I'm all confuzzled!!

[DaveMcDamage]

Hi everyone, 

 

Finally got around to getting the game.. very nice. Like many I want to get the good playthrough done on my easy play and then get the bad ending later.

 

Currently I am Volga. I snuck through the church and met with Duke. He mentioned how I knocked people out quietly or something. I checked the trophy guide after getting confused about the compass (found out about the reader option giving it to you) but I never met the cult leader at the church. Was I supposed to do this there when you first get to the church? The new bigger open maps are making for some confusion at the moment. 

 

Also. I am using a collectible guide but now after leaving the church I am tasked with going back to the train. Should I go back or get all collectibles first? Not sure if going back will end the mission and move me on. Collectible video mentions nothing on this. 

 

Any info would be appreciated. 

[Shinobi]

You will know you are on the right path as good actions cause the screen to brighten with a drip of water-like sound effect (which should have happened when leaving the church, Anna will refer to you as a ninja if I remember correctly). As for the cult leader, you'll meet him later on. I personally never interacted with him at the church.

 

You can do either. Heading back to the train after returning from the church won't end the mission. If you really want though, you can ignore that and get all the collectibles you can beforehand.

 

The open world levels can be daunting at first but aren't too bad. The collectible guides in the guide seem to be structured as best as possible to align with the stories path. Worse case scenario, you miss some and have to head back to pick them up in chapter select.

[DaveMcDamage]

14 hours ago, Shinobi said:

You will know you are on the right path as good actions cause the screen to brighten with a drip of water-like sound effect (which should have happened when leaving the church, Anna will refer to you as a ninja if I remember correctly). As for the cult leader, you'll meet him later on. I personally never interacted with him at the church.

 

You can do either. Heading back to the train after returning from the church won't end the mission. If you really want though, you can ignore that and get all the collectibles you can beforehand.

 

The open world levels can be daunting at first but aren't too bad. The collectible guides in the guide seem to be structured as best as possible to align with the stories path. Worse case scenario, you miss some and have to head back to pick them up in chapter select.

Cheers mate,

 

Yeah I was a bit overwhelmed with how open it was at first. I carried on and did some more collectibles like getting the guitar and then the teddy. I'm about to start the stealth mission in the dark for Duke, so I guess this is the right section towards him staying if I do it right. I stopped at the collectibles for a bit because on the guide it shows the next one right near the far right with a big X for a quest section so will probably do the Duke stuff, or is it safe to get every single collectible? The vid guide is good with pop up info now and again, but it doesn't say stuff like 'stop collecting and progress to this point in the story and then go back to collecting'.

 

Got to say though. I'm not liking the boat travel or the death from 2 feet drops lol. Not just this game but loads do it. Its ok to get shot in the face and use a medkit to get back on your feet, but fall anything higher than 3 feet and its instant death lol. 

 

edit

 

Confused again. Mostly because people right guides in the order that they appear on the playstation trophy list as opposed to when they happen in the game. Also the moral system is as confusing in this game as its ever been. It contradicts itself. Knock them out but they wake up, but if you kill them it goes against you, but then it tells you to take them out so that you can get past the barricade for the train, but then punishes you if you kill bandits in a different area, but not if you kill them in another. 

 

I also blame the devs for listening to gamers too much. They had a decent formula with the previous games, now its just a big open mess of a game like other FPS games. 

 

Don't mind me though mate. As you said it can get confusing in the big areas. Just need to get the hang of it is all. 

Edited June 5, 2020 by DaveMcDamage

[Shinobi]

3 hours ago, DaveMcDamage said:

Cheers mate,

 

Yeah I was a bit overwhelmed with how open it was at first. I carried on and did some more collectibles like getting the guitar and then the teddy. I'm about to start the stealth mission in the dark for Duke, so I guess this is the right section towards him staying if I do it right. I stopped at the collectibles for a bit because on the guide it shows the next one right near the far right with a big X for a quest section so will probably do the Duke stuff, or is it safe to get every single collectible? The vid guide is good with pop up info now and again, but it doesn't say stuff like 'stop collecting and progress to this point in the story and then go back to collecting'.

 

Got to say though. I'm not liking the boat travel or the death from 2 feet drops lol. Not just this game but loads do it. Its ok to get shot in the face and use a medkit to get back on your feet, but fall anything higher than 3 feet and its instant death lol. 

 

edit

 

Confused again. Mostly because people right guides in the order that they appear on the playstation trophy list as opposed to when they happen in the game. Also the moral system is as confusing in this game as its ever been. It contradicts itself. Knock them out but they wake up, but if you kill them it goes against you, but then it tells you to take them out so that you can get past the barricade for the train, but then punishes you if you kill bandits in a different area, but not if you kill them in another. 

 

I also blame the devs for listening to gamers too much. They had a decent formula with the previous games, now its just a big open mess of a game like other FPS games. 

 

Don't mind me though mate. As you said it can get confusing in the big areas. Just need to get the hang of it is all. 

 

You can honestly use the big X on the map as a guide for when to go collectible hunting and when not to. If your X is where it's in the video, collect all the collectibles until it moves.

 

I thought the boat traveling was OK, but I agree with the 3 feet drop = death. I just decided to never take my chances with drops lol.

 

I agree with the moral system. I've went through the main game three times and I still don't fully understand what it wants me to do. I've knocked out enemies in one play-through and in a another play-through stealth killed them and both gave me the same result. It seems stealth in general, when it's possible, is a big deciding factor.

 

Also beware the Caspian level. That open area level is by far the easiest to screw yourself out of the "full strength" trophy. 

[DaveMcDamage]

59 minutes ago, Shinobi said:

 

You can honestly use the big X on the map as a guide for when to go collectible hunting and when not to. If your X is where it's in the video, collect all the collectibles until it moves.

 

I thought the boat traveling was OK, but I agree with the 3 feet drop = death. I just decided to never take my chances with drops lol.

 

I agree with the moral system. I've went through the main game three times and I still don't fully understand what it wants me to do. I've knocked out enemies in one play-through and in a another play-through stealth killed them and both gave me the same result. It seems stealth in general, when it's possible, is a big deciding factor.

 

Also beware the Caspian level. That open area level is by far the easiest to screw yourself out of the "full strength" trophy. 

Cheers again,

 

I actually screwed up with the guide. The very last collectible on Volga looked like it was on a ship. So I went ahead with the level, then I stealthed through a place and next thing the trophy for Duke and completing the level popped. I had to reload my save and thankfully had one and was able to get the last postcard on that level. Just saved on the train. At the moment the game is very up and down for me, but with more ups than downs. I love the franchise, but openworld or huge maps + collectibles always equals trouble, especially without a decent save system. 

 

The autosaves it had stored were a minute apart from each other which was bloody stupid. Should have like a 10 minute gap at least. 

[Shinobi]

52 minutes ago, DaveMcDamage said:

Cheers again,

 

I actually screwed up with the guide. The very last collectible on Volga looked like it was on a ship. So I went ahead with the level, then I stealthed through a place and next thing the trophy for Duke and completing the level popped. I had to reload my save and thankfully had one and was able to get the last postcard on that level. Just saved on the train. At the moment the game is very up and down for me, but with more ups than downs. I love the franchise, but openworld or huge maps + collectibles always equals trouble, especially without a decent save system. 

 

The autosaves it had stored were a minute apart from each other which was bloody stupid. Should have like a 10 minute gap at least. 

 

Funny enough that is exact same collectible I missed lol. Unfortunately, unlike you, I didn't have a save to return to.

 

I think it's one of those games that tries the open world concept when it would have been better off giving a more linear experience (staying more in line with past games). That's just my opinion though. It's still a great game. The animations are well done.

 

I wish the cutscenes were skippable though.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Shinobi

[DaveMcDamage]

4 hours ago, Shinobi said:

 

Funny enough that is exact same collectible I missed lol. Unfortunately, unlike you, I didn't have a save to return to.

 

I think it's one of those games that tries the open world concept when it would have been better off giving a more linear experience (staying more in line with past games). That's just my opinion though. It's still a great game. The animations are well done.

 

I wish the cutscenes were skippable though.

Yeah I suppose for multiple playthroughs none skip scenes can get tedious. Just started the Caspian stage and got the van. Made a save there and will call it a night. 

 

Stage 5 is what Metro is all about for me. It was such an awesome stage. Short & sweet but with lots to do. No doubt I am now getting a taste for the game, but I do think my open world games are coming to an end. Lately I'm preferring to get to A-Z on a linear path with good action and story, rather than spending too much time wondering what the hell is going on during B-Y. 

 

I'm not normally one from shying away from challenges in gaming, but I think I will definitely be using the hardcore playthrough exploit, especially if I then have to play through again on NG+ with iron mode. If you cannot save on iron mode, do you really have to do each stage per game session? That seems way too strict and sometimes you might only get a few minutes game time to enjoy. 

 

Pros so far for the game

• Plenty of dialog and good voice acting.
• Very good visuals and graphics all around. Each stage so far looks stunning and I here on a powerful PC its one of the best looking games ever designed.
• Loving the much (and needed) gun sounds. Awesome loud bursts for none silenced weapons. So many games get gun sounds weird, even if they're based of real sounds, they need to add that 1970's-80's ott gun explosive burst sounds. 
• Loving the crafting system. It doesn't make one specific weapon favourable which a lot of customisation features in games wreck, it just lets you take your fav weapons and create them to how you want them. Love it. 
• Whilst they seem to have gotten rid of the economy, and I suppose this could fit with crafting, I'm, glad filters aren't so much of a pain now. 
• The collectibles are better than ever. Rather than Artyom's opinion its from loads of people and makes collecting worth while. Postcards are pointless but even the first game makes reference that Artyom likes these. Nice to see suit upgrades too. 

Cons

• Whilst I love a story, the dialog in the game can all trigger at the same time. You could be asked to meet someone and they will speak, then someone else will come and speak to you at the same time and the dialog gets drowned out. This happened in Borderlands 2 when Handsome Jack would be talking to you during a huge gun fight and you end up missing half of what is being said. 
• The series has always had multiple endings but when it goes against canon I don't think it makes sense. The first game has you doing the most gameplay to be a pure person, but the actual canon for the second game is that you blew everything up. The second gives an ending where you make the sacrifice but the canon for the next game is that you chose the good ending this time. I dunno. I suppose it gives fans who enjoy both the books and the games that little something extra, and even as only a gamer of the series its quite a decent easter egg of sorts, but not sure if its needed. Again the morality system in this game can be a pain in the arse at times. 
• Button mashing.... ARRRRGH! Hate it.
• The silent take downs don't feel like you're doing anything. Not sure if its the lack of a vibrate on the pad, or that the lack of sound effects it. This part felt better in the older games. 

 

[BadRep24]

On 05/06/2020 at 10:42 AM, Shinobi said:

 

You can honestly use the big X on the map as a guide for when to go collectible hunting and when not to. If your X is where it's in the video, collect all the collectibles until it moves.

 

I thought the boat traveling was OK, but I agree with the 3 feet drop = death. I just decided to never take my chances with drops lol.

 

I agree with the moral system. I've went through the main game three times and I still don't fully understand what it wants me to do. I've knocked out enemies in one play-through and in a another play-through stealth killed them and both gave me the same result. It seems stealth in general, when it's possible, is a big deciding factor.

 

Also beware the Caspian level. That open area level is by far the easiest to screw yourself out of the "full strength" trophy. 

Caspian Level for Full Strength is what screwed me to go on another playhtrough again.

[DaveMcDamage]

5 hours ago, BadRep24 said:

Caspian Level for Full Strength is what screwed me to go on another playhtrough again.

In terms of getting too many innocents killed and stuff?

 

It seems this level is best stealthed or at the least played on the easiest setting, because some slaves will attack you and you get punished for defending yourself. As I said the morality system is very flawed and confusing. I think a select few moments should determine different endings and also making futher playthoughs a different experience. But whats done is done and it cant be changed, but if there is a Metro 4 then I hope they do away with the system or keep it to particular moments. 

[BadRep24]

24 minutes ago, DaveMcDamage said:

In terms of getting too many innocents killed and stuff?

 

It seems this level is best stealthed or at the least played on the easiest setting, because some slaves will attack you and you get punished for defending yourself. As I said the morality system is very flawed and confusing. I think a select few moments should determine different endings and also making futher playthoughs a different experience. But whats done is done and it cant be changed, but if there is a Metro 4 then I hope they do away with the system or keep it to particular moments. 

There's more to that. The Full Strength trophy is a one-way trophy, and it can be only gotten in a single playthrough, which was maddening. I was basically trying to unfuck myself by creating save states once I reached Caspian again. I played it on Reader difficulty, and what I did to the shooting slaves at the tower was knocking them out (counts as good moral), saving slaves, and NOT killing the incapacitated slave soldier. I did not know that you can't kill these shooting slaves until I watched a video of Full Strength playthrough on Youtube.

[DaveMcDamage]

Just completed Caspian chapter and managed to keep Damir. Glad that happened as I didn't want another pure playthrough for that. I basically saved who I could, never hit or killed any slaves and even saved one slave in the Baron's fortress but left the other even though I felt pretty shitty for doing so. But thankfully it was enough moral build up to keep Damir. 

 

Read around the net that a lot of people didn't like the driving but for me it reminded me of the Far Cry 3 driving mechanic which I did like. Only problem I had with this vehicle is that when using the map inside the van, when putting the map away the camera would stick too high up. Had to get out and back in the van to sort that out. 

 

It was a decent stage though, and probably enjoyed it more now that I am understanding the game. 

 

Saved at the start of the Summer stage and will continue tomorrow on my day off from work. 

 

EDIT

 

Ah crap! I just saw a trophy for the Taiga level for getting through without attacking or not getting spotted. I'm just before the church, but when escaping the net I got spotted by the pioneers/pirates and KO'd them and the last surrendered. Also got spotted by the chef earlier on. F**k it! Hopefully I have enough moral points to stop the team mate getting injured and can redo this trophy at a later date. 

 

EDIT

 

Taking me a long time to get through this Taiga level. Mostly because its a very dull experience of a level, and I just got to the mill and its nigh time but the game decided to take your night vision goggles away and I can't see a thing on the screen. Even the flash light isn't that great. Heard it takes about 20 minutes or so for the night to day cycle, so when I can be bothered to play the game again I will have to do that. 

 

In most games when there is a good vs bad motive type playthrough, the good guy gets loads to do, in this though you spend most of teh game crawling about and not having time to enjoy anything but taking so long to get anywhere at the same time. 

 

So Moscow was decent. Then the next stage in the church area was ok-ish. The big silo type place with the cannibals was great fun. The Caspian started off ok but became awesome, and now its gone right down hill again with the Taiga stage. 

 

The Taiga stage also makes no sense. The pirates and the pioneers have such good reasoning skills among each other, that it would be easy to explain why you're here. Then it could have been you and the P&P's working against the bandits and monsters. Bad writing and bad level design for me on this level. 

Edited June 8, 2020 by DaveMcDamage

[DaveMcDamage]

@Shinobi

 

Just completed my first playthrough. I have to say the stages after the Caspian were pretty dull. The last was a mixture of very slow due to that frikkin boat mechanic, and holding your hand too much. I dunno. I did like the game in the end, but its definitely my least favourite of the series. 

 

Got a majority of the trophies in the first play except for getting through the Taiga stage undetected and no attacks. Need the trophies for using a filter whilst running out in a heavy toxic area, 300 human kills, 50 sniper kills with 3 using the masks etc. Some others I can't remember. Then I might do the exploit for hardcore. I would have done it legit, but that trophy for iron man seems like a real pain. I hate not being able to save when I want, especially if I want only a short gaming session. So to cut down plays I might do  the hardcore exploit and play through the game on easy ng+ with iron man and then move to the DLC. 

 

Did you enjoy the DLC?

[Shinobi]

4 hours ago, DaveMcDamage said:

@Shinobi

 

Just completed my first playthrough. I have to say the stages after the Caspian were pretty dull. The last was a mixture of very slow due to that frikkin boat mechanic, and holding your hand too much. I dunno. I did like the game in the end, but its definitely my least favourite of the series. 

 

Got a majority of the trophies in the first play except for getting through the Taiga stage undetected and no attacks. Need the trophies for using a filter whilst running out in a heavy toxic area, 300 human kills, 50 sniper kills with 3 using the masks etc. Some others I can't remember. Then I might do the exploit for hardcore. I would have done it legit, but that trophy for iron man seems like a real pain. I hate not being able to save when I want, especially if I want only a short gaming session. So to cut down plays I might do  the hardcore exploit and play through the game on easy ng+ with iron man and then move to the DLC. 

 

Did you enjoy the DLC?

 

I thought the DLC's were good. I enjoyed my time with them.

[DaveMcDamage]

On 6/10/2020 at 2:23 AM, Shinobi said:

 

I thought the DLC's were good. I enjoyed my time with them.

Just got the 100% for the Two Colonels. Enjoyed the story, didn't like the sewers part with the clean up, but the rest was decent. Love that flamethrower lol. 

 

Will have a look at Sam's DLC tomorrow. 

[melodicmizery]

On 6/5/2020 at 6:53 AM, DaveMcDamage said:

Cheers mate,

 

Yeah I was a bit overwhelmed with how open it was at first. I carried on and did some more collectibles like getting the guitar and then the teddy. I'm about to start the stealth mission in the dark for Duke, so I guess this is the right section towards him staying if I do it right. I stopped at the collectibles for a bit because on the guide it shows the next one right near the far right with a big X for a quest section so will probably do the Duke stuff, or is it safe to get every single collectible? The vid guide is good with pop up info now and again, but it doesn't say stuff like 'stop collecting and progress to this point in the story and then go back to collecting'.

 

Got to say though. I'm not liking the boat travel or the death from 2 feet drops lol. Not just this game but loads do it. Its ok to get shot in the face and use a medkit to get back on your feet, but fall anything higher than 3 feet and its instant death lol. 

 

edit

 

Confused again. Mostly because people right guides in the order that they appear on the playstation trophy list as opposed to when they happen in the game. Also the moral system is as confusing in this game as its ever been. It contradicts itself. Knock them out but they wake up, but if you kill them it goes against you, but then it tells you to take them out so that you can get past the barricade for the train, but then punishes you if you kill bandits in a different area, but not if you kill them in another. 

 

I also blame the devs for listening to gamers too much. They had a decent formula with the previous games, now its just a big open mess of a game like other FPS games. 

 

Don't mind me though mate. As you said it can get confusing in the big areas. Just need to get the hang of it is all. 

trust me its not just you. every guide wrote for this game was not good ones. im grateful for the attempts but a game like this needs to be very specific. its best to get 3 or 4 guides for this game and fill in the blanks by patching them together.