Greedfall (35/50$)

The release of french developer Spiders’ new RPG was a win for gaming even if it failed. The game stands in a league of it’s own because it did not market itself as a AAA title and therefore did not have a AAA price tag.  Nor was it an indy release.  Greedfall is a AA game that knows exactly what it’s fans want and deliver on that want, with the only downside being a lack of frills that come with AAA games.  Yet, Greedfall does not need those thrills because this is not a boundary pushing game nor is this a genre defining game, but it is one of the best RPGs I have played in recent years.  It may be AA but it completely outclasses the failed AAA RPG’s that have been released, and just about every other game with bad writing writing. 

Greedfall is cliche, you play as the chosen one.  A hero with a mysterious past who meets up with a colorful cast of characters from the rival factions found in the world.  You are given the choice to save the world or rule, and throughout your adventure you can heal divides or make them worse.  Yet, it doesn’t feel cliche to play because the characters are so well written. They also interact and affect the gameplay itself.  With the right companion at the right time, you can avoid fights and cut missions all together.  Or you could piss that companion off through a situation that you did not have direct control over.  This establishes these characters better than any game I have played this year.  It makes you want to go back and try a quest again.  Playing in a style that ensures you don’t get jumped and maybe you wouldn’t offend the character you are trying to build a relationship with by killing their friends. Which is helpful because these characters give substantial bonuses to talent points that impact how you will solve problems in this game.  It is so refreshing to have a game give you useful tools based on how you build your character and the world around you, compared to just random stat increases.  The world is incredibly creative from a lore standpoint.  The main story wastes no time showing the player how the world is divided not by ethnicity or geography, but by guild.  There are the Nauts that rule the seas.  Taking children who are born on voyages and using secret sciences to navigate the globe.  There are the Theologians who worship this universes representation of christiananity, but with an intense inquisition vibe, the bridge alliance filled with engineers who value progress over everything, the merchants who act as a go between for all factions, and the natives who wield powerful magic.  I write them all out because they are incredibly well written and fun to learn about.  The game is so good it makes you want to talk to other people about the world.  More importantly the relationships between the people within these communities actually affect how you play through the story.  Tribe leaders you helped will remember and trust you in ways that will alter main story events.  Guards who you screwed over will screw you back. These seem like simple steps other games have made before, but Greedfall does them so well it will take you back to the classic RPGS of the 3rd console generations.  The game also plays like them.  

The combat is serviceable, but feels like a mix between The Witcher and Assassins Creed.  It feels fine to duel people, but the enemy creatures take a large amount of time. This could be due to my play style, but it was not a hard game.  It was more tedious than challenging since every enemy is stacked with armour and uses poison. Infact, every animal has an incredibly similar look to them that blends into one uninspired four legged creature.  Humans are more fun to fight, but again, there is no variation in combat except for the guardians who are well designed, but only feature 4 different models.  Their animations also feel stiff, even the cutscenes just don’t have the quality of other games.  The overworld also looks bland. There are no cool locations to explore outside of the occasional ritual area, but those are few and far between.  The player is not able to interact with the world around them either.  A story quest may open a new shop, but that is about it.  These sound harsh, but are the same complaints that so many other AAA games struggle despite this game being AA.

Greedfall is a 35 hour long game that doesn’t have a high amount of replay value, most likely offering one evil and one good play through, and that is if you love the game enough to go back to see how the factions would change which they do story wise, but outside of the writing, the world will remain the same.  If this was a 60$ AAA game I would be mad.  It plays like a game from 2015, It is not for everyone.  If you don’t like fantasy and don’t like hardcore RPG’s than stay away, you will hate the game. But if you do like I do.  You will love playing through this game.  It will feel familiar and be incredibly satisfying to play through.  The story is so good it makes me wish they would expand the universe into a lore.  If you are that kind of nerd.  Look past all of the aged yet serviceable gameplay and give Greedfall a shot.  Especially since it will go on sale, and soon have a base price close to its offered hours of gameplay.  If you want to escape to a world slightly less crazy than our own, then wait for a small sale and buy Greedfall.  I got it for 30$ and I could not be happier.