Game of Thrones - On Sale @ Steam

Sure, it's low budget and looks and feels dated, but if you pretend it came out around 2005 or so

See, and here is where I disagree. The game looks much better than a game from 2005. I don't think it feels dated at all. The world has been too harsh on GoT RPG.

Damn, playing this game makes me want to watch the series, which I haven't done yet (finished Dance of Dragons on audiobook recently, though).
 
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See, and here is where I disagree. The game looks much better than a game from 2005. I don't think it feels dated at all. The world has been too harsh on GoT RPG.

Damn, playing this game makes me want to watch the series, which I haven't done yet (finished Dance of Dragons on audiobook recently, though).

I had fun playing the game. Its a linear rpg with story. Though some watchers think story is not important in an rpg. It's takes you inside the the books with two characters who destiny are intertwined.

I do recommend the tv series as it's easier to understand than the books. The books have a slow pacing and get confusing.
 
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I had fun playing the game. Its a linear rpg with story. Though some watchers think story is not important in an rpg. It's takes you inside the the books with two characters who destiny are intertwined.

Yeah, and I have a really hard time getting into an RPG with little or no story these days. Not sure what it is, I got old? Hah. Games didn't use to have a lot of story in the '80s. ;) Linear + story heavy really is a huge plus for me these days. :)

I do recommend the tv series as it's easier to understand than the books. The books have a slow pacing and get confusing.

Well, at one point I sort of gave up on making time to read books. I always have time for audiobooks on the commute to work, so I've listened to the entire series on audiobook. And maybe it's easier to go through like that, because you just listen and the pace will go as it goes. ;)

Some of the details got lost, but the chapters with my favorite characters were always fun to listen to!

Yeah, it's probably cliche to like the dwarf Tyrion Lannister at this point, huh, lol.
 
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Yeah, it's probably cliche to like the dwarf Tyrion Lannister at this point, huh, lol.

Nah he is the best character of the show and books. Everyone underestimates him and he always comes out on top despite what happens to him.
 
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Risen 2 and Game of Thrones are both the same. Average rpg's and they both have flaws. I couldn't say which one to buy so just buy both as they should be cheap by now.:)

I haven't finished the game yet, played only about 10 hours so far and I've been enjoying it. However, I would not call this game "average." In my view, the problems with this game are huge, and I cannot recommend it to anyone who is not already a fan of ASOIAF. I think the flaws must make this game nearly unplayable for those who are not fans of the franchise.

The game is set 15 years after Robert Baratheon defeated the Targaryens and took the Iron Throne, so there is some overlap and while it is not clear how much GRRM was involved in developing the story, it is clear that he had some influence in his capacity as consultant, as it seems to fit very well into the framework of the world and characters he created. The story is well written, the majority of the voice performances are excellent. ASOIAF fans should not pass up this opportunity to experience another small piece of the overall story.

My main gripe with this game is that you have relatively large level environments, with lots of NPCs and clutter (such as Castle Black and the city of Riverspring), but you can't interact with anyone or any of the objects. Even Dragon Age 2 permitted a bit more interaction with NPCs. Out of hundreds of NPCs in Game of Thrones, you can only interact with .001% of them.

If only they would release some sort of mod tool for this game, I'm sure there are some dedicated and talented fans willing to flesh out the world and breathe life into all these window dressing NPCs. But I'm guessing hell will freeze over before they release mod tools for this.

As for the combat, at first it seemed like I was just passively watching my character auto-attack most of the time; however, once I got the hang of it, I learned there is a lot more to it and it is actually kind of fun.

I haven't played all the different character builds and but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a great deal of class differentiation, at least not in the beginning. The game is structured in a way that you alternate between playing two different characters in different parts of Westeros, Mors Westford of the Nightwatch dealing with an invasion of Wildlings and Alester Sarwyck, an exiled son of the Lord of Riverspring, returned from Braavos to attend his father's funeral.

You choose what's called a "combat style" when you start playing each character from among three options, and each combat style has a different proficiency with certain weapons and different "stances" or class ability trees. You start with one stance, which includes a perk tree of abilities you can learn at each level up, and when you reach level 7, I believe you can choose one new stance from three optional second stances.

Mors Combat Styles
Magnar: dual-wield, starts with Frenzy, can choose from Berserker, Domination or Intensity for second perk tree

Landed Knight: sword and shield, starts with Defense stance, can choose from Elite Knight, Domination or Frenzy for second stance

Hedge Knight: two-handed weapons and ranged, starts with Domination, can choose from Elite Warrior, Defense or Frenzy for second stance


Alester Combat Styles
Water Dancer: dagger or short sword , starts with Intensity, can choose from Master Water Dancer, Dexterity or Frenzy for second stance

Sellsword: long sword, starts with Assassination, can choose from Hardened Killer, Frenzy or Defense for second stance

Archer: ranged weapons, starts with Dexterity, can choose from Elite Archer, Intensity or Assassination for second stance.

As you can see, there is too much recycling and overlap among the second stances available for the various combat styles, and this is another major problem with the game. For example, combat with Mors as a low level Hedge Knight did not feel very different from combat encounters with Alester as a low level Water Dancer.

In addition to the combat styles and stances, Mors and Alester have separate Hero Ability Trees. Mors is a warg and his abilities have to do with various attacks he can cause his dog to carry out. Alester is a Red Priest and his abilities have to do with setting his weapons on fire and causing fire damage or reviving allies with R'hllor's fire magic.

The warg possession gameplay was actually quite interesting. As a dog, you can pick up on various scent trails to find clues or hidden objects.

Also, whatever they paid to license the music cues from the TV series, it was well worth it. The score helps a great deal to establish the tone and setting of the game.
 
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See, and here is where I disagree. The game looks much better than a game from 2005. I don't think it feels dated at all. The world has been too harsh on GoT RPG.
Hey, I didn't really mean it as a slight - some of my favorite games came out around 2005. :p

And yeah, you should watch the series. It's one of the best screen adaptations of a novel series I've encountered.
 
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Hey, I didn't really mean it as a slight - some of my favorite games came out around 2005. :p

I guess 2005 wasn't a bad year as far as polish and graphics go... we had just entered the "next generation" of consoles and we're basically at a comparable level still, with a few exceptions on PC and a few exceptionally good console releases. :)

And yeah, you should watch the series. It's one of the best screen adaptations of a novel series I've encountered.

I've seen the first two episodes and liked it a lot... yeah, I should jump into a GoT marathon one of these weekends, or something. :)
 
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Bought the game and I'm really enjoying it. The game reminds me of Bioware titles such as DAO and ME2, or maybe Alpha Protocol and the Witcher.

Pros: Writing, reasonably interesting characters, and lore. Voice acting and music are pretty good.

Neither here nor there: Combat

Cons: Similar to the games I mentioned. The non-interactive environment that is full of artificial barriers really feels like cardboard scenery from a theater stage. Too many "scenery NPCs". Obsolete graphics (doesnt really matter to me)

All in all this is a decent game for those who value story and dont mind linear gameplay. The game is in the vein of those mentioned, and if you enjoy them and can live with dated graphics you might enjoy this game.

If you prefer non-linear games with plenty of exploration and interactive worlds (The Elder Scrolls, maybe Gothic) then you should stay away.
 
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