The art, my god the art was fukking amazing. I can't remember the last time I played a game where not only was it visually amazing on a purely technical level but to have such amazing art direction too?? Oh my god. The last chapters were just visual porn. I couldn't believe the shyt that was showing. Literally the only negative I could muster up about the graphics were mainly technical things like a few frame drops during the very end of the game due to extreme amounts of "shyt got real" moments. My goodness.
The writing for this game was done gracefully. This is the most mature Uncharted out period. It still has the funny drake and witty lines along with the banter you've come to expect but this is the first where Drake has a more grounded, mundane side aside from all the shyt that's happening. The entire game has a more, somber tone.
The villains were interesting too compared to the last villains in UC1-3. I just wished Nadine had more screen time.
The way the characters spoke was just real and full of conviction. It felt like watching an expensive blockbuster movie. The animators and whatnot are just something else for this game.
The gameplay was really good. Who knew that tight, smooth controls and some really bombastic sound design can do for a game like this?? But to add to that, the visuals and feedback when playing was so much better in this game. Shooting enemies, cracking necks, jumping around, climbing, it all felt and controlled beautifully. I never got tired of firing guns. The controller rumbling, the visual feedback when bullets register on the enemies, the music that kicks in while you're in battle it all combines to create a moment.
It's rare to have a game look super good AND feel good. usually there's some sacrifice done but here the game
played as good as it looked. Hell, the way some of the AI partners when they're jump into a fight is dope.
The amount of animations I've seen throughout the game was just crazy for simple things like meleeing and whatnot. The stealth wasn't really all that great and likewise it was to be expected. Anybody coming into this thinking you're going to get MGSV, heck even TLOU like stealth are going to be disappointed. It was good enough for Uncharted compared to UC1-3 though. I enjoyed hiding in grass and taking someone by the neck and putting him to sleep permanently though.
This is still an action adventure game at the end of the day and that's where it shines. The action in this game when it comes is unparalleled. It's nice that it's more viable than the past games but I think they wanted to keep that high octane action there without making the game turn into splinter cell.
Speaking of action, this game has really nailed that feel and sense of
adventure. I felt like there was a nice sense of discovery and adventure throughout the campaign. There's a LOT more adventure in this and some people, those who don't appreciate the fine moments of when you're walking around in a lush jungle on a stranded island and all you're doing is swinging around, climbing and jumping yet it's done so well that it's still a joy to do. I didn't find these sections in the previous Uncharteds too good(Ice Caves in UC2 was boring imo and pretty much everything in UC3 was a snoozefest) but yet I found almost every section in here just a joy.
The narrative blending in with the gameplay which is something ND excels that just makes these moments great. Yeah, you're
just exploring but you're not using a generic prop who grunts and squeals, you're using Drake,
Nathan Drake. It feels organic.
My negatives for this game could be someone else's pros and that imo are what makes this game a masterpiece. These negatives aren't irrefutable points, they're just things I know some will have a problem with or that some will love and find it nonsense as with all things considered.
If I had to come up with some, it's more so a trying to find something to talk about to appear credible but anyway:
Slow start up. The game is story heavy and thus takes some time in the beginning to get things "poppin" so to speak. This can be a negative for those going in expecting non stop bombastic action and third person shoot bang for 10 hours. I loved all the slow start up. Chapter 4 simply being a walk around Nate's house was well done. Crash Bandicoot was just a punch in the nostalgic gut.
Not enough Combat There's a decent amount of combat areas but they end quickly depending on how you play and they are spaced out in between long stretches of gameplay. I'd say it's probably just a "feeling" and not really true if statistics were brought up for past Uncharted games but then again this game has way more stuff to do so it may just be that.
I'm really struggling to make up some negatives. Even the ones i listed are just things I can see someone complaining about but make no mistake these do not hamper the game imo at all. Those are just minor.
Oh and my playtime for this was about 17 hours on normal/hard halfway. Game is pretty beefy.
and not a single XP bar or equip screen in sight 