KickStarter AntharioN

[Ellef]

Do the battles get more tactically interesting and challenging than rats and lizards? Still on the fence about purchasing, firmly in the combatfag camp.

 

[Dyskolos]

The merchant mark-ups were killing my meager gold supply but even at level 11 things are really expensive and those shop keepers are really cheapskates on buying things...

I know, it's starting to feel too late in the game for me to still be collecting every skull and spoon I find in a dungeon just for the extra 75gold back in town.

Do the battles get more tactically interesting and challenging than rats and lizards? Still on the fence about purchasing, firmly in the combatfag camp.

Not especially. You'll pretty quickly start running into archers and mages with an occasional enemy priest, and if you're heavily melee like my party you'll have to be a bit watchful of positioning and one AoE flame spell. Also it's annoying as fuck getting alternating characters polymorphed every round.

 

[Craig Stern]

For those who want some gameplay video, I did a first impressions thing on it a couple of days ago: http://indierpgs.com/2015/07/indierpgs-com-checks-out-antharion/

 

[mindx2]

For those who want some gameplay video, I did a first impressions thing on it a couple of days ago: http://indierpgs.com/2015/07/indierpgs-com-checks-out-antharion/

I don't necessarily disagree with your points but I think you're a little too harsh in what this game is and isn't. This is primarily an exploration/paper-doll game with a shallow "story" and passable combat tacked on top of it. I approached this game knowing it would most likely have a cliche-ridden main quest and my enjoyment would come from exploring all the nooks and crannies as the fog-of-war retreated. Finding that lone treasure chest far out in the middle of the ice field got me excited, not when I found out the "great Evil One" had risen again. If that is what's going on but I haven't finished it myself. Hopefully it will throw me for a loop and there does seem to be that plot-twist potential there. Trying to get/find/buy the gear for my party is what keeps driving me forward which plays right into that explorer itch that I believe these guys are going for. Granted the combat is starting to get a bit tedious at lvl 18 and I haven't seen or found any new or more powerful items for several levels. However, there are still large areas of the northern and southern parts of the map that I haven't yet seen so...

 

[Craig Stern]

Yeah; the problem might be one of presentation coupled with the limitations of a first impressions article. The game starts off with weak storytelling and uninteresting combat encounters, which means I don't get to any of the things that make it good within that first hour. This is why I always hedge negative first impressions write-ups by mentioning that things could get better after the beginning.

 

[V_K]

My problem with the game (I put it away after 13 hours or so) is that there's almost no content aside from terrible writing and passable combat. Avernum, while similarly structured, were saved by much better writing, Lords of Xulima - by varied (and mostly great) level design. Antharion, unfortunately, is only playable as much as you enjoy its combat, and it's not stellar in the first place.

 

[DrDungeon]

Been playing this for awhile and I think its important to remember that in any RPG its likely to start out a bit simple; learning the mechanics, interface, etc., so I sort of expect a slow start in almost any
RPG. The real power of Antharion, I believe, is the way it encourages exploration - mostly at first to get better gear, as well as to see what lies off the beaten path. Haven't gotten far enough myself for
a full review, but far enough to see how it progress's and becomes more complex as you go. Its certainly a large place to explore!

Here's a few pretty balanced reviews I found on it:
http://truepcgaming.com/2015/07/28/antharion-review/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ0NwiLF8-E
http://indiegames.com/2015/07/save_or_screw_with_the_world_a.html

Over all, a fun game and tribute to classic role-playing! Dr. D.

 

[jdinatale]

How many hours is this game?

 

[mindx2]

How many hours is this game?

Just finished it a few days ago (or I think I finished at least the main story line) and I had a little over 35 hours into it. I do have to say that the last part started to feel more like a chore and I was just ready to get to the end. By lvl 18 I had the most powerful arms and armor as well as the spells I needed and didn't feel as if there were "greater" rewards waiting to be discovered by that point. The story was, well... it does have it's "twist" at the end but it wasn't exactly unexpected. The story was just a wrapping around the meat of this game which was exploration.

 

[Zombra]

So I ended up selling the Garbage of Wisdom.

 

[Ellef]

When people say the meat of the game is exploration, what do they mean, other then there's a big world? Are there lots of nooks and crannies with interesting bits of lore and items or what?

 

[Zombra]

When people say the meat of the game is exploration, what do they mean, other then there's a big world? Are there lots of nooks and crannies with interesting bits of lore and items or what?

There is a big world, certainly. Lots of nooks and crannies, definitely. Not so much lore ... well, there are history books and so on to find actually, but those are less exciting than finding a chest with a ring of +3 persuasion. For me the "exploration" aspect really hit home when I took a wrong turn to where I was trying to go and stumbled on a dirty old shack in the woods. I was like, "What is this?" and found basically nothing inside ... until I noticed the trap door. Turns out there was a whole dungeon buried under the ground there filled with angry ghosts and treasures. I never figured out what the story was behind that, or even if there was a story at all, but to me it didn't matter. The questing isn't bad or anything - but it's cool to know that there's a ton of stuff out there that has nothing to do with questing; it's just there, waiting to be found.

 

[Agesilaus]

But that sounds awful, you didn't find anything worth mentioning. It sounds like you just stumbled upon a hole full of trashmobs and gold.

When I hear people talking about exploration, I expect it to rise to a human level. Stories, secrets, something that can be engaged on an intellectual level. Not just trashmob after trashmob, with a "magical" stick at the end that does +1 damage for the next trashmob unlucky enough to meet me.

You want some exploration? Think about the king of the chickens in Staglands. Hell, even an interesting base/dungeon setup that hints at something deeper is okay, even if there aren't any personalities to interact with; think u7, when you stumble across a dungeon with sacrificed victims and an undead wizard hanging out in a makeshift dungeon office. you know something special is happening, even though you can't chat the person behind it.

 

[Zombra]

But that sounds awful, you didn't find anything worth mentioning. It sounds like you just stumbled upon a hole full of trashmobs and gold.
When I hear people talking about exploration, I expect it to rise to a human level. Stories, secrets, something that can be engaged on an intellectual level.

Well, if you're expecting to trip over a Gone With the Wind level drama every time you turn a corner, AntharioN is not the game for you. You find dungeons, you fight monsters, you find loot, you level up; sometimes a story is involved and sometimes not. Who knows, maybe there were clues as to what was going on at the shack and I just didn't put it together.

 

[Ellef]

Seems like a fun game so far but I already have some issues:

- Movement is too slow. I wish you could have fast snap movement like in the Avernum games.
- No key remapping, wtf
- Quicksaving takes 3 - 4 seconds which is waaaay too much
- There are no hotkeys to quickly select a character (like f1-f4 or smth)

Have any of these issues been fixed yet? I'm the kind who quicksaves every 5 steps and prefers keyboard controls where possible.

 

[Scroo]

Have any of these issues been fixed yet? I'm the kind who quicksaves every 5 steps and prefers keyboard controls where possible.

They are constantly patching and have added more keyboard functionality but these issues haven't been adressed yet :/

 

[Zombra]

They are constantly patching and have added more keyboard functionality but these issues haven't been adressed yet :/

Where do they announce patches, by the way? There have been a ton since release but I only heard about them in this thread

 

[Scroo]

Where do they announce patches, by the way? There have been a ton since release but I only heard about them in this thread

Here:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/293160/announcements

 

[Dyskolos]

I'm the kind who quicksaves every 5 steps

I tend to do this too, but I've had to stop in this game since it seems to make it run slower after around the 10th quick save in the same session. Usually exiting the game and restarting fixes it but sometimes I've had to restart the computer entirely. Have you had this at all? It doesn't seem something with the computer since other far more intensive games still work fine.

 

[Ellef]

Well I went ahead and got it anyway despite it not being ready.

Playing it on hard with a 1h/shield, 2hander, grey/black mage and a white mage, all custom classes. The melee guys don't actually have anything in melee because they're pumping foraging and barter; get rich or die tryin' .
I have no basis to compare it to, but without 100% focus on Barter and Foraging, I don't know how i'd survive with such thin margins selling the average items i've found so far.

The grey/black is the only pure combatant, and the white mage is working on lockpicking.

Firebolt is a waste of time compared to the ultimate answer that is Polymorph, which appears to have no diminishing returns, but thankfully can only nab one foe at a time.
5 melee was good enough to take out the butcher after a few tries, relying on good Poly and Heal rolls.

The combat is serviceable and JA levels of complexity would hurt the pace of exploring every nook and cranny and fighting the many denizens of the dungeons.

There's a few positioning tricks with hallways and repositioning your guys after you attack by bumping into them with your other party members. Still think just a few more options like flanking bonuses, aimed shot/burst type actions unlocked at certain skill points, maybe even a feat system, would make it more enjoyable without killing the feel at all.

Dialogue is rusty and some of the quests are just head scratching inanity.

" It would be great if my naked elf friend would put on clothes again but you'll never convince him"

"Mind putting some clothes on mate? (persuasion 5)"
"sure np"
"Wow how did you do it?!" DUNGEONS WORTH OF XP

edit: lack of initiative and party order changes is baffling as well. Not having your high str first leading makes looting a hassle, my white mage is always last, making buffs a bit less useful.

 

[Ellef]

anyone know where Barter trainer is?

 

[Darkion]

The Bartering trainer is in Ferrynglade. It's a town south of the Heronwood area.

 

[Ellef]

I tend to do this too, but I've had to stop in this game since it seems to make it run slower after around the 10th quick save in the same session. Usually exiting the game and restarting fixes it but sometimes I've had to restart the computer entirely. Have you had this at all? It doesn't seem something with the computer since other far more intensive games still work fine.

I will say now that i've played it, that i've had no problem with save/load times or any slow down. Mightn't be the case if you don't have it on an SSD, however.

I want to like this more, but the combat just isn't interesting enough and I find myself only playing it in short bursts. It's pretty much auto attack, polymorph, buff/heal repeat, then rest.
There are not nearly enough spells and the early damage ones are all horrible. My mage does better with a bow with no skill rather than a levelled up firebolt.

 

[Doktor Best]

Oh wow, that sounds almost Bethesda-shitty. I wanted to buy this game given the opportunity but after codex feedback ill better wait for some patches.

 

[PunchBarkeepInFace]

There are not nearly enough spells and the early damage ones are all horrible. My mage does better with a bow with no skill rather than a levelled up firebolt.

Wow, you must have really LARPed up your character build. My black mage did way more damage and was much more accurate with fire bolt than my Healer/Archer. Her firebolt was even more effective than my Thief/Archer's arrows.

DEX determines how much damage you do with arrows (along with bow skill). WIS effects the damage (and I think accuracy?) done by combat spells. You must have a really sub-optimal build. My black mage did not have any other spells and was my top damage dealer right up until probably level 7 or so. It wasn't particularly close either. Of course, the firebolts also costs mana.