Desperados 3 Hype Train

[Wormerine]

On 12/16/2020 at 4:24 PM, Sven_ said:

s such I'm stuck in mission 6 already.

that’s the bridge level, correct? That’s definitely the first major difficulty spike - a bit of a boss level for the first chapter. I remember it being the only speedrun badge I genuinely struggled with. The narrative seems to be that Deps3 is too easy, though I think it mostly comes from people who also beat Shadow Tactics (which BTW is absolutely worth picking up) - a lot of mechanics transfer over from ST to D3, so the latter felt like a recap until about midway through. 
 

If you feel like watching a pro, check out this guy’s speed runs for levels you have already done.

[Sven_]

Thanks I'll watch some of that speedrunner, though it likely will make me feel like the total newb I kinda am.

I'm now in New Orleans, which is pretty nice. The initial optionally detective work could have been even a bit beefy/longer. Speaking of which, that's an area where I think the genre could be expanded upon, adventure/RPG elements such as dialogue choices proper, investigation puzzles and stuff. Maybe it could then even appeal to a broader audience.

Stealth tactics as such is a very specific thing (not that there's anything bad about that).  

Man this game is nice. The German retail (regular release) also comes packed as if it were a book, with a small art booklet inside. Well worth the buy.


 

Edited December 18, 2020 by Sven_

[Wormerine]

29 minutes ago, Sven_ said:

Thanks I'll watch some of that speedrunner, though it likely will make me feel like the total newb I kinda am.

(...)

Speaking of which, that's an area where I think the genre could be expanded upon, adventure/RPG elements such as dialogue choices proper, investigation puzzles and stuff. Maybe it could then even appeal to a broader audience.

Ha! His speedruns make everyone look like a noob. It's hours of research and pretty skillful play.

Personally, I am fine with it being stealth oriented experience - there is purity in that. The game is very much about repeat and mastery. And I do like my games specialized.

I did find the "public zone" mechanic a bit of a waste, but they do some neat things with it near the end of the game.

After two games I am up for a change though. Customisable abilities and equipment comes to mind, but it could break the delicate balance they have. I could definitely see they stealth systems be a part of a larger design, rather then a sole focus, but then we are talking about a fairly big game from a bigger studio. I don't know of Mimimi is there just yet. 

[Sven_]

The game's on sale right now. On Epic you apparently get a 10 bucks voucher if you take the free game.... season pass on sale too.

For me this has been the gaming highlight of the year, I'm in the last mission now. 

Really curious what they're up to next, but then I've got Shadow Tactics yet to play as well. 

[Sven_]

Man, I'm through now and this game kept on giving until the very end. It's DLC time but the season pass seems to be on discount everywhere except key shops I'm not sure about -- I really want to support this game/dev by buying the season pass at a regular price.  

I'm actually thinking about buying it twice then, once on Steam and once on Gog.  

Edited December 24, 2020 by Sven_

[Wormerine]

4 hours ago, Sven_ said:

I'm actually thinking about buying it twice then, once on Steam and once on Gog.  

THQ Nordic is the owner of the IP, so I dont know If you will be giving money to the dev team or the publisher. I am glad you enjoyed it though, I loved both of their recent titles. Luckily for you, Mimimi will be self-publishing their next title, so it will be an excellent occasion to show them your support.

EDIT. As you mentioned you are new to the genre I think the first Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive is well worth giving a go, if you don’t mind a little retro-playing. It’s been patched up to work smoothly on modern systems, and it controls surprisingly well for a game from around 2000. It is a wee bit less elegant then Mimimi’s modern design, but it still has plenty going for it.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Wormerine

[Sven_]

5 hours ago, Wormerine said:

THQ Nordic is the owner of the IP, so I dont know If you will be giving money to the dev team or the publisher. I am glad you enjoyed it though, I loved both of their recent titles. Luckily for you, Mimimi will be self-publishing their next title, so it will be an excellent occasion to show them your support.

Do you think they are self-publishing now because Desperados 3 was considered a disappointment? Couldn't find anything anywhere, except on the German GameStar magazine (an interview behind a Paywall). 

DLC starts nice enough (just finished Part 1), I like that they did new voice-overs as well, even for the guards. The ending was a little tricky, I actually hid on a roof and engaged in a shootout from there rather than being sneaky.  

[Wormerine]

On 12/25/2020 at 12:22 AM, Sven_ said:

Do you think they are self-publishing now because Desperados 3 was considered a disappointment?

Nothing they said suggested disappointment. I don't know how well d3 sold, but it was reviewed well.

Something to keep is mind is that Nordic bailed them from shutting down, so I doubt they are unhappy about the collaboration. 

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/310894/Postmortem_Mimimis_Shadow_Tactics_Blades_of_the_Shogun.php

That left us in a horrible spot to be in: the whole team walking onto the stage in front of the whole German games industry, winning awards, being happy and at the same time knowing that it might be the last month of the studio.

Part luck, part delivering a decent game, we had been able to talk to publishers after the release and none of them took advantage of our situation or tried to rip us off with a bad deal. Negotiations that normally can take up months went through quickly and fair. In the end we surprisingly had to choose between projects, all of which we’d wholeheartedly loved to develop. I vividly remember being on the train on December 23rd, the very day before Christmas, and writing the final email to the team, letting them know that the contract had finally been signed and we were safe for the time being.

 

It seems that thanks to German government funding they can do things without external investment (or so they think!). If they can handle publishing, then financially it probably will be more worthwhile for them.

 

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It seems that thanks to German government funding they can do things without external investment (or so they think!). If they can handle publishing, then financially it probably will be more worthwhile for them.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Wormerine