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. 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
  2. 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.
  3. boogiesmeister
    Nov 22, 2016
    0
    this game should be called "endless wall of text". I like story-rich RPGs, but in this game there is almost no voice acting and a TON of walls of text. I fell asleep before I managed to get thru character creation. Refunded!
  4. SanctumRevel
    Jun 17, 2017
    5
    After a considered amount of time and thoughts about this game i can say for sure that there is a lot of misconseption surounding this game first it would seem that this game is a choise driven altering game,, but it's really not most of the choises the game forces you to choose one or the other after that it s kill her spare her and other useless dialogues it has a very good consept ofAfter a considered amount of time and thoughts about this game i can say for sure that there is a lot of misconseption surounding this game first it would seem that this game is a choise driven altering game,, but it's really not most of the choises the game forces you to choose one or the other after that it s kill her spare her and other useless dialogues it has a very good consept of being a tyrant and enjoyng to do so as one and at the same time it s over before you know it it felt to me more like early access game… Expand
  5. Thilus
    Nov 30, 2016
    7
    TL;DR, a decent game which I'm rating slightly higher than Pillars of Eternity. It manages to fix some of PoE flaws, while developing a bunch of its own. Just another average RPG, seemingly suggesting that the era of AAA isometric role-playing games is slowly coming to an end. Very minor spoilers ahead.

    Pros: + Story - some say it's rushed at the end (maybe a little), but I liked it.    TL;DR, a decent game which I'm rating slightly higher than Pillars of Eternity. It manages to fix some of PoE flaws, while developing a bunch of its own. Just another average RPG, seemingly suggesting that the era of AAA isometric role-playing games is slowly coming to an end. Very minor spoilers ahead.

    Pros:
    + Story - some say it's rushed at the end (maybe a little), but I liked it. The lenght is ok (around 30-35 hours), but I'm guessing Obsidian left something for upcoming DLCs or possibly a next installment (depending on sales).
    + Main character development - I like the fact that you can get quite powerful, and it feels. In PoE you were a character of legend, yet everybody kicked your butt at every turn. Here, you can get powerful enough to smother every opposition, even though fight still seem challenging at times (difficulty level Hard and above).
    + Being bad - it is the centerpiece of this whole game. In other games being good or bad means that you have to act like a boy-scout or a complete douchebag. You never get to be truly malicious, unless you take high-school standards and consider bullying others an act of evil and not misguided duchebagery. In Tyranny being evil means what it should, like you're doing your job for a steel-fisted tyrant. That is good.
    + Spell-system - Very cool. You combine runes to create your own versions of spells. Playing as a mage, I really had fun with this.

    Cons:
    - Only 4 character party - Why?! Apart from the fact that there are only 6 NPC playable character in the game, I see no reason to make the party so small. BG had six, PoE had six, and here we have four. What's worse, neraly all characters are pretty bland. I remember Planescape: Torment had only 6 NPC characters, but they were so brilliantly written that it didn't matter in the least.
    - No freeroaming - That ticked me off. You can only get to new places by receiving a quest. You cannot just wander around the map, because... we, f*** you, that's why. Also, during one gameplay you won't be able to visit all the places at once. For example, I played with a mage and there was this Burning Library, a place where a lot of arcane knowledge is stored. I though, allright! I'm gonna leave that for dessert. Then the game cut me off, and I couldn't go to the Burning Library no more. I mean, WTF?! It's not like it burned down completely. Even the neding said it still burned. Damn.
    - Skill dihharea - There are just TOO. MANY. SKILLS. You have 5-6 skills from leveling up. 3-6 skills from your companions. 6-10 skills from fractions. Even more skills from your artifacts, and then there are, of course, spells. All in all you have a s**tload of skills, and you won't be using more than 20% of them (excluding spells, because those you craft yourself to you liking).
    - Boooooring item system - What is this - Diablo 3? You find so much useless junk I just can't believe it. The loot system is just slightly better than in PoE, but it is still pretty bad. And don't get me started on those artifacts. They are often worse than regular stuff. What the hell?! I remember finding a +2 sword in the first Baldur's Gate - genuine excitement. Here, after I find an artifact, I ask myself why do I even bother looking at its stats for the hundreth time.

    I originaly gave PoE a 7/10, and I thought about giving this game an 8, which would place it in the green zone, but even though it's slightly better than PoE I just can't force myself to do it. Seven it is. You might like it, you might not, but it's certainly worth a look.    … Expand
  6. DreamCore
    Nov 13, 2016
    5
    If you like reading walls of text, then by all means this is for you. There is so much to read in this game. Text, text, text. Did I mention there's lots of text in this game? At one point I was stuck in text dialogues for 15 minutes. I mean seriously, I thought I bought a game and not a bloody book. If I wanted to read this much text I would buy a book, not a game.

    Most of the    If you like reading walls of text, then by all means this is for you. There is so much to read in this game. Text, text, text. Did I mention there's lots of text in this game? At one point I was stuck in text dialogues for 15 minutes. I mean seriously, I thought I bought a game and not a bloody book. If I wanted to read this much text I would buy a book, not a game.

    Most of the dialogues doesn't have voice overs (Pillars of Eternity had by far more voice overs) either which forces you to read all this damn text or you wont have a clue as to what's going on. What's more annoying is that many conversations have mixes of dialogues with and without voice overs which is super annoying. Same with the "painted" cut-scenes. It's like they had to leave out voiceovers because of a very limited budget.

    About five hours into the game it is all completely linear without any choice or side quests whatsoever (hopefully that will change).

    Vertict. Don't buy if you don't want to spend hours and hours of reading text...    … Expand
  7. Suhoi_Kaktus
    Mar 7, 2022
    10
    One of the best Obsisan RPGs here. Tyranny is really re-playable, in first 2 hours you will make decision that cut half of game content, and some other choises can lead you to different road with different locations and quests. This game is not about many ways to solve the situation, usually you have only genocide path. But some solutions in this game will change a lot. (like i saidOne of the best Obsisan RPGs here. Tyranny is really re-playable, in first 2 hours you will make decision that cut half of game content, and some other choises can lead you to different road with different locations and quests. This game is not about many ways to solve the situation, usually you have only genocide path. But some solutions in this game will change a lot. (like i said before). And a lot of other thing that was written in other reviews. 10.… Expand
  8. Mxm0
    Nov 11, 2016
    7
    Being the sort of person who loves the great isometrics RPGS including (the fallouts, the baulders, divinity OS, etc, wasteland was ok too..) I should I have loved this game, but I got that grose feeling of 'there's no way I'm going to want to finish this.

    It's simply an issue of using a terrible old engine being used in 2016 to make a game, this feels like Baulder's Gate, in a bad way,    Being the sort of person who loves the great isometrics RPGS including (the fallouts, the baulders, divinity OS, etc, wasteland was ok too..) I should I have loved this game, but I got that grose feeling of 'there's no way I'm going to want to finish this.

    It's simply an issue of using a terrible old engine being used in 2016 to make a game, this feels like Baulder's Gate, in a bad way, in the dated way. It does not even look like the anti-aliasing works, and 1440p looks like 1080.. Obsidian should have bitten the bullet and upgraded to a new engine, IMO opinion this game is ruined by it's engine and I feel sorry for the developers who were stuck with it.

    Otherwise, if you can handle that, the RPG mechanics of it are as solid as any game. I'd also like to add the 'pause combat' is far less favoured overall by gamers than 'turn based combat' (if that's the choice of two), look at the success of the XCOMs or Divinity OS for example.    … Expand
  9. chicot
    Dec 1, 2016
    0
    insanely slow, the combat is not a combat. good for non english speakers to pick up on some of the language.its a pretence but not a game. again, it is very good for people who learn english.
  10. everin
    Feb 6, 2017
    6
    TIER 3

    + Very interesting worldbuilding -- culture, locations, set pieces, and rules to magic all have compelling elements that excite and drive the player forwards. + The branching storytelling feels good on a first run-through (though my other concerns push me away from any subsequent playthroughs). ? The gameplay is basic and serviceable. The exploration doesn't at all try to build    TIER 3

    + Very interesting worldbuilding -- culture, locations, set pieces, and rules to magic all have compelling elements that excite and drive the player forwards.
    + The branching storytelling feels good on a first run-through (though my other concerns push me away from any subsequent playthroughs).
    ? The gameplay is basic and serviceable. The exploration doesn't at all try to build on the genre, in fact feels tacked on after the fact. The combat is alright.
    - Regardless of how interesting the world is, it's all delivered in mostly bland exposition. It seems the writers at Obsidian are more interested in building out all the extra details and far less concerned with delivering those details in a meaningful way to the player -- a style of writing that isn't even defensible in novels.    … Expand
  11. Mies
    Nov 12, 2017
    4
    As a big RPG fan I was looking forward to play this game. However, the first 2 hours felt like someone was explaining the complex political structure of a country, wherein I could not really relate to the story. Everything has a rich history and it seems important to know this for a full game experience. The fact that it’s story-rich is nice, but I felt completely lost in anAs a big RPG fan I was looking forward to play this game. However, the first 2 hours felt like someone was explaining the complex political structure of a country, wherein I could not really relate to the story. Everything has a rich history and it seems important to know this for a full game experience. The fact that it’s story-rich is nice, but I felt completely lost in an incomprehensible story. As a result the countless blocks of text that have more references than an average Wikipedia page do become annoying and hard to get into.

    Another problem I have with this game is the combat system, which is real-time, but I felt like it would be way better to make it turn-based as it is not clear what will happen when. The auto-pause option does not provide an equal experience to that.

    As a final note I'd like to say something positive about the game and that is that I did appreciate the rich and worked out possibilities for character developing. And as a whole the game seemed a lot better than its “precedent” ‘Pillars of Eternity’.    … Expand
  12. lastcorn
    Mar 7, 2017
    4
    Tyranny promises a game where you can play as a bad guy, a Judge Dredd type of character who's the judge the jury and the executioner. But what you really get to be is everyone's fetch boy.
    The world is somewhat interesting it's a shame you get to visit almost none of if, only some dungeons, camps and small villages.
    The story is shallow and rushed with an ending that's merely setting    Tyranny promises a game where you can play as a bad guy, a Judge Dredd type of character who's the judge the jury and the executioner. But what you really get to be is everyone's fetch boy.
    The world is somewhat interesting it's a shame you get to visit almost none of if, only some dungeons, camps and small villages.
    The story is shallow and rushed with an ending that's merely setting up for a sequel.
    Most characters are uninteresting and some of the companions are almost something you'd read in a fan-fiction.    … Expand
  13. falmavar
    Feb 26, 2018
    1
    There is nice cartoon graphic, soft game-play and good setting. But the storyline and the atmosphere is very bad. Fantasy is some sort of middle-ages with magic. Here I see modern peoples with modern problems and modern moral that by some reason have armors and swords. I cant immerse in this game. Don't recommend.
    P.S. Sorry for my English.
  14. clarky
    Sep 8, 2017
    0
    Forced Cutscenes mean that I gave it 30 seconds, still mashing away on the keys and the introduction kept going.... kept going.... kept going. Unfortunately it kept going for longer than I have patience. Alt+F4. 1/10. Please learn to add "Skip this **** with any key".
  15. PowerGamer
    Jan 13, 2021
    3
    Low quality, soulless, garbage RGB.
    Maybe something that would have been just meh in 2005, certainly not anything special even by 2016 standards.
    At least I got it for fee from Epic games.
    Nothing like "Pillars of Eternity", save your time and money. Too many better RPGs to play.
  16. Umadbro
    Mar 22, 2021
    7
    It's short forgettable and unfinished but not the worst thing you can pickup.
  17. RMDsilva
    Jan 21, 2018
    7
    Good, but not fantastic...
    Unfortunately, it's a game that promises a lot but doesn't really deliver much.
    It's Pillars of Eternity - slightly refined, with a worse story. My main issues with it is that the premise of "Evil has won" don't really affect you that much.. the main "paths" are mostly cosmetic with some very 2d villains. You feel a lone actor against a bizarrely passive    Good, but not fantastic...
    Unfortunately, it's a game that promises a lot but doesn't really deliver much.
    It's Pillars of Eternity - slightly refined, with a worse story.
    My main issues with it is that the premise of "Evil has won" don't really affect you that much.. the main "paths" are mostly cosmetic with some very 2d villains. You feel a lone actor against a bizarrely passive world.
    Don't promise choices if choices don't matter - don't build up ambience that doesn't deliver.

    However! On the positive side, companions and the world itself are pretty interesting creations - it's actually a shame we don't get to explore it that much (unless the DLCs hold more..?).
    Combat was also fairly pleasant, even though I managed to get through it with a useless lead character (leadership ftw?).    … Expand
  18. BaddoSpirito
    Dec 3, 2016
    7
    Starts excellent, ends weak. The world setting is pretty original and the game starts out really good in terms of story and dialogue which I think is the most important part of an rpg. Unfortunately, the story feels very rushed and shallow after the first 6-8 hours. The story could have been far better if they spent more time on it.

    The combat/character mechanics are similar but    Starts excellent, ends weak. The world setting is pretty original and the game starts out really good in terms of story and dialogue which I think is the most important part of an rpg. Unfortunately, the story feels very rushed and shallow after the first 6-8 hours. The story could have been far better if they spent more time on it.

    The combat/character mechanics are similar but somewhat different from Pillars of Eternity. I would say they are ok. The main problem I have with the mechanics is imo, mages and leather armor are overpowered. This makes replays less enjoyable if you are playing on higher difficulties.

    Overall I would recommend it. I think most rpg fans will enjoy at least the first playthrough which takes around 12-16 hours. It just feels a bit disappointing because this had the potential to be so much better.    … Expand
  19. teedeedubya
    Jan 22, 2018
    4
    It's not just like pillars of eternity ... at all. It's short, incomplete and unbalanced. It has the makings of an amazing game and has a great story. A generally unexplored perspective that leaves the player at a cliff hanger.

    I'm just going to go down the list of all the reasons on why you shouldn't play/buy this game. - it's short for an RPG and even shorter when you consider the    It's not just like pillars of eternity ... at all. It's short, incomplete and unbalanced. It has the makings of an amazing game and has a great story. A generally unexplored perspective that leaves the player at a cliff hanger.

    I'm just going to go down the list of all the reasons on why you shouldn't play/buy this game.
    - it's short for an RPG and even shorter when you consider the price at release
    - the classes are insanely unbalanced. I won't say which because "spoilers".
    - there's a tiny number of side quests.
    - Additionally, there are no side quests exploring your companions unless you purchase the DLC. Admittedly, there's quite a bit of dialogue that one can choose to have (AND SHOULD) to understand them better.
    - the spires were either an afterthought or incomplete. It's so obvious it hurts.
    - despite how this game is advertised.. It's fairly linear.
    - Complexity and difficulty were lacking.
    - First playthrough was 18 hours and I tried to stretch it as far as I could. There's some replay value to this game and I'll probably do it again just to explore the other major faction. But judging by the first playthrough, I doubt it'll add much value.
    - It felt like they were trying to pull an EA. And by that I mean, release an unfinished game and make more money off of several DLCs. I thought Paradox was better than that. 0_0

    I don't know how this got a 7.8... It doesn't deserve it, tops this is a 6 out of 10.

    There is some good in this game.

    - I enjoyed the story.
    - I enjoyed the thought of using the spires.
    - I loved the companions and their back stories. I hated how EA, eerrr I mean, Paradox didn't' exploit that.
    - I enjoyed the concept of archons and what role they played in the world.
    - I love RPGs in general.

    Don't buy this game.    … Expand
  20. VoxMare
    Mar 16, 2017
    5
    Разочарование.

    Очень жаль, что люди, которые причастны к Торменту, Вампирам и Аркануму(Боярский, как я понял, перешел к Обсам так раз во время разработки Тирании), к первым фолалутам -- выпустили такую лажу. Может, в Обсидианах уже и не осталось былой гвардии? Или у былой гвардии не осталось сил? В любом случае, все очень плохо. К огромному моему разочарованию это игра исключительно    Разочарование.

    Очень жаль, что люди, которые причастны к Торменту, Вампирам и Аркануму(Боярский, как я понял, перешел к Обсам так раз во время разработки Тирании), к первым фолалутам -- выпустили такую лажу. Может, в Обсидианах уже и не осталось былой гвардии? Или у былой гвардии не осталось сил? В любом случае, все очень плохо.

    К огромному моему разочарованию это игра исключительно рпг про болтологию. Причем болтологию скучную -- это не Арканум и не Тормент, никаких интересных диалогов в игре нет. Выжить реально исключительно по проторенным дорожкам построения билдов. Уникальности нет, ролевая система куцая, боевка все такой же ад микроконтроля. Проблема с вещами, как в какой-нибудь дьябле. Теперь она больше напоминает тормент, чем балдуру, но в торменте был классный оригинальный сюжет+вариативность. Тут лишь оригинальный сюжет+вариативность. И без классных диалогов.

    И да, игра хороша бывает порою, но я не могу воспринимать такую боевку после ДОС. Если в ДОС2 будет похожая вариативность -- то Тирани заведомо проиграет ей.

    Когда обсидианы проводили промо-кампанию по игре о ЗАВОЕВАТЕЛЯХ, поневоле ждешь хорошие бои. И когда пиарят создание заклинаний -- ждешь возможность их лучшего использования. Тут этого нет. Игра о завоевателях --обычная рпг и мы никакой не "вершитель", мы такой же мальчишка на побегушках, только с гордым именем.

    Тут плохо почти все. Неудобно контролировать группу, счетчик хп врагов просто ужасен, сюжет скучен(тормент, где же ты :с), нет минусов от отрицательных отношений с напарниками и фракциями(да! На это положили болт, даже если вы будете врагов всех и вся, у вас все равно будут бонусы!), орда бесполезных шмоток(просто иди в ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ с этим шмотодрочем), у которых даже характеристики неудобно сравнивать, невзрачная ролевка, которая продалась всем этим казуалам под "качка навыков под ваши действия", выпнув логичные и точно выверенные системы, магия, на которой акцент, уныла до безумия, где уровень хотя бы Магики, я не говорю о DOS уже. Враги -- люди, люди, непонятные пятна, люди, люди. Ужас.

    А напарники? ОНИ ЖЕ УНЫЛЫ! Ну, ок, Барик еще возможно неплох в своей задумке, но все остальные это просто ужас. И опять я вспоминаю Тормент, где были такие яркие личности, как раскаившийся суккуб, логичный рыцарь хаоса и летающий череп, или Арканум, где был забавный Вергиллий.

    Нельзя сказать, что плюсов нет, конечно же. Тут и красивая картинка, и классное создание персонажа, и не самый худший мир.. Но как же я разочарован всей этой игрой. Это просто дно по сравнению с любой другой рпг, из тех что я назвал в данном обзоре. Если вы изголодались по жанр -- лучше купите AOD    … Expand
  21. Broyax
    May 4, 2020
    3
    Tyranny nous plonge dans des contrées fraîchement envahies par un odieux tyran et le personnage que l'on incarne est au service du despote : en tant que scelleur (ou scelleuse) de destin, vous faites régner la loi et l'ordre et accomplissez la volonté de votre Maître... Au cours d'une introduction sommaire, on doit faire des choix sur le déroulé des opérations et les dernières offensivesTyranny nous plonge dans des contrées fraîchement envahies par un odieux tyran et le personnage que l'on incarne est au service du despote : en tant que scelleur (ou scelleuse) de destin, vous faites régner la loi et l'ordre et accomplissez la volonté de votre Maître... Au cours d'une introduction sommaire, on doit faire des choix sur le déroulé des opérations et les dernières offensives qui ont permis de conquérir la quasi-intégralité du territoire...

    A partir de là, on est libre de continuer à servir, de profiter (ou pas) de tensions au sein des deux factions principales de la tyrannie (encore des choix...) ou -pourquoi pas- d'aider plutôt l'autre faction antagoniste, c'est-à-dire les derniers résistants à l'invasion... ou alors de se mettre tout le monde plus ou moins à dos et d'opter pour le chaos...

    Sur le papier, ça a l'air très bien mais en pratique, on a bien du mal à s'immerger dans ce monde aux personnages bien ballots et aux dialogues interminables. Les factions, leurs chefs, les sous-factions et leurs enjeux respectifs sont bien expliqués mais on se demande régulièrement ce qu'on fait là : on ne se sent pas motivé ni pour faire le gentil, ni pour jouer le méchant, alors que le postulat de base nous glisse de facto dans la peau d'un exécutant... pour la tyrannie du despote.

    Les choix du début (une espèce de prologue très sommaire) nous importent peu puisqu'on lance le jeu pour la première fois et qu'on découvre à peine ce monde... et qu'on n'en a rien à battre. Dans un jeu de rôle, les choix importent sur des évènements auxquels on a participé personnellement mais ici, à peine débarqué et même en tant que simple "background" de notre "héros", de telles décisions nous semblent à côté de la plaque.

    La suite du jeu est très mollassonne et en fait, on se demande régulièrement quand est-ce que l'histoire va vraiment commencer... Bref, je me fais tellement chier que je dors sur le clavier... et c'est pourtant très inconfortable. Ce ne sont pas les combats qui vont y remédier : en temps réel avec pause, ils sont aussi confus que bordéliques et emmerdants. Les sorts, les potions, les bidules et les machins, sans compter les armes etc, font partie d'une pure surenchère de profusion d'éléments à n'en plus pouvoir : la quantité sur la qualité assurément. Les statistiques sont d'ailleurs étrangement compliquées, afin de faire croire à un système particulièrement chiadé... mais en pratique, on s'en tamponne.

    Les décors en 2D n'aident pas trop non plus et limitent de fait grandement la lisibilité de ces combats... C'est qu'il s'agit du même moteur Unity utilisé pour Pillars of Eternity et que la 3ème dimension manque décidément cruellement. Même si le jeu reste correct techniquement (pour un truc vu d'en haut) et se révèle assez joli de par sa direction artistique très soignée. Ce qui n'empêche pas des temps de chargement nombreux et étonnamment longs !

    L'interface générale et les menus restent en tout cas bien étudiés (la traduction est impeccable), bien présentés et agréables à l'usage alors que la musique est fort sympathique pour sa part. Tyranny demeure en tout cas un jeu qui semble bien écrit... oui, qui "semble" bien écrit si on arrive à faire abstraction de l'ennui qu'il suscite... Pourtant j'ai expérimenté avec joie (et fini) un autre jeu vu d'en haut cent fois plus bavard au bas mot : le Torment d'Inxile !

    C'est évidemment déconcertant, car on sent le potentiel de ce Tyranny... quelque part. Sur le papier en tout cas...    … Expand
  22. C-Pu
    Feb 28, 2017
    6
    Does Tyranny live up to the standards that Pillars of Eternity set before it?

    Personally for me, the combat was one of the redeeming factors of this game, as it can be really brutal(i played on path of the damned difficulty), having to micromanage your party and try to get right characters to do the right things, tanks to taunt enemies away from your casters, casters to use heals and CC    Does Tyranny live up to the standards that Pillars of Eternity set before it?

    Personally for me, the combat was one of the redeeming factors of this game, as it can be really brutal(i played on path of the damned difficulty), having to micromanage your party and try to get right characters to do the right things, tanks to taunt enemies away from your casters, casters to use heals and CC the heavy hitting enemies, and damage dealers to well... kill the correct enemies or focus fire. Theres plenty of customization as all characters gain "talent" points after each level, allowing you to build them as you see fit, and a correct build for each character goes a long way if you are having trouble with combat.

    The same goes for spells, each and every spell can be customized to your liking, adding bouncing effects to CC spells, increasing radius of effects or such. Want to make your fireball spell cast two balls or even add frost effect to them? You can do that, and plenty more. And all characters can use spells, except the most advanced ones ofc, as they require a really high lore skill that is primarily found on mages.

    Later though, the game became really easy and i was surprised that even on PoTD difficulty, i was just mowing down huge groups of enemies and barely even getting wounds or damaged. So either it was me equipping my party correctly and using correct combo abilities or spells, or there could be a balancing problem, where the game is really difficult early, but gets super easy later. Even the bosses became pushovers(and btw, there aint many epic bosses just so you know). This happened at around level 13 mark, which is pretty far into the game.
    Sirin is OP btw... just sayin >.>

    For me though, the major problem was the story and the games length, and lets just be frank here. This game is NOT on par with PoE in terms of story, writing and quality. The main story is pretty much this: you are a puppet of a major **** theres 2 **** factions and they are both big ****s to everyone and each other. You can either side with one of the ****s and stay loyal to the major **** or kill all of them and try to throw the major **** off his/her throne. Theres a lot of politics involved and warfare. Sadly, when you feel like you are midway through the game and its starting to get interesting, the game just abruptly ends, suggesting that either this game was initially thought to be much longer, and they just didnt have the time to finish it, OR the ending is just a plain sequel bait. There is never any reveal of the major **** here, as he/she doesnt exist in this game, even tho he/she is referenced through out the entire game. The main antagonist is not even in the game... really?

    Theres not even side character stories that initially were hinted at. Many of your party members have troubled pasts that could potentially be fixed or explored. Like Bariks armor as an example, theres even dialogue that suggests that at some point you could maybe be able to help him remove it, but no such thing ever happens and its just kinda forgotten after a few pieces of dialogue. They just get a small mention at the epilogue, "Barik lived with his issues" mkaayy then game... missed opportunity.

    This game is approximately 20-30h long compared to PoEs 60h+, but one thing to say tho, is that the game CAN be replayed to possibly change some of the outcomes. But i cant say much about it, because i didnt bother to replay, as many choices are superficial at best. And yes, i save scummed to test. Id rather spend 100h to complete the full game and everything in it, than complete a 50h game and do most of the same things again that i did before. Personal preference i guess...

    Theres also some technical issues still present, that havent been fixed after PoE. Such as long loading times, pathing problems, AI not registering ability uses, and theres also some bugs that may not allow you to finish some quests etc.

    Also, i just couldnt help but roll my eyes like a hundred times during some of the dialogues, as the game constantly wants to remind you, that this games world is ruled by matriarchy social system. Most of the important characters are also female. And just to be clear, i have no problems with this setup or lore, but the writing was just so poor and it made me feel as if the writer wanted to inject his/her own political beliefs into the game. Thats not good, especially when it comes out forced. It immediately takes the player out of the experience when you are confronted by real life agendas in a game, that many use to escape from reality for a brief time.

    In the end, the game is ok, but it just doesnt live up to the standards that PoE set. It improves on combat and AI, but fails in other departments, such as telling a compelling, complete story and keeping you invested in it.

    So if you want a good dose of CRPG where you get your moneys worth, get Pillars of Eternity or better yet, wait for Divinity: Original Sin 2.    … Expand
  23. kiki78
    Jul 20, 2018
    7
    Has interesting story, pretty cool choices of rp. Story and writing wise its pretty cool.
    BUT
    Performance on high end PC is super bad, considering how cheap graphics looks, not even talking about animations. I wonder why obsidian uses this atrocious engine, in PoE, Tyranny, Deadfire - bad performance, cannot rotate cannot anything with camera, only zoom, slow loading, etc etc. UBER    Has interesting story, pretty cool choices of rp. Story and writing wise its pretty cool.
    BUT
    Performance on high end PC is super bad, considering how cheap graphics looks, not even talking about animations. I wonder why obsidian uses this atrocious engine, in PoE, Tyranny, Deadfire - bad performance, cannot rotate cannot anything with camera, only zoom, slow loading, etc etc. UBER atrocious combat AI just made me want to alt+f4 so many times, even worse than PoE 1. FFS!!!!!!! And many times feels like (or even worse) than some android game.
    What kept me going (same as PoE) is nice writing, good characters and story, and interesting rp choices. Because of this i give 7/10 - but honestly it should be probably 4/10 for whole quality feel.

    P.S. its about same with deadfire, using still again same crap unity engine, with all problems, even worse performance, slightly better AI (that must have been real coding challenge). Just makes me wonder why, obsidian, why...    … Expand
  24. Grahl1
    Aug 23, 2020
    6
    Tyranny excels in all areas, except in actually presenting any challenge to the player. Pretty much the standard these days. A great movie, a mediocre game. It's what sells, I guess.
  25. Mizuiro
    Apr 25, 2019
    4
    Very boring game. Too much politics and names and kingdoms everywhere since minute one so you are overwhelmed and don't give a **** about the game lore. Gave up about 6 hours later, never ended it.
  26. Tarantula001
    Oct 23, 2019
    7
    A solid traditional RPG, but gives you the opportunity to play from the villains side, while not mind blowing, it's not boring either, good value for money.
  27. KarolP
    Jan 2, 2021
    7
    Complex, interesting and even quite complicated (at the beginning) story, with plenty of decisions to make. Most of them connect with some consequences, but not every is justified. World's creation is quaint, but its cut into little pieces with loading between them (which are definately too long). Fight looks the same through whole game, especially enemies are boring. Audio would beComplex, interesting and even quite complicated (at the beginning) story, with plenty of decisions to make. Most of them connect with some consequences, but not every is justified. World's creation is quaint, but its cut into little pieces with loading between them (which are definately too long). Fight looks the same through whole game, especially enemies are boring. Audio would be evaluated nicely, but most of dialogues do not have their voice actors. Through whole game we are sentenced to digging through the text, what would be okay in that kind of the game (it is really full of story background feature), but IMO more dialogues should be readen. Graphics style is attractive at first, but many locations are repeteable. Their look is nice only in far shoot, after zooming it is not that great. Character models are poor.

    Despite some worse moments during campaign (Old Walls are more than boring), I am pretty sure it is exciting game for fans of classic RPGS with isometric projection.    … Expand
  28. bancandrei
    Jan 24, 2021
    6
    The good: The setting. It feels fresh, meaning there is a lot to discover and a sense of wonder and excitement, what fantasy should be.
    The bad: The combat. This really drags. Anyway, real-time with pause just seems to me like the worst of all worlds. Some people complain about too much text in this game, I complain about too much combat.
    The ugly: It's really weird that it has some    The good: The setting. It feels fresh, meaning there is a lot to discover and a sense of wonder and excitement, what fantasy should be.
    The bad: The combat. This really drags. Anyway, real-time with pause just seems to me like the worst of all worlds. Some people complain about too much text in this game, I complain about too much combat.
    The ugly: It's really weird that it has some voice acting for some characters for some lines. Just go all in one way or another. All text for an old school cRPG is not that bad.    … Expand
  29. ErhanCeylan123
    Jul 17, 2020
    7
    Unsatisfaying final act and ending,short game time for a role-play game.Some game choices are not make sense.
  30. PenetratorGod
    Feb 23, 2023
    7
    The only isometric role-playing game from Obsidian that's worth playing. After a terrible Pillars Of Eternity experience, at least Tyranny was a game I was able to get to the end and finish.
  31. theirrelephants
    Feb 6, 2023
    6
    This game is relatively (it's an RPG, so it's still a doozy) short, but was clearly meant to be played several times.

    I love the unique setting, the writing was... okay (there was no reason to have the INCREDIBLY out of place lezbos in Lethian's Crossing just so you could have lesbians in your game, obsidiots). There was also more than one occasion of a character talking to me about    This game is relatively (it's an RPG, so it's still a doozy) short, but was clearly meant to be played several times.

    I love the unique setting, the writing was... okay (there was no reason to have the INCREDIBLY out of place lezbos in Lethian's Crossing just so you could have lesbians in your game, obsidiots). There was also more than one occasion of a character talking to me about another character that I had not only not met, but WHO HAD NOT EVEN BEEN MENTIONED as if I was supposed to know who they were.

    The combat mechanics were somehow more annoying than poes.

    Also, there should have been UI scaling. I have a 4k monitor, and I had to set my resolution lower because I could barely see the buttons.

    Lastly the companions have neat portraits but they use the same ugly low budget 3d model they use for generic npc #3513 when you're talking to them, for no reason I can discern.    … Expand
  32. Ogurechka
    Dec 20, 2022
    7
    Cool, but small and short game. The spirit of Obsidian is felt in the plot in this every way. In general, before playing Tyranni, you need to understand that this is primarily a story game, and then an RPG. Despite this, the game has an interesting spell system. But it’s has problem with clothes, it makes sense to bother in equipment only at high difficulty levels, at low ones it’s boringCool, but small and short game. The spirit of Obsidian is felt in the plot in this every way. In general, before playing Tyranni, you need to understand that this is primarily a story game, and then an RPG. Despite this, the game has an interesting spell system. But it’s has problem with clothes, it makes sense to bother in equipment only at high difficulty levels, at low ones it’s boring and pointless. Naturally, there are no complaints about the plot and forks, and despite the fact that many write that you won’t win back a good character here, this is not entirely true, you just need to be a little more cunning to understand how))) I was very upset by how the game ends, we can only hope that the sequel will come out and we will see the end. In general, this RPG is not for everyone, but she made a fuss for a reason.… Expand
  33. Geralt123
    Jul 18, 2023
    5
    Unbalanced final boss fights.

    While the game itself is ok, the final boss fights (you have to do 2 fights in a row) have a horrible balancing, way too hard. I had to switch to easy mode. It was very disappointing.

    Are the devs dumb? How can you make the final fight so hard?
  34. BoomerZoomer
    Jul 19, 2022
    7
    sidequests in this game feel like main story quests in any other CRPG same with any locations and i think this alone tells a lot

    But every combat encounter is you hacking enemies to death no tactics involved after throwing few buffs in
  35. hileger
    Dec 27, 2022
    7
    лучше пиларсов лучше пиларсов лучше пиларсов лучше пиларсов лучше пиларсов
  36. Awanka
    Apr 12, 2023
    8
    This is an excellent RPG with a great story and setting. The world is similar to Mistborn or The Black Company, where the bad guys have won and established an empire of crushing domination, and you work for them. It can be off-putting initially to be following orders from terrible people, but once you accept the bleak and hopeless setting for what it is, the fascinating and well-writtenThis is an excellent RPG with a great story and setting. The world is similar to Mistborn or The Black Company, where the bad guys have won and established an empire of crushing domination, and you work for them. It can be off-putting initially to be following orders from terrible people, but once you accept the bleak and hopeless setting for what it is, the fascinating and well-written backstory of the world begins to sprawl out before you, and you are given free reign to make open-ended choices, including working for the rebels or yourself.

    This is what fantasy writers would call a high-magic setting. Magic is all-powerful here, similar to the Glen Cook novels, and mages can cast spells that devastate armies. It plays a significant gameplay role with one of the most elaborate magic systems I've seen since Morrowind or Ultima 8. You can craft spells using various runes that describe the various qualities such as cold, area of effect, and modifiers. It's pretty great, and necessary for winning on the higher difficulties.

    The only real downside was some of the squirrelly combat. Enemies make a bee-line for your characters with the lowest armor. This might make sense, but it throws a wrench into tactical combat dynamics. It would be like if you're playing an MMO, and every enemy immediately targets the healer. There's also a lack of enemy variety, as 90% of your opponents are enemy humanoids.

    I've played every RPG Obsidian has released, and this is my favorite. My experience was also wonderfully bug-free.    … Expand
  37. tontonac
    May 16, 2022
    10
    Amazing RPG, with great universe, characters, choices, story... It is really memorable.
    A bit short, but what Obsidian did with very little money and people (even compared to PoE1 and 2) is really awesome.
    Voice acting is really expensive, so of course there is very little (wich is very good for everyone that doesn't speak English natively, 90% of humankind, because English voices with    Amazing RPG, with great universe, characters, choices, story... It is really memorable.
    A bit short, but what Obsidian did with very little money and people (even compared to PoE1 and 2) is really awesome.
    Voice acting is really expensive, so of course there is very little (wich is very good for everyone that doesn't speak English natively, 90% of humankind, because English voices with Chinese or Spanish text is a chore) please look at the game budget. Also, don't play classic CRPG if you don't like reading, should be obvious.    … Expand
  38. WanderinMelmoth
    Nov 7, 2022
    5
    Tyranny has one major flaw that drags it down: it's real-time with pause. I hate rtwp - it's a terrible concept, it was terrible in Baldur's Gate and it's terrible now.

    The basic idea is pretty good. You are evil. The question is how much so? That was a brilliant idea instead of the typical fantasy trope of saving the world. A bit short though. Don't expect an epic game here, you    Tyranny has one major flaw that drags it down: it's real-time with pause. I hate rtwp - it's a terrible concept, it was terrible in Baldur's Gate and it's terrible now.

    The basic idea is pretty good. You are evil. The question is how much so? That was a brilliant idea instead of the typical fantasy trope of saving the world.

    A bit short though. Don't expect an epic game here, you should beat it within 20 hours, which isn't long for an RPG. The devs argued with replay value, but I still think 20 hours is too short and replay value is not valid for everyone. Hence 5 out of 10. It just made the "average" mark.    … Expand
  39. Pmstz
    Jan 30, 2023
    6
    Nice RPG game.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  40. Bushido_DZ95
    Mar 20, 2023
    2
    According to the description, the game deserves attention and I was looking forward to it. The graphics didn't matter to me, although I have to admit that it looks very bad.
    It would be possible to close your eyes to all the disadvantages of the game if it were not for the combat system. This is the level of browser games. God, there must be some limits...
  41. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    8
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»
  42. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    8
    Extremely interesting premise and writing, really sells the banality and logic of evil. Very interesting and influential narrative choices to be made. Very short with a sudden ending, not 100% committed to letting your characters stay evil. Combat is bland and empty, although custom spell system clear standout
  43. TruthSeaker
    Aug 15, 2023
    4
    The begining of the END for Obsidian.
    Pointless experiment.
    Terrible combat, extremely short, awful visuals.
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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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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