Codex Review RPG Codex Review: Jagged Alliance 3

[AndrewCC]

From the perspective of a tactical RPG, it's... decent.
If you remember it's actually an (official) Jagged Alliance game, ufff, it's pretty bad, it compares unfavorably against the 1999 base game when it comes to tactics options, but if we bring the v1.13 mod into discussion, it's actually ridiculously worse.
Slight incline if you only count the other Jagged Alliance "sequels", pure decline compared to JA2.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Is the Jagged Alliance sequel curse broken though?

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Its a really, REALLY good game, considering the current year and todays developers mindset.

 

[mondblut]

In that game, Thor was a vegetarian, and had a bit of a New Age vibe about him, but like most A.I.M. members, he was first and foremost a professional mercenary. In Jagged Alliance 3, however, hardly a single line of Thor’s dialogue is exempt from mentions of chakras, meditation and spiritual energy, to the point that his role as a hired killer feels entirely incidental."

If Vicky from the trailer is anything to go by, that's their Characters 101 approach to character design. Find one quirk in the bio, turn it up to 11 and build the entirety of character presentation around it. Zoomers gonna zoom.

 

[Roguey]

If Vicky from the trailer is anything to go by, that's their Characters 101 approach to character design. Find one quirk in the bio, turn it up to 11 and build the entirety of character presentation around it. Zoomers gonna zoom.

Lead Writer Ian Currie
Writer Daniel McClure

I looked up McClure, he's 49. Can't blame this on the young folk, it's all on an aging boomer and a Gen Xer trying to be hip (a generation-wide tic).

 

[Grauken]

If Vicky from the trailer is anything to go by, that's their Characters 101 approach to character design. Find one quirk in the bio, turn it up to 11 and build the entirety of character presentation around it. Zoomers gonna zoom.

Lead Writer Ian Currie
Writer Daniel McClure

I looked up McClure, he's 49. Can't blame this on the young folk, it's all on an aging boomer and a Gen Xer trying to be hip (a generation-wide tic).

All the boomers are dead already, its gen X now trying to be relevant and hip

 

[HeatEXTEND]

3d

Yeah so what? Get with the-

rotatable

Ok never mind fuck that shit.

 

[Roguey]

All the boomers are dead already, its gen X now trying to be relevant and hip

Ian Currie's 61, he's a late boomer but a boomer nonetheless.

 

[Grauken]

All the boomers are dead already, its gen X now trying to be relevant and hip

Ian Currie's 61, he's a late boomer but a boomer nonetheless.

Last of the boomers then

 

[mondblut]

If Vicky from the trailer is anything to go by, that's their Characters 101 approach to character design. Find one quirk in the bio, turn it up to 11 and build the entirety of character presentation around it. Zoomers gonna zoom.

Lead Writer Ian Currie
Writer Daniel McClure

I looked up McClure, he's 49. Can't blame this on the young folk, it's all on an aging boomer and a Gen Xer trying to be hip (a generation-wide tic).

Just trying to get on with their audience. Everyone knows "having a personality" in 2023 means picking some retarded quirk and building your entire identity around it. Anything more subtle and nuanced flies over the zoomers' heads.

 

[mastroego]

Serious question.
No, really.

Will mods fix the flaws?

 

[AndrewCC]

They made enough dosh it seems that the devs are incentivized to fix it themselves in expansions and sequels.
There IS hope.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Serious question.
No, really.

Will mods fix the flaws?

Yes. Perhaps not the scramble turn (depends on how dedicated the modders are), but everything else I can see being fixed by mods. There are already some really good mods out, and some that look promising if they can realise their potential (I've tried a few). Mostly it's a question of tweaking values here and there, which should be very possible. Frankly, just making enemies equally observant to your own mercs would go a long way. There is actually an AI mod out already, which claims to have the AI stealth and even ambush you. Not sure how accurate that is as I haven't tested it yet, but things are looking promising.

 

[spectre]

Yes. Perhaps not the scramble turn (depends on how dedicated the modders are), but everything else I can see being fixed by mods.

I'd have to give it a serious check once all the tools are published and documented, for now I'm more inclined to leave it to folks who are more... passionate about the game.

Depends if the code handling the scramble turn is out there in the open (no reason not to if shit like drop rates, AI behaviour, etc. are there).
Just setting everyone's movement AP to zero would be a quick and dirty fix, but it might be necessary depending if there's any AI logic tied to this trigger.

Now, even If we're not allowed to diddle with that, I think another possible hackjob solution can be worked out based on Fox's unique trait.
Give it to every merc (and hide it so that it looks less sloppy) then play with the available parameters so that the scramble is delayed indefinitely,
or just enough to make it less of an issue. Again, if that doesn't break any AI logic, it's all in the clear.
If what you say is true and the AI can ambush the player back, that's a solid start to get this thing properly balanced.
(preemptively self-reported myself for harvesting rainbow ratings)

 

[raeven]

3d

Yeah so what? Get with the-

rotatable

Ok never mind fuck that shit.

Sigh.... This again.

Worst take on the Codex. Very consistent though, I'll say that.

 

[Kev Inkline]

"One example of where the writing falls flat is Thor Kaufman, a mercenary first appearing in Jagged Alliance 2. In that game, Thor was a vegetarian, and had a bit of a New Age vibe about him, but like most A.I.M. members, he was first and foremost a professional mercenary. In Jagged Alliance 3, however, hardly a single line of Thor’s dialogue is exempt from mentions of chakras, meditation and spiritual energy, to the point that his role as a hired killer feels entirely incidental."

Art imitates life.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I admit I always cared more about the style, humor and roleplaying aspect of JA2 than its tactical gameplay, which I found important only in the sense that it was there and did its job (otherwise I found it highly overrated). This game looks like generic Current Year crap, I'll pass.

 

[raeven]

I admit I always cared more about the style, humor and roleplaying aspect of JA2 than its tactical gameplay, which I found important only in the sense that it was there and did its job (otherwise I found it highly overrated). This game looks like generic Current Year crap, I'll pass.

That's too bad, given that this entry has far more to offer on the roleplaying / questing front than previous entries...

 

[Surf Solar]

Another 3d abomination!
We went from gorgeous 2d graphics in ja2:
https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/...12f991baf9519a2a7907.600x338.jpg?t=1502453641

to this vomit inducing 3d shit today
And codexers are fapping to this 3d rotatable atrocity! What a joke this site has become!

Yup. Searched the review for mentions of the abomination that is this zoomer graphics style, no fixed camera with rotate-a-mole playstyle and so much other stuff missing that made JA2 great. Mediocre game at best.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I admit I always cared more about the style, humor and roleplaying aspect of JA2 than its tactical gameplay, which I found important only in the sense that it was there and did its job (otherwise I found it highly overrated). This game looks like generic Current Year crap, I'll pass.

That's too bad, given that this entry has far more to offer on the roleplaying / questing front than previous entries...

Maybe it has more "content" in terms of quests, but JA and JA2 didn't rely on those, just on the perfect mix of characters, setting and freedom. The story you made up along the way.

 

[spectre]

Always has been.

That's too bad, given that this entry has far more to offer on the roleplaying / questing front than previous entries...

Maybe it has more "content" in terms of quests, but JA and JA2 didn't rely on those, just on the perfect mix of characters, setting and freedom. The story you made up along the way.

This thing was made exactly for storyfags and rpg-lite crowd. One thing you have to put up with is that subtlety is not an option and everything must be cranked to 11.
Why they did it? Perhaps they were afraid that this year's audience won't get that it's supposed to be a pastiche (also the distinction between that and a parody being lost on a lot of folks).

Since there's a convenient, sizeable, and rather representative demo out, there's literally no point in being "that cunt" who has xir's head all submerged in the sewage that's today day politics
and has his mind all made up without even playing the goddamn game.
If I am sounding upset, yes I am. It is the cancer that's eating the dex.

 

[raeven]

I admit I always cared more about the style, humor and roleplaying aspect of JA2 than its tactical gameplay, which I found important only in the sense that it was there and did its job (otherwise I found it highly overrated). This game looks like generic Current Year crap, I'll pass.

That's too bad, given that this entry has far more to offer on the roleplaying / questing front than previous entries...

Maybe it has more "content" in terms of quests, but JA and JA2 didn't rely on those, just on the perfect mix of characters, setting and freedom. The story you made up along the way.

Might as well play the demo and find out if it's for you...

 

[Strange Fellow]

You can pretty much tell from the screenshots what the game looks like. Since I'm not a graphics whore I focused on more important matters.

 

[Grauken]