Knights of the Chalice II - Early Gameplay Video

You cannot ever go wrong with any of the Avernum titles. I think I might hit them next after I'm finished with Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy. Need to get into the double digits on replays!!!

Graphics style is unfortunately coupled with some very strange interface choices. BS seems to be ignoring every principle of design, print or digital, since the beginning of time.

I am of the party who wouldn't play the first one due to the graphics. I like pixel art, but not this kind of low end pixel art (I am fine with Avernum/Avadon Graphics)
And the graphics in this one are decent, but not great. What I dislike most actually is the symbols for the characters. Would have prefered "real" characters a lot, even if they are not animated.

I never played the first one because it was never discounted much, considering my backlog. It's not on Steam nor GoG. Don't even own it. Cheap bastard, eh?

I also never got it, because its not been on Steam, GoG or the like. I like the complex mechanics though, and would consider getting if it goes on Steam.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I never played the first one because it was never discounted much, considering my backlog. It's not on Steam nor GoG. Don't even own it. Cheap bastard, eh?

From what I have read of Pierre's blog posts, I would not characterize him as simply and crudely as that. I get the impression he is a man of strongly held beliefs with little interest in popular sentiment -- perhaps a bit of an eccentric ideologue. I suspect it would take that kind of uncompromising person to give us the kind of exceptional representation of D&D rules he has, rather than the watered-down stone soup we are usually fed.

Personally, I am OK with the token/grid style. It reminds me of my youthful and relatively brief forrays into D&D on graph paper. That said, I do find a simple graphical face, a la Battle Brothers (see my avatar), a nice, if not required, aid to the imagination. But for me, tactical depth and character development are king. I'm hugely encouraged by that huge list of character classes. The super short list of classes was my primary, and only significant, complaint with the original game.

I was speaking of myself, not Pierre. I know nothing about him, and certainly would not criticize him.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I was speaking of myself, not Pierre. I know nothing about him, and certainly would not criticize him.

My mistake then. I thought you were suggesting he was cheap by refusing to sell on Steam, and that may be true. I think I recall reading his dislike of Steam's large piece of the pie.

But I don't know him either. Just my vague impression. Do yourself a favor and play his game, though.

He most definitely doesn't seem to go with current game designs, and may be targeting a niche group, for all I know. Based on the first Chalice, I'm totally ok with that, I believe he can deliver a great follow up.

Sure after I clear my backlog.

This will have to happen after reincarnation.

He was so immature and threw a fit when his horrible Dune RTS clone with less features than the 25 years old game was universally panned, and later GOG refused to publish it. He was so upset he refused to let them sell Knights of the Chalice.

He's missing out on a sale from me by not having it on GOG or Steam, and I am sure countless others as well. I have generally lost interest in buying one off games from other sites in this day and age… too easy to lose track of them, since I won't play them right away.

Wasn't even aware that it's not on the major platform. In that case I agree with Jaguar. Not going to buy "loose" games I which I don't even own physically.

I believe Pierre is finally going to try Steam when KotC2 is ready to roll. I feel like he could make a ton of money on the first game. The graphics are really old fashioned, but the game is incredibly well designed.

While the sequel is undoubtedly a step up in variety of classes and (I assume) gameplay, I feel like taking the graphics *another* step down is going to hurt. Also the inventory and character interfaces somehow look *worse* than in the first game.

I hope the new game is on GoG and/or Steam, but if it is not, I'll still be buying it. Probably gifting a few as well.

Originally Posted by screeg
While the sequel is undoubtedly a step up in variety of classes and (I assume) gameplay, I feel like taking the graphics *another* step down is going to hurt. Also the inventory and character interfaces somehow look *worse* than in the first game.

I think this is very likely to be true. I'd be amazed if this new design doesn't drastically narrow its appeal, and hurt potential sales. People don't seem to mind quite basic pixel-art in their games, but this design makes it look like a really niche boardgame thing, and I don't think that'll go well for him.