Tyranny - a worthwhile RPG story
I started, but never finished Pillars of Eternity, probably mostly because of how there's not enough motivation for the main struggle for most of the length of the game I had played. Tyranny, another game of very similar mechanical style, had a much stronger grip on me for all my initial play-through. The game style is still "old but functional." It looks good for what it is, at least, and sounds good with a decent amount of voiced lines, but still lotsof text. Where it truly shines, though, is in building up the setting.
The world has been virtually conquered by Kyros' forces, with the last little region falling under official control in the prelude that helps define your character's history and establish ties with that corner of the world. Kyros him/herself is never on-screen, and even if you ask people Kyros' gender, you get evasive non-answers. The Overlord is a force in the background, not a character in the game. And that's fine. So, under this totalitarian regime, you play a Fatebinder - one reviewer made a good comparison to the Judges of Judge Dredd, as in service to Kyros' Archon of law (or justice, but I think it was law), you have wide latitude in action. It's in-setting justification for all sorts of things an RPG usually calls upon the PC to do - settling differences of opinion, siding with a faction to strengthen it or fight others, and execute people on the spot. It works well.
Part of what I really like is the mythos involving magic of the setting. Kyros' Archons all have exceptional powers of some sort, such as a general who can protect/heal his soldiers from wounds. Kyros him/herself can enact Edicts, sending a Fatebinder to pronounce a magical ultimatum that, until met, curses an entire region in some way. The game opens with the PC delivering such an Edict to two squabbling Archon generals competing with one another more than quelling a little rebellion - claim the central tower hall in 8 days or everyone in the region dies.
As the game goes on, it's revealed that such great magical powers seem to be self-fulfilling in a sense. As reputation of ability grows, so too does that ability. Belief in an Archon's (or Overlord's) power seems to make them more powerful. And as the PC gains some power, there's encouragement there to forge a reputation - be it based on loyalty or fear. Or both. Magically, there are also reputation tracks with other characters, items, and factions that can unlock abilities. It all meshes together so nicely, and can be very thought-provoking at times. I love that.
The morality in the game is very "grey." For my first run, I went in trying to save lives and be merciful in general, but what is mercy? When facing a rebel fighting against impossible odds to free his homeland, is it merciful to offer to let him switch sides or to fight and put him down "honorably?" There's no real option to wave a hand and let everyone go free - especially with magical death looming at the beginning. Do you side with the elite army that wants to burn a town to prevent a threat from behind, or the chaotic army that wants to forcibly conscript the inhabitants. In many situations, my gut was leaning toward "you all suck, screw you." ;) I found that novel and interesting a lot of the time. In fact, one of the most thought-proking such choice was actually forbidden to me, locked out by earlier choices, but...
Would I/my character kill a baby in order to end an Edict? It's a horrible act, but it would make an entire region habitable after years of horrible storms. What's that worth?
Some of the choices involved push the story along differing paths. The destination looks about the same, from what I can gather, but it's easy to see doing two or more play-throughs of the game to see how things go.
On the down side... The third act feels very short, with a lot of previous locations cut off. And the engine isn't really designed well for "boss fights," which mostly boil down to dealing with opponents that take longer to burn down coupled with waves of adds to deal with. Some of them are suitably difficult, but don't feel like an accomplishment so much as just a longer fight. And overall, the story of the game feels like this first book in a series. The conclusion ties up some things, but really feels like the beginning of something much, much larger.
The world has been virtually conquered by Kyros' forces, with the last little region falling under official control in the prelude that helps define your character's history and establish ties with that corner of the world. Kyros him/herself is never on-screen, and even if you ask people Kyros' gender, you get evasive non-answers. The Overlord is a force in the background, not a character in the game. And that's fine. So, under this totalitarian regime, you play a Fatebinder - one reviewer made a good comparison to the Judges of Judge Dredd, as in service to Kyros' Archon of law (or justice, but I think it was law), you have wide latitude in action. It's in-setting justification for all sorts of things an RPG usually calls upon the PC to do - settling differences of opinion, siding with a faction to strengthen it or fight others, and execute people on the spot. It works well.
Part of what I really like is the mythos involving magic of the setting. Kyros' Archons all have exceptional powers of some sort, such as a general who can protect/heal his soldiers from wounds. Kyros him/herself can enact Edicts, sending a Fatebinder to pronounce a magical ultimatum that, until met, curses an entire region in some way. The game opens with the PC delivering such an Edict to two squabbling Archon generals competing with one another more than quelling a little rebellion - claim the central tower hall in 8 days or everyone in the region dies.
As the game goes on, it's revealed that such great magical powers seem to be self-fulfilling in a sense. As reputation of ability grows, so too does that ability. Belief in an Archon's (or Overlord's) power seems to make them more powerful. And as the PC gains some power, there's encouragement there to forge a reputation - be it based on loyalty or fear. Or both. Magically, there are also reputation tracks with other characters, items, and factions that can unlock abilities. It all meshes together so nicely, and can be very thought-provoking at times. I love that.
The morality in the game is very "grey." For my first run, I went in trying to save lives and be merciful in general, but what is mercy? When facing a rebel fighting against impossible odds to free his homeland, is it merciful to offer to let him switch sides or to fight and put him down "honorably?" There's no real option to wave a hand and let everyone go free - especially with magical death looming at the beginning. Do you side with the elite army that wants to burn a town to prevent a threat from behind, or the chaotic army that wants to forcibly conscript the inhabitants. In many situations, my gut was leaning toward "you all suck, screw you." ;) I found that novel and interesting a lot of the time. In fact, one of the most thought-proking such choice was actually forbidden to me, locked out by earlier choices, but...
Would I/my character kill a baby in order to end an Edict? It's a horrible act, but it would make an entire region habitable after years of horrible storms. What's that worth?
Some of the choices involved push the story along differing paths. The destination looks about the same, from what I can gather, but it's easy to see doing two or more play-throughs of the game to see how things go.
On the down side... The third act feels very short, with a lot of previous locations cut off. And the engine isn't really designed well for "boss fights," which mostly boil down to dealing with opponents that take longer to burn down coupled with waves of adds to deal with. Some of them are suitably difficult, but don't feel like an accomplishment so much as just a longer fight. And overall, the story of the game feels like this first book in a series. The conclusion ties up some things, but really feels like the beginning of something much, much larger.
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