I didn't know I was waiting for such a game until I saw Vagrus. Inspired by The Black Company and Planescape? Insta buy. And the game did not disappoint me at any level. The story is very rich, the volume can satisfy any bookworm, and the world-building leaves me craving for more content set in Xeryn. The game is challenging, brutal even, and does not tolerate mistakes or being ill-prepared for predatory tomorrows. It's hard to reach a comfort zone- pretty at any time you are on the verge of bankruptcy or deficit of other resources. Reading is important, as venturing into a location without prior knowledge of it might make your journey more difficult or even deadly, but if you read codex entry and collect bits of information, sometimes it's possible to prepare and predict what will you encounter. I don't feel anything in particular when it comes to the combat system. It's Darkest Dungeon combat, so it has some charm but in my eyes, it's sometimes repetitive. In most cases combat is optional and the game has some means to avoid one if you want (like scouting area ahead) Music is great and is fitting perfectly the art and style of the presented world. Probably I won't be listening to it for hours and hours, but it still has charmed me.
This game is everything that PoE1 wanted to be but hadn't the chance. Is it a good game? Definitely? Is it a good sequel? Probably not. The game is expanded as compared to the first game, but it generally fails to deliver a punch that would make it stand out. Good things: The combat is improved greatly, it's fast-paced and beautiful. There are more companions and sidekicks (npcs who can act as a party member). There are multiple, distinct factions you can join or work for them as a mercenary. The game has unique, pirates of the Caribbean feel to it The companions now have loyalty and enmity system. They can like or hate each other. You can now engage in a deeper relationship with a companion Finally, multiclassing allows you to make some sick builds and own your enemies in an awesome fashion After 2hours the game opens up and allows you to explore the game world. The game is free from BG1-like on the rails exploration. Bad things: Music fails to make itself distinct enough from the track from PoE1 Naval combat is not fun and after one or two times you always engage in boarding to cut it short You wait to have your own keep, as in PoE1, but it never happens. Instead, you are given a bad replacement in the form of a ship The reputation system is just eye-candy. It lacks any significant impact After some level, skills like athletics become pointless and you just click through the level-up screen to get to the perk area Combat fails to innovate. Some explosive barrels are out there, however, in most instances, mobs fail to hang around them to utilize their potential. The main plot. I really wanted to like it, however, while side stories are cool, the main plot is just dull. Gods again? Really? Not only that, from day 1 it's all about gods and thus the game fails to surprise you like it was in the PoE1
First of all, this is "enhanced" version of the game, which means that the majority of release date grievances has been addressed. Secondly, the Windows version of the game is superior, as the Linux port eats up resources like mad and you can find yourself frustrated if your PC isn't powerful enough. This game was released post Pillars of Eternity and Divinity Original Sin, so a few comparisons will be made down the road. Does the game innovate? No. But I had a blast playing it and actually found myself enthralled by it. I don't care about the graphics, so I won't give the pros and cons in that regard. This game shines where it should, mainly the story is one of the best out there since Pillars. In terms of character creation, Kingmaker offers a huge number of classes that can be picked up and paired with a standard set of D&D races. While it's great, the game does not offer any way to test your build or even a respec option, which means that making a mistake in your build can have dire consequences. I also miss a deeper background story for your main char, a la Pillars. Any hopes of in-combat usable terrain disappear after Oleg's Outpost and it's a huge shame, and missed opportunity. Companions are interesting and you play a role in shaping their history which is great, but there are no internal conflicts within your party and child-eating monster finds it fine to travel along with a godly paladin. While companions have their own opinions on methods of solving quests, you won't' upset them by disregarding their wishes. Those two issues contribute to a missed opportunity for real immersion in this part of the story. If you found "realm management" in Pillars lacking, you will like it here. Although optional, it gives you a sense of purpose and you grow to like it. However, a few dev choices are weird: region claiming and realm leveling up when triggered it immediately subtracts 14 days form in-game time. This is painful when you face invasion or ancient curse.
I don't know if that's just on my Ubuntu, but the game refuses to run decently on Linux. Native runs semi-decent, but Viking Conquest or Blood Eagle mod result in frequent crashes after 2-5 minutes of a gameplay. Running the game on Wine is waay much better in terms of stability than running it on Linux. The game in itself is superb. Nothing new to add.
Don't get me wrong, there are good things about EU: Rome but in the long run it's just another "grand strategy"- paraphrasing Yahtzee Croshaw: "same thing, different hat". The graphics are good as always. Music seems o.k. but after an hour of listening to it I muted the sound in favour of my own playlist. Diplomacy is fun but only to some extent- overall it's easier to conquer than play with an elaborate scheme; sometimes diplomatic options work in a ridiculous way, for e.g. I reduced loyalty of a Carthaginian governor to like 10% and then tried to bribe him into betraying his liege. He refused... and so did others. After like 15th attempt I gave up, started war and won over the province. The whole system of personal connections is utterly pointless. I quickly lost track of whos rival Gaius Insignificantus has become and didn't care about some minor character dying. Throw a rug on it and engage in good old fashioned conquering. Trade, as it was stated before, is a joke. Colonization in this game is a mistake from historical point of view. There were no "empty" lands in Europe at that time and various tribes formed coalitions (etc.). Instead of "EU3-like indian" tribes of Europe we should get a load of independent provinces, tribes and so on- we get only a handful of semi- major players like Sequanii. What did I like you may ask. Senate game mechanics were awesome: you could start a war, take a beating and find that the Senate prohibits any peace talks because your party yielded reins of the government to other party. Although same mechanics tend to become somewhat awkward while playing any country but Rome. Civil wars were a good concept, making sure you always treat well powerful people in your country. Although you might want to treat them badly only to win a war and confiscate their possessions (a huge boost to the treasury). And cherry on the top, invading and pillaging barbarians can be bribed by paying a tribute or offering them a land as the foederati. And yes, game's clock runs backward. Instead of going from BC to AD it goes from something around 450 BC to... around 700 BC.
First of all, the game has some technical issues. Even on modern computers can sometimes work slow and lag. Secondly, it's far too easy. Played on hard difficulty and never had problem with other famillies: they didn't exploit my weaknesses and were outgunned in terms of money, influence and manpower. It's also easy to make a bucket of gold, you even don't have to possess efficient business, just go to local counting house, buy overseas goods and sell them on the market for higher price. Getting into politics is cool but when you are there, there's nothing much to do. Only the highest office brings some fun but even then it quickly wears off. You can get excited about random events but after some time it's just another annoyance. The whole courtship and romance stuff is tedious: you spam combo of "gift- hug" or "gift- kiss" until the chosen of your heart falls in love with you. There should be at least some dancing and swordplay involved like in Sid Meier's Pirates!- something more than sims-like emote mashing. What's good about it you may ask. Well there are different angles of approach to business thing: you can be a farmer, a smith, a loan shark, an innkeeper etc. You also start as a local and petty "spoon dealer" and eventually can take over your village, town, city or even the kingdom. The game is fun but, in my opinion, only for a limited time. Then it becomes quite repetitive and a chore to play.
