I've played just over 6 hours with a 50/50 split of following the objectives and then gathering and building for the platform32 bounty challenge.
Usually I don't get on with these sort of games as you tend to be thrown into the deep end with very little guidance or suggestion on what to do or where to go. Nightingale seems different in this sense as there is a narrative path to follow, similar to a quest log in an rpg. At least at this stage in the game I am always being told what I need to do to make progress and move through the in-game narrative that's going on. It suits my playstyle as I can choose to go off and do whatever if I want to, but the signposted direction to do certain tasks is also there on what you should be doing to complete the "mainline quest" so to speak at the same time.
The swamp realm tutorial stage was a bit harsh, don't really understand why walking in shallow water for a few seconds suddenly means you catch a deadly disease and die a quick death when I was wearing what looked like thick waterproof boots. I had nearly collected all the stuff to progress at that point, which was then stuck in the middle of the death water needing collecting. Took me a few goes before I managed to salvage it without dying. That said it did nicely introduce me to what happens when you die and how you can go collect your stuff from there. Maybe that was the point and they want you to die from one thing or another on this realm, or I was just bad at it.
I have run into a few bugs and some confusing UI things but I usually don't play early access games and this is to be expected at this early stage when the main release is quite a way off. So I'm not going to criticise this as they haven't been show stoppers.
Very impressed with the graphics and lighting. I'm running everything maxed out at 1440p, but with dlss quality set and Im getting 70-90 fps. The look of it with the detailed trees, lighting and dense grass into the distance I would expect it to run a bit slower, so really happy with that.
The main thing though with all games and the big test for me is after my first play session and switching it off, am I thinking about the game when I'm not playing it and excited to pick it back up again another day? That's a big yes and I played it again this evening, I'm really looking forward to making more progress, exploring, crafting and trying out the different aspects of the game. There is a lot to learn and explore and this community is going to be really useful to get the best out of it.
