[PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Game discussion
Post Reply
User avatar
christian
Posts: 1683
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:21 pm
Location: Houston, TX

[PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Post by christian »

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com
6OGtHku.jpg
6OGtHku.jpg (49.97 KiB) Viewed 1765 times
Announcement trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSZLrF657yo
E3 2014 trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3zXNn6YP-8
User avatar
christian
Posts: 1683
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:21 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: [PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Post by christian »

Been researching Richard Garriott's earlier works for a project I'm working on, and there's no doubt he was a visionary. Some of the Ultima games contain powerful ideas that have still to this day not been fully explored or built upon yet. And so I bought the game because of the grand claim that it would be his "returning to his roots" and as a show of support for his contributions to the industry. And because it showed up in the Steam sale.

But I was immediately hit by just how many great ideas there are in the game right now. Ideas that are carry overs from the Ultima games that should have never been allowed to fall by the wayside in the first place. Example: you begin the game by walking out onto a bridge where there's been a recent battle. There are bodies all over the ground. A first impulse of the modern RPG player is to go rifle through these corpses' pockets in search of goodies. But since this is still tutorial territory, a message pops up as soon as you do that, practically saying, "Aha! Caught you with your hand in the cookie jar! Now you're welcome to help yourself to these goods, but be aware that if someone sees you doing this, it might affect their disposition towards you."

Brilliant! I want to see more stuff like this in the game (not as explicit as this, mind you, but it was a tutorial after all. Also serving as a warning). The genre could use another kick in the pants like in what Ultima IV did back in the day.
User avatar
christian
Posts: 1683
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:21 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: [PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Post by christian »

Makes the game's subtitle all the more fitting.
User avatar
christian
Posts: 1683
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:21 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: [PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Post by christian »

I like that you don't know anybody's name until you either ask them, or somebody tells you what it is. So instead of seeing a bunch of names floating above people's heads, you see stuff like 'traveler' or 'guard'. Stuff like that. You have to actually talk to someone to find out their name. Once you do, then you'll see their name up above (if you have overhead names turned on). But not before.

That was always an easy way to tell who the important people were in an RPG. Go up to them and see if they have a unique name, and if they do, talk to them. Everyone else can be easily ignored. And that's not right, is it? That's why I'm so glad to see such an elegant and natural solution to the NPC foreknowledge problem here. I really hope people will pay attention to what this game is trying to do and take notes.

I also love the way conversation works in this game. It's such a delight to type a sentence into the dialog box and have an NPC understand and respond appropriately. It's just too good. Way too good. It's about time someone tried pushing hard for these kinds of systems again.
User avatar
christian
Posts: 1683
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:21 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: [PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Post by christian »

The Future of Gaming - Interview with Richard Garriott at NYCC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2&v=KxS1gC_xDFA
User avatar
christian
Posts: 1683
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:21 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: [PC] Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Post by christian »

RPG Codex review - http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=10940

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.ph ... st-5691201
BritishAccentsGetTheGirls wrote: It honest to god is the most toxic, cult-like, criminally corrupt and hypocritical community I've ever been part of. It makes me sick to think childhood heroes have sunk this low. The sociopaths, and the Real Money Traders, at least never aspired to better. But Ultima was supposed to teach a virtuous life.
It did anything but.
Post Reply