Finished EDF 4.1
Now playing Outward.
I'm fairly early on in the game, but have about ten hours in it so far. I've done a fair bit, but have really only just started.
I'm liking it, but it lacks some quality of life stuff that open world RPGs tend to have these days. That's part of the game though.
It's sort of Morrowind meets Soulsborne. It has Souls style combat.
There's also no saving. No save scumming. When you quit the game you start exactly where you left off when you boot it up again. So if you screw up you have to live with it or restart. I haven't had to restart yet. Despite how that sounds, the game is pretty forgiving. Dying doesn't penalize you much. Haven't seen any complaints about getting stuck anywhere either, as you'll eventually starve or dehydrate and end up back at a safe point even if you do get stuck. You can't jump, which helps with that as well I think.
It also has two player co-op, and splitscreen play.
It's a hardcore survival RPG with only one difficulty. You have to eat and drink, manage temperature similar to Breath of the Wild, repair your gear [which doesn't use resources, but must be done when resting], and you can only join one of three factions per playthrough. There are lots of debuffs to manage and stamina is also something you need to manage in a fight.
It's also a good idea to specialize. There are a good variety of weapon types and skills, but skills and abilities are expensive. I've yet to be drowning in money.
The three factions thing is actually a pro for the game, as each one has a unique questline as I understand it. You can't 100% the game in a single playthrough. You might go to some of the same locations, but are doing different things depending on which faction you choose and what kind of build you want to play.
You will want to visit each faction hub in any playthrough though, as they all have unique skills and items. You can still use the shops and trainers, but can't do faction quests or buy homes in a city controlled by a faction you aren't a part of.
I'm currently doing the starting town faction, but there's an order of Paladins, and a "free city" faction as well that you can join.
There's no leveling up, gear and training is how you make yourself more powerful which can be bought from certain NPCs. You can't just dump money to continually improve your stats, once you learn something from a trainer you can't learn it again. This means avoiding fights can be more beneficial than attacking everything you come across. You also don't want to pick up every item you come across, but will want to be gathering stuff to help you survive and sell.
Crafting, alchemy, and cooking are essential for survival. Not necessarily all three, but it's a good idea. Food decays, so you can't hoard it. There are potions and such as well, and they won't decay. Life Potions are fairly easy to make and are instant heal, but not so much that you'll end up with a huge amount unless you do a ton of grinding.
Debuffs are also not usually something you can instantly cure. Even after you take something that will cure it, it takes time for a status effect to go away. Healing items reduce the duration. There are a few items that can instantly cure something, but they are fairly rare so far. Even most healing items heal over time and not instantly.
Money also has weight, making your home base stash extra important. It can quickly limit your carry ability.
Magic is super useful in the game. Having the right spells can really cut down on the amount of junk you have to carry around. It's also something you have to work for. Basic spells are rather weak, but more powerful spells usually require linking spells together. Certain spells grant a special status that you can use to cast more powerful spells. You can't just buy magic and cast it right away, you have to unlock spells and get prerequisite skills in some cases.
Going and getting magic was the first thing I did. I actually got lucky and stumbled across the place I needed to go. It's kind of hard to miss where it is, but the entrance is easily missed. There's a big mountain in the middle of the first area's map, but the entrance isn't at the peak.
Pure mage is a legitimate playstyle in this game, but you can't start as a mage. You can also go pure melee, ranged, stealth, or mix and match a bit and do spellsword. It's pretty open, but getting there takes a bit as you have to travel around to gain skills and abilities.
The game does not pause for inventory management. It can be paused though, but you have to select pause from the main menu and can't do anything while the game is paused. You have quick slots though, but only eight. They can be used for weapons, spells, or skills. [There's a mod that adds more, but I found it unnecessary.]
It's also dark at night and in caves. It's hard to see in some places and it takes a bit before you get better light sources. Light also makes you easier for enemies to spot.
Mana regen is also a bit odd. Sleeping actually reduces your ability to regenerate mana. However, using a few spells restores your ability to regenerate mana. So you can sleep, and then cast a few weak spells to get your mana regen back to normal.
Inventory management is a big part of the game, and it needs mods.
The most important mods are one that adds player location to the map, and one that links your stash chests. I also recommend one that improves your carry capacity a little. Even the biggest backpack in the game isn't quite big enough. I have it mostly to mitigate the money weight issue so I can carry around a couple thousand without being weighted down.
A neat mechanic is that you can drop your backpack to fight and improve your movement. You actually have two carry inventories, one in your backpack, and another smaller inventory called "pockets" that you keep on you. Bigger backpacks reduce your ability to dodge.
You also don't lose items when you "die". "Death" is a bit odd, as you always "survive" when you get beat. You'll wake up either as a prisoner, in a town, or at the entrance to a dungeon or area with your stuff nearby. You do need to retrieve your gear, but it will usually be nearby. Expect to die a lot. Usually the first few times you fail you'll just end up nearby to where you were and need to heal up or rest. If you keep failing, it will eventually dump you back in the town in the area you're in with all your stuff, including anything you obtained before you got your ass handed to you.
In fact, this can be used to your advantage at times. Dying until you end up kicked back into town can be used as a "fast travel" of sorts seeing as the game drops your stuff nearby to where you end up. You do need to remember to pick up your stuff and heal up or rest though. You can also use it to get to a town right away when you enter a new area. Bandits have a chance of taking you to a bandit camp as a prisoner, so it's best to use creature mobs to do that with.
Enemy respawns are also pretty forgiving. Most of the time, if you head right back, enemies you've killed will still be dead. They will even still be damaged if you hurt them and head back immediately usually. This is true even if you end up back in town and make your way back into a dungeon. New enemies will spawn in after a bit though. Items also seem to remain where they are dropped for an extremely long time, possibly permanently.
I would have liked a Morrowind style fast travel system, but traveling around and surviving the trip from one place to another is part of the game. You can get gear that helps with this a lot by increasing your movement speed by a lot, making getting around and avoiding mobs easier. I have heard rumors that the devs are considering adding a caravan system that works similar to how Kingdom Come did it. Travel between cities you've visited and have a chance of getting attacked along the way. It isn't in the game now though, and may never happen.
There's a lot of open space without much in it in the game, but it is nice to look at usually. Not super impressive graphically, but the art direction is good. There are also only a few buildings you can enter in most towns. Dungeons are fairly large though. Lots of hidden stuff and it doesn't hold your hand and explain where to go and what to do, much like Morrowind.
There's also a Legacy system that I think is basically NG+. Not sure how that works exactly though.
Don't sell anything that says "strange" in the item description. They are junk on their own, but can be upgraded to very powerful items later on. If you find something like that, store it in your stash.
If you're into difficult survival RPGs check this out when it's on sale. I don't know that it's worth full price yet, but still recommend it if you're a fan of this style of game. Especially if the co-op element sounds appealing.
The biggest drawback is the lack of fast travel and a lot of empty space, but enemies that are there are tough enough and you're squishy enough even later in the game that the few there are provide enough challenge that not having a ton of stuff constantly dogging you is a good thing. There are creatures and places even in the starting area it's best to just avoid until later in the game. Even trash mobs can take you out with good gear if you're not careful.
Now playing Outward.
I'm fairly early on in the game, but have about ten hours in it so far. I've done a fair bit, but have really only just started.
I'm liking it, but it lacks some quality of life stuff that open world RPGs tend to have these days. That's part of the game though.
It's sort of Morrowind meets Soulsborne. It has Souls style combat.
There's also no saving. No save scumming. When you quit the game you start exactly where you left off when you boot it up again. So if you screw up you have to live with it or restart. I haven't had to restart yet. Despite how that sounds, the game is pretty forgiving. Dying doesn't penalize you much. Haven't seen any complaints about getting stuck anywhere either, as you'll eventually starve or dehydrate and end up back at a safe point even if you do get stuck. You can't jump, which helps with that as well I think.
It also has two player co-op, and splitscreen play.
It's a hardcore survival RPG with only one difficulty. You have to eat and drink, manage temperature similar to Breath of the Wild, repair your gear [which doesn't use resources, but must be done when resting], and you can only join one of three factions per playthrough. There are lots of debuffs to manage and stamina is also something you need to manage in a fight.
It's also a good idea to specialize. There are a good variety of weapon types and skills, but skills and abilities are expensive. I've yet to be drowning in money.
The three factions thing is actually a pro for the game, as each one has a unique questline as I understand it. You can't 100% the game in a single playthrough. You might go to some of the same locations, but are doing different things depending on which faction you choose and what kind of build you want to play.
You will want to visit each faction hub in any playthrough though, as they all have unique skills and items. You can still use the shops and trainers, but can't do faction quests or buy homes in a city controlled by a faction you aren't a part of.
I'm currently doing the starting town faction, but there's an order of Paladins, and a "free city" faction as well that you can join.
There's no leveling up, gear and training is how you make yourself more powerful which can be bought from certain NPCs. You can't just dump money to continually improve your stats, once you learn something from a trainer you can't learn it again. This means avoiding fights can be more beneficial than attacking everything you come across. You also don't want to pick up every item you come across, but will want to be gathering stuff to help you survive and sell.
Crafting, alchemy, and cooking are essential for survival. Not necessarily all three, but it's a good idea. Food decays, so you can't hoard it. There are potions and such as well, and they won't decay. Life Potions are fairly easy to make and are instant heal, but not so much that you'll end up with a huge amount unless you do a ton of grinding.
Debuffs are also not usually something you can instantly cure. Even after you take something that will cure it, it takes time for a status effect to go away. Healing items reduce the duration. There are a few items that can instantly cure something, but they are fairly rare so far. Even most healing items heal over time and not instantly.
Money also has weight, making your home base stash extra important. It can quickly limit your carry ability.
Magic is super useful in the game. Having the right spells can really cut down on the amount of junk you have to carry around. It's also something you have to work for. Basic spells are rather weak, but more powerful spells usually require linking spells together. Certain spells grant a special status that you can use to cast more powerful spells. You can't just buy magic and cast it right away, you have to unlock spells and get prerequisite skills in some cases.
Going and getting magic was the first thing I did. I actually got lucky and stumbled across the place I needed to go. It's kind of hard to miss where it is, but the entrance is easily missed. There's a big mountain in the middle of the first area's map, but the entrance isn't at the peak.
Pure mage is a legitimate playstyle in this game, but you can't start as a mage. You can also go pure melee, ranged, stealth, or mix and match a bit and do spellsword. It's pretty open, but getting there takes a bit as you have to travel around to gain skills and abilities.
The game does not pause for inventory management. It can be paused though, but you have to select pause from the main menu and can't do anything while the game is paused. You have quick slots though, but only eight. They can be used for weapons, spells, or skills. [There's a mod that adds more, but I found it unnecessary.]
It's also dark at night and in caves. It's hard to see in some places and it takes a bit before you get better light sources. Light also makes you easier for enemies to spot.
Mana regen is also a bit odd. Sleeping actually reduces your ability to regenerate mana. However, using a few spells restores your ability to regenerate mana. So you can sleep, and then cast a few weak spells to get your mana regen back to normal.
Inventory management is a big part of the game, and it needs mods.
The most important mods are one that adds player location to the map, and one that links your stash chests. I also recommend one that improves your carry capacity a little. Even the biggest backpack in the game isn't quite big enough. I have it mostly to mitigate the money weight issue so I can carry around a couple thousand without being weighted down.
A neat mechanic is that you can drop your backpack to fight and improve your movement. You actually have two carry inventories, one in your backpack, and another smaller inventory called "pockets" that you keep on you. Bigger backpacks reduce your ability to dodge.
You also don't lose items when you "die". "Death" is a bit odd, as you always "survive" when you get beat. You'll wake up either as a prisoner, in a town, or at the entrance to a dungeon or area with your stuff nearby. You do need to retrieve your gear, but it will usually be nearby. Expect to die a lot. Usually the first few times you fail you'll just end up nearby to where you were and need to heal up or rest. If you keep failing, it will eventually dump you back in the town in the area you're in with all your stuff, including anything you obtained before you got your ass handed to you.
In fact, this can be used to your advantage at times. Dying until you end up kicked back into town can be used as a "fast travel" of sorts seeing as the game drops your stuff nearby to where you end up. You do need to remember to pick up your stuff and heal up or rest though. You can also use it to get to a town right away when you enter a new area. Bandits have a chance of taking you to a bandit camp as a prisoner, so it's best to use creature mobs to do that with.
Enemy respawns are also pretty forgiving. Most of the time, if you head right back, enemies you've killed will still be dead. They will even still be damaged if you hurt them and head back immediately usually. This is true even if you end up back in town and make your way back into a dungeon. New enemies will spawn in after a bit though. Items also seem to remain where they are dropped for an extremely long time, possibly permanently.
I would have liked a Morrowind style fast travel system, but traveling around and surviving the trip from one place to another is part of the game. You can get gear that helps with this a lot by increasing your movement speed by a lot, making getting around and avoiding mobs easier. I have heard rumors that the devs are considering adding a caravan system that works similar to how Kingdom Come did it. Travel between cities you've visited and have a chance of getting attacked along the way. It isn't in the game now though, and may never happen.
There's a lot of open space without much in it in the game, but it is nice to look at usually. Not super impressive graphically, but the art direction is good. There are also only a few buildings you can enter in most towns. Dungeons are fairly large though. Lots of hidden stuff and it doesn't hold your hand and explain where to go and what to do, much like Morrowind.
There's also a Legacy system that I think is basically NG+. Not sure how that works exactly though.
Don't sell anything that says "strange" in the item description. They are junk on their own, but can be upgraded to very powerful items later on. If you find something like that, store it in your stash.
If you're into difficult survival RPGs check this out when it's on sale. I don't know that it's worth full price yet, but still recommend it if you're a fan of this style of game. Especially if the co-op element sounds appealing.
The biggest drawback is the lack of fast travel and a lot of empty space, but enemies that are there are tough enough and you're squishy enough even later in the game that the few there are provide enough challenge that not having a ton of stuff constantly dogging you is a good thing. There are creatures and places even in the starting area it's best to just avoid until later in the game. Even trash mobs can take you out with good gear if you're not careful.
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