Operencia: The Stolen Sun - turn-based blobber by Hungarian pinball devs

[Lacrymas]

I hate trailers so much.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Daidre]

This game was #4 Codex GOTY: https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=11316

stop making it look good. it isnt

numanuma got more engaging writing and story

Caring about writing and story in a blobber

exacly! Its supposed to be serviceable, preferable something that you dont notice much and only gather pices here and there

I prefer writing in blobbers to be minimal, serviceable and more or less subtle, so my biggest gripe with Operencia were lengthy inane dialogue between companions/NPC that game spewed in my face every 10 steps along the way. And that you need to read them all to avoid missing some clues for quests and puzzles.

 

[DalekFlay]

This was $5 or so on Epic for a while and I bit. Will probably re-buy on GOG someday in a sale. Maybe someday after that I'll actually play the fucking thing.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

This game was #4 Codex GOTY: https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=11316

stop making it look good. it isnt

numanuma got more engaging writing and story

Caring about writing and story in a blobber

why not?

 

[fantadomat]

think of bards tale 4 but easier.

fixed

It is truly amazing in how many threads you spew lies about the games that you didn't even play lol. I am curious,what was the last rpg you played? Also what was the last you liked?

 

[Reinhardt]

think of bards tale 4 but easier.

fixed

It is truly amazing in how many threads you spew lies about the games that you didn't even play lol. I am curious,what was the last rpg you played? Also what was the last you liked?

So i pirated it and created strong black wymmyn of color warrior - the only proper way to play racist eastern european game. I hope i can find another sista down the road and form healthy lesbian relationship.

My main problem with game is that i'm getting terrible motion sickness when i'm playing it. Can't play more that hour before my head starting to hurt.

Also it's really one of the easiest blobbers i've ever played combat-wise.

From this fucking thread.

 

[Efe]

think of bards tale 4 but easier.

fixed

are you implying bards tale 4 was difficult?

 

[Reinhardt]

think of bards tale 4 but easier.

fixed

are you implying bards tale 4 was difficult?

I'm saying Operencia is very easy. Baby's frst blobber.

 

[Zombra]

Caring about writing and story in a blobber

why not?

Story in a blobber is like a waiter's haircut. Your visit is a little nicer if it's pleasant to look at, but that's it.
If you let it ruin your meal, you've got issues.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Caring about writing and story in a blobber

why not?

Story in a blobber is like a waiter's haircut. Your visit is a little nicer if it's pleasant to look at, but that's it. If you let it ruin your meal, you've got issues.

Seems like a circular argument to me.
"Blobbers shouldn't have stories because blobbers don't have stories."

 

[Zombra]

Seems like a circular argument to me.
"Blobbers shouldn't have stories because blobbers don't have stories."

I certainly wouldn't mind if every game I played was brilliantly written, but going into a random blobber with that expectation is dumb.

 

[V_K]

Story should be kept to a minimum in any RPG, not just the blobbers. It just inevitably leads to shit like cutscenes, overwritten dialogs, premade PCs and railroaded exploration. Give the game a good backstory and some lore for the player to uncover at his own pace - and let your level design carry the rest.

 

[Nyast]

Openrencia is a pretty cool, easy-going "little" game. It's not really great at anything, although I was impressed at the crafting / recipe system ( totally incline IMO, see here if you want examples of how it works: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH5fCZaOli568IGgpBbZFNYjX-TalFfB4 ). The levels and story progression is totally linear, combat and puzzles above average, a bit chatty in the campfire between characters some times, but otherwise it's a game you'll play & forget quickly.

The reason it made it to the #4 top crpg list is more due to the fact that it doesn't have anything controversial, everything is serviceable, and lack of competition. An easier, more linear ( if that's possible ! ) and more focused ( no puzzles repeated ad-nauseam ) version of BT4 is a good summary indeed.

 

[Reinhardt]

Operencia lack other things which is mandatory for blobbers - good rpg system and hard and interesting combat.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Seems like a circular argument to me.
"Blobbers shouldn't have stories because blobbers don't have stories."

I certainly wouldn't mind if every game I played was brilliantly written, but going into a random blobber with that expectation is dumb.

I don't go into any game expecting it to be brilliantly written, but the assumption that an entire subgenre of RPG simply shouldn't have any story as a "feature" is ridiculous. Some of the best blobbers have decent enough stories -- e.g., the later wizardry entries had a more in-depth story than most other RPGs on the market at the time and included a branching storyline.

 

[Infinitron]

The reason it made it to the #4 top crpg list is more due to the fact that it doesn't have anything controversial, everything is serviceable, and lack of competition. An easier, more linear ( if that's possible ! ) and more focused ( no puzzles repeated ad-nauseam ) version of BT4 is a good summary indeed.

This reminds me of what felipepepe argued in his Bard's Tale IV review - that its primary problem was that it was too bloated, not that it wasn't hardcore enough or whatever. Some people disagreed with that at the time.

 

[Nyast]

The reason it made it to the #4 top crpg list is more due to the fact that it doesn't have anything controversial, everything is serviceable, and lack of competition. An easier, more linear ( if that's possible ! ) and more focused ( no puzzles repeated ad-nauseam ) version of BT4 is a good summary indeed.

This reminds me of what felipepepe said about Bard's Tale IV in his review (that its primary problem was that it was too bloated, not that it wasn't hardcore enough or whatever), which some people disagreed with at the time.

I think the #1 issue with BT4 is how they felt they had to stretch the game over 30-40 hours, when they only had content for ~20. All levels are a bit too lengthly, and by the mid game, you reach that huge forest labyrinthic level that's never-ending and full of trash encounters - it's a serious chore ( personally, I facepalmed when I realized after many hours that I barely reached half of the level, dying of boredom ). Then you have all these levels with puzzles, and even after you solve them they introduce variants, then variants on the variants, but without new mechanics, so the puzzles become more time consuming even after you've understood their mechanics, which makes it very frustrating. Operencia is better "balanced" in that way, or as I said, more "focused". However, I don't think it's a great game. Grimrock 2 is light-years ahead IMO.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The reason it made it to the #4 top crpg list is more due to the fact that it doesn't have anything controversial, everything is serviceable, and lack of competition. An easier, more linear ( if that's possible ! ) and more focused ( no puzzles repeated ad-nauseam ) version of BT4 is a good summary indeed.

This reminds me of what felipepepe said about Bard's Tale IV in his review (that its primary problem was that it was too bloated, not that it wasn't hardcore enough or whatever), which some people disagreed with at the time.

I think the #1 issue with BT4 is how they felt they had to stretch the game over 30-40 hours, when they only had content for ~20. All levels are a bit too lengthly, and by the mid game, you reach that huge forest labyrinthic level that's never-ending and full of trash encounters - it's a serious chore. Then you have all these levels with puzzles, and even after you solve them they introduce variants, then variants on the variants, but without new mechanics, so the puzzles become more time consuming even after you've understood their mechanics, which makes it very frustrating. Operencia is better "balanced" in that way, or as I said, more "focused". However, I don't think it's a great game. Grimrock 2 is light-years ahead IMO.

How can you compare a dancing video game to an RPG?

 

[Reinhardt]

The reason it made it to the #4 top crpg list is more due to the fact that it doesn't have anything controversial, everything is serviceable, and lack of competition. An easier, more linear ( if that's possible ! ) and more focused ( no puzzles repeated ad-nauseam ) version of BT4 is a good summary indeed.

This reminds me of what felipepepe said about Bard's Tale IV in his review (that its primary problem was that it was too bloated, not that it wasn't hardcore enough or whatever), which some people disagreed with at the time.

I think the #1 issue with BT4 is how they felt they had to stretch the game over 30-40 hours, when they only had content for ~20. All levels are a bit too lengthly, and by the mid game, you reach that huge forest labyrinthic level that's never-ending and full of trash encounters - it's a serious chore. Then you have all these levels with puzzles, and even after you solve them they introduce variants, then variants on the variants, but without new mechanics, so the puzzles become more time consuming even after you've understood their mechanics, which makes it very frustrating. Operencia is better "balanced" in that way, or as I said, more "focused". However, I don't think it's a great game. Grimrock 2 is light-years ahead IMO.

How can you compare a dancing video game to an RPG?

Which one is which?

 

[Zombra]

"Blobbers shouldn't have stories because blobbers don't have stories."

I certainly wouldn't mind if every game I played was brilliantly written, but going into a random blobber with that expectation is dumb.

I don't go into any game expecting it to be brilliantly written, but the assumption that an entire subgenre of RPG simply shouldn't have any story as a "feature" is ridiculous. Some of the best blobbers have decent enough stories -- e.g., the later wizardry entries had a more in-depth story than most other RPGs on the market at the time and included a branching storyline.

I never said it shouldn't have a story, any more than waiters shouldn't have haircuts. I was responding to lukaszek's initial ass backward complaint about the game. "I hate this restaurant! Bad haircuts!" Motherfucker, how was the food?

 

[fantadomat]

The reason it made it to the #4 top crpg list is more due to the fact that it doesn't have anything controversial, everything is serviceable, and lack of competition. An easier, more linear ( if that's possible ! ) and more focused ( no puzzles repeated ad-nauseam ) version of BT4 is a good summary indeed.

This reminds me of what felipepepe argued in his Bard's Tale IV review - that its primary problem was that it was too bloated, not that it wasn't hardcore enough or whatever. Some people disagreed with that at the time.

LoL BT4 had a shit ton of problems,especially on release. At release it looked like a sewage canal and optimized like a CoD game lol. The dumb fucks had forgotten to enable the higher texture levels and on all graphic levels looked terrible. The biggest problem of the game was how shit the puzzles were and how they were 70% of the game. Later on the combat also became repetitive shit. The game is shit all around,the exploration was the best part,but it was spare,while the story was "muh kill the evul racists".

 

[Goral]

So, is this game good or not

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...rian-pinball-devs.125155/page-13#post-6476041

tl;dr
It is good.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[mediocrepoet]

I thought this looked cool for awhile, but played the demo when it was available a few weeks ago. This led me to immediately remove it from my wishlist.

The game is pretty simplistic, both in puzzles and combat, but if you're just trying to get into RPGs/blobbers or have suffered a traumatic brain injury, I guess it might be of interest. I actually found the lack of challenge to make the entire thing a boring waste of time. There's also a lot of exposition blather between your party members which I tended to find more irritating than anything, but YMMV. This latter point in particular, won't change and would also limit the replayability of the title, since the conversations won't change and weren't terribly interesting the first time around.

Anyway, personally, I'd have trouble recommending it to anyone other than a complete beginner to the genre based on my experiences with the demo.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the loot and items also weren't very interesting and didn't leave me wondering what I might discover later or in the rest of the game. It was just sort of there.