KickStarter Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness - Tales of the Moon Cult expansion on the way

[ERYFKRAD]

But if not Crom then which god did you have in mind, being a barbarian and all?

Whatever God I goddamn want.

Spoiler

Not even a Christian so this is moot lol

 

[ERYFKRAD]

But if not Crom then which god did you have in mind, being a barbarian and all?

Whatever God I goddamn want.

Spoiler

Not even a Christian so this is moot lol

Although Zeus

 

[Jermu]

After finishing this game a while ago I have still not figured out why this could be considered a good / enjoyable game.

1. combat? clunky and boring
2. character building? shit. practically no / very little customization. not many spells.
3. loot & gear? shit. only found 1 or 2 interesting gear pieces
4. crafting? shit.
5. companions? fine
6. story & setting? decent
7. visuals? good
8. quests? only 1 or 2 interesting ones rest are mainly fetch / kill x quests
9. exploration? fine but probably too much empty space. final area has 100+ containers and quite sure every one of those is empty
10. difficulty? too easy early/middle game then few bullshit fights late game

Everyone knows about the loading times but that can fixed (maybe).

This game looks very good on paper but it was quite disappointment. Tried to kill final boss again but it is still bugged so I'm uninstalling this and probably never playing again.

 

[Serus]

But if not Crom then which god did you have in mind, being a barbarian and all?

Whatever God I goddamn want.

Spoiler

Not even a Christian so this is moot lol

What has the fact you are or aren't a Christian has to do with anything? Whether the loving God you follow is Christian, Jewish or else, you admit of caring at all about a god of a civilised man and therefore not being a real barbarian.

I knew it! Just another civilised impostor who only wants to mimic the superior ways of barbarism!

Although Zeus

What about him? He was the God of those little boys "loving" civilised Greeks but Zeus himself only "loved" fucked wenches. Some he seduced, some others he raped (tastefully, i hope). Read some ancient Greek mythology, it is fascinating how much of a dog Zeus was. In the end he remained a barbarian god of people who became civilised. But certainly not a loving one.

[/quote]

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Whether the loving God you follow

Lol didn't say that either.

 

[Crispy]

For anyone still on the fence about this one, I'd say it's good enough to warrant a playthrough for anyone who likes BG-like games, especially if you can stomach the RTwP, which seems even more emphasized in this game than in the BG games themselves, if that's even possible.

Just when I think I'm getting bored playing it for about an hour -- and, to be fair, the game can get p. boring -- I move on to a new section of the countryside or advance the main quest enough to pique my interest anew, I sit back up in my chair, take another sip of coffee, and say, "Okay, this is interesting," and play for another couple of hours.

Maybe, if, like me, you just take the game a bit at a time, progressing through it relatively slowly, you'll avoid most of the game's bugs as described above and avoid any real frustration.

 

[AetherVagrant]

I'm digging the writing and that BG1 sort of vibe here at the beginning. It's kinda weird to only have 3 class skills to level up and 2 of them are alchemy based (I hate crafting) and playing as a necromancer.

Who the FUCK makes a party based game with no way to transfer inventory items or compare stats?? So far that is the most bullshit thing I've encountered. Also : class description says that Necromancer can use light armor with Supernatural 2+ and my first character that I quickly replaced was able to. Made another character where all I changed was race, still added 3 to supernatural...yet now she cant equip the light armor that she was able to before? wtf.

 

[Sherry]

Hi.

gosh. Gosh. GOSH! Just what is this okay because it looks really good I saw it somewhere maybe on a video suggestion and I saw the video and watched a bit was like whoa Whoa WHOA check it out and found the thread to post in. Why is this on page 4 anyway I am shcoked it is not moving much in the last 10 days right? Well I bought it so now here is a new character to follow like from Pillars of Eternity and DEADFIRE where you all got to enjoy and follow the adventures of Orange just check out the information page under my account if you want to check out the ending slides of those gems okay? Okay!

There are so many classes you can pick and Human has them all so instead of going with a Dwarf this time and it is a new world I thought about Elf which has some limits on what class you can pick but Human lets you pick any of the classes so I picked Human. There is not much of anything in the world I even know so there is also a random name generator you can use that is what I did you just xlck a button and it spits out a name that is typical for your race and the world itself but I did not get it on sale this just flew under the radar but it wawsnot as much as some other new games so it still did not hit the bank book . So this time around where Orange was a Barbarian Dwarf I opted with a Ranger Human heroine but if you pick Huamm there are classes like Templar, Highlander, Swindler, sHaman, Necromancer, Wintermage, Spellweaver and Convoker and some other races may or may not be able to pick some of these.

Until I play the game and get a feel for the world I thought playing a character and race Oh! There are different races too I should mention that first okay? The two new races are called Feldegug white elves and a Rillow maybe really smart Half-Orcs because they have these tusks that grow out of their cheek bones so idk Okay! so that is why I rolled up something I am more used to should still be fun and stay tuned for more comments as Jensia starts out on her leg of the journey really excited to find a game that looks to meet that explore the world itch ! So here is Jensia and future posts will use spoil tags as she ventures forth and maybe we can talk about the game if you are playing it too?

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[Contagium]

Hi.

gosh. Gosh. GOSH! Just what is this okay because it looks really good I saw it somewhere maybe on a video suggestion and I saw the video and watched a bit was like whoa Whoa WHOA check it out and found the thread to post in. Why is this on page 4 anyway I am shcoked it is not moving much in the last 10 days right? Well I bought it so now here is a new character to follow like from Pillars of Eternity and DEADFIRE where you all got to enjoy and follow the adventures of Orange just check out the information page under my account if you want to check out the ending slides of those gems okay? Okay!

There are so many classes you can pick and Human has them all so instead of going with a Dwarf this time and it is a new world I thought about Elf which has some limits on what class you can pick but Human lets you pick any of the classes so I picked Human. There is not much of anything in the world I even know so there is also a random name generator you can use that is what I did you just xlck a button and it spits out a name that is typical for your race and the world itself but I did not get it on sale this just flew under the radar but it wawsnot as much as some other new games so it still did not hit the bank book . So this time around where Orange was a Barbarian Dwarf I opted with a Ranger Human heroine but if you pick Huamm there are classes like Templar, Highlander, Swindler, sHaman, Necromancer, Wintermage, Spellweaver and Convoker and some other races may or may not be able to pick some of these.

Until I play the game and get a feel for the world I thought playing a character and race Oh! There are different races too I should mention that first okay? The two new races are called Feldegug white elves and a Rillow maybe really smart Half-Orcs because they have these tusks that grow out of their cheek bones so idk Okay! so that is why I rolled up something I am more used to should still be fun and stay tuned for more comments as Jensia starts out on her leg of the journey really excited to find a game that looks to meet that explore the world itch ! So here is Jensia and future posts will use spoil tags as she ventures forth and maybe we can talk about the game if you are playing it too?

Thanks,
Sherry

Maybe it's not moving much lately because people are holding off a bit. I know a few people who've put it on pause while they hopefully iron out some of the bugs. I played it to the end and glad I did, but the late game experience was pretty underwhelming. Seems like the developers kind of gave up on the story and just rushed it after chapter 4. Hope you enjoy your time with it, you seem quite enthusiastic about it.

 

[RPK]

Hi.

gosh. Gosh. GOSH! Just what is this okay because it looks really good I saw it somewhere maybe on a video suggestion and I saw the video and watched a bit was like whoa Whoa WHOA check it out and found the thread to post in. Why is this on page 4 anyway I am shcoked it is not moving much in the last 10 days right? Well I bought it so now here is a new character to follow like from Pillars of Eternity and DEADFIRE where you all got to enjoy and follow the adventures of Orange just check out the information page under my account if you want to check out the ending slides of those gems okay? Okay!

There are so many classes you can pick and Human has them all so instead of going with a Dwarf this time and it is a new world I thought about Elf which has some limits on what class you can pick but Human lets you pick any of the classes so I picked Human. There is not much of anything in the world I even know so there is also a random name generator you can use that is what I did you just xlck a button and it spits out a name that is typical for your race and the world itself but I did not get it on sale this just flew under the radar but it wawsnot as much as some other new games so it still did not hit the bank book . So this time around where Orange was a Barbarian Dwarf I opted with a Ranger Human heroine but if you pick Huamm there are classes like Templar, Highlander, Swindler, sHaman, Necromancer, Wintermage, Spellweaver and Convoker and some other races may or may not be able to pick some of these.

Until I play the game and get a feel for the world I thought playing a character and race Oh! There are different races too I should mention that first okay? The two new races are called Feldegug white elves and a Rillow maybe really smart Half-Orcs because they have these tusks that grow out of their cheek bones so idk Okay! so that is why I rolled up something I am more used to should still be fun and stay tuned for more comments as Jensia starts out on her leg of the journey really excited to find a game that looks to meet that explore the world itch ! So here is Jensia and future posts will use spoil tags as she ventures forth and maybe we can talk about the game if you are playing it too?

Thanks,
Sherry

dude, you might wanna switch to decaf.

 

[ImprobablePause]

Hi.

gosh. Gosh. GOSH! Just what is this okay because it looks really good I saw it somewhere maybe on a video suggestion and I saw the video and watched a bit was like whoa Whoa WHOA check it out and found the thread to post in. Why is this on page 4 anyway I am shcoked it is not moving much in the last 10 days right? Well I bought it so now here is a new character to follow like from Pillars of Eternity and DEADFIRE where you all got to enjoy and follow the adventures of Orange just check out the information page under my account if you want to check out the ending slides of those gems okay? Okay!

There are so many classes you can pick and Human has them all so instead of going with a Dwarf this time and it is a new world I thought about Elf which has some limits on what class you can pick but Human lets you pick any of the classes so I picked Human. There is not much of anything in the world I even know so there is also a random name generator you can use that is what I did you just xlck a button and it spits out a name that is typical for your race and the world itself but I did not get it on sale this just flew under the radar but it wawsnot as much as some other new games so it still did not hit the bank book . So this time around where Orange was a Barbarian Dwarf I opted with a Ranger Human heroine but if you pick Huamm there are classes like Templar, Highlander, Swindler, sHaman, Necromancer, Wintermage, Spellweaver and Convoker and some other races may or may not be able to pick some of these.

Until I play the game and get a feel for the world I thought playing a character and race Oh! There are different races too I should mention that first okay? The two new races are called Feldegug white elves and a Rillow maybe really smart Half-Orcs because they have these tusks that grow out of their cheek bones so idk Okay! so that is why I rolled up something I am more used to should still be fun and stay tuned for more comments as Jensia starts out on her leg of the journey really excited to find a game that looks to meet that explore the world itch ! So here is Jensia and future posts will use spoil tags as she ventures forth and maybe we can talk about the game if you are playing it too?

Thanks,
Sherry

Maybe it's not moving much lately because people are holding off a bit. I know a few people who've put it on pause while they hopefully iron out some of the bugs. I played it to the end and glad I did, but the late game experience was pretty underwhelming. Seems like the developers kind of gave up on the story and just rushed it after chapter 4. Hope you enjoy your time with it, you seem quite enthusiastic about it.

Uh oh. Guess I have to play it now and see what happened to chapter 4. I left just before early access came out.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Game is so superb, i missed that kind of gameplay since PoE2 and Pathfinder Kingmaker [still not touched Wrath yet]. Im also replaying both Baldur's Gates lately and it is so similar in feeling to the first one.

 

[Sherry]

Hi.

gui. Gui! GUI!!!

Gosh you cannot hide anything from the user interface okay? OKAY! WHY? WHY! WHY!!?? Maybe it is not bound to a key so okay into the options and check and scroll down and look at the available keybinds already made for the game and maybe some that are not but there is no hiding it you have to have it on your screen all the time so even pretty backgrounds they made are cut off slightly when you are playing so idk I guess they did not have the time or find it important enough to hide that layer but it clearly can be because it does go away when you have a conversation. okay OKAY that is just a nitpick but it is a nice feature because I like to hide in shadows and remove all thhe user interfacce and just get lost in the moment sometimes with the sounds and visuals like you could in DEADFIRE!

So Jensia and her frist companion Helgenhar a Dwarf Fighter arrived to the city Isilbright capital of Isilmerald which is a location in the world of Yerengal and I saved it after buying some armor and a weapon ohh! Okay so about that. Human Ranger what weapon comes to mind right? Goshh I started with a SLING and STONES okay! That is what my starting gear was in my chest inside my room. Not a shortbow or a longbow like that is what you think of too right with Ranger? Gosh maybe a Druid would use a sling and I tested a different character to see if they got a sling and it was totally different so it is based on CLASS not the POINTS you put into WEAPONS at the start of character creation so keep that in mind Ranger Slingers okay? Okay! I also thought the general introduction to who Jensia is was a nice start and it picks up with some early action but WTF after like it is so backwards okay?

The next part is like the part that should have you start in first because you learn Lord Espen took a liking to you and as a servant it is rare to receive any sort of training, education, reading etc., riight? So I think that you should have started out with The Crone first and you are there because there are lessons she is teaching you where you learn how to brew a potion, dry ingredients you find, kill some spiders and a fox and gather plants also learn a little about combat okay? BUT you already were introduced to combat with Lord Espen I just think The Crone should have been first you are doing your lessons and when you complete it that is when you are told to travel back to Lord Espen's Estate then the events should unfold at Lord Espen's Estate and the game continues from there normally. It felt so backwards in its design to me I am glad that hiccup is over.

Here are some pictures I took and today I will explore some more of the city ahd see what unfolds.

Spoiler

Walking around and exploring the outside courtyard of Lord Espen's Estate.

I am such a bad servant everyone just got all the wrong drinks hahaha

Lord Espen's Estate is attacked and combat begins before a slaughter comes to pass

Lord Espen has a son named Lord Aldnar. Hiding behind the closed doors I watch in horror through the small crack as he is cut down by his OWN SON!

ALL THE DUMB STUFF WITH THE CRONE WOULD GO HERE BUT I TOOK NO PICTURES

On the road we meet a fellow who tells us about an illness elsewhere.

Arriving at the city gates where you have the option to announce your connection to the Espen Estate.

Inside the city the map is fully revealed so I immediately took Jensia to upgrade her weapon and armor and get rid of the SLING so useless.

And outside of the local inn where the journey ended but will continue.

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[Sherry]

Hi.

meow. Meow! FURKLURNK!!@

Okay. OKAY! Like wtf is with all the cats everywhere there are like no dogs is everyone on the team owners of cats and lots of frickin OMG! They are all over the place and they meow twenty-four hours from back alleyways, the side streets, the main streets, in front of shops, in parks, in the cemetery, from within bushes, on branches in the trees constantly mew, meow, mew, meow, meow! I like the feline species okay but OH! okay so with all the cats everywhere there are no rats or mice that I have come across and I do not know what killed all the dogs but they have foxes lots of foxes too and wolves so if you are a dog lover just know that the cats have taken over this universe. If it is not the cats everywhere meowing in my ear what else is there I have found mildly annoying well I will tell you. Pressing the NEXT button with the mouse. It makes an annoying furklurnk sound that thankfully you can avoid having to listen to during conversation by pressing the spacebar to move forward it is a very similar annoying sound like the Baldur's Gate scroll sound that happens whenever you mouse over an item, or the ui, or whatever!!! furklurnk. Furklurnk! FURKLURNK!

When we last met, Jensia and Helgenhar were outside of the local inn called The Crooked Haggler where we meet our next companion, Lady Bjalla, who becomes our mage of the party. Lady Bjalla is a Feldegug Spellweaver who comes equipped better than Jensia did item wise except no sling or stones. She has a quarterstaff so make sure to configure her to not engage the enemy but thankfully Jensia came with a sling and stones so Lady Bjalla receives taht so she can at least do something besides sling spells Much of the session was spent exploring Isilmerald where the party also picked up an Elf Thief by the name of Hamlin. Each companion has a quest to do too so it is not only your own path you can follow here. Helgenhar needs to visit the local Record Hall, Lady Bjalla needs a book from the Wardenhaft Academy where she was expelled from, and Helgenhar is looking for an expensive painting. The city has four districts to explore, each with its own flavour and style, with homes you can enter, shops you can browse, temples, a bath house, and even a cemetery with tombs to loot. It's quite large and enjoyable to explore but at the same time, a few layers removed it starts to come across as thin and lacking. There is a Butcher and Tanner shop where Jensia thought she could sell some of the animal hides she has collected along the way. Although the interiors are well done with a cozy feel - sunlight shines through windows, candles flicker in corners, crates cast shadows on wooden floors - the owners of the establishment have nothing to offer. This lack of content is not the first and will not be the last when it comes to locations in and around Isilmerald. Entering a new district requires a loading screen, while entering any building in the district you are in, is a quick transition much like how DEADFIRE worked in design.

Gosh you are warned there are spoilers below of the continued story with more pictures okay? Okay!

Spoiler

Meeting Lady Bjalla and helping her get away from the slimy men!

Visiting the Hall of Records to find Jensia's legal birthright to Lord Espen's Estate

Exploring the now ruined Espen Estate with Hamlin Hiding in Shadows!

Meeting the ghost of our dear friend Beline was hard on Jensia but we also found the records we were looking for.

Jensia learns she is the rightful heir of Lord Espen's Estate.

Knowing this it is off to meet King Velianrick to introduce ourselves as the new Lady Jensia! WHAT A JERK!!!

With a foul taste in Jensia's mouth from meeting King Velianrick the party does more exploring of the city. At the local temple we receive a quest to help clear a nearby road of undead.

Back to the Merchant's Road and Screaming Barrows with the clean-up crew!

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[Iskramor]

Sherry enough larping online.

 

[Angelo85]

Review from the Watch:

TL;DR:

Summary

Pros

• Familiar Style
• Original setting
• Ambitious
• Replayability
• Unpretentious

Cons

• Some Jankyness
• Load screens
• Ongoing Work in progress
• Needs more monsters
• Needs more tooltips

Rating: Very Good
A very good game that is just short of being excellent, because of one or more minor issues that reduce the level of enjoyment a little bit.

Full Review below

Spoiler

Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness Review

What is it?
BG, which is an acceptably confusing acronym, is a computer role playing game in the vein of Baldur's Gate and similar titles. Its an isometric, real time with pause, party-based, companion-based, PC role playing game. To help filter a few people here, no, there is no turn-based option. The game emulates the classics of the genre, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment, Pillars of Eternity and Pathfinder Kingmaker. It also has some comparison with Drakensang: The Rive of Time and even Jeff Vogel's Avernum and Avadon series, and likely makes other subtle references to other games I haven't even played.

It's a small-team indy game with big ambition, but this is no Serpent in the Staglands, this is a nearly fully realised game with enough familiarity to the classics to make you perfectly comfortable with most of the UI, means to progress and general atmosphere. The camera doesn't require positioning beyond moving it around the screen so it's as if it were 2d painted backgrounds with sprites. You can, however, zoom in a bit if you prefer a closer look or perspective on things, which is nice.

Production Values
The quality of the game overall is much better than I was expecting, with lovely surroundings and nice sharp definition (though I have heard it might fall just short of 4k perfection). I found the graphics and design generally to be of a very acceptable (dare I say high) standard that should suit any fan of AA games. While it is not completely feature complete, it certainly is complete in the sense that you can have a full game with it and not be aware that some things are still being sorted out for a future time. The three most notable of these things being sorted out later are: Companion quests and interactions, player strongholds and a rejigged multiclassing system.

It's the vicious circle here though, because waiting for such things before buying the game would result in the developers not getting enough positivity (and money) to be able to improve the game to that point. I mean, sure, it's preferable to play Baldur's Gate 1 with the Durlag's Tower expansion, but, at the time, people needed to buy and play the rather experimental vanilla Baldur's Gate 1 in order to get there. As I will discuss later, the game has plenty enough replayability to enjoy it now and then enjoy it again down the road a bit anyway, so holding off on playing it for these reasons could be very counter-productive.

Character Creation
There is lots and lots of choices during character creation with ample opportunity for you to find the character you always play or experiment with something completely new to this game or to try and second guess what might be the ideal character for a game about global greed levels.

There's also lots of nice options to further specialise your character with various skills, like whether you want the talky option for your skill or the safe cracker option, etc. Where it falls a bit short is with the main attributes and the weapon specialisations. Well, I say fall short, but rather it's just a bit underwhelming. It's definitely more Advanced Dungeons and Dragons than 3rd Edition, put it that way. Your main attributes are capped at 14 during character creation, which is an odd and unusual number for the genre, and there's no pop-ups to describe in detail what raising a stat by one point does. Weapon Specialisations just give you more to-hit points but don't give any bonus to damage, as far as I could tell. And the extent of the improved to-hit is left somewhat mysterious.

Companions
Because it's gone the companion route, then it's going to be trying to appeal to the companion fan, but at this point in time it looks like these types of fans are the most disappointed. There are plenty of potential companions in the game who gradually reveal themselves as you progress. They all have different personalities and skill sets and their individual personal quest. As with a lot of Baldur's Gate 1's though, they are, at the moment, quite bare bones and only have one small quest and only interact with the main quest occasionally. At this point in time, things like romances, bickering and evolved quests are a plan for the future rather than a here and now. They do have enough personality to give you reason to like them though, even at this point in time.

Nevertheless, the game still does provide opportunities for sexual encounters, so fans of such-like things need not panic entirely. I, myself, was quite happy for the companions to be, at this point in time, quite minimalistic, as it kind of fits the overall aesthetic of starter-adventure that promises more in the future. The sense of charm when indies make a good job of actually trying. I was also more a fan of the Icewind Dale series than the Baldur's Gate series, though many will be happy to hear that this game is by no means just a combat crawler when I say that.

Reactivity
The game's strongest aspect is its approach to reactivity, choice and consequence and therefor general replayability. By having Greed as a core game mechanic, you, as the player, get to directly influence the state of the world. As such there are two extreme ways to play the game, which both offer extremely different runs, that of exceptionally generous and also exceptionally greedy. By playing one then the desire to play the game the opposite way is very strong indeed. But there's also the more neutral option as well, a sort of middle ground of a bit greedy and a bit generous. And then there's variations either side of that which would likely appeal to min-maxers seeking out the perfect way to get the best items and gold for the least greed impact, etc.

You really do have to be very attentive to every reward screen as many times you can have up to five or even more options as to how to proceed and effect yourself and the game world. And some rewards can impact all future greed in very unexpected ways. Not only this, but even side quests can have unexpected ramifications for other areas of the game. You might hear that the game 'is just a lot of fetch quests', and there certainly are fetch quests, but this does a huge disservice to the better side quests by a large degree. Not only all this, but you can also side with different factions at different points in the game. But that's getting into spoiler territory. Let's just say it's unlikely many people will have exactly the same experiences all through the game and that there are plenty, yes plenty, of tantalisers for alternate replays.

Combat
Combat is quite serviceable and enjoyable generally, but only once you've got used to it. I played on Classic Difficulty, which is the normal mode, the 2nd of the four difficulties, and I must admit, it felt a bit like story mode for a lot of the early combat. Saying that, there were instances where even at this level I found I'd have to reload after the death of a companion (rather than resurrect them at a temple), but it was mostly because of bad positioning of my mage, you get the idea. Late game however becomes the much more good, gritty combat full of pauses and tactics. There are random encounters between maps in the early chapters, but they stop after a while (though they may be put back in the game proper if they can sort out loading times).

So if combat is very important for you then I would recommend not hesitating to push up the difficulty bar. However, do be aware that then the very late game will be quite the doozy. This isn't to undersell the combat, as I still took health damage in nearly all of the combat scenarios, just rarely enough to cause worry. The itemisation is really quite good, well paced and well distributed, with there rarely being a lack of interest in new finds or rewards. Though some equipment does have less exciting options than others. The spells are interesting and varied, though do lack detailed descriptions, though most are self explanatory. You'll be much more confident with spell choices on your second play through, or maybe even mid to late game the first time. There's some shock of the different to overcome here. But it's still Vancian with scribeable scrolls and all that, so also very familiar.

Plot and Exploration
The plot is a grand one that takes you from a nobody to the linchpin that decides the fate of the realm, but without being overly epic in the overly-dramatic sense, as is the case with a lot of these kind of games. The only downside is that it's a mostly humanoid affair for most of the game. There's not much in the way of high fantasy areas or encounters for most of the journey. There are plenty of high fantasy moments, but the main plot is mostly the affairs of men for most of the game.

Exploration is achieved in the same way it is in the early Baldur's Gate games, and this area is it's biggest comparison to those games. You enter an area who's size is depicted in the map, you clear the fog of war and reveal the map and then, once you reach the end of the map, go to the world menu and choose another location (map) to explore, with maps requiring a specific entry point the first time you want to go to them.

Each map has NPCs, quests, points of interest, little encounters and what have yous and etcetera. Sometimes you can explore freely and disregard the main plot and sometimes areas will only appear after a main plot beat. I found it all very enjoyable and was also delighted to find a 'walk quickly' button for when I wanted to Benny Hill my way through a map to deliver a quest. The downside is it can be a series of loading screens getting from one place to another if you're not intending to hang around but just move around globally. But don't worry too much, once an area is explored you can usually fast travel to it.

Bugs
Surprisingly, bugs don't play too much of a role in this game. I had a relatively bug free experience with nothing that couldn't be put down to either expectable type stuff or easily sortable random stuff. As one might expect of a European indy title, one gets a sense of mild jank rather than a sense of the annoying bug. This isn't to say it's bug free, just that bugs are mostly just the little things here and there.

Usually, if something goes wrong, you can just reload or enter another area and the issue will go away, like UI pop-ups getting stuck to the screen. The permanent stuff is like: the Divine Favour spell healing undead instead of hurting them. Just the odd funny little stuff really that didn't impact the overall. The only really annoying one for me was that my party leaders 'Commander Bonuses' drop down options dropped down off the screen and there was no means to scroll through all the options, either by mouse wheel or UI scroller.

By far the biggest issue is loading times. My loading times were pretty good to begin with, but as the game progresses they do get longer. I didn't experience the multiple minute ones that some do, but they are just long enough to be noticeably annoying. My own belief is that this is caused mostly by the itemisation, in that the more items both you and the traders carry, by you moving all the items around, the longer the game takes to load a map where that kind of stuff has happened. Even after this is solved, the number of times you have to load, like just going upstairs in a house after getting one from going into the house, is quite a lot, so even with quick load times there is still a lot of time spent watching loading screens. For me, they weren't bad enough to make me rage or get very angsty even, except for traders with too much stuff requiring a load time just to show me their inventory (late game after you've sold them tons of stuff).

Conclusion
The game does just enough to keep you playing when it's at it's lowest ebb and is good ol' classic riveting stuff when it's at it's best. I never once felt like coming close to uninstalling it, but once or twice wondered if I was in the mood for more today. In the case of the latter, a few hours rest from the game is all that's needed. Its not very buggy but perhaps slightly janky, but no more than one would expect.

In the grand pantheon of games like this that I've played, I, personally, enjoyed it more than Baldur's Gate 1, Pillars of Eternity 1 (less boring), about the same level of enjoyment as Drakensang: The River of Time, Pathfinder: Kingmaker (less janky than RoT and all the good bits of Kingmaker without the kingdom management, though does lack 3rd Ed), and slightly less than Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale. It's not really comparable at all to Planescape: Torment or Icewind Dale 2. The game has easter eggs for Avernum and Avadon, but the game is like neither for comparison's sake, other than the indy'ness aspect, of course.

I think the game should have good enjoyment value for people who like the above mentioned games, regardless of which they think are better, and even if they think this one the worst. I paid 29.99 for my copy and I had 79 hours with it, with a definite desire to replay it at some point, so it's definitely a money's worther in my now-biased opinion.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

The review sounds very positive. Can someone confirm it or give a second opinion? BG1/2, IWD and Drakensang:RoT are some of my favorites. Does Black Geyser really fit in with them? I thought it was more of a Pillars knock-off due to its appearance and never cared to take a closer look up to this point.

 

[Crispy]

If Icewind Dale is a nice piece of toasted raisin bread with some melted butter on it, then Black Geyser is a plain piece of white bread with nothing on it.

If you like bread, you might enjoy eating it, but eventually it gets boring.

 

[Alienman]

Guess it depends on how hungry you are too.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

If Icewind Dale is a nice piece of toasted raisin bread with some melted butter on it, then Black Geyser is a plain piece of white bread with nothing on it.

If you like bread, you might enjoy eating it, but eventually it gets boring.

Too bad, I more a sourdough bread kind of a guy.

 

[plem]

larping online

that's an oxymoron

 

[Ismaul]

The review sounds very positive.

RPGWatch are notorious dicksuckers. You usually can't count on them for criticism, except for a few old posters that don't do reviews.

But many are BG fans like you seem to be, so maybe you'd like to share that dick.

It's like Alienman said:

Guess it depends on how hungry you are too.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

The review sounds very positive.

RPGWatch are notorious dicksuckers. You usually can't count on them for criticism, except for a few old posters that don't do reviews.

But many are BG fans like you seem to be, so maybe you'd like to share that dick.

It's like Alienman said:

Guess it depends on how hungry you are too.

Thank you for the warning. I have no expertise with RPGWatch pricks and deep insights from hardened veterans like yourself are more than welcome.

 

[Sherry]

The review sounds very positive. Can someone confirm it or give a second opinion? BG1/2, IWD and Drakensang:RoT are some of my favorites. Does Black Geyser really fit in with them? I thought it was more of a Pillars knock-off due to its appearance and never cared to take a closer look up to this point.

Hi!

clouds! Cloud shadows? CLOUD SHADOWS!!!!!

Gosh are you in for a treat if you decide to pick this little gem up okay? Okay because that is what it is so far with the places and things Jensia has already seen and done you can read a few posts above and see some screens too to get a general idea because it is not good if you just take one person's opinion of the game and then conclude it is not good just because you do not like a review from RPGWatch or some other place okay? Okay! So let me tell you so far the game has been fun with its exploration but the beginning is just awful with a portion called The Crone who is just some old bag with too many wrinkles giving you a very poor tutorial on what most already know how to do in thest sorts of games and it doesz sound by reading a few of your posts and the games you have played and enjoyed that you already know what to do in these type of games anyway so it should have just been skipped if you picked the Veteran option for the difficulty of the game but you still will have to do this but after that it opens up and you start exploring and start following the main quest and receive side quests too which is exactly where and what Jensia is doing right now so check out the previous posts and do not forget to check out the next screens after this short recap okay? Okay!

Jensia and her party have arrived back to the Merchant's Road where we had met our companion Helgenhar. The corpses left behind from a recent battle have attracted a number of lumbering undead and it is this the temple in Isilmerald sent us to cleanse. With the new additions of Lady Bjalla and Hamlin, exploring the region is a lot safer in numbers. Much like Baldur's Gate sneaking, Black Geyser is much of the same and will allow you to unravel the area map at a slow crawl with Hamlin as a member of the group. Hostile and friendlies will omit a yellow cone of sight lines to help you avoid detection. If they spot Hamlin sneaking he will come out of his crouched stance and either be attacked, or warned depending on if it is a hostile or friendly. If you are heard while sneaking but not spotted, the hostiles or friendlies will move toward you. It is a system that allows you to use the strengths of a character who can hide in the shadows.

One of the most important aspect are the cloud shadows. This was a major development upgrade in DEADFIRE and a goal they had to meet after cloud shadows were in much earlier games like Ultima VII - The Black Gate, so it is wonderful to see in Black Geyser. The nights are shrouded in thick shadows cast by large trees and made even darker as the clouds above roll over the land. If a thunderstorm happens to pass over, sheets of lightning illuminate the area only to be sunk into shadow with a roar of thunder. Left to explore, Jensia's party did just that, opening up new regionso n the world map and getting our hands dirty with combat and our minds massaged by minor side quests.

Much of the screens below are just exploration shots, so no spoilers this time about the main quest as this session was all about venturing outward from Isilmerald.

Spoiler

CLOUD SHADOWS OMG OMG OMG!!!!

Jensia is not so sure about this fellow lingering around a region full of walking corpses!

Hamlin showing off his skills while hiding in shadows during the late hour of the night as the patter of rain smothers his footsteps.

Jensia and the party arrive at a small village for some much needed relaxation!

A new day dawns as Jensia and the party head out to continue exploring. Sunsets and sunrises are pretty in Black Geyser!

Thus far,

- it meets the charm of Baldur's Gate with its world exploration, but misses out on the early game uniqueness of areas you come across. (Small caves, Gnoll Fortress, Xvart Village as early examples).

- its side quests are plenty but as of writing, a number have been fetch quests or kill quests and does not meet the tighter and more varied side quests of Baldur's Gate 2. (Bridge District Skin Carver, Nalia's De'Arnise Keep as examples).

- combat is plenty and has many options to cast spells or use class skills but seems more like Neverwinter Nights with hit/miss/parried/dodge/wait moments compared to Icewind Dale's strategic and tactical combat.

- the writing is serviceable and to the point and in most aspects does not whirlwind you through lines of text as say Pillars of Eternity does, but it also is not on the same level as Planescape: Torment.

- the dialog options are plenty in the responses the party can give, but lacks the diversity of character class skill checks and availability that was seen in DEADFIRE, although there are a few instances of dialog responses that are long-winded and over-the-top.

Time flies by when you're having fun. Black Geyser so far has met my expectations in that department.

May you enjoy these continued tales from a hardened veteran like myself okay? OKAY!!

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[agris]