After 30+ hours and every achievement, i just wanted to brain dump a little (ty dont look)
There are a few story spoilers in here, so be wary, but this is mostly me griping about some little things that detracted from the game for me.
Long under the break.
So the game is fucking amazing. It controls great, it looks great, there's a huge world with shit to do and stuff to collect, the story is engaging, the tag art and soundtrack are phenomenal, it does so so much that JSR and JSRF did and does it 10x better.
But not everything.
In a game where most things on the surface are so good, I feel all I can talk about are the nitpicks. And I have quite a few, but I'm hoping they can be patched sometime.
I promise I loved this game, but for all the polish they put into the visuals and gamefeel, it lacks just as much on all the little things that a modern game really benefits from.
1: THE MAP
Why is the map so empty? I'm not asking for every single rail and route to be put in front of me, that would make the map nigh unreadable, and half the fun of the game is going "ooh, how do I get up there?". But it feels like the pause screen is missing so many little things that would make the game so much more playable.
Things that are not on the pause screen: Cypher spots to change character, bathrooms to change outfit/lose the cops, any counters that show collectibles found, doors/teleporters/routes out of the stage, and taxi spots.
Things that are on the pause screen: Map of all walkable ground, untagged graffiti spots, current REP/maximum stage REP.
Here are the maps for JSRF and BRC respectively. (World of Longplays for the obvious hasty youtube screenshot)
So I can see what Team Reptile was trying to avoid with their simplistic map layout. And honestly, I think it's genius. You don't need to render every single nook and cranny in a map to convey where the player is, especially in a game about environment exploration. And too much text can get in the way of legibility.
BUT. JSRF Exits are clearly marked and it might not list how many graffiti souls are left, but at least you have some kind of indication as to how many you've collected.
The BRC map has... nothing. At least now that I've finished everything. Objective NPCs would show up as blue dots, and untagged graffiti spots would have a yellow dot.
They also list your highest score, and your total REP points.
So there is potential here!!! They can color code points on the map to things you want to do, and can list how many out of how many things you have. Why couldn't they do the same for essential locations like cypher spots and bathrooms, or have progress metrics for new graffiti, CDs, outfits, and new ride skins? (Which don't even need to be separate, honestly. Just a "Collectibles, #/max#" would have been just fine.)
2: THE PIGS
WHY DO THEY SHOW UP AFTER LIKE ONE TAG? WHY DOES THE HOLD TO SKIP TAKE SO LONG? WHY DO I NEED TO WATCH THE REINFORCEMENTS CUTSCENES EVERY TIME ANYWAYS? WHY IS IT THAT THE LETHAL LEAGUE GUYS GAVE US THE MOST LIMP, WEAK HIT ANIMATIONS EVER ON THE COPS? RRRRRGHHHHH STOP SHOOTING CHAINS AT ME STOP RRRRRRGHHH
3: uhhhh
Misc
-Why isn't there a Cypher spot in the hideout?
-Why were there only like 2 mission types? Short race, score challenge... that's it. The game already took so much inspo from Tony Hawk, as well as JSRF, why not cop some more creative missions also?
-Why are there no in-game achievements? That means that the penguin pic and basketball achievements mean nothing to Switch players.
-Why can't I make my own music playlists? I can only listen to the mixtapes, or single plays of a song before the mixtapes start back up. Why can't I have a full shuffle, or just... make my own playlist?
-Why can't I rewatch cutscenes anywhere?
-Why can't I replay the dream levels?
-Why can't I play as Faux or Red Felix outside of their story bits?
-Why is there no other way to lose the cops aside from the bathrooms, which lock after you use them until you leave the area? Whats the point of locking them if I can just leave and come back?
Game good, I just hope updates can make it better.