SJ Longthorne

To start off, I've been struggling to get into a lot of games lately, not least for lack of time. I'm not particularly into feeling stressed when I play, at least for extended periods. Open world right now just feels a bit ~much~. So Uncharted 4 got me like BAM.

I know others have gripes with the story. This was my first Uncharted game, so I didn't have the same issues. Sure, action-adventure isn't my preferred genre in films, but in games? Yeah. Totally my thing. And for the record, the dialogue was great. The characters? Great.

But the main reason I adore Uncharted 4 is for its design. A lot of what I loved is obviously present in other Naughty Dog games, but still I'd say I prefer Uncharted 4 to, say, TLOU. TLOU is fantastic, but SUPER stressful. I found it hard to play for extended periods.

This? I steamrolled this. I was HOOKED. Why? Because it did what good games do: it fulfilled the fantasy. Nathan Drake is a cool, clever adventurer. And the mechanics made me feel like a cool, clever adventurer. It was stressful only when it needed to be (...on easy mode).

But mostly... it was FUN. And one thing in particular that I loved was the approach to tutorials. That imaginary shoot out with a nerf gun in the attic? Adorable. Fun. Low stress. Playing Crash Bandicoot? I howled with delight when that became relevant again, 75% later.

I can't remember the last time a game had me running towards the camera? Such an interesting and clever change of perspective, being totally unprepared for what's ahead, focussing instead on escaping the thing BEHIND, in awe of its scale and ferocity. VERY NICE. ME GUSTA.

Umm and let's talk about discoverables? Barely any. Which meant they actually felt like a treat. I WANTED to read them. Put them everywhere and I get fatigued. But in this game, I knew that anything I NEEDED would be on my path. No need to stress about missing out. Just carry on.