With limited money and time, I still bought Spiders' Age of Discovery fantasy RPG Greedfall day 1. I've enjoyed -- even loved -- most of their prior games (all AA) and wanted to support their continued ambition and newest offering. But...

... although I bought it day 1...

... I only started really playing it a couple of nights ago. So, why did I wait a month to play it? Seriously, I was conflicted with spending $55 on a game and it took a month -- and the 30 day return policy running up -- for me to break open the case (yes, I'm a console heathen on many games).

Anyway, I want to keep a thread of my thoughts (no spoilers) updated as I play. Maybe it will be of some use to... someone down the line? I do feel confident Greedfall will soon be here on GOG. With that said...

I've now put about 16 hrs into the game on extreme difficulty and my first thoughts are:

1. Yes, this is a AA game, but the art direction is amazing. There's a unified artistic vision here that is remarkable.

2. I'm captivated by the cities and the politics. I've heard complaints that the beginning hours were lopsided with politics and story set-up, and while I see the point, I see that as a positive -- I'm enthralled by everything in this world... and this is the first time in forever that I haven't wanted to skip dialogs! The atmosphere and world-building have completely sucked me in.

3. Combat is... mediocre -- especially early in the game. Prior to leveling and gearing up, combat can be terribly hard, but a few hours back (approx 10 hours) I finally started to understand the system and have geared and levelled enough to see combat is feeling much, much better. If you can accept combat like The Technomancer or Vampyr, then you'll feel right at home. If you need a "flawless" Capcom system, you'll find this maddening.

4. I'm loving exploration in this game. Certainly it's not an open-world but Spiders knows how to make maze-like maps where it's possible to travel a path many times and then suddenly see a door that you've never opened -- a room or cave or hallway never yet explored. But... there are a lot of corridors and invisible walls. Sometimes those things bother me, but so far in Greedfall they've barely registered with me.

5. Greedfall feels very familiar having played The Technomancer. Greedfall feels much more skillfully crafted and accomplished, but the core DNA is still there -- from door-opening animations to map layouts and quest writing (although again, Greedfall so far does all of these elements better).

6. At 16 hrs of methodical exploration-centric gameplay I feel that I've barely brushed the surface of the game story-wise... and that's just fine with me. The experience so far has been brilliant and I actually don't want to rush through this world. So far I haven't run into so many plotlines that I'd be lost if I took things slow and even took some nights off... so that's the plan... take it slow and savor it. For now this is the most engaging game I've played since God of War and I regretted powering through that game.

Anyway, I'm getting to play out a kind of fantasy Dumas novel and thoroughly enjoying it so far. We'll see if it holds up as I progress further... and hopefully have some thoughts later on the economy and leveling system.

Reminds me of some of me let's plays, but less spoiler-y.....I like it.

Gl with it as well, and keep us updated. :)

Having now played 25+ hrs...

I can now say that -- unless the game falls apart at the end -- it will sit alongside Dragon's Dogma, God of War, Red Dead Redemption, and Mafia II as one of my favorite games of all time... and one of the few games that as I'm playing I'm excited about a 2nd playthrough (rare).

There are flaws -- I've fallen through the map once, had my character glitch amid a boss battle demanding a hard reset, and sometimes flickering light appears in dark parts of the map -- but...

... the positives far outweigh the negatives...

Exploration and map design are brilliant -- there are many switchbacks, hidden areas, and ways to (often with a skill check) avoid conflict. Where map design on The Technomancer was wonderfully maze-like, it was sterile and cold... and felt very much like a game and not a world. Greedfall builds on all of the best map qualities, but populates the maps with a wonderful "alive" atmosphere of discovery (I can't stop wanting to explore just beyond the next hillside... or through the next canyon)-- something I would argue that even an open-world game like Red Dead Redemption 2 couldn't quite achieve. And even though the map is segmented, the areas are large (reminding me of God of War) and gorgeous; at one point I stopped by a stream and with the art and sound design, I got chills. Yes, this game has got to me but good.

Combat isn't perfect -- sometimes an action chosen during tactical pause won't initiate when real-time resumes, there doesn't seem to be a way to direct companions during combat (they have minds of their own), and sometimes there is slight sling-shoting of enemies (although nothing on the scale of Risen 3) -- but it's suitably complex... and demands -- at least on "extreme" difficulty -- that you learn and utilize the tactical pause menu (and the use of potions, magic, ranged and close weapons).

(BTW, Polygon just ran an article on Greedfall where the reviewer talked about the game having turn-based combat. Seems yet another game Polygon claimed to play but didn't. Even an hour in you'll learn this is not a turn-based combat game.)

The economy of the game is... hard as ____. It's easy to get stuff, but it's been incredibly hard for me to find the resources needed to adequately upgrade that stuff. If I ever find a merchant selling Pure Iron Ore, he's my new best friend! But money-wise, there's been few times when I didn't have enough funds to buy what I wanted. Still, keep in mind that I've played this game very slowly, deliberately, and as a completionist -- the game definitely rewards moving faster through both story and map. Part of my problems have been my own inertia within the the story and map.

I've watched the inclinations of my companions change from suspicious to nice but have yet to see my choices in their individual storylines play out in any real way... but have heard that there are indeed consequences for all actions taken in their quests (or lack of actions in said quests).

I keep hearing people talking negatively about the re-use of assets, and while I can see that assets are re-used, I never felt this was a problem. Yes, it would have been nice to have one of the cities looking more Middle Eastern-inspired instead of all of them being European variations, but the cities are so well-realized that I didn't find this an issue at all. I'm enjoying the cities but love the characters and story.

IMHO Greedfall -- to this point -- is a brilliantly realized game. It clearly has the Spiders DNA -- Mars War Logs, Bound By Flame, The Technomancer -- but it's so far beyond their earlier work that it's amazing. This will certainly go down as a cult-hit RPG. Unless...

... the end sucks...?

We'll see.

(I know it sounds like I'm gushing -- and you may know that I love Euro-jank games -- but on Greedfall I really am having the best gaming experience I've had since God of War... and far, far better than The Technomancer, where I loved the world and atmosphere but simply put up with "the rest.")

Sounds good.....btw did you play Mars: War Logs as well?

Yeah, I played it a few years back -- very small, contained game with "floaty" combat, good atmosphere, and strong characters. I enjoyed it more than the sequel The Technomancer... although The Technomancer is larger and much more technically complex (more companions, romances, etc.).

Thanks.....that will help me decide on whether or not to get Technomancer after I finish the first one.

You must have played a different game to me then. It wasn’t bad, however it felt quite bland, especially cities. Choices were really not choices. Combat was quite painful, and the whole action bar was a total nightmare. The control was definitely showing it’s console roots as it’s not playable with keyboard and mouse. I couldn’t find a story, maybe something about a disease? The areas were basically devoid of anything but enemies. If anything, this game reminded me of dragon age: inquisition, which was also pretty meh. I gave up on the game after about 20-25 hours and moved on. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with it, just nothing is particularly outstanding and the action bar is terrible. Bound by flame, which I had played all the way through just before was also quite average.

No, same game.

I don't mean to be petty, but your response seemed so strange to me that I had to write...

Choices were really not choices?

I'm baffled by this. Is it the fact that there isn't a Bioware dialogue wheel listing the "good" and "bad" responses the thing that makes you feel there are no choices? Yes, you don't always have a "bad" response option (and can't play the entire game as a jerk), but there are often skill checks to see if your conversations succeed or fail (with requisite consequences)... and more times than naught you can intimidate, coerce, or attack. Although I will say this... I see more interaction choices available as I play further into the game. I'd also say this...

... COMPLETIONISTS BEWARE ...

Greedfall will give you many, many quests... and won't make an ethical issue of them... but sometimes it's better in the end not to complete all quests. So, where it might seem like there are few choices, there are many consequences.

You couldn't find the story?

It's laid out pretty clearly in the first few minutes... and the game makes you progress the main plot / questline at certain points in the game. IMHO some are baffled that this is a fantasy RPG that doesn't use a lot of the well-worn tropes that have grown out of medieval fantasy games. This is a 17th century Age of Exploration political fantasy / mystery.

The world is devoid of anything but enemies?

There are enemies, quest-givers, merchants, items to find, structures to search / enter, cities, villages... I'm at a loss for what you were looking for? This is an ARPG after all.

Where I would agree that Dragon Age Inquisition is a poor game (I unfortunately played the entire game and dlc), I won't concede to that with Greedfall. Certainly there are structural similarities -- companions, affinity levels, tactical pause menus, segmented worlds -- but IMO Greedfall is a much more realized and engaging experience. DAI was bloated and filled-to-the-brim with fetch quests but Greedfall is anything but fetch quests -- most quests have direct or indirect relationships to either companions or the main storyline (Spiders definitely learned a lot from CDPR's Witcher 3). IMO the new Bioware really needs to be taking notes from Greedfall.

I can see an argument that the three cities of the island look quite similar, but boring? I could see "boring" being leveled on much of Bound by Flame or Technomancer, but Greedfall? IMO there's nothing boring about the Baroque design of these cities.at all.. and two of them are brilliantly designed (the third looks good, but seeing that it was the domain of the science faction, it could have used a bit more of a "science personality."

I'm bias. Because they didn't release it on GOG at Day 1, I simply refuse to touch it unless extremely cheap or free - much like Mutant: Year Zero or the new Rebel Galaxy. I'd have paid full price for these games because I love the concept, previous games, or the Dev's ...... but when they release only on 1 specific platform they lose my respect.

Choices. Help the nice woodland people or the nasty religious people. Not really choices at all.
Story, so what is the story, as I said 20-25 hours in and still no clue.
Areas were empty, with mostly just enemies in. Towns consist of a lot of non interactive blocks, with non interactive people, and one or two vendors.
Quests, one of the most annoying things, the people you need to speak to are miles away from teleport points. Take the guy on the third floor of the building next to the spawn point who you have to speak to almost every other quest. I must have run from the spawn point to the guy on the third floor, to the woman, then back the spawn point 100s of times, through blank empty rooms, and corridor like cityscapes. Just bad design.
“ This is a 17th century Age of Exploration political fantasy / mystery. ” - again, we must have been playing different games. I got nothing in terms of age of exploration. There is the starting city and the island with locations on it. How is that an age of exploration? Maybe there are more islands later on and a roam across the oceans?
Also, one of the cardinal sins of this type of games, forcing npcs on you. I really hate others tagging along, getting I the way, having to dress them etc. That’s a negative.
Also, ranged combat is poor. If you wanted to go full ranged it’s quite difficult if not impossible, as you have to select it from that pause menu and it’s auto-aim.
That all being said, I didn’t say it was a bad game, just average. It had some plus points, and was an improvement on bound by flame feeling more open with more depth. Graphically ok. And the skills you can learn to avoid problems or circumvent them was a nice touch, though I rarely seemed to use them as never wanted to waste points on those skills to get it. For instance putting 2 points in (can’t remember exact name) chemicals to get to blow up doors - could have been useful in one early quest, but do I want to risk not upping one of the others for it, nope. So didn’t use them.
My verdict was 3-3.5 out of 5, uncompleted. No plans to go back to.

[i]Prior to reading, I wrestled whether to write a rebuttal. Now that I read it back, it seems harsh, but at the same time valid. People are allowed to simply like or dislike things, but when they then try to -- unsuccessfully -- justify those feelings, I can spend too much time typing...
[/i]

Methinks you enjoy being obtuse.

Are we talking about Assassin's Creed? Mafia 3? Dragon's Dogma?

Again, I'm bewildered by what it is you're expecting. Are you looking for mini-games?

Have you played many action RPG's?

I'm sorry but this again is an incredibly strange response. The game is about exploration of a newly discovered island... during a fantasy version of the 1600's. It's the Age of Exploration. That is the setting. The game needs island-hopping for you to accept that? I don't know what to say.

In order for you to say this, I'm getting the distinct feeling that you haven't progressed much in the story... and haven't suffered any consequences of your actions yet.

I still get the very palpable feeling that you're chafing under the distinct lack of dialogue choices early in-game (by the way, if you want more dialogue choices, try putting some points in intuition) and that you're equating that lack to a lack of choices overall. And while I'll certainly concede Greedfall doesn't have the level of interaction choices of a Mass Effect or Dragon Age, it certainly has choices... and as the game progresses a growing list of interaction choices (based on team composition, companion affinity levels, and faction "affinity" levels). Again, as the game progresses, you will as well find that there are consequences for completing every quest just because it was given (and had a reward); to me, consequences for completing quests is the ultimate expression of choice in a game.

Although I don't agree that it's bad design, this is your first point that I can understand. But this is Spiders' modus operandi. If you'd have played any of their earlier games (I think you mentioned Technomancer.. the unofficial king of backtracking), this is common to all. IMO it's not bad design at all... it's economy of design.

CORRECTION: You cannot excuse all of the NPCs. except via 3rd party mod on PC

Also, for many team-based RPG fans, micro-managing the team is an integral part of the game.

Again... Are you sure we played the same game?

Ranged combat is not auto-aimed. It is auto-aimed only... if you don't choose a target... and you can select a target in both the action portion (on the fly) or in the pause menu. With that said ranged combat is very possible (even with rifle as Weapon 2). I just did it last night.

It isn't about whether you said it was a "bad game," it was whether you had valid points... and a number of your points show:

1) you were incorrect (actually wrong) a few times and that seemed to show that you didn't have a grasp on the basic mechanics of the game... even after 25 hrs

2) you don't like a basic mechanic of team-based RPGs -- and a major selling point of this game -- building your team! Why did you play this again?

3) you criticize Greedfall for elements that are commonplace even in much larger AAA games

In the end...

Greedfall isn't a perfect game and I understand "I was bored" or "I don't like that kind of game" (that is strictly personal preference... and maybe stay away from team-based RPGs and Spiders' games?) but detailing your thoughts just made it seem like you

-- for some odd reason --

played a game from a company you didn't care for in genre you didn't like for 25 hours wearing a blindfold.

1st bit above: I also sometimes spend too much time on replies to various things. I have tried cutting back a bit as of late, to some degree of success, though.

2nd bit above: Eh, all I can say is that not all games are for everyone(same with most things) and some have high hopes or optimism and keep playing for quite a bit on some games hoping they will get interested more or find it enjoyable(any game or piece of long media).

Yes, it's just a game, right? At the same time, there are so many things the responder mentioned that show a lack of understanding of the game's mechanics that I felt compelled.

I know what you mean about feeling compelled......I see multiple posts each day I want to reply to and have to fight myself to limit that a bit & my reply lengths as well.

No, no lack of understanding, just not going to be drawn into a pointless argument. I made my point quite clearly. The game is average as evidenced by meta critic - 72 critic score, 8.1 user, and the various points, which have also been raised on the steam forums which I just checked, but please do go ahead and slag me off to other users it won’t change anything. The game is average as is bound by flame, and most likely the other two games on here from spiders. I have better things to do.