Tyranny + Bastard's Wound Expansion Thread

[Jick Magger]

Spoiler

The only one that I didn't fight was Tunon who bent his knee. I tried to swear fealty to Nerat but his reward for me was death. That was after I sacrificed Sirin.

Spoiler

I've heard you can get all four to swear loyalty to you if you go with the rebellion route, but I haven't seen an verification on it.

I think trying to swear fealty to any of them in general is a bad idea. Ashe's dialogue options differentiated between you bending the knee to him, and him bending the knee to you, might be the same with Nerat.

 

[hell bovine]

Oh, that. I don't think you're going to get anything more from it then you got for PoE, and most likely less.

Oh well, it's a pity, because in my opinion modders are better at fixing games than game designers.

 

[yes plz]

How does the Scarlet Chorus route play out? I initially sided with them because I found the Voices amusing and more interesting than Ashe but after the millionth NPC said, "Looks like you've gained the Voices of Nerat's favor. How unfortunate for you. He gonna eat you." I ended up going the independent route.

 

[Roguey]

Die in a fire.

"Oh I get it! Ok, I'd rut Barik since Kyros' forces need a little pillage and rape in return. I'd mate with Verse, mostly to take half of whatever lands she's going to someday conquer. Obviously, I'd kill Lantry. Who wouldn't?"

Ah yes, the fuck/marry/kill meme.

 

[Sizzle]

Die in a fire.

"Oh I get it! Ok, I'd rut Barik since Kyros' forces need a little pillage and rape in return. I'd mate with Verse, mostly to take half of whatever lands she's going to someday conquer. Obviously, I'd kill Lantry. Who wouldn't?"

Ah yes, the fuck/marry/kill meme.

Does anyone know who wrote Eb? All the other characters regularly go on about how hawt she is (in that rut/mate/kill conversation, almost every other NPC wants to either rut or marry her), it reeks of some junior writer mary sue-ing his/her own creation.

 

[veevoir]

At least Lantry hates her, due to somenhufflepuff vs gryffindor rivalry.

Lantry is a bro. Tripper Mage Soldier Spy.

 

[Roguey]

Does anyone know who wrote Eb? All the other characters regularly go on about how hawt she is (in that rut/mate/kill conversation, almost every other NPC wants to either rut or marry her), it reeks of some junior writer mary sue-ing his/her own creation.

If the dev diary introductions and short stories are any indication

Matt MacLean - Eb, Lantry (so like Lukas Kristjanson before him, he'll be amused by people who hate one and like the other)
Paul Kirsch - Verse, Barik
Megan Starks - Kills-in-Shadow
Robert Land - Sirin

Makes sense that the experienced writers get two and the juniors get one.

 

[Lacrymas]

The "inexperienced" Robert Land did a better job than all of the others combined (haven't met Kills-in-Shadow yet though) since Sirin is the most interesting, judging from the initial walls of text every character presents you with. Sometimes you would be surprised how good the "inexperienced" can be, especially in the arts.

 

[Anthedon]

My party was 15/16 at the end, it took me around 29 hours on PotD. Lantry was the most interesting companion, my party consisted of Barik, Verse and him for most of the game. Are there any instances when companions will leave/fight you no matter what? Their loyalty maxes out fast and after that they become puppets. Combat is easier than PoE, especially once you get into the higher levels. Difficulty aside, the biggest issue with fighting is the almost total lack of enemy variety. Areas are smaller than their PoE counterparts, loading times are similar though. It's hard to say how C&C plays out after one playthrough. But I think most of the time it's just killing faction A in a certain area instead of faction B. That seems to be how the whole game is set up (this might be completely wrong). Some spoiler points below.

Spoiler

It's pretty dumb you get the last two spires so late, the game is almost over by that point. You're not going to utilize them a whole lot. The smithy upgrade seems to be the best by far, forging artifacts/items and upgrading your gear beats the other options.

I'm miffed that there's no option to make arrangements with the overlord. That you have to go against him and try to become the big baddy yourself is just meh.

 

[Abu Antar]

My party was 15/16 at the end, it took me around 29 hours on PotD. Lantry was the most interesting companion, my party consisted of Barik, Verse and him for most of the game. Are there any instances when companions will leave/fight you no matter what? Their loyalty maxes out fast and after that they become puppets. Combat is easier than PoE, especially once you get into the higher levels. Difficulty aside, the biggest issue with fighting is the almost total lack of enemy variety. Areas are smaller than their PoE counterparts, loading times are similar though. It's hard to say how C&C plays out after one playthrough. But I think most of the time it's just killing faction A in a certain area instead of faction B. That seems to be how the whole game is set up (this might be completely wrong). Some spoiler points below.

Spoiler

It's pretty dumb you get the last two spires so late, the game is almost over by that point. You're not going to utilize them a whole lot. The smithy upgrade seems to be the best by far, forging artifacts/items and upgrading your gear beats the other options.

I'm miffed that there's no option to make arrangements with the overlord. That you have to go against him and try to become the big baddy yourself is just meh.

While I agree with what you said in the spoiler part of your post, I would be shocked if there isn't a sequel and that's why they set it up this way. Still disappointing, though.

 

[Lhynn]

This game gets absolutely trashed by AoD in every fucking way imaginable, how is it getting praise here?

 

[HoboForEternity]

This game gets absolutely trashed by AoD in every fucking way imaginable, how is it getting praise here?

for me it is low expectation.

I thought this would turn super awful, but i was pleasantly surprised never expecting stuff on AoD level since the first time.

Happines/satisfaction = expectation - reality

 

[MrMarbles]

This game gets absolutely trashed by AoD in every fucking way imaginable, how is it getting praise here?

Yeah it's not even remotely close. Maybe it's like when you have regular crackers and then a really good cracker, and then after that the regular cracker just isn't that great anymore.

 

[Minttunator]

Does anyone know, are they planning to do a physical copy as well at some point or is Tyranny digital-only?

 

[Abu Antar]

Does anyone know, are they planning to do a physical copy as well at some point or is Tyranny digital-only?

In Europe, there are physical copies.

 

[Roguey]

This game gets absolutely trashed by AoD in every fucking way imaginable, how is it getting praise here?

Age of Decadence requires near-total mastery of its combat mechanics and is exceptionally tactical and number-crunchy. Tyranny's combat is more accessible but still challenging. It's less punishing of mistakes and therefore more straightforwardly fun. I don't think combat should be rated purely on the complexity of mechanics or the sheer challenge level, but on how well it "works" and in some respects Tyranny is actually better than Age of Decadence that way (which could be described as too fiddly, too slow-paced and calculated, and too punishing for many). In the context of a CRPG, the combat is pretty damn solid. I don't think the two games can be directly compared though, nor should they be.

psst http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?goto/post&id=3007112#post-3007112

 

[Abu Antar]

Game seems to have sold over 100k copies according to Steamspy. Let's say that the numbers are wrong by 5-10k, the game probably did those numbers on GOG. I wonder if Paradox and Obsidian are satisfied? They game isn't cheap, so they should probably get a nice chunk of money out of this.

 

[Reinhardt]

more fun

I heard many things about Tyranny's combat, but "fun"...

 

[bminorkey]

Spoiler

Is there a way to avoid killing Voices of Nerat or Bleden Mark on the Chorus path?

Spoiler

Bleden - idk

Nerat - yes.

Spoiler

feed him Sirin

 

[Forest Dweller]

And because I know that Infinitron is keeping score on this particular point:

"In the first few days of occupation, settlers suffered under rampant theft, murder, rape, and arson."

<ActorDirection>Bloodthirsty, threatening, sexy (she has a weird love-hate relationship with the character she's speaking to, basically she wants to rape him and kill him but she's not sure which she wants to do first).</ActorDirection>

"The Overlord brutally raped my parents in front of me and then whisked me away for an elaborate series of training exercises and rituals that enhanced my martial prowess and sarcasm. Is that the tortured origin story you wanted to hear?"

"Kill and rape a realm enough and everyone comes out of the woodwork to shiv you in the ear."

"It's fine, victorious pillagers say all sorts of things to justify sticking their spears into nations and raping their way into the family vines."

"Be thankful I'm not having you gang raped by Chorus warriors or forced to haul gear for the Disfavored like a common beast. Though if you're game for either, that would accurately settle the score."

"Oh I get it! Ok, I'd rut Barik since Kyros' forces need a little pillage and rape in return. I'd mate with Verse, mostly to take half of whatever lands she's going to someday conquer. Obviously, I'd kill Lantry. Who wouldn't?"

If only Dead State could have learned from this game.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's pretty funny seeing the devs of WL2 trying to justify their total ineptitude at creating a combat system by proclaiming that AoD's combat is too complex. Roguey is absolutely correct to point that similarity out. Tyranny's combat is not fun, it's tedious and clusterfucky. At the end of a fight I go "ugh, finally" instead of "oh, yeah! Managed to beat this boss/encounter"

 

[Abu Antar]

Spoiler

Is there a way to avoid killing Voices of Nerat or Bleden Mark on the Chorus path?

Spoiler

Bleden - idk

Nerat - yes.

Spoiler

feed him Sirin

Spoiler

I fed him Sirin and he told me my reward would be death, so I had to kill him instead.

 

[Fairfax]

The "inexperienced" Robert Land did a better job than all of the others combined (haven't met Kills-in-Shadow yet though) since Sirin is the most interesting, judging from the initial walls of text every character presents you with. Sometimes you would be surprised how good the "inexperienced" can be, especially in the arts.

Agreed. I was already expecting his companion to be the best after seeing their stereotypes in this interview:

GR: Did you take any ideas from books, games, or movies for this environment of evil winning? Which and how?

MacLean: The Black Company was very influential, with is an excellent show of a world wherein the cast of characters know the stories and myths of the magical bigwigs but are only semi-aware of how it all actually works. Black Company also had a great sense of soldiers-as-people and it didn’t fall into the brash-hero/peasant-savior nonsense that most fantasy novels can’t help but repeat to death.

Myth: The Fallen Lords was also a big influence, with its grim take on the true cost of being a hero. Myth was also inspired by Black Company, and like Myth, Tyranny features magical sociopaths with personality-driven powers set alongside grim, desperate regular folk trying their best not to die.

A world wherein there’s one big evil dude on top really only works when it’s sold with great big lies that get the average person invested in the evil (or just dependent upon it), instead of willing to resist it. And for evil to win long term, it also needs to be immune to self-implosion (since we’ve all read enough fantasy literature to know that evil defectors are involved in 9 out of 10 evil regicides). So with that in mind, I’ve found most of my inspiration comes from non-fiction: fascism, American exceptionalism, drug cartels, capitalist corporations, and militaries through the ages have all provided a great deal of inspiration as to how evil wins.

Megan Starks, Narrative Designer: I really like the dark humor in many of the Orcs' lines in the Lord of the Rings movies. I also like to think a bit about some different bad guy groups like the Governor or the people running Terminus in The Walking Dead, the raiders in Fallout 3, the reavers in Firefly, US prohibition-era gangsters, or hired gun type characters (whether it be a spy like Brock Samson from the Venture Bros or a sellsword like Bronn from Game of Thrones).

For examples of good people, or just normal people—both good and not-so-good, caught in situations they don't have much control over (you do what you have to protect your country and/or to survive)—I looked at various war movies for inspiration. If these influences seem like they're all over the place, it's because they definitely are. It's good to consume a lot of different types of narratives and character portrayals and blend them together new and interesting ways, in my opinion.

Paul Kirsch, Narrative Designer: I take some inspiration from Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone series—not as much from the sword & sorcery angle as the impression that the protagonist comes from a context so inherently dark that cruelty and atrocity are the benchmarks for normalcy. If doing something unspeakably awful is presented in a casual tone, chances are fair I’m tipping my hat to Elric.

Another of our big themes is power and how it gets wielded. We take a lot of inspiration from Soylent Green—specifically the scene where Charleton Heston is supposed to be investigating a murder and he spends most of the time looting the victim’s upper-class apartment. He’s operating within the rights that his station affords him, he’s being a huge dick about it, but he doesn’t spend a moment questioning the ethics behind this behavior. That’s a good roadmap for understanding how the Fatebinder expresses their authority.

Robert Land, Narrative Designer: I played a lot of D&D growing up and was the DM most of the time so I spent days designing my own worlds and filling them with both good and evil, so I usually tap into those stories if I want something particularly evil to write about. But I love sci-fi, horror, and fantasy, so there's a gigantic mess of twisted ideas roiling around in my brain.

MacLean - the try-hard intellectual.
Starks - bazinga geek.
Kirsch - aspiring fantasy writer.
Land - D&D buff.

Given these options, I'll always bet on the D&D buff.

 

[Excidium II]

Given these options, I'll always bet on the guy that showers naked with Tim Cain.

FTFY

 

[oneself]

This game gets absolutely trashed by AoD in every fucking way imaginable, how is it getting praise here?

I don't have high praises of AoD. Tyranny needs to rework the combat system. It is tediously MMO-like.