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Ok so Betrayal at Krondor is awesome

Gakkone

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I see surprisingly few mentions of the game even here on the codex. I've been playing it for for the past few weeks (it seems quite long) and I'm loving it. A great, well written story, a cool improve-by-use skill system, turn based battles, an (almost) open world with lots to do...

What I like most is how the story progression can be seen in the game world; the game is divided into chapters and all the quests for example open up at different times and are often somehow related to what ever is happening in the plot. Also people you've spoken to before have new things to say that reflect the things going on in the story and so on.

So many things in this game just make perfect sense. Some shops will only buy specific types of items, there's a day-night cycle that the taverns follow for example, the characters consume rations of food, weapons and armors wear down but can be repaired etc.

So what is the codex consensus on this?
 

Grunker

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I see surprisingly few mentions of the game even here on the codex.

What, we talk about that game all the ti-

Joined: 06 Jul 2010

Oh.

Well, Codex Consensus is pretty much that it's fucking awesome. I suspect there's two kinds of people on the Codex; those who love it, and those who haven't played it.
 

Mrowak

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Gakkone said:
I see surprisingly few mentions of the game even here on the codex. I've been playing it for for the past few weeks (it seems quite long) and I'm loving it. A great, well written story, a cool improve-by-use skill system, turn based battles, an (almost) open world with lots to do...

What I like most is how the story progression can be seen in the game world; the game is divided into chapters and all the quests for example open up at different times and are often somehow related to what ever is happening in the plot. Also people you've spoken to before have new things to say that reflect the things going on in the story and so on.

So many things in this game just make perfect sense. Some shops will only buy specific types of items, there's a day-night cycle that the taverns follow for example, the characters consume rations of food, weapons and armors wear down but can be repaired etc.

So what is the codex consensus on this?

Brother, Betrayal at Krondor is one of the universally loved games here. It is so good no one feels need to discuss what it did wrong. There is also no need to debate which game is better, it simply outclasses everything out there.

It is a pinacle of RPG design, living proof that great gameplay and story in an RPG may support each other creating something unique.

The character development system, the combat system, the spell system everything is near perfect. I want to see a game like that again... :(

Betrayal at Krondor was my first cRPG... After that nothing, not-a-single-thing could compare to it. Unfortunately, I've finished it 6 times. Too many playthroughs... Replaying it now lacks novelty :(. Hell, I remember most passwords for that blasted puzzlelocks.
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium

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It's a great story-driven game. I got it on a CD Collection some years ago when Sierra had released it for free.

Admiral jimbob said:
Gakkone said:
So what is the codex consensus on this?

Have you seen the amount of shit RPGs coming out this year, we don't have time to play good games when there are so many new ones to complain about

:lol:
 

Gakkone

pretty cool guy eh
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Johannes said:
If there's someone doesn't like it they're probably a hopeless graphics whore.

The game does look like shit nowadays, but who the fuck cares?

Admiral jimbob said:
Have you seen the amount of shit RPGs coming out this year, we don't have time to play good games when there are so many new ones to complain about

:lol:

Yeah, I guess most people here will rather play Dragon Age 2 and bitch and moan about it endlessly than play a game that is actually good but old.

Grunker said:
I see surprisingly few mentions of the game even here on the codex.

What, we talk about that game all the ti-

Joined: 06 Jul 2010

Oh.

Well, Codex Consensus is pretty much that it's fucking awesome. I suspect there's two kinds of people on the Codex; those who love it, and those who haven't played it.

Ok, mayhap I'm just too much of a newfag, but I got the impression that it's not as frequently discussed here as many of the other classics of the genre.

Mrowak said:
Gakkone said:
I see surprisingly few mentions of the game even here on the codex. I've been playing it for for the past few weeks (it seems quite long) and I'm loving it. A great, well written story, a cool improve-by-use skill system, turn based battles, an (almost) open world with lots to do...

What I like most is how the story progression can be seen in the game world; the game is divided into chapters and all the quests for example open up at different times and are often somehow related to what ever is happening in the plot. Also people you've spoken to before have new things to say that reflect the things going on in the story and so on.

So many things in this game just make perfect sense. Some shops will only buy specific types of items, there's a day-night cycle that the taverns follow for example, the characters consume rations of food, weapons and armors wear down but can be repaired etc.

So what is the codex consensus on this?

Brother, Betrayal at Krondor is one of the universally loved games here. It is so good no one feels need to discuss what it did wrong. There is also no need to debate which game is better, it simply outclasses everything out there.

It is a pinacle of RPG design, living proof that great gameplay and story in an RPG may support each other creating something unique.

The character development system, the combat system, the spell system everything is near perfect. I want to see a game like that again... :(

Betrayal at Krondor was my first cRPG... After that nothing, not-a-single-thing could compare to it. Unfortunately, I've finished it 6 times. Too many playthroughs... Replaying it now lacks novelty :(. Hell, I remember most passwords for that blasted puzzlelocks.

:salute:
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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You actually only registered half a year later than me, so if you haven't seen all the BoK-lovin' on these forums, ya must be daft ;)
 

ghostdog

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It's awesome.

It has been discussed a lot of times in the codex.

There's also a great LP in the playground.

I've never managed to finish it. Last time I played it my GPU got fried , midway through the game. It's a fucking curse. :(
 

Gakkone

pretty cool guy eh
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Grunker said:
You actually only registered half a year later than me, so if you haven't seen all the BoK-lovin' on these forums, ya must be daft ;)

That must be it :D

No, I just haven't visited the place that often and now that I searched for posts mentioning the game (actually I searched back when I started playing it a while back) all I found was a few mentions here and there and I really thought the game deserves more.

Well I'm glad it's generally liked here, 'cause like I said I'm loving it myself.
 

DraQ

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I still need to fucking play it - it came out 3-4 years before I first moved onto PC.

Screens don't look that bad and from the descriptions it sounds like the best thing ever.
I thought I had it downloaded somewhere and waiting for me having time to plunge into it, but apparently I don't have it. :(
 

Hobo Elf

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I've never gotten far in BaK, but, I just wanna know one thing about the plot everyone faps over: Is it actually good, or is it just good by video game standard? I've never read anything by Reimond E. Feist, but I always got the feeling that his books were nothing more than just generic fantasy; same trite I can get while reading one of the hundreds of books based in, say, the Forgotten Realms. Or is he actually a good fantasy author?
 

Zomg

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I strongly recommend you head more-or-less directly towards the objective of each chapter, if you wander around grinding everywhere the combat will not be of interest at any point after about the first third of the first chapter.

Edit - The story is utterly generic '90s Tolkeinfuck fantasy, anyone complimenting the story as the story (instead of like how it's presented in video game format) is a retard.
 

Mrowak

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Edit - The story is utterly generic '90s Tolkeinfuck fantasy, anyone complimenting the story as the story (instead of like how it's presented in video game format) is a retard.

Indeed, it turns out Feist is much better game story-script author than actual novel writer. In Bak it is exactly the way the story is presented that's important - the fact that it makes sense and that it supports the game-world, the skill system, the character progression, presentation of magic etc. You just have a standard fantasy world with war coming, and your characters are coincidentally involved in it somehow. The fact that unlike in Dragon Age their motivations and actions are actually sensible and move far from herp-a-derp we get to complain about these days, makes the game all the more worth playing. It's novelty or lack of thereof is another thing altogether. Note here the game was realeased in 1993, so I think what they did out there was quite groundbreaking by all standards.

@DraQ
@ghostdog

WTF?! :x Play it, NOW!!! In this age of :decline: this game is one of the last refuges for every Codexer. You won't regret it!
 

Twinkle

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I've never gotten far in BaK, but, I just wanna know one thing about the plot everyone faps over: Is it actually good, or is it just good by video game standard?

Well, it depends on your definition of "actually good". It's heaps and bounds above grimdark trash of Faggot Ages, but nothing particularly special as is.

I strongly recommend you head more-or-less directly towards the objective of each chapter

Hmm, no. Finding new spells for your mage will make your life much easier later. Do not bother with buffing Locklear in the first chapter too much, for you'll face a really unpleasant surprise at the beginning of Chapter 2.
 

Zomg

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If you can do arithmetic and tie a game of tic-tac-toe you are well-equipped to win every fight in BaK while heading directly towards the objective of each chapter and only doing the sidequest shit that's along that path. Grinding will make combat into pure button pushing and you will get too bored to finish it.
 

Hobo Elf

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Alright, I was just wondering. I've seen so many people say that it has the best plot ever in a video game, which made me very sceptical. I'll probably give it a spin if I can't think of what to play next.
 

Grunker

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Hobo Elf said:
so many people say that it's the best plot ever in a video game.

It's not - BUT, I think there is some merit to the claim that it's one of the most well-constructed plots ever in a video game. Many video-game plots, even the good ones, have unexplained shit, weird deus ex machinas, and bad story-telling devices. Probably because developers wrote them.

BaK is overall a very "polished" story. It seems to make sense, and it never pulls you out. You understand the characters and their motivations, and sadly that's more than can be said about almost every video game out there.
 

DraQ

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Mrowak said:
@DraQ
@ghostdog

WTF?! :x Play it, NOW!!! In this age of :decline: this game is one of the last refuges for every Codexer. You won't regret it!
Any decent source to obtain it or will I have to hunt for the torrents?

And, yes, it does seem to accommodate my 'dream RPG' set of features pretty well, at least judging by descriptions.
 

Calem Ravenna

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It's a decent game. Not bad, not great.

Tactical combat is fun for a while, but very limited in scope. The encounters are of little variety and there is little progression in terms of difficulty.

The character/skill system is good if you don't focus on actually improving your characters' skills. If you go out of your way to improve fighting skills, you will very quickly reach the maximum and combat will become 'banal, shit, boring' with few exceptions. (zomg mentioned this)

The story is completely linear, but there is the opportunity to explore a good bit of the game world. While there's little content outside of the areas you visit during the main quest, it's still better in this regard than many (most) games.

Betrayal at Krondor also features a minigame, known in the game as 'traps'. These are not difficult or dangerous and exist only to waste your time. Whoever conceived this should be hanged.
 

Zomg

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The floppy version without the redbook audio was kinda freely released as a promo for one of the sequels, but it was probably not freeware-freeware, like you were only supposed to directly download it from Sierra or something in the fine print. The big abandonware places don't have it anymore in favor of GoG (packaged with the shitball Betrayal at Antara), but that version does have the original audio AFAIK.
 

7hm

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Calem Ravenna said:
It's a decent game. Not bad, not great.

Tactical combat is fun for a while, but very limited in scope. The encounters are of little variety and there is little progression in terms of difficulty.

The character/skill system is good if you don't focus on actually improving your characters' skills. If you go out of your way to improve fighting skills, you will very quickly reach the maximum and combat will become 'banal, shit, boring' with few exceptions. (zomg mentioned this)

The story is completely linear, but there is the opportunity to explore a good bit of the game world. While there's little content outside of the areas you visit during the main quest, it's still better in this regard than many (most) games.

Betrayal at Krondor also features a minigame, known in the game as 'traps'. These are not difficult or dangerous and exist only to waste your time. Whoever conceived this should be hanged.

This was pretty well my experience with it.

I played it when Sierra released it as freeware years ago but didn't really get into it at the time. I picked it up again a couple months ago, and again didn't really get into it.

Ths story is good for a video game story, it's no work of art. The combat system is pretty simplistic from what I saw. It's ok and I can see why people like it, but meh - not my cup of tea.
 

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