I got to check Runemaster out at Gamescom

[RedRalphWiggum]

Lucky ol' me got to have a look at Runemaster at Gamescom, so here are a few thoughts

I've never played any of these types games before (I've really only played map-based games or city-builders), but I found this surprisingly easy to get drawn into. I'm a moron in general when it comes to gaming yet even I could work out the general gameplay pretty quickly. It's pretty intuitive. I found it odd using a Playstation controller (urgh, consoles), but it worked very smoothly and navigating the terrain was dead easy. Combat was great, if perhaps a bit slow, but I expect that may be optimised before release. The storytelling aspect reminded me very much of playing a Choose your own Adventure book, definitely has a Scandinavian feel to it and provided a good narrative to compliment gameplay.

I only got to play for about 15 minutes, so I can hardly say I know the game inside out, but it's defintiely one I'd recommend people check out, even if, like me, these type of games aren't generally your thing.

 

[delra]

What did you do in the game?

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

What did you do in the game?

Killed Lars' bullies. Essentially, you customise your character, then run around and try and make sense of the storyline, while sometimes engaging in combat and so on

 

[delra]

And the world is really totally different every time? Like Diablo 2?

 

[mgoetze]

And the world is really totally different every time? Like Diablo 2?

I think it was always the same in the demo at Gamescom.

 

[TheArkayn]

I was lucky enough to try it out at GenCon. Had no idea Paradox was even there, sort of crapped my pants in excitement. Runemaster looks great, and I can't wait for the full release.

 

[aruon]

And the world is really totally different every time? Like Diablo 2?

I think it was always the same in the demo at Gamescom.

it may have been the same, though runemaster will have procedurally generated maps. it mainly depends on your choices made when building your character.

 

[Khanwulf]

I was lucky enough to try it out at GenCon. Had no idea Paradox was even there, sort of crapped my pants in excitement. Runemaster looks great, and I can't wait for the full release.

Likewise, and while I've generally given Runemaster a strong "meh" before, it was a really engaging 15 minutes. This while juggling my 4-year old, who, to his credit for taste insisted we go back for a second run....

My evaluation is similar to RedRalph: it plays kinda like a choose-your-own adventure, with challenging combat. The dialog was well-written and choices meant something--depending on what you pick you may get an extra fight, and follower, and you definitely will get modifiers to your social stats. I picked up "cautious" at one point. The map is semi-open-ended, isometric as in Diablo, and permitted tackling quests in my chosen order.

Challenging combat: having done two demos, I was able to progress to a giant spider, which presented a serious challenge and served as an area-gate as far as I can tell. After being beaten by the creature, it kicked me to the overhead map again with half-health. A subsequent encounter with a band of trolls spelled Game Over.

Another comparison that sprung to mind was Dungeon Siege, without the button-mashing.

I'll keep an eye on this one. The PS4 controller worked surprisingly well, also.

--Khanwulf

 

[Empress Matilda]

I just hope it works as well with keyboard and mouse as with a controller (unlike Skyrim)

 

[SolSara]

I just hope it works as well with keyboard and mouse as with a controller (unlike Skyrim)

It does, it's just that we had announced the PS4 version at GamesCom and thought it would be nice to show the gamers how well it works with a PS4 controller. It's fairly standard, left-click to move, space or mouse click to interact with objects and NPCs, 1-2-3-etc to open various menus, I for Inventory and so on. Would this be something you'd like to see a dev diary about?

 

[Empress Matilda]

It does, it's just that we had announced the PS4 version at GamesCom and thought it would be nice to show the gamers how well it works with a PS4 controller. It's fairly standard, left-click to move, space or mouse click to interact with objects and NPCs, 1-2-3-etc to open various menus, I for Inventory and so on. Would this be something you'd like to see a dev diary about?

Thats good
I was obviously in a bad mood when I wrote that. Been struggling with Skyrims UI too much recently
I'm happy to take your word for it
So long as it works ok its not of great interest. The best UI is one you don't have to think about

 

[SolSara]

Thats good
I was obviously in a bad mood when I wrote that. Been struggling with Skyrims UI too much recently
I'm happy to take your word for it
So long as it works ok its not of great interest. The best UI is one you don't have to think about

There's a couple of good mods that changes Skyrim's UI, I can't remember the one I use. I play Skyrim on my PC though, so if you play on a console perhaps you don't have access to them?

 

[Empress Matilda]

There's a couple of good mods that changes Skyrim's UI, I can't remember the one I use. I play Skyrim on my PC though, so if you play on a console perhaps you don't have access to them?

Just too lazy to search out the mods I used to use
Playing it again has reminded me how vital they were :laugh:

 

[Abnwtwtud]

Just too lazy to search out the mods I used to use
Playing it again has reminded me how vital they were :laugh:

SkyUI is the one you want. I didn't like it at first, but now I can't function without it.


EDIT: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863/?

That's the nexus link, but it can also be quickly found on the Steam Workshop.

 

[Empress Matilda]

SkyUI is the one you want. I didn't like it at first, but now I can't function without it.


EDIT: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863/?

That's the nexus link, but it can also be quickly found on the Steam Workshop.

Thats it thanks. Sorry for derailing the thread o

I watched some of the videos from Gamescon and it looked pretty good. A lot of replayability with the world and quests changing with your race and the choices you make. Reminded me a bit of Daggerfall but much prettier and the quest I saw looked very interesting

 

[Abnwtwtud]

Thats it thanks. Sorry for derailing the thread o

I watched some of the videos from Gamescon and it looked pretty good. A lot of replayability with the world and quests changing with your race and the choices you make. Reminded me a bit of Daggerfall but much prettier and the quest I saw looked very interesting

I actually got more of an Arena vibe from the game, just with prettier graphics and a different combat system.

 

[Pyoro]

After discovering Ragnarok / Valhalla (created sometime 1992 or something) it's the only game I can link it to. Norse mythology, check, randomly generated world check, quest-based gameplay, check, multiple starting classes, check, different worlds from Norse mythology, check ...
... unfortunately Runemaster so far as I'm aware of the game's mechanics loses by the facts that a) in Ragnarok you can encounter your previous "protagonist" as a ghost after his death (it features rogue-like elements, which is always nice) b) in Ragnarok you can transform into every type of enemy the game features (try survive as a rat) c) you can grow additional arms, eyes etc. So you could turn out to have 3 arms and 5 eyes by the end of the game.
Obviously it has the slight disadvantage of being like roughly 20 years old and somewhat ... dusty ... and ... simplistic ... in some departments, but hey, can't have everything ...

 

[MrNibbles]

I think it was always the same in the demo at Gamescom.

The game world was randomly generated at each start up during Gamescom, but there were some elements in it that was static to make a more controlled environment so that the players could experience the parts of the game we wanted to showcase.

Examples:
This town of Birka was always present
Some key quests always spawned at start up

etc..

But the world it self, was always randomly generated

 

[Nognir]

I had the chance to get a closer look at Runemaster at Gamescom and get to know the developers and I was very impressed by the game. Not only for its visual quality, but also the feel of the game. You have a lot of possibilities to shape your character, because every action in the dialogues has an impact to your stats.

Again, thank you very much for giving me insight in the game. Really looking for it, when it will be released.