At 40+ hours...

I have a few thoughts on today's gameplay...

Combat. While I still believe combat is serviceable, I saw something today that took me out of the experience. It was a boss battle. I used stasis (magic) as the creature jumped -- effectively freezing the creature far above me in the air. Next I mistakenly hit a "strong melee acttack" via my sword and expected to hit nothing but air, but...

... when my sword slash flashed through the ground-level air below the frozen creature, the beast took damage and crashed to the ground!

Somehow my attack far below had connected with an air-born creature and I could only shake my head and wonder how the creature's deadly lung attacks work mechanically?

I'm nearly 3/4 of the way through the game...

... and still love the experience (even getting goosebumps as I stopped by a sunset waterfall), but....

... this is definitely from the makers of Technomancer. The DNA is clear... as is a fair amount of back-tracking. It's interesting... the quests are compelling and the cinematics are better-and-better (I'm completely engaged in this story and world), but you will definitely be traveling back-and-forth through multiple zones... a lot.

My biggest issue at the moment is simply remembering all of the names listed in the quick blurb of the quest logs. I have so many quests (and quests are often involved a la Witcher 3) that a certain level of confusion is setting in and I'm going to have to look at the glossary of people and places.

Lastly, I've heard of things playing out much differently than my playthough... so far. While I think the major story points are probably the same prior to the end (endings will change based on choices and actions), I do think companions and factions can certainly change based on your actions.




No worries. Used to it here.

I will say...

... I've seen a definite change in your posts. Whether I agree with all of your points or not, it's clear you want to be here and be a contributing part of this community. Sorry some don't respect that. IMO there's more than enough room for all of us.

I just don't want you to go into the negative like me and lose your link posting rights/etc or get treated unfairly.

Thanks you. Thing is, I was(mostly, the last several years especially) always this way.

I believe in being blunt and critical when needed while being civil with all except the nastiest of people(and even then I try to be polite to some extent)....it's just lately I have tried to use more polite wording(while being true to myself) to work more with others/be fair to more people & also to avoid staff(who seem to be punishment happy as of late with several here).

Some have told me in various ways they appreciate it, but there are a few who either have a bug up their rears and/or think I am literally worse than a certain ex world leader(or have started to believe such after being told such by some here), or they are trolls who like watching me/others squirm.

And yes I love the community......both a good number of regulars, and the site & some of it's original principles as well. That's why I give out games sometimes and try to encourage debate and talk on various things.
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Back ontopic: It's good to see you are continuing with this. I got disheartened when my let's play got few replies/hit with red marks, but I still want to carry on, and i'm glad to see you are also sticking with it. :)
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No problems at all from my side. I am glad you enjoy the game, and just added my opinion. I see my posts have been downvoted as well, so you can’t win on either side of the fence I am afraid.

At 45+ hours...

A few things came to mind as I played last...

1) There is no cool irony to Greedfall. It isn't particularly self-reflexive or post-modern. It's earnest and straightforward storytelling with what some may consider heavy-handed themes.

2) With such an earnest story -- and seeing that the main storyline is generally fixed until the end -- the main character can seem like a bit of a do-gooder boyscout. Again, this is a game where you can often complete quests in multiple ways and you can gain mtultiple dialgue options through skill point allocation, but... there is no "renegade" option. You can choose not to finish a quest, fail a quest due to skill checks, or damage your affinity companion or faction affinity by your choices, but it's ultimately understood that your character is trying to be a "good" person.

3) I've read a number of reviews -- including one from Heather Alexandra at Kotaku -- and really don't understand their attacks on Greedfall's colonial / colonization setting. The native peoples are well-drawn and fleshed-out and the colonizing factions aren't paragons of righteousness. In fact all factions (including the natives) are pretty complex -- having good and bad elements. Again, it seems like many professional reviewers haven't been able to get out from under their own pre-occupations when looking at this game. I mean... how could anyone take this game as a celebration of colonization? It's called... GREED... FALL... for a reason.

4) I really do love the quests in this game. They are varied, sometimes quite complex, and more-than-once heart-breaking. The people and factions in Greedfall's world certainly do terrible things to one-another. This game has gotten me to think seriously about going back to Witcher 3

5) While Greedfall definitely has some visual elements that rival AAA games, IMHO it is still a quirky "budget title" with personality. The world feels worn, foul, and deadly in a way closer to the Witcher than Skyrim... or even Dragon Age Inquisition. The vision of this game feels solid and specific in a way corporate AAA games can't afford. But that's why I love "Euro jank."

6) I've spoken a few times about combat, but wanted to distill my thoughts on it: Greedfall's combat is a slight refinement of the Technomancer combat system, which itself was a riff on the Witcher 3 combat system. There is an acrobatic nature to the sword-fighting along with combat potions, blade oils, magic, and sidearms. You can lock-on to enemies and fight real-time or use a pause menu between actions and plan "moves." It generally works fine, but... sometimes actions chosen in the pause menu don't initiate when real-time resumes, there is a level of teleporting that happens from time-to-time (especially with boss fights), and fighting on uneven terrain can make it a guessing game as to whether hits register. But with all of this said, combat is actually fun... just somewhat rough.

Again, I think it's crazy that Polygon claims Greedfall is turn-based. Amazing.

I lost count after 50 hours...

... and this is what I'm finding...

1) If you play Greedfall as a completionist -- and you don't love Spiders' style of game design -- you will burn out on the game. While certainly being larger, more beautiful, and more polished than Technomancer, Greedfall is a Spiders' game through-and-through... you will fight many, many "stationary" mobs, you will have quests that have multiple goals/ points, and you will backtrack many times. If that isn't your bag I'd forget most of the secondary missions and side content and learn to live with the consequences of those choices.

2) I've played over 50 hours and I'm still finding chests and unexplored portions of the map. While not quite being the beautifully constructed maps of PB games, it's very close. I haven' found a world this interesting -- and rewarding -- to explore since Elex.

3) IMHO the story is great. I'm 110% invested in the world, characters, and De Sardet's plight. I can understand how -- especially early on -- the story seems obscured by t he fact that De Sardet is a legate who is tasked with keeping all of the factions happy and working together toward trade. He (or she) seems blown by the wind of each (and every) faction's needs or desires, but there is a very personal search for a plague cure that becomes more and more central as the game pregresses. For me, the story has been great... but it is a story about relationships much more than huge set-pieces.

4) I'm still uncertain how much my actions are changing events, but I do know that others have related happenings in their playthroughs that I did not experience... although these were mainly faction or companion-related. I will also add that conversations in the game are much "better" since maxing intuition and charisma... and high agility seems to allow much more stealth interactions.

5) I still stand by that Greedfall would have been better served to having been a slightly smaller experience. While this isn't bloated like AC Odyssey (and thankfully not open-world), it does feel like the game is just a little too reliant on size and backtracking. Greedfall is not a short game, but the experience could have been stream-lined a bit for a punchier experience.

Personally I'm still loving the experience and am trying to complete as much as I can before triggering the final story events; while I want to know the ending, I'm not looking forward to those rolling credits. I can't believe that Greedfall could give me the sense of adventure and exploration -- and hold my interest -- while Red Dead Redemption 2 -- a much larger and more polished game (in my favorite genre BTW) -- couldn't. For me, Greedfall has the right level of beauty, exploration, and reward... while RDR2 was stunningly beautiful but little else.

Well you seem to still be enjoying yourself, I see. Have fun and carry on, then. :)

I can certainly understand the views on AC Odyssey, over 85 hours on that over the last month and finished it. It’s a far inferior game to Origins (which I have put some 20 hours in recently but had to stop due to controller wrist) in every way other than combat and epic beasts, and the bloat is incredible. It really felt like every area was a struggle through the same 3 cookie cutter encounters. My opinion, odyssey 2.8 to 3 out of 5 (as it is pretty and runs flawlessly), 3.5-3.8 out of 5 for origins.

i liked it quite a fair amount https://monstervine.com/2019/10/greedfall-review-the-underdog-with-the-biggest-bite/

I finished the game earlier tonight (having completed all except one secondary quest) at around 60 hours...

... and Greedfall is one of my favorite games of all time.

Pros:

* Art design and atmosphere are AAA quality. I will forever remember locations from this game (ie the city of Serene).

* Map design is absolutely top notch and very reminiscent of God of War (2018) with a hint of Gothic or Elex.

* Companions are both unique and memorable. By game's end I came to love more than a few team members.

* Quest design is complex, meaningful, and almost never simply fetch-quests.

* The story is very good... and almost all quests have some relationship to the main questline. There are times when I felt the momentum of the story waning, but that was usually because I was playing more exploration and collecting. As soon as I started quests again, I was hooked.

* Sound design is superb.

* The entire game is voiced... and voiced well! Great voice work.

* Choices matter in companion affinity, dialogues, and events

* Every point in skills, abilities, etc. makes a difference in the game. Want more dialogue choices? Put points in intuition. Want to be able to talk your way out of most situations? Put points in charisma. Traverse downed trees or tight squeezes? Vigor. Initially I'd thought many things couldn't be done in this game... until points changed the experience.

* I've never been a person for pause combat, but after approx 10 hours on "extreme difficulty" I found that it was essential... and I actually grew to love it.


Cons:

* Not particularly a con, but... the game only feels "right" played on Extreme Difficulty. Anything lower and the experience can feel too easy nearing boring.

* The usual heavy amount of Spiders' backtracking... but in a more interesting environment IMHO

* The 3 cities on the island all look very similar. While this wasn't particularly a problem for me, the Turkey-inspired city of Hikmet could have used a bit more Middle Eastern flair / personality.

* Greedfall reuses a lot of assets and "locations" (ie every De Sardet residence from city-to-city looks identitcal). While I never felt this was a problem, I can see how some might feel the reuse of "locations" made the experience feel more mechanical than organic.

* Combat. While combat can be quite fun, it can also from time-to-time feel unresponsive or register input incorrectly. While not happening often, it happened enough to take a very nice combat system and make it... ok. It does the job.

* The camera can sometimes be a chore to orient... especially in pause combat.

* The game does feel a bit long, but if I wasn't a completionist, I imagine the length would be just right.


Overall, I think Greedfall is a wonderful action RPG, but I can certainly see people who don't care for Spiders' earlier games feeling the same way about Greedfall. Yes, it is a vast improvement in almost every way from their earlier games, but it definitely shares the DNA of those titles... and some of that DNA is squarely rooted in AA systems and an economy of assets. Also, Greedfall is a slow burn that builds with emotional investment instead of giant scripted cut-scenes; this is a dialogue-heavy game where adrenaline-rising action cut-scenes are few. You will fight many creatures and bosses, but you will rarely be "rewarded" with action cut-scenes like AAA games.

I hope Spiders will revisit the world of Greedfall and look forward to whatever they do next.

Honestly it sounds like exactly my jam. Wish Focus Home would hurry up and bring it here!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, kai2. I've been interested in Greedfall ever since I've seen trailers, but I think I will first check out one of their previous games before making decision.

I'd suggest Technomancer. If you enjoy that game, I feel confident you'll enjoy Greedfall.

No Technomancer sequel, but...

Technomancer is a sequel to Mars War Logs. So, if you love the cyber/gear-punk Mars world Spiders created, check out Mars War Logs as well. Mars War Logs doesn't have as many Bioware-style systems or the Witcher-inspired combat of Technomancer, but it does have great characters and a fun, pulpy story that's worth a playthrough.

I do hope one day Spiders revisits their version of Mars. Their world got me so excited I then branched out and played Red Faction Guerilla and even post-apocalypse games like Mad Max -- from genres I didn't care much about prior.

Thanks for recommendations :) I actually was thinking of checking out Mars: War Logs, since it's the only Spiders game I own and every now and then I fee like want to play it, but instead I get distracted by other things. I used to have Technomancer on my steam wishlist prior to release and bit after that, but it seems at some point I removed it for some reason I don't remember now. Btw, do you recommend controller or keyboard and mouse?