I have acquired thousands of games over my nearly four decades of life. Very few remain in my memory long after finishing them. Most are simply pleasant clones of greater games that came before. For instance: Betrayal at Krondor- for its narrative and character building. Rome Total War- for its ease of use and brilliant strategy gameplay Fallout- for its post apocalyptic feel and weight of choices Fallout 3- for its amazing 3D open worlds Disco Elysium was amazing. Perhaps best was the narrative - the story is largely advanced by your characters inner monologue-which is directly influenced by how you build your character. My guy was totally logical so that is the game I got. If I reroll as a psychological basket case that will be a totally different game. Or rather the narrative will be presented to me very differently and dialog options will be different and likely I would get to experience different things. This brings me to character building. At first I thought the system was mental. Where is my familiar strength, dexterity and intelligence? What the F is “espirit de corps” and “shivers?” Where do I put my points?! Over time I learned and realized the “old” systems simply inform how your character fights. The Disco system relegates how your Character solves problems. Speaking of problems - I never thought I would be looking at two dialogue options, trying to decide which to pick, while my heart begins to race. What I decide will affect this world in a real way. The world itself is purely fiction with obvious references to the real world. The way the world presents itself to your character is not really new (amnesia is how many rpgs start) but it is done with such delegate gradualness. This works because the world, while like our own, is different in weird mystical ways that are surprising to the player as well as the character. This game is art. This game is fun. This game is important. For the reasons stated above it is in the top 5 of thousands.
Neat concept - nice tech tree - campaign is good - survival is awsome. I think they could have used the hero's better in the campaign. It is a shame hero's are not on the base building maps.
You could also call it a more in-depth survival Mount and Blade. Classification is hard with this one. My first goal was to create a manufacturing concern - maybe run a few caravans to sell my products. Well I quickly learned that to be profitable I would need to be near the raw materials. So I set up shop in the wilds next to some nice mining sites. Oh - hello bandits and wild animal. Ok. So I needed to set up defenses and have a few guards for my drudges. Ok cool so everyone is hungry. So I need some farmers. Also now that I have a big enough operation the local authorities want to tax me. Ok I guess - but take care of the bandits. They don't. By now I am relativly self sufficient and my manufacturing concern is a town more impressive than the Capital cities. I stop paying tax because the city state won't kill bandits. Now I am a small nation. The technology tree is making my small nation look impressive. I can manufacture gear for my soldiers. I send expiditions to far-away. Find new things. Anyway all that was in Beta on Steam. Haven't played this gem since. The Game is missing some kind of ground leveling mechanic. I find it maddening building in the hills.
Would have paid full price for this one.
This game draws you in. Choices matter. I loved Fallout 2 back in the day. This game adds better camera controls, interface and graphics. This game also goes back to a time when character progression was a priority. If you improve the wrong skills you will have a hard time beating the game. The perk system on this game is also neat. I found the crafting system to be a little clunky and I wish they had developed factions more. The value of this game relating to the price is amazing. I would have paid $40 and been happy. I cannot wait for a sequel.
The game is awesome, and GOG is awesome for bringing it. If you liked playing this with a mouse please read on: The versions sold here are limited to 320 resolution, will not have voice overs for the mission briefings, and most of the in mission verbiage. The only mouse compatible versions are the old 94 one. There is another version not (yet) offered by GoG that is the 95 CD-ROM DOS version that allows mouse or joystick, full resolution, good audio and voice acting. I paid the money for these version unaware. (I would have thrown my money at GoG anyway in thanks). But now you know. Cheers.
