Tyranny

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 665 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 472 out of 665
  2. Mixed: 109 out of 665
  3. Negative: 84 out of 665

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  1. rpgerfx
    Nov 19, 2016
    10
    The game is fun and the story is quite original for an RPG. That said, do not buy this game seeking an Obsidian experience - this is in many ways a Bioware game. Yes, there will be some Obsidian-quality writing, but most of the writing team are young devs who joined Obsidian for the development of South Park: The Stick of Truth and they have different sensibilities when it comes toThe game is fun and the story is quite original for an RPG. That said, do not buy this game seeking an Obsidian experience - this is in many ways a Bioware game. Yes, there will be some Obsidian-quality writing, but most of the writing team are young devs who joined Obsidian for the development of South Park: The Stick of Truth and they have different sensibilities when it comes to writing. It feels like Obsidian made a Bioware-game, BUT with an original twist that doesn't involve saving the world - in that regard it's still an Obsidian title. So buy this if you enjoyed the gameplay and the writing quality of Dragon Age: Origins, but wished the plot was more interesting than saving a kingdom from evil monsters.… Expand
  2. Soujirop
    Nov 19, 2016
    8
    So after playing it for 40 hours, I’m ready to review!

    Tyranny plays and feels pretty much like Pillars of Eternity, this is, like a modern unity engine game. The graphics are ok and slightly cartoonish which works well with the overall intention of the gameplay and the story to create a more straight-to-the-point, action-driven adventure. Artistic direction is a bit disappointing even    So after playing it for 40 hours, I’m ready to review!

    Tyranny plays and feels pretty much like Pillars of Eternity, this is, like a modern unity engine game. The graphics are ok and slightly cartoonish which works well with the overall intention of the gameplay and the story to create a more straight-to-the-point, action-driven adventure. Artistic direction is a bit disappointing even though the setting tries to be original running from middle-ages to a more iron-age, but environments are still pretty standard, sometimes repetitive, usually pretty small and lower in number unlike in others cRPGs.

    The music I believe is more noticeable and overall better played than the environment graphical design.
    As I said, gameplay is more action-oriented than Pillars, which imo is great. Everything is more flashy, dynamic, and innovative. For example there’s a spell crafting system, classes have skill trees, characters train skills by using them and not only by assigning points when leveling up, main character has unique combined skills with party members, etc. All these additions make the overly used and predictable cRPG combat style be fresh again.

    Another very good aspect of gameplay is how conversations are handled. In every conversation you will have many choices that have short, middle and long term effects. A lot of these choices vary depending on your skill level, your background, your actions during the game, etc. This kind of choices which make the game and story so fun to play, are very abundant, certainly many many magnitudes over Pillars of Eternity.

    So now the story. I’ll start saying the world of Terratus is indeed very interesting and you will quickly notice once the character creatior lets you shape (and play through) the backstory of your character. Lore is innovative and original, very entertaining and addictive to discover. I was conquered in the first couple of hours by this world at war and the mysterious Overlord Kyros that rules it. Being the fatebinder is, in all honesty, awesome, and my interest in the story never went down during the whole playthrough. Main quest is constantly there through important events, cut scenes, interesting conversations, etc. In so many other games you have this feeling of “I’m tired, I will save progress here”, which reveal main story just got a little too tedious. Never had this feeling with Tyranny.

    Party members are charismatic enough, they are entertaining to speak with and their stories are generally interesting. I really liked them all in a way, but sadly the game never lets you go deep enough with them. They clearly have less dialogue than in previous Obsidian games like Pillars, and they lack the typical side quests that reveal more about them. A pity that they are made so interesting in the surface, just for you to realize there’s not much under them.

    The ending was OK, but could have been better indeed. It was a bit rushed, predictable, not particularly epic, and very important points were left out of it. I was particularly annoyed by the fact that the mysteries surrounding the main character (you) never get to fully unravel. But the most important issue regarding the ending (in the negative aspect) is the lack of choice. In a game filled with choices, it is particularly ironic that the important closing event doesn’t offer any real variability, which also makes the "replay value" go down hill.

    Overall, Tyranny will be a very entertaining RPG experience, but one can not help but notice the spoiled opportunity to make this game the iconic cRPG it could have been.    … Expand
  3. GreyInvasion
    Nov 19, 2016
    10
    Tyranny is a true to heart Role playing experience, packed with choice. You'll have to replay it multiple times to see everything. Great story, and graphics, decent combat. Must Buy for RPG fans.
  4. Teleman
    Nov 19, 2016
    7
    Having finished this game recently, I have to change my perfect 10 score to this. My enthusiasm was all about this game being a real successor to classical text based isometric rpgs. Having a good fantasy setting also effected my original 10 score. The only problem was that I was too quick to review this game and here are the glaring reasons:

    - Combat is good at first but as you play    Having finished this game recently, I have to change my perfect 10 score to this. My enthusiasm was all about this game being a real successor to classical text based isometric rpgs. Having a good fantasy setting also effected my original 10 score. The only problem was that I was too quick to review this game and here are the glaring reasons:

    - Combat is good at first but as you play through the ai involved in it is even dumber than classic rpgs such as nwn, bg etc. You can exploit the stupidy of ai to a point that it feels cheesy and disconnecting you from the world. One example would be the aggro ranges. Which is mostly individual. You can have two other enemies still having conversations while the other half of the group attacks you just because you are in range. Don't even get me started on the sorry and disfunctional "stealth" system.

    - Story is up to a point amazing. All of a sudden everything takes an abrubt and absurd turn where all of the unique mechanics introduced in this game feel unnecessary and novel. Some of the mechanics are not even implemented at all and just there for the sake of being there. The story takes a riddiculous turn as if the whole story is finished by a 10 yr old who does not know how to create relatable connections or general consistency. If your read the bleach manga then you probably understand this. I don't want to spoil the story but you can only understand this if you finish the game.    … Expand
  5. Mercent
    Nov 17, 2016
    10
    Pro:
    1. Gritty, dirty and true to the setting (a Bronze-Iron age civilization).
    2. Your choices really matter. Choosing different dialogue options will affect the end game. 3. The music is epic. 4. Game length. Many complained that it is too short. Not at all. It ended just when i have had my fill. Unlike PoE, i actually managed to finish Tyranny. Con: 1. Some enemies are just a    Pro:
    1. Gritty, dirty and true to the setting (a Bronze-Iron age civilization).
    2. Your choices really matter. Choosing different dialogue options will affect the end game.
    3. The music is epic.
    4. Game length. Many complained that it is too short. Not at all. It ended just when i have had my fill. Unlike PoE, i actually managed to finish Tyranny.

    Con:
    1. Some enemies are just a pain in the A**    … Expand
  6. godunow
    Nov 17, 2016
    7
    Tyranny does many things right, but feels rushed, genereric and devoid of either epic or personal feeling.

    Good and bad points: + Something different setting-wise... - ...turning out to be another Chosen One story + Lots of text... - ...that unfortunately is mediocre fantasy, pointless "lets fill this paragraph with letters" + Nice character development system - ...used only in    Tyranny does many things right, but feels rushed, genereric and devoid of either epic or personal feeling.

    Good and bad points:
    + Something different setting-wise...
    - ...turning out to be another Chosen One story
    + Lots of text...
    - ...that unfortunately is mediocre fantasy, pointless "lets fill this paragraph with letters"
    + Nice character development system
    - ...used only in boring fights (+some conversation skill checks)
    - ... supported by boring, tedious inventory management
    + Story was compacted...
    - ... but not in a way that gives you more fun per hour, rather it just cut a lot of things

    It is an ok game, with some nice ideas, unfortunately ending up as less than sum of its parts.    … Expand
  7. szszsz
    Nov 16, 2016
    7
    this is by far the most uneven rpg games ive ever played

    it has amazing potential, interesting lore, cool characters, great spellcraft, nice skills, very climatic 'conquer' mode, all the small things like 'hyperlinks' during speech, etc - 10/10 but at the same time its just look incomplete i dont mind lack of cutscenes, voice acting, and other 'nowadays' stuff but the game gives    this is by far the most uneven rpg games ive ever played

    it has amazing potential, interesting lore, cool characters, great spellcraft, nice skills, very climatic 'conquer' mode, all the small things like 'hyperlinks' during speech, etc - 10/10

    but at the same time its just look incomplete
    i dont mind lack of cutscenes, voice acting, and other 'nowadays' stuff
    but the game gives you an opportunity to play your role yet the execution is poor most of the time

    SPOILER-FREE EXAMPLES (made-up but with the sense of actual gameplay):
    lets say that a farmer asks you to find his cattle, you go and find it, yet because of reasons you decide to kill his wife on a way back, once you go back to the farmer he talks hostile mouring his wife, but as soon as you mention saved cattle he becomes happy, starts cheering and celebrating and forgets about the bad things
    or
    youre told to take part in huge battle between good guys and bad guys, HUUUUUGE battle - you get there and theres 5-6 ppl on both sides, you kill all the baddies (normal weak troops), epic win, bards start creating songs about you, etc

    its still very playable, ive sunk into the world and lore
    but at the same time it is so fresh and it might have been perfect, if didnt lack polishing and sometimes common sense
    hope PoE II will learn from tyranny's mistakes    … Expand
  8. marc5477
    Nov 15, 2016
    6
    I liked Pillars of Eternity (hereby PoE), but I didnt love it. It has some shortcomings which have kept me from finishing the game even though I tried to play it 3 or 4 times. This is PoE lite. Shorter game, fewer character options, less gear, less companions, less story, less character development per companion, less everything. Is it a bad game? No but it is a step back from PoE andI liked Pillars of Eternity (hereby PoE), but I didnt love it. It has some shortcomings which have kept me from finishing the game even though I tried to play it 3 or 4 times. This is PoE lite. Shorter game, fewer character options, less gear, less companions, less story, less character development per companion, less everything. Is it a bad game? No but it is a step back from PoE and still has all the nuances of PoE as well such as terrible AI, atrocious camera, boring character classes and this one ads terrible targeting feedback. I dont know how many time I target something and although the target is highlighted, the skill does not trigger. It turns out that you have to target a specific spot to get skills to trigger and if you get close to the screen you can see that the icon has a line through it but if you play far enough away it is hard to discern. Further, depending on the fight, the background colors blend into the icon colors making even harder to tell the difference. You adjust to this after a while but early on I didn't understand why skills were not working and it took a few deaths to realize that I was targeting wrong. So anyway, if PoE is a 6 (by my scale), then this has to be at least 1 or 2 points less.… Expand
  9. Exemplis
    Nov 15, 2016
    7
    This is a good low budget game. Fresh idea, interesting story, some innovative mechanics. And that's it.

    This isn't an RPG, more like choose your adventure book. The starting and the end points are pre-defined and your choices and actions midway eventually mean almost nothing. I can't get away from the notion that this is a technical demo of PoE2.
  10. aboldi
    Nov 15, 2016
    9
    Very well crafted and thoughtful game. While it does feel a little rushed towards the end, both story-wise and loot wise (finding a legendary item in random barrels scattered around starts to feel a bit pointless), it really kept me absorbed throughout.

    The gameplay is satisfyingly complex, without being annoyingly micro, and the characters along for the ride are both well thought out    Very well crafted and thoughtful game. While it does feel a little rushed towards the end, both story-wise and loot wise (finding a legendary item in random barrels scattered around starts to feel a bit pointless), it really kept me absorbed throughout.

    The gameplay is satisfyingly complex, without being annoyingly micro, and the characters along for the ride are both well thought out and 'realistic', in that they will seldom sway out of character regardless of how you try to convince them.

    The story starts off interestingly, with choices making a solid, tangible difference and they continue throughout. Some things start to feel out of your hands towards the end, but they aren't too out of sync with the rest of your decisions.

    All in all a 10/10, with 1 point deducted for the slightly rushed end game.    … Expand
  11. Neravarine
    Nov 15, 2016
    9
    Its a good game, not as gr8 as Pillars of Eternity, but pretty good in its own right.
    I am personally not fan of that type of graphics, and even if combat system and character development are similar to PoE, I like "typical D&D" character dev/spells/classes etc etc, like NWN,PoE, and older stuff.
    Example: I hated Legends of the Sword Coast coz its character dev, which is very similar to    Its a good game, not as gr8 as Pillars of Eternity, but pretty good in its own right.
    I am personally not fan of that type of graphics, and even if combat system and character development are similar to PoE, I like "typical D&D" character dev/spells/classes etc etc, like NWN,PoE, and older stuff.
    Example: I hated Legends of the Sword Coast coz its character dev, which is very similar to Tiranny.
    The story is good, and the UI is awesome, I like spellcrafting but still, I would pick PoE system any time.

    I like the game in general, the only rly negative thing that I have to say about Tyranny is .....loading..smallzone..loading..smallzone...loading.    … Expand
  12. StormCrow
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    This is really an excellent game. It's good to be able to play a bad guy who is not just a psychopath, like many other RPGS, the story and context are really interesting, the branching narrative is really efficient, and the Conquest mode at the beginning is really interesting. This is a game where you really have to make important choices, you can't do everything at the same time at all.IThis is really an excellent game. It's good to be able to play a bad guy who is not just a psychopath, like many other RPGS, the story and context are really interesting, the branching narrative is really efficient, and the Conquest mode at the beginning is really interesting. This is a game where you really have to make important choices, you can't do everything at the same time at all.I also like very much the fact that the game is classless (which does not mean that you don't have to specialize your characters), the relationship system with the companions and the factions, and the magic crafting system. Really a hit for me. And it's really replayable.… Expand
  13. Kronos362
    Nov 15, 2016
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Absolutely a gem. Great story and masterful world. A fair amount of reading and needs a lot of concentration, but it's worth the effort. I personally think a step up from pillars at least in terms of epic scale.… Expand
  14. Mad_Monk
    Nov 15, 2016
    9
    This game is great. I enjoyed Pillars of Eternity, but this is much better. Just about didnt get it...so glad I did. The story is great and the UI is terrific...really enjoying the rich atmosphere of the world. The opening sequence really captured my attention. So often I buy games and stop playing them quickly...this one pulled me in and hasnt let go...about 12 hours in so far.
  15. SolusBatty
    Nov 15, 2016
    8
    Just finished the game and it is quite a solid one. It took me 31 hours on the normal difficulty, although I read 90% of the possible dialogue as it is very well done (although it has lapses in grammar).
    I'd recommend trying this game out for its lore and if you are a fan of isometric RPGs, as the combat is good, but nothing special. The playable characters are diverse and each of them    Just finished the game and it is quite a solid one. It took me 31 hours on the normal difficulty, although I read 90% of the possible dialogue as it is very well done (although it has lapses in grammar).
    I'd recommend trying this game out for its lore and if you are a fan of isometric RPGs, as the combat is good, but nothing special. The playable characters are diverse and each of them can be played in different ways.
    I am unsure of its replayability, but I've enjoyed the first playthrough completely, although the normal difficulty wasn't challenging at all. All of this being said 45$ is a bit too much, 30$ or less would be ok, so I'd recommend waiting for patches and a drop in price. Cheers.    … Expand
  16. EisenKreutzer
    Nov 14, 2016
    9
    Tyranny, the latest Obsidian RPG experience. And it is an experience.
    The story is fresh, fascinating and engaging. I love the world of Terratus, the amount of effort and dedication that went into the worldbuilding for this game is just breathtaking.
    I love playing as the bad guy, because in Tyranny, I get to choose what kind of bad guy I am. Bloodthirsty and ruthless? Cold and    Tyranny, the latest Obsidian RPG experience. And it is an experience.
    The story is fresh, fascinating and engaging. I love the world of Terratus, the amount of effort and dedication that went into the worldbuilding for this game is just breathtaking.

    I love playing as the bad guy, because in Tyranny, I get to choose what kind of bad guy I am. Bloodthirsty and ruthless? Cold and practical? Reluctant? Unwilling to be a bad guy at all? All valid choices.

    Choice stands at the heart of what Tyranny is. The choices you make in this game will quite literally shape your entire playthrough. There is content you will not see during your first playthrough. Whole quest-lines, important NPCs, even areas of the map, that you will just not get to experience because of the choices you make.
    And thats fine. In fact, it's excellent! Because Tyranny is made to be replayed.

    Tyranny gets a lot of flak for not being long enough, or not having enough exploration, not being an open world, not having an endless dungeon like PIllars of Eternity had and other things. It gets compared to Pillars of Eternity, which is fair since Pillars was built on the same engine by the same people.
    But Tyranny is a very different game.

    The thing about Tyranny is that it is an intensely focused experience.
    Pillars of Eternity is a grand, sweeping story. It plays out over a long time frame (I spent 114 hours completing my first playthrough), and it takes a long time to build tension and drama.
    Tyranny, by contrast, is much more narrow in scope. Tyranny is built with a pin-prick focus, it is the scalpel to Pillars of Eternitys hammer. The thing that defines Tyranny is your choices. The choices you make dictate what quests you get, what options will be available to you in the ongoing story and ultimately how the game ends. In Pillars, no matter how you play the game you will always end up following the same path. Tyranny has multiple paths, many of which exclude one another, and it all depends on player choice, You have immense agency in Tyranny, because your choices literally shape your playthrough.

    Is it a traditional western CRPG? No. It has most of the trappings, but it's substance is entirely different.
    Tyranny is a game about choices. It is masterfully designed and built, and offers hours of rich gameplay spread out over multiple vastly different playthroughs.

    It's not flawless, but it is brilliant. 9/10    … Expand
  17. Topfpflanze
    Nov 14, 2016
    3
    This one's another talkie, you have to read long, long (really long) texts, often virtually pointless, and instead of creating atmosphere, it creates boredom. You can't (or you shouldn't) skip the reading, because sometimes valuable information is hidden inside. Voice-overs are rare and unambitious, simply a neutral person reading the text. The graphics (isometric) is so like of 2003This one's another talkie, you have to read long, long (really long) texts, often virtually pointless, and instead of creating atmosphere, it creates boredom. You can't (or you shouldn't) skip the reading, because sometimes valuable information is hidden inside. Voice-overs are rare and unambitious, simply a neutral person reading the text. The graphics (isometric) is so like of 2003 (though there have been games with better graphics at that time). The combat is clumsy, I can't say differently, simply no fun. Technically, Tyranny is a low-end game. Can't say it's no fun to play it, but the fun is in your head and not in the game.… Expand
  18. koboldofthesea
    Nov 14, 2016
    3
    I wanted to like this game, big fan of Pillars, and I'm always open to mechanics that stray from d&d.

    The branching story idea is nice, but I don't think it is executed well. I understand the goal of creating cumulative events that eventually have various consequences. It's supposed to be more organic and whatever, but most decisions just feels meaningless. Do I kill Dumbdedumb NPC or    I wanted to like this game, big fan of Pillars, and I'm always open to mechanics that stray from d&d.

    The branching story idea is nice, but I don't think it is executed well. I understand the goal of creating cumulative events that eventually have various consequences. It's supposed to be more organic and whatever, but most decisions just feels meaningless.
    Do I kill Dumbdedumb NPC or not. Do I side with Old man I know nothing about, or Old man I know even less about, or neither. How can I begin to care...

    Wrath/Fear vs Favor/Loyalty
    These make no sense. Especially the skills you get from them and how you could have both. It is just beyond pointless. At least leave the skills out.

    Mechanics
    So this suffers from the same problems Pillars did in certain versions. The AI is RABID to get at your low survivability characters. Disengage incentive is not strong enough for it. One stupid way I have been winning every battle on PotD is to run Quill man around while 1, 2, sometimes 3 melees just chase him. It's beyond idiotic to watch, but it works, when they stop chasing, you turn around and reengage their interest.
    I know Pillars went through several iterations of tanks and chokepoint management, I expected an improvement.

    Combos are very clunky as is the rest of combat due to characters not doing anything during cooldown. They don't even try to get in position, you will need to manually move them.
    Combos are especially so, since now you have one character not doing anything even when cooldown is off.
    If the target leaves your melee range for melee combos, the combo is canceled.

    Can we just be like every other game and make auto-attacks much shorter cd or their separate cd... It works very very well...    … Expand
  19. KeyboardPlayer
    Nov 14, 2016
    3
    FORTY EUROS for the normal version of a shorter-than-usual rpg?
    EIGHTY for just some digital (so - no reproduction and copy costs), pointless stuff?

    Are you friggin' kidding me?
  20. ASTALONTE
    Nov 14, 2016
    8
    This is a great game where you work for the bad guy. It s simple, direct and no too long. But at the same time it has that essence of the genre where you role pay and read countless nice texts. JUST a step below POE because I would like to have seen more exploration and a bigger final act
  21. Abyssal_Winter
    Nov 14, 2016
    9
    This is a fantastic game. It is going to be compared to Pillars of Eternity, but I think the writing and environment are much more fascinating. Imagine playing in the universe of Glen Cook's Black Company series and you will have a sense of the style. I am 20 hours in and maybe 50% done (level 10/11), so I am not sure where these reports of a short game are coming from? Spell system isThis is a fantastic game. It is going to be compared to Pillars of Eternity, but I think the writing and environment are much more fascinating. Imagine playing in the universe of Glen Cook's Black Company series and you will have a sense of the style. I am 20 hours in and maybe 50% done (level 10/11), so I am not sure where these reports of a short game are coming from? Spell system is very interesting. My biggest nitpick is the combat can feel a little tedious at times, and there are almost too many specials/powers. If everything is special, nothing is :)
    Overall, really good RPG; highly recommended.    … Expand
  22. Antart
    Nov 14, 2016
    9
    In RPGs is usual to have the option to be evil, but is an uncomfortable way in which you can’t avoid the feeling you are doing things wrong, Tyranny push you to the selfish way, rewarding evil actions, and the nazi-soviet artistic style makes it even more believable, but at the same time you don’t need to be necessary evil, to be evil... The art design is excellent, scenarios hand-madeIn RPGs is usual to have the option to be evil, but is an uncomfortable way in which you can’t avoid the feeling you are doing things wrong, Tyranny push you to the selfish way, rewarding evil actions, and the nazi-soviet artistic style makes it even more believable, but at the same time you don’t need to be necessary evil, to be evil... The art design is excellent, scenarios hand-made with care in each detail, the gameplay on the Pillars of Eternity line is fluid and practical to manage a squad in a top table RPG. Absolutely recommended.… Expand
  23. 4verse
    Nov 14, 2016
    9
    The good:
    - story. love it. keep it. (but see below 1)
    - lore of the tyranny world/universe (i like it much more than PoE) - choice all over the place - length. around 20-40ish hours is just right for me. - replayabilty - classless system (but see below 2) - spell crafting (but see below 3) The bad: - (1) the ending is lacking (story- and gameplay-wise). and act 3 seems rushed.    The good:
    - story. love it. keep it. (but see below 1)
    - lore of the tyranny world/universe (i like it much more than PoE)
    - choice all over the place
    - length. around 20-40ish hours is just right for me.
    - replayabilty
    - classless system (but see below 2)
    - spell crafting (but see below 3)

    The bad:
    - (1) the ending is lacking (story- and gameplay-wise). and act 3 seems rushed. if not: its too short. but this maybe cured by a good DLC
    - (1) also: some things are not very clearly explained, i.e. sometimes i had to guess whats going on. but overall the story was told quite well
    - (2) locked talent trees and therefore locked talents. i hate it, when my PC cannot learn talents, i love (like teleport (eb has it)). i see the point that locked talent trees make companions special, but id rather have a REALLY open classless system
    - some talents are not really usable (e.g.: ebs teleport is a lvl 13 talent. my game ended around lvl 13 so i used this talent twice or so at most)
    - (3) spell crafting: spells are "combat focused" only. where are invisibilty, open locks, shape change etc.? (there is an invis potion, but its not the same IMO)
    - talents/spells play no role in quests/riddles (like: use an invis spell or shape change (which do not exist) or teleport to solve a quest/riddle)
    - combat is messy (sometimes i could not click where i wanted.) - but that is not a big issue to me, b/c i always play on story mode, so i win anyways ;-)
    - some talents are useless IMO (not really an issue though. better to much than not enough)

    The ugly:
    - no exploration: areas are way to small and there are not too many of them either! that makes the world seem and feel very small. focused game play is ok, but those few small areas are too small and too few
    - loading times: are you f***ing kidding me? the first 3 times i started the game, i thought it crashed (win10 actually told me the game might have crashed). of my 30ish hours playthrough time around 5 hours were loading times. Sometimes I really did not want to go into houses or change areas b/c another 5 minutes or so of loading times. WTF?

    Overall: what a gem of a game! I love it
    "The bad"-items are no deal breaker by any means.
    "The ugly"-items on the other hand weigh a little heavier, esp. the size of the world/areas. and loading times are beyond of being beyond.

    Lessons learned: Dump PoE and focus on Tyranny    … Expand
  24. janki
    Nov 14, 2016
    6
    Game has some solid content and the story is fun. It kept me engrossed throughout the whole game, I didn't feel as if the pacing was too slow or too fast, but just right.

    What is wrong with the game is the overly abrupt ending and just only after 14 hours of gameplay. I understand that the idea is to have many replays the game but it doesn't work that way. Act II is in many instances    Game has some solid content and the story is fun. It kept me engrossed throughout the whole game, I didn't feel as if the pacing was too slow or too fast, but just right.

    What is wrong with the game is the overly abrupt ending and just only after 14 hours of gameplay. I understand that the idea is to have many replays the game but it doesn't work that way. Act II is in many instances the same, you go to people or you kill the same people, the end. It just doesn't warrant enough interest to keep going.

    The game has great potential but it should have been developed for more time. Flesh out act III and it will be a solid game. At the current state, however it feels half-done.    … Expand
  25. Skulb
    Nov 14, 2016
    8
    This is very similar to Pillars of Eternity. In fact it is basically a sequel to that game. The combat is the same, a new version of the Stronghold is present, the same system for organizing your groups is there, the inventory is the same, etc, etc. But in my opinion it is much, much better. I completely lost interest in PoE during my first playthrough for a variety of reasons, and neverThis is very similar to Pillars of Eternity. In fact it is basically a sequel to that game. The combat is the same, a new version of the Stronghold is present, the same system for organizing your groups is there, the inventory is the same, etc, etc. But in my opinion it is much, much better. I completely lost interest in PoE during my first playthrough for a variety of reasons, and never returned to it. But I am having no problems sticking with Tyranny. The premise is more interesting and original, and the problems are less prevalent than in the first game. There are still excessive loading times, but not as many tiny two-story houses to explore. The gear is still somewhat uninteresting for the most part, but you can craft some nice stuff to make you forget about that. The combat is improved from when I played PoE, because lo and behold it actually has AI scripts; a baffling exclusion from PoE on release.
    And above all the "Stronghold" is not a pointless time waster like it was in PoE. If you haven't played either I would recommend you skip PoE and get Tyranny instead. if you for some reason liked PoE then you will love Tyranny because it is just far better.
    Unlike the disappointing first effort from Obsidian at reviving isometric party RPGs, Tyranny is a real contender to unseat Original Sin as the leading game available in the genre. At least until Original Sin 2 comes out. Meanwhile, Tyranny really is great in almost every way; only dropping down from a perfect score because of the ridiculous loading times and other minor issues. Personally at least I could live with them this time around. The only significant negative is the decision to go with four man groups in a game like this. It is just too few. Other than that, buy this game if you like RPGs.

    Pros:
    -Good reputation system.
    -Atmospheric graphics and sound. Original visual style.
    -Plenty of content, although some of it seems a bit optional.
    -AI scripting. Only mentioned because Obsidian previously didn't know that you need this in a party isometric RPG.
    -Improved and a lot more interesting Stronghold function.
    -Great characters and interesting story.
    -LOTS of text.

    Cons:
    -Meh leveling. Minuscule stat upgrade each time, one weird and usually situational talent chosen and off you go! Doesn't matter which three buttons you click when leveling. Just click three and keep playing.
    -Meh spell system. Create-your-own-spell gone bad, and more likely to inspire people to play exclusively with melee characters than anything else.
    -Long and frequent loading screens. Back to the C64 days with Obsidian!
    -Extremely meh gear. Endless trash recycled through your PoE-weird inventory. 20 hours in I had found one interesting item, and that was a bow. I didn't even use bows.
    -Fiddly combat system, pathfinding problems and some persistent need to babysit characters. Not near as bad as PoE was obviously, just because of the AI scripting.
    -Plenty of trial and error with rune-based puzzles not requiring logical deduction of any kind. Just click everything in sight and hope you get things done somehow.
    -Four man party. For a game of this type this really is a big negative. Your ability to tank things is already severely limited, as it was in PoE. In a four man group any casters will be instantly open to attacks on every pull, and you will spend a lot of time running around in circles with them while waiting for your other characters to finish other enemies off so they can come save you. It is bad. The game needs either five or six man groups or lots of summoning spells.
    -LOTS of text.    … Expand
  26. BlueBangkok
    Nov 14, 2016
    6
    "Your choices in this game matter. Be thoughtful of your actions."
    .
    .
    .
    option 1: "kill her"
    option 2: "kill her mercifully"
    option 3: "spare her"

    Choosing option 3:
    'She picks up a rusty piece of iron and kills herself.'

    GJ Obsidian, 10/10 at "mattering"
  27. socokid
    Nov 13, 2016
    8
    The few bad reviews here actually attempt to equate Tyranny to KOTOR, which is bizarre and hilarious. (wut)

    This is a wonderful game so far. My only concern is it's length. There are a few people that suggested they finished in under 20 hours. If that is true, I will be coming back and downgrading my review.. harshly.
  28. IJL711
    Nov 13, 2016
    8
    This was just the kind of addicting game that I've been looking for. It's certainly not a perfect game but it's enjoyable never-the-less.

    First and foremost is the story. While it does rely on some old tropes and doesn't reinvent the wheel, it does take an approach to the rpg story that we don't often get; the evil side. You work for "evil" from the start and have to carve your path    This was just the kind of addicting game that I've been looking for. It's certainly not a perfect game but it's enjoyable never-the-less.

    First and foremost is the story. While it does rely on some old tropes and doesn't reinvent the wheel, it does take an approach to the rpg story that we don't often get; the evil side. You work for "evil" from the start and have to carve your path from there.
    Having said that, the game does a very good job of making you wonder if what you're doing is truely bad or if it's good; there really isn't a true "good" or "evil" action in the game. A lot of the characters have their own justifications for their actions that seem perfectly reasonable given the circumstances in which they are embroiled. Even still, it can be difficult to make some decisions that are either terrible or you have your own idea and you wish you could implement it (but you said the wrong word two dialogue options ago).
    The problem with the story (and problably, but just in case, spoiler warning) is that it just kind of...ends. It is very clear that there either is or should be more to it. You can tell that it's coming, but you hold onto the hope that surely it doesn't. We certainly want our resolution of the story. That being said, a proper resolution feels like it would take another full game.

    If you've played Pillars of Eternity, then you already know the score with the combat. Now, I don't know if it's possible but I never figured out how to change the hotkeys for combat... Either way, this takes a lot of pausing, issuing commands, starting for a second, issuing some more commands, etc. ad nauseam. If you want go go go combat, then it is not for you. However, if you like to stategize and coordinate or if you're impartial then it IS for you.

    Long story short, I really like this game. I've played it through once and I intend to play it through at least one more time, possibly more.

    Pros:
    -Dark but engaging story with fleshed out lore
    -Choices have a lasting impact and may haunt/aid you down the road
    -Strategic combat

    Cons:
    -Story abrubtly ends in what kind of feels like the middle
    -While companions have their own stories, they just kind of follow blindly as long as you say the right thing once or twice    … Expand
  29. plastus82
    Nov 13, 2016
    1
    After pillars I expected something much better then this. I dont like spells system, i dont like flat characters, story is poor to :/... tu much dialogs, and they are to long and arent writen to good. What else... items in game, collecting them gives no fun at all - they have no soul. Till this day i remmebr when found armor made of human skin in BG2. Sorry this is not the game that i wasAfter pillars I expected something much better then this. I dont like spells system, i dont like flat characters, story is poor to :/... tu much dialogs, and they are to long and arent writen to good. What else... items in game, collecting them gives no fun at all - they have no soul. Till this day i remmebr when found armor made of human skin in BG2. Sorry this is not the game that i was expected.… Expand
  30. monkeyking95
    Nov 13, 2016
    9
    I normally cannot connect with isometric RPGs (I mean I was born in 1995 for god's sake) but this one grabbed for some reason. I played through the entire main campaign as an arse-hat and now I am eager to be virtuous on my second play-through and unlock EVERY EDICT. I seriously recommend this to every fan of fantasy RPGs. I may even have to give Pillars of Eternity a third chance toI normally cannot connect with isometric RPGs (I mean I was born in 1995 for god's sake) but this one grabbed for some reason. I played through the entire main campaign as an arse-hat and now I am eager to be virtuous on my second play-through and unlock EVERY EDICT. I seriously recommend this to every fan of fantasy RPGs. I may even have to give Pillars of Eternity a third chance to impress me. If I had one gripe, I would love full voice over work though I understand the lack of it may be due to budget constraints (or maybe my game is buggy?)… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

71
#71 Best PC Game of 2016
34
#34 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 67 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 67
  3. Negative: 0 out of 67
  1. RPGamer
    Apr 4, 2017
    70
    Tyranny, is fun little throwback to an older style of game. It does it well and it does it without having to cash in on a particular brand or nostalgic sentiment. It presents a brand new world in a compelling and understandable way. It showcases a much more nuanced take on being the bad guy than games tend to do. I found myself reminded more of Unrest than Baldur's Gate while playing this game and that is a good thing.
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  2. PLAY! Zine
    Feb 20, 2017
    90
    If you are tired of same old fantasy setting in RPGs, you will absolutely fall in love with Tyranny. Another great isometric RPG from Obsidian.
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  3. games(TM)
    Jan 27, 2017
    80
    It may sound like the weight of the game’s criticism lies too heavily on its story, but that’s where Obsidian has decided to focus its efforts. It doesn’t do anything to ultimately spoil what is a great classic-style RPG, and should be considered if you enjoyed Pillars Of Eternity but wouldn’t consider classic RPGs your typical sort of gaming experience.
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