Greedfall review

Recently I finished playing Greedfall, and all in all I must say the game was a very enjoyable experience.

For anyone who ever played any other Spiders game, there will be a sense of a certain familiarity. The developers didn't try to reinvent the wheel with Greedfall, it's more like the game is culmination of a hard work on various RPG games in the past decade. The design of the skill tree in particular harkens back to Technomancer released in 2016.

What sets it apart from all the other fantasy RPGs is in my view its setting. Certainly, nowadays any and every game is special, unique, and different than all other that came before. And in most cases when it comes to RPGs, they are all the same bland of medieval-ish fantasy.

Greedfall decides to do one better. It's set in a quasi-colonial era, and you are set to explore the new continent, make friends with locals, and maintain your alliances with the neighbouring superpowers.

There is six different factions that have their own motives, interests, and interactions with each other. You are a cousin of the new governor of New Serene, who the prince of the Congregation of Merchants appointed as his Legate on the new continent. 

The game actually does a really good job of making you realise that you are in all your interactions representing the entire nation. This has the effect of actually enticing the player to try and make friends with factions he'd otherwise find disagreeable, or not to his liking. It's always a choice between will you do what you think is right, or will you do what is best for the interests of your nation.

The main mission is to find a cure for the unusual plague that is destroying the old continent. But in course of doing so you might discover politics makes for some really strange bedfellows. My favourite moment in the game was when I managed to strike the deal with the Inquisition to burn at the stake a paedophile officer of the Honor Guard. He was guilty of some other things as well, but because of his position and connections, he would get away. The inquisitor would have none of that. I loved it.

The game really tries, and in my opinion succeeds in showing that there are both good and bad people within all factions. Theleme has its missionaries and inquisitors. And while you might get the feeling that the inquisitors are a tiny bit too zealous when it comes to dealing with natives, you might discover the difference between those two sides of the coin is just difference between good and bad PR.

If Theleme is Greedfall's insert for the Papal State gone puritan, then the Bridge Alliance is a strange mixture of Arab culture in combination with British Empiricism. Theleme wants peace in order to convert the natives, BA wants conquest in order to subjugate the natives. BA can be summarised as unscrupulous, mad about worship of science, and Machiavellian to the core.

Still I loved the setting of the game. While I'd appreciate if the natives were in any way ethnically coherent group, it is a minor complaint. To me it looked like the inspiration for the natives were Kelts, and that was a rather fresh take.

Mechanics-wise, the game actually forces you to commit to a certain skill tree. If you want to be a smooth talker, you'll have to invest in that ability, if you want to gun down people, you'll have to invest in that ability, and so on. To alleviate this to some degree certain companions can grant you a bonus to a certain ability. You can decide for a jack-of-all-trades type of build, but the difference between specialised and not specialised build is like a night and day. I decided I wanted to go with a heavy armour, greatsword wielding diplomat who can occasionally use guns.

By the very end of the game I realised if I ever decide for a replay, I'll be investing heavily in guns. Those things are destruction incarnate when you put in some points. They also make dealing with the bosses a lot less complicated.

Also the aesthetics. The armours and weapons draw inspiration from the historical weapons. There are certain liberties taken here and there, but all in all, it is a beautiful game.

If you like RPGs, I recommend you give a try to Greedfall.