So, uh, Pow-Wow I is better than Decent IV?
I hope the Duck Helmet was at least a Pow-Wow VI, maybe even reaching towards a Granfalloon I.
Things I read about this game early on sounded cool… But actual gameplay videos I’ve seen of it look bad.
That sure is an outfit.
Correct.
Not always. The “if not” construction can also be used to imply that the writer believes that what follows is true but the reader may not agree. Something like, “the greatest since X, if not the greatest of all time,” say.
I am now livestreaming this, starting from the beginning in a New Game+, if anyone wants a first-hand look.
EDIT: Here’s all two and a half hours of me faffing about not accomplishing much:
-Tom
I refunded my pre-order. Not because I was spooked by the bad reviews so much as that, from the reviewers like Tom who clearly express what they found lacking in the game, I could tell the thing would drive me nuts. It simply isn’t worth $64 to me.
Lol hearing Tom make the gibberish noises from characters in the game is awesome.
Tom’s play is making me more interested in the game.
There has to be a typo in here somewhere.
Btw, one star should be reserved for games that crash or otherwise don’t work. A game that runs should get a minimum of three stars. It’s the law.
Completely discard the 2-star rating entirely. Somewhere, an IGN editor nods in approval.
Art/graphics, as always:
Set visuals to stun.
Oh, the visuals are fabulous in screenshots, and the whimsey in the game is very appealing. I plan to pick it up when a) it has been subjected to the usual round of patches and updates; and 2) it is on sale.
The game looks gorgeous, if not fantastic. But not much game to it? Ok, moving on to my backlog.
Really enjoyed catching this afterwards on Youtube! Sorry to see the game is a mess, especially since I enjoyed the concept and colorful art direction.
This is NOT a defense of the game as I haven’t played it. It’s not a criticism of Tom’s or any other review, as they are all interesting reads. It’s not an effort to get people to keep their preorders.
FFS, pre-ordering games in the digital age is rather foolish in most circumstances. Rather, this is just a counterpoint to what seems to be a growing momentum of critique.
The game looks fun to me, even after watching a good bit of Tom’s or playthrough. Perhaps that’s due to a different set of expectations I had going in than most; it’s an ARPG. That makes me think Diablo, Titan Quest, Grim Dawn and Borderlands. None if those have a complex storyline and all have weaknesses in their execution yet have been exceedingly fun.
Interesting environment, massive loot and crafting system, lots of combat, character builds. This game adds a light version of a Bioware-style morality system and some decision-making moments. It being an ARPG, I don’t expect much from either of those but I am happy they exist.
Tom isn’t the only one who points out valid flaws, such as collecting so much money it becomes meaningless, leaning on favorite techniques instead of using the full assortment available to you, the problem of getting a really good piece of loot early, too many potions, the one-hazmat-suit-for-each-environment slog and others. However, these seem to come with the ARPG territory in varying degrees. Some seem to exist by design in order to provide a difficulty cushion and encourage “risk taking” by reducing the actual risk involved or engaging with the merchants if that’s your thing. Others, such as favorite abilities and weapons, seem a part of basic ARPG design.
We have plenty of Grim Dawn fans on the forum; how many switch up weapons on a frequent basis or is it just when you stumble across something better? Do you use every active skill you can potentially purchase or focus on the most fun and/or useful? Do you keep certain armor and relics with high specific resistances for special bosses to come? I know my answers, and I can only assume I’m not alone.
Anyway, the game may still suck, but my hope hasn’t been dampened yet.
So yeah, I just streamed this for two hours, and that’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back. This is TERRIBLE. I feel bad because you could tell they’re trying, but OMG in those two hours I think I actually PLAYED the game for about thirty minutes. SO MANY CUTSCENES.
I think my biggest problem is the way they handle dialogue. There’s a nonsense, animal language, which is fine, but then there’s lovely-voiced translator that reads everything to you, the player, in English, so you basically hear everything twice and IT IS SUCH A WASTE OF FUCKING TIME. This game loves to waste my time, really. I think it does. It’s so PROUD of its worldbuilding and dialogue that I’m at a point where I DON’T CARE.
And y’all aren’t Lewis Carroll, stop with the poorly-made-up nonsense words. What the fuck is a “Vanquisition”?! GAH I’m so angry at the time I just wasted with this.
I had a moment of serendipity yesterday with Tom’s streams embedded above. I only had a brief moment to watch and hit play on the Twitch one which had trouble loading. So then I hit play on the Youtube one and that started playing.
This was exactly at the moment of Tomsplaining about the annoying animal language you hear while the English narrator translates over the first voiceover. So Tom was explaining this dual VO and I heard Tom’s voice twice layered over each other with one track having a slight delay. So at least 2 Tom’s talking over animal gibberish and the narrator (4 voice lines running at once!).
I thought that was a really clever effect to drive home his point as he multilayered his voice to also sound annoying across 2 or more tracks. Then I realized that the Twitch embed finally loaded and started playing so I had both the Youtube and Twitch videos running at the same time.
What I thought was planned and intentional was just a moment of idiocy on my part. It seemed so perfect though.