Various role-playing RPG game stuff not deserving its own thread

[Finarfin]

His blather to information ratio isn't great, but there's a lot here to dig through.

Oh boy, you were spot on with the blather

[Brother Michael]

For anyone who cares, this game has a heavy anti-Christian bias in its setting. "The New God" is obviously a bunch of Christian/Catholic bits mixed together and jumbled up. Astrid is a mix of Mother Mary/Joan of Arc/Jesus(look at the first 'heresy'). The religion as a whole is obviously a stand-in for the Catholic church.


More allusions to Astrid being a Jesus-like figure:

While the authors are probably shitlibs who would bemoan the crusades, I wouldn’t call it “anti-Christian.” It’s a stand-in, not a parody. The morals and metaphysics are more Buddhist than Christian, and its history only superficially resembles Christian history. Note the lack of the Resurrection and the presence of a karmic system instead. Prophets being persecuted is not a unique thing, but that doesn’t devalue Christ’s ministry and suffering.

I don’t think there’s anything any more objectionable than what you’d find in Warhammer.

But it's either part of the story or it's not. That's just trying to save face to further push a narrative already partially written.

Is it really, though? It’s an optional supplement to an already highly optional setting. The lore is very fast and loose.

Not saying it's a bad game, but there are some Christians here and they would likely want to know. To quote Gygax,

As a Christian, playing with actual religion is quite beyond the pale.

But it’s not actual religion. If we’re holding these kinds of standards, then the only acceptable setting would be Tolkien.

Also, orcs are just North Germanics. Appears it's okay to explicitly portray orcs as a real-world race when it's white people being portrayed.

Wouldn’t you agree with this?

[Kalarion]

For anyone who cares, this game has a heavy anti-Christian bias in its setting. "The New God" is obviously a bunch of Christian/Catholic bits mixed together and jumbled up. Astrid is a mix of Mother Mary/Joan of Arc/Jesus(look at the first 'heresy'). The religion as a whole is obviously a stand-in for the Catholic church.

"The Serpent of Truth". Burn them.

[1998]

Somehow they think this is worth showing off



Don't do VO unless you can afford it or go AI.

[Schizoid1488]

Somehow they think this is worth showing off



Don't do VO unless you can afford it or go AI.

Is the casting done by a netflix employee? How did that voice+character happen?

[1998]

Somehow they think this is worth showing off



Don't do VO unless you can afford it or go AI.

Is the casting done by a netflix employee? How did that voice+character happen?

Pretty sure it was recorded with a Nokia 3310 or similar. Tru Oldskewl

[Finarfin]

Somehow they think this is worth showing off



Don't do VO unless you can afford it or go AI.

Hope you don't mind but I actually commented this on their video.

[Acrux]

Somehow they think this is worth showing off



Don't do VO unless you can afford it or go AI.

The demo was pretty uninspiring when I tried it a looong time ago.

[Brother Chad]

Not sure what you guys expect, it's a poverty-level indie project.

Whatever, I'm glad more people have the balls to make their own games instead of modern day slop.

[rusty_shackleford]

Not sure what you guys expect, it's a poverty-level indie project.

Whatever, I'm glad more people have the balls to make their own games instead of modern day slop.

woman character + disco communism clone, it IS modern day slop

[Brother Chad]

Not sure what you guys expect, it's a poverty-level indie project.

Whatever, I'm glad more people have the balls to make their own games instead of modern day slop.

woman character + disco communism clone, it IS modern day slop

Is there no character creation? The store image is of a dude.

[rusty_shackleford]

Played knock on the coffin lid for a bit then deleted it so I'd stop playing it and be productive.
It's not like e.g., slay the spire, the world is constant and it's story heavy. The events seem to have a lot of ways they can play out depending on how much knowledge your character has, what items they have, if they've seen it before, etc.,


The plot is basically groundhog day.

[rusty_shackleford]

the swordcoast legends game actually wasn't that bad and probably would be remembered as a slightly-above-average party-based RPG if it wasn't attached to D&D

[1998]

the swordcoast legends game actually wasn't that bad and probably would be remembered as a slightly-above-average party-based RPG if it wasn't attached to D&D

Never played it, but it looked absolutely atrocious.

[rusty_shackleford]

the swordcoast legends game actually wasn't that bad and probably would be remembered as a slightly-above-average party-based RPG if it wasn't attached to D&D

Never played it, but it looked absolutely atrocious.

I bought it before it got delisted for a dollar or two. It's alright, but it just has nothing to do with D&D — it's a non-D&D Forgotten Realms RPG.

[Vergil]

Not sure what you guys expect, it's a poverty-level indie project.

Whatever, I'm glad more people have the balls to make their own games instead of modern day slop.

Most indie devs are worse than AAA devs.

[1998]

Not sure what you guys expect, it's a poverty-level indie project.

Whatever, I'm glad more people have the balls to make their own games instead of modern day slop.

Most indie devs are worse than AAA devs.

Yeah...no. Just look at the average AAA dev team pic

[Brother Chad]

Not sure what you guys expect, it's a poverty-level indie project.

Whatever, I'm glad more people have the balls to make their own games instead of modern day slop.

Most indie devs are worse than AAA devs.

Indie devs run the gamut of deranged basement dweller to twitter socialite.

AAA teams always have twitter socialites.

I'd rather have basement dwellers make games tbh.

[Acrux]

Played knock on the coffin lid for a bit then deleted it so I'd stop playing it and be productive.
It's not like e.g., slay the spire, the world is constant and it's story heavy. The events seem to have a lot of ways they can play out depending on how much knowledge your character has, what items they have, if they've seen it before, etc.,


The plot is basically groundhog day.

nuMale players start game on hardest levels; complain game is too hard.

Hello everyone, Innrey here, the founder of RedBoon.

Let’s talk about the balance of the "Hardcore" and "Terrible" difficulty levels. We're currently receiving a lot of emotional feedback about these two levels. This is our debut as developers, and we’ve been watching streams where we see players opening the game for the first time and immediately diving into the "Terrible" difficulty. And then they crash and burn... We’re just as disappointed in those moments as they are.

We want to explain the essence of these two modes, their features, and how to survive them.
The game doesn't have a straightforward, typical progression where your character simply grows in strength and agility with each run. Progression in Story mode is embedded in exploring the world and events within it. When a hero, like Persival, becomes more familiar with the world, the rewards for events on the map become more powerful. For Bjorn, health elixirs start dropping from enemies, and Vanadis can even skip some battles.

In addition, your classes level up, and you gain new cards that enhance your character, change your build, and alter your playstyle. You also learn the behavior of enemies, study them, and become extremely effective, understanding why each hit happens.



For example, you’ll start attacking the Champion right away to break his armor and reduce his damage. You’ll know that his damage depends on his armor, so you won't be hit with 37x4 anymore.
The "Hardcore" and "Terrible" levels were designed to make the game interesting for well-developed, strong characters. Moreover, "Terrible" is intended for those who have already completed the Challenges mode.

That's because, in addition to knowledge and skills, Challenges also provide:
Extra HP
The 4th slot for consumables
Healing at the camp for Bjorn
Additional cards
Additional items

Enhancement of your class's main mechanic upon completing challenges
All of this balances your next experience in "Terrible." Admittedly, it’s our fault for not conveying this information more clearly. We probably should have made it more accessible, just like many other things.

We absolutely didn't expect our brave players to jump straight into "Terrible" without warming up. Maybe we should have locked these modes on the first playthrough for those who haven’t completed the game on the "Normal" level and become more familiar with it. But what's done is done.
The game evolves thanks to your feedback. You are our guide in creating the game. Your bug reports and messages in Discord – we sort, analyze, and use them all.

We also thank you for your patience with bugs and issues. This entire week and the next will be dedicated to fixing all the reported issues from the release. We've already rolled out several fixes and will continue to do so, keeping you informed.

Have great runs!

[Jordy]

Played knock on the coffin lid for a bit then deleted it so I'd stop playing it and be productive.
It's not like e.g., slay the spire, the world is constant and it's story heavy. The events seem to have a lot of ways they can play out depending on how much knowledge your character has, what items they have, if they've seen it before, etc.,


The plot is basically groundhog day.

nuMale players start game on hardest levels; complain game is too hard.

Hello everyone, Innrey here, the founder of RedBoon.

Let’s talk about the balance of the "Hardcore" and "Terrible" difficulty levels. We're currently receiving a lot of emotional feedback about these two levels. This is our debut as developers, and we’ve been watching streams where we see players opening the game for the first time and immediately diving into the "Terrible" difficulty. And then they crash and burn... We’re just as disappointed in those moments as they are.

We want to explain the essence of these two modes, their features, and how to survive them.
The game doesn't have a straightforward, typical progression where your character simply grows in strength and agility with each run. Progression in Story mode is embedded in exploring the world and events within it. When a hero, like Persival, becomes more familiar with the world, the rewards for events on the map become more powerful. For Bjorn, health elixirs start dropping from enemies, and Vanadis can even skip some battles.

In addition, your classes level up, and you gain new cards that enhance your character, change your build, and alter your playstyle. You also learn the behavior of enemies, study them, and become extremely effective, understanding why each hit happens.



For example, you’ll start attacking the Champion right away to break his armor and reduce his damage. You’ll know that his damage depends on his armor, so you won't be hit with 37x4 anymore.
The "Hardcore" and "Terrible" levels were designed to make the game interesting for well-developed, strong characters. Moreover, "Terrible" is intended for those who have already completed the Challenges mode.

That's because, in addition to knowledge and skills, Challenges also provide:
Extra HP
The 4th slot for consumables
Healing at the camp for Bjorn
Additional cards
Additional items

Enhancement of your class's main mechanic upon completing challenges
All of this balances your next experience in "Terrible." Admittedly, it’s our fault for not conveying this information more clearly. We probably should have made it more accessible, just like many other things.

We absolutely didn't expect our brave players to jump straight into "Terrible" without warming up. Maybe we should have locked these modes on the first playthrough for those who haven’t completed the game on the "Normal" level and become more familiar with it. But what's done is done.
The game evolves thanks to your feedback. You are our guide in creating the game. Your bug reports and messages in Discord – we sort, analyze, and use them all.

We also thank you for your patience with bugs and issues. This entire week and the next will be dedicated to fixing all the reported issues from the release. We've already rolled out several fixes and will continue to do so, keeping you informed.

Have great runs!

Their post would have been 100x better if it only had the first paragraph.

[Lhynn]

the swordcoast legends game actually wasn't that bad and probably would be remembered as a slightly-above-average party-based RPG if it wasn't attached to D&D

Never played it, but it looked absolutely atrocious.

Like Rusty said, it was alright, one of those middle of the pack rpgs that you play between actually interesting ****. Forgettable story, forgettable companions, but all the rpg elements work and it remains playable all the way to the end.

[rusty_shackleford]

This seems ok if you like third person action combat, I have some gripes after playing it for a bit — the camera is awkward, and anytime you have to travel towards it you can barely see ****.
Good level design, lots of framing using height to show you things(enemies, items, objects, etc.,) if you're paying attention. Interesting level design.
The combat feels properly weighty when using a two-handed weapon.


[edit]
Forgot to add I had some performance issues.

[Silvanus]

Please recommend some cheap stuff and good sales. I've recently liquidated my Counter Strike inventory (I quit playing many years ago after realising that the game isn't actually fun and all I accomplish by playing it is getting into arguments on the Internet) and my Steam wallet is now bursting at the seams.

[KnightoftheWind]

This seems ok if you like third person action combat, I have some gripes after playing it for a bit — the camera is awkward, and anytime you have to travel towards it you can barely see ****.
Good level design, lots of framing using height to show you things(enemies, items, objects, etc.,) if you're paying attention. Interesting level design.
The combat feels properly weighty when using a two-handed weapon.


[edit]
Forgot to add I had some performance issues.

Well after playing it for a little while, it's just another Dark Souls wannabe with a "roll-to-dodge" mechanic and once again, the Church is le evil and wants to do an evil inquisition. Nothing new under the sun.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Please recommend some cheap stuff and good sales. I've recently liquidated my Counter Strike inventory (I quit playing many years ago after realising that the game isn't actually fun and all I accomplish by playing it is getting into arguments on the Internet) and my Steam wallet is now bursting at the seams.

The Banner Saga is a decent SRPG with a good story. Is about 15 hours long IIRC. It is set in a fantasy viking world where there is a sudden invasion of stonemen. You alternate between two protagonists who are leading their army/refugee caravans away from the invading armies. Has good aesthetics. Combat is okay. I had satisfaction beating the game before the nerf patch (gameovered on the final battle once and then succeeded on my second try), which you might be able to roll back your game to. If you enjoy 1 then the sequels were also fun, though 1 is my favorite.





Mount & Blade Warband. It is a third person action game/RTS/grand strategy hybrid. You start out as just a guy, and then go hire some people and form a warband, and then go do some low level banditry or fight for a lord's army, and maybe do some trading on the side. And then as you amass wealth and men and more experience, you eventually reach the point where you start owning castles and fighting other lords while garnering the loyalty of other lords, and then eventually you declare yourself king (or take over your faction) and then eventually conquer the world. The early to midgame is most fun, when you don't own several settlements and don't have several lords at your beck and call yet. There are a few fun mods like Gekokujo which sets the game in feudal japan and makes combat harder because there are no shields to block arrow volleys. If you want to play the vanilla game then at least use the Diplomacy mod which adds back in some robust unfinished features.





Valkyria Chronicles: a unique SRPG/third person shooter hybrid set in fantasy WW2, with magitek supertanks and superpowerful warrior maidens. Tone is overall more serious than many JRPGs but don't expect a super serious gritty war story. Has interesting mission design. Good aesthetics. English dub is fine. If you finish VC1 and enjoyed it, then consider playing VC4 which has a lot more missions with interesting design, and the story is also just as good.





Aselia the Spirit of Eternity Sword: a visual novel SRPG hybrid. Good story. Fully voiced acted (in Japanese). Has a fantastic soundtrack by Aki Hata. Is a serious story about a young man who gets isekaied to a fantasy world, but he doesn't speak the language and gets promptly captured and enslaved and forced to help conquer other kingdoms for a man he hates. Has a little bit of grand strategy elements with you building up towns you capture, though that element was rather undercooked. If you wish the achieve the highest possible score in each mission, then you will be save scumming a lot, though you will be just fine if you ignore the scoring and go at a leisurely pace. I found this game fun enough to replay.




Trails in the Sky First Chapter: turn based JRPG with likeable characters and good music. Is set in a premodern fantasy world with emerging nation-states. Rather than a globe trotting adventure to save the world from the apocalypse, it is instead set in a small country that is having government issues. It gets pretty immersive. The combat is rough and the sidequests are meh, though.





Thief: stealth game where you tiptoe or bunny hop through levels, and buy and use a limited number of consumable items with your limited amount of money. Has a sound detection system where even trying to tiptoe across marble or metal floors will be very loud and draw attention, and it is extremely difficult to survive straight up fights against enemies. IIRC there is a fan bug fix patch you want to install, and you will have to rebind the keys to WASD.





Styx Master of Shadows: third person stealth/action game. Unlike Thief, in this one you can fight enemies and win, and there isn't a sound system so it's not as immersive of a stealth experience as Thief. I wasn't that into the game gameplay wise, then around half way through the story started getting more interesting and I wanted to find out what would happen next.





Shadowrun Dragonfall: I don't really like these isometric western CRPGs and usually don't finish them. Dragonfall only comes to mind because of the aesthetic, and because of a neat ending.





Red Orchestra 2: very immersive feeling WW2 shooter. In this game, one or two shots will kill you. No regenning HP. IIRC you don't even have UI telling you how many bullets are loaded into your gun; you have to remember (or that might be a feature turned on/off by each server). Etc. The voice acting of soldiers as they are bleeding out to death and crying for their mom or hallucinating about meeting their dad one last time, or being burned alive by a flamethrower is quite intense and discomforting. It actually makes the experience quite dreary, is at least worth visiting for a couple of hours. I think there is a singleplayer campaign but I never touched it.





ARMA 1: kinda like Red Orchestra in that it leans towards realism. Has a Soviet cold war aesthetic instead of WW2. The singleplayer campaign has you alternate between different characters, from an infantry squad leader, to a tank commander, to a special forces team running around the forest behind enemy lines. You can order your squad members around, order them to get into trucks and drive to a location, etc. And the map is pretty big, so it feels immersive. Unfortunately, the campaign can get very difficult at points. There is a mission early on where you have to get your squad from point A to B, but then along the road you have enemy snipers who you can't see or locate suddenly killing your truck drivers. I had to do a lot of reloading to get past that part. Is worth checking out, at least for a few hours.





Supreme Commander: RTS game with cool mechas and a large scale. The campaign is very, very short, though, so you're mainly going to be either playing matches against bots or joining the multiplayer community. The second game has a longer campaign, but lacks the huge scale of the first game and feels derivative of Starcraft 2. There is a spiritual successor called Planetary Annihilation which has wars spanning multiple planets, but your mileage may vary on the aesthetic.

[Jordy]

Why is this even a thing in a supposed RPG?

[rusty_shackleford]

Why is this even a thing in a supposed RPG?

"I won"

[Jordy]

Why is this even a thing in a supposed RPG?

Long boring intro cutscene.
Walk along path.
Long boring cutscene.
Walk along path.
Boring cutscene.

Yeah, no thanks.

[Big Red Dog]

Why is this even a thing in a supposed RPG?

rpgs don't need combat

[CSM-101]

Why is this even a thing in a supposed RPG?

rpgs don't need combat

But they need conflict.