I played and replayed Tachyon: The Fringe in my childhood. It was a game ahead of its time in terms of graphics and gameplay. Sadly, it was also a very unknown game. The story is well written, albeit linear, and immersive (you get to choose a side in a space war). The voice acting is amazing and the world building is impressive for a game developed by a small developer noted mainly for its Delta Force (FPS) and Comanche (flight sim) series. Combat is solid and you get a variety of different ships, each fitting a specific role (for example, bomber for extra firepower; fighter for extra maneuverability; etc.), upgrades and mountable weapons. The hub areas are amazing and one of the features that pushed this game far ahead from what you’ll usually see in the early 2000. You get to choose different jobs, read the news (sometimes your actions are reported), hire mercenaries to accompany you in more dangerous outings and buy new ships/weapons/equipment. One particular hub (a casino-like space station) also lets you gamble. Tachyon: The Fringe is well deserving of a sequel. We also need more of Bruce Campbell/Logan in our lifes.
Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall adds features and polish to the original game, along with a new story, but lacks the charm of its predecessor. The story is interesting and has various endings, which is a great improvement over the extremely linear Dead Man’s Switch campaign. At times, I felt enthralled by the plot and extended gameplay sessions for “5 more minutes” in order to know what would happen next. Side quests are now more numerous. Such like the main story line, there’re different ways in which you can resolve a secondary mission. Character stat’s, such as your Willpower or Quickness, now open dialogue options that can be used to gather more intel or solve an encounter in a nonviolent way. You also gain a team of shadowrunners, who level up and have they own side quests and storylines, and a base of operations, that includes a PC with which you can access jobs and a bulletin board. Combat remains, essentially, the same as the original. Armor can “break” or be penetrated, reducing the amount of damage that is deflect by your attire. Cover can block 100% of incoming damage, although you now must account for the positioning of your shadowrunners so to avoid “flanking” damage multipliers. Magic still feels underwhelming and some classes reign supreme over others. Unfortunately, the writing is a couple of notches below the original in terms of quality. The art style is also not as charming as the game seems less cyberpunk-y than the original. As such, the overall ambiance is less immersive. Overall, Dragonfall, with its 30 hours of gameplay and good replay value, is worth a try even at full retail price.
I will say this upfront: Shadowrun Returns will be an enjoyable CRPG experience to those you like Cyberpunk themed games (which is my case) or the franchise; to anyone else it might feel average at best. Indeed, this game’s two strongest points are its writing and art. The writing is generally amazing (the quality tends to drop though) as it describes characters, environments, and situations in an immersive and sophisticated way. The art also contributes to the game’s cyberpunk-y atmosphere. The streets of Seattle indeed look and feel futuristic and harsh. Character portraits are stupendous. The story will be able to entertain you for about 15 hours and is filled with mystery and some twists. Unfortunately, is also very linear and your choices are of little consequence. Dialogue options will yield you different amounts of Karma points (used to upgrade your avatar) or nuyen (cash). Side quests are very limited in number. Everything else is average. Combat is turn-based and very much like X-Com. Basically, at the start of your turn each of your characters will receive 2 Action Points (later this will be upgraded to 3 AP). Movement will take between 1 to 3 AP, depending on the distance travelled. Simple attacks take 1 AP while certain abilities, such as burst shots, more powerful spells and grenade throws will take between 2 to 3 AP. I believe that except for one spell, this game doesn’t differentiate between magic and physical damage. Magic feels very underwhelming and gunplay yields more attack options; although having a magic user in your party is quite useful for buffs and healing. Hence, combat can be quite shallow and some classes can feel less powerful than others. This last point, coupled with the linear story, greatly decreases this game’s replay value. This game and it’s two expansions are frequently on sale and might be worth picking up if you are, for example, enjoying a week of vacation during a cold winter and don’t have much else to play.
Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition is a modern CRPG with beautiful graphics, colorful environments, an excellent combat system and a humorous and lighthearted mood. The story is not epic, but is very interesting. The English voice acting is, in general, amazing. The soundtrack is excellent. The environments are interactive and littered with details. Puzzles tend to be challenging and fun, although the lack of clues in some instances can be frustrating. The game progression is not linear. Your decisions and dialogue options will alter how you complete quests and affect certain character stats. Combat is turn-based and centers around two types of damage types: Physical and Elemental (magic). Physical damage is divided into 3 categories: Crushing, Slashing and Piercing. Elemental damage is divided into Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Tenebrium. Certain Earth based abilities can cause Poison damage. Attacks can inflict buffs and debuffs. Keeping track of your character’s status can be complicated and this game could benefit from a status bar. I also found targeting imprecise and fidgety, which, at times, caused me to move instead of attacking. One of most distinct features of this game is the use of environmental elements in and out of combat. For example, throwing a poison cloud grenade not only poisons all allies and foes caught in the area of effect but also creates a persistent cloud that can be ignited with, for example, to create an explosion. There is a crafting system, that can be used to create (or enhance) armor, weapons, potions and other items, but I didn’t find it very appealing. The game never provided a coherent explanation on the basics of creating and enhancing items. Also, crafting in lots can also be tedious. Overall, this game provided me with around 90 hours of fun entertainment and I would recommend it to anyone, but specially to those that are new to CRPGs.
