GreedFall

Overall, Greedfall isn't a bad game. But it could have been so much more. The game ticks a lot of boxes of what I like to see in an RPG: a main story with unexpected turns, decisions that influence the overall story and lead to different endings, interesting and varied characters (including companions), diverse side quests, character development, a (mostly) open world to explore, monsters and humans to fight, several competing factions, a crafting system, too name a few. So, why only three stars, then? My answer is that while Greedfall has many features, it's not doing anything in a great way. For example, the main story has many somewhat unexpected turns, but the writers always hint at it 2-5h before, so that when the turn arrives it's not really surprising anymore. All the side quests are written in a way that maximizes the drama in every imaginable way, it's just not credible anymore. Everytime something "unexpected" is going to happen, the background music switches to a "suspense" theme 10-20 seconds before, so (again) the surprise is spoiled. The inventory management is clunky. As a maxed-out mage, I only have 4 different spells/skills (besides the two standard attacks), and no way to deal fire or poison damage (no, there's no "fireball" skill) to use my opponents' weaknesses. The building interiors all have the same room layouts and feel pretty much the same. But, above all, the game lacks atmosphere. To me, the game feels a bit sterile. It got me somewhat hooked to the story, but not to the game itself. The voice-acting is okay, but overall the emotions displayed by the characters remain shallow. "My husband/wife died? Oh, I'm so sad! I'll prepare the burial now." And the game goes on. I was seriously considering not finishing the game. So, in summary: Nothing about the game is done really *badly*, but nothing is done really well, either. It's a shame, I think the game had the potential to be something really amazing with some more polishing.

I first played this on the PS4 some years ago ... and absolutely hated it. The controls were picky, the combat clunky, the movement laborious, the interactions with NPCs repetitive, clumsy and long winded. I played it again recently (ala freebie from Amazon Prime on GOG) and absolutely loved it. I guess the difference was my expectations (knowing it was clunky, laborious, repetitive etc). It ain't no Witcher 3, Skyrim or AC Odyssey, but it is good fun and genuine entertainment. Perhaps I'm just getting old (and more tolerant?) Looking forward to Greedfall 2 now :P

The world of the game is really interesting: the mysterious island vibe mixes well with the strong personalities of the colonizing factions, and the "Avatar" vibes are really nice. The game is fully voiced, which is always nice, has a well executed levelling system, the armors and weapons are elegant.. It really ticks a lot of boxes for an RPG fan. On the minus side, it is a bit heavy on walking around already-explored areas for my taste (the quick-travel hubs can be very far from the objectives), and it tends to spoil the plot twists a bit. It lacks that I-want-to-spend-every-second-available-on-it effect, but it is nonetheless a very enjoyable game, well worth the 44h I spent on it.

Just as title suggests, this is a game with a lot of ideas, and well-written world and details at small things. But at the same time it lacks all of those on some of the other things. It honestly feels like level designers and quest designers didn't communicate as well as they could have. Also, while I enjoy the abundance of world writing, writing in quests and for set pieces is somewhat lacking. Not bad by any means, but somehow feels off. Combat is nothing amazing, some may even hate it for it's simplicity, I think it's serviceable. I love the idea behind gear augmentation, but it could get some improvements. A really good game with a lot of promise, and improvement from game to game from Spiders is obvious, but at the same time sometimes not in the directions I want.

Definitely a unique RPG in my opinion. Setting and story stands out compared to other games, unique lore elements were fun and I really enjoyed roleplaying my protagonist and watching the story unfold. The only negative point I would raise is the combat, which was a bit clunky at times, but wasn't a major issue for me overall. If you have played many RPG's and you're looking for something new, I would rec this to you!