Renaissancepunk colonial dandymage GreedFall greed-all

I watched and now i have to add it to my backlog!

It looks way better than I had expected. I seems to have elements of what DAI could have been. (DAI bores me to tears every time I start it)

Played a bit tonight. Too early to tell if there are some major flaws down the road, but so far I'm digging it. Nice graphics, interesting atmosphere, hints of a good story to come. Tons of loot already, and a crafting system I haven't had a chance to mess with. I hadn't even heard of this game until about a month ago, but I pre-ordered it--and I never pre-order games--and don't regret it.

If you didn't like Technomancer stay away from this game, there are minor, largely superficial improvements but this is basically Technomancer: Colonizer Edition. Luckily I like Technomancer.
I'm not far enough into the game to comment on story elements yet.

Bottom line: lots of the little issues you'd expect from a small dev (occasionally stiff animations, lip sync is off, re-used assets, etc.) but on the stuff that matters "Greedfall passes with flying colors."

Sooo... be careful when sprinting. You will automatically perform many contextual actions you come across in the environment while doing so- most of the the time that just means opening doors and vaulting objects. Sometimes it means blowing up weakened walls with your science ability. The distance at which that last one will activate is much further away than you think it should be. I sort of got railroaded into finishing a quest in a bloodier manner than I wanted just because I was trying to get somewhere else quicker.

I picked it up because....well I am a sucker for action RPGs like this. I only played 30 minutes or so but I like it so far.

Sure it feels a bit lower budget but that isn't bad some of my favorite games - Gothic leaps to mind - were low budget.

I hope the game keeps me hooked.

I'm definitely intrigued by this, though find myself with too many games at the moment anyway. How is the colonialism treated?

Aeazel wrote:

I'm definitely intrigued by this, though find myself with too many games at the moment anyway. How is the colonialism treated?

I also have to talk about the colonisation-shaped elephant in the room. When asked about it, developer Spiders was quick to point out the theme chosen for its visual aesthetic, but the narrative writers did put a little more effort into the theme than that after all. You mainly negotiate peace between Teer Fradee's native population and the settlers, and the more quests you complete, the better you get to know the different native clans and the dealings they've had with the newcomers.

GreedFall does little to escape the problem central to its storyline - that you are part of a nation that just started settling on an island without permission, auspiciously under the cover of looking for a cure. While it strongly encourages kindness towards the natives, that's not just out of moral concern. You need something from them, and in order to get it, you have to gain their trust first.

There's nothing to explain why several factions thought to build large-scale settlements over 15 years or why they started trying to convert the natives to their faith. You only step in when these actions go too far, because the story can't acknowledge the real problem, which is that it isn't on the natives to seek compromise in the first place. Siora, the native princess in your party, regularly tells her people that "there is so much to learn from these people", but she's met with the argument I can only echo while playing GreedFall: what you learn is that colonisers use their technical advantage to simply take what they want, an entirely one-sided definition of profit. As the hero, De Sardet has a crucial role to play, and some of GreedFall's endings are so clichéd in legitimising them as the chosen one that my only spoiler-free comment is heaving a gusty sigh. Suffice to say that simply leaving is not an option.

GreedFall has more than its fair share of faults, and its curious mix of the sweet and the sour is far from a roleplaying revelation. But the elements that matter have been imbued with such love and care - so much so that I quickly forgave this ambitious RPG its shortcomings.

From here.

GreedFall Is a Slow but Satisfying Burn for Fans of Old BioWare: Review Impressions

GreedFall's careful balance of diplomacy is its greatest strength. At any point in the story, you have to navigate a web of alliances and intrigue, negotiating precarious peace on an island both free from and still beholden to the ingrained feuds of the mainland. Though it certainly stumbles in some areas, GreedFall has captured my interest by delivering a kind of RPG experience that's become increasingly rare as of late.
Middcore wrote:

Bottom line: lots of the little issues you'd expect from a small dev (occasionally stiff animations, lip sync is off, re-used assets, etc.) but on the stuff that matters "Greedfall passes with flying colors."

Heh, I think the poster child for stiff animations is Mass Effect: Andromeda. And reused assets is Dragon Age 2. Is Greedfall even worse in those areas?

You should expect so, since they are about 40 people, with a budget a tenth of a Mass Effect game, which had a team of over 200 people working on it.

When you mention it yeah I noticed stiff animations but for some reason it didn't bother me like it did it Andromeda. I think I unconsciously lower my expectations when I know it is a smaller dev. Also, so far I haven't heard voice acting as bad as Andromeda.

I have a youtube video of me playing this if anyone is interested. Really enjoying it so far.

-edit-

Love the late title card.

strangederby wrote:

I have a youtube video of me playing this if anyone is interested. Really enjoying it so far.

-edit-

Love the late title card.

I would watch at least a bit so send Youtube link or put in the comment.

For those that have played how is it comparing to Technomancer? I really wanted to like that game and I liked a lot of the ideas in it, but actually playing it was too janky for me and I quit after 2 hours. Lip sync or whatever doesn't bother me, but clunky combat, janky navigating terrain, weird button and menu layouts, etc are what I remember.

I agree with ruhk - it's are more polished and ambitious version of The Technomancer, which was a more ambitious version of Bound by Flame which was a more ambitious version of Mars: War Logs.

So systems wise they're entirely iterating here in terms of combat, crafting, and stealth -- although unless I'm forgetting something, disguises and faction apparel is a new wrinkle. Also, the voice acting is surprisingly excellent.

I quite like it. I might even go so far as to call it my favourite 7/10 game of the year.

strangederby, your one of those quite Youtubers huh... What I learned so far is that I am playing at about the same pace. I was starting to wonder since I am still in the starting town. I keep expecting to actually get to the new land but there are always still things to do in the starting town.

That tutorial city is definitely one of the times you feel the bigger budget. That's a lof of real estate and art for a place you'll (probably?) never see again.

I'm finding it a lot better than Technomancer so far. These games seem to be on a trajectory that may eventually lead to Spiders being the new (old) BioWare.

An RPG about colonisation.

Last night I (the white colonist) helped a native and he was very grateful. Is this game going to turn into a white savour trope?

Then again it's an RPG so that will probably depend on the choices you make.

The natives are not black. However, the one I helped had decorated his face with what looked like charcoal.

So many thoughts about this game.

I would be shocked if there weren’t, at least, options and choices that heavily involve the white savior trope. Spiders has never been good with subtlety and nuance.

strangederby wrote:

Last night I (the white colonist) helped a native and he was very grateful. Is this game going to turn into a white savour trope?

I just finished the game. I'd say it's exactly the opposite. I don't want to spoil anything, but you should finish playing the game.

Firing this up tonight for the first time. Man, there's a lot of impressively beautiful stuff. Real shame that eyes and mouths are still so bad, but they're tricky.

Anyway, can't wait to get to the island and see what things look like there.

I am really enjoying "Mass Effect: Colonial Edition." The more I play the more it feels like ME for me and I really like that.

I'm enjoying it as well and keep trying to fully explore a map before moving on to something else. I'm finding that they do a lot of "nothing will be here until a quest triggers it" kind of progression so I might need to get out of that mindset and just follow the quests I pick up otherwise this game it going to take me forever. My completionist side is also getting twitchy about certain areas that are skill locked and I don't have any points in those skills. Minor quibbles really.

Kehama wrote:

My completionist side is also getting twitchy about certain areas that are skill locked and I don't have any points in those skills. Minor quibbles really.

Yes I am thinking often that I should invest more in lockpicking. I know that is several hours I won't remember an odd chest in a room somewhere that needed a higher skill. Of course I have to tell myself there probably isn't anything that special in that box but it just tugs at me.

Finished. It was enjoyable. Not the best RPG but a lot of fun. My game ended with all the colonials

Spoiler:

getting kicked off of the island

so mission accomplished.

If Spiders next game improves on this it's going to be fantastic.

I finished as well, but I kumbaya'd the sh*t out of everyone - pretty much everyone made it out in better shape than they started.

Well, most people. Definitely not the one I had arranged to be burned alive.

It's a solid AA game, and hopefully Spiders can keep this upward trajectory going.