Victor Vran - Tropico devs take on Van Helsing

Yes, I am very aware of this because I was one of the ones who asked the developers to add mouse movement which was not initially supported. Kudos for them listening :)

Well, no, not exactly. Take Mass Effect, which is third person. Yes, you can use the keyboard to move in these 4 directions but you are always pointing in the direction that your mouse is moved to. I can move my mouse any number of degrees to either side and press the E key and I will go there. You use your mouse to pan and set direction. Same for a third person RPG like Deus Ex Revolution - your character faces in the direction of your mouse.

But many games that use a keyboard don’t do this. Take for example “Guns and Zombies” or “How to Survive”. Using strictly a key board, what if I want to go in a diagonal direction to my right? I have to use some combination E and D which is not precise at all. My character does not point in the direction of my mouse. He instead points in the direction of the keys, which is totally awkward. It really just must be me because I find this pretty much impossible for me to play this way :)

I see. To me the scale that ARGPs like this one play at (as in the view distance / size of your character), intercardinal directions feel fine to me, since the mouse still functions as the point for targeting. I see your point, but in situations where the 8 points of movement aren’t enough, I find analog sticks work well. To me, “mouse cursor for everything” is plagued with issues, but to each their own. I’m just glad a new game implemented control schemes I prefer on PC (I don’t have a console to play D3 with it’s clearly superior controls :D).

The dodge roll makes me think of Dungeon Siege 3 with better mechanics. How is the bonus/optional attack timing system?

Confirmed by the devs. It is Doug Cockle, the US/UK voice of Geralt.

Total Biscuit just released a WTF is… video for Victor Vran.

It sounds like this is more involved from an actiony standpoint than Diablo. Is that correct?

Dungeon Siege 3 with better mechanics is not a bad description, though it’s one I’d avoid if only for the bad rep Dungeon Siege 3 got (mostly undeserved, I might add).

As for Victor Vran… it’s awesome. The emphasis on mobility and tactical use of abilities gives it a very special flow that most ARPGs lack. I bought Grim Dawn during the Steam sale and it’s been gathering digital dust, because, when I want to play an ARPG, I’d rather be playing Victor Vran. ;)

I’m not putting this in my backlog yet, but I’m definitely sold. Light brawler mechanics, and that boss fight in the TotalBiscuit video almost looked like an arena shooter. Seems like mostly an action RPG with some fun mashup mechanics.

This is starting to look interesting. I will await impressions eagerly. I have to admit I find it pretty cool that there’s jumping and some verticality in the short video I watched.

I’m very keen on it at this point. It reminds me a bit of Sacred 2 in a post Diablo III world. If you’re into action RPGs, I think you’re going to want this.

-Tom

Ah well, that does it. Resistance is futile.

Yup. I’ve only played a couple of hours (with a controller) so far, but this is surprisingly good.

I don’t know how much replayability this will have, but it seems like a decent romp for the price.

I really like Victor Vran a lot, but man… You’re missing out on Grim Dawn. It’s apples and oranges even for ARPGS – Vran is hyperkinetic and colorful and has amazing action in terms of mobility and responsiveness but Grim Dawn is my preferred game at the moment in terms of tone, character customization, and mechanical depth.

I don’t doubt it, but right now, Victor Vran is the ARPG I want to play. Grim Dawn will have its moment. ;)

Grim Dawn currently has some pretty bad micro-freeze issues for me. It briefly pauses every time you pick something up, also when scrolling around occasionally. Assuming it’s not just me, I’m waiting until nearer to release to hammer that.

Plus, it’s not done, which is keeping me from playing a lot of it.

I haven’t had any tech issues like that on my three machines that I’ve been playing it on (my wife co-ops with me by LAN as well).

I don’t want to hijack this thread with GD evangelism so I’ll shyuddup aside from just enthusiastically mentioning that I’ve put in about 59 hours since it hit early release and it’s one of the only ER games that I’ve been willing to play in order to see it at various stages of development (Darkest Dungeons is the other). Looks like you won’t have to wait for long as main game is slated to release by year’s end. Just three and a half years after I kickstarted it. ;-)

Odd, as my machine is far from low-end and ill-maintained. :/ Still, I have dabbled a bit and look forward to playing it properly once it’s out. :)