I tried the demo, but it just didn’t hook me. I only have room in my life for 1 lifestyle game so I’ll pass on this one.

Completely agree. The UI sux. (D2's current UI is worse than D1, but Candland set such a high bar they've got a long way to fall). I couldn't distinguish friend from foe. Facial animation was pretty great. I felt like I didn't know anything about what the story was supposed to be about. I think Bungie made a great choice grounding their game in our solar system. i found the voice over irritating. Just didn't like it.

The end made me laugh.

I played almost exclusively with friends (communication really helps with combos and such).

The flying mechanics are great! Each Javelin feels unique in flight/movement/combat.

There are a ton of modification areas for the final game that are locked in the Demo, things like extra armor, or slower overheating for flying longer, pretty much everyone is going to truly have a unique loadout.

Only being able to take out two weapons into each mission/free roam feels weird in an age of Destiny. I got use it but I would like to be able to switch if I'm 30 minutes into a Stronghold and realize my loadout is bad.

The UI/map/mission selector feels weaker than Destiny's Director. Just clucky or not as intuitive.

I'm ultimately still excited to see what BioWare is doing with Anthem. If anyone else gets it and wants to play, hit me up!

Yep, you nailed it. I wasn't lying when I said "It's shit." It's actually shit. It's a poorly designed mess, as far as I can tell.

And holy jeez, that motion blur. I am not one that's usually a stickler for framerate. I think Destiny feels totally great at 30fps. I'm totally fine with Bloodborne and Dark Souls at 30fps.

But this game feels like dogshit. The motion blur is worse than that nonsense that was in Halo Reach, and far more aggressive. But god help you if you turn it off. Then it's just a constant barrage of chop and screen tearing. It's just awful. And that's on a One X.

It's much better on PC (where I can disable motion blur) but it's still not exactly fun. Abilities are kind of meh, and flight controls are not great when you have to steer with the mouse. I was glad to see that I could run missions solo by setting my group to private, but that became a lot less fun on the second mission where there's a boss fight with infinitely respawning enemies and very little cover. If I hadn't convinced a friend to download it to try it out with me before I tried it out myself, I probably would have already uninstalled it.

-Disciple

And holy jeez, that motion blur. I am not one that's usually a stickler for framerate. I think Destiny feels totally great at 30fps. I'm totally fine with Bloodborne and Dark Souls at 30fps.

But this game feels like dogshit. The motion blur is worse than that nonsense that was in Halo Reach, and far more aggressive. But god help you if you turn it off. Then it's just a constant barrage of chop and screen tearing. It's just awful. And that's on a One X.

Nothing about it feels good, to be honest.

I'm glad I spent the $5 to get EA Access and try out the demo--now I know I can pass.

Maybe The Division 2 will be good.

I tried it for a couple of hours, and boy is it not a good time. The Novelty of taking off at any time wears off quickly once you start to Overheat constantly, and what's worse? In a game ostensibly about mobility and flight, you are grounded and locked into small enclosed areas thanks to a persistent "Return to battlefield" prompt, and a blinding smoke effect if you fly just slightly too high.

So now you're stuck in close proximity to enemies, but your melee has a cooldown(!). So you pull back to a map corner, and peek from cover to kill the enemies standing uselessly while their AI reboots, only to be knocked off the edge by an enemy AoE attack. Return to battlefield! So you make it back, only to be killed by enemy splash damage... And there you sit, watching the "Respawning" meter for minutes on end while your teammates peek from cover at the bullet sponge that downed you. And there's more waves spawning.

Fun.

Also, the thing that kills the game for me is that it is a 60+fps game trapped in a <30fps body. How do they fix the speed and lack of optimization? The motionest motion blur to ever mote. It's unacceptable. And here's the thing, in games like Red Dead 2, or Spider-Man, you eventually adapt to the blur, and it becomes imperceptible. Here, firing your gun? Motion blur. Turning around? Motion blur. That Heavy Javelin across the room from you fire his 100 round Nuke launcher? Motion blur and screen shake!
Are you casually walking in the town? You guessed it!

And the bugs and crashes and god-awful writing and dialogue...

Anyway, this moment was just the cherry on top of my time with the game:

The shooting feels clunky but I had a blast figuring out the best way to pilot each javelin and how to combo abilities with teammates to be super effective. Abilities can either "prime" or "detonate" targets. You need both to pull off a combo and depending on your class and the elements you use in the combo you'll get different results. This is a game where you are definitely stronger as a team, opposed to 4 individuals doing their own thing. This may turn off some people.

This is essentially Mass Effect 3's system, and one of the best things about the co-op. Figuring out how to synergize your abilities with your team is essential for higher-level play, so while it's a neat CC gimmick at lower levels, doing your own thing when things get rough can cost you, and hopefully will come into play when you approach the as-yet-unannounced endgame experience.

This is not a game that is about gunplay (guns are the least efficient method to kill anything). Is
It's closer to an action game then a shooter. Abilities are short cooldown (even ultimates) and the emphasis seems to be on using them effectively with your mech's build.

Yeah, Bioware seems to lean more on mobility and abilities in their games, while the gunplay is historically just serviceable (though they are capable of crafting some really fun guns).
The gunplay has looked lame and weak since the first gameplay video, and nothing seems to have improved over Andromeda. That said, maybe their Legendary or Exotic guns will behave in more interesting ways. In ME3, some of the N7-tier weapons are really fun on their own.

I liked the game. Was much more team oriented than d2, and the lack of pvp means they'll be free to do some crazy things on the pve side. It's just important to go in with the expectation that it's not a shooter in the mold of bungie games (which is a welcome relief, to me).

Yeah, I see a lot of Division-meets-Warframe comparisons online post-demo. Destiny comparisons are pretty much gone now.

Where I think Anthem can beat The Division is in mobility. I found it satisfying to jetpack around enemies and get into and out of trouble through flying. The Division didn't have that tactical depth during fights.

I think Anthem really needs to provide UI around powers. Too many people held on to their ultimates and I think in some games I didn't even see people use them. I noticed there's a icon for combo detonators, but not one for primers. Hopefully that will be cleaned up and we'll see all the javelins have better capabilities for self combos instead of just the storm.

It is interesting that Bungie seems to be trendsetting yet again, although this time for the worse.

Can you expand on that statement? I'm not seeing it. I'm going to need direct examples because you can't just generalize such a broad game type.

Let's put it this way: can you point to a "shared world shooter" that lacks a crippling investment system?

That's not fair to put that on Bungie, though. Games are changing, revenue streams are changing and everyone is trying to figure out what works.

Also, I don't accept your argument which is based on lack of evidence by the opposition :P

It is interesting that Bungie seems to be trendsetting yet again, although this time for the worse.

Can you expand on that statement? I'm not seeing it. I'm going to need direct examples because you can't just generalize such a broad game type.

Let's put it this way: can you point to a "shared world shooter" that lacks a crippling investment system?

Nope, can't think of one, but I have been playing Destiny for a while and haven't had a ton of time to play others.

It is interesting that Bungie seems to be trendsetting yet again, although this time for the worse.

Can you expand on that statement? I'm not seeing it. I'm going to need direct examples because you can't just generalize such a broad game type.

Let's put it this way: can you point to a "shared world shooter" that lacks a crippling investment system?

It is interesting that Bungie seems to be trendsetting yet again, although this time for the worse.

Can you expand on that statement? I'm not seeing it. I'm going to need direct examples because you can't just generalize such a broad game type.

Everybody copied Halo. Console FPS, recharging health, sandboxes, etc.

Now people have been trying to copy the 'shared world shooter'.

In my opinion, Bungie should be looking to set the next trend. Leave Destiny behind, and let the copies fight it out while they move forward. Hopefully they are. Because this time they have created a monster.

This is not a game that is about gunplay (guns are the least efficient method to kill anything). Is
It's closer to an action game then a shooter. Abilities are short cooldown (even ultimates) and the emphasis seems to be on using them effectively with your mech's build.

I liked the game. Was much more team oriented than d2, and the lack of pvp means they'll be free to do some crazy things on the pve side. It's just important to go in with the expectation that it's not a shooter in the mold of bungie games (which is a welcome relief, to me).