I absolutely adoredGreedFall. Despite its recycling of assets and a few janky moments and bugs, it was one of my favourite games of 2019 and didn’t get the love it deserved at the time. When I heardGreedFall 2: The Dying Worldwould be playable at Gamescom, I was so excited to return to its world and see where it would go next. Or went before, technically, as this new entry begins three years before the events of the first.
As much as I was excited to play GreedFall 2, I sadly left Gamescom disappointed. To be clear, that’s not because the game was appallingly bad. It’s because brief demos aren’t always the best way to showcase a game of this magnitude, at least not to its fullest, and unfortunately GreedFall 2 fell into this all too common trap.
In a 30-minute appointment, you’ll never really get the full 30 minutes. By the time you sit down and go over the pleasantries and possible setup, you’re more likely looking at 20-25 minutes, tops. With that reduced timeframe, showcasing a game like this and not falling short in some way is near impossible. I couldn’t help feeling like GreedFall 2 could have also chosen a better section as a taster for players.
The PR representative gave me the rundown of what had happened up until the point I would be playing. I had to spend some time going over my skill trees, assigning attribute points, choosing my party members, and all that jazz, all of which further ate into my time. Once I could properly get down to it, I was on a mountain path heading for a set destination.
I haven’t played GreedFall since 2019 and have no real muscle memory when it comes to how the game plays. Combat is not straightforward and easy to dive into. There are a lot of complexities involved, different roles, the way you action abilities and can either control companions or leave them to it. Even just trying to navigate to using a health potion didn’t come easily. It’s difficult to jump into the action mid-way through the game and hit the ground running when there is so much to learn. Like all RPGs, it is a slow burn where you begin to appreciate things the more you play. Once again, a pretty hard sell in just half an hour.
The two battles I encountered on the aforementioned mountain path were a mess. I didn’t get a real feel for how the combat plays, as I was swamped with too much information at once. These are mechanics you’re normally spoon-fed via tutorials as you progress through the game so you learn them properly, but here I was thrown into the thick of it. As a result, I didn’t get a handle on anything. It also didn’t help one of the battles bugged so I couldn’t target the little goblin creature in the tree attacking me, and essentially just had to get everyone out of range to shut the battle down.
After my frustrating and confusing battle encounters, I spoke with some NPCs and got to choose dialogue options and received a better sense of what was happening. It was standard GreedFall fare and a welcome relief to sit and enjoy the game without feeling overwhelmed. Nothing special or groundbreaking, but undeniably more interesting.
Ultimately, I left Gamescom without really getting a sense of what GreedFall 2 will be like. From the bits I saw it felt like more of the same, which is no bad thing. It’s still a little janky, lip syncing isn’t perfect, but in that sort of way you just grow accustomed to and forgive. Much like how we forgive Dragon’s Dogma 2 for its jankiness.
I’m giving combat the benefit of the doubt after my preview, as I just didn’t get an accurate sense of what it would be like. It felt confusing to me, and granted I have a bad memory, but I can only imagine how it felt to someone entirely new to the series. I’m not judging the combat based on this demo at all. We’ll only get a real sense of it at launch when, hopefully, those pesky little tree b*stards aren’t bugged and I can learn it naturally a step at a time, as the game intends you to.
GreedFall 2 launches in Early Access on September 24.
I think developer Spiders wanted to showcase the combat and how interesting itcouldbe, but it’s impossible to appreciate when delivered in such a small slice when you don’t have the time to learn it properly. If we had been given the opening 20 minutes, it would have left a better impression and set the scene without being overwhelming, even if it meant we didn’t get to the nitty-gritty of combat or later functions. One of the things I loved most about GreedFall was its world-building and narrative, so simply seeing a chunk of that would have kept me happy.
GreedFall 2 wasn’t given the best opportunity to shine at Gamescom. It was the victim of a common practice that doesn’t always work well. Having 30 minutes or less with a game is often not long enough to get a good sense of what it will be like, but unfortunately, that’s the norm for events like Gamescom. I’m begging for hour-long demos, minimum.
