So, after all these years, I finally managed to beat Dead Rising 3. I definitively had good time with the game (Just look at my new avatar, for that matter!), and it had some interesting ideas behind it.
But... I just felt so indifferent towards it most of the time. The story - and the way it is presented to the player - is my main gripe with it. There's some good set-up at the beginning, only to make it feel like a chore throughout the game, and to quickly conclude with a disappointing ending and an atrocious plot twist. Everytime a sequence came up it's like the developers were in a hurry or something, because things go so fast I can barely get what's going on. You met key characters in such a casual manner, and then there's the plot explanations which are given to you out of nowhere and you simply cope with them.
There's no build-up, no "cases" structure like in the previous game. Just go to an specific place, be tasked with something, go somewhere else and BLAM! You get some important pieces of story dumped onto you in a few minutes, then carry on with what you were doing. Main character, as good as he is, doesn't even think twice about everything that's going on, and he just goes with the flow.
Ending sequences are also extremely bad. I don't ask for Metal Gear Solid 4 kind of sequences, especially not in these kind of games, but at least don't make everything so disappointing to watch. There's the return of meaningful characters and their presentation is done so poorly I couldn't barely care for those :/
I don't know. I'll go now and beat the Untold Stories of Los Perdidos, which I guess will give me some more time of enjoyement, but I really disliked Dead Rising 3's exposure of its plot. Oh, it doesn't help that Capcom's optimization of their games in PC is terrible. Game stuttered like crazy at times, and just in case I put everything in Low settings, and the game was still doing weird things. I also lost my save file at the middle of the game, which was definitvely not fun, and it is apparently a common bug. WTH Capcom :/
Gameplay-wise, it is solid, though. The scale of the game is very good, there's an enormous amount of exploration, and there's tons of creative ways to customize Nick, both in attire and skills. The huge amount of combo weapons (and combo vehicles) are great, too. I definitively suggest giving this game a try if you want some seriously fun sandbox zombie game to play.