Seven: Enhanced Edition

Growing up is a funny thing. First, the hind legs of a chair seemed to be pillars just begging a palisade to be grown inbetween and blossoming further with some linen, pillows, and sticks. Or the top of the wardrobe seemed like a mountain there to be conquered that could only be braved by the righteous and valiant. Before you know it, you find yourself giving directions to tourists or navigating a city, completely alien, for no other reason other than some “work stuff”. I don’t like it. I hate finding myself having travelled between two totally different countries, and three different cities within a week, only to be back at home, totally exhausted and craving an end to my suffering. I keep going back to Seven: The Days Long Gone in my mind, even though it has been more than a month since I completed it. The more I think about Seven, the more I find the exact reason I loved it so much is this feeling of growing up. I started out in a mansion, where each and every guard seemed like insurmountable challenges. I moved onto, what seemed to be, the massive port city of Lewmer. Then I found out that this Lewmer, with its incredible verticality, multiple factions, and bustling bazaar is nothing more than a provincial backwater, where inmates are just being acclimated to what is to come and how things work on this alien (but familiar) planet called Peh. I had that same feeling, as I checked out the map and saw the greyed-out parts expanding far, more than I could have imagined. As if I am a toddler once more and there is an insurmountable wilderness, filled with magic (and sometimes monsters), between home and school. I even came across a Steam forums thread titled “Too Overwhelming” and even though I disagreed with it, I could not help but sympathize with the OP. The thread was complaining about how the owner wanted to love the game but “there is just too much open world” and they just need some pointers to get going. And ♥♥♥♥ me if at least some of us haven’t thought exactly the same growing up. The same feeling of overwhelmingness came over me when I left Lewmer for the first time and had to move across a giant quarry that spanned across multiple levels, two bays and towns, and was full of enemies that I was too weak to take on. Unlike the OP, I persevered, as I as well loved the game and had nothing better to spend my time on. During my whole playthrough I never got over the dread of having to visit a new location, but I also grew confident as my abilities started to outshine the perceived difficulty of the areas I visited before. To be frank, I did not realize I was loving Seven at this point, and I occasionally refrained from booting it up as a new area felt too daunting, or even impossible. But I kept coming back to it. Sometimes it reminded me that there are more colours than only four (or five) we are allowed to use in the perceivable colour spectrum, sometimes it gave me a glimpse of some landmark far away and of course I had to travel (meaning: climb, fall, teleport, die, climb again, die again) there to see it. At one point, I realized I was now feeling very confident that I could traverse the capital, Warden’s Hollow, without looking at the map, and it filled me with a sense of impervious survivability. Just like I bragged to my girl about how I could traverse her city, or mine, from end to end, without ever needing to look at the map and came out justified. I also grew to be more confident in what I could do, other than just being more effective with traversal. When I was in Lewmer, I got caught multiple times by regular NPCs because I had to steal some unpaired socks to craft some XYZ that I cannot even remember now, and I remember going through the wrong door in Mortbane and getting immediately impaled to the wall, but in Warden’s Hollow I was stopping time and doing flashy combos to become the arena champion. I found myself wishing the real life growth worked the same, and I could grow more confident in my abilities as more of the world became my stomping ground. Maelor wrote a beautiful piece about walking and permanence of things we see while we walk a couple of months ago, and ever since I completed Seven, I cannot stop thinking about becoming accustomed to objects so much that they no longer hold any significant impression on us. There is an abandoned cushy armchair in the middle of an unchecked weed growth in my neighbourhood, first couple of times I saw it, it reminded me of post-Soviet imagery and I even drank a couple bottles of wine and beer next to it, contemplating my and the chair’s place in the universe. The thing is, I eventually learned to walk just past it, looking for other, more novel objects to entertain my melancholy. This sense of moving on is exactly what I felt while playing Seven, especially when The Witcher composer M. Przybylowicz’s especially melancholic works kicked in. As much as the game reminded me of my own growth, it never felt shy of reminding me that this is a world divorced from reality. I walked through a swamp filled with putrid, blinding fog, narrowly escaped death by mutilation or falling and found myself at a treehouse tavern where everybody was having an inexplicably good time. I let out a chuckle when I checked my inventory and saw the all-knowing demon in the main character’s head was unable to describe an 80’s controller, but I obviously could. I visited a temple built on living, breathing tissue and understood why they cultivated organic matter that caused a plague even though I did not agree with them. The game reminded me of the famous quote, “any sufficiently advanced technology is undistinguishable from magic” at every turn and made me love how weird the literal application of this concept turned out to be. A developer in an AAA studio getting an idea similar to Seven would be shot, drawn and quartered. They would also be lauded as geniuses if it were as a strong start as Seven to an IP. I only played Seven because I was enamoured by [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/barricadas/recommended/1684350/] The Thaumaturge[/url] and I now truly hate Fool’s Theory because they have given me two incredible worlds that I cannot see any future for. Seven: The Days Long Gone is a victory of colour over the repetitive corporate drabness, and ambition over caution. Or I could say that if the game actually became a cult classic as I would have expected it to be. For me, this game scratches the Cyberpunk itch, Deus Ex itch, Dishonored itch and even China Mieville videogame itch many other itches I did not even know I had. I am at a loss in how else I could convince you to give this one a try. Growth and melancholy/10

I hate the controls. I hate the controls. I HATE THE GD CONTROLS! How many times have I been in motion trying to lower into stealth only to TA-DA Jazz hands roll right into an enemy's FOV. Or walk up to a soldier to KO him from the shadows only to wind up & Grand Slam him in the back of the head. Or fall from a reasonable distance onto a narrow platform to combat roll off of the edge. Ugh! This game is beautiful and has all the makings for a fun immersive stealth game except for the how poorly integrated the move-set is.

[h1]Недостелс, недоРПГ, недоэксплоринг, недоигра! [/h1] Игра пытается усидеть на всех стульях сразу, но не получилось усидеть ни на одном, кроме того, где пики точеные. Всё, что тут есть хорошего - это лор, стильный графон, поражающий масштабами и левел-дизайн, который органично в эти масштабы вписывается. Мир я бы и вовсе назвал шикарным. Но нет никакого толку от этого мира, лора, сеттиинга и сюжета, если геймплейно игра - ДНО, а геймдизайнеры - нулевые нубы! Мало того, что тут не работает полноценно ни одна механика, так они ещё и бесполезны все: от стелса до рол плея, от крафта до алхимии, потому что в игре нет челенджа и всё слишком просто! Бесконечный респавн одних и тех же монстров прямо у тебя на голове тоже мотивации не придаёт. Нахрена они вообще нужны, если понятия опыта в игре нет, если алхимия и крафт не нужны вообще (как и в Ведьмаках на средней сложности), если они убиваются, зевая, а твоя жизнь после боя регенирует? Сказать бы, что они что-то охраняют? Так нет, экслпоринг в игре тоже убит эффектом Морровинда - это когда ты находишь вдалеке тайник, крадёшься туда, убиваешь всех по пути, открываешь заветный лут, а там... ровно 3 монеты и больше ни-ху-я! Те самые 3 монеты, которых я потратил за 17 часов у торговцев РОВНО 0! Почему? Да вот выше только что писал - и без этого всё выносится на раз и сонно! Единственное, куда нужны деньги - покупать пропуски в дальнейшие зоны карты. Боринг. Так, что у нас ещё плохого? Ах, да, стелс... это грёбанный кринж! Враги тебя замечают, но стоит зайти за угол и через 5 секунд вся толпа забывает о твоём существовании! Дошло до того только что (из-за чего я, в общем-то, и удалил игру вместе со своим положительным обзором), что я просто втупую забегаю на огромную базу с десятками врагов, бегу через неё к нужному луту, они стреляют бесполезно мне толпой в спину, я беру, что хочу и спокойненько убегаю из базы! А после того, как я открыл скилл на мгновенную невидимость, игра вообще в цирк превратилась - я просто растворяюсь на 10 секунд на глазах у 30 бойцов, а они такие: "мда, значит показалось, коллективный эффект Манделы", почесали яйца и разошлись... Это не геймдизайн, это фиаско! Роулплей? Его нет тут! В диалогах всегда всё приводит к одному варианту исхода. Никаких скилл-чеков тут не бывает. Кого-то подкупить, обмануть, обокрасть в квестах? Забудьте, это не RPG воообще ни грамма. Впрочем, об этом нам тонко намекают ещё в самом начале игры, когда дают жёстко фиксированного очередного Геральта. Ну, что сказать, CDPR никогда в RPG и не могли! Их стезя - экшн, диалоги, квесты.... мат, кровища, жесть, сиськи. Ну, для своей ЦА. В общем, бывают игры, где дepьмовейший сюжет, но интересный геймплей и эксплоринг заставляет в них играть - Rage 2, Mad Max, Ghost Recon Wildlands... да даже эта ваша GTA5. Но если в игре нет ничего, кроме сюжета, который подаётся крохами с гулькин xyй, то не лучше ли пойти и просто прочесть его на Википедии, а? Хотя нет, тут есть ещё пара неплохих треков и поддержка 5.1 звука, но это также лучше пойти и послушать разок отдельно. А игра? Ну, 30 гривен, 50 рублей ил 18 центов, как её распродавали, она стоит, да, это её истинная цена! Но вот этот фуллпрайс??? Ахахах, неудивительно, что оно провалилось в продажах - маркетологи тут подстать геймдизайнерам))) 3,5/10

本作是一款少有的俯视角沉浸模拟游戏，主打潜行和偷窃，风格独特、怪异，优缺点都很鲜明，但处处都能感受到一种青涩却真诚的热情。 [h3] 沉浸感极强的世界塑造 [/h3] 玩家扮演一名盗贼大师，在监狱岛上游荡。不同区域遵守不同的行为守则，比如不能在大庭广众之下潜行，在军事区域穿着士兵伪装更不容易暴露，部分NPC的对话也会随身份变化。比如穿上士兵服后，黑市商人的台词会变成：“您好，先生，在寻找黑市商人吗，如果我看到了他们，一定会通知您”。 同时，就像其他沉浸模拟游戏一样，本作任务往往提供多种完成方式，玩家的选择也确实会影响角色命运。尽管不少分支和后果多数玩家可能根本意识不到，甚至和任务本身没有直接关系，但制作组仍旧认真做了出来。我举几个例子： [list] [*]在飞艇安放炸弹的任务中，可以提前偷走部分乘客的登机牌偷，那些无法登机的游客会因因此免于空难，任务完成后还会有特殊台词； [*]在与女猎人共同狩猎的任务中，有狩猎前杀死同伴独自狩猎、共同狩猎后独吞战利品当场开战、独吞战利品并逃跑交任务时被抓到在竞技场开战、分享战利品（根据之前的对话酬劳分成又会不同）、分享战利品后再偷回来等多种路线； [*]驱魔术任务结束后，周边区域士兵的台词和巡逻路线都会变化，还会出现一名因迟到而错过驱魔术，在门口抱怨的士兵； [*]完成挖掘场支线后，可以在入口通过扫描视觉发现比拉留下的纸条，而任务本身从未提过它的存在； [*]在守望者堡垒偷听一对男女对话后，可以得知城外藏有物资，这些物资也存在无视、平分、独吞等多种处理方式，这甚至都不是一个正式支线。[/list] ...... 但缺点在于，本作的叙事更多只是”树状分支“。单个支线内部变化很多，有衍生支线，但不同分支之间几乎不会互相影响。不过对于一款独立游戏来说，这多少有点吹毛求疵了。 另一方面，本作的世界观和角色设定其实非常丰满，但遣词造句相当不常规。 我原本因为官中看上去是机翻，打算直接啃英文，结果开场就被大量晦涩的人名、地名和组织名劝退。这些拗口的名称和台词读起来完全不像专业编剧写的。之前玩《神界2》啃生肉都没这么累，想要流畅游玩，我估计至少得有专四水平。 比如，故事发生地是一个叫”Peh“的监狱岛，读音基本跟“呸”一样，每次角色念出来都非常别扭。中文译成“菲赫”，也完全联系不上背景设定。再比如游戏标题”Seven"，几乎是我见过最烂的游戏标题之一，在steam搜索里都很难搜到。找攻略时也给我带来了不便，如果换成更具标识度的名字，我相信销量会更上一层楼。 [h3] 自由度极高的地图设计 [/h3] 本作最令我印象深刻的是地图设计。不仅探索密度高得离谱，而且大量利用Z轴，并实现了地图全连通。在我玩过的游戏里，Z轴玩得这么花的只此一家。 但与此相对的，则是糟糕的小地图和UI设计。大地图不显示区域名称，小地图又无法区分高低层。在存在大量高低差的区域容易迷路（我批评的不是地图设计本身，而是引导和UI）。 另一方面，探索自由度也高得惊人。虽然表明上存在“visa”区域锁钥，但实际上可以利用高低差和各种小路，在游戏初期就抵达绝大部分区域。 但问题也正出在这里：因为地图过于连通、探索自由度过高，在加上糟糕的引导，玩家经常会陷入”不知道下一步该干什么“的状态。反倒是在一些空间和探索高度受限的区域，比如屠宰场支线和DLC潜艇，任务设计明显更有趣。 [h3] 糟糕的战斗和探索体验 [/h3] 本作前期的学习曲线非常陡峭，极易劝退玩家。我第一次玩直接弃坑了快两个月才重新捡起来，这与糟糕的战斗和探索体验脱不开关系。 首先是战斗。本作击杀敌人不会获取经验，也没有等级系统，制作组本身也不是特别鼓励正面战斗。因此战斗系统非常简陋，攻击和受击手感都很差。 另一方面，角色强度又与探索深度强绑定。武器、装备和技能芯片，几乎全靠探索和支线获取。但制作组却给探索增加了太多限制： [list] [*]糟糕的地图UI、引导和大量高低差，玩家容易迷路； [*]设计大量无意义的”垃圾“收集品，但作为世界第一盗贼大师，为什么要偷垃圾呢？前面辛苦通过小细节建立的沉浸感瞬间崩塌； [*]”垃圾“收集品又和负重、分解、制作和炼金系统绑定，玩家为了降低负重，不得不在分解地点与探索地点之间重复往返，影响效率； [*]商人普遍没钱，且资金不刷新，物品基本只能分解掉，金币本身也用处不多，最高级的visa通行证才600，经济系统没有意义； [*]稀有物品获取条件极为隐蔽，比如符文谜题的符文钥匙，以及只有”完美“完成屠宰场任务才能拿到的全能芯片。[/list] 地图设计本身真的非常优秀，但制作组明显把太多精力浪费在制作与收集系统上。他们没有平衡好探索收益和经济系统。大量无意义道具不仅让探索变得重复，也分散了玩家本该花在稀有物品上的精力。 可以说在目前的探索设计下，不查攻略实现完美收集几乎不可能。更惨的是，由于游戏太冷门，直到今天都没有完整的收集攻略。我这个全收集党也因此放弃了全收集。 [h3] 总结 [/h3] 从极具野心的全连通多Z轴地图，到堆料级别的事件反馈，都能看出制作组投入了大量精力与热情。但也正因野心太大、经验不足，最终反而有些画蛇添足。他们做出了一款极其独特、极其有想法，却也极其笨拙的沉浸模拟游戏——一枚专门献给极具耐心的沉浸模拟爱好者的 Hidden Gem。 PS：后续开发的《奇唤士》有机会我也会尝试，希望能看到他们扬长避短，有所改进。 PPS：觉得有帮助的话可以康康我的[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44921690] 个人鉴赏家 [/url]与[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/mylonelycabin] 群组 [/url]

That game was quite frustrating at times. A buggy mess at other times. But, the story was nice. The gameplay was nice. the no hand holding approach (not as much as Morrowind but way less than skyrim) was a breath of fresh air in a sea of baby games where they guide you toward every quest location.

It's a real shame that this game didn't do better on release. An isometric, stealht RPG with immersive Sim elements. That's tailor made to my tastes. There's a little bit of jank here, but not too much. I love the blend of action, stealth and gear systems, as well as the interesting and well designed 'open world'. Highly recommended checking this game out, especially now that it's cheap. And it doesn't look bad either. The slightly cel shaded art style menas that the graphics haven't dated too badly over the last nine years. If I could make one request for this game, it would be the ability to zoom the camera out a bit more. I like to see a bit more around me than what the game allows.

It's not perfect, but it was fun. There's a fair bit of jank, but it's full of soul. Play the demo. If it seems alright, I suggest buying it.

Путь разрабы переназовут её в Six-Seven, и игра заживёт

Средняя по качеству выполнения изометрия, не хватающая звезд с неба, но приятно удивляющая своим наполнением. Отличный нарратив и сюжет, в меру самобытный, но не срывающийся в нитакусичное безумие; геймплей крепко держится в своем бюджете, не уродствуясь несбыточными амбициями, что губит многие подобные проекты. Отличная музыка на сдачу. Техническая шероховатость, чтобы не было слишком сладко.

What a surprising RPG. I really expected something stealth focused only like Styx or Splinter Cell. It definitely isnt. It is basically an isometric immsimm with an open world and tons of adventure. The world is a deep new IP, with the promise for more, even though it combines narrative elements of similar IP like Fallout/Warhammer/Encased/Technomancer. I think a small team has achieved an incredible product and I am happy to have finished it. Pros: -The movement and freedom is incredible for an isometric game that has open-world like this. - Tons of side quests that are fun and interesting, even if the tasks are basic, their stories are fun and sometimes morally deep. - Powers are Dishonored level fun, makes you feel like a boss when you unlock a lot of them. - Biomes are distinct and create a feeling of progression. - Getting into places you are not ready for is a very cool feeling. Cons: - After the initial hurdle, the combat and stealth become a bit stale, as there are very little consequences for getting detected, killing, or doing pretty much any aggression. - Combat can be painfully clunky or painfully easy, a roll of the dice, unfortunately. I like the moveset of most weapons, but the controls dont really allow you to flow as much as they require. - Flash might be SUPER OVERPOWERED for a game like this. As in it can skip pretty much anything if you have enough mana regen. - Needs more nuanced difficulty in certain missions.