Codex Review RPG Codex Review: Wasteland 3

[Anonymous Wife Scholar]

Right now inXile seems to be all-in on not-Arcanum 3.

What!

 

[Roguey]

Right now inXile seems to be all-in on not-Arcanum 3.

What!

They're making a steampunk first person action RPG, but it's not actually Arcanum so it's not-Arcanum and the 3 is there because of Fallout 3.

 

[Tacgnol]

Wasn't the actual Arcanum 2 going to be a source engine game in the style of Bloodlines?

Journey to the Centre of Arcanum or w/e.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

What!

My thoughts EXACTLY!

 

[Anonymous Wife Scholar]

They're making a steampunk first person action RPG, but it's not actually Arcanum so it's not-Arcanum and the 3 is there because of Fallout 3.

My thoughts EXACTLY!

Thank you anons! You are both good strong friend anons!

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

 

[Q]

I had real fun in co-op with it. Well, outside of bugs, that was much frequent in co-op.
I don't think co-op really hurt the game. But it will surely enrich it if you can find a partner

 

[Feyd Rautha]

...though I wasn't too fond of the feminine writing style that popped up the most in the Aspen location's dialogues. The people there are interesting enough to talk with, it's just a personal preference combined with how jarring it is compared to the writing style of the rest of the game.

Can you please elaborate on this? That would be highly appreciated.

 

[deuxhero]

Is Wasteland 4 confirmed?

How many western games have UI customization that lets you pick interface color anyways? Can think of a good number of jRPGs that have it, but only western game with it I can think of is Deus Ex and New Vegas.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The Codex should implement a Brian Fargo :believehislies: image and button-rating.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Suppose I oughta get around to playing this eventually.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Suppose I oughta get around to playing this eventually.

I quit my release playthrough and I was never able to get very far into it since then. Something about the game just doesn't click with me, I have trouble pinpointing exactly what it is.
I think I originally overrated the game due to it being released during a severe RPG drought.

 

[Diggfinger]

I got this super cheap last year, glad I did! Will check it out evenually

How much ass do the DLCs suck though?
Seem to get universally panned

 

[Van-d-all]

I think I originally overrated the game due to it being released during a severe RPG drought.

At least you can admit it.

 

[MasPingon]

Codex praising the absence of chance base skill checks, so sad.

 

[Grunker]

Suppose I oughta get around to playing this eventually.

Depends. There are some redeeming qualities but overall it is decidedly mediocre.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Suppose I oughta get around to playing this eventually.

Depends. There are some redeeming qualities but overall it is decidedly mediocre.

OTOH I'd strongly recommend ATOM RPG if you're trying to scratch that itch.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Suppose I oughta get around to playing this eventually.

Depends. There are some redeeming qualities but overall it is decidedly mediocre.

OTOH I'd strongly recommend ATOM RPG if you're trying to scratch that itch.

Yeah definitely liked ATOM more.

 

[OSK]

How much ass do the DLCs suck though?
Seem to get universally panned

Steeltown is OK. Cult of the Holy Detonation is pretty bad.

Whoever came up with the idea of creating an entire DLC around infinitely spawning enemies needs to stop coming up with ideas.

 

[Roguey]

I had real fun in co-op with it. Well, outside of bugs, that was much frequent in co-op.
I don't think co-op really hurt the game. But it will surely enrich it if you can find a partner

They were able to eventually make a good game with/despite it, but Ziets alluded a few years ago that its inclusion caused problems. https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...ncy-entertainment.130360/page-21#post-6415228

They did have to cut McComb's hotel area (despite hyping it up in a Fig backer update ) and Avellone's two areas (which were "restored" with the DLC). The things that had to go:
https://wasteland.fandom.com/wiki/Air_Force_Academy_Ruins
https://wasteland.fandom.com/wiki/Cheyenne_Mountain#Behind_the_scenes
https://wasteland.fandom.com/wiki/Dunes_of_Thought
https://wasteland.fandom.com/wiki/Everest_Hotel
https://wasteland.fandom.com/wiki/Anasazi_Library

Can you please elaborate on this? That would be highly appreciated.

The minor NPCs there sound like they've been written by a 21st century woman, like an edgier Megan Starks. Given that she was the only woman on the writing team, I strongly suspect Cassandra Crow was given ownership of this area. If not her, then some limp-wristed soylent-drinking stereotype. Some examples:

La Loca was a replacement ranger in Wasteland 2 and I don't remember her sounding like that. It all sounds very out of place for Wasteland. As Avellone noted back before Wasteland 2:

https://www.cgmagonline.com/interviews/out-of-the-wasteland-an-interview-with-chris-avellone/

One is, as much as Fallout is steeped in a 1950s sci-fi vibe, Wasteland is much more 80s, Road Warrior, and that kind of nostalgia versus the 50s. I think that creates a lot of different aspects of characters in the environment, even their looks, their dress, the way things happen with character interactions.

https://www.scriptsandscribes.com/2014/09/qa-with-chris-avellone/

In general, when doing a certain “ambient” piece (say, post-apocalyptic), I make it part of my TV and movie and book routine to delve into all the bits of media that have dealt with that genre so I’m aware of what’s been done in the field already and what I should avoid (or do better, if possible). So for example, with Wasteland 2, I researched Day of the Triffids (movie, books, TV series), Food of the Gods, Blood of Heroes, and the Mad Max series… as well as lots of popular 80s movies and books (Ready Player One, for example, although that was a homage to the 80s) since Wasteland has its origins in an 80s-style setting, and it’s important that I (re)familiarize myself with those elements.

How much ass do the DLCs suck though?
Seem to get universally panned

Didn't bother with either because Steeltown appears to be a flawed experiment and Cult of Holy Detonation a complete failure of one. Both were originally designed by Chris Avellone though who knows how much of his original ideas remain. It's likely given the fate of the mind dungeons of Pillars of Eternity that what he was trying to do was out of scope with the rest of the game and this was inXile's best/phoned-in attempt at executing it.

Codex praising the absence of chance base skill checks, so sad.

Just me, and I've always been in favor of deterministic checks. Though I wouldn't mind chance-based checks if you only click once and your character doesn't stop trying until you cancel the action yourself or you succeed or critically fail. That you have to click each time after a failure is pointless monotony; if I want to open a lock or disarm a trap or repair a machine why would the character just stop instead of keeping at it until the job's done or hopeless beyond all repair?

OTOH I'd strongly recommend ATOM RPG if you're trying to scratch that itch.

Atom is a Fallout clone, this is Wasteland. Different design focuses.

 

[Abu Antar]

The thing about Wasteland 3 is that it is a good nu-rpg, but it is not, nor will it ever be a classic. Is that sad? Maybe, but that's how I see it.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Once again, we have our esteemed social media representative Roguey to thank for finally picking up the task of reviewing it. He finds Wasteland 3 to be a streamlined but generally solid title, which clearly benefited from its lengthy development and an additional year of patching.

10+ years of pretending to be female just went in vain

Chick with dick?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Base game was great, but they dropped the ball with DLCs.

 

[Irgsarzh]

So it's shit?

 

[Bigg Boss]

It's a fine RPG in 2022. The coop does cause some bugs though. Play it for coop since not many games are like that. If you don't have friends maybe just go play with yourself.