Three years before the events of the first episode of the IP “Greedfall”, you’ll be able to play on the Old Continent of Gacane, not as a free citizen, but as a test subject for the darkest of experiments. This story will take you to the world of Renaigsa. It’s a mysterious world where criminality and diseases claim the lives of many on the continent. As an initiate of the old culture, you will be tasked to find out the cause of these diseases and why the land doesn’t feel like a homecoming. You’ll quickly notice that there’s a lot more going on on this mysterious continent… It’s not only the beasts we should be aware of, but also the thirsty Warlords of different factions who are eager to conquer the next bit of the continent. While you’re trying to get yourself free of experiments, you’re also protecting the people from mysterious enemies and men…
With this instruction, we begin our preview journey with Greedfall: The Dying World. Studio SPIDERS and publisher NACON were so kindly to give us access to a whole new addition to Greedfall: The Dying World early access. We were able to play the game for a 3-hour gaming session, which gave us a good amount of time to go hands-on with the new features that Greedfall: The Dying World has to offer. We were able to create our character, experience the first hours at the beginning of the game, and later on even jump to one of the later missions that gave us a bit more control over our companions, skill tree, and pre-built gameplay builds.
First of all, the developers made it very clear that they’ve renamed Greedfall 2 into Greedfall: The Dying World because a lot of the early access players were a bit confused when they started their fresh journey. The developers made it a thoughtful decision by re- naming the game into Greedfall: The Dying World because of the fact that it’s not a direct sequel to the first Greedfall, but also because of the new features within the game that make the game feel totally new, like it is its own thing. Besides the new direction story-wise, the game also features a new tactical combat system that will definitely bring in some new challenges. Greedfall: The Dying World will be more of a tactical-based system where you can pause the game in real time and order your companions around. You can compare the gameplay experience with Dragon Age: Inquisition. You can jump into any body of your available companions and play like them, or stay in your own body and give out orders about targeting a specific enemy and using a certain skill.
“Either way, it challenges you to think about building around different talent trees to form a powerful warband with its own gameplay style.”
Companions also play a big role in the game as you’re able to control their gameplay build by differentiating between the different talent trees the companion has to offer. You’re also able to spend their attribute points, talent points, and decide what kind of weapon or equipment they’ll be rocking. This opens the game so much more, in a way that you’re not building a single character but a party of different companions. You decide on what each companion has to focus on. Do you want a fully ranged party? You can! Either way, it challenges you to think about building around different talent trees to form a powerful warband with its own gameplay style. The developers also made it clear that there’s the possibility to start conversations or play influential quests that could form or crack your band between you and a companion. Yes, there are even romantic options as well. So, make use of it all!
Now, before you even begin with your journey, you’re getting a decent amount of options or settings within the game that will style your gameplay experience with the game. For example, you’ll be able to choose between different playstyles: tactical, hybrid, and focused. Tactical is the playstyle when you like to give instructions to everyone in the party and base your decisions on what you’re seeing on the battlefield due to the free move-around camera feature. By getting a smooth run with the camera, you’ll be able to get a better overview of the battlefield, and you’ll also be able to plan ahead! Just pause the game, re-control the characters, and give out orders. It’s for the micro-managing player among us.
“To finish it all off, they are also adding a lot more quests and dynamic events that will be scattered throughout the world. In other words, when the developers said that the game would be updated along the way, they are definitely doing what they promised.”
The Focused mode is all about taking control of your own character and trusting the AI procedure that will order your NPC companions around. This is more for the player who wants to focus on their own character without the micro-managing aspect of the previous gameplay style. The Hybrid gameplay style is the style that tries to capture the best of both gameplay styles. The camera and tactical pause system will act more as an overview of the battlefield to plan out strategic elements within the battle. These fighting style systems are, of course, new, because they have implemented these styles in Early Access due to the major Early Access Update. Not only do they bring new fighting styles, but players are also getting their hands on a new region called Peren and a new, heavily armored, inspired companion. To finish it all off, they are also adding a lot more quests and dynamic events that will be scattered throughout the world. In other words, when the developers said that the game would be updated along the way, they are definitely doing what they promised.
Talking a bit more about the tactical combat system. It’s a 3rd person game where you can play the game as an ARPG, but with tactical options available. You can confront an enemy and go straight in blazing, but you can also pause the battle to get a glimpse of the battlefield and order your companions. For example, when you play as a spell caster, it’s obvious that one of your companions needs to be built as a tank so it can soak up the damage while you’re delivering a decent amount of damage from afar. The tactical pause button helps to mitigate the companions during the battle. You can order your tank to taunt the enemy while your ranger is debuffing or healing your companions, and you’re just spamming out spells that could do DOT damage and shackle enemy units. You all have a basic ability that fills up your action points, and these action points allow you to perform more devastating skills. You will need to build up your action points to deliver the most damage or support output.
“The game offers a lot of RPG elements that can complete your experience.”
An enemy can also have a shield that can soak up a lot of damage when you’re not taking into account the information that you’re getting. For example, a bronze shield means that the enemy is getting a defense buff against physical weapons. If you break the shield, the enemy will take a lot more damage. You have skills or items that can easily get rid of the shield status. You also have a blue shield that indicates that an enemy will be able to defend itself more against magic. So you’ll have to find a balance between the amount of physical or magical damage you’re outputting. Of course, a shield with both attributes can also occur; that shield makes the target more resistant against physical and magical attacks. Just like any other type of RPG games, you’ll be able to see if a certain enemy has a certain resistance against scourges (de-buffs) or affinity towards favors (buffs). This information lines can help you redirect certain abilities.
The game offers a lot of RPG elements that can complete your experience. For example, there are a lot of explorable zones with dynamic events, you can gather multiple ingredients to craft weapons/ equipment or potions, your companions can be romanced, lots of side quests with different outcomes, a loot system, and a talent system. You will also be able to influence certain conversations between you and the enemy. Your ability to convince important NPCs to gain some benefits will be based on the right type of attributes a companion has. You also have lots of travelling stones to search for, to be able to fast-travel to locations. In the early access build, the relocations were almost instant. The game also offers Dnd experiences such as “rolling for success”. You’ll have different moments of importance where you’ll see a success percentage popping up. This gives you a heads-up when it comes to failing or succeeding a certain roll.
“Long story short, Greedfall: The Dying Kingdom tries to be different from the first Greedfall…”
For example, you’ll find places where travelers have locked their foot into a bear trap. When you crouch beside a trap, you can dismantle the trap and gain some resources from it. It’s your choice to go for a shot or to let it be. The success rate is again dependent on your acquired experience with traps or learnt attributes. This survival status also helps to introduce new kinds of quests where you’ll have to search out a zone in the map where you can investigate clues. The moment you activate “survival”, you’ll be able to see lootable traps or flowers/ bushes/ piles of leaves, and you’re also able to search for footprints in the sand and examine bodies.
Conclusion:
Long story short, Greedfall: The Dying Kingdom tries to be different from the first Greedfall, and it definitely helps to get this feeling of a fresh IP. It helps that the game offers a new battle system that’s not for the faint of heart, and still uses the mechanics in a world that feels familiar due to the same aesthetics that have been used before. The game runs smoothly, and the story does keep you invested long enough to build up your squad of companions, all with their own attributes and talent trees. Combining this companion system with RPG elements like equipment, crafting, romancing, … will keep a player coming back, and this is just Early Access. You can tell by their major updates that the developers are making the game from a sense of passion: keeping the lore, distancing, and yet familiarizing with the last game ,but bold enough to experiment with different features that we’re not normally seeing in a Greedfall game.
