Is Anthem on Xbox One X worth 20 dollars in the state it's in now?

Given all your criteria I think you’d be better off with a number of other open world games rather than Anthem, which is not only mechanically boring but devoid of any actual substance.

I paid 20 bucks for one month of LAUNCH Anthem, which was arguably in the worst shape the game has ever been in. Even that acknowledged, I enjoyed my time with the game enough to make the 20 worth it.

The story and specifically the acting in the cut scenes was MUCH better than I expected probably due to the low expectations. I would say what I enjoyed the most aside from the reasonably fun combat was the flying around and exploring the environment and taking it all in. I'd say there's 20 bucks worth there if you have the correct expectations.

I stopped at explore. That was my number one gripe with the demo. Too many loads, players force you into loads when they hit a load point, any feeling of engagement or exploration is stomped all over by what seems to be an engine issue (because no one would ever choose these sorts of things as features).

I actually had some fun with the demo, but I couldn’t get myself into the world due to non-stop loads, flying quickly through small maps (and hitting a load and reset if you hit the edge of the map), and the overall tiny feeling world contributing to missing most of the story and flavor dialog.

Anything they could have used to pull you in seemed handicapped by technical issues.

I bough it at launch like most suckers and stopped playing it almost straight away.

Recently I decided to jump back in and at least run through the story, overall it was entertaining enough. Id say for $20 it's probably worth it, see if you can get some other people to play with you and you'll enjoy it more.

I'd sooner recommend Mass Effect Andromeda.

@nutter: Yeah, I didn't like the demo. That kind of put a nail in the coffin for me personally.

@facelessvixen: I liked Andromeda actually, but yes it is flawed. Not flawed in some major, major ways as others had experienced for me though, which was the glitches (though I had some). I liked it enough to finish everything in it twice which I didn't think I'd do. I bought it twice; once on the PS4, then on the Xbox One X. If nothing else, it's a beautiful game (aside from faces and glitches) with some solid shooting. I enjoyed each of the game's settings, and on the X it was even better and made good use of HDR. My issue was that it didn't go anywhere bold coming off of the original trilogy or their last game, Inquisition nor was it quite on par with either.

It's worth $20. No point going into all the negatives/positives with that game again, but it's absolutely worth $20.

Nope. If you wanted a bioware game with exploration I'd sooner recommend Inquisition or Andromeda. At least those settings have more to chew besides pretty cliffs and waterfalls. I honestly cant remember anything about Anthems environments because they're all just a blend of the same stuff. And if you stop to explore you're liable to just be teleported forward with the party unless you're playing solo.

Is Anthem, in it's current state, worth $20?

Sure. Even just to play through the campaign then drop it. I checked back in and they've made a bunch of UI, performance, and Quality of Life changes for the better.

Is it going to make a FFXIV or Destiny/The Division style turnaround? Seems unlikely.

I picked up an X for Christmas and this came free. I haven't had the time to check it out yet. From everything I have heard my enthusiasm is lacking. I may pop it in tomorrow and give it a crack. Outer Wilds isn't sticking and Sekiro seems like a slow burn game for me. So I may need to find a popcorn game to play alongside that.

The upgraded edition (I forget the name) was $5 at Gamestop at point in December and it still didn't seem worth my time.

If you have played a lot of Divison 2 or Destiny 2, then maybe. Both those games can be had for less and are much better.

I was going to post on the newer thread from Rorie, but since this is a bit more on the topic, I thought I'd mention that finally, yesterday I got it. On the Xbox One, it's about ten bucks for the regular version. So far, while I can't say I am extremely enthralled with it, it's better than I was expecting. I was hesitant to buy it even at ten dollars, but I can say that at least for the first few hours I put into it, I am not regretting it. I dislike the online aspect of it; it's not as well done as The Division or Destiny, just in terms of keeping you in the game. I mean, the game has a lot of lore for you to read, but when out in the world, if you stay on the menu reading anything for too long, the game notifies you that it'll kick you out soon because you're idle. It feels more strict than what's in some other games.

Plus, I got sent back to the main menu two times due to connection errors, which I rarely got when playing The Division or Destiny. I also just want to play everything private, not public, but you can't do free roam privately. It's a small thing, but still. It is largely a smooth experience during play. The loading times are long, but I was expecting much longer, and a lot more. I also don't mind too much because I kind of like reading about the world. There is a lot of that too. It feels like most areas you walk into, even if it looks nondescript, you'll get some info on it. I wish I could turn off the auto-aim, as well as whatever you call the HUD element that indicates that you killed an enemy; I just don't need that. At least, I didn't see that you can do that.

It looks pretty good, it sounds pretty good and plays decently. The combat somewhat reminds me of Doom 2016 honestly as you want to be on the move, and you want to pick up the ammo/health once enemies die. Going in with little expectation, while it's not spectacular in most ways, I am enjoying it quite a bit.

Just an update. I put about eight hours into the game yesterday and into this morning. I have to say, I like the game a lot; I think it's very enjoyable. There is more character interaction than I was expecting; I thought it was going to be bare-bones, but I am somewhat into the characters so far. There's a lot to learn about the world too. Something important to me in games, but these types of games especially is if the game has a world worth exploring, and after all the content has been done, if it's worth going back for more in that respect, and so far I think it will be.

I like walking around the environment; it's really beautiful. I already said it, but the combat does remind me of Doom 2016 in that it's about moving around (no cover) and killing enemies to get health and ammo. It's engaging. Just about every aspect of the game that I care about in this kind of game is better than my very low expectations, and if the game had launched in the current state it's in, I wouldn't have regretted purchasing it at full price. The online part with my last session of play also went without fault, which is good.

Right now, my biggest issue is just that for as much time as I put into it, which, granted, is not that much time compared to what it takes to complete, I still haven't seen any new cosmetics for my armor. I want to customize it beyond just the color. I hope that comes into play at some point. The story isn't bad, but it's not great either. It's one of those things that I'm just happy it's there. Now, it may seem hyperbolic to say considering how much flak the game gets, but for me, at least as far as I've played into it, it is perhaps my second favorite game of 2019.

Most of my time with the game so far has been doing the side missions. They're kind of rinse, repeat, but the gameplay is engaging enough that I don't mind it. It's crazy, to me, that these online-focused games are some of my favorite because I'm very much a solo player, and love single-player experiences. It's how I play this and The Division 2, and I like them despite the online focus.

Incredibly boring game, I am glad it came with my videocard and I didn't purchase it.

Probably played it for an hour, two hours tops and never touched it again.