We Happy Few

I know the obvious glaring issues with the game but the world is really fun to run around in and just mess on, love it

[h1] TLDR: 6.5/10 Incredible Story Weighed Down by Subpar Gameplay. The DLCs HEAVILY Improve in That Department However [/h1] [h3] Actual Review (Gameplay Spoilers Ahead) [/h3] You're basically required to get attached to the universe and characters to actually enjoy this game. The mission structure really boils down to that one scene from Malcom in the Middle of Hal fixing the light bulb lol. Go here for something, setback occurs, go all the way here and back to get something else, rinse and repeat. Quite a few main quests suffer from this, and almost every single side quest too. [h3] Base Game [/h3] Thankfully, the story is easy to get into if you stick with it past the initial learning curve. It's far from the tightest or most sensical plot, but the universe and worldbuilding are just THAT good (and the setting allows for continuity errors to be glossed over). Not to mention the music and npc dialogue that really help sell the world. It's got mystery, humor, unease, melancholy...literally any emotion you can think of. There are times where I think this story would've been MUCH better as a TV show, because it being funneled through the medium of a video game hurts it's impact on several occasions. This game also suffers from some amateur/awkward presentation, and (even after several patches) some pretty annoying bugs. Achievements not unlocking was a particular issue with my playthrough. As for the actual gameplay, the combat itself is pretty solid, and the crafting has a lot of depth. But there are bunch of tacked on elements that don't feel needed, or even affect much at all. The survival mechanics especially have this issue. This game also has a randomly generated open world, which the only reason I can think of for that is to reinforce the setting (which to be fair it does fit thematically). The map being random means that mission objectives can either be a decent walk away, or literally on the other side of the world. I just think it wasn't worth the extra issues it causes over making a handcrafted map. The skill tree also has some odd design. Like there are skills in there that feel like they're removing whole core elements of the gameplay (such as removing curfew, or turning off suspicion for certain actions). The thing is though, I understand why these skills were included. Because without them the gameplay would be even more frustrating and slow. I guess your willingness/ability to roleplay would affect your enjoyment of the game if you didn't take these skills, but I can't imagine going the whole game without them. [h3] DLCs [/h3] The DLCs feel like an entirely different game than the main campaign. Gone is the open world and most of the secondary features. All 3 are short but sweet linear campaigns with simplified gameplay, while keeping combat and storytelling as the focus. Each DLC is a self-contained story that takes place sometime during or after the main campaign. Each has a unique twist on combat, along with various gameplay gimmicks. They do feel like walking sims at times, but playing them for the stories and lore expansions alone are worth it. [h3] I Recommend but Get Everything on Sale [/h3] I really wish the gameplay was better than mediocre, but man the story, world, music...basically everything BESIDES the gameplay is just so good it's worth trying. If you can stick with until you get sucked into the story you won't regret it. 6.5/10