Day 1 Impressions | Forums

[ladyleonhart]

Firstly, thank you Ubisoft for giving me the opportunity to participate in the 'For Honor' Alpha.

My first impression:

The opening sequence filled me with excitement and made me curious about the story behind the game. No doubt my questions will be answered with the release of the game. The graphics are beautiful and the music fits perfectly.

Tutorials

1. COMBAT PRACTICE TUTORIAL:
The first tutorial is very useful to learn the basics of combat and what the game entails, such as, how to capture zones in the Dominion mode, etc. However, when you reach the checkpoint at zone C it becomes rather frustrating. The reason being, you are put against two opponents who seem overpowered, especially to a beginner. Eventually, after defeating them you are once again ambushed by more opponents. At this point, when you are defeated, you resume from the checkpoint mentioned. After several attempts, I felt as though I would be stuck on the tutorial and felt forced to quit it. Hence, I feel that the tutorial should include further objectives to provide guidance to new players assisting them to complete the tutorial and consequently giving them confidence to give the game a chance.

2. VIDEO TUTORIALS:
These are very useful in understanding each of the game modes available in the Alpha. I must confess that I actually didn't watch these before I started playing. Of course, I eventually worked things out, but I would recommend that new players watch them so that they can gain a better understanding of the modes and what the game entails.

3. TUTORIAL OR MORE INFORMATION REQUIRED:
Initially, before I became more familiar with how it worked, upgrading items was a trial and error process, resulting in wasting materials unnecessarily. Hence, I feel it would be beneficial to have an explanation of some sort to help new players. Additionally, 'Feats' would also benefit from a 'more information' or 'details' icon of some sort. This was evident when I invited a new player to play with me. They had played the tutorial, however, in a 'dominion' match they had many questions about how to heal yourself, what the icons were at the bottom of the screen, etc. Questions, which I also had, until I figured out how to use 'Feats' and that they actually existed. I feel that this is important as 'Feats' as I have discovered can actually change the way you play and consequently affect the outcome of the battle.

Combat

1. GENERAL COMBAT:
Personally, I really like the combat. It requires skill, knowing when to defend and finding openings to attack and not button-mashing. It also encourages teamwork, as being outnumbered can require retreating or the assistance of another team member. I also noticed that you can hurt your own teammates whilst swinging your weapon senselessly, which is great because it's more realistic and requires you to think more about what you're doing whilst in combat. I think the stamina bar is also a good feature even though on occasion I've found myself having to withdraw from some opponents or even just taking a few steps back when playing as the Warden. I think it adds balance, preventing everyone from just spamming attacks, as well as being realistic.

2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
I like the way the environment can affect the battles. That is, if you are against an overpowered opponent or running low on health or even find yourself outnumbered, you can use the environment to gain the upper hand. Also, it adds another dimension to the gameplay, forcing you to be aware of your surroundings, so that the enemy doesn't use them against you. Additionally, it adds to the realism.

3. EXECUTIONS:
The animations are refreshing and add another element to the battle. Also, they are reminiscent of the time without being too gory and too graphic or off-putting (this is in reference to the Warden's execution animation, as I did not get a chance to play with the other characters). However, I think there should be a disable gore / blood option as in Assassin's Creed. I've always played AC with the blood off. Additionally, having not seen all the execution animations I hope they are generic and do not lean towards sexual violence as a member has suggested in the forums. I understand that brutality was reminiscent of this setting, however it should be added with consideration and without leaning toward gender violence.

Dominion

It's been really enjoyable. I am hoping in the full game we will have several more maps as I'm sure everyone else is.

Also, I hope it is okay to give ideas. Obviously, I know there is a final vision already in place for the game. Well, I think it would be nice to have more different objectives. For example, perhaps like a map where you undertake a castle siege, with battering rams, etc. Where you defend your soldiers as they try to open a gate. Or as someone defending your castle, preventing opponents from over-running the castle, kicking down ladders, etc. Just a thought. ^_^

Playability of the 'For Honor' Alpha

In my experience, the game runs very smoothly. It has crashed a total of four times, resulting in having to restart the application. Also, I have been removed from a match twice. Of course, there have been a few instances when the game pauses briefly with a message about the servers/network but luckily it has never been game-breaking.

In one instance, in a dominion match against AI opponents I entered the game with another player. However, as the game commenced I found that I was playing alone and the other player had been replaced with an AI character. Not sure if this was meant to happen, but it was good practice.

Matchmaking didn't seem to take much time at all.

I found all three modes to be fun as they all offer something different, with the duel and brawl modes great for combat practice. However, I hope there will be more incentives to make players come back to these modes, for example, perhaps some kind of content to unlock or even missions with scenarios.

Just a thought on upgrading, as other players have mentioned, I found that I just stuck to one character type. Well, the Knight class is my favourite. Anyway for the duration of the Alpha, I feel there wasn't really enough time to explore all the characters properly as materials are quite scarce. It takes quite a while to accumulate enough materials to upgrade a character. Although, I do think the looting element at the end of each dominion match does help to counter this to some extent, by allowing some upgrading rather than having to wait until you can purchase more armour. Hopefully, in the full game there will be more ways to gain a larger quantity of materials in a shorter time.

One other thing, please can you add an option to allow us to mute other players.

Overall, so far I've had a very enjoyable experience. I would really love to know what's in store for a single player campaign. As a gamer who generally prefers single player games though, I can honestly say 'For Honor' has given me a great Multiplayer experience and that's just from the Alpha. ^_^

Well, thanks again and great job. ^_^ I hope my feedback is helpful.

See you on the battlefield! ^_~

[Jacobyte-2014]

Man, im loving this game. This is the game ive waited for for years! The combat is solid and brutal (as it should be), the graphics are amazing, especially considering this is just in alpha and the gameplay is awesome fun.

I would like to see some more game modes - although i expect you have these in the works already.

Two points id like to make:
1. Being left handed i would like the option to swap the thumb stick controls (on ps4 & xbox).
2. When myself and a teammate were descending a ladder an Npc ascending from below simply ran through us knocking us both into the pit, before we even saw him. Maybe there is a better game mechanic than this?

All in all a brilliant start and i cant wait for the full game to release.
Thank you guys.

[Wayvez]

My impression at first was that this game has a lot of potential. I contribute this to it being an Alpha test but maybe in the beta or full game when your fighting other players the matchmaking would change your opponent. Its no fun doing 2v2 or 1v1 against the same people. They already know how you gonna open and what you do during a match. At least when you fight against the bots they change what your fighting which is sort of the same as fighting different players. In Domination mode I'd like to see the matches go longer half the time I don't even reach level 3 before the match is over due to one team crushing the other. It would be fun if when two players fight in the middle of a crowd at say point B all the little guys circle up instead of poke at you and ruin your spacing during your fight. I'd also like to see maybe a 5v5 mode with larger maps. Throughout playing I've noticed that its super easy to do a full map control very fast due to the small map size and close capture points. Maybe with the 5v5 mode you can make it seem more like a battle ground capturing certain objectives do certain things during the battle.

[D3athstruction]

My Impressions so far are:

1. The game is extremely beginner unfriendly, the half-assed tutorial isn´t much of a help. A bit more advice would be helpful.
2. The lack of dedicated Servers. losing your connection every 4 out of 10 matches is annoying.
3. Keyboard and mouse seem to unresponsive.
4. Duelling against players with a bad connection is hell.
5 I Personally don´t like the idea of boosting your character with gear. It only leads to total dominion over other players with worse equipment.
6. the lack of a decent matchmaking. Constantly getting your *** handed by players with much more experience, much higher levels, better equipment wants you make to quit playing.
7. The lack of customizationable gear. Only choosing between two gear sets is too little.


Otherwise I´m satisfied with the game so far. And I have faith that the things metioned above get adressed before the next test and the release

[Sindershift]

Where do I even begin... okay, so the tutorial I guess... the tutorial is a great example of what you'll come to expect from the rest of the game... it starts out shockingly beautiful and reasonably easy, but once it gives you the basics it throws you into all out war.

Now, that's not all bad... in fact I actually enjoyed the feeling of For Honor much more than I anticipated... the terrifying directional block and parry system, the harsh, heavy blows that cause devastating damage..
it all felt very new and exciting.

I also love the look of everything... it's beautiful, polished and gritty... broken stone, mud, bricks, cloth and blood all look amazing.

Another high (and confusing low) point is the class system... now on one front I feel like the classes are very well done... you have light offensive characters who can heal people, heavy defense characters and tank like brutes... now, most of these can go head to head, and depending on skill one can kill the other, but there are a few times where this isn't the case.

The huge mace/ shield wielding soldier springs to mind... his shield (regardless of direction) can block almost any attack (I've had a team of three attack this bastard and not one of our hits landed), which as well as being OP as all Hell feels really cheaty... to add to this his mace takes away half your health, and even removes your health when you block his attacks perfectly.

In a game where skill send timing seem to be hugely important and endorsed, this character cheapens and undermines that.

Now, here's the issue... in a 4 v 4 match that's kind of fine... you can request help and have a teammate stab him in the back while you avoid him, but the game has a random 1 v 1 mode... it's just impossible.

Overwatch has classes... snipers, healers and tanks... they work well together because their strengths and weaknesses complement eachother, but you wouldn't pit a healer against a tank in 1 v 1 combat with no hiding places or verticality.

That's where For Honor currently fails I think.

Another thing is the gold... you gain almost none for completing matches (6 or 9), but customisation items are worth hundreds (350 or 1000)... this is massively unbalanced and screams "micro-transactions" to me... please prove me wrong, or better yet give people a meaningful reward at the end of the match and/ or reduce the cost of customisation elements.

I feel like this is getting too negative, but seriously, from my two days playing I have genuinely loved the experience.

The combat is heavy, the emotes are very well integrated for users (like myself) who choose not to use a headset as are the Quick Chat options.

The shove/ kick mechanic works well and feels amazing when you manage to lure an enemy to a spike pit and kick them down... in fact, combat in general is immensely satisfying when you get it right.

Customisation is really nice, if a little light (and expensive as I said above) and all the characters (male and female, thank you) look and feel totally badass.

When I started playing with my Warden I loved the way she walked... she just oozes confidence and the way she holds herself in and out of battle just has such an air of "**** with me, I dare you"... I grew attached to her right away which made the experience all the more enjoyable.

Same for the Raider who is a behemoth of a woman... I mean, she could throw Hulk Hogan like he was a ragdoll, a feat she proves constantly by picking up and tossing enemies around like it's nothing.

Going back to the gold point, I wish the game gave you more loot in general... even if it was something crappy that I could break down into gold or XP... I went through whole matches and won spectacularly only to receive ten gold and no loot... it's demoralising.

So... my final thoughts...

I really enjoyed this game.

If I'm totally honest I haven't been following it's progress all that much because it didn't seem like something I'd enjoy, but it totally is... that said, I'm not sure I'd buy it at release.

For the most part it feels like a (really good) tech demo to show off the fighting... but to some degree that's all there is to it... there aren't many maps and customisation is lacking, so for the most part you're going to be doing the same thing over and over again.

I see a lot of potential here though... a small open world game like Shadow of Mordor would do great with this hard hitting combat and siege gameplay, as would many other types of games.

"Your castle at X is being attacked, defend it", so you and three buddies race across the land on horseback to defend your keep... "this kind of attack demands retaliation" as you choose an enemy castle to lay siege to... I mean, how cool would that be?

Throw in a few fetch quests, hidden chests, a tavern and some bandits to kill and you've got a freaking awesome medieval battle game.

I just feel like there needs to be something else to do... some time to just explore, wander or... something.

It's all action, all the time... I guess that's just not my thing.

Again though, it's very good for what it is, but right now it feels like s glorious tech demo; a collection of well made combat mechanics packaged in a very beautiful handful of locations... but not a game... yet.

I'll keep my eye on this and any future iterations (if any) to see how it progresses... I know it's an Alpha, so what we experienced isn't everything, but it's also Ubisoft, so it might not change all that much.

For the most part, I loved this... just don't mess it up (like The Division)...

[Shinobu2012]

The ticket counter is to fast leading to matches ending in 5-6 minutes that's if the servers don't boot you. You need to reduce the amount of points capturing a objective gives to around 25 or 30 because the rate they are captured and lost is very high. This is especially prevalent when they are being boosted. An why is it that when a enemy team is rallied but they haven't all died the match still ends around the 8-10min mark.

One last thing for anyone that might say matches will last to long, if everyone played their role they wouldn't.

Vanguards earn more bounty than other Hero type by:
Killing soldiers
Capturing zones
Reviving an ally

Assassins earn more bounty than other Hero type by:
Killing Heroes
Contesting zones
Killstreaks

Heavies earn more bounty than other Hero type by:
Assisting kills
Defending zones
Boosting zones

Everyone has a ROLE to play. An for the love of god plz do something to the Orochi because regardless of class roles everyone will favor the Orochi because it's so easy to use compared to the other classes. Actually here's a idea make the light counter attack on the timed block only use able after a parry because it's already a risk if you miss it but if it works its good damage.

[Dafranchize613]

Ladder interactions/confrontations are awful lol.

maybe a contested interaction would be a better way of deciding who gets thrown off. as it is you have big, strong experienced warriors falling form 8 or 10 feet, dying, because someone bumped into them or touched them slightly. i dunno about your grip strength but mine is sufficiently strong to not let go of a ladder if someone is climbing up while im climbing down

[Apastrons]

[/U]Ok so I'm gonna voice my opinion here in hopes that you guys on the For Honor developers team will not dumb the game down for people who are complaining about getting beat, because they suck..

First of all, anyone saying Orochi's blocking is too easy, has never played with him or is just too predictable when facing him out on the field and get's blocked a ton.. You have a split second to block and counter attack, which I like, it's good! Doesn't need to be changed if you ask me. Takes time to get used to and actually requires some skill to do. The one complaint I would agree with a little is his heavy backwards lunge counter attack, it does kinda slide you towards your opponent a little, but it is avoidable though, so I don't see the huge deal.

*All these people think Orochi is so OP apparently, but I disagree.. I've been beaten and had all my attacks countered plenty of times against actual good players whilst using Orochi, so he's not a god*.

*Being able to hit your teammates is a realistic feature that I like as well, and I don't think that needs to be changed.. If you want to avoid doing this, you and your teammates can just use head attacks only, or back up and attack from a different angle*..

*I'm sure you've heard a ton about this, but some of the classes can tackle/throw you into some walls and you temporarily get stuck in them, which is minor but can get you killed fast! So if you can fix that, that'd be dope!*

*Another note about Orochi, people are saying his run back and run forward heavy dash attack is unblock-able and too over powered/OP, well I disagree because I have a color blind friend that can't even see the red block indicators, and can block that attack half the time.. Plenty of other people I've faced can block it as well, so I see no problem.

*Colorblind assist would be a dope feature in the game as well, because as I said in the note above, I have a color blind friend who has trouble seeing the block indicators to block attacks and I'm assuming more people might have this problem as well!

-Thanks for hearing me out and I love this game a ton, can't wait for the release! It's fast paced, complex, fun, well balanced and takes skill which is lost among most games these days. Will definitely keep me interested for a long time! Have a good one

-Dillon

[Ave01794]

the dominion game mode is awesome to me ....but it s because i m quite bad in duelling ^^

looking forward the beta stage and the release ^^

[Heallidan]

In first, i wanna say I really love this game and I plan to buy collector edition.

I love gameplay, easy to understand but hard to master. Graphics and character design are good.

I really hope there are more playable characters because it's just for now and please, do not do it with DLC...

I also encounter a lot of server issues but I just saw one bug (the corpse sometimes cross the floor).

I have some reservations about the equipment system, this should not be just cosmetic in order not to favor those who play a lot ?

To talk about the game mode, I would say it's nice, but I would add a "hardcore" version of each mode, where you could do that without interface to guess the direction of the attack of the enemy relying on the position of his guard.

That's all that comes to my mind, I don't want to be too long to not be boring, and sorry for my poor english, frenchy's are really bad with other language :-/