Stalker 2 is a worthy sequel

[JonnyCigarettes]

I've had a brilliant time with it. The story, which I usually don't care about in games, had me gripped for the most part. It picks up and sorts out threads from all three preceding games. The plight of the Noontiders genuinely got me for some reason. And I'm halfway through my second playthrough but the ending I got first time was extremely satisfying as a cap to all four games.

The attention to detail throughout is wonderful. The Zone remixed as one expansive place really worked for me. I thought the map was well thought out, having well spaced trading hubs, but enough room elsewhere - swamps, Duga - for you to feel truly lost and distant from any help.

I like the new anomalies, from the sinister floating glass clouds to the friendly bleep-bloop bubbles and the time-warps that slow your bullets. And the upgraded mutants with their new skills are genuinely challenging until you get your Saiga.

It absolutely nails that Stalker experience of being out in the dark, in the rain, carrying too much and with damaged gear, hoping to drag your arse back to safety but something comes howling out of the night. Perfect.

And I get to return to it on a yearly basis, like I have with the originals, to find out what the modders have done.

I can't really speak to technical problems, as I haven't had any. Runs like butter. Bugs-wise, I've had a recurrent psi-damage issue, a few floating people and enough crashes that I stay out of Rostok. Thanks to the people offering solutions to bugs here, as they've been genuinely helpful.

So, gorgeous. Not a mobile game or a cash-in by a big publisher made in America. A true sequel, evidently made by people who know and love the series. I never thought we'd get it :)

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

Someone who gets it.

You gave a great perspective for me regarding the Swamps and Duga. I felt it was 'out of the way' from 'civilisation', but that's exactly what the Zone is supposed to be!

I too enjoy the oppressive and challenging environment and they nailed it.

For a game to be providing Ray tracing, bloom, ambient occlusion as standard is amazing. Didn't need any mods to improve the fidelity.

I love it when I'm finding myself in a thunder storm, but then get jumped by some Mercs - the lightning amongst the fire-fight just scratches my oppression itch. One minute you're dodging bullets, the next your dodging an anomaly, then Mutants come from another direction and you find yourself running like a scared little boy. HAHA! Love it!

I have also been enjoying a smooth performance experience, on max settings and it's just so beautiful. I only wish the render and spawn distance could be better.

Just gotta cross my fingers. Great post, Stalker.

[gabrieldragonroy]

the only i see a stalker 3 if they go dayz
-make it online and ridiculously big
i think the biggest problem is how you progress the story. hard to do better than the story they got right now.
now imagine on map the size of the u.s.s.r.

[patrixilentius]

It is a great game, just extremely unpolished. So maybe it *will* be a great game a few months from now. I am having a good time, but I wish it was running smoother. And not crashing on 80% of startups. Worth paying attention to, but I also understand many people's disappointment with it.

[GoneTomorrow]

It will] be a worthy sequel, eventually. It's the AAA way nowadays.

[Coldhands]

Stalker 2 is a worthy sequel in that it's essentially the same game again with a bigger map and prettier graphics. If what you wanted was absolutely everything from the originals again today, then Stalker 2 is the game for you. If you were hoping for a lot of forward progress in design or storytelling, not much of that has happened in the last decade and a half.

[GatorBait]

I'm on my second play-through and have enjoyed it quite a lot. Obviously there are frustrating bugs and the compiling shader thing is annoying but I've managed to tweak my settings for better performance and save often in case I need to go back when an important item has failed to spawn (like the inductor that wasn't there until I went to a different room, saved and then reloaded). Overall, I'm happy to be back exploring the Zone. I was playing last night and realized that I was "scared", creeping around in a dark basement maze area where I could hear Burers stomping around somewhere. It reminded me a little of the exquisitely creepy experience of going down into the X8 facility in CoP. That's exactly why I play. I was hoping they would NOT change the experience to make it a more "modern" game and I feel like they have updated things well and advanced the story satisfactorily without changing the STALKER universe.

[Z0MBE]

When your brain reads worthless and you have to read the sentence over because it does not conform with your lived reality

[Calm Down]

Nice game. I am playing my 3rd playthrough. First 2 times were flawless. Third time I did hit a bug in the main story but was able to get around it. And submitted a bug report (instead of crying here). Hopefully, in a couple of months some DLCs will come out.

[lockwoodx]

Stalker 2 isn't a sequel its a remaster.

[fitterdave]

Me personally, I just don't get it. I broke my own rule of never pre-ordering, of paying full price. I so want to enjoy it, and it has had it moments, but it just doesn't grab me. I just find it dull most of the time. I'm having a break and hope I come back to it and something clicks.

[No Exit]

I think GSC saw what people did with the mods of STALKER - "STALKER Anomaly" in particular - and thought they'd do the same thing. To which they largely succeeded.

[JonnyCigarettes]

Originally posted by Coldhands:

Stalker 2 is a worthy sequel in that it's essentially the same game again with a bigger map and prettier graphics. If what you wanted was absolutely everything from the originals again today, then Stalker 2 is the game for you. If you were hoping for a lot of forward progress in design or storytelling, not much of that has happened in the last decade and a half.

I think that's an excellent summing up. I'm glad they haven't revolutionised it completely to be honest - you can only add or remove so many design features before a game ceases to have the same soul.

The stamina issue for instance, which a lot of people seem to dislike - I think it's core to Stalker. Can I make it back in this state, barely able to move? Do I risk it or jettison some of my profit from this run? Maybe I can find a friendly patrol for protection some of the way. Ah ♥♥♥♥ a psi-dog. Can I wrangle my inventory in time to drop a few rifles and run for that rock? Just. Damn there's an anomaly on it. Why didn't I bring my last Hercules? Eaten. Reload. NOW - do I jettison rifles now, do I hope it won't be there this time? Do I go around? Do I try and make it to a different base?

If you remove the stamina pressure, all that decision making is gone, and you run past threats spamming health pens if necessary. It no longer feels like Stalker.

None of this is to criticise people who have come to the game for entirely different reasons, and want different things - it's just that only Stalker has ever offered me this kind of experience, and I'm glad they haven't messed with it too much.

[n0mad23]

I will admit to be pretty worried about Stalker 2. It's weird how you feel feel somewhat possessive about your favorite games. The introduction/tutorial section didn't make me any less nervous as it was feeling just a bit more "hand-holding" than I've come to expect.

Most of my experience before pressing on to Garbage didn't make me less worried. The overabundance of food and medical supplies really felt off.

And even by the time I made it to the Duty base in Concrete Factory, I was still troubled. I've never in the OG games felt like the game was about me.

And the part that's taken me the longest to actually get over is the sense that Skif is the Main Character in this game, which I never got the feeling from the first three games.

Pretty sure it was reading Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels that alerted me to what I've always loved about the STALKER games - The Zone is the main character. Whether the memory challenged Strelok, or Scar, or the the military man undercover sure the story is yours, but that is only a footnote in The Zone's tale. There's an anthology of tales from The Zone, and yours is pretty much as insignificant as the rest.

Only after the showdown at the Duga Woodpecker have I realized this is the BIG change from the previous installments. In S2, there are now 2 main characters. Like the evolution of the Zone, so too has the game evolved subtly. Can see that mirrored in the 3 anomalies that are purely aesthetic, too.

And honestly I don't mind it nearly as much as I did. Sharing center stage with The Zone is weirdly humbling.

Now if only the technical issues can be fixed so the devs can focus of some of the rebalancing and other annoying issues, I'll totally get lost in this wonderfully unique experience. And yes, I'm the first to admit there are still WAY too many bugs.

[Coldhands]

Originally posted by JonnyCigarettes:

Originally posted by Coldhands:

Stalker 2 is a worthy sequel in that it's essentially the same game again with a bigger map and prettier graphics. If what you wanted was absolutely everything from the originals again today, then Stalker 2 is the game for you. If you were hoping for a lot of forward progress in design or storytelling, not much of that has happened in the last decade and a half.

I think that's an excellent summing up. I'm glad they haven't revolutionised it completely to be honest - you can only add or remove so many design features before a game ceases to have the same soul.

I agree for the most part. There's still nothing quite like Stalker, even after all these years. But there are elements of Stalker 2 that I don't think hold up very well and don't really serve a good function in the overall design.
I also think the storytelling is abysmal, and this game would be significantly better if it actually put some effort into establishing characters, events, places, and its backstory/background lore. Not to mention an editing pass to make sure all of its story beats actually follow an internal logic and make sense (because they sure don't!). : \

If I didn't like Stalker 2, I wouldn't be so frustrated by its failings. You can see a really special game from where it's currently at, but for right now there's a whole lake of technical and design issues between it and there.

[Spiegel]

Can we please wait until we get a working A-Life, before they shift their efforts towards the next instalment?!