The Dwarves
Hey all,
I've been away from the BG games as of late, as my new computer allows me to play games my old laptop would have overheated just looking at. So, I've been enjoying some newer games like The Witcher, Pillars of Eternity, and other such gems. My love of the BG series is still just as strong as it ever was, but there's something very satisfying about playing these beefy games that were nothing but a dream to me a few months ago.
I imagine I'll be back in Candlekeep before long, though.
Until that happens, though, I've definitely been enjoying my time. A game I recently bought on sale was The Dwarves, a game that tells the tale of Tungdil, originally told through Markus Heitz's novel series of the same name.
I've unfortunately only read the first book, as, living in a small town, the local bookstore tends to fail me when it comes to fantasy novels, and ebooks are something I've never been able to get used to. So, I thought playing the game would be my best bet.
I've seen the game get a fair amount of flack for various reasons ranging from the combat, gameplay (or lack thereof), to its linear design. And, honestly, I can understand where a lot of these complaints are coming from.
I, for one, am absolutely loving the game so far, though.
Yes, it's a bit linear, and your choices don't really make a huge difference in the long run (sometimes, your choices just outright get you killed, forcing you to reload an old save), but that's to be expected, in my opinion. The game is retelling the story from a book, and so there isn't much room to make huge changes. If the player, as Tungdil, decided to not take along Boendal and Boindil in the early parts of the game, then that would make major changes to the later portions, and shift the entire story, which obviously isn't the developer's intentions.
Gameplay-wise, I can understand how it's not everyone's cup of tea. You spend a lot of time moving a dwarf-shaped token along a map with some interjections here and there, while playing out the main points of the story's plot through mass-combat segments where you control up to four party members. These segments sometimes take a while, while some may take only 30 seconds, and they vary in difficulty. The rest of the game (I'd say a solid 70-75% of it) is dialogue. Luckily, however, everything is voiced brilliantly. Every character seems to have a unique voice, even random farmers you meet along the way, and the writing is done so well that I sometimes forget that I'm looking at a static map instead of an actual cutscene. The cutscenes, by the way, are very very well done. The graphics aren't overly realistic, but they aren't meant to be. They're fairly reminiscent of stop-motion animation, which I think works very well with the game.
The combat, like I said before, takes up the remaining 25-30% of the game. It's not the best combat system I've experienced, but it's far from the worst. You control anywhere between 1-4 characters at a time, completing different objectives depending on what point in the story you're playing. Sometimes you have to kill a certain amount of orcs to proceed, sometimes you have to destroy ladders while fending off invading orcs before a certain amount of orcs enter a settlement, or sometimes you just need to race to another part of the map without getting eaten alive by hundreds of enemies. Characters all have unique attacks, which you can assign to Q, W, E, and R, similar to MOBAs like League of Legends and Smite. It's interesting, and it works, but it's not something I'd like to see a ton of games copy.
Overall, I'm really, genuinely enjoying it. It's not your typical game, and like I said, it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially because of how much time you spend sitting on the same screen listening to the story progress. But, if you're into that like I am, I highly recommend this game. It's unique, and doesn't try to be anything but itself, which is refreshing.
As a bonus, it's currently on sale on GOG.com!
I didn't mean to start this thread by going into so much detail, but it just kind of happened. Has anyone else here played/read this game/novel series? I feel like it would be right up the alley for a lot of people here.
I've been away from the BG games as of late, as my new computer allows me to play games my old laptop would have overheated just looking at. So, I've been enjoying some newer games like The Witcher, Pillars of Eternity, and other such gems. My love of the BG series is still just as strong as it ever was, but there's something very satisfying about playing these beefy games that were nothing but a dream to me a few months ago.
I imagine I'll be back in Candlekeep before long, though.
Until that happens, though, I've definitely been enjoying my time. A game I recently bought on sale was The Dwarves, a game that tells the tale of Tungdil, originally told through Markus Heitz's novel series of the same name.
I've unfortunately only read the first book, as, living in a small town, the local bookstore tends to fail me when it comes to fantasy novels, and ebooks are something I've never been able to get used to. So, I thought playing the game would be my best bet.
I've seen the game get a fair amount of flack for various reasons ranging from the combat, gameplay (or lack thereof), to its linear design. And, honestly, I can understand where a lot of these complaints are coming from.
I, for one, am absolutely loving the game so far, though.
Yes, it's a bit linear, and your choices don't really make a huge difference in the long run (sometimes, your choices just outright get you killed, forcing you to reload an old save), but that's to be expected, in my opinion. The game is retelling the story from a book, and so there isn't much room to make huge changes. If the player, as Tungdil, decided to not take along Boendal and Boindil in the early parts of the game, then that would make major changes to the later portions, and shift the entire story, which obviously isn't the developer's intentions.
Gameplay-wise, I can understand how it's not everyone's cup of tea. You spend a lot of time moving a dwarf-shaped token along a map with some interjections here and there, while playing out the main points of the story's plot through mass-combat segments where you control up to four party members. These segments sometimes take a while, while some may take only 30 seconds, and they vary in difficulty. The rest of the game (I'd say a solid 70-75% of it) is dialogue. Luckily, however, everything is voiced brilliantly. Every character seems to have a unique voice, even random farmers you meet along the way, and the writing is done so well that I sometimes forget that I'm looking at a static map instead of an actual cutscene. The cutscenes, by the way, are very very well done. The graphics aren't overly realistic, but they aren't meant to be. They're fairly reminiscent of stop-motion animation, which I think works very well with the game.
The combat, like I said before, takes up the remaining 25-30% of the game. It's not the best combat system I've experienced, but it's far from the worst. You control anywhere between 1-4 characters at a time, completing different objectives depending on what point in the story you're playing. Sometimes you have to kill a certain amount of orcs to proceed, sometimes you have to destroy ladders while fending off invading orcs before a certain amount of orcs enter a settlement, or sometimes you just need to race to another part of the map without getting eaten alive by hundreds of enemies. Characters all have unique attacks, which you can assign to Q, W, E, and R, similar to MOBAs like League of Legends and Smite. It's interesting, and it works, but it's not something I'd like to see a ton of games copy.
Overall, I'm really, genuinely enjoying it. It's not your typical game, and like I said, it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially because of how much time you spend sitting on the same screen listening to the story progress. But, if you're into that like I am, I highly recommend this game. It's unique, and doesn't try to be anything but itself, which is refreshing.
As a bonus, it's currently on sale on GOG.com!
I didn't mean to start this thread by going into so much detail, but it just kind of happened.
Has anyone else here played/read this game/novel series? I feel like it would be right up the alley for a lot of people here. 6
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