Despite, at first glance, looking like a AAA game, a competitor for WRPGs such as BioWare's, GreedFall is not a AAA title, having had neither the budget nor the team size to reach that level. It is, however, a game made with a lot of heart, and if you open yourself up to it, it might just be able to scratch that WRPG itch.
The once bustling harbour town of Serene finds itself a shadow of its former self as it's ravaged by the Malichor, a plague that blackens the blood of those it touches, killing them slowly, painfully and without failure. Corpses of the afflicted line the streets, and the final hope lies on the far shores of Teer Fradee, a recently discovered island of exuberant nature that's said to be home to miracles.
Multiple nations begin colonization initiatives in an attempt to find a cure to the Malichor, among them, the Merchant Congregation of Serene. You play as Lady (or Sir) De Sardet, a daughter of a noble family who, as the game begins, has been named Legate of the Congregation. De Sardet leaves for Teer Fradee to manage the new colony's diplomatic relations with its neighbors, as well as with the island's natives.
To get this out of the way, yes, this is a story ostensibly about colonizers, which, understandably, might be off-putting to some. But while it's impossible to claim that the Greedfall never veers into problematic territory, it's a fact that, as its name unsubtly suggests, the overall message of the story is a criticism of its own characters, to the point some of the factions are explicit parallels to Christian-European colonizers and their horrifying practices.
Plus, judging the game for that alone it would do a disservice to its worldbuilding and character writing. Here, it's worth repeating that this is not a AAA game, and as such, it doesn't have an extensive, infinitely branching plot, nor lavishly written codex pages with poems and history of small villages, but it still manages to deliver on a world that feels authentic, with history, religion, politics and lots of conflict at play.
It is among this turmoil that the main story of GreedFall takes place, with De Sardet managing diplomacy as she uncovers the truth about Teer Fradee, as well as about her own people. The beginning parts drag somewhat as the game tries to get you up to speed with the setting, but once it gets going, it's a thrilling mystery, with some fantastic story beats, lots of twists and some incredibly well acted and directed scenes.
GreedFall's narrative design is efficient in how many decisions it leaves to the player: there are few pivotal moments where De Sardet is allowed to influence the story, but those choices do affect the world in meaningful ways. So do most of the quests you do, which almost always involve developing the story either of one of the island's factions or of one of the party members, and on the latter case, even when the quest does not revolve around them, you can expect them to chime in to certain situations or even act on your goals directly. Questing is one of GreedFall's strongest points.
Where the game drops the ball... For the more minor points, while repeated environments generally are a concession that games have to make, in GreedFall, there are instances where they'll take you out of the world, like when you realize all governors have the same house, despite coming from distinct cultures. Romances feel equally as dry, all of them following the same blueprint and feeling like an afterthought. And there's a lack of polish in the amount of typos in the in-game text, or in how Lady De Sardet often gets addressed as male.
As for major issues, most people that don't stick with GreedFall are probably going to name the combat system and its repetitiveness as the culprit, a criticism that unfortunately is fair. While the game's tactical pause feature might initially make the player think of the strategic gameplay of CRPGs, in practice, it's nothing like it: companions just do whatever, and the player is allowed a limited amount of decision-making during fights, focusing mostly on sustaining DPS while avoiding damage themselves. This is compounded by a streamlined skill tree that doesn't provide variety within character archetypes, requiring the player to splash points between all classes to achieve that effect.
Combat also features parry and dodge moves as well as a balance system, a feature set reminiscent of modern action games, but while those moves are powerful -- it's even possible to parry bullets, if timed correctly -- the lack of mechanical precision like in those action-focused experiences leaves GreedFall in a weird sort of limbo where it plays neither a fully-fledged tactical game nor an action one. Overall, combat is functional, but is also definitely the weakest part of the game.
The non-combat systems could also use some polish. De Sardet has talents which are sometimes required to take certain paths in quests and exploration, but not only are those requirements often easy to sidestep, but (probably because of the cost involved in creating branching levels), most situations end up being resolved through conversation, which limits the usefulness of field related skills. While this doesn't ruin the game, it cuts on the role playing and replayability.
Even with these shortcomings, however, there's still a lot of ambition behind GreedFall, as in these suboptimal systems there was an effort to give the player freedom to solve problems in different ways, and give distinct endings to quests depending on the paths taken. Plus, there's the little things, like how when a quest has the player gather information where to find a McGuffin, if they happen to already know where it is or just stumble on the location, the unnecessary quest steps can be skipped. It's a small detail, but it shows that the developers cared.
Overall, GreedFall might not be the best RPG I've ever played, but with its compelling narrative and world, as well as a passionate, if flawed, approach to genre staples, it's a solid experience that stands proudly amongst its genre peers, and one you might want to give a shot the next time you get the WRPG itch.
The once bustling harbour town of Serene finds itself a shadow of its former self as it's ravaged by the Malichor, a plague that blackens the blood of those it touches, killing them slowly, painfully and without failure. Corpses of the afflicted line the streets, and the final hope lies on the far shores of Teer Fradee, a recently discovered island of exuberant nature that's said to be home to miracles.
Multiple nations begin colonization initiatives in an attempt to find a cure to the Malichor, among them, the Merchant Congregation of Serene. You play as Lady (or Sir) De Sardet, a daughter of a noble family who, as the game begins, has been named Legate of the Congregation. De Sardet leaves for Teer Fradee to manage the new colony's diplomatic relations with its neighbors, as well as with the island's natives.
To get this out of the way, yes, this is a story ostensibly about colonizers, which, understandably, might be off-putting to some. But while it's impossible to claim that the Greedfall never veers into problematic territory, it's a fact that, as its name unsubtly suggests, the overall message of the story is a criticism of its own characters, to the point some of the factions are explicit parallels to Christian-European colonizers and their horrifying practices.
Plus, judging the game for that alone it would do a disservice to its worldbuilding and character writing. Here, it's worth repeating that this is not a AAA game, and as such, it doesn't have an extensive, infinitely branching plot, nor lavishly written codex pages with poems and history of small villages, but it still manages to deliver on a world that feels authentic, with history, religion, politics and lots of conflict at play.
It is among this turmoil that the main story of GreedFall takes place, with De Sardet managing diplomacy as she uncovers the truth about Teer Fradee, as well as about her own people. The beginning parts drag somewhat as the game tries to get you up to speed with the setting, but once it gets going, it's a thrilling mystery, with some fantastic story beats, lots of twists and some incredibly well acted and directed scenes.
GreedFall's narrative design is efficient in how many decisions it leaves to the player: there are few pivotal moments where De Sardet is allowed to influence the story, but those choices do affect the world in meaningful ways. So do most of the quests you do, which almost always involve developing the story either of one of the island's factions or of one of the party members, and on the latter case, even when the quest does not revolve around them, you can expect them to chime in to certain situations or even act on your goals directly. Questing is one of GreedFall's strongest points.
Where the game drops the ball... For the more minor points, while repeated environments generally are a concession that games have to make, in GreedFall, there are instances where they'll take you out of the world, like when you realize all governors have the same house, despite coming from distinct cultures. Romances feel equally as dry, all of them following the same blueprint and feeling like an afterthought. And there's a lack of polish in the amount of typos in the in-game text, or in how Lady De Sardet often gets addressed as male.
As for major issues, most people that don't stick with GreedFall are probably going to name the combat system and its repetitiveness as the culprit, a criticism that unfortunately is fair. While the game's tactical pause feature might initially make the player think of the strategic gameplay of CRPGs, in practice, it's nothing like it: companions just do whatever, and the player is allowed a limited amount of decision-making during fights, focusing mostly on sustaining DPS while avoiding damage themselves. This is compounded by a streamlined skill tree that doesn't provide variety within character archetypes, requiring the player to splash points between all classes to achieve that effect.
Combat also features parry and dodge moves as well as a balance system, a feature set reminiscent of modern action games, but while those moves are powerful -- it's even possible to parry bullets, if timed correctly -- the lack of mechanical precision like in those action-focused experiences leaves GreedFall in a weird sort of limbo where it plays neither a fully-fledged tactical game nor an action one. Overall, combat is functional, but is also definitely the weakest part of the game.
The non-combat systems could also use some polish. De Sardet has talents which are sometimes required to take certain paths in quests and exploration, but not only are those requirements often easy to sidestep, but (probably because of the cost involved in creating branching levels), most situations end up being resolved through conversation, which limits the usefulness of field related skills. While this doesn't ruin the game, it cuts on the role playing and replayability.
Even with these shortcomings, however, there's still a lot of ambition behind GreedFall, as in these suboptimal systems there was an effort to give the player freedom to solve problems in different ways, and give distinct endings to quests depending on the paths taken. Plus, there's the little things, like how when a quest has the player gather information where to find a McGuffin, if they happen to already know where it is or just stumble on the location, the unnecessary quest steps can be skipped. It's a small detail, but it shows that the developers cared.
Overall, GreedFall might not be the best RPG I've ever played, but with its compelling narrative and world, as well as a passionate, if flawed, approach to genre staples, it's a solid experience that stands proudly amongst its genre peers, and one you might want to give a shot the next time you get the WRPG itch.