Talents come in several categories, with the main character receiving a choice of six different categories: Leadership, Defense, Power, Agility, Range, and Magic, while additional party members merely get two talent categories designed for them alone. This allows some customization of the additional party members while keeping them fairly set in their overall roles. Talents can have a wide range of effects, from passive bonuses to activated abilities to unlocking certain additional elements of the character screen.
The journal is pretty robust, allowing for sorting and examination of various quests, whether completed or not, and breaking them down between primary quests and other quest types. There is a reputation window, which allows for an overview of the character's reputations with the various factions, as well as individual NPCs. Finally, there's a spell creation system, a spire tab that replaces the stronghold in Pillars, and a Missives tab, for when NPCs have sent you letters.
First, let's take a look at the combat system. I think I can best describe it as a streamlined version of the Pillars combat system, retaining the same range and area effect diagrams, the same engagement system that prevents enemies from scooting around each other, the same ‘per encounter' style abilities that can be used limited numbers of times and the same vulnerability to having attacks and spells and the like interrupted. The actual attack interruption mechanics seem to have been streamlined somewhat, as has the hit point and wound system. Rather than having endurance, then hit points, which might result in a wounded state, health is simply one bar, and when it gets low enough the character might be subject to wounds. Wounds reduce the maximum health a character can recover to, as well as impose a penalty to actions. Wounds can be recovered through certain items, through camping, through certain actions, or when a character levels up.
And on that note, the limited ‘camping supplies' makes its return from Pillars, although this time it seems a little more generous. Basically, the mechanic puts a cap on how many times you can rest on any one expedition, since you can't simply rest and restore without supplies on hand, and you can only carry so many at a time. There is a day and night cycle and passing time and dates, and even in the handful of hours I played there was a quest with a hard time limit, so even with a more generous camping supplies store, there can still be a harder limit at certain times.
The exploration map has icons and interaction areas similar to Pillars of Eternity, where certain areas include lootable containers, some include icons you can click on for more information, and certain icons indicate an interaction event, usually dependent on a certain skill. Finally, compass roses indicate where the party can exit to the overworld map. Like Pillars, there is a stealth and scouting mode which can allow the party to sneak up on opponents, but taking a cue from the later Pillars mechanics, there's a certain chance to uncover hidden traps and caches even without the scouting mode active.
The overland map art is more stylized than in similar games, and areas are situated as hotspots that can be traveled to as they are discovered. Travel on the overland map takes time, and there is the chance to uncover scripted encounters while moving from area to area.
In terms of mechanics beyond the basics described, certain ones bear special mention. The reputations system is interesting, mostly because rather than simply having a single positive or negative slider, the main character can influence factions or other characters through two means each. For factions, you can gain or lose favor or wrath. Favor represents what it sounds like, what you've done for a faction, how you've furthered their goals and so forth. Wrath, on the other hand, is what you've done to anger them. Each of these may be influenced independently. It is possible to both irritate and favor a faction in turn. Doing so unlocks certain tiers, which can affect interactions with their members, but may also unlock special abilities at certain levels. For instance, attaining level 3 favor with the Scarlet Chorus unlocks Merciless, which gives a bonus to hit precision against targets below 35% health. Archons use a similar system to factions.
Similarly, companions can be influenced, although they use Loyalty and Fear. You can inspire a companion to accompany you through either, in keeping with the whole evil twist to the game. This can allow you to unlock abilities, similar to the factions, although these abilities tend to be combo attacks that you can use with your companions.
Another system that bears mentioning is the spell creation system. Rather than simply adding spells to a spellbook, each member of the party has a number of spell slots based on their lore and their talents. As you adventure, you'll uncover various sigils that can be combined into different spell types. Core sigils define what sort of spell it is, be it life manipulation, fire, illusion, or the like, while Expressions determine the target, and the target can alter the way the core takes effect. Finally there are accents, which may modify aspects of the spell once it's defined. Things such as extending range or duration are all Accents, which are optional. Once a spell is created, it can be socketed into one of the spell slots of any character that meets the requisite Lore skill, and that character can then use it in combat. I think it's really a nice way to do spell creation, and would like to see something similar in other rpgs.
Finally we have the spire page, which lists various mysterious spires and the devices associated with each, as well as the various parts of the Tiers and whether each particular area is under an Edict. Edicts affect broad swaths of land, and are central to the game's plot, while the Spires function, apparently, like a miniature stronghold. Each one may be upgraded through various hires that provide services.
So let's talk about aesthetics. Graphically, as I said, it's very similar to the Pillars of Eternity game. Although the styling is a little different on the interface and maps, the actual character models and environment art actually seem a step up from the bar set by Pillars, reminiscent of the hand drawn maps of the old infinity engine game while being properly detailed in a modern rendering engine. Now I'm no art critic, but the harsher, more ominous landscapes present in this game seem to have been well realized by the designers. Musically, the soundtrack is worth listening to, though I don't know if any of the tracks really stand out, at least thus far. It's at least on par with Pillars.
As for the writing and storyline? Well, as I have stated earlier, I didn't play but through the first five or so hours, basically through the first act. What I did see was quite impressive. The storyline itself is told from the eyes of someone in service to this evil overlord, at least at first. Having played many, many evil characters in tabletop roleplaying and such, I found the treatment of the various factions and characters quite well done. Even playing the honorable sort, you are going to be hit with some very tough decisions, and the various characters genuinely feel properly fleshed out, with their very evident flaws, ambitions, and whims. Furthermore, decisions you make in the game feel like they genuinely have weight, although I'll clearly have to play more of the game to see if this holds up. The real question here is how long the story itself holds up. I've seen some indications in other reviews that you can finish the game in 20 hours or less, and that the story seems to leave off unfinished. This is not something I can confirm or deny in this initial look, so it's something that you'll have to consider for yourself if you're looking to purchase this. Whether you can accept a game that is quite a bit shorter than an epic like Pillars will be key.
Now, in terms of stability and performance, I didn't personally encounter anything game breaking, but you need to take that with a grain of salt, since often games like this do tend to work just fine for me even when others have issues. I will say that it is based on an engine that has had a lot of work put into it already, so it has been tested and tried with a prior game, and that's always a benefit.
Tyranny 1 2 1 – Rpg & Adventure Game List
So what we have is a solid entry into the RPG arena that is graphically pleasing, decently written, and uses an underlying RPG system that is effectively an evolution of one that proved equal to the task of another game. I'm not going to say that it is going to unseat any of the current ‘best rpgs ever' from their place, far from it, but it does have a rather unique premise, and approaches the whole heroic saga thing from a different starting perspective than most RPGs. I very much want to do a full Let's Play at some time in the future. Suffice to say that I'm hooked.
Progamesland.com › 1149-tyranny-free-downloadTyranny (2016) Download Free For PC | License By GOG (Latest ..
Now, is it worth the cost? For me, yeah, at least the Commander Edition. I'm not one to pay for the extra digital content that's included with the other versions, things that include forum avatars, short stories, soundtracks and ringtones and other extras. If you enjoy those things, more power to you. Taken as it is, my main concern is the projected length of the game. For the price, I generally prefer games with longer playtimes. On the other hand, although supposedly short, it's not like it's a full price game that only lasts nine hours, and the different choices, challenges, and difficulties might make for some replay value.
Tyranny 1 2 1 – Rpg & Adventure Games
Get it on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/362960/
Or on gog.com:
https://www.gog.com/game/tyranny_commander_edition