It’s so important in game design to be willing to see problems like that and do something about it, to focus on whether different aspects are FUN. Jake is the creative director for Midnight Suns and they had a similar thing there, where the initial version of the face was trying to be Xcom with supers and it was awful.
The trailer didn’t wow me, but it also didn’t dissuade me. It really looks like Pathfinder in a different setting, which to me is a good thing as it’ll make it easy to get into.
I need to see all the other stuff that made the Pathfinder games so fun to play (and replay). Gameplay/combat is one thing, but story, dialogue, character design, builds, etc, all need to come together for this one. For me, that gameplay is probably one of the least interesting aspects.
I just hope there isn’t any kind of crusade / kingdom mechanic.
I would imagine something to do with the ship is almost guaranteed.
Just like the previous games, it’s $99 for the version of the game that comes with Alpha access. I think this looks amazing, but I still will probably skip Alpha. Beta might be a different story, I admit.
Yeah, I’ll be there for 1.0 as well. :)
(Just friendly ribbing at the developer, not meant to be taken in a negative way at all)
I’ll play the alpha.
Fextralife has played the Alpha a bit and although his overall impression is positive, there is a shipboard battle aspect that he absolutely hates. I haven’t been following this closely so I liked seeing this mini summary of the Alpha (I’m waiting for it to bake for a bit more before I dive in).
PartyElite fires up the alpha, creates some characters, and gets into a battle. If you’re interested, this will give you a decent grasp of the state of the alpha as they release it.
Here’s another extended game play video:
It reminds me a lot of Fallout, especially the interface.
For a different perspective, Splattercat did a short peek at the game, and while I don’t believe got very far in the game, he knows a ton about the Warhammer 40 K universe. I was intrigued hearing him expound about the universe and put a lot of the demo in the context of the universe. I found his knowledge and explanations really interesting.
This guy seems pretty positive on the ship combat. Hopefully it works out better for them than Pillars of Eternity 2’s swashbuckling did! Pathfinder: Kingmaker is the game that made me fall out of love with traditional-style CRPGs, but the combat I’m glancing at, and the anything-but-generic-fantasy-god-please setting, might make me pick this one up.
But what were his “utterly shocking findings?!”
That SEO and catchy titles are a sonofabitch?
But really, I guess he just liked everything, with extra special mention to the music (you can listen to it uninterrupted at the end, it really is quite good). I don’t watch as many videos like this anymore, but I’ve seen enough from him over the years that him being positive about the whole package is surprising, if not shocking.
I posted this directly above your post :)
Doh! They need to identify the creator in those thumbnails.
These impressions videos are a fun watch. I know that WH40K isn’t even nearly in the same ballpark, but I get a bit of a Mass Effect vibe from the space travel and exploration parts. Always a plus in my book.
This is a surprisingly well put together alpha, especially for Owlcat. The music is fantastic. The characters sound like they have most of their barks.
Still not sure how I feel about an RPG system created by a company that doesn’t make RPGs and has long been out of print, but we’ll see…