Last December, fans of isometric stealth had a big holiday - the release of the amazing Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun , which breathed new life into such a specific genre. And here is a coincidence - exactly a year later, the Seven: The Days Long Gone project , which in part with feudal Japan, appears , with a certain artistic similarity, shows the world a completely different concept, making a dashing leap towards role-playing games with the open world. It should be noted that the experiment was extremely bold, and therefore worthy of our attention.
Positioning problems
Stop-stop-stop. What does it mean Shadow Tactics ? Authors Seven like initially on the series Thieforiented? And the classic RPG ... After all, in the end, Fool's Theory was founded by Jakub Rokosz , the senior designer of quests in The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3 . What the heck?
Approximately such thoughts can now swarm in the minds of those who read a couple of news about the game as it develops. And this, you know, is the problem. Since the very beginning of the PR campaign, the authors have positioned the project incorrectly and, in my humble opinion, unduly little attention was paid to its trump elements. Only after reachingSeven: The Days Long Gone on IgroMir, I realized the true concept of the game, and only after the release realized why the name Thief in general appeared in the creative landmarks.
The fact is that the development of Fool's Theory is essentially an immersive sim. And, as you know, games in this genre are revealed better if you pass them secretly, carefully, diligently. Therefore at once orientation to stealth occurs - with all following associations.
Yes, and we play after all a thief. Or even so: the master thief. His name is Teriel, and he was lucky to exist in the strange period of the new formation of mankind. The world of the game is another alternative reality where the Ancient Ones once lived (a hint to us and you), who later had a conflict with demons - mystical spirits, mysterious way appearing in this world. As a result - the apocalypse and global reset, as a result of which the society has come to a symbiosis of high technologies and medieval traditions. In short, a kind of ELEX , where along with energy weapons quite a metal daggers are used.
It's nice that the authors were not too lazy to organize a decent number of funny references to reality, throwing around the world games endowed with puzzled descriptions of "ancient artifacts" like remote controls or mobile phones.
Island of bad luck
Teriel is a classic, harsh, marginal hero who eschews unnecessary communication and who is not at all alien to irony. At the very beginning of the game, we are trying on a new role, we go on a business together with our comrade on the thieves guild and fail, as a result of which we go to the prison-prison Pe in shackles, where the events of the game will take place. Veterans can remember the domestic "Sanitarians dungeons" - and, in principle, correctly done.
Fortunately, you have to communicate here not only with urks and bandyugans, but also with the quite self-respecting demon Artanak who, following his personal motives, was settled in the process of escorting to the head of Teriel and intends to use it to turn some important matter, somehow connected with the spiritual leader of the new world - technocrat Dragan. Our hero, in front of whom, in the light of all these events, the hope to get out of this unfortunate place has dawned, there is nothing left but to agree to cooperation.
Pe Island, although a prison, is quite suitable for life. Despite the fact that its fair share is occupied by impassable jungle and traces of the old civilizations, there are also centers of culture with all kinds of cafes and entertainment establishments. On the streets there is trade, and indeed with the infrastructure in the settlements full order.
The most tangible restriction of freedom is the division of the territory into seven zones, each of which can be officially accessed only by swallowing a special capsule-visa. But the lack of legal access to an honest thief is not a hindrance - Teriel can always find a bunch of ways to surreptitiously jump over the fence in order to hide in the shadows to travel through the forbidden lands.
And you will have to wave often. One of the interesting solutions Fool's Theorybecame the introduction of a full-fledged parkour game. Imagine that Assassin's Creed was transferred to an isometry, and you will understand approximately what it is about. The hero dashingly grabs the ledges, jumps between the beams, conquers the cornices, uses cables and generally disdains the doors and ordinary paths with pleasure. And the local architecture of settlements and natural locations willingly plays into it. The maps are surprisingly multilayered, large. It is unlikely that such a high level of multidimensionality was achieved by someone before such a visual performance.
Pay
This description certainly caused fans of hardcore gaming and haters of the Press X to Win principle to delight and unwilling desire to buy Seven: The Days Long Gone . I think you really should try it, but first I have to tell you about the possible problems that await in front.
First of all, the developers simply could not cope with the degree of freedom and openness that they gave the player. A small team could not think through all the available outcomes of certain actions, could not protect the game from the unpredictability of the average user. Already at the second hour of the game I filled up some tough officer, took off his armor (do not forget about the "honest" loot) and became immune to opponents in a single zone, which instantly killed any interest. The economy of the game flies into the tartarey because of the abundance of items that can be sold in lots by numerous traders. Yes, they sometimes run out of funds for ransom, but it's a matter of time.
The combat system, which at first seems fairly organic, later reveals its true "I" - it turns out that it is often much easier to "spam" the enemy with the same attacks, than to invent some tactics and resort to evasion. Artificial intelligence does not shine in all respects. Opponents may lose sight of the hero who, before their eyes, jumps on the roof of the barn, after which they will calmly go further on their business. In a small room of a building you can arrange a blood bath with explosions and dozens of dead, and behind the wall tired NPC will sleep peacefully.
Immediately the problems are of a technical nature. Bugs and "brakes" are fine. For me, a tangible problem was another: due to the fact that the camera is free, at home and in general the terrain is multi-level, and the perspective is isometric, the skeletons of buildings and objects are constantly disappearing, they appear so that the player does not lose sight of his hero. Intentions are good, but only in the end in places with dense buildings the picture jumps and flickers, tiring eyes.
The key word that spins in my head after all insights is "offensive." Really it is very insulting that the Poles, having constructed from an all sorts of classical elements an amazing and ambitious mechanism, did not twist several important bolts, so that in the end everything worked as it should. And then in this device, and the sand of technical flaws hit, which makes players experience physical discomfort.
Seven: The Days Long Gone - this is the case when early access would be for good. The creators needed to provide such a comprehensive and open gaming system to as many testers as possible, collect testimonials, understand how people use the tools issued by them, and make the necessary conclusions and adjustments.
The most important thing is that the situation can be corrected with the proper approach: patches bring the product to a laudable state, and then, what the hell is not joking, a sequel to aim and "amazingly"! But this, of course, is true for an ideal world. Whether Fool's Theory wants to go this way is a big question, after all, as we have already seen, making decisions for others is a dubious practice.
Pros:a great concept, mixing together stealth, and parkour, and the principles of action / RPG; rare in recent times the degree of freedom and fair openness of the game.
Cons: Many mechanisms either do not work or work incorrectly; weak artificial intelligence; problems of a technical nature.
