I started playing Jett: The Far Shore - a game I've been looking forward to for a while, even though it's received a mixed response
I can already see why. The genuinely great parts are already being overshadowed by design choices I can only describe as self-sabotage.
So far, it's just a weirdly hostile and annoying game. It sets itself up as a game about exploration, about freedom, about taking in the amazing vistas of an unknown and beautiful planet.
And in practice, it drags you by the hand at all times, it wrestles control from you constantly, and the other characters never
ever
SHUT
the FUCK
UP
I have no freedom to explore, I have no time to take in any scenery, I have no space to feel. I am always told where to go and how I should feel about it, at every single moment.
After finishing the first mission—which takes just under 2 hours—you get an achievement. That achievement only has a 27% unlock rate, so barely a fourth of all players even get this far, and it's not due to difficulty. I honestly don't know if it's worth hanging around longer, because I doubt the game I want - the game it seems the developers thought that actually had made - exists underneath all that strongarming, constantly babbling surface.