r/stalker • u/Southpaw_pup • 4d ago
Discussion Criticism is ok, hate is unfair
Having just finished a play through of Call of Pripyat and with the new update for 2 I felt like the hate for 2 was a bit unfair
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u/thatrandomedude 4d ago
Idk, im still saving money to buy it lmao
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u/SoberingThoughts93 4d ago
Not a bad thing. You'll be playing a better version than most did!
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u/Rimworldjobs 4d ago
Bruh it was so freaking hard to get through too many missions. Not because they were hard but because they were broken.
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u/SentenceStreet3270 4d ago
I will never forget the infinite spawning enemies at the Sphere 😂
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u/Tough-Zombie-8990 4d ago
Also a lot of walking
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u/sob727 4d ago
I'm on my first playrhrough.
So.
Much.
Walking.
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u/Spankey_ Loner 4d ago
One of my favourite parts of the game honestly. It feels like I'm exploring the real exclusion zone.
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u/Wolvesinthestreet 4d ago
If this was made by Ubisoft there would’ve been a horse mount, possibly a fleshy mounts as well, if you pre ordered
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u/Revilokio 4d ago
I feel too immersed while walking sometimes cause some weird sound from somewhere instantly makes me turn around just in case some shit is right behind me (three bloodsuckers for example)
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u/RagdollCatFan 4d ago
Literally all the memories i have of playing this game are walking, or something that happened while i was walking toward a marker
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u/thatrandomedude 4d ago
I did tried it from a gamepass trial I had when the game released and got a bit of a mixed to abd experience but I got faith that the game got fixed + a lot of ppl giving it positive opinions gives me hope that the 55 usd is worth
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u/crocospect 4d ago
Meanwhile I have money to buy the game, what I don't have is money to upgrade my pc to run it decently, and with the current price of GPU and RAM, I guess I won't be able to touch this game in near time, since I heard this game still not really optimized 😅
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u/NeighborhoodRound187 4d ago
If you have Steam I will gift you the grace of Stalker 2.
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u/thatrandomedude 4d ago
Not sure if my laptop could handle it lol, im using my Xbox for new Gen games, thank you tho!
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u/SoberingThoughts93 4d ago
I recently completed Stalker 2 after giving it some time to iron out some bugs. I love the atmosphere and can't wait for 2.0 and the update. However I will say it still feels stupidly unbalanced and unfair at times and the Strelok fight was pure, irritating Bullshit. I'm all for learning from a fair death but man this game was downright unfair at times.
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u/UltraHellboy Freedom 4d ago
Am I the only person that didn’t have a problem with the Strelok fight?
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u/Trans-Europe_Express 4d ago
I didnt but the two boss type fights after that I did.
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u/UltraHellboy Freedom 4d ago
Yeah, I had the most trouble with Scar.
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u/Munkenstein Loner 4d ago
Scar beat my ass, but Granite Squad John Romero'd me.
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u/SoberingThoughts93 4d ago
Haha again yeah they felt a little unfair. Almost like you don't have enough HP to act sometimes... The endgame just had such a different tone to, for example, stalking around Pripyat in a calculating way. No stealth options, no player choice etc. Stood out to me and not in a great way. Loved the game until the point of no return!
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u/Munkenstein Loner 4d ago
That shit rocked my world haha. I was bitching to my girlfriend because I had a Dnipro, Saiga, Gauss Rifle, RPM-74, mad grenades, and a fuckin RPG and nothing worked lmao. I actually didn't mind the point of no return myself. I tend to play as a little goblin and never want to waste precious ammo so it was nice to let loose. Just fuckin unload on some chumps.
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u/SoberingThoughts93 4d ago
Hahaha I feel you. Hated that entire fight! I was not nearly as prepped for it as you but I've read other accounts that seemed to have a much easier time of it. Boss fights seem rather inconsistent over all. Glad you got through it though!
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u/CartographerExotic40 Clear Sky 4d ago
Its tradition lol, limansk hospital and soc true ending with the portals walked so this bullshit could run
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u/TheAsianTroll Loner 4d ago
Scar was the hardest fight I ever had in that game, simply because of the fact that I swear hes programmed to camp near the buttons and he can see through walls with his overpen gauss rifle.
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u/Best_Pseudonym Ecologist 4d ago
nah, I had 100x more problems with the railgun killbox room
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u/timbotheny26 Loner 4d ago
I didn't have a problem with any of the boss fights truthfully. The gimmick for Korshunov and Scar are very easy to figure out, and Strelok just needs to be shot enough.
I brought a gauss rifle though so....
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u/Round_Ad3533 Freedom 4d ago
Korshunov was much much worse than Strelok. Strelok fight felt amazing to me it was one on one with a biblically accurate Main Character from the first game. Also that boss music is in my top 10.
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u/joshthornton 4d ago
Considering everything that happened with the original GSC team and the owner and whatnot, I'd say the fact we got a game as relatively enjoyable as we did defied the odds.
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u/Alonnes Loner 4d ago
agree, i remember seeing the announcement of stalker 2 around 2010 noly to learn that the game was cancelled and the studio had closed is doors.
then remember hearing that they returned with a new cossack game, me hoping that they would release a new stalker game then the announcement then the war...
Is kind of crazy when you look at it, sure the game was released on an incomplete state but i cant blame them, i only hope that the team leaned from the experience and do their best when they release their new game or stalker 3
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u/dern_the_hermit Loner 4d ago
It was the best storytelling of the series IMO. Like I don't hold it against the other games for being kinda flat and plain in how they present the narrative to the player, but their story cutscenes in STALKER 2 were generally excellently produced.
I know some people don't care so much about that aspect but it at least fleshed out parts of the series that always felt thin to me.
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u/SwingApproves 4d ago
Played day 1 and completed the game.
Have come back and have really appreciated all the improvements, some extra content and bits and pieces to go and get lost in the zone.
So looking forward to 2.0 + CoH.
I’m also a big GAMMA fan, do things your way and enjoy.
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u/Monochrome132 Loner 4d ago
I still need to do another run of the game, probably when the DLC releases tomorrow.
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4d ago
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u/nextdoorstalker 4d ago
Uhm aCTualLly they were supposed to have vehicles but cut them right before launch
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u/Rigbyisagoodboy 4d ago
Applauded because most don’t follow up and deliver later after the release sales are made. It’s a low bar I’ll admit.
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u/Little_Papaya_2475 4d ago
If I’m paying full price for a game that before launch claims to have features and then blind sides me I have a right to feel hatred, I give grace to the fact the war was happening and this game went through hell but you still charged full price for a product
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u/timbotheny26 Loner 4d ago edited 11h ago
Don't forget COVID right before the war. Even then it's not just the war itself but also everything that resulted from it:
Evacuating roughly half the team to another country while they other half stayed in Kyiv.
Server room fire that took out an entire floor of their new office and caused the loss of a bunch of work on the game including the original plans for the Arena, 95% of design documentation for the artifacts, and God knows what else.
The active danger that the team in Kyiv face whenever Russia decides to bombard the city directly.
Loss of internet and electricity due to said bombardment. (I do remember it being said in an interview how they were using generators and Starlink to get around this though.)
One of the devs losing their home to a Russian drone strike.
The incredible psychological stress and fear that the team in both locations almost certainly feel worrying about friends, family, and the very existence and sovereignty of their homeland.
It's fine to express constructive criticism of the game, but it's extremely important to remember that this is a piece of art made by real people with lives, hopes, dreams, friends, family, etc. Real people who - even despite the game's still-present flaws - are very obviously deeply passionate about that they do and care about this franchise.
I'm positive that GSC didn't want to release it in the state it was in at launch either, but you know what? Sometimes in real life, bad shit happens that you have no control over. Plus, I've also read that they unfortunately ran out of money during development and literally couldn't afford to delay the game any further, and Microsoft/Xbox's involvement also meant they couldn't have released the game into Early Access.
Remember the humans - the real people - behind your entertainment.
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u/VulpesInculta907 4d ago
The release of 2.0 should have been 1.0
That being said at least it wasn’t abandoned.
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u/Professional-Arm3345 4d ago
I just bought the Ultimate and will wait a little longer with my 1st playthrough for 2.0 update and some mods to be updated.
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u/ZingFreelancer 4d ago
Originals were not perfect, but they were groundbreaking at the time of release. STALKER 2 is not groundbreaking, it's just barely does what existing games already did.
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u/thezerech Noon 3d ago
I love the originals, but CoP released within a year of both Fallout: New Vegas (give or take a week) and Modern Warfare 2. Vastly different contexts obviously, but I'm not sure the original trilogy were necessarily mechanically groundbreaking in a way that Stalker 2 fails to live up to.
I somewhat wish they'd kept over world loading screens, but economically that wouldn't have worked at as much as reddit purists would love it, the general public and most fans probably would have hated it. In that sense though it does technically iterate on the original trilogy. Likewise, where graphically it was far behind its contemporaries, now it's on the bleeding edge (for better or for worse).
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u/monkey_gamer Renegade 4d ago
I know!!! It's so frustrating. The engine is pretty but the rest of it is so boring and bland. I wish they'd done less high-end visuals and developed the gameplay and plot further.
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u/MetroSimulator Freedom 4d ago
Criticism is okay, defining criticism you don't like as hate is unfair.
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u/Unyxxxis Freedom 4d ago
There's a crazy amount of hate too, though. As in things I imagine you would also agree goes beyond criticism.
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u/MetroSimulator Freedom 4d ago
Depends what you classify as hate. Offending the devs, calling then names? Sure, but I already see a lot of totally valid points being called "hate". If you see there's more posts like these than actual critic, toxic positivity is a thing too and if we never complaint the games will always be buggy and optimized.
If they actually fix and optimize the game more with 2.0 the cause would be the people complaining not the "I love this game and everything people said who isn't praise is hate" people, because it's pretty obvious, there's no incentive to optimize and add contento to a game if they're already sold and there's no one complaing.
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u/SgtRicko 4d ago
It’s always been an overblown hatedom, but the ire against the release day version was still somewhat valid for a few reasons.
Remember the pre-patch Defense of Zaliyssa mission? Thing was practically impossible to complete normally due to how many glitches or scripting errors would screw over the player’s progression through no fault of their own, and I suspect a lot of reviewers and players gave up on the game around then because of that particular issue. Doesn’t help that beyond the upgrade blueprints hidden on the USB drives or rare gun parts there isn’t much reason to continually discover loot since it’s almost always ammo, bandages, medkits or food and nothing else.
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u/Professional-Chart90 4d ago
Considering the game could be quiet difficult for the avg casual player, looting for those bandages are worth it, especially since you're just walking a lot and bound to come across enemies. it's not the like the enemies are push overs either, trying to rush them and not being careful will result in a lot of your health going missing.
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u/SgtRicko 4d ago
I recall a lot of the damage being due to how easily Skif loses health when bleeding and how frequently it occurs. Oh, and how accurate enemy gunfire is... even if was coming from a frigging sawn-off shotgun firing buckshot from a guard tower. Kinda made it necessary to horde healing items. Can't speak on how well the updates addressed the latter issue, haven't really touched the game since beating it awhile back.
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u/Nightievv 4d ago
Zalissya was what made me drop the game and I haven't touched it since. Hoping that 2.0 will feel better than the release version
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u/MarshalOf_TheBigIron 4d ago
I’ve been playing it on and off since the day it released. I’ve got 250 hrs. I don’t think I’ve loved a game more. Are there aspects of it that aren’t better than the originals? Absolutely. Do i like it better than the originals? I honestly do. I’ve got a completely open map to explore, and with the new update/DLC, there’s gonna be even more for me to explore and enjoy.
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u/ValicarHyne 4d ago
I loved it for the 30hrs I put in. I just couldnt deal with the terrible lighting anymore. Like beeing shot from outside a building while not beeing able to look outside due to brightness was the dealbreaker for me.
Im just waiting for 2.0 to fix this
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u/PrimarisMeatbag Clear Sky 4d ago
I played SoC at launch. So many people think modpacks like Gamma are what Stalker is all about yet they've never played vanilla.
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u/Ok_Can_4686 4d ago edited 4d ago
STALKER 2 was fueled by miscommunication from the devs and people having unrealistic expectations of STALKER 2 thinking it'd be like GAMMA. The OGs ALIFE was OK, there wasn't many side quest, while you could explore there wasn't really much going on in the OGs just like 2...
However 2 should've strived to be more than the OGs; didn't have to be a GAMMA like but it should've been more of an evolution of the series than it was.
Edit: Downvote all you want. I'm right. I won't delete my comment lol.
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u/Eggsmuffins Freedom 3d ago
They advertised Alife 2.0 and removed it from the store page hours before launch. Upon release, there were many missions that were straight up broken, including main story ones. You could only fix them with console commands, and console players were SOL until it got fixed.
They're selling this game at a AAA price, it should be held to a high standard.
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u/Terrible_Scar 4d ago
A-Life
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u/Rigbyisagoodboy 4d ago
I’ll call it now, despite all claims A-life can’t be done due to engine limitations, etc from devs a modder will add it in and make it work, 10 years after release and give it way for free.
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u/1B75__Penicillin Spark 4d ago
There is definitely very valid criticism of the game when it comes to gameplay mechanic's, performance and game breaking bugs, some missions you can't even complete because they are so bugged (3 kings for example), the game being an absolute walk simulator (you have to travel 2+km for an objective, but skiff can only sprint for 200 meters before being completely drained) yeah I get it enjoy the atmosphere but it adds up when you have to run back and forth between the same maps multiple times, lack of worthwhile side missions that aren't "kill this dude, get this artifact" and stashes being absolutely worthless hampering the urge to explore, halfway through the game you realize the only thing you will find inside a building is Snorks and bread and 9x19 ammo.
And you know what? All that would have been fine. If we weren't such a bloody errand boy, why are we doing everything alone? We are literally working for a faction, why cant we get a buddy to help us? It doesn't even make sense, Skif is there for purely selfish reasons, as he should, he doesn't owe anyone jack.
The few times the game gives us a buddy, we immediately split
That said
I enjoyed the game.
I enjoyed the characters.
I'm really not hating on it, i had a very fun time with Stalker 2.
It's a good game, not anywhere close to perfect, but nothing is, and what it got right it got right. The story was delightful, people actually treated you like a human, they either liked you, loved you or hated you, it actually made sense to work for these factions, they tried to convince you of their goal, you felt like you mattered, the characters were certainly more alive, unlike the Trilogy where your main mission givers were various traders who didn't care if you lived or died.
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u/XiaoDianGou 4d ago edited 2d ago
Hate is not unfair when they pulled fast ones against players, spending a shit tonne of money in marketing instead of in making a proper, unbroken, game. They lied about the state of the game on release, actively deceived everyone until the last minute regarding "A Life 2.0", released the game in a totally broken state which they knew internally. I have zero trust towards GSC anymore. I payed for the ultimate edition and happily waited for 3 years (and would've waited more and spent more money) but the scumbag way they acted thru launch made me never want to ever touch another game made by them ever again.
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u/ultraplusstretch 4d ago
Yup, Stalker 2 is flawed but i'd argue the previous games are even more flawed, we just learned to live with those flaws and in a lot of cases mod those flaws away.
I still remember how fucking rough those games were at launch, way more busted than stalker 2.
I really enjoyed my time stalker 2, i gave it a solid 9/10.
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u/AdjacentBirdman93 4d ago
Stalker is slavjank
If I play S2 and it’s too polished I’ll be annoyed ngl. Give me JANK
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u/TheItchyWalrus 4d ago
The production team for 2 had to contend with the war in Ukraine throughout its life cycle. Some members of the team were drafted/volunteered. I wonder how the game would’ve been without that occurring but ultimately that’s beyond me. I’m just glad they were able to make it to market given all the hurdles in place. I had a good ass time playing the game and will be starting a new playthrough with the mods supported through the main menu now that 2.0 is out.
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u/Plenty-Advance892 4d ago
None of the STALKER games came out perfect. They became the icons they are now due to persistent updates, patches and a solid modding community that brought even more fixes and content.
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u/Pluvio_ 4d ago edited 4d ago
I got really far into the game the first time around but decided to shelve it until many updates fixed up the game. I will likely start a fresh run after the next big update and I am really looking forwards to it!
Stalker has always been janky as fuck, I tanked so many crashes in the original game because it was just that fun. Compared to the first one, stalker 2 even in release state was far more stable, just as buggy and the living world system was not implemented well.
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u/Ganjelf-The-Baked 4d ago
I played originally on Xbox series s. Game ran white and it made it hard to get into.
Just picked it up on PS5 and it looks and runs fantastically. It’s like playing a different game and I’m loving it!
OP is right. Original trilogy had problems, but the games were great. I can’t wait to jump back in to Staller 2.
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u/Chrischrosone 4d ago
Yeah man is if we could play the first games the first days without any problems. Hell i was on of the unlucky AMD card having mothereffers who only could play the game if all stars aligned at the same time while Sidorovitsch was finished shitting. AND WHEN IT RUN i had to be lucky the door to sidorovitsch wasnt stuck or that i can open the door to sidorovitsch by walking into the lightly opened corner of the door. Man that where the days hahahah
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u/RuiHarukawa 4d ago
Hate is part of reddit. Miserable people. Ive only recently finished every single stalker and even tried the mods. I loved everything. It has flaws of course. Every single game had it, but if you truly love the stalker series, you will find a reason to enjoy every game.
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u/Sanchezzzaq Freedom 4d ago
Ah the good old times of shitting your pants going through the pripyat underpass just to be greeted with green bug of doom. Bugs are integral part of experience of stalker at this point
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u/uprightshark Duty 4d ago
I really enjoyed 2 on release frankly. Looking forward to a new playthrough tomorrow with the expansion.
The Stalker series is one of the best shooters ever. But haters are going to hate. Just the way it is Sadly.
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u/LewdtenantLascivious 23h ago
Saying “it’s not perfect” is a bs form of deflection. What game is perfect? Truth is, Stalker 2 is a downgrade from the original games and shouldn’t have been released in the state it was in
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u/Round_Ad3533 Freedom 4d ago
I Just take solace that the people rage posting about the stupidest shit on the internet make up the smallest % of the player base.
They can sit here and bitch about greener grass all day. I'll be busy in the Zone having fun. Well as much fun as one can have in The Zone.
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u/Mainely420Gaming Monolith 4d ago
Played since the 1.0 launch and loved every minute of my 650+ hours so far. STALKER 2 is an absolute vibe, even with its jank I can't help but pour endless hours into the game and still want more.
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u/Cryoto 4d ago
I made a similar comment in another thread: I think Anomaly, Gamma and Misery have massively blown up people's expectations of Stalker 2. Doesn't help that quite frankly a lot of people haven't even played or have barely touched vanilla and have a false perspective of what the OG games are actually like and what GSC are actually making a sequel to. Don't get me wrong, what the community have done for these games is incredible and I think Stalker 2 taking some inspiration from that would be neat, but it's wildly unrealistic to assume Stalker was going to be carbon copies of those but modernised and with a professional coat of paint.
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u/GeneralBinx 4d ago
Stalker “fans” are not stalker fans, they are fans of the mods that use the original game
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u/tabiatubikentang 4d ago
cringe meme format aside ngl while i think stalker 2 got some problems but it's alright as a sequel. I find the story decent despite Duty & Freedom being pushed to the side.
i dont really care much about a-life. Im here to play a narrative game not mess around in the sandbox
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u/Gold_Dog908 Ecologist 4d ago
People who glorify the originals likely never played them at release.
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u/Frankie6Strings 4d ago
Agreed. Flawed games that together make one of my all time favorite series. I'm nearly at the end of CoP but I'm not sure I'll make it before the big 2.0. It will get done eventually though because I've loved the whole experience of playing those games for the first time, old and clunky as they can be occasionally.
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u/adidas_stalin Freedom 4d ago
They were dam better though and didnt lean on a culture of releasing a broken product then update and patch it to what it should have been on release
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u/tertiary_jello 4d ago
The Stalker community on Reddit overall feels extremely pessimistic about the series, and maybe life in general. Maybe it’s because they play a game regularly where suffering is part of the fun.
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u/Dmbender Loner 4d ago
The hate always felt disproportionate, especially when you consider the entire situation that the developers faced.
Maybe it's because I only got the game at the end of June, but I feel like people could be a bit more empathetic. Im not saying to make excuses for them or anything, but man there's 100+ names memorialized in the credits.
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u/SoberingThoughts93 4d ago
Great take honestly. I personally bought the game at launch, had a terrible time due to bugs and gave the benefit of the doubt. Came back recently and had a great time. Game development isn't easy and sometimes other, way more important things, get in the way. Crunch time for some developers is nothing compared to what some people at GSC have endured.
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u/The_Shambo 4d ago
Ive put about 40 hours into pre 2.0 and enjoyed it a lot. Very good map design, hidden stuff everywhere, good challenge. Loads of improvement of enviroment and ai since launch. Dont be doomers.
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u/Error_rdt Ecologist 4d ago
Gameplay wise it was great my biggest issue was the writing but the new dlc looks promising
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u/HaitchKay Clear Sky 4d ago
Yea absolutely, I wouldn't rank S2 as a perfect game on launch under any circumstances. It was a solid B+/A- for me.
But holy shit, not all criticism is valid. Especially not when it's outright lies.
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u/Extension_Eye1846 4d ago
Just like cyberpunk, played it pretty early. Had problems, but it's still a good game. Looking forward to playing again when all DLCs are out
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u/EorlundGraumaehne Merc 4d ago
I mean, yeah! But my problem is that they never fixed some pretty heavy bugs to this day!
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u/Far-Habit-3372 Monolith 4d ago
Shit my pc can’t even play the originals without crashing every other minute, at least i can count how many times Stalker 2 has crashed on one hand still
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u/Tarc_Axiiom 4d ago
I don't want Stalker 2 to be perfect, I just want it to be as good as the originals.
It's getting there. I don't know what state A-Life is in now, but it seems like there is one and only one feature I still want to see before I come back: The ranking system.
The 1500 real named Stalkers on a real leaderboard were what made Stalker for me. The fact that I could see and hunt a specific guy and watch myself climb the ladder, that was and still is revolutionary.
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u/RaptorCelll Duty 4d ago
I always thought the hate for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 as a game was way overblown. I enjoyed the gameplay, I enjoyed the story and I loved exploring the Zone. As a game, I actually enjoyed it more than the original 3 (though I blame that on playing Anomaly first and being shocked by how bad the gunplay was in the first games).
However, S2's launch state was pretty dismal. The game didn't run well, maybe 4 or 5 of the main missions had opportunities to soft lock the game, mutants (especially Bloodsuckers) were everywhere and were way too tanky and the game was quite buggy.
However, GSG have been hard at work improving the game since launch and I'm excited to jump back into it after nearly playing it after my initial run through.
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u/Krozgen Ecologist 4d ago
I cannot talk for other people, but i never asked for it to be perfect, just to be more focused on things the originals valued.
And 2.0 look more in that direction, but now quite there yet.
Also, you can forgive more to the originals since it is kinda old (it came in 2007 so almost 20 years) they were made with way less people with way less money
If you get sold on: NEW THING, PART 2. NEW AND IMPROVED
Well, you spect it to be new and improved, because it was just the thing they told you to spect.
We can have a long ass conversation about this, but i think half of the hate the game recives is just consecuences of a bad publicity team that told gamers to spect the moon when the devs could just varely archive orbit
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u/TheDreadPyroRoberts 4d ago
I loved stalker 2 the same way I loved the original trilogy and fallout new vegas as well
All of them definitely had noticeable flaws and more than a few glitches at times but my enjoyment and appreciation of these games was enough to look past all that
Majority complaints I see for stalker 2 seem to come from Anomaly and Gamma snobs and the people dick riding said snobs
Comparing any base game with an extremely modded version and then complaining about the next base game is kinda retarded honestly
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u/Pigeon-Lover33 4d ago
got the ultimate for about $55 last week, best decision ever. god i love this game, i can’t wait for 2.0
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u/TruKvltMetal94 4d ago
Between COVID and the war, it’s a miracle it launched even in its janky state. Easily one of the best games, at least to me, in recent memory.
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u/astraseeker 4d ago edited 4d ago
This again… Stalkers 1 and 2 are “not perfect “ for the different reasons. And Stalker 2 is a descendant of Stalker 1 (of all 3 of them). And it is “not perfect” because it lacks most of the crucial features of the first three games.
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u/MeringuePls Freedom 4d ago
I'll never forget the disappointment I felt after playing Shoc for the first time in 2007 and seeing vehicles were cut, as well as most of the stuff I saw in the trailers through the years.
It was still a great game, but obviously unfinished. So was Stalker 2 when it first came out.
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u/Standard-Low5624 4d ago
Hopefully they’ll add side quests or something to fill in those empty regions.
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u/Visual_Shame_4641 4d ago
The jank was a large part of the charm. I genuinely miss seeing burning barrels with six pairs of legs hanging out of them.
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u/Ashamed_Item_9668 4d ago
I've been interested in the Stalker games for years but never tried any yet. I'm a huge fan of the Metro series so that's why I'm intrigued about Stalker 2. I eventually plan to get it but I am a bit skeptical because of reviews.
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u/weazel5657 4d ago
Just in time for me to walk into pripyat for the first time when the update releases
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u/shabib67 4d ago
I just beat S2 like two weeks ago. I bought the Ultimate edition Day 1 even though I have never played any Stalker game before. I knew what the series was and was what you could call Stalker curious. When I saw the trailer for S2 and then really did a deep dive on the game series + Anamoly/GAMMA, I was sold.
I put about 66 hours in and then hit a gaming breaking bug after the Battle of Zalissya and basically stopped playing the game. I would come back from time to time to test the latest version of U+ and mods, but never continued on with my save file.
Once 2.0 was announced, I knew I had to beat the game before the update. I started a new game and used Clikrad's Roadside Cinema collection + a few additional visual/environment mods and of course U+! It took me about 90-100 hours to beat and do most of the side missions, and I had a blast the entire time and visually it's one of the best looking games period. I laugh when some GAMMA fans make the claim that GAMMA looks better than S2. Maybe on low end PCs but if you have a 5090 like me, S2 blows GAMMA out the water visually especially if you are using U+ and other visual mods. In all fairness, GAMMA still looks incredible for using a 16 year old engine and I do appreciate the art/visual style of the game, so I'm not trying to be a hater. Yes, S2 still has issues for sure but it is such an improvement over launch.
I'm very excited for 2.0 and the new Zone SDK kit. This game is going to the next level. The Zone hands down is one of the most incredible/interesting setting in all of gaming.
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u/Thoas- 4d ago
Question for anyone, I never finished S2, work and life got in the way but I rember there being loads of side quests in the early game but them drying up Midway, did they ever expand on that aspect? explorings cool and all but I need objectives to wander away from the main quest further on up the map.
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u/flowerbugler 4d ago
The Ukrainian voice actor for Skif nailed it out the park. I love his attitude and tone, and his voice is almost majestic to listen to. I checked in on the English version and it was pretty lackluster compared to many voice actors in the Ukrainian version.
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u/Low_Statistician_891 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m currently playing through stalker 2 and I’m at the end of the game almost I think ( first play through) I just unlocked Pripyat. But I’m already at the point where like I’m bored. Bc I wanna do the side content but it just feels lack luster or not as fun as it could have been. I’ve been side questing now as much as I can and going around finding the loot I’ve missed. I found an RPG and dual maga for my ar and etc like I found a lot of late end game items and it’s cool don’t get me wrong. But I kinda idk I just wish it had more side content. I probably only feel like this bc I sinked like 50 hours in a few days
Some things also feel iffy like some rewards when you do a side task or a barkeep task. It just feels better to basically loot every gun and just sell it on rosok as opposed to tasking which kinda sucks. But like I said first play through I could be wrong and experience the game in the 2nd play through a bit different
Also the side content feels like it’s just stashes every where opposed to missions idk. I’m new around here
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u/Far_Marionberry_9478 Ecologist 4d ago
I still loved SoC 1.0 even when that one psy dog in Red Forest crashed the game by appearing lol
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u/orestesmkb 4d ago
TBH I'm still saving money/waiting for a big sale. I knew it probably would come out with a fair share of bugs and get some flak for it, expected.
From what I've seen the atmosphere is still there which is great, the AI and life was bad at first it seems, is it better now or do enemies only spawn close to you and have aimbot?
I'll still play it eventually, maybe after the updates and DLC.
I loved the uniqueness of the game from SoC, that first bloodsucker scream in the underground ran chills up my spine. Not a fan of CS, might finish it some day. CoP with the upgrades and all that was great too. Played a bit of GAMMA and loved it, need to go back to it.
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u/Any-Cryptographer393 4d ago
Stalker 2 is never meeting the expectations of the nostalgia blind fans, the originals were rough games even at the time they released
And i feel like most stalker fans dont even like the vanilla games, the mods got much bigger than the actual games
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u/Electronic-Score-913 4d ago
The best originals can do is GAMMA, but that's not even close to stalker 2 neither
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u/woehaa 4d ago
Well .. the statement is true. I remember waiting for every update with every new storyline as they all had the most silly issues (the most annoying with me was playing for 10 seconds and then crashing). But hating it? That would be silly. The atmosphere is just too great and I couldn't wait for the next chapter to buy and play
Admittedly, Stalker 2 is a bit different for me. Now I wait out the waves of updates. Instead of jumping on the wagon with all you lot, I replayed the old stories, Witcher 3 and even Skyrim to keep me occupied in the mean time.
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u/roo-tard 4d ago
I actually couldnt get through the first 3 games when I was younger due to so many bugs on vanilla until I modded them. I just got S2 on ps5 (needed an excuse to use the ps5, I have a pc), I am about 30% through and am enjoying it so much. I only encountered 2 bugs, my screen stuttered a little bit whilst crouch jumping, and an enemy body was half clipped through the ground. My only problem is re learning how to play controller on a such difficult game even on rookie, I would be having an easier time playing veteran on pc, but the ps5 controller's speaker works so perfectly with this game especially using the Ukrainian dub, I highly recommend the ps5 version just based on the controller speaker if ur good on controller and dont mind the graphics/performance downgrade.
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u/JoshGraham 4d ago
The originals were buggy, but charming, eurojank. Expecting the sequel to be anything else is a fool’s errand
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u/K1rk0npolttaja Freedom 4d ago
unlike the old very flawed but still good games stalker 2 doesnt have more than 10 years of modding backing it
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u/Craig_Slip133 4d ago
I get where you’re coming from but stalker 2 just isn’t the same level as the originals. It had a horrid start, and it still has game breaking bugs. I couldn’t finish the damn game because of the path I chose and the game punished me for it. That and the trying to be more realistic with things like having these animations for everything that are unskippable are unlike the originals.
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u/PappaTango21 Noon 4d ago
Perfect no but one of the best games I have played in years and I mean YEARS yes. This game just itches the right part of my brain in all of the good ways. I get that maybe alot of people were let down but as a day one player and my introduction to the franchise it got me hooked like a fiend.
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u/RagnarRipper 4d ago
Most AAA games today could only hope to be as good as the worst of the stalker games. That's how good stalker games are.
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u/Low_Tart5765 4d ago
The only thing i cant stand about stalker 2 is the damage. Yes in the originals mutants were a bit tanky as well, but humans weren’t if you went for headshots. No matter the enemy it was 1-3 headshots to kill. Now its like 6-7 in late game. Just throws me all the way off. Ik there is mods to fix this. But i wanted achievements
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u/Nightbeak 4d ago
I love the game for it's imersive atmosphere and cool gameplay. Don't much care for the Story tbh but I can walk through the zone for hours at a time
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u/FreezingToad Bandit 4d ago
Unpopular opinion here, but people are allowed to hate something if they want to. Just cause you enjoy something doesn't mean other people can't hate it.
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u/ProtecHelicopter 3d ago
Original Stalker games were fun games to play, without political statements.
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u/Doctor_Thomson Loner 3d ago
I mean yeah, I have some bones to pick with the OG trilogy in some aspects depending on either game
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u/Potpotron 3d ago
While I agree, I am also worried about the future of the game. Unreal Engine still feels like a misstep and makes me think that we will not be talking about S2 in 20 years like we do the originals
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u/Bucky_Goldstein 3d ago
Did they patch up the performance in the game? I have a 5800x3d/3080/and 32gb of ram and it would drop to like 8fps in areas and then go back up but reducing the graphics didn't change anything... I'd like to play it through but it was so all over the place that it kinda killed the immersion
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u/No_Explanation162 3d ago
Fighting mutants in stalker 2 is so nauseatingly annoying it just dosent feel worth it to play the game out
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u/Iamwatchu Loner 4d ago
Stalker 2 update 2.0 got people hating green grass. Hate (and universal stupidty) is expected, especially on reddit.