Tyranny - Standard Edition

I read the bad reviews first on this game and decided not to get it. Months later, after it was on sale I figured that I would give it a try and I have not looked back. No, it's not like Baldurs Gate, but it is incredible in its own way! PROS Incredible spell casting system - allows you to make your own spells practically within the confines of the game Incredible story Many different types of characters to choose from and become Many paths to take in the game, decisions affect your outcome greatly Neat weapon forging powers A lot of dialogue CONS Takes a while to build up powerful spells Grasping the character development is challenging because it is so vast Weapons and armor are numerous but all feel oddly similar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Overall I felt that this was a great game!

Tyranny is one of the most interesting games I've played. Even among isometric, story driven game it stands apart by placing you in an exceptionally well devised roll where your choices are hard and the outcomes aren't always good whichever way you go. If you've enjoyed Planescape, Baldur's gate, PoE and similar games you must try it and explore the world. In answer to those who criticize it claiming that you must be evil, it's not true. You must, however, make extremely hard choices in a violet world and you aren't in control. Some things are beyond your ability and authority, do the best you can. Play through multiple times too, well worth it.

I had been watching this game for a while and I'm often guilty of being one of those people that judges a book by it's cover. I loved the art work in the cutscenes and hadn't really seen much gameplay. I'll be honest in saying that these kinds of games hadn't really appealed to me in the past except for a few similar games that I thought of as the exception (namely Fallout 1&2, Wasteland 2, Etc...). I'm extremely happy that I gave this game a chance and excited to try more games like this. This game, while DEFINITELY frustrating at times (mostly because I'm relatively new to the genre), this game feels incredibly rewarding when the fights go in your favor and the when you get to make seemingly important decisions that alter the flow of the story. I only got this game a few days ago since it was $17.99, but I've already recommended this to friends and fully believe that this game is worth the regular asking price of $45. On more thing I want to say about this game is that while the art style for the cutscenes is fantastic, it is way different from what's in the game. This isn't really a negative per se, but just wanted to throw that out there and let people know to maybe do a little more research than what I did. I will say that I'm glad I didn't do a ton of research because I may not've gotten it had I seen that the cutscenes aren't really indicative of the art style. My final thing I'd like to point out would have to be that the soundtrack is truly superb and I may end up buying it separate, just because it's so beautiful at points. If you're on the fence about whether or not to get this game, I'd recommend it. Especially if you like games that play like Wasteland 2. This adds so much to the genre and makes me excited to go back and play some of the older games of the ilk and find out what I've been missing all of these years!

Pros: - Interesting and likeable characters. - I enjoyed the levelling system, it's similar to Skyrim's levelling system. - You have a huge amount of choice in what actions you take in game and have various justifications for those actions which change the meaning of doing the action. - The history of the setting is detailed. - Very replayable. - I enjoyed the story. Cons: - Not enough interaction between your companions. - The areas felt claustrophobic because they were so small. - The soundtrack was boring.

I absolutely adore everything I've experienced of the story and the setting. It's a nice breath of fresh air where not only are you actually the bad guy, but you're stuck having to administrate hordes of idiots. The writing is superb and dialogue choices are heavily influenced by choices you make while playing and during character creation. The problem is when you get to playing the thing. The combat system isn't complete garbage, but when fights often consist of multiple minute long bouts of micromanagement, the flaws begin to really weigh down on you. I'd wager my problems mostly stem from the focus on cooldowns rather than resource management. It makes micromanaging your party much more obnoxious since you frequently need to look over your party to see if their moves are off cooldown and there isn't much playing around with different types of resources like you get in PoE. Spells don't even end up feeling all that different from abilities on your bashy characters. That's not to say there isn't good stuff mechanically. There's a fair bit of "flavorful" mechanics, but outside of one of the companions basically being a chanter from Pillars, they all have to do outside of combat. Barik not being able to change his armor due to his history. Kills-in-Shadow can wield two handers in one hand since she's a beastwoman. You have to find new spells by exploring the world rather than just getting them on level up. All of these and more are cool and interesting, but when you actually get into a combat encounter these don't really matter. You're going to be changing armor mid combat, Kills-in-Shadow doesn't get access to 2H weapon attacks or using 2H with shield, it's a flavor thing, and I already mentioned the issue with spells in that department. Ultimately, combat became such a slog that I couldn't justify spending more of my time in the game, despite the gripping narrative.