--- [b]Part 1 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66946687/0/0/1]Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 2 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66975631]Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 3 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66980993]Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 4 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66988029] Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 5 (You Are Here)[/b] [b][u]--- FINAL FEEDBACK ---[/u][/b] Hello readers and hopefully Bungie. Thank's for reading this far. [b]Story:[/b] To start, the primary issue in the beta (which MAY or MAY NOT be resolved in the final product) seems to be that of immersion mixed with continuity. Cinematics do not give you much of a sense of immersion or connect you to the dire situation or emotional circumstances of surviving against "The Darkness" or even being one of the last Guardians. The concept of Guardian is barely even explored and in the story you meet few if any others from what can be told. Another issue is the lack of dialog and implementation of story with your own character, as he speaks rarely, unemotionally, has poorly recorded dialog and doesn't seem all that interesting of a character. The Master Chief had an immediate impact due to that mysteriousness and strong voice behind it, as well as knowing what to do, and Cortana filled the in betweens of his thoughts, but you don't really feel that connection yet. To continue on immersion and story, it seems most enemies are based on wave-based combat and repetitive design mechanics such as large health bars, respawning enemies, and instant spawn types of enemies. This breaches continuity and immersion rather than showing them coming from ships or teleports or some type of explanation. The constant waves also lead to repetition and replay value goes down the drain when this occurs, and more triggered, cinematic, and scripted encounters would result in more interesting encounters. Finally, on the topic story, beyond not really feeling connected or involved in the world, the game doesn't give you much legitimate reason to explore this world, no reward for doing so, and because of that the dialog and story surrounding the atmosphere of the game and the non missions doesn't seem all that interesting. In truth much of the dialog from the Ghost and other characters doesn't even seem that believable or emotionally "dire". [b]Equipment, IE "Loot":[/b] Loot seems primarily geared towards three sets: PvP, Elite PvP, Farmed PvE. The inclusion of a story vendor much like how you're getting claws or a moon weapon upgrade by showing vendors certain items... would likely fix the issue of low progression rewards and lack of accomplishment, and do it in a more realistic way, aside from randomly finding a plasma cannon in the armory of the hive or something. I would thus suggest that the story vendor have an ever expanding inventory that is specific to each player based on their experiences and class ([u]not hard to work out[/u]) chosen, primarily linked to the progression they've made through the game, and whether they've beaten a map on hard mode (or higher) or not. This would give a greater sense of accomplishment. Expanding on the vendors, I believe that when a mission log mentions one of the factions such as Vanguard or Dead Orbit, that the completion of the mission should increase reputation and grant marks for that particular form. Further, the Vanguard, appearing to mostly be PvE, should have marks and reputation given through the completion of certain missions throughout the story, this would decrease farming and repetitive mechanics and add a more immersive experience. I personally would prefer the PvP vendors were less and there was more PvE and story focus but my suggestions would be more than enough as a start. Finally to culminate the issue of gear and equipment, drops seemed very minimal. I found one blue item throughout the entirety of this analysis across all means used to build data, and I was shocked at that. I didn't farm or do repetitive things, but I beat the campaign on normal and hard on all classes and on all platforms and accounts used, so I should have found more. I feel that boss units should drop something for your class based on your statistics of weapon usage or at least have a higher chance of dropping something useful rather than another hand cannon or weapon I'm not using. Further, I found commons to drop very often and greens to drop incredibly rarely, and even the strike missions and open events didn't result in any good gear. As I wasn't farming areas but instead trying to test and also play the game as the majority of players will, I didn't rank up in marks by doing hundreds of exploration missions, so I feel that for the average player, better means of attaining items, and better drops from story enemies and bosses and strikes, geared towards the player and their preference statistics, should be had more frequently or at least, at a better optimized rate. [b]User Interface:[/b] Upon review of the E3 videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBNdrJMwrkc such as the one just indicated, the actual UI interface for weapons as well as the appearance of guns, seems to as of yet, be superior to the current demonstration. I particularly liked the upgrade mechanic for the weapons, though was not fond of the color of that Storm gun. ([u]The core damage from super of the Devil Tank also seems removed when core is exposed, as this did not work in the Devil's Lair[/u]). To conclude the UI state, it should be indicated that it is often obtuse and unnecessarily complicated to get to one area. Further, the activation of glimmer increase items or ammo kits can not be linked to the controller and this is highly irritating. Thus the advisement that such a thing be linked is a high one that should be made a priority. As should the streamlining of the UI yet in a way that remains of artistic quality and an interesting style without too many button presses. [b][i]PRIMARY Addendum note: In the matter of cinematic prose and quality, the introduction of the Guardian in this video is far superior to the introduction we had in the beta. Even though it was minimal, this cannot be overstated.[/i][/b] [b]Orbit Embarkation Area:[/b] The orbit stage, as it is the primary one we will have since there isn't the ability to stay in one area and then progress to the next level by back tracking or going forward, and the forced dialog during launch should be modified and improved. More options and a greater impact on your character should be possible through orbit, somehow. The ships should perhaps have customizable colors that can be done in the hangar or at the tower, but as of yet the Orbit Embarking and Disembarking stage is simply bland and bare. As you'll be seeing it a lot assumedly, measures and effort to improve its capabilities, and perhaps add a social chat function would be encouraged. I personally don't have a lot of suggestions on this section but it is a section that needs a degree of improvement. [b]Class Items:[/b] I continually find it strange that our most powerful class specific item that denotes our extreme power does not actually have any statistical impact whatsoever. I feel this should be expanded on either via giving us intelligence for the decrease of our super ability, or just by giving us an improvement to health, damage, an upgraded ability or some such. To not have such an impact makes the item relatively useless and largely cosmetic, which should mean it doesn't have ranks or scales and isn't nearly as sought after. As such I recommend the improvement and advancement of the class items. There has been some discussion about the Warlock class item being an arm band, and some want it to be a gauntlet to suit the constant Void and Solar powers that are coming from the hand, as such I would recommend that the Warlock class item gain statistics, stay as an arm bad, but project a translucent aura depending on the type, around the Guardian. This more fits into the arcane style of the Warlock and provides more options. The waving war bands of the Titan remain in their own style, and the Cloak remains in the style of the hunter. Admittedly I would love a proper full body cloak for my Warlock but I think this is a good step. [b]Weaponry:[/b] It seems that there are not truly a large degree of weapons, weapon element types, or styles of weaponry, and I feel that the improvement of this, as well as the advancement of weapon upgrades and skills should be made a priority. Currently we have the equivalent of Heat, Electricity, and Dark Energy, and I think the inclusion of Ice [Cryo], Kinetic [Magnetism] ([u]Ala Railgun[/u]), and several others along those lines would be of use. Perhaps even a Plasma rifle that can be obtained from the Hive, or access to the weaponry that our enemies use sometime down the line. The inclusion of additional heavy weapons other than Rocket Launcher and Heavy Machine gun ([u]why not a chaingun?[/u]), along with new types of special weapons would likewise be encouraged for varied combat options and replay value. Thus the inclusion of enemy weapons might be the best way to approach that to begin. [b]Lore Codex:[/b] It seems the codex is linked via the application and the website, but it seems strange that it can't be accessed in game. Further, the unlocking of additional content seems of poor design. Instead of requiring 5000 kills, why not include means to discover more once you reach critical locations or accomplish story objectives? I would also recommend using it to truly flesh out the atmosphere and aesthetics of the environment and game lore, even and up to the mechanics of how the world works. [b]Extra:[/b] Better differentiated subclasses and abilities.