Review RPG Codex Review: Underrail

[ArchAngel]

I'm gonna write a Balkan review. Its only fitting.

Muslim or Christian Balkan review?

Considering the picture, it will be bribed / fixed with a dash of creative insults.

And probably written inside a jail where the guy in the picture is going.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

I'm gonna write a Balkan review. Its only fitting.

Muslim or Christian Balkan review?

Christian! Halleluyah praise the Lord!

 

[thesoup]

I'm gonna write a Balkan review. Its only fitting.

Muslim or Christian Balkan review?

Considering the picture, it will be bribed / fixed with a dash of creative insults.

And probably written inside a jail where the guy in the picture is going.

Is he really? Sounds too good to be true.

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

Fantastic game with a mind-numbingly boring and tedious end.

 

[Jazz_]

Fantastic game with a mind-numbingly boring and tedious end.

It's just art imitating life.

 

[Fenix]

run around in circles waiting for your best shit to cooldown

Don't remember whan this happened with me last time in Underrail.
If you move it is more likely becaus you run from enemy, not because any cooldowns involved.

 

[DawnrazorDCLXVI]

Really great review. I've been waiting to try this gem until I can give it my full, undivided attention.

 

[Gwendo]

I really wanted to enjoy the game and I think there was point, early in development, where I was enjoying it. I waited for the official release to come back to it and it suffered one of the most frustrating things in turn based games: 80% of your hits miss the target. Even when building a charcter with, supposedly, all the right stats to mitigate that. In this game, it's even worse because of the limited resources, so not only are you missing a lot and that's annoying, but the feeling of waste aggravated everything.

Also, rats that can be sponges to bullets are a big NO in my book.

I don't know if there was a balance patch or something... If yes, I'll give it another go.

(Also, so many stats/skills and no way to know which ones are more important or how often they will get used until it's too late and starting again is a chore.)

 

[FeelTheRads]

If you move it is more likely becaus you run from enemy, not because any cooldowns involved.

Well, yes, you run from the enemies because your abilities are inactive and you can't kill them.

I would assume there are builds that don't do this that much, but this is a thing that WILL happen if you have cooldowns.

 

[ghostdog]

the butthurt of some faggots about Underrail getting voted codex GOTY is extremely amusing.

 

[Jazz_]

Cooldowns make the combat more challenging in Underrail, you need a limit on spamming your special abilities anyway, if it was tied to a fatigue/points system it would arguably be worse because you wouldn't be as compelled to come up with stuff out of necessity to win the encounters.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Having said all of that, I think there are some references and parallels that can be drawn between Underrail and Fallout:

Spoiler

1. At the very start of the game, you are thrown against groups of rats in the cave. Yes, this is extremely superficial, but still...
2. Junkyard is absolutely a direct reference to Junktown, and even the soundtrack somewhat sound similar. There's also two opposing forces vying for dominance here, which is the Scrapper vs the Black Eels, just like Killian vs. Gizmo. The differences is, however, is that neither faction in the Junkyard represent polar opposite of morality/alignment, and there's a continuous third party presence in the form of the Protectorate-United Stations.
3. Camp Hathor is a reference to Klamath (both main source of surviving/maintaining the economy is hunting), and the Rathound King is a reference to the Rat God (Ke'eng Rat).
4. The Protectorate and all of their ideals is a reference to the NCR, as in the NCR we knew by the time of New Vegas (i.e "push to civilize its neighbors." as of Fallout 2's canon ending of NCR). United Stations is somewhat a reference the Followers of the Apocalypse, only that the United Stations fully embraced the Protectorate ideals but push it through diplomatic means. Also, the Free Drones nicknamed the Protectorate as 'tin-cans', as a mockery to the Protectorate's soldiers use of metal armors, so it's somewhat a reference to the Brotherhood of Steel in that regard, and this is kind of noticeable from how the Protectorate soundtrack sound similar to Metallic Monks in the militaristic part of the soundtrack (believe it or not, listening to the Protectorate soundtrack DO reminded me of Metallic Monks).
5. The Institute of Tchort is absolutely a reference to the Children of the Cathedral, especially with their use of hooded robes
6. And Tchort itself is a reference to the Master, especially with the way Tchort was created.

You forgot about McGuffin - The Cube. Cause most Fallouts (with exception of Tactics and maybe FO4, did not played that one so I have no clue) have one object that drive the whole story.

 

[Fenix]

Well, yes, you run from the enemies because your abilities are inactive and you can't kill them.

Well, I move for that I can break LoS for enemies like psi-bugs, or to position myself.
As a psion you always have something without cooldown, as a crossbower - same, as pistolero - same.
You know, you can just shoot without fancy tricks.

 

[toro]

I don't think Underrail and Fallout have much in common except for the fact that Styg was inspired by his love for the original Fallout. That's what I understand.

Original Styg quote from 2012:

Underrail is an old school turn-based isometric indie role playing game that focuses on exploration and combat. It's inspired by western RPG classics such as Fallout, Arcanum, Neverwinter Nights and System Shock 2.

The most interesting thing about Underrail is that it stands on his own: you cannot have an Underrail experience in another game while CYOA bullshit is common nowadays.

The entire discussion about "Underrail is the heir of Fallout" is simply retarded because MediantSamuel never said that in the original review.

Underrail is a fantastic game that stands proud as both a spiritual successor to the original Fallout and as a legitimately great game in its own right.

In the end I do think Underrail is the closest thing we got compared to the original Fallout(s).

 

[Roguey]

Also, rats that can be sponges to bullets are a big NO in my book.

I don't know if there was a balance patch or something... If yes, I'll give it another go.

I've played just enough to confirm this remains the same.

As for accuracy, well you can get 95% with a gun if you're really close.

 

[Black Angel]

You forgot about McGuffin - The Cube. Cause most Fallouts (with exception of Tactics and maybe FO4, did not played that one so I have no clue) have one object that drive the whole story.

Ah, yes. The difference is, while the McGuffin of the Fallouts (the Water Chip, the GECK, and the Chip) were shown to you at the very start of the game, in Underrail the Cube wasn't shown to you until fairly in the middle game.

I also forgot to mention that

Spoiler

the Core City is basically a reference to New Reno, with Arena being the main appeal and all of the vices it brought to the City. The City is also evenly distributed among 3 factions/oligarchies, as opposed to the 4 New Reno's Families. In some way, it's also a reference to New Vegas by having the Dropzone basically its version of Freeside, or maybe New Reno's Golgotha.

Also, rats that can be sponges to bullets are a big NO in my book.

Huh? Which rats are sponges to bullets? The Alphas?

(Also, so many stats/skills and no way to know which ones are more important or how often they will get used until it's too late and starting again is a chore.)

The bottomline of every build is to raise offensive/defensive/subterfuge/social skills to the max every level-up during early-to-mid game, and only really start putting points into technology around mid-game when you're going to start finding mid-high quality components, or mostly on 2nd playthrough where you know it's going to be needed. As for stats, it depends on your build, like raising STR/DEX for Melee/Throwing/wearing heavy armors/wielding rifles, PER for Guns/Crossbow, WIL for PSI. Basically if you want crafting, you get at maximum 7 INT if you want all the feats, or 4 + 2/1 from Junkyard Surprise for the crafting skills bonus, or 3 if you want to skip it altogether.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

The nice thing about Underrail is that you get a pretty satisfying character just a few levels in, with a playstyle that keep relying on items and tactics. Maybe it came out so good because of the focus on one player character.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Jack Dandy]

The nice thing about Underrail is that you get a pretty satisfying character just a few levels in, with a playstyle that keep relying on items and tactics. Maybe it came out so good because of the focus on one player character.

I think it came out good DESPITE being focused on one character. In most other single-player RPGs (IE FALLOUT) the combat was boring as shit.
Styg really did an impressive job, making this kind of combat fun as hell, with no other games to base it on as an example.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Cooldowns make the combat more challenging in Underrail, you need a limit on spamming your special abilities anyway, if it was tied to a fatigue/points system it would arguably be worse because you wouldn't be as compelled to come up with stuff out of necessity to win the encounters.

In the current system, yes, likely. However the system was made with cooldowns, so you can't just say "well, if you take out cooldowns it will suck therefore cooldowns are good".
I'm sure a similarly engaging system could have been made without cooldowns.

And I don't particularly care about forced limits which is essentially what cooldowns are.

But, overall, Styg did a decent job of using cooldowns without them being terribly awful. And hell, if I had to do a game with very limited resources I'd probably also turn towards the easiest way out.

Well, I move for that I can break LoS for enemies like psi-bugs, or to position myself.
As a psion you always have something without cooldown, as a crossbower - same, as pistolero - same.
You know, you can just shoot without fancy tricks.

Yes, I know, thank you. Doesn't change anything I said. Also as a psion if you have something without cooldown you'll still need to use psi boosters which also have cooldowns. So, moments of running around waiting for your stuff to fill up again are inevitable.
Not to mention the final fight, in which if you don't have some specific character that can kill the boss in 1-2 turns results into a cheesefest of waiting for the cooldowns in the little rooms.

 

[Black Angel]

Yes, I know, thank you. Doesn't change anything I said. Also as a psion if you have something without cooldown you'll still need to use psi boosters which also have cooldowns. So, moments of running around waiting for your stuff to fill up again are inevitable.

How the fuck did you fuck up so bad that you get to end up in that kind of 'situation', let alone complain about it? Look, if in at least 3 turns you didn't manage to kill them without having to resort to some bullshit scenario like you mentioned, you probably made an extremely shitty build to the point where the spells you use (like Neural Overload) did fuck all damage. Just what kind of build you made that you have to resort to running around waiting for cooldowns? Or did you just made this shit up without even trying?

Not to mention the final fight, in which if you don't have some specific character that can kill the boss in 1-2 turns results into a cheesefest of waiting for the cooldowns in the little rooms.

I made an extremely shitty jack-of-all-trades character who tried to shoot and cast spells all at the same time. He can only get to level 20, and he didn't even craft his own gear. However, I DIDN'T even once do the cheesefest waiting for cooldowns. Instead, I tried my best to utilize all the spells I had defensively, letting those tentacles come at me and instead focused on shooting the Eye. I stand my ground, combo-ed the psi spells so that one tentacle can't do anything because it's burning, block one with the force field, and then pray the last one's attack only hitting my pseudo-spatial projection. And it was even when I was a bloody newfag to the cRPG genre, and before the many patches that supposedly made DC easier.

 

[Fenix]

So, moments of running around waiting for your stuff to fill up again are inevitable.

How the fuck did you fuck up so bad that you get to end up in that kind of 'situation', let alone complain about it? Look, if in at least 3 turns you didn't manage to kill them without having to resort to some bullshit scenario like you mentioned, you probably made an extremely shitty build to the point where the spells you use (like Neural Overload) did fuck all damage. Just what kind of build you made that you have to resort to running around waiting for cooldowns? Or did you just made this shit up without even trying?

Can't add anything else because it is the same I was going to write.

 

[hilfazer]

As could be expected a fairly large variety of non-human enemies also exist in appropriate locations. For example the player will often find rathounds in caves which are simply dispatched while psi beetles and siphoners lingering by underground lakes may require a little more thought and effort. Well-armoured burrowers tend to populate areas in swarms and are resistant to standard ammo while creatures lurking in the darker places of the underrail take a more cautious approach to deal with.

That's a wasted opportunity to show UR in positive light.
You could have mentioned that PSI bugs are able to invoke stronger spells while in groups. Or that they become squishier when exposing their brains during casting.
You could have mentioned that siphoners sit under water and ambush you when you get close. Also their ability to siphon blood from player when badly hurt.
Burrowers indeed have some armor but that's nothing to write home about. The most interesting part is their ability to spawn spawns (sic!). Another one is shooting poisonous spikes (wildlife rarely uses ranged attacks). Creatures with armor that really matters are Bladelings.
You could have mentioned that Crawlers use stealth and can actually run away to wait for their poison to do the job.

It's not neccessary to mention all of that, it's a review not a strategy guide after all.

And some *possible* corrections:
"which are simply dispatched" -> "which are easily dispatched"
"blank state" -> "blank slate"

 

[HoboForEternity]

i woke up and doing my morning ritual in the toilet and opened the codex. i thought i somehow was warped back to febraury 2016, turns out codex is just late like usual

 

[Lhynn]

Good review, a little on the negative side.
Lack of minimap adds so much to the game and the gameplay is ridiculous. The story up until you meet six is both very well written, nuanced in its approach and complex, and the twist, that you may see coming if you pay a lot of attention is p. fucking great.
The deep caverns is fantastic, tons of big challenges that will leave all but the most powerrful and prepared crying like little girls, only real problem with it is that its basically the end of the story yet it drawns out for far too long, and i blame this squarely on that retarded character six, had he not made an appearance to tell you the plot and that the final fight is waiting, you as a player would be more inclined to explore it and find out for yourself, instead of feeling in a rush because you know the game is ending.
Cooldowns for most skills are used as a "once per fight" kinda deal, which is imho the only way cooldowns work.
There are a good amount of well written characters, that oddly are mostly found in side quests.