RPGWatch - Inquisitor Retrospective

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Fluent played Inquisitor and gave his thoughts on the game in a new article.

On paper, a lot of what I would consider ‘old-school’, isometric RPG fans should be on board with Inquisitor. It is, after all, a game that graphically resembles something like Baldur’s Gate or Arcanum, with an isometric perspective and detailed, hand-drawn backgrounds and graphics. Game-play wise, it mixes some elements from a lot of old-school RPGs as well. You can have party members join you and fight alongside you in real-time combat, and you can pause the game at any point, although it is, admittedly, a bit clunky. There is a lot of dialog and text, lots of loot with well-written descriptions, history and lore, a la a Baldur’s Gate game. There is plenty of exploration, various NPCs to talk to, chests to unlock and traps to mistakenly walk into and get insta-killed, having to re-load your last save. There are evil monsters, dark motives and a strong narrative that carry the game along. All of these features are present and here in full force, tied together with a somewhat unforgiving and high degree of difficulty. Yet somehow, the game hasn’t seemed to click with a large amount of gamers.
More information.
 
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Thanks for another good article Fluent. I can't wait to read your next one. Now I just have to finish this game as I bought it two years ago on GOG, and never played it.:embarrassed:
 
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A very interesting read.
I remember following this game's development and finding the result underwhelming (not even by the reviews on metacritic but sites like: Gamebanshee or Rpgcodex) so I decided it's not worth my time.

A game with a similar theme is Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, how does it compare to Inquisitor in your opinion ?
It would be interesting to read a retrospective on it as well as I think it also went largely under the radar of most people.
 
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Another one of the seemingly hundreds of potentially interesting games I'll likely never have time for.

Maybe one day when I retire :)
 
Thank you for this review Fluent. I bought the game upon it's release in English, precisely because it offered a lot of 'old-skool' elements: walls of tekst, lots of exploration and no hand holding. I think the game didn't do well because of two aspects:

1. The difficulty. Combat is very unforgiving in this game and you are going to do a lot of grinding and re-loading, especially when you play a priest or thief. Roaming through dungeons can become a chore, instead of a fun experience.

2. The torture-aspect. This game has you interrogating people in ways that are morally very loathsome. Sure it's a game and it fits the game's context, but well… I found this element to be very off-putting.
 
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Inquisitor is one of rare games I uninstalled before finishing.
Dunno what happens in it, but the respawns killed the game for me.
 
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For me, it was the respawning plot that killed it. Chapter 1, supposedly good priest is really evil, you uncover his plot. Chapter 2, supposedly good priest.....Chapter 3, supposedly good priest.....
 
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I've had this one in my Steam library for a while but haven't tried it yet. Like DArtagnan said, it'll probably be one of those I never get 'round to… Too many good games in my backlog I'd rather play. :-/
 
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The dungeons and combat in this game are absolutely horrible, they ruin everything. I've never seen a game with dungeons that are so bad, they go on forever and the difficulty is messed up.
 
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For me, it was the respawning plot that killed it. Chapter 1, supposedly good priest is really evil, you uncover his plot. Chapter 2, supposedly good priest…..Chapter 3, supposedly good priest…..

For some reason, it didn't for me, though I'll grant you its true. I thought this game did so much right in terms of storytelling and atmosphere, that I didn't mind the rather below average combat and the reoccuring plot.
 
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A very interesting read.
I remember following this game's development and finding the result underwhelming (not even by the reviews on metacritic but sites like: Gamebanshee or Rpgcodex) so I decided it's not worth my time.

A game with a similar theme is Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, how does it compare to Inquisitor in your opinion ?
It would interesting to read a retrospective on it as well as I think it also went largely under the radar of most people.

I believe that is Kult: Heretic Kingdoms in Europe when it was released and I can recommend it, it's a total different type of game as how you level your skills and create your builds (not D&D like) but it's got me totally hooked back when I played it. You can get it for a couple of bucks from GoG.com so go get it! :)
 
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I loved the very beginning of the game, when you get to the town and talk to people and try to solve the mystery of what happened. There was a ton of text, and you really had to pay attention. There was also a ton of atmosphere and flavor.

Then I left town and it was like I was playing a completely different game. Endless waves of pointless monsters, boring combat, and plot points that were few and far between. I didn't feel like the world I was in had any resemblance to the really cool world that was described to me in town. I stayed with it for awhile, but eventually it was just too tedious.
 
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I wrote a review of this game and Kult several years ago; I preferred Kult!! :)
 
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Thank you for this review Fluent. I bought the game upon it's release in English, precisely because it offered a lot of 'old-skool' elements: walls of tekst, lots of exploration and no hand holding. I think the game didn't do well because of two aspects:

1. The difficulty. Combat is very unforgiving in this game and you are going to do a lot of grinding and re-loading, especially when you play a priest or thief. Roaming through dungeons can become a chore, instead of a fun experience.

2. The torture-aspect. This game has you interrogating people in ways that are morally very loathsome. Sure it's a game and it fits the game's context, but well… I found this element to be very off-putting.

I didn't find the difficulty level that high, as long as you tackle the challenges at the level you're supposed to. If you go into some hard zone or try and solve the legend of 'x' monster that is gruesomely horrific and deadly, you will die a lot.

In my first playthrough, I had to use a ton of potions. It becomes easier when you have some companions, though.

I think people who play as Priest or Thief NEED to get the dog companion at the very beginning of the game, otherwise you will be in some trouble. You need that companion to take some heat off you and let you do your thing. Then the combat becomes much better.

As with all things in this game, it takes a bit of an investment to get to that part of the game, and many would have probably given up by then.

Second, the torturing aspect was great! :D Yes, it's horrific, but it's an ancient world where that sort of stuff existed. I found some fun in torturing my captives, getting them to spill the beans and then burning them at the stake. It's just fitting for the sort of demonic, possessed, horrifying world the game takes place in. :)

Thanks for the comments everyone! I read them all and greatly enjoy seeing discussion being sparked. ;)

Make sure to watch the video, too! Ciao!
 
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