They have changed/improved the enemy AI so that they go after your squishy characters more. It's actually kind of annoying since it makes many of the battles way too similar since you have to fight at choke points. And it makes some of the older strategies of having a druid or wizard sneaking behind the enemy to cast a cone shaped spell like fan of flames almost impossible to pull off since they'll get slaughtered if they aren't behind your tanks all the time.
The game's system also encourages min maxing more than many other RPG's I've played. I think the worst attribute is dexterity, if you want to invest in it you basically have to max it to have any noticeable effect. And it's hard to make characters that are good at more than one thing. Like you can't really make a tank that uses two handed weapons since even a small shield can give you up to 26 defense when fully enchanted and with the sword and shield talent.
Very, very strong C&C focus (under 20 hours, so maybe Alpha Protocol+ level)
Tyranny uses a classless RPG system. While you still level up with experience points, you grow your skills with magic and weapons by actually using them. If you're hoping to resolve conflicts through persuasion, intimidation, or other speech-based methods, you'll gain experience and new abilities through dialogue, too. Combat works similarly to Pillars of Eternity: real-time with pause, so you can issue commands to your companions. And the relationships you form with your companions will play a role in combat as well.
"For combat, we've built on top of the foundation that Pillars of Eternity has set. And we wanted to do that in meaningful ways," Singh says. "So, we recognized that people really enjoyed building relationships with companions, and we thought 'What if we took that into combat as well?' To do that, we've actually introduced some new abilities that are really powerful called companion combos. Companion combos are devastating abilities that can either work as great openers or even change the tide of battle, and you gain these from building your relationship with your companions."
I saw one such combo being used, called Death From Above. During a skirmish, our Fatebinder used a magic-infused punch to strike the ground at the feet of one of his companions. The companion, as if on a springboard, shot up into the air and launched a barrage of arrows that rained down over a group of enemies.
The more you develop these relationships, the better a fighting team your party will become. This even includes companions you don't get along with. "You can actually get unique abilities depending on if they really love you or they hate you," said Singh. "You have some different advantages for either of those."
I asked why not getting along with a companion would still result in gaining special combos. "Sometimes pissing somebody off gets you the reward you want as opposed to making them like you," explained Brian Hines, Tyranny's Game Director.
That's true of the player's reputation with non-party NPCs as well. "Not only does the reputation that you gain with factions control how people view you but it also gains you new abilities," said Singh. "You actually get different abilities if a faction sees you in a good light or not. So if somebody's angry with you, you can actually push them more towards [anger] and actually gain unique abilities for doing so. Same with being on their good side."
The shift is most immediately obvious in the art style. While Tyranny has that same isometric angle and a familiar interface, both the way the world is conveyed as well as its actual setting are very different. It’s more stylised, pushing out of the semi-realistic medieval Europe that has served as fantasy’s home for so long, towards bigger weapons, flashier magic and an early Iron Age tech level.
“We thought [Pillars] was a really gorgeous game but we wanted to go in a different direction on this one,” explains lead producer Matthew Singh. “We took a stylised approach to both our characters and our environments and gave it more of a mediterranean feel, which we thought would give us a unique world. In addition, we wanted to get away from the settings that you're used to so instead we actually [put] it towards the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. It was a very brutal time and it helps us tell the stories that we want to about human greed and corruption, so we thought it was a cool place to do it.”
"In our game," said Singh, "within character creation, we actually let the player decide how that conquest happened, and based off the decisions that you make there, you actually shape the starting state of the world. And so, depending on those choices you're actually going to get a very different experience."
I saw some evidence of this during the demo. Our Fatebinder visited a town called Plainsgate, in a land that was devastated by powerful magic during the war. Plainsgate used to be a flourishing farming community that bore crops and could feed thousands, but post-war it's become barren and is constantly rocked by earthquakes.
In another game we visited the same town, though due to different choices made during character creation the events of the war had played out differently. In this game the conflict in Plainsgate had been much more severe, and the land was even more damaged by magic to the point where a portion of the town had actually crumbled into a chasm. It's name was even different: in this reality, it was called Halfgate.
More than just the landscape was changed due to the choices made at the start of the game. In one instance, we were allied with a faction called the Scarlet Chorus, one of Kyros' many armies which served him during the war. In the second playthrough, the Scarlet Chorus considered the Fatebinder to be an enemy. While both the Fatebinder, the Scarlet Chorus, and other factions serve the Overlord, it clearly doesn't mean everyone gets along.
A player's choices at the beginning of the game can also determine which quests they'll take on. On the trip to Plainsgate we were looking for a half-human prisoner called a Beastman who might have information on how to break the magic spells that had been cast over the land and restore it to its past farming glory. In the Halfgate version, however, we were there to kill the Beastman. These types of changes brought on by player choices while creating their character are one way Obsidian is hoping to make the game a different experience on subsequent playthroughs.
But it’s not. Breaking with tradition once more, Obsidian says Tyranny is probably somewhere under or around twenty hours. In other words: It’s Alpha Protocol sized. Something you’re actually likely to replay.
Tyranny looks great. I like that they've got some interesting ideas that they're using as a framework for how the game intrinsically works. I hope they feel they have the time and budget to fully flesh out the features they're talking about. The Plainsgate bit sounds fantastic.
In Pillars news, I went ahead and made that Melee Mage I've been thinking about. It's early days yet (Haven't started on the Caed Nua part of the critical path yet), but so far it's a hilariously overpowered build. Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff just does massive damage with a high might, and since it's a reach weapon I'm perfectly comfortable with light armor. I don't remember the exact numbers, but my build is high might, 10 dex, 14 or so perception and maybe 16 or so in Int with the rest at base 10. I took Arcane Veil in case something wants to get scrappy, but so far haven't really needed it.
As the build progresses, I'm focusing on self buffs and touch spells as kind of a roleplay restriction. I never really got the chance to use many of these spells seriously, so it's going to be a bit different. So far the fun thing is noticing the difference between a high might mage and Aloth. In simple terms, playing them together it feels like Aloth is tossing around softballs and my little dwarf is fastballing bricks.
The more you develop these relationships, the better a fighting team your party will become. This even includes companions you don't get along with. "You can actually get unique abilities depending on if they really love you or they hate you," said Singh. "You have some different advantages for either of those."
I asked why not getting along with a companion would still result in gaining special combos. "Sometimes pissing somebody off gets you the reward you want as opposed to making them like you," explained Brian Hines, Tyranny's Game Director.
That's true of the player's reputation with non-party NPCs as well. "Not only does the reputation that you gain with factions control how people view you but it also gains you new abilities," said Singh. "You actually get different abilities if a faction sees you in a good light or not. So if somebody's angry with you, you can actually push them more towards [anger] and actually gain unique abilities for doing so. Same with being on their good side."
Oh man. This sounds like a really awesome evolution of Alpha Protocol and Pillars' relationship systems.
Anyone can tell something about 3 new companions from White March? Are they better than vanila companions, worse, or we get more of the same?
The Monk and the Barbarian are about equal to the other companions in terms of usefulness in combat. The rogue is not as good since you can't remove her armor, which is equivalent to a breastplate, and it still has the speed penalty.
Anyone can tell something about 3 new companions from White March? Are they better than vanila companions, worse, or we get more of the same?
The Monk and the Barbarian are about equal to the other companions in terms of usefulness in combat. The rogue is not as good since you can't remove her armor, which is equivalent to a breastplate, and it still has the speed penalty.
... i knew i forgot about something, i wanted to ask about their characters and depth. Are they fun to have in party and read about?
Anyone can tell something about 3 new companions from White March? Are they better than vanila companions, worse, or we get more of the same?
The Monk and the Barbarian are about equal to the other companions in terms of usefulness in combat. The rogue is not as good since you can't remove her armor, which is equivalent to a breastplate, and it still has the speed penalty.
... i knew i forgot about something, i wanted to ask about their characters and depth. Are they fun to have in party and read about?
One is a serial killer trapped inside a bronze golem, one is a monk with a lot of self-inflicted scars and a taste for hallucinogenic mushrooms and one is... one I haven't seen enough of yet, but mostly appears to be a former adventurer who's decided it's very important for people to forget things (and has a thing for Pallegina).
Personally, I kind of like the Devil of Caroc, but I can also see how she can grate on people's nerves. Zahua didn't do much for me, though I haven't seen his personal quest yet.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
So do you only get one chance to scale content?
Said no when entering white march part 2 becuase I thought it might be kind of fun to steamroll through it but kind of starting to regret that.
I got the expansions and started a new game. I really do like the lore and setting of this world. I dunno if I'd want 2 to continue on with my story though. I think I'd want a new main character.
It would be insane to put so much effort into building such a compelling world only to throw it all away after one game and two expansions. The Pillars universe is one of my all time favorite fantasy settings. I honestly feel like Obsidian owes it to their fans to keep making games in this setting.
yossarian_lives on
"I see everything twice!"
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CorehealerThe ApothecaryThe softer edge of the universe.Registered Userregular
No, they're done with this game and moving on to the next one.
But Pillars 2 might already be in development.
My impression is that they are currently focusing on making Tyranny with Paradox Interactive right now, but might be in pre-production for a theoretical Pillars 2.
It would be insane to put so much effort into building such a compelling world only to throw it all away after one game and two expansions. The Pillars universe is one of my all time favorite fantasy settings. I honestly feel like Obsidian owes it to their fans to keep making games in this setting.
I can't imagine that the writers don't have a ton of stories in their minds already. You don't create a world that deep and detailed without sketching out a million stories.
It would be insane to put so much effort into building such a compelling world only to throw it all away after one game and two expansions. The Pillars universe is one of my all time favorite fantasy settings. I honestly feel like Obsidian owes it to their fans to keep making games in this setting.
I can't imagine that the writers don't have a ton of stories in their minds already. You don't create a world that deep and detailed without sketching out a million stories.
I finally got started on Pillars of Eternity over Easter and am enjoying it quite a bit so far, mainly because it pushes all those Baldur's Gate buttons. At the same time, I'm not in love with it (yet), and I'm definitely reminded that I was never a) all that keen on D&D-style combat, possibly because b) I'm not very good at it. It's easy enough to get through the smaller-scale encounters without having to be very good at it, but I suspect I'll have to actually learn how to fight reasonably well...
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
It would be insane to put so much effort into building such a compelling world only to throw it all away after one game and two expansions. The Pillars universe is one of my all time favorite fantasy settings. I honestly feel like Obsidian owes it to their fans to keep making games in this setting.
I can't imagine that the writers don't have a ton of stories in their minds already. You don't create a world that deep and detailed without sketching out a million stories.
I finally got started on Pillars of Eternity over Easter and am enjoying it quite a bit so far, mainly because it pushes all those Baldur's Gate buttons. At the same time, I'm not in love with it (yet), and I'm definitely reminded that I was never a) all that keen on D&D-style combat, possibly because b) I'm not very good at it. It's easy enough to get through the smaller-scale encounters without having to be very good at it, but I suspect I'll have to actually learn how to fight reasonably well...
Well. In my experience there were only a few troublesome fights on Easy and they could still mostly be solved by spamming spells.
Other than that, there's always Story Mode, where enemies are less tough and the RNG actively cheats in your favour if the combat really isn't your thing.
Yeah, I'm still at the point where my ego won't allow me to go below Normal; after all, I've been playing CRPGs since the days of Bard's Tale 3 and Ultima 5. I expect to have that beaten out of me before long. As Marcellus Wallace said, "That's pride fucking with you. Fuck pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps."
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
The game system definitely encourages min-maxing but it's not vital in difficulties below Path of the Damned. However, it does get a bit tedious because you're pretty much going to be using the same tactics in almost every fight.
The game system definitely encourages min-maxing but it's not vital in difficulties below Path of the Damned. However, it does get a bit tedious because you're pretty much going to be using the same tactics in almost every fight.
Eh, yes and no. I mean, if you keep pretty much the same party and keep your guys specced for pretty much the same roles, then yeah, you'll probably be using a lot of the same tactics (because you know they work). But if you roll with different companions, use different set ups, etc, you can make parties that fight pretty differently.
I know one kind of stale habit I get into is building the party around enabling the protagonist character to be the star of the show. That's a quirk I add to the game myself, though. It's not a failing of the system in particular.
I started up again after moving on to other games right around when this first came out. I only made it to Raedric's keep. Fought through the rest of that place, and realized that combat is a lot trickier than I remember. My character is a cipher and I was using a blunderbuss, but I'm not sure that's working out as well as I thought it did before.
The game system definitely encourages min-maxing but it's not vital in difficulties below Path of the Damned. However, it does get a bit tedious because you're pretty much going to be using the same tactics in almost every fight.
Eh, yes and no. I mean, if you keep pretty much the same party and keep your guys specced for pretty much the same roles, then yeah, you'll probably be using a lot of the same tactics (because you know they work). But if you roll with different companions, use different set ups, etc, you can make parties that fight pretty differently.
I know one kind of stale habit I get into is building the party around enabling the protagonist character to be the star of the show. That's a quirk I add to the game myself, though. It's not a failing of the system in particular.
The thing is that this game really encourages specialization. With several of the classes, you can't really build a character that's good at two things. It's not like other RPG's, where not every character has to have a dedicated role. You can have some characters that fill different roles and they can compensate for each others' weaknesses. With this game, the trade off is so high that you're giving up so much from not specializing that it's very difficult to compensate for each character's weakness. This is very prominent with frontline warriors, you can't really have a tank that can use two handed weapons since you're giving up like 20 or 30 deflection without a shield, not to mention the problems you run into when trying to spread the attributes around. There's no good middle ground between offense and defense. Even if you have a character switching between a two handed weapon and weapon and shield, you'll just end up focusing on one role over the other.
Granted, you could make it work in any of the difficulties up to hard but it just makes the game so much more of a slog. I tried a few games where I made the characters that didn't specialize and it was so much worse. With the specialized party, I was able to complete quests at 2 or 3 levels lower than the non-specialized party. With the specialized party, I was able to go straight to Caed Nua and get down to the last level without too much trouble before even doing most of the Gilded Vale quests. With the non-specialized party, I had to do many of the Defiance Bay quests before the characters were strong enough to get that far down without having to constantly go back to rest or reloading a lot of battles.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Ugh...just got a point of benevolent which shames me as a bleak walker.
Scale Breaker better be worth it and finally let me kill this damn thing.
Ugh...just got a point of benevolent which shames me as a bleak walker.
Scale Breaker better be worth it and finally let me kill this damn thing.
Or you could reload a previous save and use better tactics:
I hear slapping it with a Gaze of the Adragan trap while blasting it with high level scrolls like Maelstrom and shooting it with all the guns work pretty well. I have zero shame, which means switching on god mode and sitting back.
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The game's system also encourages min maxing more than many other RPG's I've played. I think the worst attribute is dexterity, if you want to invest in it you basically have to max it to have any noticeable effect. And it's hard to make characters that are good at more than one thing. Like you can't really make a tank that uses two handed weapons since even a small shield can give you up to 26 defense when fully enchanted and with the sword and shield talent.
Oh yeah. I felt the same way when I restarted in preparation for the new expansion. It all comes back fairly quickly.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-03-22-our-first-look-at-obsidians-next-rpg-tyranny
http://www.pcgamesn.com/tyranny/tyranny-new-obsidian-game
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3046...ad-guy-rpg-is-made-to-play-over-and-over.html
http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/10684/Tyranny-Taking-the-Side-of-Evil.html
http://www.pcgamer.com/obsidians-tyranny-explores-what-happens-after-the-bad-guys-win/
http://www.zam.com/article/235/obsidian-has-a-new-grimdark-fantasy-game-tyranny
http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/screw-heroes-obsidians-new-rpg-tyranny-is-all-about-villians
http://www.gamersnexus.net/gg/2363-tyranny-rpg-gameplay-preview-at-gdc
In Pillars news, I went ahead and made that Melee Mage I've been thinking about. It's early days yet (Haven't started on the Caed Nua part of the critical path yet), but so far it's a hilariously overpowered build. Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff just does massive damage with a high might, and since it's a reach weapon I'm perfectly comfortable with light armor. I don't remember the exact numbers, but my build is high might, 10 dex, 14 or so perception and maybe 16 or so in Int with the rest at base 10. I took Arcane Veil in case something wants to get scrappy, but so far haven't really needed it.
As the build progresses, I'm focusing on self buffs and touch spells as kind of a roleplay restriction. I never really got the chance to use many of these spells seriously, so it's going to be a bit different. So far the fun thing is noticing the difference between a high might mage and Aloth. In simple terms, playing them together it feels like Aloth is tossing around softballs and my little dwarf is fastballing bricks.
Oh man. This sounds like a really awesome evolution of Alpha Protocol and Pillars' relationship systems.
Of course this is the first place I come trying to get back in the game at level 10. Getting stomped
Yeah, I'm thinking I may have to run for the exit and come back after I do White March.
That area is scaled for level 14 parties.
The Monk and the Barbarian are about equal to the other companions in terms of usefulness in combat. The rogue is not as good since you can't remove her armor, which is equivalent to a breastplate, and it still has the speed penalty.
That explains ... so much ...
... i knew i forgot about something, i wanted to ask about their characters and depth. Are they fun to have in party and read about?
One is a serial killer trapped inside a bronze golem, one is a monk with a lot of self-inflicted scars and a taste for hallucinogenic mushrooms and one is... one I haven't seen enough of yet, but mostly appears to be a former adventurer who's decided it's very important for people to forget things (and has a thing for Pallegina).
Personally, I kind of like the Devil of Caroc, but I can also see how she can grate on people's nerves. Zahua didn't do much for me, though I haven't seen his personal quest yet.
Said no when entering white march part 2 becuase I thought it might be kind of fun to steamroll through it but kind of starting to regret that.
Its just I see those slots for level 10 spells...
But Pillars 2 might already be in development.
Oh I hope they let us pull a Baldur's Gate import.
My impression is that they are currently focusing on making Tyranny with Paradox Interactive right now, but might be in pre-production for a theoretical Pillars 2.
I can't imagine that the writers don't have a ton of stories in their minds already. You don't create a world that deep and detailed without sketching out a million stories.
Lords of the Eastern Reach is shipping next month.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I suspect that will fade away about as fast as another PC game would, and personally I'd take a PC game over it.
Well. In my experience there were only a few troublesome fights on Easy and they could still mostly be solved by spamming spells.
Other than that, there's always Story Mode, where enemies are less tough and the RNG actively cheats in your favour if the combat really isn't your thing.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I'm not sure it's a metaphor. More like 'business as usual'.
Eh, yes and no. I mean, if you keep pretty much the same party and keep your guys specced for pretty much the same roles, then yeah, you'll probably be using a lot of the same tactics (because you know they work). But if you roll with different companions, use different set ups, etc, you can make parties that fight pretty differently.
I know one kind of stale habit I get into is building the party around enabling the protagonist character to be the star of the show. That's a quirk I add to the game myself, though. It's not a failing of the system in particular.
The thing is that this game really encourages specialization. With several of the classes, you can't really build a character that's good at two things. It's not like other RPG's, where not every character has to have a dedicated role. You can have some characters that fill different roles and they can compensate for each others' weaknesses. With this game, the trade off is so high that you're giving up so much from not specializing that it's very difficult to compensate for each character's weakness. This is very prominent with frontline warriors, you can't really have a tank that can use two handed weapons since you're giving up like 20 or 30 deflection without a shield, not to mention the problems you run into when trying to spread the attributes around. There's no good middle ground between offense and defense. Even if you have a character switching between a two handed weapon and weapon and shield, you'll just end up focusing on one role over the other.
Granted, you could make it work in any of the difficulties up to hard but it just makes the game so much more of a slog. I tried a few games where I made the characters that didn't specialize and it was so much worse. With the specialized party, I was able to complete quests at 2 or 3 levels lower than the non-specialized party. With the specialized party, I was able to go straight to Caed Nua and get down to the last level without too much trouble before even doing most of the Gilded Vale quests. With the non-specialized party, I had to do many of the Defiance Bay quests before the characters were strong enough to get that far down without having to constantly go back to rest or reloading a lot of battles.