Yeah, I'd probably have a similar opinion on its mediocrity if not for survival mode. That's the mode where things are much more fun. Even with less combat, just knowing that you can't heal automatically when it does come up makes things more intense.
Uncharted is still very character focused, but that doesn't change that every area you go to exists to advance the plot until Elena shows up. They establish his past, his present, then have him unravel some clue in each spot. So when Elena does show up, it's extremely jarring that character is the only focus rather than keeping the two tied together like the rest of the game. Again, I feel they didn't try to integrate it well into the plot.
I think you misinterpreted what I said. I never claimed Uncharted wasn't character focused, I claimed it was less than TLOU which goes much further in that regard because you brought up how it pulled the same thing. But because TLOU went further, it worked there, but not Uncharted. Hence why I compared them to Mass Effect, all three of which are some of the most character focused plots out there.
I wouldn't say 2's plot fell apart at the end either, the plot was perfectly fine for what it was. The gameplay fell apart towards the end, yes, but the encounter with Lazarovic and running through Shambala were fine story wise.
I felt RotTR had a good challenge if you do survival mode where they completely overhauled the health and crafting systems to focus more on survival while completely eliminating regenerating health. I'd probably have a much lower opinion of it if not for that mode.
Here's the issue with that though: TLOU never had the main plot ramp up where that would be an issue. TLOU kept it clear that it's much more character focused than plot focused than we saw with Uncharted which is why Winter and Spring worked. The game is about Joel and Ellie surviving to get to the lab, not them on a hunt to figure out how to get there.
Uncharted 4 is about the Nate and Sam figuring out where the treasure is on the other hand. Pausing that plot for a character moment doesn't work there because until the moment where Elena returns, every scene was advancing the plot. The same was not true for TLOU, every scene was about building the characters there. So when Uncharted pauses its plot to build the characters, it doesn't fit.
They could have written it so it could keep going without that, and those pirate betrayal moments took over two hours to get to before you bring them up. Like Uncharted 3, I felt they didn't try hard enough in certain moments when writing the plot. They just stuck them in there without trying to fit them into the narrative both in terms of plot development and pacing. And that is sloppy pacing.
Treyarch has better ideas, but their execution is pure mediocrity. Puzzles, I still say Rise excels. And Uncharted 4's pacing falls apart when the game puts the story on pause for four hours so Elena can come back.
I remember a few combat scenarios mixing the verticality, though they came more later on. As for puzzles, Uncharted's never have me stumped even for a second, always know more or less what to do, and not knowing means opening the journal. Rise had more than a few instances where I was legitimately stumped, several of which were a part of the main story. 4's combat may be better (not sure on leaps and bounds because its stealth isn't as good as Rise's), but that game has too serious of pacing issues for me to say it's better.
Inconsistency and repeating itself I'm with you on, but I think it's much higher than mediocrity. That goes to stuff like Uncharted 1 or a Treyarch Call of Duty which can't even have any high points.
Personally, I feel RotTR is better than every Uncharted save 2 and the original is on par with 1 and 3 (not saying much but still). Uncharted definitely has more interesting characters and a better story but I feel RotTR has better combat than 1-3, especially in the stealth department, and the structure really helps it be more interesting than 1, 3, and 4. Rise gives a much better balance of puzzles, platforming, and exploration than 1 and 3 while I feel its puzzles are stronger and its pacing is more consistent than 4's.
Compared to 2 though all those games feel like mediocrity.
I agree DoS had the best take. Best castle, deepest gameplay, best boss fights, the only issue with it was the touch screen gimmicks. Take those out and it's perfect.
But Por still has the best post game content. Possibly in any game period
Based on what you wrote Cuphead sounds like a game you'd enjoy a Let's Play of more anyways while Ori is fun but not that good. PS4 is the way to go for you.
I thought the Vita was an amazing piece of hardware but I saw it flopping the second I looked at Uncharted GA's graphics. I couldn't imagine any 3rd party dev pushing the tech for a tiny console with how expensive it would be. Tearaway was definitely my favorite game on it too, just makes me smile. Now it's become an indie machine for me though, but even less so since I got into PC gaming.
Speaking of which Cuphead and Ori are on PC and shouldn't be too hard to run on there. Know you're not a PC gamer but the option is there.
