Game News Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates Released

[Tom Baker's Arse]

The music is just completely fucking weird and sounds nothing like the setting. It so bad that it is a deal-breaker for me. Forget about the fact that there is no character creation at all.

This is the button you need to use to embed a YouTube link.

You silly young pecker, do you think I care ? No.

 

[Morkar Left]

Shouldn't we actually look more into the game to see if we like it before running to the developer and asking for an interview? I mean if wveryone here starts bashing it, it wouldn't be pleasant for the developer to publish an interview here.

 

[Prime Junta]

if wveryone here starts bashing it

That hardly ever happens.

 

[MRY]

Shouldn't we actually look more into the game to see if we like it before running to the developer and asking for an interview? I mean if wveryone here starts bashing it, it wouldn't be pleasant for the developer to publish an interview here.

An interview is overwhelmingly more useful to them in the next two weeks than it is two months from now. And the longer the wait, the more likely the bashing is to happen. Right now I think everyone is intrigued about the setting and the concept and uncertain about the game.

 

[Infinitron]

We should just ask the guy to register on the Codex and answer our questions on the forums. Not like he's important enough to be unapproachable.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah, hey guy, want to increase the visibility of your game to the market? Register on these prestigious forums and come discuss RPGs, game mechanics, and whether the shape of ovens in Dachau was optimal to burn human flesh.

 

[YES!]

Live it to the prestigious members of the codex to like a possible drama about a game company over the merits of the game.


Also, why do people care about music in games? Have none of you listened to actual good music? If not, your ears are going to explode when you listen to good music compared to what you get in games.

 

[vivec]

You forget how much bad music hurts a game until you actually encounter some.

Definitely, it feels like music for a Transport Tycoon type of game set in the early 20th century.

Sheesh. No one nostaligied the track from Post mortem????

 

[makchanka]

Dialogue reads like a translation from Russian?

Purportedly written by a New Yorker cartoonist.

It's very weird. I find the cartoonist pretty clever (in a New Yorker way): https://condenaststore.com/art/paul-noth But it seems like a mismatch for a cRPG. Even weirder, the cartoonist himself makes no mention of this work (his most significant writing, I would think?) on his Twitter feed that I can find: https://twitter.com/search?l=&q=empyre fromaulNoth&src=typd&lang=en

Everything about this game is mysterious, which lends a certain mystique to what would otherwise look like a fairly standard European low budget RPG.

oh boy, a fucking new yorker cartoonist. gross. I honestly worry that it will end up featuring like three factions: nazi-paleoconservative-classical liberal mishmash bagguys, high school anarchists/full-blown stalinist bagguys being manipulated by corporations or something stupid like that, and the omniscient wealthy neoliberals, tut-tutting about how wise they are. other game companies do this kind of shit all the time. it's like they can't think outside of high school civics class or haven't read any polisci or serious history.

like, if you're going to worldbuild, don't be a little fucking queef about it.

 

[aratuk]

Is this only available on Steam, not anywhere else? It's not on GOG.

Color me mildly interested by the premise.

 

[MRY]

snip

You should check out the cartoons at the link. "I hear he's big in Japan" was pretty funny, I thought, as was the sad clown one, and that was just on the first set. It's a crazy mismatch for a turn-of-the-century serious RPG, but I think your rant is somewhat misplaced.

 

[Urthor]

Getting an interview is a must. Either it works out and we support a game that is neat and cool incline, or it faceplants and is an epic fail. I don't see it being anything in between knowing Codex. Either way it would be major good times.

 

[YES!]

Getting an interview is a must. Either it works out and we support a game that is neat and cool incline, or it faceplants and is an epic fail. I don't see it being anything in between knowing Codex. Either way it would be major good times.

Why would you support a game over an interview? Wouldn't it make more sense to support games you like because you like them and not because it is cool or is the hipster thing to do?

 

[MRY]

Since the great cruise ship that is the Codex seems to turn too slowly to reach this dude before he's already drowned, maybe I'll shoot him a message myself.

In terms of Roqua's question, I assume "support" means "give coverage to" as opposed to "purchase." I took what Urthor to be saying is, "Either the coverage we give turns out to support a neat game, or we end up coverage a disaster which will be funny in its own right." That seems correct.

Also, the guy has spent 105 hours on Jagged Alliance on Steam, and nothing comparable on any other game. And he has AOD on his wishlist.

--EDIT--

I sent a message via their Contact form and a friend invite to the guy on Steam. I might ping them on Twitter, too. I sense a sequel to The Fanatic and His RPG coming on! Hopefully not The Fanatic and His Bomb.

 

[Infinitron]

Since turning the great cruise ship that is the Codex seems to turn too slowly to reach this dude before he's already drowned, maybe I'll shoot him a message myself.

I'm sure you'd do a better job of it than I would.

 

[fantadomat]

Ok did anyone tried it?Is it playable?Is it decent?

 

[Lacrymas]

Pretty weird release, all things considered. It was obvious it was going to be cheap-looking the moment it was announced, so no surprise there. I guess at most it can surprise us with writing and encounter design.

 

[gaussgunner]

Dialogue reads like a translation from Russian?

Purportedly written by a New Yorker cartoonist.

It's very weird. I find the cartoonist pretty clever (in a New Yorker way): https://condenaststore.com/art/paul-noth But it seems like a mismatch for a cRPG. Even weirder, the cartoonist himself makes no mention of this work (his most significant writing, I would think?) on his Twitter feed that I can find: https://twitter.com/search?l=&q=empyre fromaulNoth&src=typd&lang=en

Everything about this game is mysterious, which lends a certain mystique to what would otherwise look like a fairly standard European low budget RPG.

Twitter search is shit. He retweeted that. They just announced he was the writer in August. Was that supposed to make a big marketing splash? I suppose.

I wonder if the developer thought a prestigious cartoon writer and an outsourced Unity dev team were all it takes to make an incline RPG. Who needs good music, art, animations, distinctive character models, GUI design, gameplay, combat, marketing, or a deeper knowledge of RPGs than playing part of Eternity and Shadowrun? Calling it shovelware might be too harsh, but it looks like polishing wasn't in the budget.

 

[hivemind]

You forget how much bad music hurts a game until you actually encounter some.

just mute it dude
why is everyone so hard to please and pretentious when it comes to non-obsidian published RPGs

 

[MRY]

He retweeted that.

Yes, he retweeted his own cartoon -- but I didn't see anything where he talked about the game, etc. Seemed odd to me.

Anyway, I tried contacting the company via Twitter, Steam, and their website, and have heard nothing back. Maybe they're deluged with interview requests from major press outlets, who knows?

 

[MRY]

This man does not like Empyre.

"Flooded With Problems":

Unfortunately, unlike the rising water levels of this apocalyptic setting, the depth to Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gate is barely knee-deep. In a hollow world where decisions, interactions, and allegiances do not matter, I found myself counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds until I could take no more. If you read my preview of Empyre, you’ll know that my concerns have been lingering for a month now. Off the bat, I was off-put by the lack of design, story, and audio, and I’m sad to say all of those factors remain in the full release. ... There’s only one thing I can say; Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is not a finished product. It’s not even close. Things are hollow, broken, and un-freakin-readable.

45/100, with a lot of puns involving water and some nasty words for the game's writing.

http://cogconnected.com/review/empyre-lords-sea-gates-review/

 

[Lacrymas]

You are surprisingly interested in this game, MRY, any particular reason for that?

 

[MRY]

It brings together a series of interests of mine: RPGs with historical settings; often concomitant misplaced boasts of historical accuracy (e.g., hoplites); eccentric development stories; Internet mysteries; non-game-writers swaggering into games; New Yorker cartoons.... I am fairly sure that there is a fascinating story here, and I'd like to learn it and wryly retell it. It might make me feel better about FG's troubled development.

 

[hello friend]

Nothing wrong with the music.

Doo doo doo dee doo dum dee dum doo

It'll get old a few hours in though.

 

[MRY]

Another glowing review, which saves its highest praise for the game's art direction, with visuals that look "as though they were taken directly from Antebellum America." http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=17290

I pass this along without comment, having made my saving throw.