Redfall (Arkane Studios)

Yeah, I don't think Redfall will ever be particularly good. Assuming they can smooth performance out to the level of a Far Cry or Dying Light, it's still too simplistic, too small, and too random. There's an okay core concept, but everything about it feels like they cut a bunch of corners to get it out the door. I don't think they can put those corners back on without starting over. I still don't think it's horrible, but it's a long way from good, too. Totally different style of game, but I think the comparisons to Anthem are fair.
 
Domingo said:
Yeah, I don't think Redfall will ever be particularly good. Assuming they can smooth performance out to the level of a Far Cry or Dying Light, it's still too simplistic, too small, and too random. There's an okay core concept, but everything about it feels like they cut a bunch of corners to get it out the door. I don't think they can put those corners back on without starting over. I still don't think it's horrible, but it's a long way from good, too. Totally different style of game, but I think the comparisons to Anthem are fair.
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I go back to the story that was posted where they were bragging about the size of the map. I have a feeling that they had trouble filling out the map with content. This is exactly why I prefer tight, linear experiences to open worlds.
 
bummer about this company, they were the last of the greats based on my experience with prey and dishonored, now I will forget about them and not bother giving them money in the future because I have a feeling this is the end and I wont ever see dishonored 3
 
Hopefully one screw up doesn't tank Arkane as a whole. In the grand scheme of bad games, I'd put Redfall at least on the upper end of bad. Nothing that should be enough to kill off their reputation by itself. At least I hope. Deathloop was pretty well received even some people had extreme positive/negative feelings about it. The only X-factor is Microsoft. They're in a really weird position right now thanks to the Activision/Blizzard situation. Phil Spencer is starting to sound like a dude who has given up on everything around him, so it's tough to tell what they might do.
 
They've probably had a lot of turnover since Dishonored was released. You could probably comb through the game credits for comparison, but I'm going to assume that the people that made their past games great have since moved on.
 
polonyc2 said:
Redfall is the first Arkane game we don't like—what happened?

https://www.pcgamer.com/redfall-is-the-first-arkane-game-we-dont-likewhat-happened/
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The original founder leaving in 2017 really says it all. I'll have to keep an eye on the company he is with now. That Weird West game doesn't really appeal to me but it will be interesting to see what they do.

We will just have to hope that Arkane rebounds and redirects coming off this game. Redfall could have been something. It just didn't come together.
 
I don't think they ever patched the game again after that one that rolled out 3-4 days after launch. Feels like they straight up abandoned it.
 
Domingo said:
I don't think they ever patched the game again after that one that rolled out 3-4 days after launch. Feels like they straight up abandoned it.
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Considering the Bloomberg article I would imagine that Arkane rather leave this game in the dustbin of history.
 
I think the game could probably be a solid C- if they fixed the performance, enemy AI, and multiplayer connectivity. Plus some minor tweaks to things like the RNG item drops. Trick is, I don't know if that would get them more sales (or Gamepass subscriptions) at this point. Major turn-arounds typically only occur if the core game is either amazing or showcases untapped potential. Redfall's ceiling is a slightly below average game no matter what they fix. It's kinda sad because the lore and world design team actually did a pretty good job.
 
Domingo said:
I think the game could probably be a solid C- if they fixed the performance, enemy AI, and multiplayer connectivity. Plus some minor tweaks to things like the RNG item drops. Trick is, I don't know if that would get them more sales (or Gamepass subscriptions) at this point. Major turn-arounds typically only occur if the core game is either amazing or showcases untapped potential. Redfall's ceiling is a slightly below average game no matter what they fix. It's kinda sad because the lore and world design team actually did a pretty good job.
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Imagine being a developer and having your job be to polish a turd
 
First major patch released to address concerns with fundamental gameplay systems after a month of silence. It seems like Arkane are trying to fix this game. Hopefully they don't abandon it like EA did to Anthem.

https://bethesda.net/en/article/78dNMNH552rqm2NPbDxy2P/redfall-v1-1-release-notes

A Note from Arkane Austin:

Fellow Vampire Slayers,

We’re grateful to see that millions of you have explored the quaint but dangerous open world of Redfall. Building a play space this large has been humbling to say the least. We recognize that we still have work to do, and we plan to address as much as we can, as quickly as we can.

Your feedback has helped highlight key areas for improvement:
- Enemy AI responsiveness
- Enemy encounter frequency
- Vampire combat efficiency
- Improvements to graphical fidelity

Today’s release is only our first patch and introduces a lot of incremental fixes that will improve Redfall. Once available, we will be sharing more information about future updates, including our 60 FPS Performance mode, on our official social channels (@PlayRedfall).

We really appreciate everyone who’s been sharing gameplay clips and providing detailed feedback on Discord, Reddit, & Twitter – it means a lot! Thanks again for your support and patience. See you in Redfall.

-Arkane Austin
GAMEPLAY
  • Increased enemy encounter spawn rates across the open world
  • Improved ADS (aim down sight) visibility when looking through sniper rifle scopes
  • Breakable glass will now shatter on first impact from all guns
  • When using additional ammo storage skills, ammo collected above the standard weapon capacity will now persist between gameplay sessions
  • Players can move without interruption when performing melee attacks against enemies
  • Bribón no longer idles in place after performing the Siren ability
  • Devinder's Translocate ability is now more reliable when used in the Black Sun boss arena
  • Updated various mission descriptions and mission summary texts across all languages
  • Nests now unlock at the correct time when playing in New Game Plus (after completing A Voice in the Dark, and starting giving You Tomorrow* | or in the reverse order)
  • Added medical supplies to the path leading up to the Bloody Tom boss arena
  • General mission fixes and improvements
COMBAT
  • Fixed multiple instances of enemies appearing unresponsive in combat
  • Improved Vampire melee attacks to increase chances of hitting players in motion
  • Cultist and Bellwether enemies received general improvements to their combat behaviors, including faster reaction times
  • The Rook is now more relentless and will now hunt down all living party members. Kill or be killed
  • Rook Storm lightning bolts will no longer hit players through rooftops and most other unexpected situations
AI/NPC
  • General improvements to human enemy navigation, including animation timing and responsiveness
  • Dormant Vampires are now more susceptible to waking up from player-generated noise
  • Enemies are now drawn towards the greatest threat during combat. This could be a player, Bribón, or an opposing enemy faction
  • Improved enemy pathing options across open world areas in both districts
  • Added mouth blood to additional Vampire facial variations
ENVIRONMENT
  • Players have higher chances of encountering additional and varied enemies while exploring the open world
  • Enemies are no longer able to shoot through certain walls in the Fire Station
  • Vampire Nest exit door will now appear correctly in the Shipyard heart instance
  • Improved many instances of visual issues at a distance, including materials and model adjustments
  • Mission Briefing sequences are brighter
  • Improved lighting and audio processing in many interior spaces in both districts
  • Skybox updates to prevent extreme star flickering
  • General improvements to collision detection and asset placement throughout both districts
PERFORMANCE & STABILITY
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing certain decal streaming textures to fully load in, causing them to appear blurry
  • Resolved several situations where players could experience an infinite loading screen
  • Improved framerate performance in Bloody Tom and Miss Whisper psychic spaces and boss arenas
  • Players can now proceed past the Accessibility Menu on a new, unlinked bethesda.net account
  • Improved lighting performance in psychic spaces
  • Blood pool reflections no longer excessively flicker
  • Optimized VFX particle counts, emitters, and spawn rates for the following effects:
    • Shield and Inspiration enemy trait effects
    • Environmental fire and smoke effects in the Bladewell Campgrounds
    • Hero ability effects, including Layla's Umbrella and Jacob's Heart Stopper
    • Bloody Tom's slam effect, and Miss Whisper's death effects
    • Floating dust particle effects
    • Grave Lock effects
    • Psychic Echoes
    • Nest area-of-influence effects
    • Effects when placing Underboss skulls on vampire god pedestals
    • Blood tree disintegration effects
  • Optimized memory usage when using Jacob's Raven ability
  • Black Sun's clothing no longer renders animated blue materials
  • General improvements to stability
MULTIPLAYER
  • Increased the chances of players encountering enemies with special traits in multiplayer sessions
  • General improvements to stability and functionality in Multiplayer Lobbies
ACCESSIBILITY
  • Left and right movement keys can now be successfully remapped to Left and Right Arrow keys to improve left-handed movement control experience
    • Players with existing game saves will need to reset their Mouse and Keyboard bindings to Default in the settings menu before attempting to remap movement keys to the arrow keys
  • Screen Narration supports additional paths for critical player communication:
    • Invites and Friend requests
    • Joining a multiplayer Lobby
    • Clients leaving a multiplayer Lobby
    • "Invalid Username or Password" error
    • Additional bethesda.net menu screens
    • Updated states of disabled UI elements once players Ready Up in a multiplayer Lobby
  • "Let Games Read to Me" option on first launch for Xbox Series consoles is now enabled
  • Adjusted the timing of several subtitles to ensure they display in the correct order
  • Screen Narration settings will now persist between game sessions
  • Added missing audio cues for Friends List section headers, and the Play Game button
  • Adjusted text size scaling for Bethesda icons
  • Contrast improvements for Ping text, multiplayer progression text headers, and Hero names
  • Controls will no longer lock while the Text-To-Speech field is open
  • Resolved instances where certain UI elements would lose cursor focus
  • Added error messages and warning pop-ups for the following situations:
    • Controller disconnections while on the Initial Input Screen
    • Clients de-selecting Ready after the Host launches the game
    • Players cancelling Friend requests
  • Added missing subtitles to Archive entries for the Giving You Tomorrow mission briefing
  • "Optional Details" is no longer a required field when reporting another player
USER INTERFACE
  • Tutorial blades are now more responsive when multiple are stacked on top of one another
  • Settings will revert correctly during active gameplay when Cancelling in the Confirm Changes message prompt
  • Enemies will no longer lose nameplates and health bar information when cancelling fast travel
  • Weapons loadouts will no longer swap into weapon inventory when starting new game sessions in quick succession
  • Safehouse keys have been added to the Key Ring
  • The Rook Storm meter now appears more consistently in game, and in the Map
  • General improvements to Menu navigation and feedback
 
Armenius said:
First major patch released to address concerns with fundamental gameplay systems after a month of silence. It seems like Arkane are trying to fix this game. Hopefully they don't abandon it like EA did to Anthem.
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EA only abandoned Anthem after 12+ months...but I see similarities between Redfall and Anthem in that the core gameplay is the issue...Anthem had excellent gameplay mechanics but the core gameplay surrounding it was underdeveloped...with Redfall it seems that everything is broken in a way that can't be fixed via patches...the fundamental gameplay loop is the main issue

the original plan was for ray-tracing to be added via a post-launch patch but now I'm not so sure...they might not want to devote resources to RT as gameplay fixes and performance issues should be the priority
 
In an interview with Axios conducted after the Xbox Games Showcase, Xbox Game Studios Head Matt Booty revealed that Redfall is actually receiving 'good play' on Game Pass, hinting that plenty of users are playing it...he also said the goal is to support Arkane Austin in their endeavor to make it the game they originally had in mind through updates and new content...
 
Armenius said:
I go back to the story that was posted where they were bragging about the size of the map. I have a feeling that they had trouble filling out the map with content. This is exactly why I prefer tight, linear experiences to open worlds.
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Not that my opinion matters, but I've been saying this for years. There are only a rare few games that actually bothered to do open world's correctly. And even them I question if it wouldn't have simply been better to have a linear experience instead.

I would take a tight 20 over 120 hours of (meaningless) content. Do people really feel like fetch quests, collection, and "randomly generated quests/daily quests" are actual content? Especially in a single player game?

peppergomez said:
Imagine being a developer and having your job be to polish a turd
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Sad to say, that's good job security. The unfortunate truth in the games industry for the general employee is that that is a better than the alternative of not having work.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
I would take a tight 20 over 120 hours of (meaningless) content. Do people really feel like fetch quests, collection, and "randomly generated quests/daily quests" are actual content? Especially in a single player game?
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I've played a lot of games where they were fun and interesting, during the story sections. Only for the non-story sections to be reduced to absolute boredom. Level/mission based games are also easier to replay if you want to jump in quickly and replay a specific section. With open world games they are essentially play once and never touch it again. The amount of stuff you need to do to get to the good parts takes too long for one play through, spending another 60+ hours to replay the few good parts just isn't going to happen for most people due to lack of time. I'd rather have a new experience and play a new game.
 
The environment and maps were probably the best things about Redfall. The team that put those together actually did a good job. The forced sidequests basically showcased none of that effort, though. Based on the interviews stating that the focus changed weekly, they probably phoned-in the entire quest structure really quickly. The whole game would have been better as a single player title or even something akin to Destiny/Diablo where you have other players in the world, but interactions are limited and optional.
 
strange that it's not discounted at all during the current Steam Summer sale (still $69.99)
 
Given all the life / work obligations and avalanche of good games out there that I never got to (Elden Ring, BG3, Cyberpunk expansion etc. etc.) someone would have to pay me a ton of money to waste my time on this "turd".
 
I don't know if a game like this can ever come back from the absolute debacle of its release
 
At this point, people have forgotten it. For it to truly rebound and make people care, they would have to totally revamp some core elements of the game. As of now, it's like a single-player RPG with multiplayer elements half-assed implemented. They would have to go back and turn it into a L4D/Destiny hybrid like it should have been in the first place.
 
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