Anthem – Nothing Left but the Launching

I spent an equal amount of time in Anthem Demo weekend as I did in the VIP weekend – which actually surprised me a bit because my pilot and Javelins carried over meaning I only had two events I could do – Freeplay and the Stronghold. Yes, the same stronghold I had done for 12+hours in weekend one.

I still played it a ton.

I finally was able to play with the other two Javelins – the Storm and Interceptor and while both were fun and very different my heart is set on “maining” the Colossus and also keeping tabs on the Ranger. One of the best things about Anthem is that you only have one pilot and can jump into any Javelin suits you own at anytime (and collect loot and components for them during regular play). This is good because I will have an up to date Javelin of any kind, just by playing any kind. This could be frustrating a bit if the better drops occur for the Javelin’s I do not prefer. Still, I like the overall system this way far better than only improving them when I am playing them. This makes it far more likely I try them all in different situations that arise.

I am recommending this as a “buy” based on what I have seen and experienced so far but I am going to be fair and transparent – I don’t think Anthem is going to be a home run with the first pitch. I think the bones and gameplay are phenomenal but the convenience, fleshing out, and sub systems are all going to need work and time to improve and add. If you look at a lot of the dev responses to QOL suggestions, you hear a lot of “not at launch”.

I know the anti-EA camp is going to have a field day at launch with every little issue (perceived or real) and I believe it will be review bombed and have a hard time out of the gate. That being said, those that stick around will form a great community around the game and as they improve it so will the experience. This is just my gut – not wishful thinking – as Battlefield V has had some MAJOR patches since launch (over 700(!) bug fixes and improvements last patch) and I loved it out of the gate too.

Truth is, when it comes to games like this with the long view it’s not going to be perfect at launch. But it will be good, and will get better. I will be along for the start of the journey and will experience how it all plays out. If they are able to follow the same path of content and improvements as BFV they will be fine. If not, well, there’s a ton of other great games out there right now – I feel like we are really spoiled as a gaming community with options.

9 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Four thoughts on this.

    – this was a December build, so I would expect 2 months of clean-up for launch. They have a lot due for Feb 15, but realistically they will need a month to get the big ticket items closed. I have not seen any ME:A-level bugs. That’s really good.
    – These past 2 weekends were network engineering tests. It was a success in that there were many fires to put out. There are still some serious issues they need to resolve.
    – The official forums have laundry lists of QOL items listed, though it seems most PC UI issues will be addressed in short order. QOL fixes are not deal breakers.
    – no lootboxes are a major win here. Sure, they could pull an Activision and add them later, but that would very likely cause BioWare to shutter (SWTOR’s recent changes indicate their stance on this).

    As long as the server launch doesn’t generate Error 37 issues, then the review bombs should be relatively minor. Certainly present, cause EA and all, but this game feels more like it will get a “meh” response than outright anger.

  2. Great write up, Isey.

    I’ve tempered my expectations a little, but on balance I’m still *highly* excited for the launch of Anthem. Asmiroth gave a great summary in his comment above too.

    I went in for the EA Access deal to get in early, so the 15th simply cannot come early enough for me. 🙂

    1. Oops, apparently my wordpress profile was (years) out of date. Sadly the blog in my name-link above hasn’t existed for years.

      If I’ve done everything right, the one in this link should be correct.

      1. It really is. I’ve been trying out a bit of BFV (getting used to the new TTK is taking a bit!), battlefront 2, and plan to try out Darksiders 3 and Titanfall 2 at some point.

        All games I wouldn’t have bought individually, but keen to try given the ability to do so only cost slightly more than Anthem on its own. =)

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