izigame.me

If you are serious about the game this will be a long read BUT well worth the time AND I hope the Devs see this as well. Almost 400 hours into the game I feel it is time for blunt honesty. ( Special Message for any Devs Below )
GOOD :
The graphics, sound, animal models, rifle selection, and shooting mechanics are all spot on and done very well. ( Latest weapons patch does have issues though )
The Story is NOT award winning but interesting enough to be fun.
The Mission system is well thought out, not super easy, and yet not overly difficult.
Each map has a Lodge for mounting trophies, not one Lodge for everything.
Real World Hunting Experience can and will serve you well in game to reduce the learning curve.
Trophies are NOT spawned and thrown at you...they are grown and You MUST EARN THEM.
Hunting Pressure acts and reacts VERY Realistically.
Maps are huge and well thought out with plenty of room to add more species.
You can tell the Devs really put their best foot forward in the planning and implementation stages to create a REAL WORLD Hunting Sim. Their efforts have produced a game with GOBS OF POTENTIAL.
BAD :

Since day ONE : there is ONE BIRD FILE that was recorded at 100% volume and does not react well to the ambient noise volume slider. If at ANY time you remain still for any length of time this bird slowly gets louder, and Louder, AND LOUDER until you will lose your hearing using a headset. The ONLY way to silence him is to move, and then the volume creep begins all over again, until you move again.
SPOOKING : Is super realistic and done very well BUT...BIG BUT HERE...the sensitivity is UNGODLY HIGH. I have and continue to spook animals at over 400 yards away WITH SLOW TO NO MOVEMENT AND THE WIND BLOWING AT ME. Very seldom do animals give an ALERT call to hint to me I need to stop or slow down. They go from CALM to WARP SPEED with no alerts at all. I have also spooked animals at long range THROUGH HILLS where there is ZERO sight distance and no wind effects at all WHILE SLOW CREEPING.
Animal Movement : Major issue here is the fact that almost everyone has experienced animals WALKING ACROSS THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE / POND. Also shooting an animal and it runs to the center of a pond and dies where you can't harvest it. WALL OFF THE WATER...Let the animals wade knee deep sure BUT WALL OFF THE WATER.
Character Movement : He can safely stroll THROUGH DOWNED TREES but THE SMALLEST PEBBLE GRABS HIS FOOT AND STOPS HIM COLD?? There are also places in the map with a grade he can climb without issue, yet other lesser grades he just slides down repeatedly??
From Day ONE : Optimization has been spotty at best especially for AMD GPU users. The game has run well but with issues. FPS drops and sound stutters being the main 2 culprits. The Devs HAVE stated it is better suited for NVidia users and they would try and remedy the issue. I have seen modest improvements but it is NO WHERE NEAR where the optimization should be for an AMD GPU. ( 6700XT & R9-3900X )
Something I have seen with my own eyes but thankfully not in my game YET : Random herd resets on platforms...PC, PS5, and XBox. Groom a herd to produce wonderful trophies...they drop a patch...now that herd has disappeared and all your work is for nothing. This happens with no mention of it in the Patch Notes.
SOMETHING I HAVE SEEN IN MY GAME : You spend days culling and grooming a herd...NEVER shooting more than One and at times not shooting at all...you watch as the males grow to enormous trophy size and are almost ready to produce....AND THE GAME RANDOMLY SWAPS THAT HERD TO ANOTHER AREA ON THE MAP. Now all of your work is for naught because you have to hunt EVERY area that animal is known to be to find THAT HERD. In this process you waste so much time those trophies die and it is pointless. Animals are creatures of habit. Where there is food, water, and bedding WITHOUT ANY ENCROACHMENT they will STAY. Human contact, scent, and shooting will push them out...or for some the Rut will make them move slightly....BUT as long as they are unmolested and comfortable they will STAY THERE. I have proven this IN GAME with careful culling and A LOT OF time spent just OBSERVING. For the game to just decide to move my herds on a whim after all the work I put in is a SLAP IN THE FACE to say the LEAST. I realize Pressure can make animals change zones BUT when you DELIBERATELY MINIMIZE PRESSURE as much as possible and the herd still disappears?
Hunter Sense : Works well but it has issues..the Main issue being THE HIGHLIGHT COLOR...it is the same color as the highlight for need zones. A bleeding animal can run through a need zone and it takes DAYS to find the blood trail because your blood highlight is the same color as the zone!!! Either make highlight colors different OR give US AN OPTION to set the colors how we want them PLEASE!!
Spotting : Very Realistic but Very Cumbersome for a Game...if the ONLY way to spot is with Binocs then fine I can accept that BUT ANIMALS MOVE. The animation time between Binocs and Rifle up at the ready KILLS THE SPOT because animals are always moving. At least allow us SOME KIND OF MARKER through the binocs in order to maintain track on the animal we want. This way there are a lot less wrong animals shot.
MULTIPLAYER : Was at first unplayable...and is now PLAYABLE but still a total steaming pile. WORK IN PROGRESS and nowhere near release ready.
for any Devs :
First off : This game is astounding and everyone should be praised for their efforts. This game truly has an insurmountable amount of Potential to be Famous and Top of The Heap. Having said that it is time for blunt honesty.
Firstly : This game was RELEASE WORTHY NOT RELEASE READY. Whoever had the total Brain Fart to release a REALISTIC HUNTING SIM without BOWS, PORTABLE STANDS, AND COVER SCENT needs a serious reprimand and some lessons on Hunting in general. I don't care what their position is they need a serious talking to even if it is the CEO. I am NOT a Bow Hunter. I have over 40 years Hunting with rifles of various types and Hunting various game. TOO MANY PEOPLE BOW HUNT TO ALIENATE HALF YOUR PLAYER BASE ON RELEASE!!!!! These things SHOULD have been IN GAME DAY ONE and were not.
SECOND : There are a lot of issues present from Day One...and after numerous patches THEY ARE STILL THERE. For Gods Sake people!!! STOP trying to make good on promises and create more content!! We appreciate your efforts we really do!! Fix the CORE GAME FIRST and make it what it truly CAN BE!! THEN worry about new guns, maps, and animals. If the core code is bugged it does no good to throw patch over patch on top of it. FIND the issues and FIX them THEN WORRY ABOUT CONTENT AND PATCHES.
FINALLY : This is in reference to point two above. IF you want to BETA test your game there are better ways to do it than SELL IT TO US and wait for us to complain. If I am going to BETA test for you AFTER spending my money on the game YOU WILL SEND ME A CHECK EVERY WEEK AS AN EMPLOYEE. This practice by game developers is reprehensible to say the least. There are 2 ways to remedy this reputation which game developers have brought upon themselves :
ONE :
Make the game a BETA and hold a contest...choose a certain number of winners to play the game for FREE and send in feedback. NO ONE spends anything and you get the information you need to make the game RELEASE READY.
TWO :
GO BACK TO THE BEST WAY TO TEST : Hire your own BETA testing team and set them up in HOUSE. Test your game 14 ways from Sunday BEFORE you even consider releasing it. ONLY THEN do you release the free BETA contest and let others test it as well. FINALLY you have all the information needed for a TRUE STABLE RELEASE.
PLEASE for Gods Sake STOP expecting your customers to do the work for you. It makes customers LESS LIKELY to purchase your content in the future, and really effects your reputation as a Developer when you expect us TO PAY TO TEST YOUR GAME