Potentia

Oh, the minefield that is the double-A gaming scene. It’s a brand of game that can birth ground-breaking IP’s but equally, it’s a type of game that can inspire hope, only to leave the player disorientated and disappointed. Potentia is another game of this ilk that aims to carve out a place amongst the gaming elite despite its rough around the edge’s presentation and its limited resources. This title has been affectionately spoken in the same breath as The Last of Us. Though, we wonder if this comparison is flattery, delusion or a keen observation.

This game plays, as we mentioned, rather like The Last of Us and The Last Of Us Part 2 thanks to it’s over the shoulder camera angle, its dependency on careful resource management and reliance on stealth mechanics. Not to mention that you navigate a post-apocalyptic landscape to boot. But the question remains, how does it compare to its inspiration. We find out in our review of Potentia.

A Clumsy Catastrophe

Despite the promise of a new take on the apocalypse, this game almost immediately shows that it isn’t up to the challenge set before it. The exposition and narrative of the story are delivered in a very slapdash fashion. The dialogue and voice acting are mediocre at best, the world-building, while not awful, lacks the detail and emotive nature that TLOU is able to generate right from the get-go. Plus, the game fails to offer a plot that is even somewhat cohesive.

From what we could gather, a war had ended, everyone was celebrating, we got on a train and the world suddenly ended. A massive fire burns the population and you somehow survive without any problems whatsoever and go about finding your wife in the remains of the city. Then we skip three years later when the world has descended into anarchy. I mean, where is the nuance. It all seems very haphazardly put together and it all feels a little convenient.

A Second-Rate Imitation

The one aspect of this game that isn’t completely laughable or regrettable is the gameplay. As we mentioned, the game aims to mimic the core mechanics of TLOU with gunplay, stealth and resource management being the key gameplay tools. Each of these is incorporated into the game reasonably well and for short spells, you can actually find some joy in this poorly constructed wasteland. However, one can’t help but feel like this game is the ‘my first unity game’ equivalent of TLOU and you’d simply be better off playing the real thing instead.

Then to add insult to injury for those that stuck with the game despite its shortcomings. The game pretty much does away with its narrative about five chapters in. The story becomes an afterthought and the game becomes a series of events you have to overcome but the player has no real motive to do so. Arguably this works in the game’s favour but for those that wanted the payoff of at least seeing this game to the conclusion, we regret to inform you that this title has no emotional payoff whatsoever.

The Verdict

Overall, Potentia aims to be what Fenyx: Immortals Rising is to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, this attempt at imitation as a form of flattery ends up being a slap in the face to fans of TLOU and games of that nature. The storyline is abysmal, the visuals are average with a very clear lack of detail in areas.

Pros:

• Gameplay is tolerable most of the time.
• Stealth mechanics work surprisingly well
• Visuals aren’t terrible

Cons:

• The narrative is terrible and by the end, an afterthought
• Offers nothing new to the genre
• Is an insult to fans of TLOU