Surprised by this gem

A sci-fi RPG game https://www.winterwolves.com/planetstronghold.htm
Skyway
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Surprised by this gem

Post by Skyway »

Sorry for being late to the party, but this game is really something special to me.
I won't write too much about myself, but suffice to say I love RPGs, but recent crop of PC RPG has devolved too much into cinematic cutscenes peppered with light gameplay elements. During one of my regular haunts on my favorite RPG discussion forum (RPGCodex) I came across a thread that recommended me to check out Winter Wolves Games. I was initially skeptical. The Sunday Morning cartoon art didn't agree with me since I'm not young anymore. Other posters dismissed it as 'a western attempt at emulating Japanese RPG and Bioware Romance.'

We all had a good laugh. We call it 'the decline', yes we were a bunch of old and bitter gamers in that forum. And that's how the story was supposed to end.
But I decided to go one step further and download the demo. I kept grinning as I read line after line, the setting was probably as generic as it can get. But something clicked together when the combat started. Statistics. Attacks per round. Damage range. Resistances. Weapon damage types.

This is gameplay.

I went further on and discovered access to 16 combat skills and 8 non combat..and saw the application of those in scenarios. Relationship responses that somehow made sense. And Phil. Oh, god, Phil. I can't stop laughing. This guy...he reminds me so much of someone I know. This is actually good.

:cry: This is really good/

Thanks guys. I bought the game. And spread the word. Hopefully people can learn to judge a book beyond its cover. I know it's a little late for praises. But it's a good game, I am eagerly awaiting the sequel even if I'm not done with the first game yet.

For the Empire!
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jack1974
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by jack1974 »

You know, today is my birthday and this is really a nice present! 8)
I must say that I followed the discussion on rpgcodex (I have the habits of searching with google to see if new reviews of my games pops-out), and when I read it, I laughed too. I don't mind critiques since they only help people to do better, even if I thought that some posts were a bit too much exaggerated :lol:

Anyway, I don't know if you checked Loren already, but know that Planet Stronghold sequel is already planned and will feature the same writer of Loren, so you won't see my average writing the next time!

p.s. when I wrote Philip it quickly became my favorite character of the story too! haha
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abnaxus
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by abnaxus »

Like OP, I also discovered Winter Wolves through that thread @RPGCodex, and I must say it's a very pleasant surprise (indeed, I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't discovered you people earlier!).

I played demo of Bionic Heart and Planet Stronghold, and didn't really expect to like them, yet I did and bought them afterward (also, very pleased to hear that both aforementioned games will have sequels!).

I don't mind the art style in Planet Stronghold, but I like the art in Bionic Heart much better. But as the OP mentioned, it's the gameplay that counts and Planet Stronghold delivers in droves. I haven't played a fun turn-based RPG in ages (not since, Neverend and Gods: Lands of Infinity, both quite obscure -if not completely forgotten- indie RPGs themselves).

So, thank you a lot for the game (and happy birthday as well! :wink: )

-abnaxus
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Aleema
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by Aleema »

Whooo! I saw the Codex thread as well, and I really appreciated the sincerity of this response. 2D games get a lot of flak, but the truth is, they're much more open to vivid gameplay since the resources don't take an entire team and millions of dollars to complete. You know what you want to do, and you do it. Indie games can be awesome that way, since a lot of AAA companies just want to stick with what's "safe."
Francis
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by Francis »

So here I was lurking around rpgcodex, found the infamous mass effect gaiden thread and my curiosity was piqued. Liked what I saw and figured I'd take a chance, was well rewarded and quite enjoyed my playthrough. Cheers for the game and am a guaranteed buyer for the sequel :)

Looked around rest of winter wolves games, ain't into visual novels so feel for the most part I'm not the target audience (rpgs for me plz! i like to have story with a combat gameplay element), but think I'll be giving Loren a try aswell as also seems to be a fun game that could suit my tastes.

Looking forward to more rpgs from this site in the future.
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jack1974
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by jack1974 »

Thanks! Well yes I do mainly story-based games, RPGs are the latest addition to my catalog :) Loren is a full-featured RPG, even more detailed/complex than Planet Stronghold even if it uses a more "casual" approach for the skills (skilltree and not numbers). The battles are more tactical with front/back rows and many strategies so I recommend you check it indeed 8)
Francis
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by Francis »

Ended up buying Loren and was totally worth every penny ^^

Hope stronghold and loren prove succesful enough to encourage ye to make more rpgs :)
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abnaxus
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by abnaxus »

Loren is out already? :o

I thought it was currently in beta. Well, I'll purchase it as soon as I'm ready with my current Planet Stronghold playthrough.
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jack1974
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by jack1974 »

Yes is still in beta but you can pre-order if you don't mind a few bugs. The game plot is complete though :)
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jack1974
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Re: Surprised by this gem

Post by jack1974 »

Francis wrote:Ended up buying Loren and was totally worth every penny ^^

Hope stronghold and loren prove succesful enough to encourage ye to make more rpgs :)
Thanks :) Yes I plan to make more in any case because I like doing them, even if they're really hard to make! so I think I will make 1-2 a year max and then during the "relaxing pauses" will do my other simpler games :mrgreen:
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