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[ElectricThunder]

I remember that game! I saw it briefly waaay back, and I tried looking for a place to buy it the other day and couldn't find it. How is it?

Technical mess and dev hell resulted in what jimboton said, but it did have the seeds of some nifty stuff with, among probably some other things, class specific questing to unlock/train for their utmost abilities---which would've been a far better time of it than the raw exp slog for all in Wiz 8 and the "training by repetition". Really, the entire latter half of the Wizardry Saga in the West is technical mess and dev hell---Wizards & Warriors just being the one to meet or exceed the frayed mass that was Wiz 8. The sum of it is one of the more bizarre, secretive sagas in all of gaming history---at least in the RPG end of the pool.

It is one of those things where only GoG can probably save us now as far as getting the rights go and the game out there again, but god only knows what kinds of tech hoops they'd have to jump through to get the game running reliably on modern machines.

 

[RandomSeed]

10 days until Shadowrun Hong Kong? Crazy.

 

[AntiFacebook]

Is the PoE first expansion being released today?
I can barely find any info about it

 

[LurkerPrime]

For the record, Shadowrun: Hong Kong is great. Gets a bit rough towards the end and the engine still blows, but a very well-written and designed game from top to bottom.

Is the PoE first expansion being released today?
I can barely find any info about it

I can confirm that it is, but only because of this video.

Beyond that I don't know anything about it. Gonna be an unhill struggle for PoE's xpac, I reckon.

 

[vocab]

The expansion will be a slow burner. I probably will wait for dirt cheap sale. I cant bring my self to really play anymore pillars. Im not the biggest rtwp fan and can barely finish act 2.

 

[OniBarubary]

Lisa: The Joyful just came out and I recommend anyone who played Lisa: The Painful RPG to play it. And if you have not played Lisa: The Painful RPG then mayhaps you could take a gander at this thread explaining why you should play it by a brilliant, handsome and incredibly humble poster who just so happens to be me:

Maybe like, click on this right here

 

[WanderingWind]

Oh god no.

Please Kickstarter, don't leave us. We're one sizable KS scandal away from being in the Dark Days.

 

[Arulan]

Here's as good a confirmation as any that no more mainline Might and Magic is coming anytime soon, from an RPG Codex interview:



*sigh*

I gotta say, this CRPG revival is looking more and more like a late 90's Black Isle/Bioware revival. Grimrock 2 didn't do well, either.

Ugh... I really enjoyed Might & Magic X - Legacy. I suspected it might have done poorly, given that even among CRPG enthusiasts it appeared under-appreciated, but damn...

 

[Sheriff_Battlesnake]

Project Phoenix : Remember this one? It looks embarrassingly awful given the budget it attained on kickstarter, compared to many other games on this list made on a shoestring budget.

What is up with this project?

 

[BrokenFiction]

What is up with this project?

They actually just posted a long new update this morning.

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...alent/posts/1342656?ref=backer_project_update

 

[Arulan]

What does everyone think about the apparent lack of enthusiasm and appreciation for dungeon-crawlers (blobbers) today? Do you feel this way, why?

I have to wonder how well The Bard's Tale IV will do outside of its backers.

I am looking forward to Grimoire, if it ever escapes development.

 

[Easy_D]

Can't wait for Underrail's final release, the alphas are awesome, got that whole Fallout meets Metro 2033 vibe going on. Still have to get through Witcher 3 and a bunch of RPGs from last year including Trails in the Sky FC, the first Shadowrun campaign and the Banner Saga among others. 2 Many RPS 4me


Edit:

Just look at it. It has a nice style going on, simple but effective. Underrail is hype as fuck for me.

 

[Sinatar]

Just look at it. It has a nice style going on, simple but effective. Underrail is hype as fuck for me.

By far the game I'm most excited for.

 

[The Technomancer]

What does everyone think about the apparent lack of enthusiasm and appreciation for dungeon-crawlers (blobbers) today? Do you feel this way, why?

As a huge dungeon crawler fan I feel the genre is doing just fine, but I also play handheld titles as well as PC ones and a single good dungeon crawler can sate me for an entire year

 

[Basileus777]

Maybe if those guys could get on board instead of playing porny Vita dungeon crawlers...

Handhelds have had some good Japanese blobbers lately and only one of those localized could be called porny. But sales of those are so niche that that audience wouldn't move the needle on games like Might and Magic X all that much anyway.

 

[ElectricThunder]

The issue with the blob crawlers, as it were, comes down to lack of ambition and being perhaps too eager to return to well-trodden grounds without having a comparably contemporary level of swaggering insanity that set the old ones aflame back in the day---something a bit fresher, like...hmm....StarCrawlers that did well on KS and has some of the musical magic of Ben Prunty going for it should have a real shot at a bright future especially as they seem to be doing due diligence on the Early Access updates at an encouraging clip. They can't just ape Elder Scrolls---won't work. Perhaps The Quest's giant PC port/remake/overhaul in the near future will help to some extent though that's closer, somewhat, to Ishar which is a whole other can of fish that I'd hope would come to KS one day...

With Grimrock 2, they doubled down on trap builds, backtracking, and much (less effective) dancing such that it far and away lacked the resounding echo of the first game's tightness. I, for one, would've been far more curious to see them eschew the dance entirely and have surprised all with something more along the lines of reviving the spirit of the Crossed Swords series---as it wasn't like S-E hadn't already squandered their chance to showcase something meaningful with it to modern audiences with Dragon Quest: Swords.

It also doesn't help that the only other big names besides Fargo to an extent still associated with it are either in various tatters or outsider status as per Brenda Romero and D.W Bradley with Wizardry/Wizards&Warriors or is Grimoire...with Cleve. Yeah.

So yeah: You need to organize among those relative few that are left alive in the old guard from the states and Europe as well as ideally those in Japan that picked up the slack since at least the Wizardry Exodus unto the present.

 

[ElectricThunder]

Adventure never revived though---it just kept on chugging largely out of the spotlight then picked up more steam with the advent of KS/IGG aided in large part that the likes of the dedicated "hobbyist" engines that cropped up like AGS.

The new M&M was brought low with jank/respawn build shenanigans and absolutely low effort after the fact, beget of a crippled budget and expectations from on high that might as well have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Much of it looked good, on the surface, from the right angle, partly dazzled by rose-tinted nostalgic pining that it could FINALLY be back in action---but under the surface it was barely held together as they just never gave the team the time and resources they needed to properly execute even aside from Ubisoft's genera jackassery that was definitely afoot at those critical times for it.

Elminage speaks to the...er...ugh..."Masocore" side of things---there's potential in it aside from the all encompassing Glory and The Good News That Is THAC0 enrobing your soul and very being like passing through a luxurious waterfall of the darkest chocolate....but there's only so much you can do with a lopsided approach that goes all in on Critical Failure and states escalating towards such and entirely abandons the other side of things going well and escalating towards an insane power trip towards immense satisfaction. Plus, grind as the pacing device/equalizer? Slim to never works out as well as one'd hope.

Going off grid might help, but to my mind you still need to hit out differently. I'd love to see more off the grid, but not just the usual grid, but go full on 6DoF/Descent/etc way the hell off the grid and leverage that more actualized 3D space to really shake things up from combat down to dungeon/world design that is still largely otherwise heavily yoked to basic graph paper affairs from the P&P Tabletop days.

 

[Purkake4]

Can't wait for Underrail's final release, the alphas are awesome, got that whole Fallout meets Metro 2033 vibe going on. Still have to get through Witcher 3 and a bunch of RPGs from last year including Trails in the Sky FC, the first Shadowrun campaign and the Banner Saga among others. 2 Many RPS 4me


Edit:


Just look at it. It has a nice style going on, simple but effective. Underrail is hype as fuck for me.

Should be out soon-ish, can't wait.

 

[Durante]

I really can't agree with the above description of M&M on any level, given that it was basically my favourite game of 2014. I mean, yes, it was a low-budget affair, but I don't think that really hurt it.

Anyway, everyone should read this, or at least the Sword Coast Legends part of it. Hilarious and informative.

 

[texhnolyze]

I really can't agree with the above description of M&M on any level, given that it was basically my favourite game of 2014. I mean, yes, it was a low-budget affair, but I don't think that really hurt it.

Anyway, everyone should read this, or at least the Sword Coast Legends part of it. Hilarious and informative.

Well, damn.
Multiplayer looks pretty fun.

What followed now was genuinely the most exhilarating half hour of my time at Gamescom. With the two presenters standing by my side, I embarked on a journey of on-the-fly dungeon redesign (mind you, the room layout itself is still not changeable by the player), laying down traps, hiding doors behind fake walls, promoting trash mobs to elite monsters in the middle of battle, and generally having a hell of a time. I had forgotten how much fun it was just to screw with people. At the urging of our hosts, I made a zombie merchant to sell my poor party some weapons; then I promoted him and turned him hostile just when the fighter was about to buy a cool axe. I took control of the dungeon's Beholder boss and charmed the most dangerous party members; then I dropped a Master Vampire just out of sight and starting saving up Threat points to promote him into a mini-boss while the Beholder battle was still going on. The DM Threat system is fairly simple; for every "success" of the party, from defeating enemies to disarming traps, the DM is awarded points to buy cool stuff with. You could buy anything from cheap, harmless traps to outrageously expensive super-monsters.

---------------

Overall, I can honestly say that I had a good time with Sword Coast Legends, even though I certainly hadn't expected to have one. The fun simply crept up on me. The sheer amount of choices I had just for placing traps and chests, changing the difficulty check on locked and hidden doors to delay the party, and tweaking combat encounters on-the-fly kept me fully occupied throughout the hands-on. Thus, I never had a chance to write a neat side quest or, for example, give the zombie merchant some clever bit of dialogue to explain why he would go hostile. However, I certainly could have done that if I'd had a bit more experience with the UI and known exactly what was possible. I don't know if being a DM and torturing newbies will still be fun after 10 or 50 hours of gameplay, but for this brief 30 minute excursion, it was good enough to make me recommend the game.

 

[JC Sera]

Speaking of blob crawlers I have a spare steam key of paper sorcerer
I bought the game on steam originally over a year ago, but steam only provides the PC version. There is a fucking Mac version too.

then later on it was in a humble bundle, where you can download the DRM version, which includes Mac. For $1 pretty worth it.

But I also got a steam key out of that, for a game I already own on steam
anyone want it?

 

[JC Sera]

Somebody take that and play it. Really fun light Wizardry style game. Pretty tough, long fights that are for the most part really fun. Packed with possible party members to swap out, many of which have really creative abilities. And the whole thing looks like an early D&D book!

I still need to finish it, I lost steam and got distracted with academic stuff
pretty decent game despite its awkwardness and lack of budget

 

[Arulan]

It seems like most of the cRPG fans spending money right now are mostly voting for Infinity Engine derivatives. Even Original Sin basically looks like a 3D Baldur's Gate, and the OT here was full of people surprised that it played nothing like that type of game. So it basically had to get Trojan horsed into popularity.

I mean, the Infinity Engine games when released were very accessible, which drew a lot of new players to the genre, so I'm sure a lot of backers are coming from that nostalgia. I certainly wouldn't mind more spiritual successors to Infinity Engine titles, but I'd like to see other sub-genres represented as well.

As a huge dungeon crawler fan I feel the genre is doing just fine, but I also play handheld titles as well as PC ones and a single good dungeon crawler can sate me for an entire year

I have to admit, with the exception of the first Etrian Odyssey, I haven't really played too many Japanese dungeon-crawlers. A lot of them don't seem to focus much on puzzles though, which I would prefer. Regardless, I need to try Elminage Gothic at some point.

I really can't agree with the above description of M&M on any level, given that it was basically my favourite game of 2014. I mean, yes, it was a low-budget affair, but I don't think that really hurt it.

Anyway, everyone should read this, or at least the Sword Coast Legends part of it. Hilarious and informative.

There were some issues, namely the poor optimization, but I'm mostly in agreement in that it was one of my favorite games of 2014.

I can't say the campaign looks very interesting, as far as I've seen, but the multi-player just might be worth it.

 

[HK-47]

Dungeon crawlers tend not to bother much with the subjects I am most interested in with RPGs. I appreciate them but I cant get fired up for them in the same way as an IE game or other subgenres I really like.

 

[HK-47]

I really can't agree with the above description of M&M on any level, given that it was basically my favourite game of 2014. I mean, yes, it was a low-budget affair, but I don't think that really hurt it.

Anyway, everyone should read this, or at least the Sword Coast Legends part of it. Hilarious and informative.

At least the Swords section is right. The Codex's signature unbearable smugness is a little too much in the full read.

 

[vocab]

I think the only hope is JRPG fans, actually. Might and Magic X shares more ground with SMT.

No, it really doesnt. Just because the series has its roots in first person doesnt mean shit. My favorite smt game has zero resemblance to m&m period.

Anyway, I hate japanese wizardry games without story. They are just so robotic feeling.

 

[Sinatar]

Japanese dungeon crawlers are purely combat grindathons. There is no thought put into the dungeons. No puzzles, no quests, just mazes full of progressively tougher monsters. Not a fan, though I'll play through one now and again.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Yes and no; there is obviously a lot of thought put into the dungeons of the Etrian series - in the placement of secret passages and FOE, and the design of the classes synergies, most notably. Same thing with Persona Q. Or Strange Journey and the whole demon engineering thing. All of these games can be terribly clever in their own ways - what they lack are the clever puzzles of a Grimrock, a M&M or a Dungeon Master.

 

[KR_remix]

I enjoyed MMX, but it isn't something I think I'll play again. The dungeons and overworld just weren't as good as previous entries.

I knnow a lot of people were turned off by Grimrock's real time combat, but I wonder how many were turned off by its puzzles/secrets.

Maybe Seven Dragon Saga will do better on its next kickstarter go round since it seems to have a much more coherent vision in regards to its art/lore, and since the Goldbox games were just rereleased on GoG.

6DoF/Descent/etc

I'm having bad memories of Descent to Undermountain. I'd probaby play a blobber with turn based combat and more movement options in 3d space like you suggest though.

I definitely prefer freemovement with turnbased combat to grid movement though. It really made MM6's dungeons feel better.

Perhaps The Quest's giant PC port/remake/overhaul in the near future will help to some extent though that's closer, somewhat, to Ishar which is a whole other can of fish that I'd hope would come to KS one day...

Oh shit, thanks for notifying me of this. Been wanting to try this, but I don't really like playing on mobile.

 

[bati]

By far the game I'm most excited for.

Same here. I've 'finished' the early access build and loved it. I've also played and finished Witcher 3 this year and as good as it was, I liked UnderRail more. It's got amazing mechanics and systems, clearly aimed at players who like some combat depth in their rpgs.

 

[JC Sera]

btw if noone in here wants the free steam key, I'll go over to the giveaway thread

 

[archnemesis]

btw if noone in here wants the free steam key, I'll go over to the giveaway thread

I will gladly take that Steam key off your hands. The game has been in my wishlist since its launch.

 

[ElectricThunder]

I'm not saying M&M is a terrible game folks or was incapable of being a fav back when it came out, just that it was far from what it could be and the devs weren't able to tighten things up all the way, which I believe they honestly could've, due to Ubi tightening the reins from above as their expectations seem to have been something along the lines of "Well, we'll give you a relative shoestring budget...good luck alchemizing a substantial hit out of it~"

Budget....lack of budget for outright dev and post-release support has also got to be holding the blobber back as it somehow wound up in the same idiot pool as the notion that Roguelikes Shouldn't Cost Money and other such nonsense beget of ignorance of how things work on top of the historical narrative. A blobber can put a proper budget to great use the same as any other type of RPG that is very much thirsty for it!

Platform is also bearing in mind. Much like The Quest FINALLY coming somewhere better---I really wish I could've gone back in time and convinced the Mazes of Fate devs that PC had more of a future/reach to it than the GBA/DS so as to leverage their considerable talents from a non-traditional backdrop...

 

[Jag]

I really can't agree with the above description of M&M on any level, given that it was basically my favourite game of 2014. I mean, yes, it was a low-budget affair, but I don't think that really hurt it.

Anyway, everyone should read this, or at least the Sword Coast Legends part of it. Hilarious and informative.

I started reading about Swordcoast, but actually become more interested in the HOMM7 section. Interesting that they acknowledge how screwed up 6 was. I played the 7 beta and it looked like much more of the same, with a revamped town screen. I really wanted to fully complete 6 and all the expansions, but the bugs just killed it for me and left a bad taste in my mouth. They really need to hit that sweet spot with 7.

Bubbles: You stopped support on Heroes of Might and Magic 6 long before the game was properly fixed. The version of the game that's being sold right now is riddled with a slew of game breaking bugs. When you equip certain items, you suffer stacking, permanent stat loss that doesn't even show up on your character sheet; you have to pay attention to damage floats in combat just to realize that there's even anything wrong. You may realize that your campaign hero's stats have been completely ruined after 20 or 30 hours of gameplay with no way to fix it. Certain story missions bug out if you take too long to finish them. Multiple skills and abilities are either completely broken or do the exact opposite of what they're supposed to do. Now you're trying to sell us Heroes of Might and Magic 7. How are you going to convince us that this game will ever be in a playable state? Why shouldn't I just wait two or three years after release before I make a purchase, just to see if you're actually going to properly patch this game?

Then he gave his answer: HoMM 6 had suffered from a number of major issues, not the least of which had been the choices of developer and engine [two rather large problems, those]. When Black Hole Entertainment went bust, Ubisoft was unable to provide the necessary technical support for their home made engine; they tried their best, but they couldn't properly fix the game. However, they had learned from their mistakes. The new developers Limbic were reliable people who had experience with the franchise and had already worked on HoMM 6; thus, there was a sense of continuity that was a great help during development.

 

[AntiFacebook]

Did anyone play white march?
How is it?

 

[Durante]

I'm waiting for part 2 before getting into it, for the most authentic "90s expansion" experience (and because I still have to finish SR:HK!). Looking at my friends list, I think almost everyone is

 

[ElectricThunder]

The best kind of vague for the best kind of optimism for whatever Whalenought's got in the cooker on the sly:

http://whalenoughtstudios.com/whats-on-the-horizon/

 

[Tenebrous]

Did anyone play white march?
How is it?

I did. Finished the bulk of the content, but I'm yet to do

Spoiler

The Siege of Cragholdt

side quest/zone because it's tuned for higher level players (I restarted on PotD/Expert mode when WM1 came out).

Took me about 15-20 hours to get through, and honestly, I really enjoyed my time with it. It's just more of the same in a different setting with a few new companions (

Spoiler

Monk

&

Spoiler

Rogue

), Soulbound weapons (which are an awesome addition), and more enchanting. I know some people have said they didn't find the writing to be up to the standard of the base game, but meh, I liked it.

Not sure if bounties are a 2.0 addition or a WM addition, but they're also challenging & fun to go through, and the improvements to enemy AI have made the a great combat game even better.

Sorry I couldn't give you a better write up, but it's hard to discuss anything like this properly without dropping spoilers everywhere. The short of it is, story very good, gameplay great, new additions great, and the overall experience, while not revolutionary, is still more than worth the asking price if you're after more Pillars.

 

[JC Sera]

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/shadowrun_dragonfall_dc_storefront
Dragonfall is 70% off <$5

 

[Steel]

Worth mentioning, though a bit late, that Mount and Blade 2 got delayed to 2016.

 

[Sinatar]

The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians

Sounds pretty intriguing. A grid based dungeon crawler ala Grimrock but with pausable combat, no square dancing, and a stronger focus on combat over puzzles.

I've picked it up but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

 

[Arulan]

The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians

Sounds pretty intriguing. A grid based dungeon crawler ala Grimrock but with pausable combat, no square dancing, and a stronger focus on combat over puzzles.

I've picked it up but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Interesting. If I wasn't so overwhelmed with RPGs already, I'd consider it. I'll hold off for now. Any impressions from anyone here?

I'm in the middle of playing through Anachronox for the first time, which by the way is fantastic, and finishing my Pool of Radiance playthrough. I'm really looking forward to getting some time with Age of Decadence.

 

[Jag]

The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians

Sounds pretty intriguing. A grid based dungeon crawler ala Grimrock but with pausable combat, no square dancing, and a stronger focus on combat over puzzles.

I've picked it up but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Sounds interesting. I liked Grimrock, but used a walkthrough on most of the puzzles. I just don't have the patience for it that I used to have.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I'm waiting for part 2 before getting into it, for the most authentic "90s expansion" experience (and because I still have to finish SR:HK!). Looking at my friends list, I think almost everyone is

Yeah, I'm waiting for both parts and whatever other big patches/balance changes they make, then I'm running the whole game again.

This will also give me enough distance in time to enjoy the rest of the game reasonably afresh.

Also, I'm currently trying to play Trails SC, Wasteland 2: DC, Divinity: OS EE, and Persona 3 FES simultaneously, so I probably won't have time for any other games until, oh, 2017.

 

[hemtae]

Balrum releases December 14

 

[Eusis]

I know the topic says it's a weak sequel, but in hindsight I think this was the stronger year. A lot of games that we hoped to see last year came out this year, and some of those that hit last year got updated rereleases. And for the AAA scene we did get Fallout 4 as a surprise, albeit leaked and suspected for quite awhile anyway.

Lots of great announcements too. Dark Souls III and System Shock 3, hell yeah.

 

[Farks!]

Underrail release date set to 21 december 2015.

http://www.underrail.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=43&Itemid=61

 

[kswiston]

So, as I expected back in January, a ton of delays turned "The best year since the PSX era" for JRPGs into a fairly standard year with a couple of standout titles. At least we got (or will get) two Trails games and Xenoblade X.

Is 2016 the new best year ever for JRPGs?

 

[Sinatar]

Holy shit what is going on...

We got Age of Decadence this year.

Underrail is finally releasing in 2 weeks after eons of development and now...



Balrum is finally coming out!?!? In 6 bloody days!?

Jesus.

 

[WanderingWind]

Why should I care about Balrum? What's the deal?