So, new game from Paradox and Obsidian is out. Tyranny is also an isometric RPG, rather similar to Pillars of Eternity, only you start out working for the evil empire that has pretty much won.

As someone who really wanted to but never quite manged to get into PoE, I'm enjoying this a lot more. Mainly the start is a lot more engaging. Character creation is a lot more dynamic and the story and worldbuilding are also a lot more welcoming. In Pillars, I never got that far mainly because there was nothing really happening that drew me in. No side characters, nothing interesting story wise, and not the main character.

In Tyranny, you start out as an Inquisitor of the evil overlord who has come to make the two generals who are dragging their feet via infighting during the rebellion of the newly conquered region get their gears into motion. It's immediately clear who you are, what role you played before the story started thanks to the great character creation and the decisions you made there and this new fantasy world is immediately accessible. You grasp rather quickly who everyone is, what they want and how to engage with them.

Only about five hours in, combat seems to be relatively the same but I am enjoying the spell creation and that you can play hybrid characters.

So, yeah, really liking it so far. Anyone else trying this? Played this at a friends, really thinking about buying this one.

 

I haven't bought it yet, but I've been following it for a few months. Still in the middle of my SEE playthrough, but this will be next.

It looks cool. PoE engine, Obsidian are veterans of isometric classical rpgs, the setting being that you're evil, that indeed, evil has already conquered the world, is fascinating. I was initially interested just cause of that.

The critical path is shorter than before (devs said about 20-25 hours, with full completion around 35), but it boasts massive replayability. The conquest mode in the beginning, choosing how the war went. Disfavored or Scarlet Chorus, working for or against Kyros, going liked or feared with your companions - just with what's been shown in the previews, I can clearly see at least two playthroughs.

You liked Baldur's Gate, Planescape, NWN, Divinity, Pillars? This should be a natural buy.

 

I'm 7 hours in so far and regretting buying this game. almost everything is in my opinion worse, the atmosphere is worse, there are female soldiers everywhere because of muh modern feels, combat is simplified garbage compared to PoE and is much easier as well, no need to micromanage at all or manage anything except your maincharacter. The biggest failure are the companions. Almost all of them are garbage. The only one that is bearable is the quill-wizard guy. None of them are memorable like durance and eder. Also not sure if I can create my own companions like in PoE, it would allow me to at least have a person to give my 2-handed weapons.

The setting also merits mentioning. The whole evil has won should provide interesting situations but the writing just isn't up to it. There are some situations where the dialogue is good, but there are also a lot of times when there is just bad dialogue and the evil choices are just you being edgy. The game feels like it was written by 21st century people applying their values on a game that should be set in the bronze age.

The positives are better animations, the spell creation and the new leveling system.

This turned out to be a rant, but as a person who enjoyed PoE, I'm just not feeling the same about this game. Although I just talked about how much worse the game is compared to its predecessor, it still is a decent game.

 

The first five or so hours is absolutely amazing.

You are an emissary of a higher power. Your master is respected and second only to Kyros himself. You bring unto the world Edicts that shake the world. You are a mediator of all problems, respected throughout the land, repressed as it is. All castes bring their issues to you to resolve; they agree to take whatever decision you deem fit.

But the people you have to mediate are higher than that. They are Archons, almost on the same level of your master, who is the most respected of all Archons. They are masters of War and Secrets, and they are superior to you in all respects, yet respect you. This is where they make a perfect balance that is absolutely amazing. You are between these two powerhouses, below them yet above them, balancing their grudge and eternal hatred of one another.

It's a strange, strange world. The bronze age theme is amazing and pays off dividends thematically.

But after the first five to six hours, it loses that special spark. You have chosen your side. You have either thrown the dice and done the gambit, betraying your master, or favored one side and locked into them entirely. Or, of course, you have been neutral against all odds, sandwiched in the middle. From here, you are locked into a few paths. You can switch your path, but there is no longer the nebulous, incredible balancing that so endeared me in the first hours.

You become less of a Fatebinder and more of an adventurer; except this world is the bronze age. There are no great dragons, few dungeons of note, no fantastical creatures and great deeds. The spires are interesting, but not enough to fill.

It's a good game, don't get me wrong. But the first five hours outstripped anything else that it has to muster, and that saddens me greatly.

 

I'm honestly curious how that works because I just can't imagine Western RPGs that aren't heavily influenced by it. What I'm asking is how that influence works?

 

There's a difference between being influenced by D&D and being a strictly worse copy of it. Any game that tries to advertise that it has "lots of choices that impact the game" runs the risk of feeling like a shitty knock-off because they also tend to railroad you. A good DM means you're never railroaded to run their plot, but they still get their story told too. It's not so much "every choice matters" that is important, but you have the perspective that you are being given the illusion of choice, and also that you can differentiate between small decisions (do i save the beggar and give him some money? or let him die?) but also have large ones that do matter. The dichotomy of having small and large decisions is also important to the player experience.

It's very satisfying to have those choices, and give your character a chance to be human. Especially if you play lawful good characters, the hardest (but best) part of playing those character is making 'mistakes' to avoid being either omniscient good or lawful dumb.

 

Okay, I've seen this game out on GoG and I was wondering if it was worth a purchase? Should I get it at full price, wait for a summer sale or keep away? Should I wait for expansions or DLC to flesh things out? The concept itself interested me but I wouldn't like to end up disappointed.

 

Finally got and finished Tyranny.

It was pretty good. Short, rushed, but decent enough. I was honestly surprised that there were 4 routes, each with their fairly unique plotline, though you end up in the same areas a lot.

The characters were good. All the Archons were interesting, as was the mystery of Kyros. The plot could have been better, but I was riding along just fine. The companions were above average. There were less, but they were more interesting than in PoE, I think. The AI was utter garbage (as usual).

The combat was fun. Unbalanced, but very fun and free. I enjoyed both the mage, warrior and uber broken op buffer mage-warrior. I didn't get bored of it, which I consider a blessing in a crpg.

The game could definitely have used more polishing. Act 3 was short, the routes excluded you from too many areas, and the maps were too small. The skill training system could do with an overhaul. The gear pool was tiny and ugly and too rng reliant.

Overall 8/10. Fun and worth the time. I had two false starts worth ~10 hours total, and my initial 100% (or as close to it as I could get) playthrough took about 25 hours. My MC got to level 21 (soft cap) in late Act 2, while the rest of the party were 10-11. He mopped up everything and made combat a joke.

 

In a break from the days shitposting, the silence on the future of Tyranny has finally been broken with the announcement of the first piece of DLC

I for one am hyped as fuck, already planning my next playthrough for the new content.

 

Classic paradox content

 

Paradox should just stop charging for portraits . I can understand cash for actual content but charging for art is just a ripoff in my not so humble opinion .