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Solasta, BG3, and RQ Game Expectations


svensson

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Like many of you, I've been a gamer for a long, LONG time. And, like most of you, I've had a collection that has grown and shrunk over the years as things have been searched for, found, hoarded and later passed out of my possession. I live in the region of the Wizards company HQ and have known several employees in the past. Because of several decisions made by Wizards, things ranging from rule mechanics to setting changes to personnel practices, I don't spend much of my gaming dollar with them anymore. I hung it up with them at the end of the '3.5' era, when DnD 4 was just a wargame with pretty maps and roleplay was trivialized to the point of nonexistence. And I've bought just one 5e product for nostalgia's sake.

The sole exception to this is in the realm of computer games. I've played Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and several other DnD logo'd games over the years. Now I'm mucking about with BG3 and a new franchise using the 5e mechanics called 'Solasta: Crown of the Magister' and am enjoying myself generally. I wish the devs of the games would haul off and get them done, but I'm reasonably content with my purchases at this point.

I say all of this as a preface to saying just how much I hope Black Shamrock does an equally stellar job with the upcoming RQ computer RPG. I realize the game is still in 'pre-pre-alpha-with-a-lower-case-A', but I really REALLY look forward to doing RQ character generation and seeing the results on the screen. I'm quietly excited about adventuring in Sartar and digging into old Empire of the Wyrm's Friends ruins or having to face down an attack of Uz in the middle of the night. I wonder what Rune magic is going to look like on the screen and if they'll include progressing to Rune levels with allied spirits and shamans with fetches. And I REALLY wonder how they're going to adapt the 'adventurer-as-a-contributing-citizen' motif of RQG into the murder hobo stereotype of most CRPGS.

And, just like Baldur's Gate 1 changed the way people [gamers and non-gamers alike] perceived Dungeons and Dragons, I wonder what if any changes the computer game will make to the RQ that I love.

I say all this because I've just bought the Solasta game, am enjoying myself, and wondered what Glorantha is going to look like rendered in 3D.

PS:

BTW, I bought and played Black Shamrock's earlier effort Jedi: Fallen Order for a little while but ended up getting a refund on it. All the platform-y stuff never has been my cup of tea and the story parts weren't interesting enough to keep me engaged with all the twitch gaming. That's just my personal preference, your mileage may vary, and so on. I WILL say that the art renderings and smoothness of play in all three dimensions were first rate, however.

 

Edited by svensson
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6 hours ago, simonh said:

For a very different kind of CRPG I'm really enjoying the Early Access version of Fabled Lands on Steam. The turn based combat is quite fun. It's a brutal game though, save regularly and often.

OK, I might look that one up. For a second I thought you were talking about Outward Bound, which a friend of mine said was 'Kingdom Come Deliverance meets Oregon Trail' [aka high probability of death due to an infected wound]... I did that in real life in the way back, so I'm not real enthused about doing it in my off time... 🤣

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Thank you all for the game recommendations! I already had Baldurs Gate 3 which I've been enjoying recently and have now added Solasta and Fabled Lands to my wishlist to pick up soonish. Also turns out I already have Outward in my library (I buy a lot of bundles) so installing that now!

As for what I'd like to game to be like, ideally I'd like a top down 3D game like Divinity Original Sin or Baldurs Gate 3 but that might just be my massive nostalgia for isometric CRPGs from my youth talking...

Has anyone here played the Call of Cthulhu video game? I have it but I am a massive wimp when it comes to games and movies so have yet to give it a go.

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2 hours ago, glassneedles said:

Thank you all for the game recommendations! I already had Baldurs Gate 3 which I've been enjoying recently and have now added Solasta and Fabled Lands to my wishlist to pick up soonish. Also turns out I already have Outward in my library (I buy a lot of bundles) so installing that now!

As for what I'd like to game to be like, ideally I'd like a top down 3D game like Divinity Original Sin or Baldurs Gate 3 but that might just be my massive nostalgia for isometric CRPGs from my youth talking...

Has anyone here played the Call of Cthulhu video game? I have it but I am a massive wimp when it comes to games and movies so have yet to give it a go.

I haven't tried the CoC game. I know it's heresy of the worst kind on a Chaosium board, but I'm not that big a Mythos fan 😆🤔 Ever since I was a kid I've been more about Alfred Hitchcock style suspense or spy movies [yes, James Bond and Jason Bourne, but also George Smiley and the Circus] than eldritch cosmic horror or 'gore porn' slasher movies. I guess I like my evil defeatable 😁

I have D:OS 2 and originally didn't like the interface much. I guess I've played too many games based on the Unity engine. But BG3 is slowly eroding my dislike and I think I'll reload D:OS2 at some point and give it a longer try.

As for the RQ game, one part of me hopes it's a party based top down like BG3 and Solasta. But I also wouldn't object violently if it was a rich open world first person adventure with really deep NPC's and voice acting like FallOut or Elder Scrolls. But I'm well aware of just how much that would cost for a 'new franchise'. And besides, I have friends whose vision issues don't tolerate first-person games very well and I'd like them to enjoy Glorantha as much as I do.

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There was a game released in 2019 on the Steam game store, if it's the one you mention?
I bought it and it was quite enjoyable to play! 🙂 
And they did give you this descent into madness quite believably (i.e. the gameplay is really cool and I don't want to reveal when it happens because it's really well done)... 🙂 

There is a scene though, when you are stuck in a museum with a dimensional shambler or something.. Had to google how to survive and it took me many tries^_^ 

Edited by Lloyd Dupont
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3 hours ago, svensson said:

I haven't tried the CoC game. I know it's heresy of the worst kind on a Chaosium board, but I'm not that big a Mythos fan

Me neither, I simply donot care about horror and "role play"

But its about the story.. and this video game has a cool story! 🙂
 just happen there are some maddening times and some monster you can only hide from, at best... 😮 😄

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14 hours ago, Lloyd Dupont said:

Me neither, I simply donot care about horror and "role play"

But its about the story.. and this video game has a cool story! 🙂
 just happen there are some maddening times and some monster you can only hide from, at best... 😮 😄

I guess it's the whole 'Mankind is doomed and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. All your efforts are nothing more than trying to hold back the tide with a soup spoon. Sleep well..." thing that I don't like so much. The party spends an entire campaign arc trying to find a book that they have to read and understand for them to complete the campaign, but is also guaranteed to drive at least one of them mad.

But yes, I completely agree, any CRPG has to have a good solid story, and such a story can make a horror game much more interesting and fun.

Edited by svensson
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10 hours ago, svensson said:

I have D:OS 2 and originally didn't like the interface much. I guess I've played too many games based on the Unity engine. But BG3 is slowly eroding my dislike and I think I'll reload D:OS2 at some point and give it a longer try.

 

I haven't played D:OS 2 yet as I haven't quite finished the first one yet. Just checked Steam and 50 hours in so making some progress. I couldn't help buying Baldurs Gate 3 the second it was available, I loved the originals and I've played too much 5e to not be curious about how it was all implemented. I don't know what you mean about Unity however? Larian uses an in house engine for their games. 

Were you referring to the low quality of some unity games? If so I think that's more down to how easy it is to get up and running with Unity and their licencing structure making it an attractive tool for people trying to make the quickest game possible to try and scam some people out of money rather than an inherent aspect of the engine. There are plenty of good games made in unity out there. 

7 hours ago, Lloyd Dupont said:

There was a game released in 2019 on the Steam game store, if it's the one you mention?

Yes that's the one I mean! I've had it installed on my PC for a while now trying to psych myself up to play it. I really really struggle with horror games and movies (but love horror books and RPGs) but keep thinking I should probably at least give it a go...

Now if they did a point and click Call of Cthulhu game that would be my jam right there.

Also sorry to have slightly dis-railed the topic, I would really like to see an open world first person RPG in the same vein as any of the Elder Scrolls games but I too think that is unrealistic to expect. If you look at Pathfinder Kingmaker that is what I am hoping to see something along the lines of.  

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1 minute ago, glassneedles said:

Also sorry to have slightly dis-railed the topic, I would really like to see an open world first person RPG in the same vein as any of the Elder Scrolls games but I too think that is unrealistic to expect. If you look at Pathfinder Kingmaker that is what I am hoping to see something along the lines of.  

I, too, am a fan of digressions into similar topics... no worries. 😁

Solasta plays somewhat like PF:KM and it's what I expect the RQ game to look like as well. I love a good open world game as well and I'd LOVE to see Sartar or Prax rendered to the point that my character to run from Nochet to Pavis... but that might be just a little much to expect... ROFL

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/14/2021 at 1:43 AM, svensson said:

I, too, am a fan of digressions into similar topics... no worries. 😁

Solasta plays somewhat like PF:KM and it's what I expect the RQ game to look like as well. I love a good open world game as well and I'd LOVE to see Sartar or Prax rendered to the point that my character to run from Nochet to Pavis... but that might be just a little much to expect... ROFL

So I've now bought Solasta! Steam sale tempted me and I grabbed that and the Fabled Lands game Simon mentioned earlier (thanks for the recommendation @simonh! I haven't played Fabled Lands yet but Saturday night started up Solasta and started to make some characters, I was talking to some people from my D&D 5e group on discord at the the time and ended up streaming it for them so we could all see the character creator. 3 hours later it was midnight and I had 10 characters but hadn't started a campaign yet! Excited to see if the actual game will be as engaging as the creator. Just hope they add more classes and races. 

I also grabbed another game called Wildermyth which is a tactical RPG that might be of interest to people here. Just released so not in the steam sale sadly but it was under £20 so should be fairly affordable in other currencies that aren't on fire right now...

 

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I used to play the Fabled Lands adventure books with my kids. They created a character each and I ran the game from the books, doubling up the opponents and sometimes improvising side quests and encounters along the way. We had a lot of fun.

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Check out the Runequest Glorantha Wiki for RQ links and resources. Any updates or contributions welcome!

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3 hours ago, simonh said:

I used to play the Fabled Lands adventure books with my kids. They created a character each and I ran the game from the books, doubling up the opponents and sometimes improvising side quests and encounters along the way. We had a lot of fun.

I didn't realise it was based on an old CYOA until after I had bought it. Does it cover only a portion of the series or the full 12 volumes? 

I used to read CYOA books as a kid but I can't remember any of the ones I used to have, pretty sure they didn't involve dice or keeping track of inventory stuff (or I just ignored that aspect). After reading some of the alone in the... Cthulhu books I got interested in them recently and started picking up the new Endless Quest D&D ones that have been released in the last few years. I've got an eye on the Fighting Fantasy books to pick up at some point too. Any other suggestions of what to look at?

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On 6/28/2021 at 8:53 PM, glassneedles said:

I didn't realise it was based on an old CYOA until after I had bought it. Does it cover only a portion of the series or the full 12 volumes? 

I think it’s going to include about half the books eventually and the other half of them will be a DLC expansion. Something like that.

To be honest I tried some of the Fighting Fantasy and other game books and never got on with them. I always got bored. Only Fabled Lands really stuck.

Check out the Runequest Glorantha Wiki for RQ links and resources. Any updates or contributions welcome!

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