I'm a few hours in to Tokyo Xanadu eX+ on my Alienware laptop with an XBox 360 controller. It runs smooth and the story and graphics remind me of an anime. It is not really open world, although you can mostly choose where to go. The world is similar to the recent Pokemon games in its design. It gives you freedom of movement, but through narrow passages and kind of guides you where you need to go to continue the story. You have various points of interest like your school, your work place, and various shops. The combat system is basic, but fun. You are able to lock onto enemies, block, and use a strong attack, standard attack, ranged, or jumping attack and can perform combos. Again, much like Pokemon, there are five different element of enemies and attacks that all have strengths and weaknesses against each other. You get bonuses in dungeons for using an enemies weakness against them, combos and damage, getting a high score for clear time, and you collect a form of currency from defeated enemies, boxes in dungeons, and chests. There are a ton of items and accessories for you to customize your heroes with and the gear has stats to improve and tweak them. It does start out very slow. I played for over an hour of basically just talking to people and going where the story made me go. It was at least an hour before I could do anything more than jump, run, or talk. Again, if you like anime you probably won't mind this much. You may be able to get through the beginning quicker, but I was taking my time and making sure to do all I could and enjoy the story. The graphics are good, but nothing that will blow you away. They probably look close to five year old graphics or so. The sound effects and music are great and immersive. The story itself is a typical anime story... you are a teenager, who ends up getting pulled into a fantastic situation and you end up becoming a hero. I personally love anime, so I am really enjoying the feeling of playing the hero of one. If you like anime, like action rpg, or are interested in paranormal stories about alternate dimensions and such, you will like this game. I recommend this game along with a good gamepad.
I was a kickstarter backer... unfortunately. I have been a Battletech/ MechWarrior fan since the 90s and was very excited for this game. I backed the kickstarter at the MechWarrior level and did what I could to spread the word about it. The disappointment started with the backer rewards, which are basically just the deluxe version. In order to get and use your backer rewards, you have to log in to a Paradox account. The game was offered through GoG from the start and you had to choose which platform you wanted when you did the initial backer. I chose GoG for being DRM free of course. There was nothing that noted I would need a Paradox account, or need to be logged in to a Paradox account in order to receive the backer rewards. I understand from others it is the same for the deluxe content, but I can't say for sure. It was continued disappointment at the random crashes on a high-end PC. My first attempt at starting a campaign ended with a crash after clicking "New Game". When I got it to start, the load times are atrocious. Again, on a high-end Alienware. In-game is not much better and the graphics are very dated. The game runs slow, stutters, and periodically freezes without the graphics turned up. The only redeeming quality is that the actual gameplay is OK if you can look past the terrible graphics and performance. The singleplayer campaign is pretty restrictive. I understood you would run a mercenary group and have freedom to choose missions and locations, but in the few hours I played it just went mission to mission with extensive dialog between missions. The story is absolutely forgettable and the dialog is horrible. I found myself skipping dialog and cutscenes as much as I possibly could. MechWarrior 2 had better cutscenes and voice acting. The cutscenes in this game are just a series of what look like hand-drawn pictures. I've read reports of people having their GPUs burned out while playing this game. I have not experienced damage to my hardware thankfully, but my PC was hot enough to burn my hand after an hour or two of playing it. The final nail in the coffin of this game for me is the social and political views of the developers being forced into the game. I just don't care what their views are and entertainment is no place for it. It just ruins the experience for more than half the fanbase and ends up limiting the people that will enjoy this product. I don't understand why they feel the need to do this and I will not support a developer that does. I've waited for a good Mechwarrior game since Mechwarrior 4 Mercs. I loved X-Com since '95 and thought this was going to be great... Mechwarrior in an X-Com style game, what could go wrong? It seems the developers spent too much time worrying about getting their political and social views into the game and not enough time making a great experience. I only wish I could get a refund on my backer purchase.
I left a long review near release, but it was deleted. I was a backer and wish I didnt. Between the backer rewards (quite insignificant rewards) requiring you to sign in the a Paradox account, which they didnt tell us about until after release, to the terrible optimization burning out GPUs, it is a mess. I understand turn based, but you will sit there for 80% of the time if not more, watching and just waiting. There are still bugs like the game hanging in between turns, crashes, and little annoyances like it focusing on the wrong mech during a turn. I have been a fan since 1995 when I first played MW2 and I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately my inner fanboy is not enough to make me look passed the bugs and horrid optimization. Then factor in how grossly overpriced it is. If you really want it, wait for a significant sale. If you want an idea how overpriced, just look at what you get in the DLC for the price. I hope they can readjust for a sequel, or find a different dev to make it. Unfortunately they to be censoring negative reviews, so make sure to check different sources before you make a decision.
I was a backer for this since I am a huge fan of Battletech/MechWarrior since the 90s. What they failed to mention was the backer rewards would require log in to Paradox in order to receive them, which defeats the purpose of choosing GoG as my platform. This is an important thing to mention, specifically when you offer it on GoG DRM free during the kickstarter. The second thing upon my initial start of the game was the hideous load times even on a high-end PC. That, and the terrible performance in the game without the graphic options turned up. To say the game is poorly optimized is an understatement. Beyond the terrible performance and crashing the game is ok. The story is forgettable and doesn't really let you make any decisions that matter. It just takes you from mission to mission with way too much useless dialog in between. The gameplay itself is basically what I expected and is good, but not good enough to make up for the rest of the game's issues. What I really can't stand is the developer's need to inject their political and social views into a game. They need to stop using entertainment as a political podium. I guess it's the nature of the society we live in, but you will almost never have more than half of the fans accept your views. I don't care about your views and don't agree with them. All you do by this is turn people away from your product.
I was a backer for this since I am a huge fan of Battletech/MechWarrior since the 90s. What they failed to mention was the backer rewards would require log in to Paradox in order to receive them, which defeats the purpose of choosing GoG as my platform. This is an important thing to mention, specifically when you offer it on GoG DRM free during the kickstarter. The second thing upon my initial start of the game was the hideous load times even on a high-end PC. That, and the terrible performance in the game without the graphic options turned up. To say the game is poorly optimized is an understatement. Beyond the terrible performance and crashing the game is ok. The story is forgettable and doesn't really let you make any decisions that matter. It just takes you from mission to mission with way too much useless dialog in between. The gameplay itself is basically what I expected and is good, but not good enough to make up for the rest of the game's issues. What I really can't stand is the developer's need to inject their political and social views into a game. They need to stop using entertainment as a political podium. I guess it's the nature of the society we live in, but you will almost never have more than half of the fans accept your views. I don't care about your views and don't agree with them. All you do by this is turn people away from your product.
I did miss this when it was new. I think I was on my RTCW clan kick around that time. I saw this and was immediately intrigued since I love everything about the history and culture of Europe. Graphically I would say it's moderate. It looks really good for how old it is and seems to hold up well. The sound is equally immersive and helps to put you in the boots of a Viking warrior. I'll admit that I didn't finish the game. I installed it on my old laptop and was playing it for a few months until I got my new one. Once I got the new one, I was busy with games my old one couldn't run and haven't gone back to it yet. I saw this on sale, which reminded me of it and motivated me to get back into it for this weekend off. I did love what I played of it and was really hoping for a sequel, which just happens to have started development last year: https://www.runeragnarok.com/ It really plays great as an action title with very limited RPG aspects. You collect various weapons and shields throughout the game, which make your character more powerful. It isn't open world from what I played, but while it is linear, the stages you play through are pretty large and have some puzzles to advance. I highly recommend this to any fan of action, medieval, or Norse themes.
I bought M&B and Warband directly from Taleworlds, but bought them again from GoG. Mount and Blade Warband is not so much a sequel as it is a standalone expansion to the original. I do recommend getting both since they are cheap, to support the developer (who made it DRM free from release), and for the number of mods for each making it worth it alone. It is a medieval simulator with real-time combat, mounted combat, and castle and city sieges. It's basically the game I was waiting for my entire life! Warband has various updates and upgrades to the original game including the ability to marry, start your own faction, and more. It takes place in a fictional world of Calradia, which mirrors Europe during the middle ages. Each faction has strengths and weaknesses, and are developed to resemble a real faction or nation from the time. For example, one faction has very heavy infantry, but their archers and cavalry aren't the greatest. Another faction has great cavalry, they excel at archery, but they have only little to no armor. There are castles and towns. Towns serve as your hub for finding quests, hiring mercenaries, taking part in tournaments and arenas, finding information, finding companions, and meeting with faction lords. Castles are more of a military outpost that extends the faction's influence. There you can really only meet with the castle lords. Both towns and lords can be seized for your own faction, and then the king of your faction distributes fiefdom as he sees fit. Throughout the land there are various unaffiliated groups such as bandits and deserters that will attack you if they think they can take you. The world map represents armies with a single unit and you point and click to move. Once you go into combat or into a town or castle, it switches to glorious 3D (3rd or 1st person view). It is a true sandbox RPG. You recruit troops and companions and create your own army. Equip your character's armor and weapons, and assign skills as you level. You can decide to join a faction and become a lord, battling for your king and kingdom. You can become a peaceful trader and only fight to defend your company. You can become a bandit and prey on caravans and villages. There is somewhat of a story or main questline to follow, but you don't have to. Whatever you do is completely up to you. The graphics are not the greatest and weren't even when it was released. It was made by a very small team (husband and wife I believe). The sound is great and immersive. This is THE game to make you feel like you're back in that time and to fulfill your desires to conquer a kingdom! I highly recommend it, even with its grossly outdated graphics, nothing comes close to comparing to it today. It's quite clear this was made by a small team that always dreamed of this type of game like many of us and not some mega corporation only worrying about the bottom line. They clearly had passion for this game and it shows. Don't forget the mods!!! The game has full mod support and there are a ton of great mods out for it!
I bought M&B and Warband directly from Taleworlds, but bought them again from GoG. I just couldn't believe it when I read about this game. Essentially a medieval simulator with real-time combat, mounted combat, and castle and city sieges. It's basically the game I was waiting for my entire life! It takes place in a fictional world of Calradia, which mirrors Europe during the middle ages. Each faction has strengths and weaknesses, and are developed to resemble a real faction or nation from the time. For example, one faction has very heavy infantry, but their archers and cavalry aren't the greatest. Another faction has great cavalry, they excel at archery, but they have only little to no armor. There are castles and towns. Towns serve as your hub for finding quests, hiring mercenaries, taking part in tournaments and arenas, finding information, finding companions, and meeting with faction lords. Castles are more of a military outpost that extends the faction's influence. There you can really only meet with the castle lords. Both towns and lords can be seized for your own faction, and then the king of your faction distributes fiefdom as he sees fit. Throughout the land there are various unaffiliated groups such as bandits and deserters that will attack you if they think they can take you. The world map represents armies with a single unit and you point and click to move. Once you go into combat or into a town or castle, it switches to glorious 3D (3rd or 1st person view). It is a true sandbox RPG. You recruit troops and companions and create your own army. Equip your character's armor and weapons, and assign skills as you level. You can decide to join a faction and become a lord, battling for your king and kingdom. You can become a peaceful trader and only fight to defend your company. You can become a bandit and prey on caravans and villages. There is somewhat of a story or main questline to follow, but you don't have to. Whatever you do is completely up to you. The graphics are not the greatest and weren't even when it was released. It was made by a very small team (husband and wife I believe). The sound is great and immersive. This is THE game to make you feel like you're back in that time and to fulfill your desires to conquer a kingdom! I highly recommend it, even with its grossly outdated graphics, nothing comes close to comparing to it today. It's quite clear this was made by a small team that always dreamed of this type of game like many of us and not some mega corporation only worrying about the bottom line. They clearly had passion for this game and it shows. Don't forget the mods!!! The game has full mod support and there are a ton of great mods out for it!
