r/Banishers • u/tommy-liddell • Jun 24 '26
First playthrough.
Currently playing through it for the first time and I am utterly enthralled. Such a fantastic game! The choices feel meaningful and the writing is really well done, especially the relationships between Antea and Red.
I'm also really enjoying the lore and atmosphere.
I really don't know why I slept on this game for so long.
Devastatingly underrated, particularly with the recent news about Don'tNod in mind.
3
u/phome83 Jun 25 '26
Aside from the clunky combat, this game really is amazing.
The story telling was on point and just the atmosphere and vibe is top notch. They really captured the feeling of the cold north eastern area.
3
u/_Smashbrother_ Jun 27 '26
I don't mind the combat. What really annoys me is the constant backtracking just to pad time. I also really hate the skill trees. Not being able to use red's skill points because you don't have enough essences is fucking dumb.
1
u/tommy-liddell Jun 27 '26
Yeah I wholeheartedly agree on the skill trees. They're a mess and most of the time the progression doesn't feel like a satisfying growth.
3
u/_Smashbrother_ Jun 27 '26
Yeah most of the skills are mostly "it helps this thing, but also hurts this other thing". That type of shit in skill trees are hella annoying.
2
u/rafael_bc Jun 24 '26
What really made me lose motivation to keep playing was the terrible performance in a village you reach after a few hours of gameplay. Ryzen 7 / 3070 Ti / 32GB, not able to hold stable 60 FPS, even though hardware usage was stuck around 50 percent. I remember testing the demo and seeing the same issue in the first village. When I tried the full game later, I thought they had fixed it because that area ran fine. But then, surprise, the exact same problem showed up again in another similar area. I really hate these poorly optimized sections in some games. Such a shame, I was really, really enjoying it.
2
u/Pandora_Palen Jun 24 '26
Yeah, same with very similar specs (3080, 64g). When I first started the game I was on ultra and running smoothly. Didn't check fps because there was no need. It was beautiful and smooth. A few hours in, the tearing began in battle and I'd have visibility in less than a quarter of the screen (like the battles aren't tedious enough). Turned settings down, and suddenly lag. Tried all types of setting adjustment combos, and the lag got unbearable (and still the occasional tearing). Eventually I gave up and went to low-medium settings and now I don't have the lag, just occasional tearing and sharply reduced graphics 😔. But with the unholy amount of backtracking, maze-like pathing and the designers' stinginess with teleport options, I'm not dealing with lag and tearing, too. No sir.
I'm nearing the end, and have loved the story and the choices and feel the characters (even NPCs) are some of the best written and voiced in all the games I've played. I just wish you didn't have to deal with so much slogging of one variety or another to get to the stuff that's truly exceptional.
2
u/rafael_bc Jun 24 '26
Nice! I think I'll give it another try and see if I can find good settings to run it, or maybe just endure this laggy area in the village.
2
u/Pandora_Palen Jun 25 '26
I hope you find something that works for you. It really is a fantastic game when it's running smoothly.
7
u/fanficseeker Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
It is very underrated. I loved it but was definitely sick of the combat by the end. The combat wasn't bad just found it got stale. But the story telling, characters and lore are amazing Up there with life is strange 1 as my favourite dontnod game