Expeditions: Rome - the final Expeditions game from Logic Artists

[PorkyThePaladin]

Expeditions: Rome is utter shite. This is coming from someone who thought Conquistador was a fun game, and Viking is one of the better isometric RPGs of the last 15-20 years. Huge letdown with Rome. They learned nothing from the first two games, released a shit nugget, and were promptly dispatched by video game gods with poetic justice. Everything about Rome sucked, constant switching between 30 different layers, none of them good, turd combat with jumping through hoops for developers instead of actual fun combat system, stupid pointless meta-layers like army battles, woke stuff to kill the historical flavor, think of anything dumb, it will be in this game.

Viking's character building was too complicated IMO. In Rome, you have to develop a squad of blank slate praetorians in addition to yourself and your companions. It was too much for many people even with the system it has.

If managing a multitude of minions requires shallow systems, perhaps they shouldn't have included them in the game, and focused on a small group of characters, like in Viking, which was incidentally by far their best game.

Worth it with choice? You get Elex II on top of it though i hear that's a shit game lul.

2022 was a shit year. Rome, ELEX 2, and Elden Ring were all huge disappointments.

Worth it with choice? You get Elex II on top of it though i hear that's a shit game lul.

Elex 2 is just an asset flip of Elex 1. The same exact game, mostly on the same map, with a few tweaks here and there.

There's enjoyment to be had here, if you liked E1, but overall it just smacks of staleness and creative bankruptcy.

Fake news. ELEX 2 was not an asset flip of ELEX, it was a much worse game, where they somehow lost most of what made ELEX fun. Worse factions, worse world, worse story, somehow worse combat (which is not easy to achieve)...

 

[Ladonna]

Expeditions: Rome is utter shite. This is coming from someone who thought Conquistador was a fun game, and Viking is one of the better isometric RPGs of the last 15-20 years. Huge letdown with Rome.

Damn, that sucks. I really like Conquistador and Viking. I read what was happening with this game, and didn't like where it was heading, but thought "maybe after enough time, it will turn out ok". Big let down.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Didn't seriously play Viking yet, but I did play Conquistador a few hours and in comparison Rome is much better game. More developed systems (though some of them, like Legion command, quite obscure), more options in combat. I enjoyed the story that kills off Gaius Julius Caesar in a random skirmish and puts you in his place in history. Plus, unlike Conquistador, the visuals of Rome did not make my eyes bleed with ridiculous amounts of bloom.

 

[Ladonna]

Didn't seriously play Viking yet, but I did play Conquistador a few hours and in comparison Rome is much better game. More developped systems (though some of them, like Legion command, quite obscure), more options in combat. I enjoyed the story that kills off Gaius Julius Caesar in a random skirmish and puts you in his place in history. Plus, unlike Conquistador, the visuals of Rome did not make my eyes bleed with ridiculous amounts of bloom.

Did you finish Rome?

You should try Viking. It's a good game.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Didn't seriously play Viking yet, but I did play Conquistador a few hours and in comparison Rome is much better game. More developped systems (though some of them, like Legion command, quite obscure), more options in combat. I enjoyed the story that kills off Gaius Julius Caesar in a random skirmish and puts you in his place in history. Plus, unlike Conquistador, the visuals of Rome did not make my eyes bleed with ridiculous amounts of bloom.

Did you finish Rome?

You should try Viking. It's a good game.

Yup, I chose to follow the footsteps of real Julius Caesar and conquer Rome, which lead to several grand battles within the city walls.

I have Viking in my libray, waiting for the proper time. Is it true the campaign has a time limit? Not a fan of such limitations of my freedom.

 

[SpaceWizardz]

Is it true the campaign has a time limit? Not a fan of such limitations of my freedom.

It exists so you can't grind camps as a way to max power/prosperity and get the best ending like Conquistador, there's more than enough time to do all the quests.

 

[cvv]

I have Viking in my libray, waiting for the proper time. Is it true the campaign has a time limit?

IIRC you have to build your village in a certain time in the prologue and I think there's a general time limit for the rest of the game too.

But you'd have to make a serious effort to hit it coz I'm the slowest RPG player ever and I haven't even come close. It's really just there to force you economize your camping a bit but it's not a big deal.

I personally consider Viking one of the best isometric RPGs ever made, it felt like Fallout 1 with Vikings and more enjoyable combat. It also helps I love purely historical games without any draghun bullshit but your mileage may vary.

 

[Lord_Potato]

I personally consider Viking one of the best isometric RPGs ever made, it felt like Fallout 1 with Vikings and more enjoyable combat.

Almost sounds too good to be true!

It also helps I love purely historical games without any draghun bullshit but your mileage may vary.

Yes, I'm also in the pure historical setting camp.

Expeditions: Rome took a lot of liberties with the setting (possibility to play as a female legate, native legion formed in Africa from non-Roman citizens etc., also unit abilities that can only be explained by magic) I can only hope this game is more restrained in that aspect.

 

[goregasm]

Yea, Viking was definitely a good/great game. Replaying it now actually, still holds up imo, it's quite ahistorical, but still decent enough flavor.

Rome was one that was definitely sending off warning signs to me. A rather cosmopolitan egalitarian view was sort of presented to me, I could be wrong as I haven't played it, but definitely was giving off some odd vibes, more so than vikings.

May still pick it up in a few years on a ridiculous discount, but in the mean time have no need of it.

The whole series is pretty good, but also infuriating with it being set in interesting, grounded historical eras, but with a jumbled mess of modern ahistorical presidence, for "roleplay"

 

[Shrimp]

Conquistadors and Vikings were both great games and Rome was meant to be their swan song game, but felt more like a death rattle.
The studio disbanded with the management jumping on the fucking NFT bandwagon of all things and the developers trying to make their own small-scale studio only to get caught up and forcibly shut down as a part of Embracer Group's restructuring. What a tragic legacy to leave behind tbh

 

[Modron]

Rome was meant to be their swan song game

Rome wasn't meant to be their Swan song the two money bros decided to jump ship, and chase the NFT fad, and announced the studio was closed despite the third partner who wanted to make games and most of the staff were still working on support and dlc for Rome.

 

[cvv]

What a tragic legacy to leave behind tbh

Karma for all the female conquistadors, Vikings and legates.

 

[Mauman]

What a tragic legacy to leave behind tbh

Karma for all the female conquistadors, Vikings and legates.

The female conquistadors didn't bother me that much as there were actually conquistadoras. Granted, you could count the recorded numbers on your fingers and toes, but they were there. I was able to pretend that maybe the noble house the MC came from was eccentric. Now the female commander in the tutorial? That made me go "da fuuuuu?" a bit. Also it was ironic that the natives had a more realistic depiction of men and women roles than the Spanish.

Now Vikings? Yeah, they deserve some shit, and so does every other fucking numbnuts that goes on about "shield maidens". There is NO recorded instance of a female viking/raider ever. People amp up the Valkyries forgetting that the Valkyries weren't warriors. They guided the warriors of battle to Valhalla. They were essentially glorified maids, NOT warriors.

bUT BuRiaLs fOuND gIRl WitH weAPon oh fuck off already. There's a ton reasons a woman could have been buried with weapons and armor back then, and none of them were "badass female raider". Any source you have is almost certainly politically tainted so shove it up your ass.

Even worse were the female Briton soldiers and ESPECIALLY the Picts. Both the Pict recruit you get and the female commander made me role my eyes.

For the record, I liked Vikings, but it definitely had a fair amount of modern day bullshit and chips.

edit - oh, and the female Jarl that heads up the big city you go to in the tutorial map. That made me face palm a bit.

 

[cvv]

The female conquistadors didn't bother me that much as there were actually conquistadoras.

My understanding is they were just wives that accompanied their conquistadoring husbands to the New World. I doubt they actually wore the funny helmets and shot Indians from muskets, like in the game.

As for the shield maiden point, it's been recorded Slavic and Nordic women did actually fight in wars but it was p. much exclusively in defensive situations, for example when a village or a city was attacked and about to fall they grabbed swords and joined the men defending their home. But yeah, none of them was gallivanting around and raiding some distant places, that's modern BS.

 

[Mauman]

The female conquistadors didn't bother me that much as there were actually conquistadoras.

My understanding is they were just wives that accompanied their conquistadoring husbands to the New World. I doubt they actually wore the funny helmets and shot Indians from muskets, like in the game.

As for the shield maiden point, it's been recorded Slavic and Nordic women did actually fight in wars but it was p. much exclusively in defensive situations, for example when a village or a city was attacked and about to fall they grabbed swords and joined the men defending their home. But yeah, none of them was gallivanting around and raiding some distant places, that's modern BS.

There's a few paintings out there showing them wearing the helmets, and a few of the recorded ones were independent women (or as independent as a women could be back then). Also, I'm not claiming the game was anywhere NEAR realistic when it came to them but there was a basis in reality for their existence. Hence my "eccentric noble house" idea.

And yes, I acknowledge that females fought to defend homelands when the men were out raiding or if they were absolutely desperate in a war. The desperate bit is the key here. These women weren't trained badass shield maidens. They were given the basics and were essentially the last line of defense (when everything else was already fucked).

That's even one of the reason WHY they might be buried with weapons/armor (there's a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with fighting however). But that's not being a viking. I'm also aware that when slavic/nordic women fought, they usually got their asses murdered. Or raped then murdered given the viking culture.

edit - here, one of the more (in)famous conquistadoras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inés_Suárez

She was essentially a widow by the time she came over, but she was involved in the fighting (how much is a matter of debate).

 

[Tyranicon]

Nobody ever includes the super historical and super realistic camp follower!

WTF, devs need to make that a mechanic. We're turning a blind eye to the struggles and stories of real women in favor of fictional ones!

I'll put camp followers in my medieval cultist game. They'll be super accurate.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Please don't. Just imagine a woman who has sex all day with unwashed lice ridden, infected by every STD known to man soldiers all day by the dozens. This was only a thing because water was too dirty to drink, so they all drank booze all day long.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Please don't. Just imagine a woman who has sex all day with unwashed lice ridden, infected by every STD known to man soldiers all day by the dozens. This was only a thing because water was too dirty to drink, so they all drank booze all day long.

Yes, we know about your mother. You don't need to continue with the details.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Please don't. Just imagine a woman who has sex all day with unwashed lice ridden, infected by every STD known to man soldiers all day by the dozens. This was only a thing because water was too dirty to drink, so they all drank booze all day long.

STDs became a serious problem only in the 15th century when the Spanish brought syphilis from Hispaniola (I know it's sometimes called the French disease, but it was actually a Spanish gift to Europe, the French soldiers merely spread it around Italy, giving it its popular name).

So in the Roman and Viking era it should be okay. Vikings though rarely had camp followers because whenever it was possible they traveled on longboats with a very limited space. Hence their baggage train was pretty minimal.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I'll put camp followers in my medieval cultist game. They'll be super accurate.

That just means they'll be super ugly.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I'll put camp followers in my medieval cultist game. They'll be super accurate.

That just means they'll be super ugly.

God damn it. I play games for escapism, not to get horrific flashbacks about times as a younger man when my lower brain won.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I'll put camp followers in my medieval cultist game. They'll be super accurate.

That just means they'll be super ugly.

Tyranicon, in the name of realism you should make super detailed, unskippable, sex animations with those ugly women, but implement a mechanic that lowers the soldiers' stats if they don't have sex regularly.

 

[Mauman]

I'll put camp followers in my medieval cultist game. They'll be super accurate.

That just means they'll be super ugly.

Tyranicon, in the name of realism you should make super detailed, unskippable, sex animations with those ugly women, but implement a mechanic that lowers the soldiers' stats if they don't have sex regularly.

Sex games that are supposed to kill a boner?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I'll put camp followers in my medieval cultist game. They'll be super accurate.

That just means they'll be super ugly.

Tyranicon, in the name of realism you should make super detailed, unskippable, sex animations with those ugly women, but implement a mechanic that lowers the soldiers' stats if they don't have sex regularly.

Sex games that are supposed to kill a boner?

There's a niche I didn't need to know of.

 

[Larianshill]

The studio disbanded with the management jumping on the fucking NFT bandwagon of all things and the developers trying to make their own small-scale studio only to get caught up and forcibly shut down as a part of Embracer Group's restructuring. What a tragic legacy to leave behind tbh

You know what, good for them. If Web 3.0 is the great new moneymaker - which it is, moving onto NFTs was a wise move.

Oh...