Not sure if there has been a thread on this amazing RPG before but it has just gone into full release and on the strength of great reviews and a 97% positive score on Steam I decided to have a gamble and put aside my prejudice against the art style and unlike my abysmal National Lottery record this is a gamble that really paid off.
Really easy to play but with more and more depth added as you progress and incredibly immersive in its storytelling. Only on the first Campaign out of five and there is mod support too via Steam workshop but even vanilla this is going to have a lot of replayability.
Its 20% off on Steam for the next few days and for 15 UK pounds it's a steal.
Highly recommended.
Cool. I've been following this one the last few weeks due to all the rave reviews.
I'd love a write-up with your first impressions after you've played a few more hours. I've only found one or two really good, story-driven RPGs in the last decade (Loren: Amazon Princess fits that bill, as does Sunrider: Legend of Arcadius), but both have been very anime-themed.
No problem I will do that.
There are some good write ups already on the Steam review page to be fair but I will throw something together soon.
I will say that there are some customization options for your party of three at the beginning and fairly early on you can decide on the dynamics between each character ( " Friends" or " Rivals" or a " Romance" option. Given I have named a guy with my own name and a female with the name of a long lost love I am already deeply invested :smitten:
There are apparently opportunities to buff up characters by changing body parts later on....wolf legs for speed for example so whether I will be as smitten when she is sporting a boar head and a couple of wolverine legs may be moot :DD
I just purchased this @ 130 am this morning. Noticed it on sale, watched someone play it on twitch for a bit and read the reviews. Played for a bit and recruited a 4th member to my merry band of heroes. Can't wait to put more time into it after work today.
Glad to see you are enjoying it too Capt !
A lot more too it than meets the eye.
Looks really good, tell us more :) but before the end of the sale ;)
Okay so my first party got taken down as I tried to make it through the first campaign on normal difficulty as I was learning the mechanics and making lots of mistakes :)
A great mechanic is that though there is no timer on the campaign the longer you mess around the enemies grow in strength .....buffed types of enemies, new types etc. You have the option as you conquer regions to secure them so they yield resources which can then be spent on new weapons/armour or to push on while the enemy is relatively weak. If you secure the region time passes which allows your party to heal with time if needed.
Success in battle gains you points which can be spent on cancelling some of the new units that would have been available to the forces of evil which is nice.
Another aspect is some regions are subject to "infestations" which allow small parties of adventurers of 1 or 2 to be ambushed...left unchecked these infestations also become more powerful. They can be cleared by patrolling which also takes time...
Choices pop up as you travel ....my beloved Ranger Julie was given a choice as to whether to prise a gem out of a magical rock....the choice she made has left her somewhat disfigured though not to her martial disadvantage.... ;)
If you get to a province bordered by an unbridged river then the party has to build a bridge to enter using resources you have gained from secured provinces and some provinces also give you the option to collect extra companions, build special buildings, build province defences etc.
The actual combat uses XCOM like cover but the Mage can utilise the furniture and scenery to damage enemy units stood nearby to them (splintering wooden items into flying sharpened missiles for example). Levelling up gives a big variety of differentiated buffs for each combat type so each playthrough will be very different. My second attempt at the first campaign is going better for me so far and my party were given different choices for buffs from the first run which is great to see.
The writing continues to be a delight and overall I am finding myself looking forward to another play session when not actually playing and thinking of new tactics to employ....which is always a good sign.
Hope that helps.
Ian
Thanks, yeah will pick this up tonight
It absolutely doesn't look like my type of game but it's so rare to see so much praise here for something...
Quote from: hellfish6 on June 17, 2021, 03:59:38 PM
It absolutely doesn't look like my type of game but it's so rare to see so much praise here for something...
+1
That's very helpful. Thanks.
Watching your characters age reminds me of "Massive Chalice," another hidden gem game.
I played through the first chapter of Wildermyth, and I think it certainly scratches a gaming itch forgotten by many more recent RPGs. It certainly has more storytelling than is common. Overall, I think it is pretty good, well worth the price.
Quote from: ArizonaTank on June 18, 2021, 10:14:33 AM
Watching your characters age reminds me of "Massive Chalice," another hidden gem game.
I played through the first chapter of Wildermyth, and I think it certainly scratches a gaming itch forgotten by many more recent RPGs. It certainly has more storytelling than is common. Overall, I think it is pretty good, well worth the price.
Hi AT
I never played Massive Chalice but I agree about the storytelling aspect. In chapter 2 the time constraints are a little more evident and I reluctantly just had to reject a side quest to ( hopefully) keep on target. Whether to split up or concentrate your party in certain regions is another aspect I am trying to get right.....
Still really enjoying the journey....
Quote from: devoncop on June 18, 2021, 10:40:51 AM
I never played Massive Chalice but I agree about the storytelling aspect. ....
If you like squad tactical games, with a good dose of strategy, you can't miss with "Massive Chalice." Particularly if you get it on sale.
Quote from: ArizonaTank on June 18, 2021, 03:37:22 PM
Quote from: devoncop on June 18, 2021, 10:40:51 AM
I never played Massive Chalice but I agree about the storytelling aspect. ....
If you like squad tactical games, with a good dose of strategy, you can't miss with "Massive Chalice." Particularly if you get it on sale.
Just checked out the Steam Page...sounds a long epic challenge.....wishlisted pending the upcoming Steam sale O0
Many thanks AT
Been playing through the "starter" campaign and enjoying this one a lot. The combat is fairly straight forward and streamlined, but has enough tactical nuance to be a delight to play through even on the "normal" difficulty setting. By the third chapter of the campaign (or third campaign of the story?) my stronger characters were good enough that the combat wasn't particularly challenging when I had my A-team on the frontline. However, the game mechanics seem solid enough that I imagine they scale well into harder difficulties, but remains to be seen from me.
The gameplay actually reminds me a lot of the Fire Emblem franchise, right down to characters developing relationships that give buffs for companion synergy. In those games, you go through tactical battles where you generally have a couple super OP knight/lordly characters, and a bunch of villagers and grunts who desperately need tasty XP from killing enemies. It was always a bit fiddly and frustrating trying to set up killing shots to level up your weak guys. I enjoy how this game evenly distributes XP to everyone who participated in a battle, but you still get that Fire Emblem sense of having a super-powerful "jedi knight" type character who can do cool stuff like breaking off and handling multiple powerful enemies on his own while the rest of the party works together to contain another threat. Better yet, this game provides that feeling more organically because those uber-powerful Jedis are characters you raised from lowly 18-year-old villagers.
Enjoying this too, a couple of mistakes and bad decisions lost me a few characters though in 3rd chapter of first campaign.... always that rush of blood to the head :(
Did feel the loss and left me relying on 2 mains and 4 greener recruits/siblings :) like the legacy option and look forward to seeing my fallen comrades in future campaigns :) almost took the choice of a second maiming for my female hunter but thought was too cruel :) so let her pass with dignity.
Glad you are both enjoying it too.
I am now on the 3rd stage of the second campaign against the mechanical monstrosities....
The fights are okay still on normal with my A team present but in the second campaign the map areas are bigger and incursions recapturing your lands more frequent so I can see already the need to split up my party of 7 to try and achieve more before the enemies become overwhelming.
The writing continues to be a delight.
I left a town to clear out a neighbouring province and only then realised I had missed the opportunity to recruit another volunteer back at the town so doubled back and on arriving the volunteer actually said.... "oh thank goodness you are back so soon I thought I had missed my chance"......Clever and very immersive.