Hello,

I am about half-2/3 of the way through geneforge 1, and so far the game has been a pleasant surprise. I enjoy methodical, turn-based rpg's, and the game allows me enough freedom to keep the story on the periphery rather than taking a center stage in my play. Now I know that a lot of people really like the Geneforge series for its lack of a conventional 'you're the hero save the world' storyline, but I focus more on the gameplay. Geneforge 1 has been decent in this regard, but in my opinion it lacks heavily in the departments of crafting, spell variety, and even basic equipment acquisition and improvement. The only loot that I really end up caring about is living tools, and I'm hardly ever upgrading my gear. Crafting new creatures is interesting, but my shaper invested heavily in one category, so it doesn't really make sense to try out others without a whole new playthrough.

So my question is, even though this game is enjoyable enough, and a pretty impressive achievement for a one-man crew, does the gameplay evolve much beyond the first game, or is it pretty much the same? Will I have to learn some new mechanics, or will I just be starting the same character from level 1 with the same mechanics for another 30-40 hours in a slightly different setting?

I do not mean to bash this game for what it is, or especially its creator, I'm just not sure that I can get through the entire series if it's going to be pretty much the same experience. Thanks a lot for your thoughts!

I have only played the first three games, but they are pretty similar in terms of design. Keep in mind, however, that the different character classes play very differently. In the first game I played as a shaper and, like you, I hardly ever got new equipment, but I did enjoy shaping different creations (I tried all the different schools) and using some battle magic. In the second game, I played as a guardian and had a very different experience. My guardian only shaped a few creatures, and relied much more heavily on new equipment (I was upgrading equipment pretty often) and combat skills. By the end I had a super-awesome weapon and was slicing through hordes of creatures, backed up by a couple powerful creations.

I actually never tried playing as an agent, but I hear they basically don't use creations at all and instead rely on battle magic and stealth. They prefer the paths that are full of traps rather than enemies. Could be an interesting playthrough.

One last thing I will add is that I'm pretty sure the second and third games have more loot to find than the first game does. My guardian was of course more dependent on loot than a shaper would be, but I do think there was more to find.

Hopefully others can chime in about the fourth and fifth games, as I hear their design might be different from the first three games.

In the 4th game you don't even play as a Shaper, although there are classes that are statistically the same as the Shaper, Guardian and Agent except with different names. There are new playable classes in Geneforge 4 as well, such as the Servile (don't be fooled, he's one of the best classes in the game if you play on Torment difficulty!)

Unlike in Geneforge 1 where all your skills are learned via Canisters, Geneforge 2 and beyond introduces teachers who teach you spells and creations. There are still canisters, but using them will have a great impact on your ending, so you should be wary of using them. Do you trade your humanity for power or not?

Geneforge 2 introduces a better variety of Shaper focused items with equipment that boost your Creations' stats.

Geneforge 3 introduces equipment crafting.

Also, the games' stat system is constantly tweaked as the series progresses. Then there's also the new creations added in the 2nd game that aren't in the 1st one.

It is more of the same, but the formula keeps getting little alterations here and there to feel a little bit fresh. Pace yourself and don't play them back to back if you are afraid that you'll get burned out. I never did though.

The later games also introduce more creatures to shape. In Geneforge 1 you have 18 possible creations, in geneforge 4 and 5 there are 30.

The later geneforges also include more spells, classes and items. By Geneforge 5 there are some 40 different spells to use, and 6 classes to use them.

I enjoyed the gameplay in geneforge 5 far more than that in previous games, which were still fun but not quite as compelling. In 5, there were some nasty enemies to face, sometimes requiring specialised tactics, a good variety of traps and tricks and special encounters as well. I also like the crafting system later games introduced. (Where you have to find rare ingredients and magic forges to make really powerful artefacts, but different artefacts sometimes require the same ingredients so tough choices have to be made. Geneforge 5 enhances this system further from geneforge 3 and 4 by letting you combine minor artefacts into major artefacts)

The interface and graphics are also much better in the later games, though still utilitarian at best.

All in all I definitely recommend sticking with the series, though if you care less for the story you might consider skipping ahead to the later games to get the most varied gameplay.