First impressions

[fragger]

I've found one hole in the map so far, which I described here. I have also encountered some invisible walls early in the Shangri-La mission. You are encouraged to "explore" Shangri-La shortly after you arrive, but you can only follow the path that the devs want you to. I tried to go around the path and climb a bit, that's when I ran into the invisible walls. Other than that I haven't come across any.

I knew Willis was in this game, I saw him among some screenies that Stiku posted a link to recently.

[fragger]

More good and bad things.

Got through the first Shangri-La mission. There are a number of these, fortunately you don't have to play them back-to-back. You can take on a new one whenever you want. I don't know whether they have to be played to advance the story, I'm not too sure at this stage, but you do need to do at least a couple to unlock one or two weapons and skills.

There is a new update out, another 1.3GB in size. So far it's getting close to 5GB in updates/patches, so be warned if you buy and install - there'll be lengthy downloads of updates to look forward to. The latest one actually changed the mission I was last in (Shangri-La #1). Because I quit halfway through the mish last time I played, I had to start it from scratch, and this time it was different. The first time nobody was around the entrance area (a cave) - this time there were a bunch of Hunter types and I got caught off guard and pincushioned with arrows :D

The wildlife is interesting. I saw two bears fighting with each other, until one of them was dead. That was pretty cool :-X The elephants are my favourite animal in FC4, not only in the way they look and are animated, but also in terms of gameplay. They're totally harmless, you can walk right up to them and hang around them, though usually they'll trumpet and move away from you. To get on them you have to walk up to them and jump up when the prompt appears, before they move away. They're kind of fun to ride around on and they can toss bad guys around like rag dolls >:D Interestingly, the elephants are kind to you, but they don't dig bad guys at all. There are a few outposts which have caged elephants, and if you let jumbo out he'll start tossing baddies around. Eagles on the other hand can be a pain in the bum. They'll swoop down on you when you least expect it and claw your head. They only inhabit certain areas of the map and you have to listen for their cries. You can nail them in the air, but you don't always see them coming until they're trying to build a nest in your face. They always remove a health bar when they do this.

Some outposts have a wild animal in a cage, but if you free the animal, nothing will happen. That's because there'll also be at least one Hunter somewhere in the camp, and these guys can apparently charm wild animals. You need to take out the Hunter(s), then the wild animal will start being a wild animal. I'm less than halfway through the game, but so far every outpost I've seen with an animal in a cage also has a Hunter or two. Kind of a weird idea at first, but I actually like it. In FC3 it was a bit too easy sometimes to let the animal do all the w@&k. Now you have to bump off the Hunters first, which adds a bit more of a tactical element.

The "Quick sell" option is still there when you interact with a shop/vending cabinet/Sherpa, but now any animal skins which you don't need for crafting will automatically be sold along with the rest of the junk. I like this as I don't have to manually sell hides if I don't need them, like I had to do in FC3.

I have to say I love the look of this game. Some of the scenery and vistas are fantastic. Even so, I still think the lighting, weather and time-of-day effects in FC2 are a cut above.

When this game is at its best it's terrific, but at its worst it can be a pretty painful experience, especially some of the long-winded character monologues. If I could bitch-slap these people I would ::)

[PZ]

... If I could bitch-slap these people I would ::)

:-X

Nice read, fragger, you give me some hope for the game +1

[nexor]

This might be the deciding factor for you guys who's thinking of buying FarCry 4, it is a spoiler....
http://segmentnext.com/2014/11/19/far-cry-4-shangri-la-missions-walkthrough-guide-tips-and-strategy/

[nexor]

This is getting ridiculous now,  I'm at a point where I cannot continue.......... >:((
Once again you only have the fancy bow and your knife with which you must kill a joker that sneaks around shooting arrows at you at incredible accuracy, oh, there's plenty of hiding places alright, for both, but even with a small part of your body exposed he scores hits.
Him on the other hand, a few times he was fully exposed and I'm darn sure I scored hits, he just continues as if he wasn't hit  :D
Once a prompt came up that I can kill him with a takedown, I managed to sneak up to him from behind, as I hit the takedown button he disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke just to re-appear elsewhere pin cushioning me with arrows  :-\\
Then my Tiger appeared and I thought, yes you son of a no good skunk! now lets see who's laughing  ;D
Boy, was I in for a surprise!!! my own Tiger attacked and killed me........
I gave up after an hour and about ten kills  :D >:((
I bought AC Black Flag in the meantime, going to install and play that, I might/might not fire up FC4 some other day in the future.
Games are supposed to be fun, enjoyable and relaxing, FC4 is doing none of it for me  :-\\ :-\\
   

[fragger]

They've really messed up the game with this ridiculous Shangri-La business. I've read that you only have to complete the first one of these missions (there are five in all) and can ignore the rest. I hope that's true, because they really are a supreme pain in the backside >:(

[nexor]

So far it seems to be true yes but this is not one of them, It's one of the main missions I'm doing   :-\\

[JRD]

Really sorry to hear that fragger. We keep hoping the main missions are just boring and linear but in the end you will have your chance of fooling around in the world but it seems you've reached a game stopper. :-(

That's what I call poor game design. Once developers put a ridiculous difficult enemy where you find yourself at an obvious disvantage side in an unfair bottleneck, then you see there is no creativity in the game.  :D

Hope you like Black Flag mate, I am having a great time.  :-X

[nexor]

Thanks JRD, it can only be better than this junk  >:((
AC is busy installing as we speak   8)

[PZ]

That's an absolutely ridiculous experience, nex.  That's even worse than the boss mission in FC3.  You guys will be pleased to know that there is nothing outrageous like that in the AC games.

[JRD]

I gave up after an hour and about ten kills  :D >:((
I bought AC Black Flag in the meantime, going to install and play that,

Really sorry to hear that fragger. nexor
Hope you like Black Flag mate, I am having a great time.  :-X

Thought I was talking to one but was actually talking to the other.  :-[

Thanks JRD, it can only be better than this junk  >:((
AC is busy installing as we speak   8)

But you got that .  ;)  :-X

Anyway, I hope you enjoy being a pirate for a change.  8)

[nexor]

That would be a relieve, had enough of that kind of s#!t  ::)

[fragger]

 :-() JRD, it doesn't really matter if you were addressing me or nex - I think we're pretty much both of the same opinion regarding FC4...

[nexor]

You're right about that fragger  :-D

[Dweller_Benthos]

I couldn't play over the weekend because of that 1.3GB "update".

What the freak can make an "update" that big?

So, I'm back to downloading it here at w@&k and taking it home on a SSD drive. At least I know how to do that now.

[nexor]

I couldn't play over the weekend because of that 1.3GB "update".

What the freak can make an "update" that big?

So, I'm back to downloading it here at w@&k and taking it home on a SSD drive. At least I know how to do that now.

Attempting to fix their stuff-ups comes to mind   8-X

[PZ]

I believe they're still coding the game.  All gamers have accomplished when purchasing a Ubi game is pay to become alpha testers because even beta software does not update that often

[Binnatics]

Of all participants to this alpha release (good one PZ) I had least expected you to quit the game, Nexor. You seemed to have quite a bit of patience with Ubi's flaws. Now that even you have given up, there's no hope left for this game ever being successful on our community.
They have failed us big time.

[nexor]

I didn't mind the game being like a FC3 follow up, early in the game I was even excited about the changes/improvements they made compared to FC3.
I put my heart into the game and was enjoying it although it became obvious that liberating one outpost would be a repetition of the previous one liberated.
I'm a hunter, I kill animals in the wild for no other reason than cooking and eating the meat, so killing animals for whatever reason other than eating it was something that annoyed me about FC3, it annoys me more in FC4, besides that I started enjoying the game, not as "open world" as the developers were letting on but I could live with that.
Then I did the first Shangri-La mission, after getting killed more times than I can remember I managed to complete it, I am playing the game on easy.
The second Shangri-La mission let the first one seem like a tea party, lucky both fragger and I found out that you don't have to do all five Shangri-La missions, thank heaven for that.
Then later on in one of the main missions I had to play a cat and mouse game with a demon, and not having anything to protect yourself with, this was still ok, I managed to give him the slip after he killed me four times.
Immediately after completing this mission you have to do the next one, this one was by far the best so far in the game.
The mission I'm busy with now, or rather stuck in now, is the worst of the lot, a situation where you have to kill this demon with a bow and arrow, he can fire arrows twice as fast and twice as accurate as you, and to top it the white tiger that helped you killing demons in the Shangri-La missions appears, attacks and kills you, I managed to put three arrows into him before he killed me.
After an hour and getting killed about ten times I decided I've had enough, I might fire up the game again in the new year, but for now I have better things to do...........

[fragger]

Bloody hell Why couldn't they restrict that demon nonsense to Shangri-La? Stupid Ubi ::)

I may be changing my avatar again sooner than I thought.

@D_B, I thought about you when that new update appeared. I knew you'd just love that... I hope you do get some enjoyment out of the game after all the hassle it's put you to. There is some fun in it, but as you've no doubt gathered, the main missions are about as opposed to fun as you can get. FC4 makes FC3 seem like FC2 on the fun meter.

[Art Blade]

time for cheats, maybe now, anyone?

[nexor]

I was looking for cheats Art, all I could find was a few that was used in FC3 steam version

[PZ]

... FC4 makes FC3 seem like FC2 on the fun meter.

???

I was looking for cheats Art, all I could find was a few that was used in FC3 steam version

Because of how they operate, I suspect Ubi is doing all they can to close up any cheating holes.  As I mentioned before, their main goal is to have everyone in the world playing their way, and only their way.  To hell with those that want to play differently.  What a complete set of dolts, fools, and idiots, their management team are.

In fact, they are so stupid they don't even realize they could sell a cheats DLC to add to their bottom line.

[JRD]

In fact, they are so stupid they don't even realize they could sell a cheats DLC to add to their bottom line.

\:/ ssssssshhhhuuuuussshhhhh..... you nuts PZ? They might be watching!   \:/

[fragger]

 :-D :-D :-D

If Ubisoft wants to force people to play this particular game their way, with no ability to cheat or mod to make it bearable, then I won't be playing much more of it. I just went through what would have to be one of the most pointlessly stupid wastes of time that I've ever experienced in any FC game - in fact, in any game of any sort.

The two comic-relief dopers (Yumi and some other guy, can't remember his name - that's how much of an impression they made on me) stuck me with a syringe which blacked me out, and when I came around I had to find them again, ostensibly to get my gear back. This meant traipsing around the landscape from one waypoint to the next in a tripped-out, eyeball-assaulting haze of ever-changing colours until I finally caught up with them. Each time I'd reach a waypoint those two clowns would be hanging around it, but as soon as I'd get close to them they'd disappear in a puff of coloured smoke and turn into something bizarre like exploding monkeys (yes). At another waypoint a bunch of civvies who were standing around likewise disappeared in colourful smoke and turned into rhinos, which proceeded to chase me around. I had no weapons throughout the entire affair - all I could do was run and dodge from wild animals and a few bad guys until I could find a vehicle to get away from them. And so it went for four or five waypoints, until I finally caught up with the two twits in a cave, who apparently gave me back my gear and cracked a joke about the whole thing. Mission over.

WTF? What was the point of all that stupid damned rubbish? I've never been through such a ridiculous gaming sequence or played such an inane mission during my entire gaming career. What were the authors of this drivel thinking? ????

This game gets more farcical the further I get into it. Space Invaders was more plausible. Come to think of it, Space Invaders was more fun.

So much of the rest of the game can be fun though. I'd like to get through the story so that I can free roam (if that's an option) but it's getting harder and harder for me to want to stick it out. Even then, I don't believe there'll be a great deal of replay value later on.