(Review by Holy Athena)
Here's what to expect from this game. It's all about realism, and immersion. If you're looking for sword play and gameplay like Skyrim, this isn't the game for you. But if you're looking to immerse yourself in the 1400's in a time where brutality and chivalry stood apart like two brothers in line for the throne. This is the game for you.
You'll be thrust into a game unlike any other. Hunger, thirst, and your every day life will wear you out. Where your actions, responses, and daily life will determine who you are. WHere people will treat you for what you wear, and how you talk. This is a true RPG.
You'll quickly notice through the beginning that the devs threw off the shackles of modern stereotypes. The Princess isn't always beautiful. The Girls are not always lookers with perfectly polished faces. The men and knights are not always burly, with egos to match, and voices of heroes. They are folk like you, who have a history like you. They find themselves in their place in life for various reasons, and choices they made. They were like you once, and you are Henry, a boy coming to man hood with many roads he can take. Which will you? How will the people see you? Which lords will know you, if any? Will you be seen as a respectful knight, or a shady vagabond best kept at a distance?
Open World RPG has a new master.
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In Depth Details:
This game is all about realism, and immersion. I can't stress this enough. Many complaints by people are because their expectations of sword fighting, sounds, and atmosphere come from fantasy, hollywood, and games like Skyrim. ALl of which are 2% realistic, 98% fantasy.
Sound Effects:
Easy place to start. The sound effects. Hitting a persons shield, or armor makes a realistic sound. Not a sound like a hammer hitting a thick piece of metal. It's realistic. It doesn't have "impact" or high sound effects.
Arrows shooting through the air is what you'd expect. No overboard "whoosh" sounds. You'll probably hear nothing, and only a slight "thud" if you're very close to where it hit. Its realistic.
Movement while wearing heavy armor is cumbersome, slow. While wearing cloth, leather, or a mix of them will allow you to move easier, swing faster, etc. This is again realistic. Wearing Cloth, under leather, under a gambit, under chainmail, and finally a plate over all of that is going to be extremely restricting to your movements irl, as well as the game.
Armor:
This brings me to the armor system. Layers upon layers, and you choose! Unlike Skyrim, or other games. You odn't just buy a pauldron, or chest piece, equip it, and gg. No sir. YOu choose whats under that, and under that. Just like in real life.
You choose the type of armor ontop, and what you wear under that. Chain? Leather? Gambits? Or nothing? And what do you wear under that? Leather? Cloth? Its up to you!
Perhaps you want to be a sneaky thief though, and wear simple cloth, and leather, allowing you to sneak even easier.
Sneaking:
Which leads into sneaking, Sneaking is a 2 part thing. Being a shady thief is being a shady thief. Wearing black with a hood at night is pretty smart... but pretty stupid during the day too. You ever think watching movies like Lord of the Rings, or other fantasy movies. YOu have a thief, or no gooder wearing a dark cape, skulking around and you thought "Is nobody noticing this obviously shady person?" Well The AI in this game do.
How you stand out in a crowd in the day, and how well you blend in at night are both equally important to a never do well.
The Common Folk:
Which brings me to yet another incredible mechanic. How the people see you. Walk up to them in finely shined armor, and intricate jewelry they will treat you like a Noble. Talk up to you, and be more willing to bend to your will. However other nobles may not be so keen, though they will more likely treat you as their equal. While beggars, and low lifers will look at you with distrust, and scorn.
Wearing fine clothes, and jewelry, a nice haircut, and looking like a well mannered individual? Merchants and common folk will treat you as such. They'll be more willing to negotiate, barder, and haggle. They may tell you things they wouldn't tell beggars, or nobles.
Meanwhile, wear clothes like a beggar, sit in the streets, and get to know the needy, and they will trust you far more as one of them...
What game has ever allowed this level of layers and immersion?
Alchemy:
Speaking of layers and immersion, Alchemy!
Want to brew a potion? a drink? Then get ready to be a real alchemist.. Brewing a potion isn't just mixing ingredients, and its done gg. You must brew it properly. PUtting in mixtures in the right order, brewing it to a set time, and then and only then putting in another mixture of another ingredient.
Immersion and Realism hold supreme:
I really can't stress enough this game focuses on realism and immersion. I may sound like a broken record always pointing that out, but it amazes me that I find myself even finding how much hand holding other games do. If you're running from a person on a horse for instance who has a bow.. you're going to die if you run straight.. everytime.. You have to dodge, weave, look behind you to see where he is, all while trying to keep your horse on the road, and manage the horse. Its realistic, and immersive. Dodging his arrows, while running for your life, because it doesn't take many arrows to down you, just like... you got it..
But wait there's more!:
There's so much to this game I can't go into it all... Getting a good nights sleep is important as it is in real life. Try to negotiate while tired and you're likely to end up screwing up and making a bad deal. Just like you would if you were tired..
Not shine your armor or clean your outfit? People will probably look down on you for it.
Bandaging wounds is a must, not just to "heal" but to actually heal and rest. Bleeding after being cut, stabbed, or poked if left unchecked will have hazardous outcomes to your health. Bandage it, and find a bed. You need to rest!
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The Bad:
Honestly this game is so awesome in every respect, I completely overlook all the faults.. But of course there are some.
The animations during conversations can be pretty bad sometimes.
While the voice acting is pretty damn on par most of the time, you get awkward instances where a really awesome voice actor is put next to one with, well far less talent, and it de rails the whole conversation and in some instances even makes the cutscene lose its luster.
There were some odd bugs at the start of the hgame as well, but none of which were gamebreaking.
Finally many people are complaining about the FPS, or bad optimization. I have a failing computer.
A 980Ti with 12GB of ram, and a failing processor, and I really only get a few jitters at most, and never during gameplay, just certain cutscenes.
If you're one of "those" people that need 100 FPS and perfect frames all the time or you cry yourself to sleep at night, then buy it at your own risk, but if you're someone like me who can enjoy a game, even if it doesn't run perfect at frames higher than you could ever notice anyway (I mean seriously if you need an FPS counter to tell you how many frames you're not getting... lawls) then by no means should you pass this game up.
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Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
