Page 1 of 1

We Happy Few - PC - Impressions

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:57 pm
by Err
I quickly threw down $40 CDN to Kickstart this game the moment I saw the trailer for We Happy Few. I was a big fan of Compulsion Games' previous entry, Contrast. I was looking forward to having another Bioshock like game. Then I saw gameplay videos of Alpha and then the Beta. My dreams of another Bioshock were turned into a procedurally generated open world survival game where you babysit an idiot whose continuously hungry, thirsty, and/or sleepy. I didn't install the beta version and still hoped that the game would turn out okay. Next, Gearbox came on as a publisher and I thought that maybe this was a good thing as the developer would get the funds to complete the game. However, I think Gearbox only had a hand in the marketing and getting the game to consoles. I've played ~6 hrs of the game and have no compulsion to continue. I'm playing on normal where you have hunger, thirst, and sleep but they really aren't a bother. You may also turn these off before you start the game by selecting Custom. When you start the game it's loud and you'll need to fiddle with the audio before you go deaf. However, every time you start the game, the intro sequence is still at max volume. The sliders only affect in-game audio. I'm running at 1080 with vsync, FPS capped at 60, and everything else on Ultra. I'm not having any performance issues. Although many have reported them in the Steam forums. Mechanically, the game's systems are confusing and the combat is clunky. The game doesn't explain itself very well at all. For instance, I didn't get the tutorial on fighting until almost 2 hours into the game even though I had to defend myself multiple times.

The intro sequence did suck me in and I was really interested in the story. However, the game started and I was bored 1 hour in. There's nothing to do outside the main story other than fetch quests and babysitting your idiot. The only reward is skill points to unlock attributes in your character's tree. Given that the side quests were uninteresting, I focused on the main quest to get back into town. You were originally thrown out because you stopped taking your Joy. You eventually get to go back in but you must continuously take Joy in order to fit in. The moment you can't find any Joy because it seems there's never a dispenser around when you need it, it's a town-wide man hunt. You can't carry Joy around either for some stupid reason as you can with food and drink. You run out of Joy much quicker than food or drink meaning you need to take it about every 10 minutes or so. There are also curfews which is were I'm stuck now. I'm off my Joy at night sneaking around town. At night the Bobbies patrol the streets and beat you to death if they see you. They can be avoided but then there are also drones that patrol the streets that shock you on-site. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing at this point. I supposed I should sleep until morning so I'm allowed to be out but then the streets are too crowded and I'd be no where near a dispenser. Once you're spotted off your Joy, the only option is to run.

We Happy Few is what you get when you develop a game to simply check boxes. The survival elements are completely unnecessary and pointless. They add nothing to the story and I'd suggest turning these off immediately. However, you can't turn off the Joy mechanic. I feel this wasn't fleshed out as well as it should've been. The would looks okay but no where near as nice as the trailers. The developers would've been better off generating a would and then hand crafting it to suit the game. As it stands now, it's a world filled with nothing. If I could refund my Kickstarter contribution, I would. This will be the last time I ever back a game on Kickstarter. The game is now $60 on Steam or $56 on GOG. This is in no shape or form what a $60 game looks like. I doubt the additional $20 season pass will be worth anything either. I don't think I've been this disappointed in a game in ages.

Re: We Happy Few - PC - Impressions

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:49 pm
by Losbot
Sorry to hear that. Sucks when they sucker people in with a misleading video. I saw it being pushed on Steam. I'm interested in reading the reviews now, out of curiosity.

Re: We Happy Few - PC - Impressions

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:50 pm
by Losbot