RPGWatch Feature - Balrum Review

Ivanwah said:

Ah yes, Gothic. I forgot that one. Crafting felt right there for me too, but only as a way to make money. My problem with crafting in RPGs is that I just shake the fact that IRL smithing/armor making/farming are all full-time jobs. There's no way I'm able to convince myself that my hero who kills dragons for morning exercise has time to master leatherworking and create +50 sneaking boots. On the other hand, Geralt is a smart guy educated in alchemy and it's not hard for me to accept he can recognize few herbs in the wild, pick them, and mix them with some alcohol while he is relaxing after the battle.

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Yes, I fully agree. Crafting in RPGs is typically very immersion breaking.
I vastly prefer it in sci-fi games where it can be abstracted away with science-magic enough to stay believable. Like, you "dematerialize" this tree and gain 4 wood which you can re-materialize into a wooden wall.

Well also in The Witcher 3 (can't remember how it worked in the earlier ones), the crafting is done properly, ie: you have to take the items to a weaponsmith or armorsmith to get the items made. Better items even require special master smiths. So it makes some sense, unlike most games.

I dunno why so many RPG's these days feel the need to shoehorn crafting into the game, not many (if any?) of the old classics had it, and I don't think anyone missed it. Some games go to insanely nonsensical extremes, as a random example let's take DA3 where you're the leader of the Inquisition and you spend time your time running around picking herbs and mining ore and making your own weapons and armor at a table. I mean, it's so dumb that if you really think about it, all you can do is laugh.

It is funny indeed, although i still do it

crpgnut said:

I played 139 hours of Balrum, so I think I liked it.

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I'm not that far, I also like it, but explain why isn't easy.

Clearly the reviewer didn't catch what made me enjoyed the game.

The main aspect is the amount of little tricks, which includes puzzling, find stuff, activity tricks including objects interaction, plenty unique items and find how they could be useful, multiple more special combats, some paths tricks, some more. Get fun from discovering all of that just makes the exploration and the digging very cool.

The second main aspect was I played a mage with a pet and found a lot of fun in combats generating an uncommon gameplay using a lot time management and mana management (not through potions), and time management generating many environment exploitation.

That plus mood, plus I enjoyed character building as a whole, I mean including equipment, are main reasons why I enjoyed this RPG, despite rather clearly multiple gameplay mechanisms don't work that well in point of view of gameplay.

Just like to say Balrum is 70% off on Steam if anyone was thinking of buying. For $5 I got it

I picked it up last night, and played for a short time. It reminds me of the Eschalon games and somewhat of Divine Divinity as well. Seems like a neat little sandbox.

The game seems fairly challenging as well. I died pretty quick several times on the default difficulty, although I'm sure it becomes easier once you're more familiar with the mechanics.

Not just because of your knowledge of the game but also be cause of the balancing within it. The further the game progresses, the more tools you have to disable your enemies. So it starts really hard and ends quite easy.

I played for about 4 hours. I'm enjoying it so far. Made a ranger type character. A rat gave me rabies and killed me early on Any game that has a rat kill you is OK in my book.

I personally loved the game. I admit I cheated a bit using @crpgnut; method because the LP was a bit too limiting for me and I wasn't sure I would ever play it again.

I get the "pick a main class" thing, but I don't think you should be limited in the secondary like cooking/farming/mining etc. Enjoyed the entire game, no complaints, many many many hours into it.

(one thing to note, farming in your 'safe place' is limited by your farming skill. I just used the public field by Grandpa and feedlot in both towns. So much space and never a plant disease.)