Info about Days Gone:

Official game description:
Days Gone is an open-world action-adventure game set in a harsh wilderness two years after a devastating global pandemic.
Step into the dirt flecked shoes of former outlaw biker Deacon St. John, a bounty hunter trying to find a reason to live in a land surrounded by death. Scavenge through abandoned settlements for equipment to craft valuable items and weapons, or take your chances with other survivors trying to eke out a living through fair trade… or more violent means.
KEY FEATURES
• A striking setting: From forests and meadows, to snowy plains and desert lava fields, the Pacific Northwest is both beautiful and lethal. Explore a variety of mountains, caves, mines and small rural towns, scarred by millions of years of volcanic activity.
• Brutal encounters: With vicious gangs and hordes of Freakers roaming the land, you’ll need to make full use of a variety of customizable traps, weapons, and upgradable skills to stay alive. Don’t forget your Drifter bike, an invaluable tool in a vast land.
• An ever-changing environment: Jump on the saddle of Deacon’s trusty motorbike and explore a dynamic world dramatically affected by the weather, a dramatic day/night cycle and the evolving Freakers, who adjust to their surroundings – and the people in it.
• A compelling story: Lose yourself in a powerful tale of desperation, betrayal and regret, as Deacon St. John searches for hope after suffering a deep, personal loss. What makes us human when faced with the daily struggle for survival?
INCLUDES
• New Game Plus
• Survival Mode
• Challenge Mode
• Bike Skins
PC features include ultra-wide monitor support, unlocked framerates and improved graphics (increased level of details, field of view, foliage draw distances).

Release date: May 17, 2021

Categories: Open-World Exploration, Survival, Crafting, Character Progression, Third-Person Shooter, Vehicle Customization, Story-driven Gameplay, Action-Adventure

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 20; verdict: Mixed; summary: The analysis of user reviews for the game reveals several key themes. Many users express dissatisfaction with the value provided by the DLC, feeling that the content is not worth the price. There is significant frustration with certain game modes and features being locked behind a paywall, which users believe should be part of the base game. Additionally, users are annoyed that achievements are locked behind DLC, requiring additional purchases to fully complete the game. Despite these criticisms, some reviews highlight positive aspects of the game, such as the lack of microtransactions and the overall enjoyable gameplay experience.
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: Needs Improvement in Instructional Data and Bug Fixes; summary: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant reliance on external instructional data to understand game mechanics and complete certain tasks. Additionally, there are notable mentions of bugs and navigation issues, as well as frustrations with the game's progression system. These points highlight areas where users experience barriers and require external resources to enhance their gaming experience.
- Proton/Linux: score 20; verdict: Works Well; summary: The game generally runs well on Linux, with positive feedback on both native support and Proton compatibility. However, there are some reports of crashes, graphical glitches, and stuttering issues that require specific versions of Proton or experimental builds to mitigate. Overall, the user experience on Linux is mostly positive with some minor tweaks needed for optimal performance.
- Steam Deck: score 50; verdict: Mixed Experience with Notable Issues; summary: The analysis of user feedback for Days Gone on the Steam Deck reveals a mix of performance issues, compatibility challenges, and positive experiences. Significant performance problems have been reported post-update, particularly with the DLC release, making the game unplayable for some users. Compatibility issues, including crashes and the need for Proton Experimental, are also notable. However, many users have had positive experiences, praising the graphics, story, and overall gameplay. Control issues and variability in Linux compatibility further add to the mixed feedback.

- Hardware Profile:
  - Summary: Performance varies significantly across hardware cohorts, with higher VRAM configurations generally reporting better experiences. Lower VRAM and RAM setups often face more issues, including crashes and frame drops.
  - Sample size: 215 (2% coverage)
  - Audience skew: Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
  - Windows 12-15GB VRAM (positive, 61 reports): Mostly positive reports with smooth performance and high FPS, though some users experience crashes and bugs.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM (mixed, 52 reports): Mixed experiences with some users reporting smooth gameplay after adjustments, while others face significant stuttering and crashes.
  - Windows 8-11GB VRAM (negative, 46 reports): Predominantly negative reports with frequent lag spikes, crashes, and optimization issues.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM (positive, 32 reports): Positive report highlighting good optimization and impressive technical performance.
  - Caveats: 215 of 13478 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $29.99 - $39.99
  - Reasoning: The evidence shows that the game is considered worth its full price due to its story, gameplay, and overall quality. Many users suggest that it is particularly worth buying during a sale, indicating that while the full price is acceptable, a discounted price is seen as a better value. The repeated mentions of the game being worth it at full price, combined with the enthusiasm for sales, suggest a fair base price range slightly below the full price but frequently available at a discount.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 48.0h
  - Story completion: 30.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence provides multiple direct references to the playtime required for various aspects of the game. The first quote mentions a total of 48 hours to complete everything in the game, with a significant portion spent on filler missions. The second quote suggests a range of 20-40 hours for those who enjoy long games, indicating a substantial playtime for completionists. The third quote explicitly states that the user spent almost 50 hours to complete the game, aligning with the typical total playtime for game completion. The fourth quote mentions completing the game to 100% at least 3 times across different platforms, implying a high level of engagement and significant playtime investment.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Days Gone has a slow and repetitive start, but it becomes more engaging and fun as players progress through the story and mechanics, typically after the initial hours of gameplay.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: When the story and mechanics 'click' and the game starts to feel more immersive and exciting.
  - Time to anchor: 2h 0m
  - Friction: Repetitive side missions; Slow pacing; Tedious combat; Grindy quests; Stiff animations
  - Unlock drivers: Progression of the story; Deepening of character development; Exploring the open world; Engaging with main story missions
  - Conditions: Exploring the open world; Engaging with main story missions; Progressing through the story; Experiencing character development
- Player Archetypes:
  - Story-Driven Explorer (buy)
    - Motivation: Emotional engagement and narrative depth.
    - Playstyle: Explores the world and engages with the story at a leisurely pace, appreciating the details and emotional arcs.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: story lover; emotional gamer
    - Reference games: The Last of Us; Red Dead Redemption 2; God of War
  - Completionist Grinder (sale)
    - Motivation: Completion and mastery of game mechanics.
    - Playstyle: Systematically completes all side content, collects all items, and masters the game's mechanics.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: completionist; grinder
    - Reference games: Far Cry; Assassin's Creed; The Witcher
  - Challenged Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: Engaging and challenging gameplay.
    - Playstyle: Enjoys the balance between challenge and relaxation, appreciating the unique aspects of the game's design.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: challenge seeker; immersive gamer
    - Reference games: God of War; Spider-Man; The Last of Us
  - Repetition-Weary Player (deep sale)
    - Motivation: Variety and engagement in gameplay.
    - Playstyle: Prefers games with diverse missions and activities, avoiding repetitive tasks.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: deep sale
    - Labels: variety seeker; engaged gamer
    - Reference games: Far Cry; Assassin's Creed


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Engaging and emotional story (weight 0.64): The game offers a rich, long, and emotionally impactful story with well-written characters. The narrative is engaging and features deep emotional arcs, making players care about the characters and their journeys.
- Excellent graphics and sound design (weight 0.46): The game features top-notch graphics, including realistic and beautiful visuals, dense forests, dynamic weather, and excellent optimization. The sound design is also highly praised, contributing to an immersive atmosphere.
- Immersive and detailed world (weight 0.4): The game world is beautifully crafted, detailed, and feels alive. The dynamic weather, day-night cycles, and roaming hordes contribute to an immersive and atmospheric experience.
- Thrilling zombie hordes (weight 0.34): The game includes intense and adrenaline-pumping battles with zombie hordes. These encounters are challenging, exciting, and add a significant layer of thrill and strategy to the gameplay.
- Recommended for open-world zombie fans (weight 0.33): The game is highly recommended for fans of open-world zombie games. It is considered one of the best in its category, offering a mix of survival, action, and narrative in a post-apocalyptic setting.
- Enjoyable and addictive gameplay (weight 0.22): The gameplay is described as exciting, fun, and addictive. It offers a variety of activities and intense moments, making it captivating and thrilling.
- Great motorcycle mechanics and customization (weight 0.22): The motorcycle mechanics are highly praised, offering enjoyable and satisfying riding experiences. The game also features detailed motorcycle customization and upgrades.
- Smooth performance and stable framerates (weight 0.1): The game is well-optimized, offering smooth performance and stable framerates. This ensures a seamless and enjoyable gaming experience.

Common complaints:
- Repetitive gameplay (weight 0.37): The gameplay is criticized for becoming repetitive and boring over time. The repetitive nature of missions and activities can make the game feel monotonous.
- Occasional minor bugs (weight 0.29): Players have encountered occasional minor bugs and crashes. These issues, while present, are not severe and do not significantly hinder gameplay.
- Slow initial pace (weight 0.17): The game is noted for having a slow start, both in terms of gameplay and story development. This slow pace can make the beginning of the game feel boring.
- Frustrating difficulty (weight 0.14): The difficulty in the game can be frustrating, particularly with hordes and enemy behavior. The AI is also noted for being inconsistent and poorly behaved.
- Poor audio management (weight 0.12): The audio in the game is poorly managed, with issues such as overlapping tracks, repeated dialogue, and abrupt cut-offs. Dialogues are also criticized for being monotonous and poorly synchronized.
- Initial technical issues (weight 0.1): Players have reported initial technical issues such as stuttering, bugs, and crashes. These problems are particularly noted at the launch of the game.
- Poorly designed quests (weight 0.06): Quests are criticized for being poorly designed, often requiring unnecessary back-and-forth travel. Side quests, in particular, are noted for being repetitive and lacking depth.
- Overpriced DLC (weight 0.05): The paid DLC is criticized for not being worth the cost and not adding significant new story content. Players feel that the DLC is overpriced and does not provide enough value.

Gameplay feedback:
- Open-world zombie survival gameplay (weight 0.36): The game is set in an open world with a strong emphasis on zombie survival elements. Players can explore a large map while engaging in combat and survival activities.
- Motorcycle customization and upgrades (weight 0.32): The motorcycle is a key element in gameplay, with extensive customization and upgrade options. Players can manage and upgrade their motorcycle to improve performance and capabilities.
- Horde encounters and combat (weight 0.25): The game features intense horde encounters that require strategic planning and tactical decisions. Players must combat large groups of zombies in various scenarios.
- Survival and crafting elements (weight 0.16): Survival-focused gameplay includes crafting and resource gathering. Players must manage resources and craft items to survive in the post-apocalyptic setting.
- Stealth and combat mechanics (weight 0.16): The game offers a mix of stealth, action, and strategic combat. Players can engage in combat using a variety of weapons and traps, or use stealth to avoid enemies.
- Strong narrative and story (weight 0.15): The game has a well-crafted story with a strong finale, enhancing the overall experience. The narrative is emotional and well-developed.
- Dynamic weather and day-night cycle (weight 0.12): The game includes a dynamic weather system and a day-night cycle that affects gameplay and enemy behavior, adding depth to the survival experience.
- Multiple difficulty levels (weight 0.08): The game offers various difficulty levels, including Easy, Normal, Hard, Hard II, Survival, and Survival II, catering to different player preferences and skill levels.

Performance notes:
- Frequent minor bugs and crashes (weight 0.22): Many players reported encountering minor bugs and occasional crashes. These issues seem to be common but not severe enough to significantly hinder gameplay.
- Smooth performance and high FPS (weight 0.17): The game is noted for running smoothly with high FPS and good performance. Players appreciate the excellent optimization and impressive graphics.
- Excellent optimization (weight 0.15): The game is well-optimized, particularly on PC. Players have noted good optimization and well-optimized graphics settings.
- Miscellaneous issues (weight 0.12): Various other issues have been reported, including subtitle delays, audio quality issues, sluggish controls, and enemies getting stuck in textures.
- Enhanced graphics options (weight 0.1): The game offers enhanced visuals and graphic options, which have been appreciated by players. This includes detailed forests and weather effects.
- Texture and loading issues (weight 0.1): There are reports of texture loading issues and long loading times. Some players have also mentioned flickering issues with TAA and ghosting in shadows.
- Optimization issues at launch (weight 0.06): There were optimization issues reported at launch, particularly on PlayStation. Some players have noted performance issues and bugs that held the game back initially.
- Specific hardware requirements (weight 0.05): The game has specific hardware requirements, with some players noting the need for at least a GTX 1660. There are also reports of the game running smoothly on older computers.
- Black screen errors (weight 0.05): Some players have experienced black screen errors, including constant transitions to a black screen and screen blackout errors on load.
- Update-related issues (weight 0.04): Updates have caused performance issues and bugs for some players. There are reports of new patches breaking the game.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for zombie and open-world fans (weight 0.3): The game is highly recommended for players who enjoy zombie games and open-world settings. It offers a unique experience in the zombie genre with a strong narrative and immersive survival mechanics.
- Worth playing and highly recommended (weight 0.22): Many reviewers simply state that the game is worth playing and highly recommended without going into specific details. It suggests a general positive sentiment towards the game.
- Recommended with some caveats (weight 0.1): Some reviewers recommend the game but suggest waiting for a sale or discount. This indicates that while the game is good, it might not be worth the full price for everyone.
- Desire for a sequel and adaptations (weight 0.09): Several reviewers express a strong desire for a sequel and even adaptations like a Netflix series. This indicates a high level of engagement and satisfaction with the game's story and world.
- Positive sentiments in different languages (weight 0.09): The game receives positive recommendations in various languages, indicating a broad appeal and satisfaction among a diverse group of players.
- Miscellaneous positive comments (weight 0.08): Various other positive comments highlight the game's strong atmosphere, memorable gameplay moments, and overall quality. These add to the general positive sentiment towards the game.
- Unique horde experience and mechanics (weight 0.06): The game is praised for its unique horde experience and bike mechanics, which set it apart from other games in the genre. This adds to the game's replay value and enjoyment.
- Recommended for specific fan bases (weight 0.06): The game is recommended for fans of specific genres or other similar games, such as survival narratives, horror movies, and other zombie or open-world games.
- Recommendations with external references (weight 0.04): A few recommendations reference other games or external factors, such as suggesting to play Far Cry 3 first or mentioning the game's mod support on PC.
- Niche or specific recommendations (weight 0.04): Some recommendations are more niche or specific, such as for players who live near Central Oregon or those who enjoy grinding. These suggest that the game has unique aspects that appeal to specific groups.
- Suggestions for improvements and support (weight 0.03): Some reviewers suggest fixing issues quickly or supporting the developers, indicating a desire for continued improvement and success of the game.

Other player notes:
- Russian language availability (weight 0.03): The game supports the Russian language despite initial indications that it might not. This is a positive aspect for Russian-speaking players.

Emotions:
- Excitement (weight 0.23): Players are thrilled by the adrenaline-pumping gameplay, especially the intense zombie hordes and combat mechanics. The engaging story, beautiful graphics, and immersive world also contribute to the excitement, along with unique features like motorcycle mechanics and dynamic weather.
- Frustration (weight 0.19): Players are frustrated by repetitive missions, tedious mechanics, and various bugs and technical issues. Poor game design choices, such as the stamina system, unskippable credits, and inconvenient money management, also contribute to this frustration.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.14): Players enjoy the immersive gameplay, engaging story, and the fun mechanics of combat and motorcycle riding. The beautiful graphics, atmospheric world, and the thrill of fighting zombie hordes also contribute to the overall enjoyment.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.08): Players feel satisfied with the strong story, character development, and smooth performance. The deep customization, engaging gameplay mechanics, and rewarding progression systems also contribute to this sense of satisfaction.
- Disappointment (weight 0.07): Players are disappointed by the weak story, lack of a sequel, and repetitive gameplay. Technical issues, lack of rewards, and unfulfilled potential also contribute to this disappointment.
- Engagement (weight 0.04): Players are engaged by the emotional storytelling, interesting characters, and intense post-apocalyptic action. The captivating narrative and the sense that every mission matters contribute to this engagement.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Players admire the game's narrative, characters, and atmosphere. The unique gameplay mechanics, emotional depth, and overall quality of the game also evoke admiration.
- Joy (weight 0.03): Players experience joy from the beautiful world, engaging story, and fun gameplay mechanics. The immersive open world, strong atmosphere, and enjoyable motorcycle mechanics also contribute to this joy.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.03): Players are enthusiastic about the game's unique features, engaging storyline, and innovative elements. The variety of missions, detailed world, and fun gameplay mechanics also fuel this enthusiasm.
- Love (weight 0.02): Players love the story, characters, graphics, and world interactions. The overall experience, including the driving mechanics and horde assault mode, contributes to this deep affection for the game.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.02): Players feel nostalgic due to the game's beautiful landscape and faithful recreation of real-world locations. Personal connections to the setting and past experiences with the game evoke this nostalgia.
- Surprise (weight 0.02): Players are surprised by the game's depth, interesting plot, and visual quality. Plot twists and the amount of detail in the game also contribute to this surprise.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Players hope for a sequel due to the game's engaging story and unique features. The potential for a sequel or prequel and the emotional depth of the story fuel this hope.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): Players feel sadness due to the lack of a sequel and the emotional story and characters. The touching narrative and the absence of a continuation contribute to this sadness.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the enjoyable archer gameplay, strong story, and well-developed characters. The beautiful graphics, emotionally resonant narrative, and unique themes also evoke appreciation.
- Immersion (weight 0.01): Players feel immersed due to the game's atmosphere, graphics, and emotional depth. The story and activities within the game world contribute to this sense of immersion.
- Tension (weight 0.01): Players experience tension from the gameplay dynamics and terrifying hordes. The tension mechanics, including audible heartbeat and music escalation, contribute to this feeling.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Players feel bored due to the repetitive nature and slow start of the game. The repetitive missions and fetch quests contribute to this boredom.
- Immersed (weight 0.01): Players feel immersed due to the detailed world and story. The gameplay and story elements contribute to this sense of immersion.
- Attachment (weight 0): Players feel attached to the game due to its engaging mechanics and story. Upgrading the bike and the overall experience contribute to this attachment.}