Comments on: Thoughts: Legendary Heroes.

By: Warren

Warren — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:55:37 +0000

I actually liked LH, and I feel I must point out that high initiative actually does allow a unit to take multiple turns before a low initiative unit. If you design them right, armies of high-initiative archers (or mages) pretty much murder everything because of that. I’m OK with the subdued setting of LH and Galciv; personally I’ll forgive any lapse in a game’s character if the mechanics are good AND I can design my own units. In terms of mechanics and game play, I think LH is very good.

By: Darren

Darren — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:35:30 +0000

@Janek:

I honestly love Obsidian’s work! But not everyone does, and they certainly have had very public issues related to glitches, bugs, and finishing their titles. I just didn’t want someone to say that I was papering over their flaws.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:05:01 +0000

I dunno, Obsidian’s approach seems to be more mechanical and allowing themselves more freedom in terms of setting and theme (because Pillars is a resurrection of the Infinity Engine as a concept) than inXile, who are explicitly retreading the same themes as Planescape. If Obsidian were making Baldur’s Gate 3 I’d question the need for that as well, although I probably would have backed it anyway because I really like Obsidian’s games (while being somewhat disappointed by inXile’s).

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 13:57:33 +0000

I thought about linking to it but didn’t because I wanted to separate the game (which no doubt had some talented people working long hours to get it out the door, even if the results weren’t that great) from some of the more infamous backstory behind Stardock, Brad Wardell and the Elemental series. That review is great, though.

By: Gap Gen

Gap Gen — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:35:23 +0000

The fact that few mainstream sites have reviewed it strikes me as worrying, although it’s got pretty decent reviews from the small sites that have covered it. And yeah, the problem with being the spiritual successor is that deviating from the original will almost certainly be seen as a weakness; even SMAX suffered from this with factions that felt less pure and coherent than the ones in the original (even if some of the gameplay additions are welcome).

By: innokenti

innokenti — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 09:54:01 +0000

I think that Warlock’s biggest flaw is not quite letting you know what the crucible of the game is about. Unfortunately it takes you off in the direction of thinking it’s a game of large-scale strategy and economics. In fact, victory is all about using your armies wisely and tactically, leveraging their strengths to pull down the enemy. It’s got a lot more in common with things like Elven Legacy and Battle of Wesnoth than things like Civ or Elemental.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 09:49:37 +0000

Reading the Wasteland/Torment updates I don’t think inXile actually have anywhere near as good a grip on mechanics and systems as Obsidian. Despite being brilliant story-tellers and being able to weave the story and game together, I think a large part of their strength lies in thorough and enjoyable underlying structure.

inXile don’t have much form there – I think they’re far better at look n’ feel, and that’s going to take them a long way, but with the objectives they’ve set themselves on the two Kickstarters I hope that they can competently deliver on the guts too.

By: Zenicetus

Zenicetus — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 04:17:51 +0000

Wardell’s book can’t ever be mentioned without a link to this hilarious review. It helps to know that his politics are… let’s say, extremely tilted towards the white privilege/right-wing side of things, which comes through in the book:

http://www.unamommer.com/?p=109

By: Janek

Janek — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:43:48 +0000

Ooh, harsh.

Personally I’ve loved everything they’ve ever done (with the exception of Dungeon Siege 3), although I’m in the rare minority who has had practically no issues with bugs or general lack of polish in any of them. Since the Troika days, anyway.

By: Darren

Darren — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:25:39 +0000

But as he pointed out Obsidian has something of a pedigree* whereas inXile does not.

*This is certainly debatable