The 'GOTY' vs 'haha dead game' Debate

[fettach1ni]

The game can have issues and I can have fun with it. Both can be true. I see zealots in both camps, one side saying 'GOTY' and refusing to see valid criticism, the other side saying '♥♥♥♥, dead game' and refusing to see the valid positive aspects of the game. Anyone that has played the OG games knows how this goes. The game was Flavor of the Month on release, but Stalker has always been a niche game with a small fan base. 28k concurrent players at the time of this writing is a huge success for any studio, especially for such a niche franchise.
Just relax and have fun. Merry Christmas, Stalkers.

[Shwing]

I feel the same, I have many many complaints about the bad optimisation and some design choices. I still had a blast playing it though, when it worked. Here's to hoping the devs can fix it up or the modders. Merry Christmas

[impactos_enredos0i]

28.9k and its on game pass so yeah a huge success. Indiana Jones, a SP game released later and that is also on game pass, has 5.7k now i.e.

[Flanker1Six]

Same here! Hardly perfect but a pretty good game, and a worthy follow on to the original series. I've been lucky in having experienced very few and very minor tech issues. Game looks great and has run smoothly since purchase. Some features/game mechanisms I wasn't thrilled with have been mitigated with a few mods from the nexus.

[mike]

The main issue is that they released a fresh patch right before Christmas, and it completely breaks the gameplay (not just in my case). This probably doesn’t align with any of your arguments, because a game is supposed to work by default (yes, surprisingly, it should actually work). So it looks more like sabotage within the development team.

[Brother Læknishendr]

Game has various issues; graphical anomalies, AI, mission, etc., but the soul of past stalker games are here, heck anomalies (bugs) are part of the stalker package, and I really enjoy my time in the zone.

I get that players who barely can't get the game to run are frustrated but i can only speak of my own experience and the game is, so far, running just fine on my setup. I'll admit that I run a fairly high end system so I've not to seen fps go under 96ish in towns like Rostok. Very rarely seen a CTD on my 100+ hours (2-4h sessions).

The exploration; venturing deep into former labs, or regular weapon depots, while you listen to the ambience of what might be in the next room.. It's eerie, frightening.. it tickles the wander-lust just right. Wandering the zone, experiencing sudden weather changes, run into enemy factions or some horrible mutant(s) - I really enjoying it.

Game of the year? it's up there alright

[Hazzmat]

Originally posted by fettach1ni:

The game can have issues and I can have fun with it. Both can be true. I see zealots in both camps, one side saying 'GOTY' and refusing to see valid criticism, the other side saying '♥♥♥♥, dead game' and refusing to see the valid positive aspects of the game. Anyone that has played the OG games knows how this goes. The game was Flavor of the Month on release, but Stalker has always been a niche game with a small fan base. 28k concurrent players at the time of this writing is a huge success for any studio, especially for such a niche franchise.
Just relax and have fun. Merry Christmas, Stalkers.

i hope none of the endings are cannon. i do not like a single ending to this game as it stands without dlc. it irreparably changes and in my opinion diminishes the power and awe of the zone. its hard to believe in a god/force of nature when its just some d-bag pickle in a jar

[dementia]

I've had a good time with it, but I've also reached a point where the number of quest-breaking bugs and memory leaks in mid-lategame towns on top of weird CTD bugs have kinda soured my experience.

I'm playing through a second time and I'm finding quests broken that weren't broken before, or are broken in entirely different ways than my first run. Rostok, Yaniv, and Malachite towns have side quest NPCs that I cannot turn the quest in. Weirdly enough, I turned in the one at Yaniv and got a reward, but it never cleared the quest so I can't do more anyway.

This much going into console to fix sloppy dev work is beyond ridiculous.

Also, this game didn't bring anything new to the series. It retreaded old ground and cut many of the more enjoyable elements. I'm not sure how that is GOTY worthy.

[-LMNTRIX-]

played the old one and i loved it. playing this new one and i love it 2. sure, some issues, but i believe, they will fix it... i'm no more wondering of all this ppl spreading their hate and beeing
so aggressive... i mean: early game, i agree, but show me one game that has been free of bugs and fails @ the first start...

[Jaxanine The Gnome Queen]

I have had some bugs (mostly revolving around SIRCAA) Never had performance issues even at top settings with a 3060. I loved the prior games and Im loving this one, Its my personal game of the year.

[OGPG]

Despite the bugs and poor optimization Stalker 2 is the most fun New game I have played this year. Definitely GOTY for me.

[Captain Flappy]

Originally posted by impactos_enredos0i:

28.9k and its on game pass so yeah a huge success. Indiana Jones, a SP game released later and that is also on game pass, has 5.7k now i.e.

yet Indy sold extremely well on Xbox and Microsoft game store... steam sales figures are never the be all and end all.
I believe this game sold well on steam mainly to support Ukraine.