Posted on: December 24, 2020

Trupobaw

Games: 281 Reviews: 11

So close, yet so far...

A captivating (at first) classic isometric RPG, suffering from metagame fixation. Get it, enjoy it while it's fun, drop it when it becomes tiresome. The good: The game has magnificent world building. The setting, the well-designed society within, their history and changes they undergo are all master work, just asking to sink your teeth in and explore. The RPG mechnics - character customisation, equipment variety, crafting - are all very rich and varied. The bad: The game has obsession with combat, character builds and metagame comparable only with Diablo 2, and the metageme is not even intuitive. Trying to just have real-life idea what your character will be good at and running with it is recipe for diseaster. If you like to research cookie-cutter builds in internet for hours before you make your first character, and research equipment needed for enemy types before entering the area (or learn that by trial and error) this is the perfect game for you. The ugly: The well designed world is inhabited by very shallow characters; roleplaying parts are as poor as exposition is rich. NPCs are more plot devices / quest milestones / exposition tubes than people having their own lives. The interpersonal relations in game pretty much ammount to persuading / intimidating someone to let you down a new quest branch. I find myself actually caring more about how setting came to exist in current state than what next will happen to "people" living in it now. The setting is perfect for story-driven game, but the potential is wasted to make room for metagame and grinding. The level cap is absurdly low, too, so you can max your level (and lose motivation to go forward) well before the game ends - leaving you only with main quest and grinding through fights as late gameplay experience. The factions and story choices are cosmetic as well, so the only replay value is experiencing the same story with new character build, handling the same fights in new way.

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Posted on: July 13, 2021

RagingChaos

Verified owner

Games: 967 Reviews: 16

The Fallout 3 we were never got...

Underrail is through and through an expansion on turn-based isometric 2D CRPG games like Fallout 1 and Fallout 2. It plays very similar to both and it's setting takes place in a post apocalyptic future like Fallout 1 and 2, but is even more bleak. It is Exactly the Fallout 3 I and many others hoped before before having our dreams thrown to the ground and shiat on by Bethesda. Instead of people coming out of Vaults and repopulating a barren world after a nuclear war like in Fallout, Underrail presumes the surface was damaged so badly by catastrophic war that no life can live on the surface even after hundreds of years. The last remnants of humanity are destined to live in underground subways and caves with zero hope of ever seeing the surface. You play as a new citizen to a smaller underground city trying to carve out a reasonable life in what's left of society. Even as humanity seems to be on the brink of extinction, we fight petty wars of attrition over ideology and greed. Rather than explain all the gameplay mechanics and how it works, I can best summarize Underrail as Fallout 1 or 2 in an alternate world. There are many subtle differences but if you understand how Fallout 1,2 plays, you will mostly understand everything in Underrail in about an hour if you stick with it. That said, Underrail is brutally difficult in comparison. There are many more battles to be fought compared to Fallout 1,2 and you cannot simply grind levels to compensate for poor decisions in skill points spent. The level cap is about 25. You can easily hit that through exploration and grinding before you get even halfway through the game. If your build sucks, you will run into some combat walls that are insurmountable. Fortunately you'll likely figure out what works and what doesn't pretty quickly on before you get too deep into. Overall Underrail is the Fallout 3 were were promised but denied. Its got everything that made Fallout 1 and 2 great and then some.

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Posted on: October 15, 2022

PHlegmaticul

Verified owner

Games: 272 Reviews: 3

Fallout meets Arcanum meets Metro

Tiny disclaimer: I don't remember how much of this game I played, but it's somewhere between 100 and 200 hours. It happened mostly during the 2020 lockdown, so my memories of it are somehow stale without being foggy. I feel like this is the best moment to write this review, as it tempers the ups and downs. Story-wise, it's nothing too special. It's Fallout in and around a vaguely Western (by this I mean west of Russia) subway system with magic. Great atmosphere, I really enjoyed NPC interactions and the worldbuilding. Combat-wise, things are mildly iffy. At the start of the game, you have to choose if you sacrifice 20% or so of your health for your entire playthrough to be able to cast **MAGIC**, or the radiation-based equivalent. **MAGIC** makes it so you won't ever have to roll to hit ever again, otherwise you use the "Fallout system", where all weapons have a chance to hit based on skill and other esotheric factors. Hence, **MAGIC** OP, and if you play on higher difficulties you get lower hit chances (as far as I recall) and now that you know how OP **MAGIC** is, you will be kicking yourself for not choosing it as soon as you get your glutes tenderized by the first rat. However, if you get past the second or third zone in the game as a non-**MAGIC** user, reddit says you can do it. The final(?) area of the main campaign is extremely boring and is where I abandoned my until-then happy playthrough. No idea what Expedition is like (i.e., the expansion), but I have over-average hopes for my eventual return for the game. Overall, I feel the 4.3/5 average is a fair mark. If you're into CRPGs, TBRPGs and what have you, 10/10 should buy on sale (get Expedition as well, I've read good things) or if you don't worry about your online spending.

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Posted on: August 24, 2024

GregDude

Verified owner

Games: 157 Reviews: 2

A gem

Despite its lack lustre appearance, Underrail is a very satisfying and fun adventure. Fans of the classic Fallout series will feel at home. The interface may look retro but it has polish and charm of its own. The difficulty level is not easy and the learning curve present, but both made up for by the wiki and community resources. If you skip this game, you're doing yourself a disservice.

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Posted on: August 26, 2024

mbruner25

Verified owner

Games: 48 Reviews: 1

Underrail

Very confusing - even after watching videos and reading multiple guides

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