![]() ![]() Eventually you have to choose a side between two almost comically opposite factions, and in this world of deceit and frequent "lie" prompts in conversations, it seems strange that you can't have second thoughts and go turncoat. And then it denies choice at strange times. Obsidian itself seemed to sense this, as the impact of the choices feel less (literally) earthshaking in the final hours as they do in the riveting first. With all the alterations demanded by the different decision, the story sometimes feels like it lacks the punch of a more focused tale. Tyranny embraces choice to a fault, in fact. Sometimes even going through with them and reloading a previous save after the deed was rewarding in itself for the glimpse of what might have been. The surprises continue right down to the end, though you’ll never achieve ultimate satisfaction. They bring an additional layer of complexity to a tale that's already full of surprises, such as when the Fatebinder discovers mysterious new powers to interact with ruins that he or she is no mere pawns. Moments like these were perhaps my favorite, as they threw wildcards into the choices I anticipated, and they continue to pop up at memorable times. From the very beginning it let me customize my tale, kicking off with a choose-your-own-adventure-style recap of the pre-game conquest displayed over a war table, allowing me to be merciful toward some parties or send a powerful being called an Archon to wreak earthquakes on the region's breadbasket.Īt one point I found myself shocked to discover I could betray everyone around me, kicking them off towering spires while I took the glory for myself. Though most of it is raw text, it's also heavily and admirably voice-acted in key scenes, so much so that I sometimes marveled at the work it must have taken to accommodate the choice-driven plot.įew RPGs handle choice so well as Tyranny. Hand-drawn, stylized cutscenes beautifully complement the detailed world and characters, which retain their Infinity Engine pedigree but look much improved from Obsidian's previous games. The text here is almost always worth reading, and numerous links provide mouseover refreshers about who this woman is or what this name means when needed. Pillars of Eternity did this kind of thing, too, but never with such style. It's stuffed with fascinating lore that's imparted in text-heavy conversation dialogues, and I admired the way Obsidian set it on the cusp of the Iron Age rather than in the overused castles-and-knights medieval era. I had that pressure to find a way to stop it looming over my head, but I also found it disturbing how quickly I came to accept the excesses of the empire of Kyros as business as usual.Īnd to be sure, this is a richly realized world. That job, at first, was to read an edict from the warlord that threatened to cast doom over an entire region in order to get them to stop fighting within eight days' time, or Hell would rain on us and kill us all.
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