That does seem to be something I've noticed more and more from a lot of games over the past 5 years or so. Bad ones that would have been better if the developer hadnt tried as hard. Less work would have made a better game.
I dunno, the easy interpretation is that someone in low/mid level had a good idea but once the high level management gets hold of it they stuffed it full of features that just makes everything worse. In this case it really feel like someone went "Isekai are really popular now, make it an isekai. Oh and market research says we need more representation so black women main character, which obviously means she's a criminal".
Tempted to try the demo myself, since I have pretty similar specs, and am curious if I'd get the same results. Slightly better cpu, but 10gb 3080, same ssd but full gen 4 speeds, regular 1440p screen. For reference, which DLSS mode? Quality, balanced, performance?
I went with Balanced; it was indeed one of the only settings I didn't jack up to 'max' because well from what I've observed DLSS doesn't quite work that way.
Yeh, DLSS works by rendering the game at a percentage per axis of the output resolution and using AI upscaling to bring it back up to the output resolution, with each mode from quality to ultra performance having a larger percentage.
I think I said earlier in this thread that the actually big problem with the dialogue is that it's not presented well. The cinematography and lack of music makes it so what should be a funny scene instead feels like an incongruous one between a quiet somber look and jokey dialogue.
I haven't played it and I have only the video and what others(including yourself) have said. I'll throw out that the idea of a nobody criminal being dropped into a different world and being forced by circumstances to give a shit and make a difference is a good premise, because if you're already at the bottom there's little other place to go but up from there. There's something appealing about someone rising from "sleeping on the street" to "Hero of the world" through their own merits and skill(though I'll also say it loses impact when "Destiny said so" or "They were royalty all along" because then it feels like it was handed to them).
The problem is, in order for this situation to work you have to show that your character is capable of good despite their circumstances. Frey has a small scene where a lady drops her phone and she gives it back, but nothing more. It's a momentary kindness that doesn't do anything for her character. The rest of her intro is her running from gangbangers and feeding her cat.
She's just an awful main character and I think the game reception would be far more positive if she wasn't the main character.
My eyes just rolled out of my skull reading that because I know that's probably the case.
Every open world game I've ever played does this in the beginning, for tutorial or story purposes. Including the beloved Breath of the Wild, which keeps you in the starting area so that you can learn the basics.
Asmongold ain't saying anything new, and I'd be wary of him. He's a known bandwagon jumper and poser.
Somewhat, the game world is absolutely massive and the parkour ability let you get up just about anywhere if you're persistent enough (think like skyrim where you can climb 90 degree cliff wall) so the game at the start will stop you from exploring area from later chapter, but you're free to explore within open area of current chapter (which are already fairly large, if a bit monotenous). It's a bit like the broken down bridge in GTA game.
