The 'Sidian Tyranny thread

[Keyrock]

Small sample size, since I'm still pretty early in the game, but I very much appreciate the lesser focus on combat so far, compared to Pillars.

 

Edit:

 

I actually had to run back and forth between the furthest spots about a dozen times to get it to kill me. It's very generous.

 

 

Good to know, though I am still going to try to minimize wasted time and play it like the clock is against me and I have to hurry for the, you know, immershun factor.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Keyrock

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So should I get this game?

[Hurlshort]

So should I get this game?

 

Yeah, of course.

 

edit: It's well written and has a buttload of C&C. 

Edited November 13, 2016 by Hurlshot

[Keyrock]

So should I get this game?

Depends on what you're looking for.

 

So far I've found the combat to be kinda meh (luckily there hasn't been an exceedingly large amount of it).  Keep in mind that I'm not that far in and it might get better once I get higher level and have more abilities to play with.

 

So far I've found the dialogue and choices (there have been a lot of both) interesting and engaging. The writing is solid and I'm invested in some of the characters, particularly Voices of Nerat, who's freakin' awesome.

 

Also, you get the power fantasy of holding people's lives in the palm of your hand, able to serve them salvation or death at your whim.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Keyrock

[Tale]

This is when I knew I was dealing with something special.

 

Also, mild language warning, but it is filtered on these boards.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

This is when I knew I was dealing with something special.

 

Also, mild language warning, but it is filtered on these boards.

 

But the real question on everyone's minds here is, I think:

 

...can you execute her in a sufficiently painful and messy way for her insolence?

[Fenixp]

Yeah, while combat is kinda poor, the game is certainly well worth the asking price. Writing is excellent - and Tyranny is a shining example of how to create companion characters.

 

...can you execute her in a sufficiently painful and messy way for her insolence?

You can do something far worse to her. Edited November 13, 2016 by Fenixp

[Harry Easter]

I played through it yesterday and I think it is a very good game. The story and combat are better and I had more reasons to fight for my survival in this world. It just improved the mechabics of Eternity in every way, but the short playtime hinders your companions a bit to play out their depths. But I liked those guys alright. And the antagonists. Yeah, play Tyranny, it's fun. And then come back and discuss your choices with me  .

Edited November 13, 2016 by Harry Easter

[Raithe]

Hm. Okay, I think I've finished the game. But that's definitely odd.

 

 

 

Went it alone, killed off the Archons of War and Secrets, had the Archon of Shadows pledge allegiance, went to trial and had Tunon pledge fealty to me and tell me I would be charting a new course etc etc... and then..  nothing. Just left standing in the court with none of the npcs having conversations and the map open to wander around but nothing to actually do.

 

Edit: Hm, and although that unlocked the Final Judgement achievement, I haven't gotten any Act III completed achievement. Now I ponder.

 

 

 

I will say the game has a lot better variety of evil choices, Sure, a bunch of petty evil, but very little moronic, raving psychopath evil choices. 

Edited November 13, 2016 by Raithe

[Darkpriest]

I've just finished the game... return to your original spire to finish the game, you need to do one more thing there

 

Really fun in terms of C&C. Will most likely play it at least 2 more times

 

EDIT: it took me 22h and i did not really use any crafting or "stronghold" features, and it seems I've missed one edict somewhere. So there is much more content there...

 

also is it me or there is no life sigil and you get it only form items and can;t craft spell? or most likely I missed it

Edited November 13, 2016 by Darkpriest

[Raithe]

I've just finished the game... return to your original spire to finish the game, you need to do one more thing there

Yeah. I've got nothing.

I've been around my original spire a bunch of times. Talked to everybody. Clicked on the doohickey on top of that. I've got no reason to cast any edicts since I've got no enemies in any of the places I can select for edicts. I've gone down to Ascension Hall and nothings changed or new clickable there. There's absolutely nothing new that I can find that actually ends anything.

There's no other options available.

 

Edit: I think Life was about the 3rd or 4th sigil I got.  There are 11 schools you can find in total.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Raithe

[Keyrock]

I went ahead and dropped difficulty down to Story Mode, which made combat significantly less tiresome and has improved my enjoyment of the game.  I should have done that from the beginning.  By now I should know to lower Obsidian games' difficulty down to the lowest so that I can enjoy them for their quality writing and characters with less bother from generally pretty meh combat.  As I've gotten older my appreciation for combat in RPGs has significantly fallen off, unless the combat is implemented really really well.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Keyrock

[Nonek]

So a few questions if I may:

 

Is there any environmental interaction?

NPC schedules?

Day/Night cycles?

Spells that are useful outside combat?

Alternate methods of transportation?

Can one really be evil? Sadistic, racist, speciesist, sexist, depraved, murderous etcetera.

Can one serve as a good loyal hound for this Kyros chap, putting down any hint of doubt, rebellion or sedition with enthusiastic brutality?

Is there a good brother like character in the game such as Daakon, quiet, stoic and massively useful, but also an interesting introduction to an aspect of the gameworld such as the Zerth was for the divided Gith and one side of their culture?

Are any of the characters the usual squeeing morons that are so popular in gaming, and can one kill or avoid them if so?

Are there any peculiarities of culture, religion, dialect and country that are reflected in the game?

Do you get to fight in the midst of a phalanx, an opportunity that any game quoting a Bronze Age setting must surely take advantage of?

What unique weapons and armour of the period are available, I assume the spear and Argive are still kings of the battlefield, but what of the small swords/knives of the period, the pelta and javelin, and other unique parts of the panoply?

Can one complete the extinction of the Beastman species that has pushed them into the Tiers, and make sure only humanity dominates Terratus?

Edited November 13, 2016 by Nonek

[Raithe]

In answer to Nonek's list of questions, I present a mini wall of text :

 

There's the environmental interaction if you count the "hand" symbols on certain environmental stuff that lets you do athletic tests or similar to get around... So probably not quite what you meant. There are assorted "use Athletics or this handy piece of pipe you picked up to move this boulder" or "use Athletics to lower yourself down this rope/wriggle between this rubble" etc.

There are day and night cycles of a sort time passes when you move between locations, it counts whether its day or night and yes, the map will then be light or in shadow, and I seem to recall that merchants and npc's aren't around during the night time. But there aren't that many locations you'll be wandering around like that to really notice.

Spells aren't used outside of combat (well if you don't count pre-buffing before actual combat starts )

You walk on the maps, and it checks how much time takes to move between locations on the world map - Part of the story does open up elements allowing you to basically teleport between specific areas which when you open those up then cut down the time taken to move between locations on the world map. But that really doesn't have any effect beyond the fluff. Once you've moved past the initial Edict and 8 day time limit, time really isn't an issue (Apart from when you start doing research and crafting, and then its a sort of thing in the background).

There are a wide variety of evil options, and yes things like judging someone guilty and making the method of execution being left with a large boulder slowly crushing the life out of them are in there.

There are no good brother characters as such...The companions you get are fairly interesting concepts and well-written for what they are. They provide a few different viewpoints to the world and some of the banter between them can be both amusing and informative.

You do get the push of most people being in the Bronze age style but with that introduction of iron and such. Since you're pretty much in a war torn area with lots of disruptions, most of the culture is in a state of ruin. Each faction has a certain identity, but I wouldn't say you get cultural emphasis behind it so much.

No, no fighting in a phalanx. You only get to control your party and the closest you get to trying that would be selecting square formation and hoping for the best..

There are an assortment of swords - straight, hooked, curved, etc. But that's mostly a visual element rather than mechanical. It does adjust for some which are only slashing, some piercing, some combo of the two etc. Plus bows, spears, javelins, daggers, axes, two handed variants of most of them..the usual assortment of such.

I didn't run across anything allowing extinction of the Beastmen. But then I did challenge the leader and become Prima of the main surviving tribe in my run through. Other options might be available in different run throughs.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Raithe

[Keyrock]

So a few questions if I may:

 

Is there any environmental interaction?

NPC schedules?

Day/Night cycles?

Spells that are useful outside combat?

Alternate methods of transportation?

Can one really be evil? Sadistic, racist, speciesist, sexist, depraved, murderous etcetera.

Can one serve as a good loyal hound for this Kyros chap, putting down any hint of doubt, rebellion or sedition with enthusiastic brutality?

Is there a good brother like character in the game such as Daakon, quiet, stoic and massively useful, but also an interesting introduction to an aspect of the gameworld such as the Zerth was for the divided Gith and one side of their culture?

Are any of the characters the usual squeeing morons that are so popular in gaming, and can one kill or avoid them if so?

Are there any peculiarities of culture, religion, dialect and country that are reflected in the game?

Do you get to fight in the midst of a phalanx, an opportunity that any game quoting a Bronze Age setting must surely take advantage of?

What unique weapons and armour of the period are available, I assume the spear and Argive are still kings of the battlefield, but what of the small swords/knives of the period, the pelta and javelin, and other unique parts of the panoply?

Can one complete the extinction of the Beastman species that has pushed them into the Tiers, and make sure only humanity dominates Terratus?

• Yes, there are things to do in the environment that use your non-combat skills (athletics, lore, etc.)
• Doesn't look like there are schedules
• I've not noticed a proper night/day cycle
• No alternate methods of transportation I've seen.  You're hoofing it.
• Yes, you can really be evil.  Plenty of ruthless and selfish options and some psychopathic stuff in there too.
• You can absolutely be loyal to Kyros and carry out his will to the letter of his law.

The rest of the questions I'm not far enough along to answer.

[Nonek]

Much obliged gentlemen, think i'll wait for a goty version, doesn't seem to be up my alley.

[Darkpriest]

 

I've just finished the game... return to your original spire to finish the game, you need to do one more thing there

Yeah. I've got nothing.

I've been around my original spire a bunch of times. Talked to everybody. Clicked on the doohickey on top of that. I've got no reason to cast any edicts since I've got no enemies in any of the places I can select for edicts. I've gone down to Ascension Hall and nothings changed or new clickable there. There's absolutely nothing new that I can find that actually ends anything.

There's no other options available.

 

Edit: I think Life was about the 3rd or 4th sigil I got.  There are 11 schools you can find in total.

 

 

Once you will get back to the spire you need to basically declare war by using your power on Northern Empire. It's hard to click on that map though. I was searching for a spot where to put it.

[Darkpriest]

So a few questions if I may:

 

Is there any environmental interaction?    - yes and no - you get to interact with certain objects on the map which can change some parts of it or give you a different way, and there is also a chance for you to do something around Edicts, which change the whole regions, but the changes they bring are stronger for dialogs in your quest chains and ending, than regular interactions

 

NPC schedules? - no, not really

 

Day/Night cycles? - cosmetic wise, yes

 

Spells that are useful outside combat?  No, with exception of interaction with Edicts

 

Alternate methods of transportation?   only teleportation between your properties

 

Can one really be evil? Sadistic, racist, speciesist, sexist, depraved, murderous etcetera. - Yes, to a point where one quest choice made me feel really odd... I had a choice to suffocate an infant with a pillow, and I did it as it would fit my character best for his goals, but man that situation was complex on so many levels and I did not feel so well with myself. Did not see sexist remarks/options, and racist was limited only towards beasts

 

Can one serve as a good loyal hound for this Kyros chap, putting down any hint of doubt, rebellion or sedition with enthusiastic brutality?  - Yes, you can

 

Is there a good brother like character in the game such as Daakon, quiet, stoic and massively useful, but also an interesting introduction to an aspect of the gameworld such as the Zerth was for the divided Gith and one side of their culture? - no, not really, maybe a sage companion

 

Are any of the characters the usual squeeing morons that are so popular in gaming, and can one kill or avoid them if so? - no squeling i think, but you can avoid them and some you can kill during the recruitment. I believe there are also options for them to betray you if you have low loyalty with them in certain scenarios

 

Are there any peculiarities of culture, religion, dialect and country that are reflected in the game? - Not, really, although there are some mentions of Oldwell builders and certain other aspects.

 

Do you get to fight in the midst of a phalanx, an opportunity that any game quoting a Bronze Age setting must surely take advantage of? - no, unfortunatelly no such thing, not even in "comic story mode"

 

What unique weapons and armour of the period are available, I assume the spear and Argive are still kings of the battlefield, but what of the small swords/knives of the period, the pelta and javelin, and other unique parts of the panoply?   - Most of those are available if not all, however I can hardly say how they function as I had a party of two mages, archer and sword and shield guy

 

Can one complete the extinction of the Beastman species that has pushed them into the Tiers, and make sure only humanity dominates Terratus? - Not sure, I believe it might be based that they get mention in one of the ending slides

 

 

Comments above

[Raithe]

 

Once you will get back to the spire you need to basically declare war by using your power on Northern Empire. It's hard to click on that map though. I was searching for a spot where to put it.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions, but natch. There's nothing clickable for me north of the Stone Sea area. 

And the only thing on my quest log still showing is the "Final Hunt" under the primary, and that's all greyed out as I've done all the parts to it.

 

Hm, so I'm guessing that either this clickable declare war is really, really minute and hidden well.. or something glitched in Act 3.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Raithe

[Darkpriest]

Must have glitched out i think. It should be near where the Tunon's court is. it's fairly dark, but should be there. If not then you've glitched out somewhere

Edited November 13, 2016 by Darkpriest

[ShadySands]

I think I saw someone have that same issue on Reddit

[Orogun01]

I was ok with the fact that a lot of the icons for items where recycled from PoE but rotating a Skaen Hood 45 degrees and calling it a BloodChanter Cloak is just lazy.

[ShadySands]

For some reason I thought there was a secret 7th companion but I guess not

 

Not sure why I thought that

[Keyrock]

I just sentenced a town to be burned to the ground, people and all.  I can be merciful, when I feel it it can benefit me down the road, but these people surrendered 2 years prior and pledged an oath of loyalty to Kyros, and now they turn around and aid the oathbreakers?  An example had to be made.  They all had to die.  Let the smoldering pile of rubble and corpses be a reminder to everyone within the valley as to what happens when you cross me Kyros.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Keyrock

[demeisen]

I'm not nearly as far along as some folks, but here are my feelings so far.  I like the world Tyranny imagines, and so far I feel more connected to the plot than I did in Pillars.  Writing is good, and graphics, art, and music are top-notch.  On the flip side, combat is inferior to PoE since it removes many interesting mechanics such as friendly fire and flanking, and adds some mechanics that more belong in an MMPORG than a CRPG.  I feel they went too far in over-simplifying things and removing longer-term resource consideration, presumably to attract non-CRPG-geek players.

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​Difficulty wise, I'm finding it harder (so far) than Pillars, which is a positive thing in my view.  I'm playing PotD, and there have been some quite challenging fights.  It's hard to tell though if it really is harder, or if merely that I don't know the skills / abilities / tactics nearly as well yet, so it just feels harder.  I'm sure my character choices have not been ideal.  Also, Pillars was harder in the first few levels than later on, so that could be true here too.  Will have to see how this unfolds over time.

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​I believe Tyranny is worth the money if you like this style of game, and also I'm all for supporting party-based CRPG so we get more variety of them in the future.  It's not my perfect game or anything, but... it's still been enjoyable so far.  No regrets in buying it.

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