I played through this during the past 2 weeks and finished the main storyline + side quests (NOT the DLCs). Took me ~44 hours.
I still don't know if I like the game or not. I was hooked enough to play it all the way through, but I'm not sure if that's because of the stress that this game puts on the player (this game is hella stressful, the most stressful game I've ever played) or just the internal drive to power through and reach the end ASAP in order to circumvent the persistent world mechanic it has (the real-time game world elements).
The game has some really good qualities and not-so-good qualities.
I'm casually looking forward to State Of Decay 2 on Steam, provided that there are improvements that have been made over the first one.
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What aspect of the game is stressful? Has always looked like the sort of game I would enjoy.
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I had it on my wishlist for quite a while as well.
Stressful due to:
Persistent world - events happen as you're out of the game. Supplies will be used, survivors could possibly get themselves into trouble. On the other hand they can also bring back stuff, that's a welcome surprise. You'll want to exit your game sessions when your world is in a relatively decent condition, or risk consequences.
Permadeath - A good and bad thing. Definitely be careful out there. ESPECIALLY be careful after certain fetch/rescue missions where your follower/companion has to make their way back home on foot. Sometimes they decide to do weird things... like play whack-a-zombie their 1 vs. zombies: 3... or attract hordes... while you're 2 houses away... way away quietly looting a house...
A certain someone who operates the radio will keep pestering you with missions, some of which are more time sensitive than others. You'll have to prioritize.
Keeping track of survival resources. Ammo and construction materials are especially important
Babysitting issues with training/chemistry/morale between survivors at your home base. In my case there was a lot of going back to base for Gun Training missions, or to help someone I just helped. This is probably because I had some problematic things at my home (Autocrat trait on one survivor, and no Dining Area set up to reduce discord)... I was stingy with my construction materials lol
Home survivors getting into a jam for whatever reason on the field, and then radio tells you, "Oh! Ally missing! Guess you gotta go rescue him/her for the umpteenth time." This, over and over, while hordes and infestations keep popping up in the same spots over and over again, hordes in particular threatening by directly beelining towards your home base
Limited inventory space - towards the end I was noticeably abandoning or destroying weapons just to make some space. Hoarders beware :)
Janky physics/glitches - Zombies materializing out of thin air, zombies clipping and ghosting through closed doors (lol) and biting you, moves being interrupted in mid-animation (and more bitey-bitey), and so forth
This is going to be a tough game for players who desire a certain amount of precision and control. By virtue of the above and the said janky physics, you'll have to accept the fact that "S**t hits the fan," fairly often, and that spontaneity/randomness are often HUGE factors in the game. Never know what's out there!
All that said, the game does have its charm.
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Wow. Thank you for that comprehensive explanation! A fair bit to get stressed about then! I think that I could put up with most of those, since I guess they are somewhat expected in this sort of game. The main one that has me worried is the persistent world part. I don't want to feel like I have to jump on a game every day to keep things going. Had an experience like that with Ark where you have to feed dinos, water crops and generally look out for your base. Started to feel like a job. Is is possible to die when you're out of the game or reach a 'game over' state any other way?
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No prob, glad to be of help.
I haven't personally encountered a death upon re-entering and examining what occurred while away but I've read online that there's a rare chance that a survivor death could happen while offline.
You reach a 'game over' state if you run out of survivors to play as.
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Good to know, thank you. Certainly sounds like a mixed bag, but overall I'm still interested. Might pick it up in the next sale.
Btw, if you haven't already, you should share your opinion in a Steam review. I'm sure others would find it useful :)
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I think I need more time to let my playthrough sink in before I decide to write a review. I did take notes during/right after play sessions though.
I would give it a positive rating, most likely. At least, the game has stuck around in my thoughts and I do miss it once in a while so that fact alone would nudge the game towards a thumbs up for me.
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Probably a good idea to think on it. I think if you asked me to review most games right after playing them my review would be pretty mixed. But of course there is not an option for neutral / mixed reviews on Steam.
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it's not as bad as eigan says, at least not for me. shit happens from time to time, yeah. but treat it like xcom, where people sometimes die and you can get a fresh (ie not leveled) replacement pretty much instantly. awesome game, especially the endless mode, where you leave the map with i think 6 of your survivors and restart the map with extra difficulty.
the sequel is not as good i think. it's like 1/3 better and 1/3 worst, the latter part mostly in the annoying department
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Thanks for the info. Endless mode sounds particularly interesting!
I actually didn't realise SOD 2 was already available on Microsoft store. Reviews look pretty disappointing, so I guess that ties into what you said.
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it's still a lot of fun though. you'll like it if you liked SOD1, but it's a half assed effort. almost everything screams "missed opportunity" everywhere. for example, the difference in difficulty is lower supply spawn and more health for enemies. if you know what you're doing, the only way to die is by being stunlocked or by having an explosive zombie spawn right in front of your car (happens a LOT). it's worth a try when it comes to steam, in less than 2 hours you'll know if you like it
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Will have to check out SOD 1 first. Need to see if I enjoy that one first, but I think I will. Good to know that there is some potential in the second one though.
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Off the top of my head:
none of that is game breaking, but you can just see that it could have been so much more. specially because in spite of all of the above, you can totally have lots of fun with this skeleton of a game
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The radio one I'm aware of, the rest of these are either a) New, or b) Already somewhat existed in 1.
Morale events happened a lot in 1 too... or maybe that's just me having an Autocrat trait guy around...
The magic zombie materializing out of nowhere is back! Wheee I can't wait lol
Thanks for the list. Some things to look forward to, and others... not so much haha
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i uninstalled the game 2 or 3 times in a week and reinstalled it an hour later and kept playing. so while annoying, if you liked 1, you'll really like 2. especially with the latest patches (the crossbow rules!) ( but why would you not add a crossbow from day 1 in a post TWD zombie game??? it was added in patch 8)
anyway, try it, it's fun
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https://www.humblebundle.com/store/state-of-decay-yoseNew record low!
edit: if you own the original State of Decay (delisted on Steam) you should receive a copy of the YOSE edition for free. See the comment below here for details.
on a side note: they are apparently planning to bring State of Decay 2 to Steam next year
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