I'M GLAD SOMEONE SPEAKS ABOUT IT
I'm not the one to say out loud that I DON'T LIKE HoC (actually I've made some hints about it) but for me as well it rings a bell that I'm SO MUCH UNCOMFORTABLE with the game that I have no will to interact with... Much anyone. I just feel outcast. I like the previous three parts of the game more, I have AuDHD and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is my not only hyperfixation - in some sense it keeps me alive lol, it helped me through my hardest years of life and I've put heart and soul into it if not less.
HoC makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R. lore feels like shit TBH. Characters? No more like they SHOULD be. The script? Hell no, they just dumped it under the train and let everything be so confusing and strange. Stuff that was supposed to STAY CUT FROM THE DEVELOPMENT FROM THE VERY START now has to do something with the lore and it MESSES IT UP. There was a REASON they decided to change something and not add... Well, a lot of things they added NOW, so the game now looks like a jigsaw generated by ChatGPT, I won't even be surprised if they actually used it in production.
Yes, the graphics ARE good but that's all? It's not outstanding, I mean, nowadays EVERYONE tries to do the best graphics in their games but you can't just make a good S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game without doing your fucking job by keeping EVERY. BIT. OF OLD LORE. IN TACT.
People there looks just the same, honestly, I CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRELOK, DEGTYAREV, STRIDER AND VORONIN, IT LOOKS LIKE THEY USED THE SAME PERSON TO MOTION-CAPTURE THEIR MOVEMENTS ANS THAT'S IT. In trilogy EVERYONE had their OWN facial features, it FELT ALIVE even through shitty graphics though it still looks AWESOME nowadays! Now? No. Just... No. I feel no soul it them. I don't want to talk about the characterization of chars because it's the one huge freaking problem that has to be covered in a fucking google document essay on 100 pages and I have ZERO desire to cover it up though it's my main problem.
That's mostly the reason why I don't want to post ANYTHING here and my contact with the English community of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. just SUCKS. I don't know how to... Talk with you guys when I'm not in the hype wagon. I like the old games more, I feel them as TRUE CANON, because the new game gives me nothing but a taste of an old moldy butter on the stone-like bread. I LOVED the trilogy, it's pretty much my confort Zone (ba dum tsss) and I tend to escape there every time I feel my life is shitty. With HoC I've completely lost that feeling of safety and happiness over it. Well, it's not like I had much expectation of it from the very start (IMO, we NEVER needed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in the first place)... But here we are.
I'm used to hang out in the old games' atmosphere and lore as much as in my own house, so that's why I said I won't draw anything from HoC respectively. It just feels... Odd. Not MINE. For me, SoC, CS and CoP are the most canon and precious games in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and HoC is just a fanfiction made in the game. I appreciate that developers tried their best to create a game, but I'm not amongst the enjoyers, and also not the one from the "old gang" to accept it in the first place.
And I don't care about what people might think and say, this is MY opinion and I deeply respect everyone who likes the game, but it feels had for me to be around when I don't like the game and it keeps me from expressing my love to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Honestly. I draw everything in private chats and it the only thing that keeps me interested as I don't touch the S2 lore ans just stick to the "old team" one's. But it as well makes me feel less interested in the whole thing though I definitely won't be moving on from S.T.A.L.K.E.R., I just won't be around to support the mood 'cause I don't share it and everyone moved on from the old games to the new one.
I didn't want to make in in a rant and I hope it's not.
