Embark on a journey of affable colonialism.
In Greedfall, you'll play as Lord De Sardet, legate of New Sérène and emissary for the Congregation of Merchants on Teer Fradee. Now, if that hasn't already put you off, this game is rife with diplomacy and political meandering. It is very much a role-playing game in this regard and De Sardet themselves is highly customizable. Replete with dialogue checks as well as skill checks for specific actions.
Gameplay:
Effectively revolving sequences of dialogue, roaming/exploring, hack n' slash-esque style combat and some stealth sequences.
The combat is reminiscent of Jade Empire with bits of Dragon's Dogma and Dragon Age: Inquisition sprinkled in. You have normal attacks, counters, you can kick to unbalance or knock over the enemy, use firearms, set traps or use magic. Regular attacks then build into a fury bar — this of course will depend on what you level into. There are three main classes — Warrior, Technical and Magic. But your companions cannot be controlled nor given orders. So it's a much less involved fighting system overall. There is a tactical pause to select potions, firearms or spells. Anecdotally, this reminded me of how the some of the “Tales of...” games work. The only way to heal companions mid-battle is to use resuscitation powder or spells. Conversely, party composition can also aid in this regard — for example: Siora can heal party members with her secondary skills. She'll do this automatically.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2508750315
Science talent allows for the crafting potions and traps. Whereas the craftsmanship talent allows upgrading weapons and armor.
Stealth sequences aid you in performing diplomatic subterfuge in a less conspicuous way. For example, were you to level into science and alchemy, you'd be able to craft explosives to create new pathways or find secrets. Other skill checks involve things like vigor to cross over specifically marked areas to bypass guards. Of course, there's always the option to simply fight everyone with the result being a loss of reputation. Stealth kills can be performed but this can often defeat the purpose of trying to not been seen in the first place. And regarding diplomacy, the different factions will have a perspective of their own regarding you and it's paramount to keep them in high regard if you're to succeed in your task. Some areas will be forbidden to you, so wearing a disguise is a viable tactic in order to gain the favor of certain factions.
The world is broken into sections, there's actually quite a few loading screens — traveling takes [in-game] time and you'll visit a campsite with a merchant in-between areas. Additionally, the larger areas allow for specific sites to have a camp setup that you'll need to find. Similar to how Dragon Age: Inquisition approaches campsites out in the wild. As a diplomat, you're granted accommodation in cities where you can change party members, rest, store or craft items etc.
Dialogue choices are not always specific. Often, they are rather vague descriptions of the tone and intention that you want your response to have.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2508389607
Your companions will also have an opinion of your character and their actions. To which doing specific missions for them will increase their favor and earn you bonuses such as intuition or charisma.
Anecdotes:
- Some other games that this game reminds me of are Vampyr and The Council for its detective work and narrative repercussions as well as its theme. I'm also reminded of the PS3 launch title 'Folklore' for its supernatural elements and parts of the art. I also felt some level of inspiration from Kingdoms of Amalur and possibly Fable.
- There's a big monster that breaks out of the ship that takes you to Teer Fradee. [This acts as tutorial] But it's reminiscent of the Asylum Demon from Dark Souls 1 that accosts you near the intro.
Look out, there be Spiders!
Spiders' games have history of being middling to being painfully mediocre. Everything to https://steamcommunity.com/id/SpaceCouncil/recommended/232750" target="_blank">”Mars: War Logs” and its sequel within the same universe “The Technomancer” — which I still think has a lot of potential as an IP but falls short in many aspects — to other games that are simply not up to snuff such as “Bound by Flame”. Greedfall hits its stride as being the most ambitious of any of them. And to speak honestly, I think that is its biggest fault. I think Spiders over-marketed to compensate for its large budget and thus garnered attention from those who probably have not only never heard of the aforementioned games, but ones who would never even consider playing a game of that... 'caliber'. The sort of crowd that only plays triple A games. It even showed up at E3 2018, reaching an audience it simply wasn't ready for.
Spiders' games generally have good bones. But what surrounds those bones can sometimes seem out of place and disjointed. Greedfall is no exception to this. But, again, it is a much more ambitious title than anything they've made thus far and I think it succeeds in many ways where their other games have failed.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507778008
Grievances:
- It desperately needs the ability to mark unwanted loot as junk. This is a quality of life feature I can no longer deal without. There are items that get auto-sorted into junk that cannot be used in crafting. But there's no way to mark items you wish to sell otherwise.
- You're able to set custom waypoints, but some of the area designs are very convoluted. It can lead to needless frustration without a mini-map. You'll eventually learn them better over time but I was forced to consult the larger map pretty often. I found out later you're able to hold the menu button in to access the local map when using a gamepad. Instead of reaching for the keyboard M. I'd still prefer a mini-map.
- Some areas feature very large creatures that take much longer to take down. On occasion the battle will naturally move (from dodging and so on) outside of the designated area in which they spawned causing them to regain full health and armor. This will happen with large groups of smaller enemies as well. I'm aware this is likely because the game thinks you've fled the battle — but it happened on more than a few occasions which caused needless and immense frustration, essentially forcing me to restart a battle because I stepped out of bounds that were not clearly defined.
- You can't fast travel without a caravan, campsite or walking outside given map. It'd be a fantastic quality of life feature to be able to fast travel directly from the map.
- You cannot give orders to companions, you're only allowed to change their gear. You can't even tell them to drink a potion, let alone set tactics. Even something as simple as being aggressive or passive.
The Gist:
I actually really like it despite my numerous criticisms. I can recommend it on a fair discount. It's not going to be to everyone's tastes and it's far from being highly polished. But it's decent. There's a lot to do if you're interested and have the desire. The voice acting is good, the OST is good, the combat can be a tad monotonous at times [I recommend playing technical] and the overall premise isn't my favorite. But Greedfall is a decent older-style BioWare-esque RPG. And for that, I commend them.
Zitat:
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