Anthem Early Impressions

I picked up Anthem today, because I've missed out on previous Live Service games at launch and thought it would be interesting to track one.  I played the tutorial message and I'll start with early thoughts in bulleted form, so I can review these as time goes by, seeing how the game changes.

First things first.  The game gives you an options menu the first time you start it.  I like this.  Lets you configure your game before throwing you in.  Some games like to just toss you in and don't let you enable subtitles for until you can access the in game menu.

HOWEVER... The Subtitle option is weird.  It default to what it calls "Medium" subtitles, but these feel like 8 pt font, which doesn't feel very "medium" to me.  I'll be bumping that up to large soon.

The game introduces controls in a... Hm.  Not sure if it's interesting or not.  "It starts by saying I'll be bringing your systems online one at a time", but really, you can start shooting and using abilities pretty early, before their control is explained.  It also didn't explain that the left stick handles movements and the right stick handling camera controls.  Not sure it's an assumption that people have played modern games, or that they expect people to not want to use the D-Pad to move.  Also, your Ultimate ability is tied to D-pad up, so there's that as well.

Flying and hovering feel good.  After the introductory flashback, the lush jungle you get to fly around is pretty.  The first gun on my Javelin, the robit pilot, doesn't carry the same weight as some other guns in games.  I'm not sure if the audio design for the gun or the impact sound of the rounds is what's making it feel off, but it doesn't sound like a gun a exosuit would use.

I am not sure how I feel about 'Pick up these key fragments to open the door" sections.  There have been two in the first 40 minutes.  Feels like it's an excuse to fly around more, but if you can't always see the fragments, it can be a pain.

All things considered, I can see a framework.  I'm not too deep into the game, only did the first automatic mission.  I haven't been able to walk around the fort, nor have I gotten to any of the loot gathering of the game.  I'll check back in after I play some more.