The Best of the Bunch

[IncendiaryDevice]

I was browsing gog for a new game to play and came across a bunch of games I didn't really know anything about, but looked possibly half-interesting. I've read some gog reviews, watched Youtube gameplay, read old codex threads (some titles haven't been bumped for years'n'years) and have finally arrived at a poll for 2017 opinions on these items in the hope that one or more maybe worth my time, perhaps that hidden gem that's been lost in the storm.

I'm being really brutal here, only 2 votes allowed, so you really have to pick what you consider is the Best of the Bunch. No flawed gem voting pls, just which ones most diligently provide a complete package, from playability to gameplay to interface to graphics to well, everything.

I often see these games mentioned in passing in posts, such as in 'list of games I've played', but they rarely get a paragraph of description in this regard and historical RPGcodex threads only really go into any kind of detail on a couple of them, such as Balrum or Eschalon (but for Eschalon there's 3 games to pick from and discussion declined with each title).

I've chucked in Banished as well, as I suspect it's probably liked by the same kind of people who like Balrum and Eschalon, and because I've had it in the back of my mind since it was in development and offers a kind-of "those RPGs are so crap the alternative genre but same aesthetic is even preferable" kind of vote.

I guess it's a kind of a "what has the passing of time left you with with regards to these games, memory classics or memory forgotten for good reason". Am I missing out on a good gaming experience by just assuming they're gog list-padding? Old curiosities for which gog's old curiosity shop has so many preferable older curiosities that these ones wont ever make it to the front of a play-queue.

Anyone have any really strong love for any of these and are willing to elaborate why?

Etc.

[no vote changing, so make sure you click right! First instincts are also normally the best instincts]

 

[MediantSamuel]

Here are my trash tier opinions:

I remember playing Overlord on my 360 fucking years ago. I don't remember it being anything worthwhile, even when surrounded by typical console-tier trash. Something about the controls and the gameplay just didn't sit well with me. Meh out of 10. Wouldn't recommend.

The original Spellforce I played when I was a teen and I thought it was god awful. Specifics evade me, but I'm pretty certain the story was dull & forgettable, the UI and controls atrocious. People on Steam seem to love it, so maybe I was too young to appreciate it. Shrug. Would probably avoid but maybe it was better than I remember.

Banished is a cool little game. It has very nice presentation and it's nice to look at while your colony grows. It's not complex by any means however, once you work out how to keep people from starving the only real objective is to build a large city that looks nice. Personally I couldn't maintain interest for more than 10 hours but it's definitely a solid effort. I think the dev is just one guy so props to him for that. Pick it up cheap if you like the sound of the above.

Balrum I briefly played but never went back to. Seemed to have promise if you like the idea of building a perfect Minecraft-esque home in your own pocket dimension while you did typical RPG murdery things in the "real world." May try again, although the building put me off. I have no idea if you can fully ignore aforementioned building aspect. Maybe pick it up.

 

[mixer]

Played only Banished and would not recommend, it is very shallow.

 

[bminorkey]

eschalon was kinda fun albeit braindead

i only played the first one, heard the other two aren't that good

 

[quasimodo]

The second Eschalon is the best. Nice grafics and music. Simple combat with some exploration and character development. Not very good writing.

 

[Snorkack]

If those are your only options, you might want to consider pursuing an entirely different hobby instead.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

If those are your only options, you might want to consider pursuing an entirely different hobby instead.

Hahahaha, gloriously brutal.

I must admit, it seems to be more fun researching these games than it likely is playing them. Really delving into the wonderful world of variations on a theme.

Eschalons - it seems the biggest facepalm with these games is that they're single character games instead of party based when everything about the setting, design and objectives seem tailor made for a party of adventurers. So we have uber-detailed character creation, miserly increments upon level-up, re-rolling for stats to make character builds relatively limitless, but you can only play one at a time per play-through, a play-through of a very long and particularly slow-paced game. Oh, and if you play anything other than mage then you're just shooting yourself in the foot regardless. And then for all the monocled character creation, loot is completely randomised and also underwhelming. I watched one guy on Youtube savescum a barrel until it dropped a +1 sword, and he was playing a mage...

Driftmoon - The biggest drawback seems to be the length of the game. Many people are reporting only 8 hours of gameplay. Possibly not an issue, until you realise 20 hours is just as common a report and it turns out the game has a lot of fluff dialogue... and by a lot it looks like an additional 100% added fluff dialogue. While detractors are happy to state firmly that this is an uber-casual game, more suited to babies first RPG, the fanboys and girls are unanimous that the game just makes you happy, like a computer version of an ecstasy pill.

Spellforce - Seems to be a hilarious combination of diablo-like combat but slowed down to the same speed of any turn-based game, what a combination of the worst of both worlds! Real time combat at the speed and encounter design numbers of a turn-based game. Part 2 has an RTS angle as well where you build camps and stuff, at which point I kinda zoned out from watching any other reviews.

Overlord - One of those games where you get to play the demon instead of the hero. Looks like it has some genuinely funny features combined with actual social reactivity to your alignment choices, C&C lovers would be proud. But its a real time hack and slash that seems to get boring once the one-joke theme has worn off a bit. Looks highly entertaining but highly soulless at the exact same time, an odd combination.

Balrum - Were the makers of this game on drugs when they conceived the idea? Not that that wouldn't be preferable in a lot of cases of game development, but the whole premise of this game is just so bizzare. One part builder game, one part job simulator, one part roguelike, one part traditional RPG/dungeon crawler. Again, a single character game where the other design choices make a party seem more suited.

 

[Snorkack]

Hahahaha, gloriously brutal.

Well, it's not even meant to be funny. In hindsight, I should have taken a long solitary walk through the streets rather than trying any one of those titles.
Except Banished, from which you can squeeze 10-ish hours of solid fun and challenge until you encounter the inevitable "wait, that's it already?!" moment.

 

[Gunnar]

Driftmoon - The biggest drawback seems to be the length of the game. Many people are reporting only 8 hours of gameplay. Possibly not an issue, until you realise 20 hours is just as common a report and it turns out the game has a lot of fluff dialogue... and by a lot it looks like an additional 100% added fluff dialogue. While detractors are happy to state firmly that this is an uber-casual game, more suited to babies first RPG, the fanboys and girls are unanimous that the game just makes you happy, like a computer version of an ecstasy pill.

I've played this game and I think both sides have a point. It's short, shallow/casual, childish/lighthearted with lots of dialogue but fun and well put together at the same time. I do think it's massively overrated but it's not a bad game.

 

[Tigranes]

I've only played Eschalon 1/2 from that list. They're literally mediocre: not bad, you can run around and do typical RPG stuff, but there's literally nothing good. Entirely forgettable in every aspect. So yes, take a romantic walk with your left hand around the beach instead.

 

[Kahr]

I had pretty short little fun with Overlord; reminded me of Gremlins.
It felt pretty nice seeing these Goblin things causing havoc.

 

[pippin]

I haven't played all of the games in your list, but I can give a few comments.

Driftmoon is what you'd give a kid to play. It's not really bad per se, but if childish atmospheres aren't good for you, then don't play it. Some of your companions are talking animals for instance. But there's some puzzles and stuff. The lenght of te game is, I believe, based on the fact that it comes with an editor and people are free to create their on content but the community is rather small.

I like Heretic Kingdoms a lot. It's an arpg with twists and a degree of depth that makes it a strong reccomendation for fans of the genre or people bored with the Diablo formula.

Spellforce games are rather fun, but the first one seems to be the best.

In short I'd reccomend Spellforce and Heretic Kingdoms.

 

[Parsifarka]

I've been willing to replay Overlord for a while; I played it years ago and have a good memory of it. The point of the game is to boss around your goblins which you can improve (there are different kinds and must be used tactically in order to solve encounters and puzzles with minimal loses) while keeping your Overlord away from harm -the character is quite capable of inflicting damage if needed, but is somewhat fragile. It's kind of a simplified Sacrifice with a colorful environment -its humor won't make you laugh, but it's pleasant.
I recommend it unorinocally, it feels like a work of love rather than a quick cash grab. Lot of attention to detail and some nice ideas a la Giants Citizen Kabuto (although don't expect something as revolutionary in terms of gameplay).
Supposing that we knew what a RPG is, Overlord IS NOT a RPG but still is a worthy game.

 

[V_K]

I wrote a review of Soulbringer for felipepepe's book. In short, it's an original but flawed game, with lots of cool ideas but terrible AI. Rather light on number-crunching though.
Driftmoon is more of an action-adventure with RPG elements, but it's very competently made and charming. Writing-wise it's what DOS aimed for but failed - whimsical done right.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I wrote a review of Soulbringer for felipepepe's book. In short, it's an original but flawed game, with lots of cool ideas but terrible AI. Rather light on number-crunching though.
Driftmoon is more of an action-adventure with RPG elements, but it's very competently made and charming. Writing-wise it's what DOS aimed for but failed - whimsical done right.

Driftmoon is so very close to the kind of game I like. It's gloriously colourful, has a preference for humour over grimdark, very imaginative concepts, creatures and surroundings. I don't even mind that its a very short game, I think I could even cope with the excessive dialogue, which does actually look more interesting than the average game writing, but what stops me from buying it is the combat. The combat is not only real time but your companions aren't controllable. Combine this with reports that the combat is extremely easy, even on the hardest difficulty setting and it just drifts back to bottom of the pile for me. Which is a shame really, because I'm in the mood for something a bit more frivolous and mindless, just not so mindless its irrelevant if you know what I mean.

 

[Tito Anic]

Try Soulbringer beause it got dark, downtempo atmosphere and big gameworld. Beat it decade ago and it left good memories till present day.