Old Bear and the spear. *SPOILER*

[eric4x4]

My thoughts on the bear story line. 

A) I'm not a fan of forced story arcs, ala Far Cry 5 and the uninterruptible cut scenes and the literal shoot-you-out-of-the-sky-at-3000'-with-a-dart-gun so the story can advance.

2) That dude has some seriously fantastic intuition and some seriously lousy senses (hearing, smell, sight)

III) Why can I not skin the bastid? Imagine the armor value from a bear that's virtually invulnerable to rifle rounds and takes dozens of spear stabs but keeps on truckin. Also, no more spear afterwards? I cannot even craft a new spear, only the spear head?

 

[Wisdoom]

Something I would like to add...

Four) Let me kill the cinematics, I was attacked 7 times by the bear before it took me to the cave, and then I F***ed the timing several times, so I had to endure the 30-40 seconds of the attack plus get up and be dizzy until I got control back. It is probably less time, but it feels forever when you seen it.

Actually, I don't get why I was attacked 3 times in each tower, F it, attack me once in each and take the necessary blood + tore clothes... this last part is mainly ranting because of how many times I've seen this scene.

Ahh, and the AIM that tires the guy (I think) it does not make sense.

[ajb1978]

I think the final stab from the bear could be a more emotional experience.  In the "boss mission" when you get that third and final strike, and Mackenzie goes berzerk with the spear, then laments at not wanting to have killed the bear...I think that can be amplified.  The bear's painful howling as it's killed, imagine if that were drawn out just a bit.  The bear is defeated, howling in pain, and Mackenzie knows the battle is won.  The bear is in agony, dying, not yet dead, crying out in pain.  And he comforts his bestial adversary as best he can, maybe petting the bear, stroking its fur, as it bleeds out from the wounds he inflicted.  The Old Bear accepts Mackenzie's sympathy, perhaps laying his head in his lap, knowing that he was defeated on the battlefield honorably, accepting the comfort his vanquisher is attempting to offer in his final moments.

The Redux presented the Old Bear as more than a mere monster to be killed, but as an actual character with its own spirit and identity.  I feel like that can be really added to.

[Wisdoom]

7 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

I think the final stab from the bear could be a more emotional experience.

I would like that. Although I must say, I wasn't expecting Mackenzie feeling sad for what he had done, but I loved it, it humanized the character a lot!

[fauxjargon]

I was fairly confused during the final fight with the bear - I had already had stabbed him twice at each of the radio towers he appeared at - how was I supposed to know that stabbing him three times in the cave would finish it?

Of course it was nice of Jeremiah to bring back the gear you lost when the bear nabbed you.

The Redux version of Wintermute is sooo much better than the honestly very lackluster original version.  I got bored waiting for the Aurora to let me into the dam in the original and left it at that.  Also I like that the side quests require you to find things in the world, that's a somewhat unique design decision that I enjoyed immensely.

That being said even the Hardened Survivor difficulty level was a cakewalk.  It was an interesting decision to place a forge in the Maintenance Shed - it would have made perfect sense for Mackenzie to say "Well, crap, the spear is broken.  Better go see if the forge at the Spence farm still works..." - in that case you would have reforged the spear at the same place it was made in the first place, which seems more... kino?

[ajb1978]

2 hours ago, fauxjargon said:

Of course it was nice of Jeremiah to bring back the gear you lost when the bear nabbed you.

...

it would have made perfect sense for Mackenzie to say "Well, crap, the spear is broken.  Better go see if the forge at the Spence farm still works..." - in that case you would have reforged the spear at the same place it was made in the first place, which seems more... kino?

He didn't bring back my stuff!  I had to head back to the bloodstain on the ground to retrieve my flare pistol.

And I actually didn't notice the forge in the maintenance shed the first time around, so I actually did head out to Spence to repair it.

[fauxjargon]

17 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

He didn't bring back my stuff!  I had to head back to the bloodstain on the ground to retrieve my flare pistol.

And I actually didn't notice the forge in the maintenance shed the first time around, so I actually did head out to Spence to repair it.

Hmm - I know I ended up with my rifle and all my important tools..

[ajb1978]

1 minute ago, fauxjargon said:

Hmm - I know I ended up with my rifle and all my important tools..

It may only be items you currently have in your hand, get left behind.  Now that you mention it, bear maulings usually cause a variety of items to fall out of your pack, in addition to dropping your weapon.  In this case, only the flare pistol was dropped.

[fauxjargon]

9 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

It may only be items you currently have in your hand, get left behind.  Now that you mention it, bear maulings usually cause a variety of items to fall out of your pack, in addition to dropping your weapon.  In this case, only the flare pistol was dropped.

I was holding the bear spear, which for obvious reasons I got back.