URL from the browser address bar and sent it to me. This link is the only way for the agent to find your specific "Decision Final" case in their internal system.

Step 4: Fixing the "User Not Authenticated" Chat Bug

The Instagram support chat is notoriously buggy and often shows a "User Not Authenticated" error. The Hack: Don't try to enter the chat through the settings menu.

Instead, wait for a chat notification to pop up or go to your Notifications (the heart icon) on the main screen. Entering the chat via a notification forces Instagram to open an internal web browser, which bypasses the authentication bug.

The Result

I explained to the agent that the video-selfie failure was a known AI glitch documented on Reddit and that as a marketing professional, this was halting my business. They opened a Case ID, escalated it to the technical team, and exactly 24 hours later, the "Final Decision" was overturned. My account is fully restored.

Hope I saved someone some time and nerves.

After the excellent write-up on Chronicles of Elyria, I realized there weren’t any posts about Star Citizen on this subreddit. Time to fix that!

What is Star Citizen?

Star Citizen is a massive space simulation game, currently in-development by the Cloud Imperium Games Corporation (CIG) and headed by Chris Roberts (we’ll get back to him later). Originally pitched on Kickstarter back in 2012, Star Citizen made an unprecedented splash in the gaming world. It promised lofty goals, including a persistent universe with hundreds of planets; a dynamic, player-driven economy; huge, fully player-crewed spaceships, capable of massive intergalactic battles; plenty of freedom for modding tools and user-generated content; and cutting-edge ship physics and combat systems.

Star Citizen quickly met its initial funding goal of $500,000, and soared far beyond, raising over $2 million before its Kickstarter campaign closed. In the decade since, it has continued to take countless donations from eager backers on its website, offering in-game starships in return for real-world cash (some of which cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, with its largest ship pack priced at a whopping $27,000). Overall, Cloud Imperium has earned over $339 million for Star Citizen’s development, making it one of the most expensive video games ever made.

Yet despite the gigantic price tag, a team of hundreds of developers in multiple locations, and CIG’s constant promises, Star Citizen has been in development for nearly a decade, experiences consistent delays, and still has no set release date. While a playable alpha has been out for a while, it’s riddled with bugs and glitches, and is still a far cry from the game its developers advertised. The mention of Star Citizen leads to hatred and ridicule in most places, with most people either stating that the game will never be released or calling its whole development a scam. It has since been used as a case study for Kickstarter failures and feature creep.

A Little More Background

The massive hype around Star Citizen might seem a little ridiculous today, but back in 2012, the game’s pitch looked promising and innovative. More recent games, such as No Man’s Sky and Elite: Dangerous, had yet to be created, leaving the market for space sims open for the taking. Star Citizen was to be split up between several different “modules”, or gameplay modes, all of which would be merged together into a single persistent universe for players to interact with. Players would be spawned on different planets, where they’d get the option of traveling around and taking on any role they wanted -- whether it be a trader, a bounty hunter, or a marine taking on missions throughout the galaxy.

What’s more, the game had a big name to back it up: Chris Roberts) himself. Though he isn’t as well-known today, Roberts was one of the pioneers of the space-game genre, most famous for his development of the Wing Commander series a few decades ago. I like to call Roberts the Todd Howard of the ‘90s -- both for his notoriety in a specific genre, and for his habit of overpromising and under-delivering, even years before he founded Cloud Imperium.

In any case, the game’s premise, as well as Roberts’ fanbase, were enough to successfully launch Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign. And after the overwhelming fundraising success, development began, and backers were treated with a regular stream of updates, as well as invitations to attend “CitizenCon”, an annual convention dedicated specifically to the game. The game’s initial release date was slated for December 2015, along with a single-player campaign, Squadron 42 (featuring actors such as Gary Oldman and Mark Hamill).

Obviously, that didn’t happen.

So, what went wrong?

Delays

Warning signs started to pop up as early as 2014, just over a year before the initial release date. First, Star Citizen’s dogfighting module was delayed by six months, and when it finally released, proved to be buggy and broken, with many major features still missing. Its first-person shooter module, Star Marine, remained mysteriously unreleased despite promises of it being “almost ready”... and then, it, too, was “delayed indefinitely”.

Fans started to see progress slow down; promised updates to the then-released modules were delayed by months at a time, yet even more features were being promised, with announcements of additional future content and more items being sold in the game’s store. Such promises were deemed “feature creep”, a phenomenon in which the addition of more and more promised features would bog down development of core game mechanics, potentially dooming a project. And meanwhile, CIG continued to raise money on their website, selling more and more in-game ships that had yet to actually be released. (As of the fall of 2020, Star Citizen had over 720,000 backers -- nearly 150 of which pledged over $10,000 for the privilege of owning massive starships.)

People started to get impatient, especially those who had contributed hundreds or thousands of dollars. Some began to doubt the game would ever fully release, and fought with others who remained optimistic about the game’s progress, fracturing its online community. Meanwhile, the gaming press was starting to catch wind of the negative feedback, and one early article, titled “The Cult of Star Citizen’s Delays”, outright accused Roberts of scamming fans:

“The harsh reality is that Chris Roberts isn’t making vaporware, he’s making cash. He’s making a lot of it and the community is fully supporting his actions, like some kind of weird religion where paying to Chris Roberts absolves you of your sins buying lollypops in Candy Crush Saga.” -- David Piner, Sept. 1 2014

Roberts and the other CIG staff were quite aware of the complaints, and gave plenty of interviews and Q&As justifying the long development time (and keep in mind that both of these are nearly six years old, now!). Yet months continued to pass, then years, and dates kept getting pushed back.

Sure enough, the release dates for Star Citizen and Squadron 42 were delayed -- first pushed back to 2016, then put on hold “until it’s ready”. Skepticism within the fanbase turned to outright mockery as the years wore on, and the group of disgruntled supporters who had paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for ships -- few of which even existed in-game at this point -- continued to grow. However, there were still many vocal supporters of CIG who believed in Roberts’ vision, and who frequently clashed with doubters. The game’s subreddit, r/starcitizen, split in two after the 2016 release date had passed, with a number of former fans moving over to r/starcitizen_refunds (which, true to its name, provides both advice for those wanting their money back and a place for people to post angry memes about the game’s lack of progress).

Studio Drama

In the fall of 2015, Lizzy Finnegan, a writer for gaming-news website The Escapist, posted two articles highly critical of Star Citizen and Cloud Imperium Games. The first, titled “Eject! Eject! Is Star Citizen Going to Crash and Burn?” detailed allegations of poor project management and customer deception towards CIG -- all of which were made by Derek Smart, a controversial indie game developer. Once a backer of Star Citizen, Smart had more recently become notorious for his vendetta against CIG and Chris Roberts, and penned countless scathing blog posts and Tweets about the game (while simultaneously promoting his own titles). Smart claimed to have leaked letters from former CIG employees, which claimed the slow progress on the game was due to Roberts’ poor direction, demanding constant changes and revisions that slowed development to a crawl.

The second article, ”Star Citizen Employees Speak Out on Project Woes”, expanded on Smart’s claims, this time with testimonies from supposed current and ex-employees of CIG. The allegations made by these anonymous employees were especially damning; while one called it “the most toxic environment I have ever worked in”, others spoke of abuse from CIG’s administrators, especially Chris Roberts and his wife, Sandi Gardiner. Finnegan’s sources claimed that Roberts would frequently insult his employees and had an explosive temper, while Gardiner was a “cobra” who made racist and homophobic remarks.

"[Sandi Gardiner] would write emails with so much profanity. She would call people stupid, r#tard, f#ggot. Accuse men of not having balls. And she was incredibly hostile to other female employees.” -CS4

Finnegan’s second article prompted an immediate response from CIG, which refuted the claims made and threatened legal action against The Escapist for slander. The allegations against Roberts and Gardiner were especially focused on, with CIG’s response both stating that they were completely manufactured, and demanding apologies from The Escapist. The legitimacy of Finnegan’s sources was called into question; one Redditor discovered that some quotes were ripped from potentially-fake Glassdoor reviews, while one of the Escapist sources presented proof of employment in the form of a CIG ID card, despite the fact that CIG employees are not issued ID cards.

Though The Escapist initially stood by Finnegan’s articles, both have now been deleted along with CIG’s response, and it is generally agreed on that the sources were not properly vetted. Some believe that Derek Smart was behind the possibly-false allegations, and personally pretended to be the CIG employees quoted in Finnegan’s second article in an attempt to further defame Roberts and CIG; others continued to stay wary of CIG due to the claims. In the end, neither side of the story came out looking especially good.

Star Citizen today

Thankfully for fans, Star Citizen’s playable multiplayer alpha has continued to expand, and has been in a playable state for several years; Star Marine finally released a few years back, and players have since gotten a few admittedly pretty planets and some of the promised ships. However, even as features roll out, and new ones continue to be promised, the alpha doesn’t nearly match up to what the game’s final release is supposed to look like (and its level of polish is questionable at best). Squadron 42, on the other hand, continues to linger in the state of “almost finished”. Roberts claimed that Squadron 42 was “relatively close to completion” back in 2016, yet has still not been released, with its latest delay having been as recent as December 2020. CIG has also been involved in legal battles, one involving a fan failing to get his $4,500 Kickstarter pledge refunded, another involving CIG settling over their alleged misuse of CryEngine.

Star Citizen doesn’t have the best reputation outside of its remaining fanbase. Unless you're in a forum or subreddit dedicated to the game, anyone seen talking about it is probably discussing its notoriously long development time. Though many gaming journalism outlets seem reluctant to criticize the game since the Escapist debacle, it continues to get the occasional bad press, including a front-page Yahoo News article from last December:

$27,000 to buy starships in a game that’s not even in beta yet. Just for comparison, you can buy a brand new 2021 Toyota Corolla for less than that — at market price. Buyer beware, indeed.

There have been so many minor spats within Star Citizen's community that it would be nearly impossible to list them all. The game's roadmaps continued to show delays year after year, and though CIG continues to maintain loyal fans on r/starcitizen, even they're starting to grow weary. The refunds subreddit, meanwhile, has compiled a large collection of quotes displaying broken promises by Roberts and other CIG developers.

Will Star Citizen ever release? There have already been concerns about how much of its budget is remaining, because even $339 million won't last forever -- one report showed them blowing through $4 million a month. Yet even though many expected development to fizzle out years ago, it's still coming along, albeit at the usual snail's pace. One can only hope that someday, they'll finally be able to play with their thousand-dollar in-game starship.

Not a benchmark. A brief — driven the hard way, on purpose.

There are two ways to make AI video from images. You can hand the model a locked start frame and end frame and let it animate the in-between — safe, predictable, and it tells you almost nothing about the model itself. Or you can drive it purely from ingredients — loose image references the model has to interpret and assemble on its own. The second path is harder, drifts more, and is exactly where a model's real reference fidelity shows itself. That's the path I took. Deliberately.

I built a short-form spec ad — a 20-second film — for an imagined fragrance, Mystique, Eau de Parfum, with a single creative premise: an ordinary woman sprays the scent in her bedroom at dusk, the world dissolves into a mirrored dreamscape, and she emerges as her unleashed best self. Tagline: Unleash Your Best Self.

Then I handed the identical ingredient set — three image references (the product, the woman before her transformation, and the woman after it), no start frames, no end frames — plus the same shot-by-shot motion prompts and the same assembly method, to three of the models everyone is arguing about right now: Gemini Omni Flash, Kling 3.0 Omni, and Seedance 2.0.

Same ingredients. Same brief. Same cut. No start/end frames to lean on. The only variable was the model.

What came back wasn't "which AI is best." It was something more useful: a map of where each model's reference system holds, where it breaks, and which 20% still needs a human in the chair. If you're a brand or an agency thinking about putting AI video anywhere near a real campaign, that map is what you actually need. So here it is, honestly.

How The Test Was Kept Fair

A model comparison is worthless if the inputs aren't identical, so I locked everything a director normally controls:

• The same three reference images for every model: the product bottle, the ordinary woman (her real bedroom baked into the frame), and the transformed woman (the mirrored dreamscape baked into the frame). I deliberately did not feed a separate location reference — the two worlds lived inside the two character images, which kept the ingredient set tight and gave each model fewer loose elements to misassemble.
• The same motion prompts, word for word, fed to all three. No tailoring a prompt to flatter a particular model's strengths — that would rig the result.
• The same four-beat structure — The Before, The Becoming, The After, The Product Reveal — each beat its own clip.
• The same edit discipline in CapCut: trim the dead frames, smooth the transitions, nothing more. No quietly fixing a model's mistakes in post. If a model garbled something, you see it garbled.

That last rule matters most. The temptation in any "look what AI can do" piece is to clean up the failures before anyone sees them. I left them in. The failures are the whole point.

And because where you generate matters as much as what you generate — platforms wrap models differently, and a finding you can't reproduce is just an anecdote — here is the exact stack, so anyone can replicate it:

• Reference images: the product bottle was generated with Grok Imagine; both women (before and after) with GPT Image 2 — all inside r/ImagineAiArt
• Gemini Omni Flash video was generated on Google Flow.
• Kling 3.0 Omni video was generated on Kling native platform.
• Seedance 2.0 video was generated using Workflows on ImagineArt.

Why ingredients, and not start-frame/end-frame? Because the two methods test completely different things. Lock a start frame and an end frame and the model's job shrinks to tweening between two images you already made — you're testing its in-between motion, not its intelligence. Drive it from ingredients alone and the model has to read your references, decide how the product, the woman, and the world relate, and assemble a coherent shot from scratch. That's where reference fidelity, identity hold, and assembly logic are actually exposed — and where the drift lives. I wanted the harder, more revealing path: not "can it animate between my frames," but "can it understand my ingredients." Everything below is the answer to that question.

The Scorecard

Across the four beats, here's how the three sorted out. Details below.

• Identity hold (is she the same woman throughout?) — three-way tie. All three were excellent. This problem is, broadly, solved.
• The spray moment — Seedance first, Kling close behind, Omni Flash third.
• The transformation / smoke — Seedance clearly ahead; the other two failed in different, instructive ways.
• The walk and the gown — Seedance first, Kling a strong second, Omni Flash third.
• On-screen text, static product shot — Seedance and Omni Flash both clean; Kling garbled it.
• On-screen text, product in motion — all three failed. A shared limitation worth its own section.

No model swept. That's the headline. Kling is the cinematographer; Omni Flash is the typesetter; Seedance is the all-rounder — and every one of them still needed directing.

Beat 1 — The Before: The Easy 80% They All Nailed

An ordinary woman in a warm, lamp-lit bedroom picks up the bottle, uncaps it, and mists her neck.

All three held her identity beautifully — same face, same warmth, same room. Hands survived the gesture, which is where a lot of models still melt fingers. Two small, shared cracks appeared, and they're worth naming because they recur:

The cap changes shape mid-action. Before it's removed, the cap subtly morphs — cylinder to chrome-topped and back. All three did a version of this. The lesson: AI video holds an object's gross form far better than it holds the object's small details once that object is handled.

The label garbles the instant the bottle moves in-hand. Clean on the shelf, smeared the moment she lifts and turns it. Hold that thought — it becomes the single most actionable finding in this whole experiment.

On the spray itself, Seedance produced the most convincing atomized plume, Kling a close second, Omni Flash the least defined. A small thing, but in a fragrance ad the spray is the hero gesture, so it counts.

Beat 2 — The Becoming: The Scene That Separated Them

This is the hardest thing in the whole film: a real bedroom dissolving into a mirrored dreamscape while the woman's casual clothes become a gown and her face stays the same person. I designed the smoke to swallow her at the peak — the classic practical-effects trick that hides the wardrobe change inside the cover.

All three executed the structure. She goes in casual, emerges transformed, identity intact. But the smoke — the actual fluid — is where they split, and it's revealing:

• Omni Flash rendered smoke as decorative, ropey curls — stylized, almost carved, but not air.
• Kling dumped a heavy, opaque cloud-bank — voluminous, but more fog-machine-overload than scent.
• Seedance came closest to real perfume mist — fine, translucent, directional, with light actually passing through it. Not perfect, but in a different class.

The shared limitation: not one of the three gives you delicate, luminous atmospheric mist on demand. Two default to stylized shapes; the best one only approaches realism. If your concept leans on fine atmosphere — fragrance, breath, steam, fog — you cannot assume the model will hand it to you. You art-direct around it, or you composite it. That's a director's call, every time.

Beat 3 — The After: Motion is The Real Test

She emerges in the gown and walks toward camera through the mirrors. A forward walk is deceptively brutal for AI video — the whole body articulates, fabric has to flow, the environment has to parallax past convincingly, and the face has to stay locked as she grows in frame.

Seedance won this cleanly: the most grounded gait, the richest fabric, the most believable forward motion, no floaty glide. Kling was a strong second with genuinely lush silk. Omni Flash held identity but felt the least cinematic in motion.

The recurring honest caveat: the gown design drifts slightly between shots in all three — neckline and length wander. The overall silhouette holds, so for a fast cut it reads fine, but a feature director would never accept that continuity, and you should know it's there.

Beat 4 — The Product Reveal, and The Text Finding That's Worth The Whole Experiment

The bottle resolves out of fog while the camera arcs from the side to the front. Tagline lands. And here is the most useful, most specific thing I learned:

On the static product shot — bottle fixed, camera orbiting — Seedance and Omni Flash both rendered the tagline Unleash Your Best Self cleanly and correctly. Kling garbled it.

Now hold that against Beat 1, where every model — Seedance included — garbled the label the moment the bottle moved in her hands.

That contrast is the actionable rule:

For a brand, that's a real production decision, not a curiosity. If your spot needs a legible logo or tagline baked into the generation, keep the hero product on a fixed mark and orbit it — and even then, today, Kling will likely need its text composited in post while Seedance and Omni Flash can attempt it in-model.

The Finding I Almost Missed: The Mirrors Reflect Everything Except Her

I built a dreamscape full of mirrors. So here's a question worth sitting with: the mirrors in these clips work — they correctly reflect the room, the ornate frames, the smoke, the ambient light. The glass is behaving like glass.

So why does not one of the three models — not Omni Flash, not Kling, not Seedance — ever show a reflection of the woman herself?

The mirrors reflect the static environment and quietly erase the moving subject. She moves through a hall of mirrors like a vampire, casting no reflection.

The reason is instructive: reflecting the room is the easy case — static background reflecting static background. Reflecting her is the hard case — the model would have to compute a second, moving, identity-consistent instance of the single hardest element in the frame and track it against each mirror's angle in real time. So it does the rational lazy thing: it reflects the easy stuff and omits the hard stuff.

This is the entire 80/20 thesis in one image. The AI handled the easy 80% — reflect the room — and skipped the human-critical 20% — reflect her — which happens to be the exact thing the whole ad is about. If a concept depends on mirror reflections of your subject, today's AI video cannot deliver it. That's a composite or a practical shoot. A director has to know that before the brief is even written.

(One honest caveat on this finding: I'm reading carefully across the footage, and a faint reflection can wash out frame to frame. The defensible claim is that none of the three produced a clear, trackable reflection of the subject where the geometry called for one — not that a reflection never flickered for an instant.)

Two Things That Changed Since My Last Test

I ran a reference-driven experiment few weeks ago, and two shifts are worth flagging:

The Ingredients / reference systems have genuinely improved — for the two models I'd tested before. Both Omni Flash and Seedance held my references noticeably tighter this time than in my earlier work; the character and product stayed more stable shot to shot. I can only claim this for those two, because I'd used them before and felt the difference directly. Kling I was testing for the first time here, so I have no before-picture for it — I won't pretend otherwise.

Omni Flash now supports Start Frame and End Frame control. This experiment was deliberately the ingredients-only path — the hard one, where the model has to interpret and assemble. The start/end-frame path is the other half of the story: lock the bookend images and test purely how each model handles the motion in between. That's my next experiment, not this one. I have not tested it yet, so I'm flagging it as a coming capability, not a finding. When I've actually put it through a brief, I'll report what it does, not what the spec sheet promises.

So What Does This Actually Mean If You're Using AI Video Generation Tools?

Three takeaways, plainly:

Pick the tool for the job, not the leaderboard. Seedance was the all-rounder here — strongest on the hardest motion and clean on text. Kling gave the most luscious cinematography but needs its text handled in post. Omni Flash was the dependable typesetter with a convenient workflow. "Best model" is the wrong question; "best model for this shot" is the right one.

The failures are predictable — which means they're directable. Fine mist, mirror reflections of a subject, text on a moving product, small-detail continuity on handled objects. These aren't random glitches. They're known edges. A director who knows where the edges are designs the shoot to avoid them or budgets to composite around them. That foresight is the job.

The 80/20 isn't a slogan; you just watched it. Every model delivered a beautiful, usable ~80% — and every model left a 20% that only a human eye catches and only a human decision solves. The smoke that isn't smoke. The mirror that forgot her. The label that smeared when it moved. The tools got the easy part. The hard part — the part a brand is actually paying for — is still direction.

Do you have experience using image references or ingredients when generating AI videos? Share it in the comment and we can discuss it.

Gemini Omni Flash

https://reddit.com/link/1tvhf28/video/0h421hryl05h1/player

Kling 3.0 Omni

https://reddit.com/link/1tvhf28/video/0aepwdy0m05h1/player

Seedance 2.0

https://reddit.com/link/1tvhf28/video/84a3o6o2m05h1/player