Thank you very much for the video and the support! =) We are looking into adding a map to the game (we tried with several artists but we couldn't nail it), alongside other QoL features like Custom combat difficulty, Font Size, Follow Camera, among other things. Once again, thank you for the coverage and I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the game. Hopefully, we can fund our next one and continue to provide our style of games.
Btw, for those who liked the setting and dont know Robert Heinlein, the studio's writer is a big fan of his and took one of his books called "Orphans of the Sky" as the main inspiration for the game.
Fantastic game, wish it was longer. Not many games can give me the vibe of original Fallouts, which this game amazingly did. I would LOVE a sequel for this.
Yep still in the middle of playing this game and i got the Fallout 2 experience back in the day when i was young and found that game :) not many games give me that same experience i once had with video games in the past hope the studio lives on to make new games in the future!
I can't believe i finished a single playthrough before Mortismal 100percented the same entire game, this is the crowning achievement of my entire gamer life lol
Mortismal, your channel and reviews are fast becoming my go to space to take in genuinely good information and perspective, in relation to video games. Excellent work ethic, quality presentation.
The story seems to be lifted from Robert Heinlein's 'Orphans of the Sky'. It's a short novel about a generation ship that suffered a mutiny and lost the technical expertise to pilot the ship (or do much else).
Great combat, unique setting and excellent character creation. The only issue that I have with the game is that I want MORE. I hope it sells well and Iron tower will give us even more great games!
Just to add on to what Mortismal said- while your party members can use most of the same skills you do, the three interaction skills are main character only (at least they were when I played the game).
@@SyndicateOperative I'd say it is. I was getting Fallout vibes all along -- the quests, the factions, the characters skills, even the computer interface is similar to the Pip-Boy. But obviously the story setting is different, and it's an isometric turn-based tactics game instead of a 3d shooter. Nothing wrong with being inspired by other games.
Really enjoyed this game so far, so many routes to choose that don't have to involve violence! This has definitively made me want to try other games from Iron Tower Studio's, will be giving 'The Age of Decadence' a go soon!
I am really looking forward to Colony Ship, because Age of Decadence was GREAT! One of the very few games where when I was playing a high int high Charisma character focused on dialogue, the situation almost always allowed me to say and do the thing I first felt I wanted to do. That's kind of incredible, you know? Anticipating the player to that level and weaving it into a genuinely good story.
@@JB-xl2jc "looking forward to... " Hmm, Colony Ship was fully released last week, on Nov 9th. (Not sure if I interpreted you correctly, but-thought I'd mention it just in case you didn't know.)
@@smoofbrain Oh yeah, appreciate it! Just meant I'm working through my backlog of games and it's high on my list. Maybe tonight or tomorrow in fact. Excited!
Good Review as usual. Btw about the Story, it is based on Robert A. Heinleins Book titled "Orphans of the Stars" on which the game is based on as reference. It features the same premise with Mutiny, Mutants etc. The Ending of it is also quite interesting.
Games good! If you like CRPGs please support indie devs. Genre is small enough and good games few and far between (although 2023 is a oasis with all the releases)
can't agree more, with companies like bethesda and ubisoft copypasting all those crap every 5 years and gaining insane amounts of money, indie producers spending so much time and effort one a genre with a reasonable amount of folllowers should be supported. i personally pirated the game because i wasn't sure how it would be and just about to finish it. but i'll be buying this on full price when i receive my next paycheck for me and for one of my buddies.
I recommended EVERYONE play this game on Hero mode. Like the devs of Underrail, these devs are obsessed with difficulty to the point of it not being enjoyable in the slightest on underdog mode. Fair warning. Do not give in to the Dev's attempts to guilt you into playing Underdog mode. Amazing game, however, beat the first playthrough in 30 hours!
We'll donate money to dog shelter's for everyone that completes the game in Underdog! Think of the puppies! 🐶💕 Just kidding, we know it's a very particular experience. It comes from wanting combat not to be the default, everyone can do it path, but something for you to consider using other methods to avoid. It's about setting a tone in which combat is a deadly affair, and speech options are not a cosmetic choice but something you want to use to avoid a confrontation. When you meet a bandit in any other game that says "Your money or your life", you know there's no real threat there, that you'll take his money and his life. Here, you'll start considering doing what the nice man says. We think that it adds a lot to the setting and to the weight of your choices. That's what we meant with the intended way to play. But we definitely recommend Hero both as a way to play and also as a way to get used to the game systems. We'll be adding custom difficulty options in a later update =)
The story of this sounds so damn good. I wish more devs followed Owlcat in their difficulty sliders. I'm not a great turn based tactician. Really been such a great last few years for CRPGs. I'm sure BG3 too has shown the industry that the genre is not at all dead.
@@CrazyxEnigma Well, there is a great difference between death and crisis. And even when CRPGs were in crisis, the genre was in better condition than RTS, for example.
@@nikmenn2751 I'm not near as familiar with RTS. The last big one was Warcraft 3 in the early 00s right? And then pretty much nothing until StarCraft 2 which if I remember the years right was about eight to ten years later. Unlike CRPGs there hasn't been a whole lot after SC2. The third SpellForce game looked cool but I've never played it and Age of Empires has gotten some life with the remasters and the fourth one I think is new. After Troika went under and Bioware moved to more action and cinematic games the only two that came out in the mid 00s and later where NWN2 and DAO the latter being considered the swan song for the genre at the time.
For the machine god! That being said, I would appreciate it if we could disable this "battle scars" feature, where your characters permanently become worse and worse in their stats whenever they are downed. Love the atmosphere and setup nonetheless, definitely a hidden gem for people who don't mind more difficult crpg!
We'll consider it =) Something to take into account is that it adds a bit of evasion and increased death timer, so it's not fully a negative, and it doesn't happen on every fall but 1-3-5-7-10, capping there. We didn't want to go overboard with the bonuses as players would seek falling down to get them XD
I agree, there are some issues with the game but it's mostly due to limitations of them being an indie team. Despite that they killed it with what they had. I always imagine that talented teams like this can do crazy stuff with a bigger budget. Either way very enjoyable experience and I look forward to anything else this team releases. I am glad I bought the game when you did your first look video.
Any game that lets you do a mostly diplomatic/pacifist run is good to see, as long as you don't get screwed on mandatory fights (looking at you Deus ex HR pre-director's cut)
Bro' why would you play a *shooter* and not shoot anybody ? I know you are probably talking about the fact that you can use non-lethal takedowns and stuff like that but come on ...
This game actually allows you to do a 100% pacifist run, and there's even an achievement for that("negotiator"). There are 0 mandatory fights in the game.
Lol I just got this game last week. My only issue with the story is that I feel like the size of the ship is kinda silly. Like on the one hand they talk about in the hab (big city) everyone basically sleeps in pods with a nutrient tab machine and a rec room outside to save space. But also hydroponics is the size of a real forest, and the factory is large enough to have multiple fortresses in it. Like how big is the ship?
I have been following this game since early access and I must say, the whole idea of a CRPG inside a generational Colony Ship is really appealing to me. In fact, forget the CRPG part, I'd even love a First/Third Person RPG variation of this (I'm saying Fallout 1/2 vs Fallout 3/4).
Regarding combat, is it possible to flee combat? Like if you are playing a non-combat build, and somehow end up triggering open conflict, can you run away to break combat? Or is it then locked into either just quick loading an old save, or painting the floor with blood?
Thank you for your review! This one looks really nice! ;) There´s only one crucial question for me: If skilling your character in a certain way is the key to success - how much variety do you have during one single playthrough? Like: If you put your points in stealth, you will obviously do a lot of stealthplay...but...is there still a chance to persuade or fight someone SOMETIMES (e.g. if you choose so out of roleplaying reasons) or do you have to stick to one particular playstyle, min-maxing 100% to be successful? (Similar question, same direction: Are there enough skill points for doing some mix-up, like 70% stealth / 30% persuasion, to have more ways to solve a problem or would this just destroy youre whole playthrough?)
For anyone wondering, it is actually possible to finish this game solo as a murder hobo like in AOD. And the game rewards you for murdering everyone you come across with a fitting ‘Psychopath’ title in your combat tab.
It is possible although some encounters really forced me to reload a shit ton of times while using only the PC and maxing on blade and evasion/armor/critical
Very thorough thank you. I wouldn't say choice doesn't really matter. It just doesn't really affect the playthrough, only the conclusion of the story. Oh, and Faction Rep does have a weight, in certain ending options. Provided you gave your elected faction a chance to accept a negociation at the very end. I wouldn't change anything in this game. I enjoyed it. Even if I often cursed it.
Great review. Completely agree about the setting being great, and the small downside at the end where things tend to play too same-ish. The combat requires thinking, but also understanding that you don't have to do it, and sometimes you should really go and level up your skills and gear. And use grenades.
Someday I'd be fascinated to see how you handle your save games when doing these 100% reviews. I imagine lots of them at different points just in case.
Ive just got a new laptop but haven't got round to getting any games yet. I saw a few bits of coverage for this before but this video has really peaked my interest. I'm guessing/hoping the absence of a separate mouse will not be a problem with the game? Would be good to have a game i can play when I'm traveling away for home.
Yeah, I had exactly the same feeling when I've done my first run after release from early access. Age of Decadence, even though Colony ship is overall the better game, had the biggest killer-feature - a truly non-linear storytelling with unique gated content like characters, locations etc. Yes, Colony Ship is more friendly, has better role-playing system which allows you create hybrid characters a lot easier, quests always can be done with multiple ways, setting is awesome, but it feels that faction branches aren't that much different. I dunno if it was decision from Iron Tower, because they wanted to focus on other aspects of the game, or it is just a fault, but it's disappoints a little. I hope that future update will partially fix that.
I prefer the term Starborn to Shipborn, I mean only in terms of sounding cooler, but I fully support this game. Have not played it yet though (I am diving deep into IWD2EE with high-level encounters, then BG3, then PF:WotR, oof).
Thanks for the 100% review Morty son. I've not tried this one out, somehow the lack of any voice acting seems a little disappointing for the price. I was actually also holding off this for Broken roads, which i'm so surprised got delayed like the day before release. Not sure if you've already got a copy but it was super last minute. Also The Thaumaturge is now delayed until 24' , which is good as the release next to Rogure Trader (RT) was way too clode for me to play both. So the full release of RT it is next for me. I can't imaging how it out does WOTR, that gamne is so epic in all aspects, but if anyone can do it Owlcat can ! ❤💀
This sounds really interesting! Have you checked out Wantless:Solace at world´s end? Seems interesting as well, would be interesting to hear your take on it... 🙂
This game looks incredible… It really gives me a Fallout 1 & 2 vibe. With all of the great games that came out this year, this one flew right under my radar and is a pleasant surprise. Thanks for reviewing it. I’m looking forward to checking this one out.
As someone who has less and less time to game, it's always fun to watch your videos. Kind of scratches that itch of playing the games themselves for me!
I don't know if I missed it in the video, but any thoughts on the level design in relation to combat? All looks quite cramped, which I guess makes some sense for the setting, but it seems like it'd limit the combat a lot
Trust me as a melee character I wish that was true some encounters provide cover but for my character to close the gap I need to cross large portion of the map , but that's not to say that you don't have options like smoke grenades or feats that give you doge moving undetected or just tanking the damage .
Did a Talk no jutsu build, truly Op. It's a fun game, but it looks like the game "starts" in the ending, I overcloked some implants, got new wepons, only to have walls of text, got a nice ending tho
Stupid question. Are there quest markers in this game? I got super frustrated with Age of Decadence’s lack of quest markers. I didn’t know where to go and what to do. It’s a very basic QoL feature that was sorely needed.
If you keep at it sooner or later you will get the hang of it , some enemies don't have Helmets for example that means you do extra damage to the head but then you might not have the hit chance to do so well that's why you lower their evasion by attacking their legs first but then you don't have the AP to do both I hear you say well then just use some stims or get that extra boost from implants .
"Don't expect Bioware levels of writing here" Are talking about old school bioware or "my face is tired" kind of bioware? It's no longer clear to me if this is a good or a bad thing.
We have an achievement for finishing the game by never going into combat. You would need to use stealth AND speech, and make certain narrative choices, but yes, it's possible.
Yes and no, you can't simply walk the game doing stuf and pretend everything is gonna be okay. But if you take your time in learning game systems and how to play al Iron Tower games are really enjoyable. Also I will NOT go with a Lone wolf in your first play througth.
It's not difficult at all if you do a persuasion based character and largely avoid combat; you will have to learn the game mechanics if you want to do combat, however. Also some of the endings require you to get into some pretty hard fights, so if you want to experience them as well, you'll have to know your way around things.
There's an easy mode, but some people say it's too easy jajaja So we are going to add custom difficulty settings. But the easy mode is definitely way more approachable, and there's a lot of ways to avoid combats (using skills or hard narrative choices). There are some optional fights, but most of them can be tackled at any point of the game.
Pacifist run sounds always great for me. Question is, what do the companions offer you in that case? I normally play more of a "talker run". Where I do the talking and companions are skilled for fighting, because my PC sucks at combat.
There has been a tonne of innovation. Have you seen most modern games? It's just that this is an indie game by a small team that was going for that particular vibe.
Played Encased, it was very good, especially all the short stories/interactions. I explored all the map, especially when i got the armored vehicle. In regards to Encased, if Age of Decadence is a hint, then Colony Ship will have a better story than Encased, because the factions have more interactions with each other. As i said, Encased strength was the random events that really sold the post apocalyptic/sci-fi setting.
One minor complaint I have is that when you go the non-fighting route (skill and dialogue checks only), your gear and talents become largely useless as they are almost all combat focused, so loot and even money means almost nothing. The game is still fun but there isn't much incentive to do everything as any rewards you get are meaningless. That said, just having the option to resolve all issues without fighting is fun and I did it on my first playthrough. Now going to do another one where I just kill everything and see how it differs.
Found the combat a little overwhelming at times, enemies will just target your lead character and that's it, game over. And it was hard to find companions. Not to say it's a bad game, but it can the difficulty can just spike sometimes
I just played this game until The Heart mission and I must say that so much I like the setting, combat etc. the game just feels very bare. The story is simply very uninteresting. The biggest problem is that the game character lacks the good motive to move forward. So far it has become clear that the strange machine in the armory is a life support system(?) and the player's only motive is to sell it. Because: he/she wants money...And because of this, the player has to do countless tasks, run around the ship and get to mixed with different factions and their war and so on. I don't know where the story is going, but after three days of playing I must say that exploring new areas is fun but I have to constantly ask myself "why am I doing this?" Factions, major and minor, have made it clear that I don't want to support any of them, but I have to because my character wants money or whatever he wants? Actually I don't know what he wants and why he is doing all these tasks? I understand why this machine is important for the factions, but for the player it doesn't seem to matter except how to turn it into money? Is this the whole story? I'm not saying that my character should be "The Chosen One", but it would be good to have some kind of connection to the story. Actual purpose. This is the problem. Nothing you do seems to matter from the player's point of view.
No. These guys made Age of Decadence. The Shadowrun games were made by Harebrained Schemes who have also made Battletech and the recent The Lamplighters League.
Just finished it. Game was okay but it just felt small overall. Small maps, small areas Dont get me wrong, theres a lot of content but the game just feels small.
