Released during the golden age of isometric cRPGs, Fallout 2 is a quintessential isometric cRPG that not only helped define the genre, but set the bar for the rpg genre as a whole for decades to come. The by-now iconic post-apocalyptic setting of the Fallout franchise is created in such immersive depth in these classic titles, and the flexibility with which you can explore the world and go about the main quest line is as impressive as they come. What stands out most about the game is the depth you can go with playing your character, especially concerning the consequences of your actions and choices within the world. As an example, this game allows you to invest in the bare minimum intelligence points and unlock special (hilarious) dialogue where NPCs painstakingly speak in dumbed down language trying to explain things to you. Not to mention a low-intelligence character doesn’t know how to use a computer and as such will have problems getting into most if not all of the high-tech areas or abandoned vaults. The game also allows you to become an ahem “movie” star, weight boxing champion, slaver, and much more. As far as roleplaying games go, the classic Fallout titles are very hard to beat and the reason they are definitely still worth playing 25 years later. Criticism: in general I don’t care much about a game’s age, but Fallout 2 has to be played with this in mind. It is a product of its time and is therefore oftentimes very unintuitive to play. Not to mention even despite several projects to make the game more accessible on modern operating systems, it can still occasionally hit you with some annoying bugs. Save often.
An absolutely brilliant turn-based cRPG heavily based on various H.P Lovecraft stories, Stygian has you take on the role of a character thrown into the city of Arkham - a city that, many years ago, mysteriously found itself transported to an other-worldly dimension. The artistic direction is breathtaking, the characters and plot are riveting, and the mechanics of the game are deeply thought out and interesting (and too extensive to sum up in a quick review). Personal Highlights: the sanity, combat and angst mechanic is pretty cool. Basically, your character has a sanity meter that is affected by various events, ranging from witnessing lovecraftian horrors to casting spells. If your sanity gets too low, you suffer a permanent "madness" condition that affects your actions/dialogue. Run out of sanity completely, and you die. Combat also encourages a "fleeing" mechanic to preserve sanity and gain all XP/loot you would gain from a normal victory, but at the cost of angst (too much angst nets you a negative perk). Criticism: the game is not without bugs, occasionally even some game-breaking ones (I had to reload one boss-fight multiple times because the plot-item they were supposed to give wasn't showing up in my inventory). And the main story is ended very abruptly (according to the developers they had to make a tough decision and cut the game short with plans to introduce the missing segments in future titles). Also, the endgame is awfully frustrating and confusing (albeit visually stunning).
VTM:B remains one of the most memorable and atmospheric RPGs I've had the chance to play. I don't even know where to begin when describing this game. Despite the myriad of bugs and jank (which are fixed by the essential Unofficial Patch by Wesp), it just pulls you in and doesn't let you go. For starters, you'd be remise not to mention the incredibly breathtaking and immersive atmosphere, Every hub has it's own unique feeling, not only due to the bustling NPCs and city design, but especially because of the music and atmosphere. Loved it. I could walk the streets of any of the hubs all night. As for the characters... oh man, the characters. Voice acting like I haven't heard in ages, interesting and intricate characters that I wish I could've spent more time with because they were so intriguing! I don't think there was a single character I didn't care about in some way - I wanted to know everything about everyone I came across. In terms of RPG aspects, the game is impressive even by today's standards. Granted you definitely notice they were forced towards combat-oriented gameplay in the end-game due to time issues... but the multiple ways you can generally finish a quest is fantastic and the game actually rewards you for alternative solutions, not to mention most quests even the side quests are compelling and interesting, you never feel forced to complete them. Not to mention the impressive amount of player freedom granted when undertaking these quests (whether that's to go in guns blazing or sneak/charm your way through situations) The gameplay is very dated, that much must be said, and though combat is janky it isn't as bad as I thought to be honest. In summary: the game is far from perfect, but it will certainly be one of the most memorable RPGs you will ever play.
For those on MacOSX, you are better off buying this title on Steam. They can't even be bothered to create an .app for the game, the installer dumps the files in a folder after which you are supposed to open terminal and launch the game using commands. 0/10
Works exactly like DoW Anniversary Edition, just better. Works absolutely fine and runs incredibly smooth (and I'm not even playing Windows - I'm playing on MacOS using Wine to install). Pros: * All campaigns in one (no longer requires installing separate mods to play each campaign in one launcher) * Upgraded pathfinding (units no longer get stuck or bump into each other as often as they used to) * Runs much smoother * Mod support! (disclaimer: wait a few weeks until the final patches are out, but after some very quick testing, mods such as Unification do seem to work just fine) Cons: * ??? Anyway. I'm very fond of this game and the DE is much better than anything expected.
It's a shame Owlcat constantly puts out buggy games, because were it not for the plague of issues this game has, it would easily be a 5/5. Sadly almost 2 years later, they still haven't fixed all the bugs this game has. Regardless, whether you are a long-time fan or new to the setting, this is a fantastic WH40K crpg brimming with roleplay (and replay) potential.
