Greedfall - First Reviews and Impressions

They never should have attempted realistic faces. The faces are hideous in this game. Outlined teeth float around in heads like a grisly string of pebbles. I only played about 40 minutes, but that was my biggest impression so far.

Originally Posted by FizzyShellfish
They never should have attempted realistic faces. The faces are hideous in this game. Outlined teeth float around in heads like a grisly string of pebbles. I only played about 40 minutes, but that was my biggest impression so far.

You noticed that too…when I saw those faces, I thought of art I have seen where it is all about creating ugliness, and it is somehow looked upon as great art. By snobby type folk (usually). The more weirdly ugly and hideous, the better! (and just one of the things that look very unappealing to me about this game)

The talking animations are not up there, indeed. Though I have to say the general scenarios and character models are beautiful. I honestly didn't expect that quality.

Kotaku's reviewer doesn't like it because it's not woke enough and offends SJW sensibilities:

https://kotaku.com/greedfalls-detail…s-u-1837994750

Have to say this game has me hooked. Played all late afternoon and skipped dinner - only getting up to go the bathroom and walk the dogs. It is very well done!

Read the review and disagree completely. It is a fun game with some good ideas. It isn't meant to be a treatise on social ills - it touches upon things nicely but could in a good way IMO.

But whatever - they certainly can have their opinion but it does remind me why I don't pay much attention to reviews and tend to just go with what I read and hear about the game itself.

Course I liked Technomancer so I guess that says it all lol

Anyhow back to more playing and more fun!

re: Kotaku review.

lol, the reviewer is probably mad that the story is not about taking the oh-so-noble indians/natives side against the "evil" colonialist forces. I don't know much about the story line or plot, but if it actually gives a choice between siding with the colonialists or the natives, that would be so very unacceptable to SJW type thinking…

I played it for about 30mins and asked for a refund. Everything just sort of shakes and was giving me terrible motion sickness.

Yeah, I mentioned that in the other thread right off: needs an option to turn off head bob, which is kind of crazy to have in a 3rd person game while you're looking at yourself during dialogue.

Originally Posted by lostforever
In one review, they were complaining about lack of mini map! How can I navigate this world and do quest without mini map! Learn to navigate the world by its landmarks and it will feel more alive and immersive.

It's not that hardcore with landmarks and whatnot, which is what makes complaining about a lack of a mini map even stupider. There's a map with markers. I didn't see an option to turn them off, but I didn't go looking for it, either. There's also one of those compass bars with quest markers at the top of the screen, and doors and quest NPCs are marked in the world. I'm not far in, but it's been a hand-holding cakewalk thus far.

Originally Posted by Stingray
Kotaku's reviewer doesn't like it because it's not woke enough and offends SJW sensibilities:

https://kotaku.com/greedfalls-detail…s-u-1837994750

Well, its not really review but some early impressions, but that doesnt mean its not completely crazy. She is clearly unable to enjoy any story where good and evil is not clearly identified according to her personal views. I pity her …

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
Have to say this game has me hooked. Played all late afternoon and skipped dinner - only getting up to go the bathroom and walk the dogs. It is very well done!

This is my experience as well! I played for 4 hours straight and went to bed late.

Lets get one thing out of the way, this is not AAA game in terms of polish. Its very rough around the edges and it shows that they didn't have huge budget of many of the AAA games we get these days. Think of Gothic/Risen games and think of Two World franchise and you will know what you are getting in terms of polish.

However this games stand head and shoulders above any recent AAA game from a big publisher when it comes to heart and soul. You can feel that the developers actually wanted to make this game and they care about it and did not follow a formulae.

I love the 17th century type fantasy setting. I don't believe I have played any fantasy RPG which was set in similar era/aesthetics. It works really well and feels original/new. This era sort of makes guns and magic feel natural and they blend in very well. The setting alone makes you curious and set up the exploration very nicely.

I do agree with @purpleblob that movement and combat is not very smooth and sometimes feel bit shaky. However, I would compare it who things felt in Elex and I got hang of things after while and it didn't bother me too much.

Still early days to make final judgement but I really like what I have seen so far and the fact that it reminds me of Gothic games.

I'm sad that I can't play Greedfall - the game was making me real sick, and it seems like I'm not the only one:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/60688…6237665665996/

I may try again later if the devs decide to put in options to make things less shake-y and what not.

I have recommended the game on the RPGWatch Steam Curator, due to my own impressions and the feedback here.

By the way, if someone is still waiting for more reviews (or lower prices, some more patches, whatever), one previous Spiders game is now on GOG, at 80% off: Bound by Flame. So far the only Spiders game on GOG.

Originally Posted by Farflame
Do we really have to read RPG reviews from morons like this in 2019?

Yeah, that review is a very obvious piece of troll bait. Hits all the right buttons.

It is streamed. Streamers enjoy it.

I am also enjoying very much. I'm not seeing any shake but I'm also not sensitive to it. Already seeing consequences of choices! Juicy!

An update from my previous post, now with about 12 hours of gameplay in my hands, I'm still hooked. The game isn't perfect and combat is probably its weakest point, but exploring is fun, the quests are fun and seeing how your choices and approach on every subject matters is fulfilling. It's not open world, but scenarios are pretty vast and numerous, and give you quite a solid feeling of freedom on how you move around the world. This game turned out to be a real diamond in the rough. Again, I think 8/10 seems to be a fair score to give, but it's an uprising 8/10, opposed to a game that was supposed to be more, and ended up with "just" 8/10. Worth playing, if you can tolerate the less polished aspects that the game does contain (such a camera shakiness, facial animations and whatnot).

Greedfall is a definite improvement over Spiders' last three games but those comparing it to a Bioware game are deluded.

It's very much an RPG lite in terms of its mechanics much as Technomancer was. Character customisation is extremely limited and, aside from chugging potions and setting traps for more difficult fights, combat is a case of block, riposte, rinse and repeat. The lack of depth in combat variety is not, in itself, something that represents a true negative - if it were then 90% of ARPGs and games based on position and timing (as this is) such as the Dark Souls series and all its clones would never have been any kind of commercial success. But this limited variety also extends to character skills and abilities and whichever "build" you aim for wont ultimately make much of a difference to how the game is played and this is a major drawback.

Despite this Greedfall has enough positives to keep you engrossed for quite some time. The graphics are of a good quality with some excellent cutscenes thrown in at pivotal points, the music is, likewise, of a good quality as is the voice acting. A quick nod to the fact that lip syncing is very poor shouldn't put anyone but the most fussy off. And to top off the positives the world realisation, setting, and storylines are excellent as is the faction delineation and the variety of quests and how they fit into the main line story-wise.

Greedfall, then, is a Ming vase with a few cracks running through it. It's never going to be that killer RPG blockbuster that every hardcore RPG fan hungers for but that doesn't stop it from being an absorbing experience. Those looking for a stat filled customisable D&D like experience should look elsewhere but those who just want good stories and an original world should be more than satisfied despite its being weaker in other areas.
To finish where I started, the game world and setting are more original than ANYTHING Bioware has ever done. Just add the combat depth, improve character customisation and skill sets and Spiders would finally be competing on even footing.

p.s. A big fart noise to those who are still whining about the lip sync (who cares)

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I played it for about 30mins and asked for a refund. Everything just sort of shakes and was giving me terrible motion sickness.

I felt this right at the beginning but it wears off after some of the early scenes. I'm not entirely sure why but I only felt a bit of motion sickness near the start and none thereafter.

Played some more. I don't get motion sickness from it, but it does indeed feel shaky and wobbly.

I'm only in the beginning starting area, but I'm getting a Dragon Age 2 feel from it. Especially with enemies seeming to materialize out of nowhere? In at least 2 cases. Trying to avoid spoilers. Sword swinging feels very stiff.