hexualtension
This review contains spoilers
Not sure if this is spoiler tagged despite me checking the box, so warning for spoilers if not already.
Honestly one of my favorite CRPGs ever. The gameplay is definitely broken (you can just stack Lore and be able to cheese most aspects of the gameplay, and while physical builds are situationally helpful from my experience I found my casters did the entirety of the heavy lifting in my playthrough), but the reason why I recommend this is because of the worldbuilding and setting, particularly on a narrative level. Tyranny operates on a Bronze Age setting that is moving towards an Iron Age one (the latter of which is nearly every sword and board fantasy CRPG ever, so as someone who's not really a normal fantasy fan I appreciate the variety). The Fatebinder's transformation from crony to Archon is fascinating and fairly well-integrated for a short CRPG (and I think the length works to its benefit in terms of choice branching). The characters are all unique and the banter between them is amazing. Particular props to Verse and Lantry in terms of my personal preferences as far as companions go, but I loved everyone and what they bring to the table. The major NPCs (aka the Archons) are the main reason to play this game, though. Each of them has a totally different philosophy on how to maintain order and thus each playthrough has a myriad of ways in which to either support or disagree with the approach. Personally, I've done the Scarlet Chorus ending as a loyalist to Kyros, which was really frightening but also just really interesting. The Voices of Nerat is campy, straight nightmare fuel, and also just really cool. (I have a particular favoritism towards the collective as a construct in fantasy & science fiction so when it's done well I think about it a lot.)
Soundtrack's excellent and I'm definitely a big fan of it (ended up purchasing it for personal use later).
I intend to go back and do more playthroughs at some point, particularly with the DLC integrated, as from what I can tell so far the DLC is buggy and not well tested. That said, on the level of the narrative this is definitely my personal catnip.
Honestly one of my favorite CRPGs ever. The gameplay is definitely broken (you can just stack Lore and be able to cheese most aspects of the gameplay, and while physical builds are situationally helpful from my experience I found my casters did the entirety of the heavy lifting in my playthrough), but the reason why I recommend this is because of the worldbuilding and setting, particularly on a narrative level. Tyranny operates on a Bronze Age setting that is moving towards an Iron Age one (the latter of which is nearly every sword and board fantasy CRPG ever, so as someone who's not really a normal fantasy fan I appreciate the variety). The Fatebinder's transformation from crony to Archon is fascinating and fairly well-integrated for a short CRPG (and I think the length works to its benefit in terms of choice branching). The characters are all unique and the banter between them is amazing. Particular props to Verse and Lantry in terms of my personal preferences as far as companions go, but I loved everyone and what they bring to the table. The major NPCs (aka the Archons) are the main reason to play this game, though. Each of them has a totally different philosophy on how to maintain order and thus each playthrough has a myriad of ways in which to either support or disagree with the approach. Personally, I've done the Scarlet Chorus ending as a loyalist to Kyros, which was really frightening but also just really interesting. The Voices of Nerat is campy, straight nightmare fuel, and also just really cool. (I have a particular favoritism towards the collective as a construct in fantasy & science fiction so when it's done well I think about it a lot.)
Soundtrack's excellent and I'm definitely a big fan of it (ended up purchasing it for personal use later).
I intend to go back and do more playthroughs at some point, particularly with the DLC integrated, as from what I can tell so far the DLC is buggy and not well tested. That said, on the level of the narrative this is definitely my personal catnip.