Greedfall - a New RPG by Spiders

My first paycheck from my new job after months of unemployment hit, so I decided to treat myself to Greedfall. I need a new RPG to sink my teeth into.

Especially since literally everything in 2019 that I want to play won't be on PC until 2020. So FML. And my gaming backlog next year...

Found the Vasco romance on You Tube while I'm waiting for it to download and I thought I'd check out the gay romance from their previous game. Tad disappointed to notice that they reused animations for that romance scene (and I hope Kurt is different), but I'm also not too surprised considering the game's scope compared to both their previous body of work and their dev team size. Canned animations are a reality at that point.

Edited by InkDagger on Sep 10th 2019 at 6:54:27 AM

Only just got to New Serene. Loving the fact you can properly LIE to accomplish goals. Most RP Gs just have your character blurt out the truth rather than giving an option, then try to play it off as you "having the moral high ground"; but here they actually let you choose.

Though the charisma options are a bit frustrating as, basically, you just say the same thing and then get a chance for it to work or not. Would've rather your character flubbed delivery to show failure. But again, budget.

Combat is great fun, feels rather "Vampyr"-esque but with a bit more weight to your attacks and more options. Setting and area design is lovely. And I love the fact that exploration is well rewarded.

Voice acting overall is pretty good. There's some elements where you can tell the translation hasn't been great, but the actors still deliver the lines well. And the moral choices are interesting. Plus the factions aren't just morally grey "oh maybe they have a reason" - nope, some are just BASTARDS but BELIEVE in what they're doing. So, choices will be interesting down the line!

Huh it’s sounding really good.

If I don’t rent this already I may just buy it for my birthday in November.

Edited by slimcoder on Sep 11th 2019 at 2:32:10 AM

Just an update from my last post on my playthrough, the pacing can feel a bit awkward as quite often you will head to one area, say a single thing and have to cart yourself halfway across the city to do the same again (and across the island in some instances) but more often than not the story compels you to keep going and is genuinely engaging.

Going through a companion quest and I got annoyed when I found I had to continue the main story to follow through on the quest any further, which is a pain of a mechanic (understandable as to why though) but it is a testament to how much they can draw you in. Prepare to spend all night doing "just one more side quest".

The skill tree feels almost completely pointless when it comes to a little more weapon damage, a little more stun effect as you will fight the same enemies over and over and know their moves inside out making the fights a bit of a breeze but things like Vigor and Science giving you different options for traversal are a good idea, its just a shame so many require high levels in them right in the early game.

Also I don't think the game mentions it outright that I noticed but most armour is tied to a faction, check what you are wearing if you want to be extra careful in diplomatic situations.

I'm watching the livestreams and I'm honestly impressed with the quests. Sure, the game is more wooden than a sailing ship, but the quests are pretty complex.

So far, no "collect five bear asses" - there's a malleability whether you go in the back and avoid dialogue, or collect information before confronting people. In the latter case it often removes the need to then use a charisma check or a bribe.

But yeah, they clearly want you to invest in an attribute tree early on, not spread around.

I've gone technical and one handed and the skill tree is basically a damage booster. I really like the disguise system (Faction armour actually meaning you have social stealth) and means you pay attention to your gear a bit - having equipment for not just combat, but also social interactions. The customisation as well is amazing - not just stat changes, but how it all LOOKS.

I also like how the Religious Faction is very VERY pro magic as well, in a nice twist on the usual trope - they embrace magic as a gift. And the science faction are just as unscrupulous, but also as factional.

No one is clear cut.

It helps the outfits look bloody awesome as well.

And Tricorns.

I wonder if the recent pretty-much-only-similar-setting RPG Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire can be said to have any effect on this at all.

Ugh. Apparently they went the Origins route of two Bisexual options and two straight options. I had hoped that they'd done one of the few things Bioware hadn't done with gay romances and given the gay guys a 'Knight in Shining Armor Bodyguard Romance'. But, no. FML.

In that setting there's not really any such thing as an anti magic faction since everyone has magical power due to the way souls work.

I was mostly just referring to how both can be considered "fantasy Age of Discovery" at a glance.

Edited by VutherA on Sep 11th 2019 at 12:38:57 PM

Got the game, only played about 5 hours, so still forming my opinion.

The good: I like that the game really encourages you to find your own solution to a lot of quests. Sometimes without spelling it out. There's rewards sometimes for thinking who can give you info besides the ones with a quest marker on them.

Cool hats and coats.

Combat is... okay. The game tells you "Be a mage, fight melee, use guns" but there's like, giant asterisks next to each of those. I've used guns and melee and used some traps. Guns are... kinda boring. Overwhelmingly powerful but you're limited by your ammo. But it's "Select enemy with target. Press gun button. Repeat. Dodge roll if something attacks you." The shooting is also stiff, with your character stopping entirely from moving when firing rifles. Melee is... okay. It's just that. Okay. Traps I've found situational. Overwhelmingly useful against boses or arena fights. But for most garbage fights they are not worth your time. Havent tried magic yet.

The first part of the game is brown. This is the brownest game I've seen since the Quake Era. First city is brown. Second city is brown. Ship is brown. Coats and hats are brown.

There's a certain jankyness to the game. Stuff like how all npcs have collisions, so you can find yourself unable to cross a corridor or bridge till an NPC passes first coz he's positioned so you can't go to each side of him. (And he stops moving if you touch him, and you can't push him). Similarly some enemies have weird hitboxes in melee. Facial expressions are very stiff and limited. Think Mass Effect 1 level expressiveness with a bit of an uncanny valley thing going.

Level design, especially for cities, is sometimes confusing. Thankfully the game features some excellent maps to mitigate this.

I am so far enjoying myself. Other than the quest design, I don't think any one aspect of the game really shines, but the combination of everything so far is proving very entertaining.

Enjoying the game so far, but man, couldn`t they have given each companion a few more lines when entering combat?

I'm so sick of hearing "Little poison on my blade, and lets go!" or "To my health and death to the others!"

"THINGS ARE ABOUT ABOUT TO GET DICEY!"

Almost as bad as Mass Effect's "I WILL DESTROY YOU" on ruddy loop.

Nah, I will destroy you is delivered far worse.

The bloody Oirish aksents... When I heard Mordun's accent slip, I facepalmed so hard I nearly gave myself a concussion.

Biotics repeatedly saying it as I played through on Insanity, during that "save the hostages" mission NEARLY made me give up.

It's weird - it's slightly Oirish in pronunciation of words... but the natives mix and match the accent fairly consistently . They way they pronounce Island as Oy-land is interesting!

Also, just found out capes boost your Charisma score because OF COURSE THEY DO!

So, useful if you want to save a point for something else early on.

Edited by JerekLaz on Sep 13th 2019 at 2:50:29 AM

Jim Sterling's Jimpression literally opens by noting how there's only one line for characters entering combat. In particular Vasco

I'll say this, Jim nails one of my criticism for the game: The game drip feeds you character advancements, and then spends it's time reminding you of all the shit you can't do.

Edited by Ghilz on Sep 13th 2019 at 9:39:37 AM

So much that. It's bad game design, honestly, rubbing the inability to do stuff in player's face.

Particularly after Deus Ex games that gave you multiple ways to play, and organically at that. Greedfall often has obnoxious Mr. Exposition bits on how to play certain quests, usually in obvious ways like "Gee, that's a back door, we could sneak in!" or "Let's get some sleeping potion and slip the guards a mickey!"

Yesterday, I encountered a very nice example of The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: when I saved Constantin and brought him to the pub, he paid the damages from his own pocket. Note, I haven't showed up in that pub before and found Constantin by exploring back alleys in search of chests, crates and anything that could be looted.

Also, do you think that the islanders referring to the Bridge Alliance as "Lions" is a shout out to that scene between Simon and Jubal Early in Firefly?

Edited by NotSoBadassLongcoat on Sep 15th 2019 at 2:58:13 PM

The game is very well stitched together. And seems to want to reward you doing different approaches.

Still early on and didn't get a chance to play it this weekend, as wife was using the Playstation for Borderlands 3. Which we can't co-op cos the split screen optimisation is AWFUL.

But this is a fun aa title. Still trying to work out a good combat balancing act. And quest rhythm as I'm a bit twitchy about companions turning on me!

Wait. Did they really name the rogue archaeologist companion APHRA, of all things?!

Edited by NotSoBadassLongcoat on Sep 17th 2019 at 12:48:14 PM

Could also have been:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphra_Behn

Who is more time period appropriate ;) But it's a nice nod perhaps to another geek franchise...

I finished the mission involving Doctor Asili.

Jesus Christ. At least Mother Cardinal chided the Inquisition leader for being a suicidal moron. Burhan, on the other hand, felt absolutely okay about all sorts of underhanded shit pulled by his underlings, no matter the consequences. Which is why I capped Asili's silly ass. He had it coming.

What the hell is that weird accent that the Natives have?

It sounds seriously phony.

I finally started this up and I'm enjoying it. Very rough around certain edges, but it's got some nice worldbuilding and engaging characters. I just wish things were less brown.