GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island

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Tafdolphin
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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Tafdolphin » Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:21 pm

POLITICS POST {assorted klaxon sounds}!!!!!

Turn away now if you have no interest in discussing the politics of a game taking inspiration from 17th Century Europe and it's, well, politics.

So is anyone else a little concerned with the colonialist overtones of this? The game's marketing spiel freely admits its taking its cues from 17th Century Europe which is a time period defined almost entirely to the casual observer by its aggressive, invasive colonisation. Setting a game here is not at all a bad thing: it's a period ripe for discussion and exploration within interactive media.

I think what's concerning me is the representation of the Natives. I mean for a start they're just known as The Natives. As far as I can see they aren't even given a name in the marketing copy. Their only other attributes are tropey as strawberry float: they live in tribes, they wear animal furs, they have a 'passion for nature' and they're darker skinned. It's all a little...offensively lazy? so far.

Sure there could be a vein of 'What if colonialism...is bad?!" running under the whole thing but that's not front and centre here. As far as I can see so far, this is a straight laced John Smith simulator.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Gemini73 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:39 pm

Preezy wrote:Looks quite good, but as I just don't have the time to start yet another new open world game it's getting added to my price-drop list.


My thoughts exactly

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by OrangeRKN » Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:53 pm

Tafdolphin wrote:Sure there could be a vein of 'What if colonialism...is bad?!" running under the whole thing but that's not front and centre here.


To be fair Taf the game is literally called "Greedfall", I sort of assumed that was the front-and-centre statement about what's driving the colonials.

I do want to play this, but won't have the time any point soon. I know you can side with the natives, and you play something of a diplomatic role, so I doubt very much that the game has any absolute "colonialism good" message. Whether the native population is portrayed with any nuance I am less confident, but I'd say at least that offensively lazy =/= offensively wrong. The stereotypes appear to apply equally across all of the factions from the trailers.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Tafdolphin » Mon Sep 09, 2019 3:19 pm

OrangeRKN wrote:
Tafdolphin wrote:Sure there could be a vein of 'What if colonialism...is bad?!" running under the whole thing but that's not front and centre here.


To be fair Taf the game is literally called "Greedfall", I sort of assumed that was the front-and-centre statement about what's driving the colonials.


I mean this is very true, yeah. :slol:

I do want to play this, but won't have the time any point soon. I know you can side with the natives, and you play something of a diplomatic role, so I doubt very much that the game has any absolute "colonialism good" message. Whether the native population is portrayed with any nuance I am less confident, but I'd say at least that offensively lazy =/= offensively wrong. The stereotypes appear to apply equally across all of the factions from the trailers.


But lazy stereotypes of white folks don't carry the weight that lazy stereotypes of non-white folks do.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by OrangeRKN » Mon Sep 09, 2019 3:31 pm

Sure, I think my point is that it doesn't appear to be a malicious portrayal.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Tafdolphin » Mon Sep 09, 2019 3:31 pm

Oh yeah, not malicious just more than a little tone-deaf. At the moment.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by jawafour » Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:30 pm



Gameplay has started to appear: this vid shows the PS4 version and covers the first couple of hours. Part 2 is now up, as well.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Monkey Man » Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:17 pm

Reviews - https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/greedfall

IGN - 8 (Review in progress)

With all there is to do, I may be only about halfway through this behemoth of an RPG. But I’m enjoying myself just about every step of the way. The Technomancer was disappointing, but I still wanted to see other games try the ambitious things it was attempting with more success - GreedFall delivers on that promise. There are still glitches, awkward character models, immersion-breaking re-use of assets, and an overall lack of polish that keep it from threatening Geralt’s crown, and I’ll need to find out how the story wraps up before I can pass final judgment on it. But I can already say this is going to be a crowd-pleaser for those of us who still shake our canes and talk about how the genre peaked a decade ago. We may have to eat our words before long.

https://uk.ign.com/articles/2019/09/09/greedfall-review

ACG - Buy



Recity Gaming - 8.2

Greedfall fills a void in character driven RPG’s, and delivers an experience worthy of comparison to some of the genre’s best.

https://rectifygaming.com/review-greedfall/

Venture Beat (Review in progress)

I’m invested enough in the way Greedfall’s fantasy world doesn’t shy away from brushing up against real history, its well-paced writing, and endearing characters to happily continue trucking through it, despite some of its technical shortcomings.

Two of its major aspects, character progression and narrative choice-making, will take some more time to get a full read on, but I will say I’ve run into some great scenarios so far that have made me feel like the choices I’m making in both of those areas will have real consequences. If that’s the case, Greedfall could be an RPG sleeper-hit.

https://venturebeat.com/2019/09/09/greedfall-review/

Destructoid (Review in progress)

Greedfall seemed particularly interesting to me, though it's hard to pinpoint why. I guess I've just been hankering for a solid RPG to come by and satisfy a hole left by Divinity Original Sin 2.

While perhaps not up to that same level, Greedfall has made a pretty great impression on me so far.

https://www.destructoid.com/review-in-p ... 6270.phtml

RPG Site - 8

I don't know if it's appropriate to think of Greedfall as a sort of substitute, merely as a replacement for some other RPG. While it shares several of the same trimmings, I ended up finding an experience that was unique and stands on its own merits. I feel like it's an easy game to criticize for lots of reasons that I wouldn't disagree with -- but I was thoroughly impressed with the handling of the setting, the tone of the narrative, the character interactions and how those meshed with the underlying systems and mechanics, that I simply found myself uninterested in clinging on too strongly to a list of imperfections. Greedfall is an ambitious game that punches above its weight, one that RPG fan owe it to themselves to try.

https://www.rpgsite.net/review/8967-greedfall-review

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by jawafour » Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:28 pm

Monkey Man wrote:(Reviews)

Oh boy! I had quiet hopes for this and it seems to be reviewing well!

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Gemini73 » Tue Sep 10, 2019 12:30 am

I almost wished it hadn't review well as I really like the look of it. Now I'll probably end up buying it much sooner. :fp: :lol:

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Photek » Tue Sep 10, 2019 12:55 am

I’ll wait for a sale or Gamepass. Looks great but I haven’t the time at mo.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Tafdolphin » Tue Sep 10, 2019 9:44 am

Eurogamer review has a large section on the colonialism of the game, which it finds...wanting.

I also have to talk about the colonisation-shaped elephant in the room. When asked about it, developer Spiders was quick to point out the theme chosen for its visual aesthetic, but the narrative writers did put a little more effort into the theme than that after all. You mainly negotiate peace between Teer Fradee's native population and the settlers, and the more quests you complete, the better you get to know the different native clans and the dealings they've had with the newcomers.

GreedFall does little to escape the problem central to its storyline - that you are part of a nation that just started settling on an island without permission, auspiciously under the cover of looking for a cure. While it strongly encourages kindness towards the natives, that's not just out of moral concern. You need something from them, and in order to get it, you have to gain their trust first.

There's nothing to explain why several factions thought to build large-scale settlements over 15 years or why they started trying to convert the natives to their faith. You only step in when these actions go too far, because the story can't acknowledge the real problem, which is that it isn't on the natives to seek compromise in the first place. Siora, the native princess in your party, regularly tells her people that "there is so much to learn from these people", but she's met with the argument I can only echo while playing GreedFall: what you learn is that colonisers use their technical advantage to simply take what they want, an entirely one-sided definition of profit. As the hero, De Sardet has a crucial role to play, and some of GreedFall's endings are so clichéd in legitimising them as the chosen one that my only spoiler-free comment is heaving a gusty sigh. Suffice to say that simply leaving is not an option.


Still an overall positive review though. Gets a Recommended badge and everything!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019 ... e-of-heart

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Jenuall » Tue Sep 10, 2019 12:08 pm

Sounds like a bit of a missed opportunity to either do something interesting or at least say something of value with regards to the colonialism side of things, which is a shame.

On the other hand until this week I had no idea this game existed and it looks like it may scratch some of my gaming itches whilst I wait for the next "AAA" RPG so there's a good chance I may end up grabbing this.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Photek » Tue Sep 10, 2019 12:49 pm

It's direct competitor would be The Witcher 3 but since I've finished that and Red Dead Redemption 2 (both masterpieces) I might get this earlier if I can't get on with Kingdom Come Deliverance and I'm not warming to it at all at the moment.

Oddly, DayZ is kinda scratching my RPG itch at the moment...

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Hulohot » Tue Sep 10, 2019 1:16 pm

Had a good few hours this morning. Very pleasantly surprised by the reviews too. Not many issues, maybe the camera being a bit floaty and movement not quite perfectly responsive but it seems solid and I can't wait to get to the island!

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Meep » Wed Sep 11, 2019 8:56 pm

The reviews seem to indicate that it is good but very buggy. I think I will wait for the kinks to be worked out and maybe a bit of a price drop.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Tafdolphin » Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:43 pm


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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by jawafour » Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:51 pm

Eurogamer has awarded a [Recommended] assessment.

GreedFall has more than its fair share of faults, and its curious mix of the sweet and the sour is far from a roleplaying revelation. But the elements that matter have been imbued with such love and care - so much so that I quickly forgave this ambitious RPG its shortcomings.

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by KK » Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:55 pm

Am I the only one that keeps initially reading the title of this thread as Grenfell?

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PostRe: GreedFall | PS4, XBO, PC | Explore and survive on a mysterious island
by Gemini73 » Sun Oct 06, 2019 7:33 pm

Been watching some gameplay vids of this and while I had planned to not buy anymore new games this year I have decided to buy this on PC (once I'm home from work) with the money I had originally set aside for GR Breakpoint.


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