Preview Tyranny E3 2016 Previews, Gameplay Footage, Screenshots

[Infinitron]

Tags: Brian Heins; Matthew Singh; Obsidian Entertainment; Tyranny

At last! A week after Tyranny's appearance at E3, a media embargo appears to have lapsed and numerous previews of the game have appeared across the web, including the first proper gameplay footage. The E3 demo was a siege scenario set in a fortress called Ascension Hall, in which the player can find himself allied with one of three factions - the Scarlet Chorus or the Disfavored, two rival armies who are besieging the fortress, or the Vendrien Guard, the rebel force defending it. PCGamesN have a 36 minute video which showcases the siege from all three sides:

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Here's a list of all the previews I was able to track down:

PC Gamer
PCGamesN
PCWorld
Shacknews
TechRaptor
USgamer
Game Revolution
RPGFan
CGMagazine
FextraLife
COGconnected
Just For Crits
​

The previews mention that the game allows you to betray your faction and switch sides in this scenario (although the PCGamesN video doesn't demonstrate that possibility). Depending on your attributes and reputation, this can have different results, ranging from you ending up fighting both sides to the betrayed faction retreating without a fight. There are some details about the combat, including UI changes and improvements. You can see that for yourself in the video, but it's worth mentioning that one preview also mentions the addition of in-dialogue lore tooltips - a feature that Pillars of Eternity lead writer Eric Fenstermaker said could have been helpful for reducing "exposition bloat" in our interview with him earlier this year. Finally, Obsidian have released seven new Tyranny screenshots to go with these previews, which you can view here.

 

[hivemind]

mission

 

[hivemind]

the animation to attack speed sync non-existence is so retarded

characters just stand there for a second or two and then take a swing once the attack timer is up instead of having the actual swing take the entirety of the attack time

 

[Cosmo]

the animation to attack speed sync non-existence is so retarded

characters just stand there for a second or two and then take a swing once the attack timer is up instead of having the actual swing take the entirety of the attack time

Yeah the characters look sluggish. The whole combat could highly benefit from faster animations and a more impactful sound design (better shocks, warcries...).

 

[D!!]

Finally good gameplay footage. At least combat looks more readable than clusterfuck from Pillars of Eternity.

 

[Infinitron]

What hivemind is saying how almost every RtwP RPG works (setting aside BG-style fake swings), but I think he probably knows that.

 

[Maculo]

I did not like gameplay all that much. The choices seemed straight forward. Granted, I do not know what significance the factions will hold or what benefits they provide.

Overall, there are two things that bothered me. First, I expected more opportunities for subterfuge and manipulation. For example, I did not see much opportunity to play the factions off one another. You got the chance to betray allies, but not much else in my opinion. Second, it still feels like the main character is an adventurer, as opposed to a the Overlord's enforcer/executioner.

 

[hivemind]

the choice and consequence(which is meant to be some large selling point for this game) in this video seem largely plot based without any great difference in gameplay

it's always just kill 3 packs of trash mobs and then the same end boss

the only difference between the three different ways to solve the (((mission))) is the colour scheme of your ally, kinda banal

What hivemind is saying how almost every RtwP RPG works (setting aside BG-style fake swings), but I think he probably knows that.

I don't. I have played very few rtwp games and didn't notice this particular "feature" in detail before. The fact that they actually have an ingame visible swing timer above every character makes it glaringly obvious this time around and just makes the combat look terrible retarded by how everyone is just standing there, doing nothing most of the time.

Second, it still feels like the main character is an adventurer, as opposed to a the Overlord's enforcer/executioner.

also got this feeling, especially by how the entire """siege""" was basically just "go scale a wall, bitch"

 

[Infinitron]

I did not like gameplay all that much. The choices seemed straight forward. Granted, I do not know what significance the factions will hold or what benefits they provide.

Overall, there are two things that bothered me. First, I expected more opportunities for subterfuge and manipulation. For example, I did not see much opportunity to play the factions off one another. You got the chance to betray allies, but not much else in my opinion. Second, it still feels like the main character is an adventurer, as opposed to a the Overlord's enforcer/executioner.

I think by the time the battle has started the time for playing factions off against one another has passed. However, if you pay attention to the dialogue, there appears to have been some sort of playing off of factions before the beginning of the siege in the rebel playthrough.

 

[covr]

It looks and plays completely like Pillars of Eternity. Which is bad.

 

[Maculo]

Second, it still feels like the main character is an adventurer, as opposed to a the Overlord's enforcer/executioner.

also got this feeling, especially by how the entire """siege""" was basically just "go scale a wall, bitch"

I noticed that as well. I thought archons were meant to be the Darth Vaders of the setting. Instead, it seems like mid-level management.

I think by the time the battle has started the time for playing factions off against one another has passed. However, if you pay attention to the dialogue, there appears to have been some sort of playing off of factions before the beginning of the siege in the rebel playthrough.

I saw the dialogue option, it just still felt sparse to me. At the end of the day, you still killed two to three packs of enemies. I realize it is an early video of an early part of the game, but I hope Obsidian pushes further with what an archon is meant to do.

 

[Viata]

I bought PoE, but not this one. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

 

[Bubbles]

I noticed that as well. I thought archons were meant to be the Darth Vaders of the setting. Instead, it seems like mid-level management.

Not even that, I think. When one of the Scarlet Chorus tells you "I need somebody to scale that wall, but I need a strong fighter to do it, so I'm sending you," and your only option is to click "end conversation" and go to the wall... that's an ill fucking omen indeed.

 

[hivemind]

btw you are a "fatebinder" not an "archon", archons are the bosses of the purple and red factions

point still stands but this triggered me so I had to correct you

 

[Maculo]

I fail at reading comprehension fellas. I just reread the Tyranny website for this: "You are the judge and executioner of Kyros’ law, acting under the watchful eye of the Overlords Archon of Justice, Tunon the Adjudicator."I initially read that as you being an archon. Instead, you are the lackey of the archon.

Damn it, I was enthusiastic about being Judge Dread for once and not his comedic sidekick.

 

[Infinitron]

I noticed that as well. I thought archons were meant to be the Darth Vaders of the setting. Instead, it seems like mid-level management.

Not even that, I think. When one of the Scarlet Chorus tells you "I need somebody to scale that wall, but I need a strong fighter to do it, so I'm sending you," and your only option is to click "end conversation" and go to the wall... that's an ill fucking omen indeed.

Well, let's see if I can push back here a bit. Strictly speaking, I don't think the Fatebinders hold authority over these armies. They can judge them if they've broken the law, but otherwise, a Fatebinder could conceivably be "deputized" by one of their commanders, which may be what happened before this siege.

"By custom". That seems like an implicit acknowledgement that this situation is not normal; you are not currently performing your usual job.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Already looking forward to the Codex review thread for this:

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I hate when you have to assist allies in battle, but all allies die before you reach them or are murdered in a cutscene. Fake battles, just dungeons in disguise. Hate that shit SO MUCH!

 

[BlackGoat]

Looks.... tedious

Like Pillars, game seems to lack verve or personality. It's in the writing, the combat. Three different ways to play, all play the same, all hit the same beats.

 

[Harold]

Oh look, a 'streamlined' Pillows clone. Good ol' Feargus emulating dat Bethesda formula, almost brings a tear to one's eye.

 

[Endlösung]

Jeebus, this looks even worse than Pillars of Shit...
They arent even trying with the promotional material, wtf.
3 trash mobs of tank.archer.archer.mage in row...
No engagement and even dumber AI, havent even seen it targeting the party mage.
Select all, attack.

Codex will love this shit!

 

[FeelTheRads]

Already looking forward to the Codex review thread for this:

Particularly looking forward to Infinitron trying to stop it, the apologisms and wishful thinking is already in full force, after all it's obsidihurr we're talking about here.

 

[Fenix]

Well - I didn't like battles, also I like it more than in PoE (although didn't played it much).
Branching looks a la "Jeff Vogel goes commercial way".
What I did like - music, this charming ambient tribal music, I believe PoE haven't something like that, but I'm not sure.

Oh, and writings looks completely generic, the same phrases all the way, they can't in stylization...

 

[Kaivokz]

Yeah the characters look sluggish. The whole combat could highly benefit from faster animations and a more impactful sound design (better shocks, warcries...).

This is what stood out to me most, too. Combat seems really slow. It took almost a minute and a half of syrupy swinging attacks to kill the first two enemies--four vs. two. They should make combat more deadly, increase the speed globally, or at least allow a fast-forward option. It makes a markedly non-siege-like siege even less siege-like.

The writing style also seems a bit childish in places. "I call first blood!" Really? You want me to engage with this as a dark fantasy world when little shits are running around "calling" first blood? Anyone that naive should have died long ago without a social safety net preserving the stupid.

Unless they manage to provide something more impressive before release, I'll be waiting for codex impressions or a steep steam sale to try it out. (By more impressive I mean in terms of gameplay and writing; the backgrounds and portraits look great, and while the animations might benefit from some love, I think it's mostly an SFX problem. Lacking 'weighty' sounds, battle-cries and so on.)

 

[MRY]

The writing style also seems a bit childish in places. "I call first blood!" Really? You want me to engage with this as a dark fantasy world when little shits are running around "calling" first blood? Anyone that naive should have died long ago without a social safety net preserving the stupid.

In fairness, that sounds consistent with The Black Company.