Despite this video being roughly %50 criticism, I want to stress (again) that this game is absolutely worth picking up - whether that’s now or a year down the line, that’s your call. I’m pinning this post and I’ll edit it as Rogue Trader’s post-release life cycle continues, keeping you all appraised on technical / bug fixes as well as my thoughts on the DLC. I likely won’t do another video on RT unless the DLC significantly changes my perception of the game. Happy Trading!
Yeah, like I wrote in Steam review, I would support with money much worse game just because it is first huge RPG in Warhammer 40k, and RT in far from bad even if you are not in love with the setting as me. I have little experince with isometric CRPG before, but this one is first one I had patience(and pleasure) to finish, so it says something. It's just... dont play Owlcat game first six month after "release". Altrough I apply same rule for most game developers since early 2010th anyway.
Speaking of bugs...Ulfar charging with a bunch of melee attack buffs and then he shoots his volt pistol...Is so stupid and annoying.its funny "my strikes are ruin!" Bro you just did 19 damage....but he can solo the 4 grotesques in the final drukarri spire fight after your party gets wiped
@@nofuxgivens2797 I don't how you got 19 damage, his bolt pistols can hurt like truck. Still agree, pretty anticlimactic as end of charge... and what with holding only certain weapons in left and right hands?...
@Alvaro89Rus it only does it when he's dual wielding with a pistol. When I got the plasma pistol it was actually better than the knife and chainsword(without melee buffs) but 1/3 the damage of the power axe
There are some really good 40K games, and some sucky ones. But this game did an amazing job with the setting and lore. If you enjoy the setting, probably should consider listening to some audiobooks from 40K, the Eisenhorn trilogy is epic.
@@XmarcX92 Great classic RTS but in 2024 it's really lacking some basic QoL features and really, lore wise it's not even a contest compared to Rogue Trader
Wanna know something crazy... I played nothing but Rogue Trader since the day it released up until mid August. I've racked up 2,368 hrs of gameplay... Lol. I've done basically everything in the game and can't wait for Void Shadows for a couple more playthroughs. I love Rogue Traders, they're my favorite part of the Imperium. It's the perfect way to make a 40k CRPG. It's been my top 40k game that's released yet, besides Battle Fleet Gothic Armada 2.... and the only reason I've taken a break is Space Marine 2 about to release and waiting for Void Shadows. I collect Black Legion/Night Lord's and Drukhari on the tabletop. But if Battle Fleet Gothic ever comes back, I'll be jumping that shut immediately.
Ulfar's arc is actually interesting. At face value, we can't see how the superior Space Marine, the Emperor's chosen, could share the thoughts/feelings and overall emotional complexity of the of mere mortals. But it really hit me into deep thoughts when he mentioned that the only fate of warriors like him is to inevitably die a violent death in battle. This is because he doesn't age like normal people and he is bound by the oath "Only In Death Does Duty End". So, how do you live everyday knowing exactly what your end would be like and it's a violent death!!!???
This is a huge point in the characterisation of the Raptors chapter, to the point where it actually had a rule impact in the Deathwatch TTRPG. In Deathwatch, Marines handled being exposed to corruption and insanity different from normal humans: They essentially had a sort of "fixed" way dependent on their geneseed and ingrained chapter traditions as to how they deterioated if overburdened. The Raptors' "curse" was basically this kind of PTSD, where they'd get more and more cynical and pessimistic and started seeing only how things could go wrong and get them killed, which increasingly caused them to have a negative impact on the Kill Team's cohesion. At the maximum they essentially started considering themselves a Dead Man Walking and would unconsciously look for ways to self-sacrifice.
This will be one of the last masterpiece 40k games before it is Disney-fied. Let us enjoy it brothers. We made fun of the star wars drones. But they will come for us one day.
There is a magical moment in your Rogue Trader run: The moment you take breather, near the end, to carefully read your character sheet, and your companions' character sheets. You get to see what they grew into, to reminisce about the decisions you made, the battles you fought, and the bonds that were formed between your Rogue Trader and their retinue. Even if it has some flaws, I consider Rogue Trader to be an excellent game.
This game certainly has its shortcomings but it really does capture the spirit of 40k perfectly. GW will almost certainly eliminate the most edgy contents of their IP before their coop with Amazon sees the light of day. Glad this game came out before that.
I don't have a ton of faith in the Amazon adaptation either, but for what it's worth, the Fallout show was (at least to me) more closely aligned to the earlier, more critical and satirical depictions of the universe than Bethesda's generic, mass-market friendly depictions. I think you're right, at least, that GW will insist on either a neutered depiction of 40k, or make it the Space Marine Show... which wouldn't be nearly as effective, engaging, or as grounded as starting with the Imperial Guard.
I agree, as a long fan of the setting (since 2nd ed really) I absolutely adore the melancholic, gloomy atmosphere of Rogue Trader. Overcomplicated and too granular mechanics are a pain, but otherwise this is exactly the cRPG WH40K game I have been dreaming of for decades.
I don't even think they should touch the guard, anything centered on them would have to be structured almost like a war movie or something like Band of Brothers, and you know they don't think modern audiences will have an appetite for something like that. Plus it would have to be really dark, because you know, it's the guard, regular humans don't tend to deal with the horrors of 40k as well as the power armoured supersoldiers.
@@GunmetalStug I just noticed that they even changed the introducing paragraphs at the start of the novels. I think they're trying to get rid of Big E.
With regards to Nocturne, I took Iconoclast understanding his speech being down to a tendency to consider outside perspectives and more flexible thinking. Also, I heard they had originally planned for Nocturne to be a companion, but got vetoed by GW. And the difference between Abelard and Jae show that Iconoclast isn't just 'nice.' Probably the most kind-hearted party member is Cassia, who is dogmatic but inexperienced. Jae is an Iconoclast not out of a problem with Imperial dogma *in principle* but rather... it doesn't benefit her. Think someone who supports social safety nets and college subsidies until she's got a mortgage and a couple rental properties and does a 180. Abelard is critical of the stagnation and rigidity of the Imperium, but still holds on to its elitism. etc.
Abelard is more of a stickler for rules rather than an elitist IMO. He tends to be very much meritocratic when he get away with it without breaking the rules. Nepotism and (small-c) corruption are things he abhorrs and essentially only tolerates when the rules of the system he's in demand it from him.
The only counterpoint I can offer to the Alignment issue is this: The force of mechanical benefits for being a good person and the relegating of Dogmatic to specific runs isn’t as strong as your tone seems to suggest. When Owlcat released data on what Alignments most players were doing, Dogmatic was far and away the leader over the other two. If anything, Heretic is the penalized, less developed playstyle. I don’t think Dogmatic players are being heavily penalized if they’re the majority.
Actually the preference to dogmatic is probably for the same reason Imperium armies are always more popular in 40k than Chaos armies. People like going over the top with the oppressive grimdark dictatorship colonialism, instead of the chaotic sorcerous rebellion of a heretic run. And I would assume very rarely people would do full iconoclast runs. I think Iconoclast is just for being opposite to the other two paths
@@myfaceismyshield5963 I felt dogmatic choices as most boring, petty and stupid. Often more then even heretical ones. I can't understand what pleasure people get in role playing that
@@myfaceismyshield5963 I did my run as full Iconoclast and got (according to the steam achievements) a super rare ending that very few players got, which I thought was very neat.
Truly the forces of the ruinous powers are at play here. The act of buying a Funko pop in itself is heresy. For what is it? Simply a piece of force-injected plastic sold at a steep markup to people who are tricked into granting it more than subjective value, an idol, and one of Humanity's worst traitors? One who seeks to supplant the divine form of Mankind? Your statement had no praise for the Emperor of Mankind, but an adoration for treason. Face the wall.
Rogue Trader in my opinion is the most complete representation of the 40k universe in a videogame. Most games focus on a single aspect rather than giving you the idea of how big is the galaxy.
To be fair, the harlequin is a solitaire, and those things can be stronger than custodians, like he is so scary, that if he joined you as a companion, all the elder shit just gets resolved. The dark elder companion, and the kill team after him the moment they are seeing the solitaire the kill team should dip, and say, please don’t kill us, it also means the other harlequins would not fight you at all, as you have a fucking solitaire on your side someone way stronger than them and also in contact with their god. It would be like a sister of battle fighting saint Celestine as she ignored imperial laws.
I got almost everything I wanted out of this game. Be a rebel against the imperium and establish your own secessionist freehold without falling to Chaos? Check. Be a psychic dodgetank badass with a force sword in one hand and a plasma pistol in the other while dressed like the ultimate naval pimp? Check. Eldar Ranger waifu? Check. Fight a congaline of the biggest and baddest threats in the galaxy, and win with tactics, guile, and audacity? Check. If the game had a little more music with some standout tracks and space combat with more than 1 ship and a friendly escort? Easy 10/10.
Picked this up about 2 weeks ago, not a warhammer fan and I’ve bounced off every crpg I’ve ever tried (and I really try to like them because the freedom of character choice is so appealing to me) but this one…I have 70hrs clocked in already and still having a blast which is definitely not normal for me I usually get burnt out at the 20hr mark for most games, definitely motivated me to give the genre another try after I’m done with this.
We need to mix bg3 and rogue trader. The Production value and gameplay freedom of bg3 and the writing of RT. Tho I don't like the "betrayal" act of RT. The writing kinda dropped for that part
I enjoyed this critique a lot. Definitely the best 40k game for me and one of the best RPGS ever made, despite it's numerous flaws. I always say "the atmosphere is so thick, you need to cut it with a chainsword". I hope future updates, DLC (Void Shadows is pretty good so far) or even a full blown sequel will fix some of the issues. Also I'd really like a difficulty option that just increases the amount of enemies. Killing everything in 1-2 turns just isn't fun in the long run.
The general description of how you see 40K and why the game resonated so much with you feel like they were plucked right out of my own noggin, and overall your criticisms are pretty fair. I will dissent though when it comes to the Convictions, which I think actually did a pretty good job and kind of needed to be big, bold, and broad exactly because you do have the option to pick and choose which responses you give in the moment. My first playthrough was in 40K terms a devoted and pious man who accepts the norms of the culture he was raised within and the power of his birthright. I ended up about 70% of the way into the Dogmatic rewards, but the idea I was "missing out" on the top-tier ones never really bothered me, they're useful bonuses but honestly by the beginning of Act 3 I could clear most fights in one or two rounds just by letting Argentia do her thang with some buffs(more than the music, the shuddering thuds of a bolter on AoE full auto accompanied by her mad cackles of joy are the game's OST as far as I'm concerned, hah) so I never felt I *needed* them or was missing out. I played my character as he was in my head and never really felt compelled to choose a certain option; it always felt more along the lines of "these choices are emblematic of This or That way of thinking" and how far towards that way of thinking your character was leaning, rather than "these are The three ways you can behave, pick one". What impressed me most about the game was how faithfully they represented the titular experience. All through those first chapters you *feel* like a Rogue Trader, like you're someone of note, like you have *real power*. So often RPGs *tell you* you're a hero but the actual experience of playing makes you feel like a janitor or rat catcher, but with RT Owlcat made me believe that my character was really in the driving seat rather than being led around by the nose to do other people's chores.
Putting Iconoclast into the category of chaotic good does sort of explain why I love that conviction so much. Sure, it can be seen as the goody-two shoes path by some people, but it's been my favorite aspect of this game. To be able to help others and see the impact you have by showing mercy, supplying aid, providing protection to those who need it, and defending them from those who would harm them, just puts a big smile on my face whenever I play through the game again. The sections of the game where you can look the imperial laws and inquisition in the face and say "fuck you, you are an idiot. I am going to help these people, and if you get in my way, you will regret it." Are just extremely cathartic to me.
Sadly, Owlcat games are released half baked, not unique in the modern gaming industry. Rogue trader will probably be a jewel of cRPG once all the dlc and patches are done, somewhere in 2026 😑
They could have made chapter 2 the entire adventure and I would have been happy it really lost steam after that when you have to go spend hours in space Hot topic
since... Dragon Age 2 I think I don't expect game to be ready on official release date, and so I am never disopointed. Well, unless game suck at its core ofc.
With how much detail and options there are this game was pretty good on release. I think my biggest gripes are the inventory system and the dangerous warp jump events that get annoying. Which ironically, those random events to trigger party combat are the only real farming you can do if you wanted.
Thanks for such a thoughtful review of this flawed gem - I couldn’t agree more! Rogue Trader has become my go-to WH40K game, and it’s by far the best Owlcat game I’ve played (and I’ve been with them since HoMM5). The writing, characters, and setting are all superb, and if they’d polished those last two chapters for another year, we’d be looking at a true masterpiece of the genre!
The alignment system really bugged me on the execution level. Trying to play Smart Heretical is impossible. I can't be... literally the person I'm replacing. I have to declare my allegiance to the Dark Powers in front of a Sister of Battle and an Inquisitor. Both of whom then just shrug and don't seem to care after maybe giving me a dirty look or cocking an eyebrow.
Idira is my favorite companion, if only beaten SLIGHTLY by Abelard. I can't take the Dogmatic stuff seriously, so I just ignore it for more reasonable Iconoclast decisions. It feels better, and it gives me situations of loyalty and respect that I probably would've never gotten if I thought everyone and their mother needed to lick my boots at every doorstop I stepped up to. I still need to get to third act because I just get lost in the map and exploration part of the game. I enjoyed the video.
You took the words out of my mouth, praise and criticism both. I want to do another playthrough, but I think I'll wait until Owlcat finishes patching and updating, hopefully mitigating some of these problems. And since I just did WOTR and they're still updating, so they'll probably be done in 6 years.
The alignment system's greatest flaw IMO is it just falls away like everything else by the later acts. Almost no actions despite them seeming like they should affect your alignment will grant alignment points, it's as though they wrote the thing but didn't have time to assign point values to decisions. Which can, if you've been towing the line between two alignments, lead to a situation where in the fourth act you're like "wait why haven't I reached level 3 on either of my alignments yet?" and realizing nothing you do is shifting it anymore.
Yeah feels like they were cooking something special but halfway to the end they just rushed things to deliver the game fast, i hope that in the new dlcs they will cover this "holes" from late game, man i had to use "toybox" a mod just to get the necessary iconoclast points or i wouldn't have enough to get to a inconoclast "ending", well, that said, Yrliet deserved better :(
4:40 man you are speaking my language. My first experience with 40k was a University open day at 14-yrs, learning about TTrpgs and seeing my first landscaped battlefields. Space Marines seemed pretty cool but impenetrable (I was soon to hear about an amazing board game called Space Hulk). Later, I learned about the genesis of it all Rogue Trader. **This** is adventure I said to myself. You've got this full-on, weird, anarchic universe with kind of unpleasant 'heroes' fighting for a dead tyrant but wait-there's these interesting kooks on the fringes: privateers fighting Chaos, learning languages, arranging compromises that allow the greater galaxy to survive another day/month/year. It promoted memories of Ulysses 31 and that breathless excitement of exploration. For me the tier system goes: **Rogue Traders** -not good guys, but potentially (Harrison would roll his eyes or fall asleep but that makes him the guy for the job damn it) ; **Inquisitors** -the Supernatural investigators, noir-style muckrakers living in the perpetual Grey of the Imperium, peeling away the layers and uncovering the stacked rot and conspiracies; **Imperial Guard** -the front line: those Grand holy monks, paladins, super heroes; they won't save you now, they never could. Without you, the massed bulwark of humanity standing true against the Dark, they'd blow away like ashes in the wind.
Overall Rogue Trader is a really great game, would recommend for fans and non fans alike. But it does go a bit downhill at the end. Some of the character quests end well, which is the highlight of act 4. Others not so much, I was bit confused about why Heinrix's questline didn't seems to give any choice of a satisfying ending, makes more sense knowing you need to romance him. Agenta's quest just ending off screen is also quite dissapointing. My biggest issue was that I had broken the game by the start of act 4. The levelling up had been very satisfying up to that point. A unique and interesting system that I enjoyed sinking my teeth into. But then it happened, everything started dying before any enemy even had a single turn. I mean, I loved my builds and appreciated being rewarded for thoughtful choices, but the combat becoming completely trivial did take away from the experience. I'm not sure I was wrong to even play this way, because enemies can be extremely deadly and if I had let that greater daemon have a turn would they have wiped half my team? Best part of the game is the world building. Owlcat did an amazing job with the 40k universe and Rogue Trader TTRPG source material. I did also really enjoy the afore mentioned combat prior to breaking it. The early and mid game encounters are challenging and fun and it's a cool system (sometimes really freaking hard too).
I absolutely adore this game and youve articulated so well why it's so good and also why it's so flawed. I think possibly the alignment system should have been cut because they obviously didn't have the resources to make it as complex as it needs to be for it to be satisfying. It's very mass effect but with 3 options instead of 2. However I'm not a game developer and it is obvious the budget for this was more limited than WOTR. I still love this game, I'm really hoping they do something with dark heresy at some point.
I love this game. I own some other Owlcat games but I haven't played them. The Rogue Trader tabletop RPGs and Battlefleet Gothic are my favorite of the tabletop games and the basis for my favorite PC games. And it so nice to have a modern scifi PC RPG where your character commands a fighting ship and you actually get to play the ship combat. Plus I've always adored Frigates in their various forms (With very few exceptions in almost any setting or story with Frigates my favorite ship class will be one) so I was very happy when I found out our main ship in the game would be a Frigate instead of the Cruiser I was expecting. I made a Forge World Crime Lord loyalist Iconoclast (Most of my conviction points were Iconoclast with the rest Dogmatic) and I think the ending I got was absurd in a bad way unfortunately. Basically because my Rogue Trader had a reputation for treating his subjects fairly the Imperium declared war on him. Which ended up leading to a small civil war because many of the navy ships assigned to attack him defected because they knew the orders were BS. There is no freaking way that treating his subjects fairly would violate his legal rights as a Rogue Trader. I romanced Cassia and she's one of my favorite video game love interests in the last decade. I played as an Officer for weapons I usually carried an Autopistol and Melee Weapon as one set and a Shotgun in the other though I wish there were a wider variety of Autopistols, Autoguns, and Shotguns. I also occasionally used a Laspistol instead of an Autopistol, and a Drakhuri Splinter Pistol for a while in Act III. (I like melee weapons that can inflict damage over time effects so I ha d taken Drakhuri Weapon Proficiency after finding a Venom Blade I liked in Act II. That Proficiency was very useful in the early parts of Act III. Edit: The Imperium declaring war on you in the Iconoclast Ending isn't based on you killing a traitorous Inquisitor. Hell they probably give you a medal for that. Its because of your efforts to crate fairness within your holdings after the game's events. A normal person would get in trouble for that in the Imperium. But a Rogue Trader is by definition not bound by those rules.
I interpreted the imperiums declaration of war as a precautions against a possible rival in the expanse. With the iconoclast ending you are the strongest faction in the koronus expance and by treating your subjects well you even have very high loyalty. You basically become a small self-sufficient and better version of the imperium . And the imperium doesn't like it if an alternative to its draconian rule is thriving.
@@lucagerulat307 Except you're a branch of the Imperium not a non-Imperium power. And all evidence I remember from the lore indicates it should take something much more extreme then treating your subjects fairly to draw the Imperium's ire, or hell even make the Imperium notice. This is a system where entire worlds can be forgotten due to misfiled paperwork after all. And again you are a Rogue Trader there is no way treating your subjects fairly is beyond your rights. Nothing short of my Rogue Trader openly professing loyalty to Chaos or declaring war on the Imperium Neither of which my Rogue Trader would due unless the Imperium declares war on him first.
Literally just beat it today. I did my play through on a perfect combination (on accident) of dogmatic and iconoclast. I didnt even realize that there were buffs for choosing one lol. I wanted to play a fully dogmatic play through really bad. But i cant bring myself to making what seems like "mean" or "evil" choices. I almost was perfectly split at the end. The only thing that drove me up the damn wall in this game was the load screens, towards the end i wanted to knock out the rumours that i hadnt explored but after going through like 20 loadscreens i gave up and just finished the game. Even on my rig that im playing on, those loadscreens could take like 20-30 seconds. Which doesnt sound bad until you have to do it over and over. The love interests endings broke my heart, not being able to secure an heir for later kinda blows. Especially if theres a Rogue Trader II one day. And that i wish there was a way to get a better supply of Navigator points for making safe routes. The loadscreens were already unbearable but then to have to add in extra loadscreens because i didnt have a secure path and fight off demons or servitors in a rando fight (which eventually became boring and not even a threat.) became mind numbing to me. I definitely loved some of the fights in the game (the doomscream fight was annoying as hell) There were genuine moments of "Oh shit" when a new opponent would come out. All in all the game has a solid 9/10. Its still fantastic and i loved the lore and most of the story. Thank you for your awesome video i definetely enjoyed it and plan on checking out those other RPGs you mentioned in the video!
Love the video (and the game); my 40k is your 40k too. It’s worth noting that one reason this game may feel a bit more like our 40k is that it’s based on a really good TTRPG from 2009, before the recent gradual change in direction. That’s one reason it feels more old school.
I wouldn't even call Warhammer 40k's Imperium of Man a satire of Thatcherite Britain but more so a tragedy, but one filled with the faintest glimmer of hope and the indomitability of the human spirit. That's basically why the grimdark setting works so well because these moments of hope against all odds, even at its most fleeting, shine the absolute brightest. Also extra kudos for mentioning the GOAT, Ciaphas Cain.
I love already in this critique that you avoid giving a flat number or a "you should/should not but this." I appreciate the format of just explaining the good points and what you need to be drawn into the media.
a young me always wanted to be a space pirate, sailing the stars and look for alien booty... and this game speaks to that part of me, of course there the part where you might die a horrible death and name forgotten but emperor damm if I am going to die anyway I am going to make it epic.
This game was responsible for getting me into 40k. I was aware of it and a tiny bit familiar with its lore, but on the whole I ignored it. But I love Owlcat games, so I preordered this right away. Fell in love with the setting. Decided I would buy minis to paint and the books and down the rabbit hole I went. lol. A lot of people hate Act 3, but I loved it (the drukhari are now my main faction as far as an army goes). Love this game to bits. BUT yes, I noticed right away that acts 4 and 5 are REALLY weak. They released too soon and should have given the game 6 months to a year more time to cook. I really do hope they fix some of these problems in dlcs and patches.
The way you expressed "your" 40k is such a light for what i was trying to understand about my own opinion. I was introduced to 40k by the If the Emperor had a Text to Speech Device series and i can put the finger on why it's what i always return to when i try to consume content for this universe. Thanks for the video !
I love this game. It is an incredible ambassador for the 40K IP. GW should 100% fund a sequel, if it's not already in the works. And like the video, as much as I love it, it has some flaws that cannot be overlooked. Inventory. Just way too much trash loot and inconsistent itemization. Gear is literally just all over the place and 99% of it is cargo fodder/trash loot. What upgrades there are often insanely situational to the point a casual player will just be left scratching their head as to whether or not the non-trash loot drop they just got is good or trash loot in disguise. Leveling. I normally love leveling in CRPGs. It's a huge draw for me, before story and dialogue were a thing, we had character improvement/customization. Here...holy fuck it's tedious. I hate to say it, but there are just too many choices and each class (or whatever the fuck they call it here) has too many specific mechanics to keep track of. Heretic. This is my biggest complaint. I am not one to play 'evil' in CRPGs but for the handful of greatest ever to me games, I do replay them and usually trying to make different choices. So I went from my Dogmatic main play through and started a Heretic play through. It's tough to do, the writing and overall direction of this alignment is just terrible. It's comically bad cartoonish evil vs the more insidious corruption/seduction/betrayal of Chaos that exists in the setting.
i really hope there is a spiritual successor from them and they iron a lot of these things out. almost everyone has similar complaints and if they manage to finesse the weakest aspects into something more rewarding for the player that actually enriches the experience then mannnnnnnn it'd be too good. i've only done an iconoclast run so far and was going to do a heretic run and do the DLC and it's sad to see how many complaints ive seen about the heretic run.
I just wish the game had more xeno companions than just Marazhai and Yrliet The FFG Rogue Trader TTRPG had playable Ork Freebooterz, Kroot mercs and Tau Fire Warriors for playable classes as part of a Rogue Trader's retinue. Owlcat could've used more FFG supplaments to adapt.
It’s interesting, because I agree with most of your criticisms but I still would rank this as my 4th favorite CRPG. #1 being Fallout 1, #2 being IWD2, #3 being PoE 2: Deadfire (probably a controversial choice). I want to say Fallout 2 would be #4 but its proto-Borderlands humor overload annoys me more than Rogue Trader’s somewhat weak endings. Either way, between this and Deadfire being in my top 4, I must have a soft spot for ambitious but somewhat flawed CRPGs that get undercut by troubled development timelines. There are CRPGs that are more polished and perfectly executed that I rank lower, for some reason. As an aside, I have to admit something: I really enjoy Act 3 in Rogue Trader. Exploring the Drukhari civilization, especially as someone newish to Warhammer, was insanely interesting to me. I also don’t mind the idea of bringing your Rogue Trader low right after they finally get a taste of supreme power. You could argue it has the “RDR2 Guarma effect” on pacing. I don’t think it’s nearly as obnoxious as that was, though. That being said, the following acts are noticeably weaker.
Hmm, I think the best way to mostly shuffle things around would be to cut out Yrliet getting you captured. Have it be a frame job. Have a couple of quests in Act 4 with you interfering in the war between Winterscale and Chorda where you discover that Calcazar was the one who had you captured and started the war specifically to make sure all three dynasties would be too busy to interfere with him. Bam, minor dialogue changes (Yrliet has enough of an arc without the betrayal I don't think it needs replacing) and 1-3 quests and you have a perfect reason to go chasing off of Calcazar immediately because now it's not just generic shady inquisitor shit it's very personal.
I personally loved the game a lot when it released and played through it as Iconoclast. The Dogmatic and Heretic choices, while interesting, just seemed rather tacked on, and based on some comments seems most were dictated by GW to be as they are, and that companions were influenced by them as well. Also based on the beta versions of the game, Abelard was Dogmatic, while Argenta was Iconoclast, but for the full release their alignments were flipped, and some of their dialogue choices just seem weird at first glance. I have hope that Owlcat will do some fixes to the story, but if GW is kept on, I doubt any major changes will occur to the main story. I was severely disappointed especially in act 5 where we finally meet Necrons and it's 3 minor battles along with the ending, leaving me with a "that's it?" feeling. Especially after they're hyped up to be this super threat, only to fall to some windows 95 virus. I hope some more stuff will be added to chapters 4 and 5 to more flesh out the setting. I personally didn't have a problem with chapter 3 as a whole, I liked the setting and how we ended up there, but the aftermath of the whole debacle in chapter 4 was lacking.
All critisisms were valid, good job, i enjoyed the video to its entirety. 1 point i keep stressing out about owlcat , is how offensively undercooked are their games when they come out. The game was in a pathetic just-barely-able-to-run state once it came out during x-mass , Whatever sales CEO demanded it's release in order to get it in time for the winter sales spree, nearly killed it for, it took a bit of convincing from a couple of friends to make me keep playing it. During the next months Owlcat must have grinded non stop its employees to a thin paste so that they make this game to look and feel actually good. And that's my main beef with owlcat from now on : they took full comission for a half baked product, i dont care if it turned out to be more than fine (or even top 5 WH pc games imo) , corporate greed almost drove me away from being able to enjoy the game to its fullest potential , so that i can enjoy reviews like this one
I've seen a couple reactions like yours, and I believe them 100%, but it's wild since my game (from launch!) was pretty much bug-free until Commorragh. As I mentioned in the video however, I'm way more tolerant of bugs than most people, especially moreso when the game clearly has a vision and passion behind it. If a boring, paint-by-numbers AAA open-world action-adventure game came out with as many bugs, I would be FAR less generous.
I feel like 40K would be an amazing setting for an ARPG with a deep story a la Path of Exile. ARPG combat with weightey attacks and brutal attacks, each faction of the Imperium getting different stories similar to an MMO, but on a smaller scale. If done right, it could even make Space Marines feel small in the face of the Chaos Gods due to the camera angle. And I think it would be cool if you unlocked different class stories as you did other ones. Want to unlock Adeptus Mechanicus? Play Inquisitor or Psyker. Want to be on the path of unlock Astartes or Adeptus Sororitas? Play a Zealot or a foot soldier.
Gave a thumbs up as soon as I heard the use of the word "denouement". I'm kidding...sort of. Good video overall though. Thanks! P.S.: Ooooo, I just heard the use of the word "specious". Very swank! I'm seriously impressed and not being sarcastic. Well, maybe a little facetious but not in some anti-intellectual way I swear! Anyways, still good video. Keep it up!
i started 40k in 2nd edition , dont even play or do the hobby anymore. but i love the setting , i fell in love with the whole eldar storyline and ofc the starter box back in the day was pretty cool. - but my 1st gw game was hero quest , one of the best board games ever created.
The Conviction path is absolutely one of the if not the weakest part of the game, I 100% agree. I wanted to make a RT Iconoclast trader that fell to chaos trying to uphold his best intentions. But by not devoting myself to one side or another I couldn’t access some of the highest gear and weapons available. Especially for Heretic. The only way around this is with the Toybox mod, and even that doesn’t 100% work because you’re not allowed to have your sub convictions above level 2 once you get to level 3 in any one of the branches. Also does anyone know the game on 45:36
Glad you enjoyed the video! The game at 45:36 is "Colony Ship - A Post-Earth Role Playing Game". It's even lower on the "CRPG production value" totem pole than Rogue Trader, but it's a very good and well-written game.
The bit of it I played was excellent story wise but I'm trash at RPGs like this and the fights varying randomly between completely trivial to too difficult for my smooth ass brain to succeed at in less than 10 tries all in the same hallway kinda drove me away before I got super far.
The game is in two states - if your party composition, builds and itemizations are good - every fight is trivial even on Unfair difficulty, as long as you don't make multiple tactical mistakes. If the aboves are bad - it's very hard even on normal difficulty. I don't mind making a long comment writing down several builds if it will help you.
This game is great. My only wishes is that it had less bugs and some kind of active pause, as some fights are too long even with all systems devs put in place to fasten them. Also I think game has WAY too many perks to chose from, like it's just nuts how many there are, especialy in the context of how many characters you need to level up. Other than that it's literaly the game of the year, no joke.
100% agree. Getting abducted and disrupting the pace really hurt the game. It will forever be 'that part' of the game that makes me consider if I'm prepared to play the game again. Comes too suddenly, lingers just a little too long, and feels like it doesn't serve the overall plot.
Im playing Rogue Trader for the first time right now. I got into the lore 4 months ago. I like the game. My only disappointments are that min maxing builds feel necessary. And more importantly its incredible combat heavy from the jump. When i think of a rogue trader (im new) I think of a person who manipulates, leverages, constructs their way in and out of conflict. I didnt expect to have to literally kill everything right away. i think it needs more of an social imersive sim game play options. But I do love the game.
Good summary video. Owlcat has a large library of reference material to work from. Hopefully this is a work in progress. Rogue trader Haarlock sends his regards, be seeing you.
My only gripe with the game is it is not FULLY VOICED. This is a pet peeve and a deal breaker for me when it comes to isometric turn based game. Larians Divinity Original Sin was fully voiced. Pillars of Eternity was fully voiced
I really hope they go back and voice the rest of the game, despite how herculean of task that would end up being. It really is such a momentum killer that the entire prologue is fully voiced, and then the very first thing that happens in act 1 is a giant meeting with all your ship's organizational chiefs and it had zero voice acting in it.
@@burnin8ablethey’re saying the dealbreaker of no voice acting/not fully voiced will cause someone to miss out on a lot of great games. idk what games they’re talking about, but that’s what they’re saying.
Yeah, I was expecting the midpoint slowdown after putting 300 hours into WoTR but the fact that I hadn't committed to an alignment started locking me out of dialogue options. Killed a lot of the interest I had in finishing my playthrough.
Well said. I especially agree on the subject of weird plotting of later acts and the character arcs locked behind romance. It is a huge pet peeve of mine ever since Mass Effect
I really should stop making replies before I finish the video lol. I just got to the part of "How does being a good person give you the ability to unravel an insane alien clown prophecy?" and this just happened to be one of my favourite Iconoclast moments. See, Nocturne of Oblivion's lines aren't even that hard to decipher, even without the dialogue option translating from Shakespeare to plain English I could have prized out the meaning of these words - but the Imperial dogma staunchly disincentivizes this sort of engagement with xenos, actually listening to them and trying to understand. This fits well with why this conviction was named Iconoclast. Choosing critical thinking and engaging with this character in- well, maybe less good faith and more just not the rehearsed "kill the xenos" option fits. But that's just my interpretation, and I recognize what stumped you in this assignation. On another note, what 40k media would you recommend? Rogue Trader was my introduction to the setting (barring convention and me trying to convince a cosplayer that I'm a mutant), and I find myself curious as I listen to you talk about how damn harrowing trying to be a good person in the setting is and how much shit everyone goes through. I'd love to see more of your 40k.
You make a good point, but I think that if that were truly the case (critical thinking as a facet of Iconoclasm), you'd see this interpretation of the conviction more often than just interacting with Nocturne. Iconoclasm can so often be boiled down to "being a good person" in simple words and actions that it doesn't really 'earn' more thoughtful and complex interpretations if that makes sense. As for more 40k stuff, the "Holy Trinity" I always recommend are mentioned in this video - The Gaunt's Ghosts books, the Eisenhorn Trilogy, and the Ciaphas Cain novels. I'd also recommend the 1999 Space Wolf novels, even if they're not super 'current'. If you want more Space Marines stuff, my favorites are the Night Lords Omnibus, the Blood Angels Omnibus, Know no Fear, and Helsreach. It's uncommon and far more recent than a lot of these, but I also really enjoyed the Grey Knights Omnibus, since it did a fantastic job at humanizing that faction. I don't have a lot of xenos stuff to recommend unfortunately, but the book The Infinite and The Divine will be a great read after playing through Rogue Trader. Hope this helps!
This review makes me optimistic for the game, I will probably get it after the first DLC. I have hundreds of hours in Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous and became very familiar with Owlcat's ramping up of game quality post-release. If their early 40k game is already this solid it's definitely going to reach excellence once they get to cook it.
It's criminal how the quality takes an absolute nose dive right after the end of Act II, when you're super hyped up by the amazing stuff you've seen so far only to get left hanging in thin air. Typical Owlcat "let's release this mess two years before we're actually ready"-mess.
Yeah I think 'nosedive' is a little bit too much. It goes from being a 'masterpiece' to simply 'a good CRPG', which *is* quite a drop... but it never stops being a good game IMO.
Hell no, Act 3 is definitely one of my favorites. The Drukhari are way under represented, and we finally got to experience Commorragh. I enjoyed it a ton. After my second playthrough, I stopped exploring everywhere during Act 2, I did all my side quests an all but you don't have to explore everything, it makes Act 4 better IMO.
@@The_Night_Haunter-VIII Act 3 shouldn't be act 3 but rather 4 or even 5. The whole Drukhari storyline leading up to Commoragh is absolutely underdeveloped, no set up for what's-his-face to sell me out, no set up for those other chicks who are Maranzhai's boss/rivals, no set up for best girl getting all backstabby. I'ts just "Here's a bunch of people you never heard of who have a total hate-boner for you but still let you strutt around in their city for some reason." Oh and don't get me started with that winged assassin who pops out of nothing and vanishes into obscurity again. All in all it is a great transition to garbage...
@@mnk9073 true words, and indeed my best girl Yrliet deserved so much better, her story was so interesting in the start, how we worked together to overcome our differences and strike a true friendship, maybe something more in the future but they just rushed everything and threw a bunch of random shit from the middle to endgame, made me feel like my choices didn't matter so much like in the early acts, something like, no matter what you choose it all leads to basically the same, other very interesting characters like Argenta, idira, marazhai were very poorly explored, once introduced they were soon left out of the story, calligos and incendia too, you can reedem them but thats the end, 0 development, they just stay still in the deck wanting to kill some heretics, i hope in the future this game will recieve more content and polishing, in fact today we got the first dlc and i already bought it hahaha, sorry for the long text (ps:i killed the wing guy and he dropped a very very good weapon)
I wish there were more impacts of your decisions, not just during the end slides. Take the reactor with you, but it never gets used. Rescue Winterscales from prison and take him to Footfall, not even a mention. Scavenger hunt around Footfall, get an archeologist, who just disappears. The list goes on. And, at least during the playthrough with a friend before some of the big fixes and rebalancings, there were not enough alingment points to max out a conviction. And all the achievments taken offline by mechanics and systems deemed "problematic". But yes, this is the setting I first fell in love with when reading Eisenhorn. The feeling, the scope, it just needed longer in the oven, about 1 1/2 years longer and a good portion of beta testing. I don't even know how many bug reports I have written up to this point.
I would've made dogmatic (the Imperium's strict, brutal but effective code), empathic (doing the right thing which inevitably makes things worse) and heretic (cheating, whether for self-interest or for good, potentially luring you to chaos itself).
