Strangely enough, after backing Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns and Project Eternity, I didn't feel like backing this game. Why? Part because I'm broken right now, but also because they didn't gave as much information on the gameplay as they did for those other games IMO.
What they promised us was fantastic narrative and a Torment-like story. We don't know much about the gameplay and I was never able to get into Torment specifically because of the lackluster gameplay.
I do hope this game will be a blast to play, and if it is, I'll grab it at full price after release, but I'm done with Kickstarter for now. I prefer to see how Wasteland 2 turns out before throwing more money at inXile.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Bad news is that they're anticipating a delay to Spring 2015. Good news is that this is down to the sheer amount of extra work they can put into the game thanks to exceeding their planned appeal by almost 400% :)
Honestly, I'm of the opinion that they can take all the time they need. I've seen a lot of potentially awesome computer RPGs come out half-baked because of overly restrictive deadlines (Neverwinter Nights 2 or heck, any of the Obsidian RPGs, I'm looking at you). I'd rather have to wait longer for something that is awesome than get it sooner but have it be less than it could be.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Bad news is that they're anticipating a delay to Spring 2015. Good news is that this is down to the sheer amount of extra work they can put into the game thanks to exceeding their planned appeal by almost 400% :)Honestly, I'm of the opinion that they can take all the time they need. I've seen a lot of potentially awesome computer RPGs come out half-baked because of overly restrictive deadlines (Neverwinter Nights 2 or heck, any of the Obsidian RPGs, I'm looking at you). I'd rather have to wait longer for something that is awesome than get it sooner but have it be less than it could be.
^ YES THIS ^
They can take to 2017 for all I care. The important thing is that the end game is good.
That's one of the things I like most about Kickstarter. I feel like I'm mailing myself amazing games three years in the future. I just need to make sure I support one awesome new title every few months (at least) so that when they actually start rolling around, I'll get a new one soon after I finish the previous one. Imagine a world where we have access to a steady, unending stream of really fantastic games in the vein of Project Eternity, Wasteland 2, Torment, and Shadowrun.
InXile are throwing open voting to the fans on whether TIDES OF NUMENERA will have turn-based or real-time-with-pause combat. They seem to be running neck-and-neck at the moment.
That's not good--half of potential consumers will wind up alienated...
That's not good--half of potential consumers will wind up alienated...
I don't think most of them care enough either way to feel alienated by not getting their way. I'd prefer Torment to not end up another example of why it's a bad idea to give the gaming community any meaningful input on your design process.
They backed themselves into a corner here. They said they were making a new version of PLANESCAPE: TORMENT, just without the PLANESCAPE setting or D&D rules because of legal reasons. For a lot of fans that means real-time-with-pause, because that's what P:T had. However, most fans also seem to agree that combat was not a major focus of P:T and wasn't very good. You could also avoid about 90% of the fights in the game through dialogue. Combat was not a cornerstone of the game in the same way it was in the other Infinity Engine games. This is also why PROJECT ETERNITY, which is similarly the 'spiritual successor' to the BG/ICEWIND DALE games, was clear that it had real-time-with-pause from the outset.
When they decided that they wanted to do turn-based combat, they really had no choice but to open it up to a discussion and vote. The game wouldn't exist without the backers, and they need to have a say on such a fundamental part of the game. I do think that if the designers honestly believe that turn-based is better for the game, it would take a substantial vote against it (by two-thirds or more, maybe) for them to change their minds.
Major update on the game. They're moving into full production (as WASTELAND 2 verges on completion) and have revealed they've licensed quite a bit of the PILLARS OF ETERNITY toolset from Obsidian, believing this will speed the creation of maps, areas and environments by a lot.
Sounds good, though not good enough to bring it forwards into 2014. I suspect we'll see it in 12-18 months.
Pre-alpha, but still highly promising.
Wow. Four years since I started the thread? That's startling.
Anyway, a story trailer for TORMENT has been released. Looks pretty good so far.
The game's release date (finally!) is 28 February.
Funny coincidence... My birthday party is on 4 March...
I watched a gameplay video of combat and it looks great.
Turn-based! <3
Only combat is turn-based, and there's not a lot of combat in the game. Well, you can fight your way out of every problem, but's very much going against the ethos of the TORMENT game ideology, which always favours the player winning engagements through argument and rhetoric.
I've really been enjoying it so far, aside from a potentially problematic glitch I'm gonna have to try and work around a bit later. XD One of my party members, in particular, has consistently been making me laugh.
|
I got about 3.5 hours in last night. Halfway to tier 2 on my Castoff. Its a lot more story intensive than I anticipated. Writing the prologue fight off, there has been literally 1 combat in the remainder of my playtime last night. That being said, it really does capture the Cypher System feel with the edge, effort, and stat pools.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
|
I finished it recently, and had mixed feelings. I agree with some of the criticism I've read that after the first third or so of the game, it simply became too easy. This is mostly because of their decision to add a hp stat instead of having damage directly deplete your pools.
I think they did a fantastic job with the story and setting and bringing the world of Numenera to life, but wish that the combat had been more fulfilling, especially since there wasn't a ton of it overall.
I think they did a fantastic job with the story and setting and bringing the world of Numenera to life, but wish that the combat had been more fulfilling, especially since there wasn't a ton of it overall.
The combat thing is an interesting one, especially since it was also at the time PLANESCAPE: TORMENT came out. Does an RPG which is not focused on combat lose anything by having less satisfying combat? ICEWIND DALE was very combat-focused and people knew that going in and didn't give the game a hard time for not having roleplaying alternatives to a lot of confrontations, whilst PS:T was very dialogue and story-focused and again didn't get hard time for not having a lot of combat (in fact, apart I think from the Blood War sequence, it was possible to avoid all combat in the game).
NUMENERA has I think always been strongly focused on the weirdness of the setting, the atmosphere and the fact that intelligence and wits are more important than brute strength or combat skills. In that sense, the video game seems to do a great job of evoking the setting.
|
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
|
I think they did a fantastic job with the story and setting and bringing the world of Numenera to life, but wish that the combat had been more fulfilling, especially since there wasn't a ton of it overall.The combat thing is an interesting one, especially since it was also at the time PLANESCAPE: TORMENT came out. Does an RPG which is not focused on combat lose anything by having less satisfying combat? ICEWIND DALE was very combat-focused and people knew that going in and didn't give the game a hard time for not having roleplaying alternatives to a lot of confrontations, whilst PS:T was very dialogue and story-focused and again didn't get hard time for not having a lot of combat (in fact, apart I think from the Blood War sequence, it was possible to avoid all combat in the game).
NUMENERA has I think always been strongly focused on the weirdness of the setting, the atmosphere and the fact that intelligence and wits are more important than brute strength or combat skills. In that sense, the video game seems to do a great job of evoking the setting.
While I agree in theory, in the case of Numenera, they made the combat a lot easier by adding hp to the system instead of having damage come directly out of might speed or int pools. With that decision making combat pretty easy, I'll hold that as a negative for the game.
|
|
The problem with keeping combat damage in the pools (especially in Tabletop Cypher games) is that it discourages use of your abilities, particularly might abilities. And it almost universally is leveraged against the player. Much like spell slots in a typical adventure, the bad guys are full until encountered, the players deplete as they go. In Torment, I could burn through most of my Intellect pool trying to get those persuade checks (before I quit playing it my group was pretty much empty on INT consistently), and then, without HP instead, oh here is a bad guy with an ability that deals INT damage. One solid hit and I'm toast. HP here (as well as when we've added separate HP in our tabletop Cypher games) really feels needed.