The GWJ CRPG Club - Game 11: Wasteland 2

Pages

For more information on the GWJ CRPG Club, go here.

Wasteland 2 is the GWJ CRPG's Club's eleventh winner. The game came close to winner previously, but this time it edged out Torment: Tides of Numenera to pick up the win.

Wasteland 2 is inXile's sequel to the original Wasteland. It is a turn-based, party-based RPG with tactical combat. The game is playable on Windows, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and MacOS.

We'll be playing this game until December 31, 2020. This thread is for friendly discussion as we play through the game. Share your reflections, successes, defeats, tactics, wishes, impressions, and whatever here! The more conversation the better, so post away.

For BIG spoilers, please use the spoiler tag. (No! I am your father!) Tactics, strategies, general story progression likely won't need them.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate, and can start at any time, so join the fun! One quick favor: If you decide to play, make a post here along the lines of "I'm in!" to let us know. If you start and finish the game before the end, you'll level up your GWJ CRPG Membership.

Helpful Links
Steam ($7.49 until July 9)
GOG ($29.99)
Playstation Store ($29.99)
Xbox Store ($29.99)
Amazon PS4 & XBoxOne ($68.10)
Nintendo Switch (pricing unavailable)
How Long to Beat (39.5 - 109 hours)
Wikipedia Page
Fan Wiki
Achievements Guide
Metacritic (87 metascore, 7.6 user score)
Walkthrough
Character Creation Tool (thanks ubrakto)
Character Creation Guide
Character & Team Creation Video (47 min)
Wasteland 1 Survival Guide (thanks ubrakto!)
CRPG Addict's Post on Wasteland 1 (thanks Math!)
(Taking suggestions)

Members Completed
Alien Love Gardener
gewy
deceivious1
Math
Godzilla Blitz

Members Playing
ubrakto
brokenclavicle
Hardek
quasiChaos
WizKid
Redherring
tundra
Clumber
Neutrino
pyxistyx
steinkrug
tboon

I’m in to start. I’ve finished it once before, so I may not see this one through but a refresher before Wasteland 3 sounds fun!

I'm in as well.

Really hoping to break my losing streak with finishing games. I've been looking forward to playing a post-apocalyptic RPG for a while, though, so I'm quite interested.

Installing now.

In it to win it, as they say! Not quite done with Divinity 2 yet, but will be, and then I'll get on it.

I’m in. Hope I also break my unfinished streak. I’ve voted for this game quite a few times, Hope the effort pays off

I fired up a party and got started. Not sure how to create a party, but I made two custom characters and then tweaked two pre-made ones.

We're on our first mission now, mainly sorting out the game mechanics and whatnot.

I'm not sure if I can put myself in a hole by screwing up character creation, but we'll see how this goes. I'm playing at the default difficulty, so I'm hopeful I can make progress despite my ignorance.

Intrigued so far. I like the guidance I'm getting and how the game is introducing itself. Cool post-apocalyptic setting. Me like. Reminds me a lot of the original Fallout.

I'm in! Installing now...(assuming it is Director's cut as I have two options in my Steam list.) Bought it a while ago and haven't touched it, nor the first one. Hoping this will not detract from the enjoyment.

Excited to join in on a Book Club Video Game Club such as this! I just might actually finish a game for a change.

I have begun.

Going with an all custom party, but I'm a bit worried I've screwed up the attributes, especially since I don't really understand how the combat system is going to work. I put a lot of points into intelligence- maybe too many. Should probably look for a guide now so I don't have to restart too far into the game.

In general my party consists of:
1. charismatic, persuasive leader- uses assault rifles
2. physically strong doctor/medic who dabbles in repair work- uses blades
3. sniper who also likes explosives and weapon repair
4. egghead who does the computer science, lockpicking, alarm disabling, etc.- uses a shotgun (poorly) but will probably eventually learn energy weapons

Lots of skills and I feel like maybe I'm spread too thin. Can we respec later?

Do any of these selections have any gameplay consequences? Race? Religion? Smoking choice?!

I'm in.

Also of note the game is part of Xbox Game Pass on the PC, (not sure about Xbox.)

Installed and ready to jump in.

quasiChaos wrote:

I'm in! Installing now...(assuming it is Director's cut as I have two options in my Steam list.) Bought it a while ago and haven't touched it, nor the first one. Hoping this will not detract from the enjoyment.

Excited to join in on a Book Club Video Game Club such as this! I just might actually finish a game for a change.

I had two options as well, but they both seem to be the Director's Cut. Not sure why, but no worries.

I haven't played the first either. I don't think it matters since the first was so long ago.

Playing as a group has helped me a lot. I've gotten six RPGs done, which is way more than I ever did before.

gewy wrote:

I have begun.

Going with an all custom party, but I'm a bit worried I've screwed up the attributes, especially since I don't really understand how the combat system is going to work. I put a lot of points into intelligence- maybe too many. Should probably look for a guide now so I don't have to restart too far into the game.

In general my party consists of:
1. charismatic, persuasive leader- uses assault rifles
2. physically strong doctor/medic who dabbles in repair work- uses blades
3. sniper who also likes explosives and weapon repair
4. egghead who does the computer science, lockpicking, alarm disabling, etc.- uses a shotgun (poorly) but will probably eventually learn energy weapons

Lots of skills and I feel like maybe I'm spread too thin. Can we respec later?

Do any of these selections have any gameplay consequences? Race? Religion? Smoking choice?!

Yeah, I pretty much did the same thing, picked blind and with little idea what was good or bad. I'm hoping it all works out okay. I might look for a character creation guide, though, and restart if it tells me I'm an idiot. I'll post a link if I find something helpful.

EDIT: So I think I found a decent character creation guide that explains some of the thinking behind character creation. I'm going to read that and restart. It doesn't sound like it's necessary, but it's probably going to help if I go a bit better balancing a team, etc.

I’m going to have to think about this one. I have played through before, for all the way to the end but didn’t finish it. The reason why is one of the worst examples of egregious game design I’ve ever encountered. The game does hint at the issue but doesn’t spell it out - at least, not as far I discerned when playing it. I’ll spoiler it below but it completely ruined my experience of playing the game. It is a clonking great spoiler for the final fight though so you’ll have to decide for yourself if you want to check.

Spoiler:

Essentially any character with cybernetic implants can be mind controlled by the final boss and turn against you. This made the final fight unwinnable for me - not to mention making a complete waste of all the time and effort you take to develop certain characters, as the progression system in game is a little off. The game hints at the possibility it might happen, but only hints. And by the time I picked up on the issue it was far too late for me to go back, recruit someone else and get them levelled up. As far as I could tell there was no way to counter it either.

It absolutely infuriated me, I shut the game down immediately afterwards and never went back.

Im not sure I’ve got it in me for another 80 playthrough just to ‘fix’ that final problem.

For the folks who never played or otherwise have zero familiarity with the first Wasteland game, you could do a lot worse than to check out the text for the Wasteland 1 Survival Guide. Probably about a half-hour read or so.

Functionally, it's a hint guide for the first game, but it's written as a diary and narrative of a party that completes the game. So, it takes you through all the places and characters from the first game in a relatively quick way, while telling a not-too-bad (given the context) story. It's not a total one-to-one fit in terms of the party characters in the guide to the game, but it's still a great way to get familiar with the history, many of the places you'll visit, and several of the characters you'll meet or hear about in Wasteland 2.

Been away for a while, but I'm jumping back into the mix with this game.

Installed. However picked this & Pathfinder:Kingmaker up when the Steam sale started and sort of already began Pathfinder:Kingmaker. Not sure when I'll get a party started. Never played before not really sure what to expect (nor have I played any of the Fallout series).

Thanks for the posting that guide, ubrakto! I've added it to the first post.

I found a Character and Team Creation Guide video and made it through about half of it before I fell asleep last night. That might not sound like a ringing endorsement but it actually sounds really helpful. It's quite detailed, and I don't think I'll watch all of it, but the part I made it through last night was enough to 100% convince me to reroll new characters and restart. I'm going to watch it and build a new team this evening.

Sorbicol wrote:

I’m going to have to think about this one. I have played through before, for all the way to the end but didn’t finish it. The reason why is one of the worst examples of egregious game design I’ve ever encountered. The game does hint at the issue but doesn’t spell it out - at least, not as far I discerned when playing it. I’ll spoiler it below but it completely ruined my experience of playing the game. It is a clonking great spoiler for the final fight though so you’ll have to decide for yourself if you want to check.

Spoiler:

Essentially any character with cybernetic implants can be mind controlled by the final boss and turn against you. This made the final fight unwinnable for me - not to mention making a complete waste of all the time and effort you take to develop certain characters, as the progression system in game is a little off. The game hints at the possibility it might happen, but only hints. And by the time I picked up on the issue it was far too late for me to go back, recruit someone else and get them levelled up. As far as I could tell there was no way to counter it either.

It absolutely infuriated me, I shut the game down immediately afterwards and never went back.

Im not sure I’ve got it in me for another 80 playthrough just to ‘fix’ that final problem.

I was torn whether to look at the spoiler or not, and am glad that I did. I wonder if that was addressed in the Director's Cut version?

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I was torn whether to look at the spoiler or not, and am glad that I did. I wonder if that was addressed in the Director's Cut version?

No, it isn't - it's the Director's Cut I played. It's baked into the game design apparently. I couldn't find anyone suggesting a fix when i searched online.

I'm In but will probably be the weekend before I get to installing it!

I posted this in the main thread but thought it was worth metioning here:

For anyone who hasn't purchased it yet and you have a GOG account, It was given away free in the 2019 winter sale, you may just have it in your GOG library if you claimed it (and maybe forgot!).

Now, time to read up on the gameplay before i begin

Sorbicol wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I was torn whether to look at the spoiler or not, and am glad that I did. I wonder if that was addressed in the Director's Cut version?

No, it isn't - it's the Director's Cut I played. It's baked into the game design apparently. I couldn't find anyone suggesting a fix when i searched online.

Excellent, thanks! That's really helpful to know.

I'm in. Looks like I have both the original and Director's Cut versions on GoG.

My plan is to read the CRPG Addict's posts about Wasteland 1 to get myself caught up. http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2011/...

Math wrote:

I'm in. Looks like I have both the original and Director's Cut versions on GoG.

My plan is to read the CRPG Addict's posts about Wasteland 1 to get myself caught up. http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2011/...

Most excellent. I've added that to the first post as well. Having played for a half hour beyond character creation last night, I think reading a bit about the game world would be helpful.

You definitely have to go searching for the story from what I remember - it’s there but a lot of it you only find if you go out of you way to find it. It is a great game - I realise I’ve come across very negative in my previous comments, it’s a game that deserves to be played - but it lacks a lot of polish and is a little rough around the edges.

At some point I think you’ll probably be glad you looked up a map online, even if it’s a little spoilery.

From what I’ve seen so far of Wasteland 3 taking Microsoft’s money has enabled them to apply the level of polish the game deserves. I’m really looking forward to it to be honest. I’m not really bothered about playing 2 beforehand though.

Sorbicol: I think if I'd had your experience at the end, I might not feel too inclined about replaying either. Ugh! (I can't remember if I avoided that outcome out of dumb luck or if I got tipped off at some point.)

Everyone: Just found this character creator that might better facilitate planning initial party members from outside the game: http://www.rpg-gaming.com/wl2.html

The export button doesn't appear to work, but if you want to use it, you could always screenshot each character you plan out using or hardcopy the final results to a spreadsheet.

EDIT: OK, the tools is a bit more limited than I thought, since it lacks perks and doesn't show where perks unlock within skills. Still not bad for just messing around with attribute distribution.

put me down as well i guess - though i've really not been able to stick with any one long-term game recently through just being busy with other stuff, but might as well try!

pyxistyx wrote:

put me down as well i guess - though i've really not been able to stick with any one long-term game recently through just being busy with other stuff, but might as well try!

Most excellent! I'm curious to hear what you think of it.

I'm really on the fence. I so want in, but I'm trying to slow my backlog accumulation, and also know that Trails of Cold Steel 2 for the JRPG Club will be a huge investment of time. And I also want to keep playing Horizon Zero Dawn ...

I also know that posting in this thread will be the best way to make sure I see how much fun everyone's having. Look for me to cave, and join, before the sale ends on July 9.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
pyxistyx wrote:

put me down as well i guess - though i've really not been able to stick with any one long-term game recently through just being busy with other stuff, but might as well try!

Most excellent! I'm curious to hear what you think of it.

I've played a few of hours of it before, actually be (though I barely remember most of it) in its pre DC form.

LastSurprise wrote:

I'm really on the fence. I so want in, but I'm trying to slow my backlog accumulation, and also know that Trails of Cold Steel 2 for the JRPG Club will be a huge investment of time. And I also want to keep playing Horizon Zero Dawn ...

I also know that posting in this thread will be the best way to make sure I see how much fun everyone's having. Look for me to cave, and join, before the sale ends on July 9.

Ha! I'm in the same place, except going the other way. I'm sorely tempted by Trails of Cold Steel 2 and I keep poking my head in there and then checking out the game on Steam, but I've struggled to finish our last games and I'm reluctant to commit to two long games in the same session. But I'll likely cave at the Steam sale draws to a close.

I started over tonight and used that video guide to create a party of four. I'm much happier with what I've got now and understand what I'm trying to do with the party better. I just played through the intro and am ready to head off in the wilderness.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I started over tonight and used that video guide to create a party of four. I'm much happier with what I've got now and understand what I'm trying to do with the party better. I just played through the intro and am ready to head off in the wilderness.

Did you build your leader character off what's in the video (shotgun, cover destruction) or the spreadsheet (assualt rifles)? Do you know which is more recent?

I created my party last night (followed someone's suggestion which cut my party creation time to 15 minutes instead of 3 days). I used the freed up time to get through the first radio tower location and back to base. 0 deaths so far, couple of levels up, and fought a toad. Think I'm off to a good start.

Pages