Fascinating game, not much else out there like it. But... my god the translation is so bad that sometimes I can't really even wrangle out what they're saying. I didn't believe it could be so bad when I bought the game years ago, despite warnings, but yeah, some of those lines, they're likely butchering language worse than an auto-translator on the internet. Still, fascinating game. If they allowed easy modding, it would have been fixed years ago, and been very highly rated.
Every time a new fantasy RPG comes out and I see: oh, oppress or disliked haughty elves with bows in the forest. Serious bearded dwarves in their mountain fortress. A dark lord wanting to destroy all, usually with a horde of orcs *darkspawn cough cough.* A medieval human empire (often quite generic, looking exactly like the ones from the last game,) full of rogues and corrupt politics and paladins and mages. Seriously, I'm disgusted with the repetition and lack of imagination in the genre. If you are as well, and you can handle more story than fighting, and the old graphics, look here. Really. REALLY. If you'd rather hang with a flying skull than a tree-hugging human-hating elf (again and again and again.) Look here. Sheena Easton as a demon-girl with a tail (not an elf yay!) Mitch Pileggi (Skinner from X-files) as a ... a... er... look just play it. No elves, no dwarves, no halflings. Thank you, torment, thank you for showing me that fantasy doesn't have to tell literally the same story over and over and over and over again. One thing; yeah, it's about amnesia, but at the time that this was done, other RPGs weren't obsessively using it. Even still, in this game, it's part of the story while in most games it's just an excuse to explain why your character doesn't know any more about the world than you do, usually in a sequel.
I really liked this one, and was surprised at how badly it faired. You're not a soldier, or a commando or something, but rather, a freelance reporter-photographer. Her camera is an important item throughout the adventure for making money or collecting evidence. There's plenty of stealth, racing, butt-kicking, and even some exploration of a very colorful, watery world. I'm not sure what to think about her pig-man sidekick, with his fart-powered jet boots. But he grew on me. I really recommend this one, and I can't think of anything I'd consider to be a flaw.
Yeah, that's right, I prefer this to Galactic Civ. You can just jump right in and actually *gasp* control combat directly if you like, with all the strategy. Unlike watching ships slowly drift about like jellyfish, occasionally a bright line connecting the two and doing damage *boring.* It actually matters which direction the guns are facing on the ship, and how fast it can move and turn (what good is your lumbering battleship with all its mighty forward facing death cannons, if a more maneuverable enemy gets behind it?) The ability to hire leaders for your planets and fleets (each with certain individual skills and bonuses) is also a really neat touch. Really, I have no problems with this game. It's the perfect turn-based space-conquest and colonize game. The graphics don't bother me one bit (I find myself not even noticing once I get going.)
This was really under-rated, unknown. It has a lot in common with Fallout, even though the setting is very different. Imagine a typical fantasy world, mixed with Earth of 1800's. Steam engines, guns, trains, elves, mages, dwarves, orcs all together. And magic and technology don't mix well, often interfering with each other's functioning. They don't necessarily get along to well. Cons? In some ways it's stuck inbetween Baldur's Gate and Fallout. There's only a few joinable group NPC's at best that have real BG-style personalities. It makes the ones with little no dialogue seem... almost broken by comparison. And either magic is overpowered, or technology is underpowered. It's a shame, since the story seems to overwhelmingly be about technology beginning to replace magic, which is ridiculous if you compare a heal and harm spamming-mage to a wimpy tech guy. Yeah, the unbalance is a shame. I'd have liked to see more powerful guns and tech armors. Still, I like the tech side more, because, well, I've seen all the magic stuff before in other games. So anyway, yes, it's worth a try if you liked Fallout and BG.
Yeah, this is pretty cute. Sure, it looks primitive, and the pieces seem to move/animate a little more slowly than they should, and the sound is... old. If that's ok, then read on. But I can actually beat this AI. Modern chess games often tie me up and hold my head in the toilet. So, er, ok, maybe I suck. But at least I am not slapped aside like a bug when playing this. Also, I think more people should be playing chinese Chess. The cannons have a genuinely interesting move-mechanic.
Maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed with this one, back in the day, if it'd been done by someone other than Bioware, the makers of Baldur's Gate 2. It utterly fails to stand up to Baldur's Gate 2, because there's no real attempt to put any emotion into the story. And it's just you and maybe one NPC, who simply falls short (very short) of the sort of personality you can expect from a BG2 group NPC. It's really just kill, kill, kill. So what if you liked the Icewind Dale series (which lacked the BG banter and was about monster slaughter?) Neverwinter falls short of that too, because you've only got two characters (only one of which you made.) Compared to Icewind, there's next to no tactics or strategy or through. Without the need to manage a six-person party, in 99% of the battles, you just click on the enemy and go get a sandwich, especially if you're a fighter who's just going to auto-hack the enemy whether you're watching or not. One more thing; this came out at about the same time as Morrowind. Er, what? That's horrible. It looks downright ugly compared to Morrowind (might as well have stuck with BG graphics) and even outdoor areas are like rooms. No open world like Morrowind. Also, while it's possible to play Dungeons and Dragons with only one or two characters, I really feel the system is set up for a group of well-rounded characters of different abilities. Mage, cleric, fighter, thief. 2 people just feels... stunted. I suppose you can multi-class your own guy but then you still have to just take what you get from the NPCs you find. Anyway, why am I not giving this one star, with all this griping? User-made modules/adventures. Some of them are actually well written, and made the most of the engine. Worth the price just for those -- some were more professional, deeper, and better-written by far than the main quest (some even allow full groups that DO banter.) There's enough there to keep you busy, well, forever, if you can sort out the good from the bad.
