The open-world genre gives me hesitation these days; it’s almost a bad word. I blame Ubisoft. Not another waypoint! Not another tower to climb! Not another cathedral to parkour through! I’ll get to the main plot soon, I promise! Just a few more collectibles!
It’s not that I’m entirely down on the genre. I’ll readily admit to enjoying it. Games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Spider-Man have captured my attention and drawn me in, but to me, it’s like eating a bag of chips; my brain tells me I love it while it’s happening, but almost as soon as I’m done, I feel empty. The expanse of the vacuum varies, but I think even the best open-world games have given me this feeling.
What gave me further pause about Biomutant was its protracted development time. It was announced back in 2017, I pre-ordered it in 2019, and here is finally in 2021. Its feature list has always struck me as over-ambitious, especially for a small team like Experiment 101. It was billed as this fully adaptable game that let you make all the decisions in what you do and how you approach the game’s main objectives. I had my doubts that it would deliver, and now that it’s finally here, I can firmly say that no, it doesn’t quite make it. It’s a bag of chips. Delicious, delicious chips.
Source: Destructoid Review: Biomutant