Naughty Dog’s been talking about this crafting system for quite a while now, and I haven’t known what to make of it. How complicated will it be? How plentiful are resources? Turns out: 1) It’s not complicated. 2) They’re all over the place, but they’re not all equal.
So, typically, Tess will get out in front of you and go toward the objective you guys are looking for – a door, some stairs, etc. This is your cue to go anywhere but there. See, staying off the beaten path will lead you to drawers with scissors in them, duct tape at a dead end, and so on. When you pick these items up, you’ll see that item’s icon with a pie chart. That shows you how much the item is worth in that item category. Fill in one of the pies, and you have a whole item. Then, you need to look at the recipes you’ve collected thus far – stuff like a med kit, moltov, or board with scissors in it. If you have the needed pieces, a button tap makes it for you.
It’s a breeze – a lot like Dead Rising 2’s crafting with a bit of ZombiU tossed in. (When you craft, you’re digging through your backpack and vulnerable to attack.)