The piling on of hate on Callisto Protocol is a prime example of gamer culture expressing self-hatred.
The hype for this game was nuts. I get that people like Dead Space, fine. Former developers of a beloved brand making a "spiritual successor" doesn't mean anything.
Well, when you are constantly touting yourself and your marketing claiming that you're the next generation
Dead Space, people are gonna get hyped and have high expectations. Yes, people hype themselves up too much, but this is still a product that is $60-$70 missing the most basic quality of life features. I'll explain in the next response.
But the complaints about it not having puzzles or the wrong combat system- this just seems like people telling themselves a story about what kind of game they thought this was going to be based on collective circle-jerking.
I also love that there are complaints that both the combat is bad AND it's too short. You know the old joke: the food at this restaurant is bad, and such small portions!
The game being "short" (it's a 10-12 hour game) is the least of its problems, and the lack of puzzles is not a big deal to me, even though it's a staple of most horror games. The big issue is that there is not much to the combat, or over-focuses on melee. Add in melee was not good for some people. That even includes when you get to the max upgrades for melee. The other problem I am seeing is that add to this is enemies take way too many hits, even on Normal turning them into straight bullet sponges, the melee does not change much, and you do the same bob and weaves over and over (with dodging that is finnicky at times and doesn't explain itself), turning into an impromptu brawler, doing this in crowds is a death sentence as Jacob is really not equipped to handle multiple enemies in melee. Those monsters lack mook chivalry and will not wait their turn. You can't explore much unlike in games like
Dead Space, Evil Within, or even
Shadows of the Damned. You can't even backtrack like said other games to go back for resources you missed or couldn't carry, because the inventory is low at that point, and the game will lock the room behind you without warning.
Then add the fact there is no NG+ until the next two months, meaning it kills the replay value instantly. Can you explain to me why in 2022 most Western AAA developers keep not having in this unlocked feature that has become the standard since the PS1 and PS2 days? That means you to Santa Monica! There is no point in replaying the game on the same or harder difficulty, if a player found it frustrating or unenjoyable. This game $60-$70+ dollars right out of gate. Not everyone has that kind money or time to waste on a game that doesn't respect the player's time. You can't skip cut-scenes, and their badly placed checkpoints. Thankfully, there is manual saving and a restart checkpoint option, but that still doesn't excuse why we still have modern games with unskippable cut-scenes (or don't become unskippable until a big ass patch update). This once again, kills replay value, and shows a game either rushed or not ready for a release. I've been tired of this in modern gaming, and I have no patience for this now.
I know you said you're not defending this game, but I can't blame people for being disappointed or upset. Okay guys, you have fancy graphics and facial animations, let me play the goddamn game or skip shit I've already seen! I am not wowed anymore! If you can spend the $70+ dollars on the game missing what should be the actual standard and can enjoy it, that's fine, but don't expect everyone to have the same opinion or experience. As far as I am concerned, this game is not worth the money at this moment. Even people who like
Callisto Protocol don't blame others for thinking and considering it's not worth the investment.
