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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle |OT| Fortune and Glory, kid. Fortune and Glory.

RPS37

Member
I’m in the snow, but DF has got me thinking this game might be a bit better than I thought.
Graphics are damn good and if you’re a fan of the franchise, must play.
 

Astray

Member
In Sukhothai rn, the boat riding is boring but at least you can use the road sign fast travel points.

Interesting that they give you the fascist costume v.early this go-round, normally they don't give it to you until it's time to go to the next location.

Dogs are incredibly bothersome to deal with, especially in a fight, and it's honestly dumb that they could not just place some pieces of meat along with the fruits and bread so you can use it to distract them or drug them or something.

Story is very engaging and the puzzles maintain their level.

Also is anyone else not getting game updates on PC game pass? I don't think tue game updated even once since I installed it.
 

Xavier2337

Member
Man this game is beautiful

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Mattyp

Not the YouTuber
Where are you stuck? Maybe you just need a hint.

Just needs to get good, game is to easy if I was going to fault pick but the older you get the more you actually want that as you’re here for the story not button mashing pointless boss buffs.
 
Reached 3rd big area.

Its so cool. Giving strong Tomb Raider vibes, but its winding and has a lot of nooks and crannies to explore.

Wish newer Tomb Raider games were made like this. I played and enjoyed all of them, but will be hard to go back to simpler level design after this.
 

Orbital2060

Member
If anyone is interested in archaeology and ethics, PennMuseum posted a video a while ago about their efforts at Nimrud and Nineveh to restore parts of the sites after ISIS had tried to demolish them with earthmovers during their occupation of Iraq in the mid 2010s. It was odd seeing the nazi flag on the sites in the game and then remembering that ISIS did pretty much the same thing, although the Nazis wanted to preserve and find the past rather than destroy it. The funny thing is, the ISIS idiots, in an effort to pillage and loot the area with earthmovers, managed to partially uncover an hitherto undiscovered stela that has now been properly unearthed by PennMuseum together with Iraqi government offices, and is now counted as one of the greater findings in Assyriology since the 19th century.

Timestamped to where they talk about ISIS and what they did to the sites:



But its worth watching the whole thing, for context.

Playing the game just reminded me of how things do NOT belong in a museum. Its easy to think they do, because theyre safe and you can go look at them. But the fact is, that museums started out in the middle ages as a way for rich people - royalty and their dignitaries with huge land areas and castles - to display exotic artefacts and things from far away as a way to show off, basically. Show off how connected and intelligent they are, or as trophies of occupying far away areas and peoples. A tradition that grew along with the imperialism of the British, the Germans, and the French etc. Their national museums are basically just windows out in the world into their respectively occupied areas, and the inventories reflect the efforts of the different imperialist governments in seeking these items out. So different museums have different collections, based on the nationality of their archaeologist that brought them home as booty, so to speak. When the west discovered Mesopotamia in the 1840s and 1850s, the first huge load of items were brought back to Britain by the British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard - although he was not an archaeologist by trade but on government business going to India when he got caught up in what was then not really recognized as a professional thing to do - to dig for old stuff. It was just about that time that the techniques of archaeology were developing, and for Layard it was a matter of national pride to bring this home to London and the British Museum. And it resonated with people in London at the time. There were lines outside of the British Museum to see exhibitions like "The Library of Ashurbanipal" (a collection of Assyrian cuneiform tablet found by Layard inside the main citadel area) and giant statues of the lamassu (="winged bull") that he managed to bring to London. The same winged bulls that are in the game, in the museum at Marshall College at the beginning of the game. The translation of the epic of Gilgamesh by George Smith in 1872 sparked another feverish interest for Mesopotamia, with the names of cities (Nimrud/Calah) from the Bible being corroborated in another source for the first time.

My point is, these Iraqi artefacts became a matter of national pride and a way to display their imperial power. This has changed a lot lately, though. As more faculties and governments are working more with local authorities to preserve sites and artefacts in situ. But for Indy in the 1930s, it was probably a natural thing to think like that - that "It belongs in a museum!". It was either an American museum, or a German museum. When you visit the Pergamon in Berlin, the British Museum in London, or the Louvre in Paris, you are getting access to a cross-section of the things they have brought home as imperialist states over the centuries. And all of it should be returned to their respective homelands, and curated there as best as possible.
 
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Nankatsu

Gold Member
Im really tempted on picking this up.

GAF should I spend 52 € on this or wait for a price drop?

(I know there's the xbox gamepass option, which makes the game cheaper, but I want the game on my steam library).
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Im really tempted on picking this up.

GAF should I spend 52 € on this or wait for a price drop?

(I know there's the xbox gamepass option, which makes the game cheaper, but I want the game on my steam library).
I think you should get it now if you can afford it. It is a labour of love from the team and they should be rewarded.

If you are an Indiana Jones fan this game will be making you happy. Great job Machine Games. The game does feel like Todd Howard was very involved with it, not in a bad way, but I… can just feel it :D.
 
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SirTerry-T

Member
The game is good, the graphics are nice, and I’ll probably enjoy the story as well. However, I don’t understand why someone from the newer generation would want to control such a character. Even as a Gen Y? person, I found the character boring. With Uncharted, ND managed to create a dynamic, funny and younger alternative to Indy. Why would I want to play as Indy after that? Since I played the Uncharted series before the Indiana Jones films, I don’t feel like watching the movies either.

I don’t think this series will ever be as popular as it once was. Sorry, my older friends, but Indy is not cool anymore.

I can only imagine the horror you must feel when you accidentally flick the TV channel and there is (wipes sweat off brow) a black and white film on the TV, or you have to read one of the classic works of literature in (gulps nervously) book form!
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
I can only imagine the horror you must feel when you accidentally flick the TV channel and there is (wipes sweat off brow) a black and white film on the TV, or you have to read one of the classic works of literature in (gulps nervously) book form!
Whats that supposed to mean? I like black and white movies(but I prefer remastered versions) and I like books. Indy isn't an art form, he is just an outdated character.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Whats that supposed to mean? I like black and white movies(but I prefer remastered versions) and I like books. Indy isn't an art form, he is just an outdated character.
Nothing, ignore this old fart who was brought up with Star Wars, Raiders of The Lost Ark and video games where the players' imagination was an integral part of the experience.

But it you admit to watching colourised versions of old b/W films then I'm afraid we will have a proper falling out with name calling, sniggering behind your back and possibly hair pulling. ;)
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Im really tempted on picking this up.

GAF should I spend 52 € on this or wait for a price drop?

(I know there's the xbox gamepass option, which makes the game cheaper, but I want the game on my steam library).

It aint worth more than 40 euros unless you love Ubisoft-like collecting 70% of the game, with a decent love letter to the movies, amazing voice acting, garbage idiot-level puzzle difficulty, and only 2 amazing scenes/levels in the entire game.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
It aint worth more than 40 euros
Like no. Just no. Where do we plug these values out of thin air given the cost of games, the production values, the amount of t of content even in the main storyline alone, writing + acting + art direction that easily out it next to Raiders and the Last Graal.

Sorry, but we all want to pay less for content or to get it under cost or something… it does not always make it right nor sustainable 😂.
 
This game is ass, I am completely lost, just give me a straight up map that lets me set a path, I'm going round in circles, i have objective markers flashing up on random things with no explanation of what they are or what to do, it's shit.

I turned the objective marker always on in the options. Also you gotta switch the mission you’re tracking. It’ll automatically switch to side missions at times.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Like no. Just no. Where do we plug these values out of thin air given the cost of games, the production values, the amount of t of content even in the main storyline alone, writing + acting + art direction that easily out it next to Raiders and the Last Graal.

Sorry, but we all want to pay less for content or to get it under cost or something… it does not always make it right nor sustainable 😂.
Like yes. Just yes. If i decide the game is worth 20 bucks of my time then thats how much its worth. If its worth 100 for you, then good for you. We all have different tastes. Saying no to someones opinion as if yours is more valid is idiotic.
 
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BigLee74

Member
Like yes. Just yes. If i decide the game is worth 20 bucks of my time then thats how much its worth. If its worth 100 for you, then good for you. We all have different tastes. Saying no to someones opinion as if yours is more valid is idiotic.
So what is it worth to you - 40 euros or 20 bucks. Random currency switch! 😃

Indiana Jones is one game I would not have been disappointed with paying full price, and I suspect most folk would feel the same.

Nice and meaty, great production values, extremely polished. Importantly, does not outstay its welcome.

Definitely worth 52 of your euros!
 
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Have you done all the mysteries?
They aren’t Witness-level but some puzzles were definitely above every other action adventure I’ve played.
Vatican puzzles are way too easy. Give a bad first impression.

They are getting much more interesting as game is progressing. Just now I skipped a puzzle cause couldn’t solve it. Will get to it later.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
So what is it worth to you - 40 euros or 20 bucks. Random currency switch! 😃

God, reading is hard. 20 bucks was just an example. I already stated it aint worth more than 40 euros. I paid full price for it and as everyone else here I am entitled to decide what i think it's worth.

Have you done all the mysteries?
They aren’t Witness-level but some puzzles were definitely above every other action adventure I’ve played.


I've done everything in the game. They're all extremely easy.

EDIT: Alright I do remember one or two specific misteries that were annoying and hard but not in a fun way, but that was like 2 out of 50+? I don't remember how many are in total, but overall the impression wasnt good in regards to any of the puzzles. The last one especially is absolute shit and tedious if you collect all the missing artifacts ofc.
 
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Fess

Member
I've done everything in the game. They're all extremely easy.
Then I’d say you’re just very smart rather than the puzzles being idiot-level. There are some very complex mysteries puzzles in this game. Some are so vaguely explained that you might struggle even when thinking correctly, like that board game where they didn’t explain one of they key rules to solve it. And compare the puzzles to anything in any Tomb Raider or any game like that and they’re light years ahead.
The level puzzles are easy though.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Then I’d say you’re just very smart rather than the puzzles being idiot-level. There are some very complex mysteries puzzles in this game. Some are so vaguely explained that you might struggle even when thinking correctly, like that board game where they didn’t explain one of they key rules to solve it. And compare the puzzles to anything in any Tomb Raider or any game like that and they’re light years ahead.
The level puzzles are easy though.

If you collect all the notes in regards to the mystery quest it shouldnt be hard. Like I said, there is maybe one or two of them that are annoying, but the majority are easy. Which one did you find hard? I do play a lot of puzzle games, but Im not that smart.
 
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Fess

Member
Vatican puzzles are way too easy. Give a bad first impression.

They are getting much more interesting as game is progressing. Just now I skipped a puzzle cause couldn’t solve it. Will get to it later.
Could it be the in the room with the sleeping dog on the floor?

In general, the late level puzzles are more complex but yeah the puzzles needed to progress in the game are usually easy.

The mysteries puzzles are much better and gets you flicking through pages in the journal, I liked them a lot tbh, hoping for much more of that in a sequel.
 

BigLee74

Member
The puzzles were ‘relaxed’, and that’s exactly as it should be in a game like this. You don’t want to be stumped for any length of time - that’s what makes folk give up on the game.

The live board game with the people was the only puzzle that skirted with annoying difficulty - doubly frustrating in how slowly people moved.
 

Fess

Member
If you collect all the notes in regards to the mystery quest it shouldnt be hard. Like I said, there is maybe one or two of them that are annoying, but the majority are easy. Which one did you find hard? I do play a lot of puzzle games, but Im not that smart.
I’m not smart at all but I’ve finished The Witness at least. I struggled with the board game with 4 moves only in the swamp. And there was a mystery puzzle in Vatican, talked about above with a sleeping dog that confused me. And I remember a decryption puzzle too. Probably some other ones too. Many had me flicking through pages in the journal and I wouldn’t say they’re idiot-level easy in those cases.
The puzzles needed to progress were usually on the easy side though, maybe some near the end had me thinking a bit. And companions always suck in AAA games and treat you like you’re 3 and start giving you hints after 5 seconds, but it’s not worse than anything else these days.
 
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The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
I struggled with the board game with 4 moves only in the swamp

Yes that is one of the annoyingly tedious, not exactly hard hard like it makes you think, if you know what I mean, because you have to write that shit on paper or something but then again if you played and finished The Witness you should be used to that. I can agree that for 100% a few of them are not exactly made for idiots, but not exactly what I would've liked either.
 

Beechos

Member
If you collect all the notes in regards to the mystery quest it shouldnt be hard. Like I said, there is maybe one or two of them that are annoying, but the majority are easy. Which one did you find hard? I do play a lot of puzzle games, but Im not that smsmart.
The puzzles are definitely not hard. The important part is collecting all the notes/clues to help solve them. So far the 2 hardest puzzles i encountered are the ones that use the artifacts. One in the cave in gizeh to open a optional door and the other one with the board game.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Like yes. Just yes. If i decide the game is worth 20 bucks of my time then thats how much its worth. If its worth 100 for you, then good for you. We all have different tastes. Saying no to someones opinion as if yours is more valid is idiotic.
I disagree with your opinion, I think it undervalues massively the game. You may not like it and fine but undervaluing is a bit different to me 🤷‍♂️.
 

b0uncyfr0

Member
Its a pretty alright game so far. Still in Italy.

The machinic are abit dated (and simple) but it does the job. AI is very meh. I wish the climbing animation was faster (hopefully someone mods that)

Id say its worth about $40, not more though.
 

Astray

Member
I'm almost done with the Sukhothai mysteries and fieldwork, and honestly I want to talk about one specific side mission because it kinda encapsulates what I really like and what I really hate about this uneven game in one quest, it's gonna be a rant so strap in:
This quest has a really good starting hook that's delivered in a super boring way: "There's an explosion. Quick! go check what's happening!", the hook itself is not the problem, the problem is the rebel leader character that gives you the quest has the charisma of cardboard (the area-specific NPCs keep getting worse as the game progresses, Father Antonio remains unmatched so far, especially compared to the Boring Dr. Nawal and this rebel leader whose name I don't even care to look up).

The other problem is instead of just putting the ruins close to the village so you can run to it and get some urgency going, it instead tells you to ride the boat across the entire map almost! This is right out of the Ubi playbook as far as I'm concerned. Thankfully, things improve from there..

You arrive to see that someone blew a hole in the ruins and went in, Indy talks about how this is amateur hour archaeology, good stuff! Good set-up.

You go in and almost fall into a death trap, probably the biggest thrill I had in the game so far, including its big action set pieces, great!

You find Annika Lund, and get filled in about how she's a former student, you solve some puzzles while she talks about how great Voss is and how indy ignored her, it's not very subtle foreshadowing for what is to come, but it's serviceable enough. You solve a puzzle and survive yet another death trap. Good stuff!

Then weirdly enough, the game asks you to find a key in some far away bird's nest while her and Indy are talking, maybe place this key conversation during a walk situation so you have my full attention?

Eventually, she betrays you because Indy ignored her as a student (Indy generally comes off as a massive dick to her throughout the whole sidequest), this means you have to survive another death trap and chase her through the tomb, this part is where the quest completely falls apart for me, and you can tell the devs ran out of ideas.. It's all just you swimming up and going through some corridors.

You hear a scream and you expect that maybe she'd fallen into another death trap that you have to figure out how to get past, but no, she just had a door fall down on her arm and left some journal page and the idol behind. Such a sucky and lazy way to end this sidequest, which is probably the best sidequest in the game imo.

The fascists talk about "the doctor" needing medical attention, so I assume she might be coming back in the next game with a hook hand or something, and Gina left with the boat when she heard the Fascists coming. Cool.

The worst part of it all is you don't even have any meaningful conversation with Gina about Indy's role in this and what he thinks, it's just some 2-3 lines convo, then you return to the boring rebel leader, who takes the idol, says thanks and the mission ends? There's nothing meaningful about the quest that adds to Indy's character or says something about him, it's a remarkably shitty payoff for what could have been an all-time great sidequest.

Like I said above, it kinda encapulates how uneven the game is. And this is arguably the best written sidequest in the game from what I've seen too! There are worse pay offs in there too!
I think above all else, I'm kinda glad I didn't pay for this. It's a good game, but it's also very overrated.

I think I will finish the main story in 2-3 days time and be done with it, not gonna hunt down some 50 boring artifacts so maybe I get a shot at some end-game puzzle.
 
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Explored 3rd hub area some more. Its fantastic. Feeling like am truly scouring the wilderness.

Exploration based games with good level design like Skyrim, Elden Ring, BOTW, Grounded, Sea of Thieves ……. etc

Those are my jam.

I think this 3rd hub area elevates the game much higher for me. So far I am finding each hub getting better as game progresses.

Would recommend playing like Morrowind, mapless. And enjoy world layout and level design. That always guide you to important points of interest.

Could it be the in the room with the sleeping dog on the floor?
Its part of some mystery. Gear related.

Overall, I would consider adjusting difficulty if anyone if finding it to be easy. I am ok with default difficulty cause it doesn’t break the pacing of the game.
 

intbal

Gold Member
Just finished this.
Here's my review:
(played on Series X in Cinematic(letterbox) Mode, with film grain turned on, but other effects turned off)

Intro, South America and College: No score, but this part is fine.

The Vatican: 8.5/10
Pretty fantastic. Early difficulties with learning the map and markers, but great stealth gameplay and puzzles. Best side characters in the game.

Gizeh: 6.5/10
Good. My favorite puzzles in the game. Traversal required a slower pace, which kind of bogged down the flow of the game. Worst side characters in the game.

Himalayas: 6/10
Very brief. No interesting puzzles. Combat in tight quarters early on was annoying. Looks fantastic at times.

Shanghai: 10/10
Even shorter than Himalayas. Best looking area of the game. More of an interlude than a story section of the game. Zero complaints except for the silliness of
the plane rescue
.

Sukhothai: 1/10
A tedious slog of slow traversal, bad characters, cumbersome puzzles, and many moments where figuring out how to move from A to B was essentially impossible without watching youtube videos of somebody else pointing out where/how you can climb, jump, etc.

Ziggurat: 6.5/10
This is for the camp and the underground. Decent all around. Enemy patrols are too aggressively placed and aware. Darkness should provide more cover, like in traditional stealth games.

Final Location: 0/10
Took me two days to beat this annoying and cumbersome two-stage boss fight, while it added nothing to the fun of the game. Should be removed from the game and replaced with something else entirely.

Sundries: 3/10
-The game is filled with Kathleen Kennedyisms, if you're sensitive to those types of things, having been battered by them for years in all of Lucasfilm IPs. I'm sure that plenty of people won't notice, though.
-The cutscenes frequently and unnecessarily overstay their welcome without contributing further to the story or characters. Each of them could've been trimmed a bit.
-Technically almost flawless, played on Series X. A couple of times I saw a brightness flicker. Once, for a couple of frames, there was a grid-like pattern on the screen during a cutscene. The cutscenes could sometimes stutter. Oddly enough, only ever seemed to happen when Voss was on screen. No gameplay performance drops, no crashes.

Overall: 6.5/10
The game started incredibly strong, but faded fast. I suspect Sukhothai will be the only thing I can recall a year from now, since it left such a strong negative impression. I would've liked more time in the Himalayas and, especially, Shanghai. Unfortunately, I mostly just felt relief when I finished it. That's not a good thing. It's a great example of how to turn a movie property into a game, but a video game shouldn't start out great and get constantly worse the longer you play it. Gamers are different, though. I'm sure there are those who love all the characters and cutscenes, while not experiencing any of the difficulties I had with traversal in some sections.
Ultimately, I feel this is a pretty strict score for a game that should fall anywhere in the 6.5-9.5 range, depending on the individual. I would be hesitant to trust the opinion of anyone who scored it lower.
 
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Sephimoth

Member
I was just picturing a bond game in this style. Stealth focused, disguises, spy gadgets and dialogue trees to get information.
I even gave it a rating... 10/10
 
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Astray

Member
I'm almost done with the Sukhothai mysteries and fieldwork, and honestly I want to talk about one specific side mission because it kinda encapsulates what I really like and what I really hate about this uneven game in one quest, it's gonna be a rant so strap in:
This quest has a really good starting hook that's delivered in a super boring way: "There's an explosion. Quick! go check what's happening!", the hook itself is not the problem, the problem is the rebel leader character that gives you the quest has the charisma of cardboard (the area-specific NPCs keep getting worse as the game progresses, Father Antonio remains unmatched so far, especially compared to the Boring Dr. Nawal and this rebel leader whose name I don't even care to look up).

The other problem is instead of just putting the ruins close to the village so you can run to it and get some urgency going, it instead tells you to ride the boat across the entire map almost! This is right out of the Ubi playbook as far as I'm concerned. Thankfully, things improve from there..

You arrive to see that someone blew a hole in the ruins and went in, Indy talks about how this is amateur hour archaeology, good stuff! Good set-up.

You go in and almost fall into a death trap, probably the biggest thrill I had in the game so far, including its big action set pieces, great!

You find Annika Lund, and get filled in about how she's a former student, you solve some puzzles while she talks about how great Voss is and how indy ignored her, it's not very subtle foreshadowing for what is to come, but it's serviceable enough. You solve a puzzle and survive yet another death trap. Good stuff!

Then weirdly enough, the game asks you to find a key in some far away bird's nest while her and Indy are talking, maybe place this key conversation during a walk situation so you have my full attention?

Eventually, she betrays you because Indy ignored her as a student (Indy generally comes off as a massive dick to her throughout the whole sidequest), this means you have to survive another death trap and chase her through the tomb, this part is where the quest completely falls apart for me, and you can tell the devs ran out of ideas.. It's all just you swimming up and going through some corridors.

You hear a scream and you expect that maybe she'd fallen into another death trap that you have to figure out how to get past, but no, she just had a door fall down on her arm and left some journal page and the idol behind. Such a sucky and lazy way to end this sidequest, which is probably the best sidequest in the game imo.

The fascists talk about "the doctor" needing medical attention, so I assume she might be coming back in the next game with a hook hand or something, and Gina left with the boat when she heard the Fascists coming. Cool.

The worst part of it all is you don't even have any meaningful conversation with Gina about Indy's role in this and what he thinks, it's just some 2-3 lines convo, then you return to the boring rebel leader, who takes the idol, says thanks and the mission ends? There's nothing meaningful about the quest that adds to Indy's character or says something about him, it's a remarkably shitty payoff for what could have been an all-time great sidequest.

Like I said above, it kinda encapulates how uneven the game is. And this is arguably the best written sidequest in the game from what I've seen too! There are worse pay offs in there too!
I think above all else, I'm kinda glad I didn't pay for this. It's a good game, but it's also very overrated.

I think I will finish the main story in 2-3 days time and be done with it, not gonna hunt down some 50 boring artifacts so maybe I get a shot at some end-game puzzle.
Just finished the main campaign, Iraq should have been the final big level and not Sukhothai. Remarkably beautiful scenery with very minimal pop-in (Sukhothai was fucking awful with that), especially with the night sky and the stars.

Really liked the final act of the game, it's probably one of the best stories in action-adventure games.

The final optional puzzle looked intriguing, but fuck going back to get those artifacts, my gamepass code is running out in like 5 days anyways, so I'm probably gonna watch that on YouTube and move on to the next game.

This game is a 9/10 at its best and a 6-7/10 at its absolute worst, probably averages out to 7.5~8/10 for me.

Sukhothai alone probably docked this game a point, my god, I think I hated that entire stretch of the game.
 

soulbait

Member
I finished the main quest with almost 100% of all collectables the other day (hoping to go back and get the rest in a bit). Overall, great game! There are some minor nitpicking I can do here and there, but overall it was a fun experience that transported me into the levels. Great level of detail along with an engaging story. It really is all I can ask for in a game like this.

Here is the review for it I have been giving to my friends:
Its the best Indiana Jones movie since the Last Crusade.

Whether you get it now on gamepass, buy it on steam, wait for PS5, or waiting for it to go on discount, play it. It is worth the play!
 
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