I feel like the setting is the star in this game, it's certainly something I rarely get to see in games. This comes up in the inventory items, readables, and conversations. The mechanics are pretty straightforward (the combat is integrated quite well), but the background that drenches the game makes every moment fun. I really hope I see more games like this in the future!
Really, really wanted to like this game, but there are just too many issues to overcome. I love the system and the background, and there are a ton of ideas the developers can play with, but things end up stilted and nonsensical once you're actually doing quests. One issue, I think, was that there is just too much inspiration. Have to have an anomaly system like Stalker. Gotta have a Junktown and rads because Fallout. It would have been better with a tighter focus. As it is, it tries to do too much and suffers for it.
Yeah, I'd agree with the comments that this is a VN and not an RPG. But it's fine as a VN - it's engaging, with good art and music, but definitely linear. If you like Vamp, or even just urban fantasy, you'll enjoy yourself. Just don't expect RPG mechanics to influence how things play out.
Really cool ideas in this game, but limited in how you can 'practice' and get used to the different systems present - there are goals for each run, lots of guns, budgeting concerns, but the campaign funnels you into only a few levels that you don't get a good sense of how to get good at those systems before you have to start over. I feel like it would have benefited a lot by giving players some different options in getting to the goal. Didn't have any stuttering, and liked the presentation, just don't like beating my head against the wall without learning why.
I'm coming at this game as an old-school *PC* RPG player - a lot of old-school Ultima, Might & Magic, and Gold Box games. So, I was excited about Nox Archaist. It is definitely an RPG in the Ultima tradition, with keyword conversations and one-PC created, and a party you build up as you explore top-down overworlds, towns, and dungeons. It does bring a lot of neat features to the table - a good beginning, an updated interface (including a quest journal!), and opens up quickly. I don't feel like there's a lot that needs to be updated, though the feel is definitely nostalgic, and you have to get used to the keyboard shortcuts. That said, the game itself was built on an Apple II, which is a system I never had. I think part of the enjoyment is the nostalgia that the system itself brings, but I just don't have that nostalgia even if the style of game is familiar. I find some parts of the interface pretty clunky, like the response time to keypresses and the green/purple offsets. I don't blame younger players for not liking older titles for similar reasons (graphics, input methods), so I feel obligated to note them, even if I do really like the game underneath these issues. It seems silly to have complaints and still give a 5/5, but I think with some caveats there's a great game here for the right player.
A lot of reviews bring in outside reasons for giving this game a low score, which I find a little odd. I have to say, I think THIS GAME, RIGHT NOW, is wonderful and just as fun and interesting as the original Planescape: Torment and is absolutely worth your money. I expect most people are going to be familiar with the style of gameplay, so specific to Tides of Numenera, the systems that allow for spending pool points to accomplish things you're interested in really work well - you can pick and choose what goals you have in mind, rather than finding out mid-conversation or mid-combat that you can't follow that choice. Combat, I could take or leave, just as I could in the original. It does some interesting things and honestly my takeaway is that it's best to spread out your points; concentrate on one area if you like but don't short-change your other aspects. I found the characters fascinating as well; one thing the original Planescape: Torment and Torment: Tides of Numenera do well is to have regular people struggling to survive in this bizarre landscape, where something you find while scavenging might kill you or make you a god. Your relationships are all about dealing with this aspect of the world, and you have choices about how you deal with it and how you help your companions deal with it. I think anyone who's enjoyed Planescape: Torment will enjoy this game - it is rich with imagery and depth, and demanding in all the right ways. Personally, I think it surpasses the original in a lot of respects, but even if you don't think so, it's a damn good game.
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine lets you wander continental America during the Great Depression. The main goal is to meet with other travelers and learn their stories, and share smaller stories that you collect in different regions. The regions also have their own soundtrack, which is excellent - the songs do end up repeating a lot, but didn't become unwelcome. The smaller stories you collect do have small interactive moments, where you can guide where it goes, and they're definitely more interesting because of that. You share these stories with the characters you meet along the way. Sharing stories also lets them 'into the wild' where they might return to you in a different form. The characters are well-written and tell a lot about the time you're in. Some of them are excellent. Some are just odd, and are completely out of place - for a game that works hard at evoking a time period, it was frankly annoying to hear a story from a completely different decade. Others have commented on the travel, which does wear on you. I sunk the first eight or so hours just wandering, collecting stories, meeting people, and really enjoying myself. After a while, you have to 'finish up' by finding characters as they wander, but there's no easy way to do so. The routes are tedious, dangerous for no reason, and usually if I had a bug (there are a few) one of these shortcuts was involved. And by the way! The character in the intro is another character you have to tell stories to - the ending seems to be different depending on how often you encounter him during the game and at the end. I only saw him at the end, didn't have any other chances to interact with him, and got a really basic ending ("Hope you enjoyed yourself!") that left me wondering what happened. You don't get to go back and work on a better ending - that's it. So the stories told are excellent, but you'll need to go into it with some spoilers, and a lot of patience, to enjoy yourself.
