I really want to make this review a Like, there is a TON of good work put into this and the idea is fantastic. I love it and will keep playing it, but there is a LOT to fix.
First, I love the story, environment, gunplay, and much of the progression. Playing through the "South Zone" is so much fun. Good storytelling, interesting quests and dialogue options, actually interesting mini games with lockpicking and hacking (though the lockpicking could use some work). The blend of PVE/PVP is pretty good for the most part through all of this. If you loved the Stalker games and wanted something different and ever growing, this is it. I genuinely recommend you play it because it is really fun, I can tell a lot of love went into this by the developers, and they're constantly improving it. I see that, I respect it. But once you finish the Southern Zone...
The end game, is not fun. Grinding second tier Veteran takes a lot of work. There are things you can use to speed this up by just playing the season, but the ask is still incredible. I pushed through it because I still enjoyed the game, and there is a lot of cool quests... But they get super buggy. Some I just can't complete, but the balancing of these quests... Changes significantly from the South Zone. Insane parkour sections with a system that sometimes works as intended, but if you fall in a pit once (you will) all of your ammo, meds, food, and armor inserts are gone. Insane combat sections where they introduce a different game mode to you - which is not a bad idea - except I killed 500 NPCs before completing it because that gamemode is intended for squads, not solos; Losing your bag in a parkour session before this doesn't help. Finally, the main quest's end game boss... Any guide you find says you're going to hate it and you need luck. I was lucky to get him in about a dozen rounds because I had Master armor and Weapons from a previous season. Keep in mind, you are intended to use Veteran gear against him here, as grinding master equipment would takes WEEKS, and the reward for beating it is a free Veteran suit - NOT a Master. He is also too powerful. The way to beat him will often bug in the last part of the fight, requiring sheer luck to actually kill him in time.
The last problem is with the end-end game. Once you leave the South for the North, you will grind your faction rank there while working up to the end game boss. This will unlock new equipment to upgrade to, but it will not unlock any new supplies to buy. The grind gave you nothing. You have to beat the end game boss to go to the "Wild North" to grind there, again, to unlock all of that. To go to the Wild North, you must go through an entire underground section every time you want to enter it. It's annoying, deadly, and just unnecessary. Once you're in the North, everything is STRONG. You NEED Master gear, which you are still trying to grind for. But everything hits so hard, and EVERY PLAYER IS YOUR ENEMY. So that whole Faction concept is pointless. Keep in mind, the balancing system of which Players are in which servers are gear based, for balance. Makes sense, sounds good. Except it doesn't work end-game. I have Level 10 Master Armor from a season reward, but my weapons and backpack are Veteran. So naturally, I got killed by someone with all Master gear that was all Leveled to 15, the highest they can go. That is not balance, that's rage inducing.
My recommendations to the Company:
- I'm sure this is already in the works since the Southern Zone was redone (which there are some bugs to fix there now, but) Redo the North Zone Quests. The balance is off in a few spots, the parkour system is not always responsive when it should be, and the late mission bugs that makes everything move in slow motion and delays audio and storytelling really kills the experience.
- Invite Players who have played through the full game's main story for playtesting, get their feedback on what they liked and disliked, and make adjustments whether your want to or not. I know there is pride in what has been made, but player retention requires happier players.
- Make the reward for beating the end game boss a Master Suit. This at least gives people SOMETHING to show for the struggle of that fight, and something to take into the Wild North to give them a fighting chance.
- Fix the player balancing system. I don't know if it's broken or working as intended, but use the Player Data to compare their equipment and things like their K/D for matchmaking. The only issue could be if there aren't enough servers for the amount of instances it would create, but that leads to my next issue.
- More servers. I used to work nights and play early mornings. This meant more to grind per player and it was rarer to meet other players. But when most people are on, it's hard to grind when Stalkers are everywhere taking your potential kills, and if you don't like PVP, it can be annoying when a Bandit sneaks up on you. More servers with less players per server would also fix the connection issue. I've died a few times from being shot while in cover because I was visible to them from server delays. I've only crashed a handful of times, but only on on days. I almost never saw connection issues at night. I've ran tests when I get huge lag spikes to enure my internet connection and speed is fine, and it always is.
- Don't make players need to fight for an exit from Luybech. If they find a Burrow, let them go, having to kill some boss that is either bugged or heals faster than you can kill it is not fun.
- Review some weapons balance. In a game about collecting cool gear to be the image of your character, having to change your grind-route so you can have a chance to survive PVP is disheartening.
- Consider increasing the rewards from grinding, or drop the cost equipment. It's less and less rewarding when you finally get the next tier of items after longer and longer sessions grinding with all the other issues listed.
There is so much to love about this game, genuinely. I WANT to love this, I want my friends to love it so they can play it with me, but not everyone can push through these problems. But I'm at the end of the game when I can finally work towards the stuff I've wanted all of this time and now... I just don't want to do it anymore. There is so much risk for so little reward when the odds are so high. I LOVE the story designs, mission layouts, boss concepts, etc... There's just no safety net for when the game's own system fails you, and the expectations to complete some of these quests is just not fun. A challenge is one thing, but a lot of players want to play for the story or simply get the quest's rewards, not suffer. The unexpected parkour section, for example, I finally realized I couldn't win because my suit had a slight movement speed decrease. That was enough to make it impossible. Once I put on a different suit, I succeeded in a few tries, only dying because of the issues with the parkour system.
That's why, my recommendation to anyone who has read this far, is to play through the Southern Zone, experience what this game can be and enjoy it. But enter the North cautiously, and don't burn yourself out up there. Send bug reports, answer reviews they send to you, and tell the company how to fix this game. Because this is the BEST MMO I've ever played, and I will continue to play it. But until the PVP balance system is fixed or improved, until the bugs are worked out, and until the balance of the main and side quests are fixed and the expectations made more realistic - I can't recommend that you play into the North. I want to work with the company and community to make Stalzone reach its full potential! I just can't give this a Like when I know the frustration it can cause, just to make more negative reviews as players walk away.
