...still not for everyone. By the way? The game's been patched to its latest version since May of 2020, when most people were complaining at this game's release. This game is a remaster, not a remake. It's got a great newcoat of paint, but it's still very much the original game. For better or worse. If you're into old-school CRPGs -- especially the original Fallout titles -- it's worth a spin. Just remember that we live in an age of walkthroughs, and that old-school RPGs be cryptic. Don't be afraid to bust out the pen and paper for notes (or just Google it). THE PROS + Marvelous new soundtrack. I'm fond of the Quartz town theme and AK-97 (the main battle theme) myself. Cool opening cutscene. UI that fits the newer continuation of the series, Wasteland 2 and 3 (both great games in their own regard, too). The animated enemy images are still animated. + If you start with the premade team (which is pretty dece), Snake Vargas and Angela Deth now have unique images. + Multiple solutions to scenarios and optional things you can do, like in the original Fallout. Y'know, Wasteland's spiritual successor. Blow up doors you can't pick open with a grenade. Break into a gang's hideout from a rooftop glass panel. Shoot some little kids who laughed at you, if you want (sicko). + Being able to trade multiple items at once to your different Rangers (and friends), and to organize items and skills. Not sure if you can do this in the original. You can also read all the copy protection paragraphs at your leisure, and they're also played out in cutscenes that reference which paragraph they're from. THE CONS - The base game is still the base game. Plenty of hot menu action. Multiple enemies on the map popping up feels like a slog, especially if you use melee. - Exploits caused by glitches are gone, like the infamous "super loot bags". Exploits intentionally put into the game, like how OP Pugilism is, still exist. Underwhelming skills are still underwhelming. Yay?
I never thought I would want a text adventure game so badly. I never thought I'd be inspired to make any kind of game outside of RPG Maker. Heck, I never thought I'd take more interest in World of Darkness than I have. This demo, maybe a half-hour long, changed that. Given the flowery intro, can you believe my version of Maia turned out to be a Storyteller? There's just enough in this opening adventure, the prologue and at least half the first chapter, to make me hunger for the full game. The stats are kept simple -- Rage, Willpower and Health, at least for this first entry. The demo's like a tutorial, and serves to give you an idea of what kind of character you'd wind up playing as in the full game. In addition, it teases enough about the story to hook you without revealing too much. I gasped when I hit the demo's end. It felt too soon, but it was longer than I realized! I was that in the zone! There's some cool mechanics in place. For instance specific responses are locked in, based on Maia's personality traits. I played blind, having Maia act and reply like I'd react in her shoes, and I implore any players to do the same. I think there was all of one grammatical issue, but it wasn't game-breaking. I'm stoked to see how the RPG elements fall into place for the full game. Next paycheck, I'm picking the game up. Until then, my mind will be abuzz on how to recreate something like this for my own projects. I mess around with RPG Maker, after all. :p
