Wasteland 2: Directors Cut

Honest review:
Edited:
There are 2 different wasteland 2. This one states its the directors cut, but it wasn't. There is another one that is the actual directors cut.
You'll know if it is the right one, during character creations where you could pick a flaw in your character. If you don't see that option its not the right one. I know when I bought it, I got 2 of the same games. The 2nd one was the true directors cut. Which is significantly better.
So I am really enjoying the game, I just wanted to let you know even though this one says directors cut, it is actually the original one. That means no perks, and a couple stories short. Now that I'm level 37 though, the game has gotten really easy. I have yet beat the game but I feel that I am getting very close.
Original post around 30 hours
I'm probably only about 50% done with the game atm, and will complete out.
The game is solid. Story line is decent, combat is very good even for 2024, as long as you like turn based strategy. Its a limited open world,
The game is set up for you to play it multiple times, which is pretty cool. I think I'll play it again at a harder setting next time. I do recommend playing it on normal the first round, until you know the mechanics of it. This game is set up for min-maxing if you like that, which I do, for my second round.
Game has many Easter eggs to find.
My biggest negative part of the game is how you have to use your skills. Ugh its painfully slow.
My last negative part is that it combines voice actors and not. I'd rather it pick on or the other so I can get my volume set up the way I prefer.
Last negative, it says it has perks and quirks, I haven't been able to locate either...
Biggest question should you play in 2025?
I'd say yes, especially if its on sale. It has possibly 80 hr of game play per play thru.
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Have a great day!!!

Just like my ex, Wasteland 2 is tough, full of tough choices, and has more issues than Vogue. Still love 'em both though! 10/10 would navigate this emotional and explosive minefield again.

This game is hella good. It never really feels "unfair" or such.
The story is good, there are lots of both humor and seriousness, without tripping over eachother. It contains great characters, flavourtexts and much more.
I have played through the non-director's cut twice, and am planning on going through the Director's cut in a few years.
Lots of gore. You can punch someone so their head falls off.

Honestly one of the best iso rpgs I've ever played. Don't get me wrong, the game's ugly, there's only a handful of character models in the game, so it's super dependent on its portraits, and it can be pretty daunting at first because of how heavily it depends on the hotkeys. It makes up for this by having portraits with ample personality and a beautiful UI system that fits seamlessly into the setting, though the game does have the issue of not having enough portraits for everyone, so you will see some reused or variations of the same one. The game also has tons of means to express your squad via customization, the ammo system builds a sense of the matter of survival in the post apocalypse as you attempt to manage your ammo, make sure your weapons are armed, and not jammed. The weapon skill's system makes certain weapons stronger early game than others, but others can be way more rewarding with superior crit scaling on leveling the skill. The perk system Director's Cut adds encourages more build synergy while not going too far to streamline it. Combat is very simple, but far from the sole focus of the game, there's a lot of in-squad interactions like having a mechanical repair expert fix locks that your locksmith broke via crit failure. The skill check system is pretty forgiving and excellent at giving players solid risk assessment while providing multiple approaches to most situations, and the system also means you don't have to fully commit to a skill but you still are encouraged to.
People will probably say the story is very linear, which is true. There's one ending that isn't just a bad end, the line of objectives will remain the same as well, the game is pretty up-front that you play as Desert Rangers and that comes with very specific responsibilities your squad are expected to fulfill. But how you approach them can drastically change, for an example I'll go with Damonta, which is a difficult location near the end of the first half of the game that burns through a ton of the resources you collected up to this point to save the people there. The items you can pick up from the enemies are heavy and effectively worthless, the rewards you get from the people are not at all worth it. However, your objective is halfway into the map, so you could just blitz towards it, complete the objective, and leave, and you will have completed the mission. But this results in the radio host of the town leaving a parting "Fuck you" message in regard of everyone you left to die, the game punishes you for being a good guy by making it inconvenient, it's an excellent system of morality without having to quantify it in the game itself and showing the difficulties of being a lawbringer in the wasteland. The main conflict is constantly looming in the story but is subtly placed, to the point your first time playing you may not even notice that they've orchestrated the majority of the conflict in the game.
If you are to get this game, I will warn you ahead of time, the combat isn't very exciting compared to other isometric rpgs, a lot of the game's best parts is doing things that either avoid combat or being rewarded for preparing accordingly. The visuals are very plastic, and some of the quality of life changes are locked away in the Director's Cut, but if you can get past that, the story is amazing, the game's very good at demonstrating that you need to do more than the minimum to help the people you're protecting, and the finale is the best I've ever seen in a game like this, coming full circle in the message of the story but also making the player hesitate to accept the positive outcome because it risks the lives of people they saved before. An excellent game, but definitely an acquired taste and you may want to give it a look ahead of time to make sure you're okay with how it plays beforehand.

Funny I did not like this game the first time I played it. I really had to sit down with it a couple years later and figure out how to play. I know that sounds stupid, but there is a bit of a challenge if you play other games that do not have same controls, ect. I feel like it was a well though out game, so far. The missions are tedious though, lots of running around and fetching stuff. I am still in the very beginning so we will see how it develops...

As close to Fallout 1 & 2 as you'll get! Played wasteland 3 as well, the 3rd game is better but both are really great.

Wasteland 2 has considerable gameplay flaws (though fun to min-max), but I can say its one of the few games I've played that allows you to work towards a VERY satisfying good ending for nearly EVERYONE you meet. Seeing the ending slides play out was seriously satisfying because its really a triumphant list of all the good things you did.
Wasteland 3 has better gameplay, but a lot of times I stopped playing before the final battle, because the ending of that game is very unsatisfying. I just cant bring myself to replay that game too much. Shame.