Wasteland 2 - Review @ RPG Codex

Vault Dweller and Eric S has reviewed this game for RPGCodex.
A quote about the setting:

Setting & Atmosphere
Wasteland takes places in an over-the-top post-apocalyptic universe that doesn't concern itself with realism… It's a Philip K. Dick-esque version of post-apocalypse, governed not by the most likely survival scenarios but rather by "but what if…" possibilities; weird, strange, yet undeniably fun… t's hard not to smile when you hear a choir singing "James King foresaw the doom of all, His book predicting man's great fall, And bade brave men to light the way, For those who lived through judgment day…" on the radio while traveling. I'd say it's this attention to detail, the well-presented moral dilemmas and the reactivity that make this world interesting and definitely worth exploring.

A quote on skill use:

Skill Use
Most skills are useful, used often, and require constant investing, which is a good thing. I split my skills between 4 characters, creating a leader/talker, scientist/healer, container opener (lockpicking, safecracking, alarm disarming, trap removing) and a ‘significant other' (perception, weaponsmithing, toaster repair). Originally, I was planning to put a couple of points in non-combat skills and focus on weapon skills, but I had to keep all skills as high as I could and ended up leaving many unopened containers, unexplored dialogue options and various untouched items of interest.

A quote on quest design:

NPCs comment on everything, making quips about quests you've completed and things you've done. Radio chatter scolds or congratulates you on your failures and successes. Even when the choices you've made don't have major consequences, everyone always has something to say about it. The game tracks and acknowledges every single thing you do down to the equipment you're using, which can be mind-boggling at times.

More information.

Great game.

I thought that was a really good review. (and normally I have a strong bias against rpg codex)

I think the game will be further improved with future patches as well, maybe they will fix some of the shortcomings mentioned in the review.

Very good review by Vault Dweller and Eric Shumaker.
I hope to see some more reviews from Vault Dweller in the future again.
He has a great CRPG IQ.

I liked the review. As for the game, they promised a balance patch so I am still waiting to finish my first play through (I been postponing it all the time because of fast patching process - and patches all having 300+ fixes).

I've not even started the game yet. After X-com EW, Shadow Run DF, and Divinity OS, my standard for turn based combat is pretty high, and I heard that this game has issues on that front.

That coupled with the huge patches Steam's been downloading for the game, suggest that it's still a work in progress. No worries, I still need to play the Director's cut of Dragon Fall, Valkyria Chronicles, and finally finish my Divinity OS playthrough. Actually the latter will most likely wait until Larian finishes adding content to that little gem.

By the time I get to it next year, it should be fully cooked.

I thought VD would be much more negative and nitpicky as he usually is. It is surprising to see him praise it so much, as Codexers overall had a lot of problems with the game.

Eric is definitely a bro who truly gets what makes a good RPG, with the most amazingly impressive knowledge of obscure JRPGs I have ever seen.

A agree with this review. The reactivity in your decisions is second to none, and the attention to detail in the world and characters is very nice. It doesn't have the deepest combat system of the current crop of turn-based RPGs, but it is still solid. I know a lot of people have complained about bugs or stability issues, but I can honestly say that I never encountered a single bug in the game.

Very much enjoying this game and would echo these 3 reviewer snapshots. Game has been very stable for me for what it's worth. I restarted with new characters about 40% of the way in and I'm enjoying much more now (I think due to new party config). So I offer the following suggestions: (1) spec one of your 4 characters to be melee (that increased fun factor for me significantly…my first group was all ranged), (2) drop the first obvious NPC that joins your party as soon as practical (you can have seven in your party, so that would be after discovering at least 3 more), (3) the speech skills have real and fun impact on gameplay, so consider having a few if not all spec'd, and (4) play on harder level if you want to increase the tactical flavor of combat. One other comment. I have really enjoyed the 'hard choices' they designed into the game. For me that makes the game feel more 'real' and adds depth to the RPG experience.

regarding my limited time for a second playthrough: is it in a state in which it is enjoyable or should i wait for further patches…. ?
(due to other commitments i probably won`t be able to start it a second time as soon as i invested a little time into it)….

L.

Very good review and makes me want to play this game … after its been tweaked some more.

Originally Posted by Toff
Very good review and makes me want to play this game … after its been tweaked some more.

Same here, I'm waiting until they completely fix their software.

Very detailed review, the one thing I don't agree on is the description of the dialogue system.
The dialogue systems masquerades as a keyword system to obscure the fact that there are very little dialogue options, most of the time there's only subjects you can ask about.
That was one of the most disapppointing aspects of the game for me, so I really think it should be mentioned.