"for what the studio wants to do with it" - Milk it for all it's worth.
The whole Comrades mmo-lite thing might work out if they plan to place it during the 10 year gap, allowing players to explore the World of Ruin that was horrendously overlooked in the main game. But unless it comes with its own fleshed out story, it's just going to fall flat on its face.. again.
And I hate being "that guy", but this isn't how I imagined Final Fantasy to end up. At least I've found comfort in the Trails series. Now that's how story-writing and character development is done! Thank Aidios that Cold Steel has come to PC!
In a world where we've been treated to games such as The Witcher 3 and Breath of the Wild, these sorts of open-world RPG's have a tough time reaching the bar those giants have set. So when something falls flat (npcs with no personality, lack of variety etc) it really stands out. I have to admit though, this game does look incredibly charming.
As an Australian, I find it hard to believe that fellow Aussies would be offended by any of this. Australians tend to have a tongue-in-cheek humour and take jokes just as good as they give them. "Take-out" being a slight oversight due to cultural differences is nothing to make a stink about, though hats off to the Overwatch team for acknowledging the mistake and going the extra step to adjusting it.
As for the "They took our land" bit.. I don't know, I didn't even bat an eye when I heard it during the trailer. I couldn't make a link between Overwatch's over-the-top humour and what happened when Australia was colonised. And I would think that this particular line was never intended to be such a joke in the first place.
This video doesn't really cover what makes Senua's Sacrifice important to gaming. It just talks about indie devs in a world of AAA games. Instead, Senua's Sacrifice brings to light the somewhat 'taboo' subject of psychosis and people who suffer from it.
Senua's Sacrifice is a brilliant portrayal of someone inflicted with psychosis. You sympathise with Senua's plight, even if you find it difficult to accept her logic. The gameplay puzzle-elements may be mediocre, but the story Ninja Theory tells and the acting, both voiced and motion, really make it believable and at times, frightening.
Because one of Senua's symptoms is that she hears voices, experiencing this game with headphones is highly recommended. At times there seemed to be 5 or so different voices flittering about, commenting on the actions of Senua at the time. They tend to laugh at her misfortune, criticize her choices, cheer her on, doubt her abilities and rarely keep quiet.
The combat, although somewhat straight forward, always had a sense of tension to it. The way Senua would stumble back and in a rage get back into the fight. The slowdown from a well timed parry and the consequent counter never got old. One aspect I personally found well made, were the "lore stones" littered around the game world.
In every area there would be several of these stones which would tell a story about Norse mythology. It was incredibly well voiced, and when you're stumbling through Senua's psychosis, finding one of these lore-stones felt like a godsend. Even if it was temporary, having that familiar voice rise up above the others, was extremely comforting.
The playtime may be 10-12 hours or so, but I didn't find the game short. And for half the price of your typical triple-A game, it feels worth it.
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