Tyranny - Standard Edition

Tyranny has all the signs of a game that was rushed in the 11th hour. A staggering concept to deliver more story and character choices than any RPG to date - and it does so effectively at that - in a morally ambiguous scenario that casts you as the "bad guy" in the quintessential crapsack world. The roleplay potential here is astounding. The meat and potatoes of this rich interactive story takes place in the 2nd act, with the 1st acting as a mere prologue and the 3rd being practically nonexistent. T isn't "short" it just has a stunted finale. Tyranny delivers an original fantasy setting in a way that's entertaining to explore, with a cast of very well written characters whose allegiances and dispositions will change dramatically based on choices. T offers some unique mechanics that are left largely unexplored due to the compressed time. Also left unexplored are essential character quests that are withheld for the overpriced DLC, with one character clearly set up for an arc and abandoned entirely. Character progression is skills based, with skills that improve the more you train them. While this lends plenty of versatility, it can end up with a party of homogeneous characters where defined roles don't matter. There is also a three companion party limit, which is at least one less than it should be. Once you start improving your spells, combat becomes a breeze regardless of difficulty. The game is built to reward repeat NG+playthroughs so you can explore all the different permutations of the plot. The branching story also doesn't always allow for a comprehensive understanding of all plot elements because it can sometimes leave essential exposition in other story branches that you aren't currently following. TL;DR Tyranny is a well written, mechanically solid RPG masterwork that doesn't allow itself the time to shine that it desperately deserves.

I was intrigued when I first heard about this game and despite some of the surprisingly negative reviews online, I think it is utterly brilliant! It might feel somewhat overwhelming at first, unpolished in a few aspects and the abruptness of the ending comes as a surprise (two spires in one area, I'm looking at you) but in general, I just loved everything about Tyranny. The storytelling and lore are well thought out and the companions are interesting, but what Tyranny really shines in is being unique, both conceptually and in game mechanics: First of all, you aren't here to protect the weak, help those who need it or save the world. You are just an underling of a seemingly omnipotent overlord and you are sent to do his (her?) bidding by ensuring that his armies crush a rebellion in one of the areas of the empire. You have options, yet none of them seem very appealing for "good" characters. Do you help the rebels, fanning the flames of a civil war that will cause immense suffering to countless people? And can you, even if you wanted? Or do you do as you're told, ally yourself with one of the Overlord's armies and help crush the rebels, leaving a trail of bodies behind you, assuring that at least there will be peace? Is the Overlord really evil anyway? In most cRPGs your choices affect the outcome, yet I haven't seen a game in which every single outcome could be changed quite as drastically as in Tyranny. I have also never before felt such a desire to immediately replay a game that I had just finished to see what can be done differently. Secondly, the game mechanics are innovative and appealingly logical. You still spend points on "constitution," "intelligence" and so forth, skills, however, get upgraded as you use them - keep waving a sword around, you get better at it. It just makes sense. Spells are not learned from a defined list, instead they are constructed. I could go on and on but what I'm really trying to say is, this game is fantastic - give it a try!

I really like pillars of eternity 1, played it twice but i still have no idea about poe's world and lore and about half of mechanics and i have no intetion of finding out. Tyranny on the other hand estabilishes itself perfectly. The world is smaller, the combat is simplier at first, you have well organised trees of skills and nicely done character stat page. Character themselves are entertaning and original, the world is unsual indeed with you clearly not being the main hero of the tale but important indeed. Tyranny does both talking and fighting and does it good. You have lots of dialogue options that change because of your choices. You have a very talkable teammates who unlike some mad priest dont drown you into obsucated lore. Leaders of two armies under overlords command are so well done you just cant wait to talk mor to them. Fights feel weighty, every animation is smooth and pretty to look at. You even have special moves that can be done only with your party members. Also there are talents, artifacts, scrolls, spell constructor, forge upgrades, unique items in stores and more. Also i have to mention favor/wrath system. They way you deal with various factions and their members affects your standing both with each character and the faction as a whole. Your actions have consequences, you have to think before you say something because it can ruin a relationship you did a big effort of estabilishing. I hope there will be a sequel or more games like this.

The setting is full of mystery and different from a lot of standard fantasy fare. Reading flavortext to get learn more about the lore is its own reward. Gameplay is very similar to Pillars of Eternity 1: morally ambiguous, interesting characters, choices matter, pausable real time combat. A strong recommend if you like classic character/story driven western RPGs. Unfortunately no sequel so many lore questions remain unanswered!

Really interesting lore, role playing options and core themes. Ch1 is ok, Ch2 is epi, Ch3 is wasted potential. You can tell that they cut short the game, it feels like just the set up of something greater, but was eventually cut short and stopped. Ch3 is extremely short, and depending your choices it can be even shorter. Mine is like two dialog scenes, two fights, and game was over. Overall really good game let down by a disappointing third act and lack of any story continuation. A lot of wasted potential otherwise game would've been one of the best CRPG.