Heck, I don't even where this game came from, but it looks like it'll scratch an itch and so I'll talk about it. Which itch is that? That would be my ever irritable itch for RPG's. You see, Role Playing Games were the first genre of games whose traits I learned to recognise; That is because for a very long time RPG's were my favourite genre of games. Looking back now I realise what a broad selection that actually covers. But back then when I was eager to play any role other than myself, the height of entertainment was stepping into another's shoes, no matter how involved the end experience ended up truly being.
RPG's are a safe bet for games. After all, gamers have been playing RPG's forever, years before video games ever started becoming popular and decades before any mainstream buzz picked up. Go back to the tabletop days of Dungeons and Dragons and you'll see that gamers have been seeking to immerse themselves in fantastical worlds of wonder and surprise since gaming began. Although, for my part I've never had enough like-minded friends to dive into DnD, It only solidifies how much I need me a good RPG.
That brings me around to the indie development studio, 'Spiders' and their upcoming RPG adventure Greedfall. Being one of the smaller development studios in the RPG landscape, Spiders understands the importance of single player experiences where bigger entities, who shall go unnamed, struggle to get it down; hence why Greedfall rings with me straight away. This isn't 'Spiders' first rodeo, either, they made the fantasy adventure 'Bound by Flame' and the sci-fi RPG 'Technomancer'. So they are used to working on these smaller RPG's that are imbued with personal passion.
For me I've started to wonder if the RPG genre even belongs to big budget companies, of late. I mean, it seems like a simple mathematical equation, more money and resources allow you to devote more on the project that should lead to a better final result. So if that is indeed the case, then why do these big RPG's keep getting it wrong time and time again. Final Fantasy XIII lost all narrative flow too early to get invested, Fallout 4 lacked the series' heart and soul and Mass Effect Andromeda was missing so much, a solid story, great design, likable characters, etc. So many of these big budget RPGs crash and burn, whether due to development issues or too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen syndrome, the results are the same. A substandard product.
Of course not every high budget RPG is a mess, nor is publisher backing a death sentence, just look at The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Skyrim. But in terms of games that make me care in the manner a great RPG does, success for these projects are staring to seem like the exception rather than the rule. Just look at Deltarune, Octopath Traveller and I am Setsuna; All relatively recent indie titles that all offered much more condensed experiences than those, 'hundred hour RPG' titles that are touted today. And yet those three titles have elicited more emotional response from me, and others, than those bigger games managed in all their days of playtime. Am I sounding like a downer? I don't mean to. I just mean to hail the impact that independent titles can have. The precision focus and mastery that smaller projects can hone in on can be so much more powerful than the 'catch-all umbrella' that modern AAA titles are always built under.
Greedfall is a historical-fantasy RPG set in a distorted version of 17th century Europe. You are placed at the height of the explorer boom, a time wherein the untraveled world stretched out for ever and forever, to intentionally misconstrue a line from Tennyson. Greedfall follows the colonisation of the new world as represented in the island: Teer Fradee; if that new world itself didn't want to be colonised, that is. Everything seems to be out to kill you for your imperialistic ways from the natives all the up to horrific, monstrous abominations of nature and bark.
Wait, what was that last part?
Well, you see that's where the 'Fantasy' comes into play. Greedfall pits the players against, what appear to be manifestations of Teer Fradee's will to F you up. And, like any good RPG, Greedfall expects you to make hard choices about your allegiances as the consequences of your actions start to have tangible effects on the world and the people who inhabit it.
Artistically, Greedfall developer 'Spiders' are attempting to capture the style of the 17th century rather than the its accurate details. They describe their influence as a mix between Baroque art and Flemish painting. Being an expert of neither, I can merely attest to the almost sepia-like tinge to the colour palette that does invoke the paintings of the time in every freeze frame I've seen. The design elements that really stood out to me, however, were the monsters. From what little they've shown it seems as though the team were influenced by a certain Capcom title; and they are certainly a fine muse to have. The creatures we've seen either embody this shamanistic aesthetic of bark and leaves or this incredibly well-realised, faux zoological approach that invents fantastical beasts that look like they could acutally exist. Making the world seem so real is going to make it harder to burn it all down for raw resources when the time comes.
Like FernGully meets Monster Hunter, Greedfall seems to be asking you whether or not you have an ethical quandary with unchecked expansionism and if you can stomach to look its victims in the eyes afterwards. Of course, things aren't so cut-and-dry as that; folk back are home are being ravaged by the Malichor plague and the fact that this Teer Fradee appears to be untouched by the malady seems to indicate the key to a cure might be there. Does that mean we will have moments of deciding whether to choose between our family back home or our new friends on the island? Probably. And I look forward to getting torn up over those choices when the time comes.
Combat looks like the weakest aspect, as it tends to be with these 'Spiders' RPGs. It might be judging a book by its cover a little bit, but the gameplay shown makes the hack and slash fighting look like Dark Souls-lite. And know that I loathe to make the 'Dark Souls' comparison. But what the heck else am I going to think when the UI is literally laid out the same? Movement looks stiff and contact looks floaty. But hey, I played through Morrowind so I can double down on the fact that; bad combat does not a bad game make.
I find myself anticipating this understated little gem in the same why I anticipated Divinity 2 back in the day. As a small game that encompasses a large adventure. Something that many of the big titles seem to have forgotten how to do, lately. Where Square Enix looks to be trying to retelling the, originally one game story, of Final Fantasy 7 over a ten year period (like it's freakin' Ben Hur); Spiders will be delivering what is likely going to be a 10-20 hour game that is much more to the point but just as effective when it gets there.
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