A sad time for STALKER fans.

[󠀡󠀡]

Edit: For those wondering where I'm coming from, check my post at the bottom of page 2.

Fellow stalkers, I’m writing this with a heavy heart. Like many of you, I’ve been waiting for Stalker 2 for what feels like an eternity. The trailers, the promise of immersing myself in the Zone—it all seemed too good to be true. And, well... it kind of was. Let’s unpack this together.

Unfinished and Unpolished
Let’s start with the obvious: Stalker 2 feels incomplete. The performance issues are glaring, bugs are plentiful, and the polish we were all hoping for just isn’t there. I’ve run into game-breaking bugs in the main questline—not exactly the kind of “unforgiving experience” I was hoping for. Sure, the Zone looks incredible, but when immersion-breaking moments keep popping up, it’s hard to stay in the flow. Combine that with how often you’re trudging across the map for objectives, and it starts to feel more like an endurance test than an adventure.

The sheer amount of running wouldn’t be so bad if the survival systems made the journey feel more intense. But hunger, rads, and healing have all been watered down to the point of being chores rather than challenges. Resources are so abundant that survival becomes a mild inconvenience at best. Watching my character eat yet another can of meat felt less like survival horror and more like meal prep simulator.

Combat That Missed the Mark
Combat, unfortunately, doesn’t do much to redeem things. Gunfights often feel scripted, with enemies conveniently spawning in rather than being part of a living, breathing world. And even on the hardest difficulty, the challenge is underwhelming. The abundance of medkits and healing items means you’re rarely in real danger. Instead of the oppressive, unforgiving Zone we all love, it feels more like a guided tour with occasional pop quizzes.

What makes this more frustrating is how the game tries to deliver tension. The visuals and atmosphere are there, but the gameplay systems just don’t back it up. When every encounter feels predictable and resources are handed out like candy, the fear and dread that define Stalker are nowhere to be found.

A Flicker of Hope
Despite my criticisms, I don’t want to give up on Stalker 2. Beneath the bugs and questionable design choices, there’s a good game here—it just needs time to emerge. The developers clearly had ambition, and I genuinely hope they can bring this closer to the masterpiece we were all waiting for. Let's hope we get some more patches that address the many issues brought to light by the community.

[WhiteSnake76]

Go play something else than, i got over 155 hours into it and i am waiting till they release the next mayor update for my second playtrough, so i am not disapionted.
Think i was pretty tens at times durring playtoughs because you never know wen you are gonna run into a powerfull enemy or an emision is gonna ruin your day.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

You pretty much summed up what a lot of people feel about the game so far.

I couldn't have put it better myself. Like you, I'm hoping for not just improvements, but the Stalker we're all familiar with. I'm selling meds and grenades like I'm a vending machine.

I'm the biggest merchant in the Zone!

I know exactly what you mean about combat; You again pretty much summed it up about enemies just being spawn encounters always on a radius around the player. I'm hoping to see groups of various factions on actual paths MAP-WIDE.. Like it was in the older games;- Those groups would go through load screen points. They'd be tracking across zones- You'd see them appear at the entrance points and be able to track them on their path right across the zone.

If you are plotting a course and you DON'T want to run into trouble, you can use your sniper rifle and see in the distance where anything is and then navigate around it, or if you wanted to- head towards it.

Stalker 2 doesn't provide this at the moment, as we all are aware; There's nothing to see anywhere until BAM, spawn trigger on your 50 meter radius, and you're in combat INSTANTLY whether you like it or not.

I'm hoping they get rid of that completely because that's not A-life. A-life was as I mentioned above; Zone-wide NPC-pathing that you can track to either avoid or rendezvous with, whether it's Humans OR Mutants.

I'm a veteran, hardcore Stalker fan. And I have to agree with everyone who's mentioned that the Bloodsuckers... are starting to pi55 me off. They're supposed to be rare. but in Stalker 2, are spawning like the Bandits are,- in packs, like dogs...

Where TF are these goobers coming from in such numbers???

Are they having orgies or something?- spitting sprogs out like Rabbits?

I could gripe all day, but I'm just preaching to the Choir, I know.

One thing I do also know is that GSC are aware of all this, no doubt lol! So patience, I feel, is the virtue to be had right here. There's no point whining about it, like I see people do occasionally, but I have to assume that they may be new and unaware of the pages and pages of discourse that's already been underway.

Another thing for us all to bear in mind; It's probably going to be technical issues getting the attention first, so game-play improvements, while much desired, may take a while to come through.

Best thing to do is give GSC the feedback that they will benefit from, with a list of suggestions of improvements. They'll start to see the patterns appear the more feedback we give.

Having said all that, I'm sticking with it. It's Stalker.. I'm excited to see how the modding side pans out. It's always scary early on, with not knowing if the infrastructure is adequate for modding.

One final thought; I think it might be an idea if GSC ditched the current Unreal Engine version and tried other tests. Or it would be cool if the actual Engine itself were to be improved upon. IT would be also cool if someone came along to gSC and said, "Hi, guys, I know how to do UE5!" That would be sweet.

[**dutchgold**]

Plz don't feed this blood sucker.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

Originally posted by **dutchgold**:

Plz don't feed this blood sucker.

seems like a legit discussion. Can't see any signs of trolling here.

[𒆜Nurse☩With☩Wound𒆜]

End of the day the game is just not good. Until they fix alot of the more glaring issues , or the mod makers get their claws into it.. the games.. just NOT GOOD. That doesnt mean its a bad game, its just not what it should be. Think a partial Cyberpunk 2077.. which wasnt viable for the first year or so.. They have time to fix alot of the issues, an at its core the game is solid.. It just needs more time to bake, an for issues to be addressed.

Everything you said its pretty much spot on, the typical trolls with try to bait you into a flaming match, as its hard to argue with the truth.. Just smile, an keep hoping update, after update brings the game on par to where it should be. At the least they need to fix the ' live system '.. or whatever they are calling it. Thats the number one reason to call this game ' NOT GOOD '.. Having a magical platoon appear 5 feet from you because you turned your head is beyond silly.. An extremely lazy..

[Calm Down]

Originally posted by Anima:

Fellow stalkers, I’m writing this with a heavy heart. Like many of you, I’ve been waiting for Stalker 2 for what feels like an eternity. The trailers, the promise of immersing myself in the Zone—it all seemed too good to be true. And, well... it kind of was. Let’s unpack this together.

Unfinished and Unpolished
Let’s start with the obvious: Stalker 2 feels incomplete. The performance issues are glaring, bugs are plentiful, and the polish we were all hoping for just isn’t there. I’ve run into game-breaking bugs in the main questline—not exactly the kind of “unforgiving experience” I was hoping for. Sure, the Zone looks incredible, but when immersion-breaking moments keep popping up, it’s hard to stay in the flow. Combine that with how often you’re trudging across the map for objectives, and it starts to feel more like an endurance test than an adventure.

The sheer amount of running wouldn’t be so bad if the survival systems made the journey feel more intense. But hunger, rads, and healing have all been watered down to the point of being chores rather than challenges. Resources are so abundant that survival becomes a mild inconvenience at best. Watching my character eat yet another can of meat felt less like survival horror and more like meal prep simulator.

Combat That Missed the Mark
Combat, unfortunately, doesn’t do much to redeem things. Gunfights often feel scripted, with enemies conveniently spawning in rather than being part of a living, breathing world. And even on the hardest difficulty, the challenge is underwhelming. The abundance of medkits and healing items means you’re rarely in real danger. Instead of the oppressive, unforgiving Zone we all love, it feels more like a guided tour with occasional pop quizzes.

What makes this more frustrating is how the game tries to deliver tension. The visuals and atmosphere are there, but the gameplay systems just don’t back it up. When every encounter feels predictable and resources are handed out like candy, the fear and dread that define Stalker are nowhere to be found.

A Flicker of Hope
Despite my criticisms, I don’t want to give up on Stalker 2. Beneath the bugs and questionable design choices, there’s a good game here—it just needs time to emerge. The developers clearly had ambition, and I genuinely hope they can bring this closer to the masterpiece we were all waiting for. Let's hope we get some more patches that address the many issues brought to light by the community.

You talk too much. Meantime I just finished the game third time. And love it.

[DaimonTrology]

Thanks for the info.
I wanted to see, if A-Life was implemented yet, since for me personally it is a dealbreaker without it.
I will play Stalker Gamma then till Stalker 2 is fleshed out..

[[Ki]Tsopu*]

If you don't like it, just move on. Some of us are enjoying it and not nit picking every little thing. I for one personally don't get bored of Stalker 2. It's not for everyone. Like, we're sorry it didn't leave a good impression on you. But some of us don't have all these game breaking bugs among other things. There are plenty of ways to get around the game fast in its current state. I personally don't mind having to run around the big beautiful map we were given. It's a big barren irradiated wasteland. It's not exactly supposed to be booming with life. Sure, the combat could use some work. But it's not something I have a problem with. I don't have people that just magically spawn in like everybody else seems to have an issue with. It was like that in earlier patches. But it's mostly normal for me at this point. I don't think anybody knows how much work needs to go into fixing everything. They have to test it to see if the fixes actually worked. They also have to make sure it doesn't break anything else in the process. This game is massive and it's going to take time. Demanding an update every 2-3 days isn't going to speed up that process.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

All fair points.
Respect all round guys. Although, I think the title could use a bit of positive sprinkle.

More like; 'A hopeful time for Stalker fans'...

[lockwoodx]

Originally posted by 𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋:

Originally posted by **dutchgold**:

Plz don't feed this blood sucker.

seems like a legit discussion. Can't see any signs of trolling here.

and even Trolling is better than "Game is dead" threads.

[alka]

You're not a Stalker fan if you find this 'a sad time for Stalker fans'.

It's the rebirth of a PC gaming classic. Yes, it's not an easy rebirth, but that doesn't take away from what it is. It's a great time to be a Stalker fan. New life, and yes new problems.

Deal with it, or get out of here Stalker.

[Calm Down]

Originally posted by k33th:

Also out of curiosity: on what platform do you own the game, op?

OP does not own the game. Why do you think he has a "private" profile? What is there to hide?

[Lathanx]

Originally posted by alka:

You're not a Stalker fan if you find this 'a sad time for Stalker fans'.

It's the rebirth of a PC gaming classic. Yes, it's not an easy rebirth, but that doesn't take away from what it is. It's a great time to be a Stalker fan. New life, and yes new problems.

Deal with it, or get out of here Stalker.

People still riding for this absolute wet fart of a video game lmao.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

Originally posted by Calm Down:

Originally posted by k33th:

Also out of curiosity: on what platform do you own the game, op?

OP does not own the game. Why do you think he has a "private" profile? What is there to hide?

How TF do they get to post???

Every time I don't own a game, it tells me "Only people who own [game] can post in this forum"

[Kain]

Other than the game being released in an unpolished mess state it's not all so bad. Once the game is in good shape and more mods start rolling it will be fun. Hopefully they'll improve A-Life too.