The Remarkable Philosophy of an RPG Everyone Forgot About
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- A philosophical game analysis of Obsidian's Tyranny CRPG. #gaming
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:25 The Narrative and Game Design
27:37 Philosophy and Analysis - Hry
wow what a cool game thanks for showing me this me
Anytime me
This will never not be funny man!
@@wolf1nsoul have to do it every time now hahaha
@@FranklyGaming Hehe you better!
Frankly gaming iceberg - they are triplets (1 making YT videos, 1 streaming and 1 working as a programmer).
Haven't forgotten, I just wish we'd get a sequel
A sequel would be so great unlikely it happens though with the initial reception and IP issues now 🥺
I don't want to hear it. Signed, a dragon age fan
@@jbear3478 how someone can still be a fan after 3 i dont understand. then i saw your face your the type of person that wouldve made 3 ughhhh....... just go eat razoblades
same, its not at all forgotten it is an amazing game, just left without a sequel
Same. Great game
You can absolutely subvert Kairos from the beginning by waiting a week before uttering the edict. I'll never forget it.
Such an awesome mechanic for sure, thank you for supporting the channel!
yep i really liked the rebel playthrough, it had such an amazing feel of being a subversive force fighting back against overwhelming odds
Which actually goes super well with the story of aubverting orders and decrees because it was originally an oversight by the devs but when it was discovered they left it in.
The name is Kyros, impudent heathen.
@@HomemdaFaina I like Gyros.
I always felt like Tyranny was/is meant to be the first chapter of a grander story.
KYROS WAS SUPPOSE TO MEET HIS END. But we got nothing after almost a decade :(
Despite being a newer game it has the feel of those classic RPGs we grew up with. Someone with a soup made tyranny.
@Ethos Terros To be fair a lot of the guys at Obsidian worked on the classics, so it makes sense their games have the same feel.
@@overscoresam948 Man, has it really been that long? 0_0
@@robcampion9917 Most of those guys had moved on by then, and especially now. Avellone had done some early work years ago on what would eventually become Tyranny though.
I really like games where you can talk the villain to death, and this is one of them, sort of! Basically, Tunon, your boss, can get pissed off with you for finding ways of weaseling around the spirit of Kyros' edicts while fulfilling the letter of them. Tunon eventually judges you himself, and you can point out that by his own standards, he has fallen short. As a result, Tunon abdicates his position as Archon to you, and he becomes your servant!
I love moments like that in games for sure too, tyranny is all about that. Thanks for watching!
i don't like this, it's too easy to convince him to abandon all that he stands for and submit to the player. it doesn't make sense for his character.
tunon built the empire and written its law with kyros, he was their most important and loyal servant. he believed in goodness of this law so much that he became a literal embodiment of it. he had centuries to ponder all the implications of it. such conviction surely requires more than a few lines of dialogue to break.
@@user-ei1kg4uf4z But his contributions aren't what's in question here. The point is that he follows the law to such a point that he can't NOT give up his position. If he refuses he can no longer believe himself that he's the perfect judge, defeating the point of being the perfect judge. The only choice he has is to admit defeat or make himself a hypocrite.
@@watchthis8O yes, one of the points of being able to convince tunon to give up on kyros' law and his position is to show that he upholds the law not for the sake of his own power and whatnot, but because he is convinced in its moral superiority, and he cares only about fairness, truth and his standards, and he is not a blind believer either. and i like this.
but i don't think he should be so easily defeated in the first place. again, he had centuries to ponder kyros' law, and it's his whole life and identity. i feel like, in this instance, the game cares more about pandering to player's ego and making a pretty narrative than about tunon's character. which may be a more pragmatic priority, but oh well.
i may be too critical and i may be wrong, i don't remember what exactly does player say to break tunon's belief, i just remember that it didn't sit right with me that he gave up so easily and didn't argue further. though it was safisfying the first time.
@@user-ei1kg4uf4z Although I agree with the sentiment, I prefer the player to have fun than the character to have fun, if you catch my drift.
I hope Obsidian will start a Kickstarter for Tyranny 2. One of my favourite games where you can actually play evil character not some caricature ❤
Such an underrated gem, thank you for supporting my channel!
Sadly they cant do it as they dont have the rights to Tyranny. Its owned by Paradox.
Since Obsidian was bought by Microsoft it lost it's independence. Tyranny IP was done for Paradox publisher. So obsidian will not do a sequel, Microsoft will not allow it, Obsidian working for a competitor. Only way I see this happening is Microsoft buying the Tyranny IP of Paradox buying Obsidian studios. It's
Sad but the only IP Obsidian owns is Pillars of Eternity and maybe Avowed (same universe), outer worlds is co-owned with Microsoft and all the other franchises belong to other publishers. Infinity Engine games (BG, IwD, P:T) are in the hands of Atari
Fallout is in the hands of Bethesda and Microsoft,
Arcanum went from Sierra to Activision
Temple of Elemental Evil is in the hands of Atari
Vampire is in the hands of Paradox
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic was in LucasArts, but Disney shut it down
Neverwinter Nights is in the hands of Atari, as other Forgotten Realms titles
Alpha Protocol is in the hands of SEGA
Pathfinder is in the hands of Paizo
Dungeon Siege is in the hands of Square Enix
South Park is in the hands of Ubisoft, Tyranny is in the hands of Paradox. So Obsidian can only realistically work on Fallout, as Microsoft now owns Bethesda too, Pillars of Eternity/Avowed, Outer Worlds and possibly Arcanum if Microsoft buys Activision. Or a brand new franchise IP.
@@Frencho9 Your comment on microsoft is wrong...Microsoft is literally fucking up because they allow their studios to do as they please. But yeah, the paradox owning tyranny is right.
@@Frencho9 Nah, Tyranny Ip belongs to Obsidian, Paradox just published it.
Tyranny is one of my all-time favorite RPGs for sure.
And while the game may be clunky in alot of places and I wish it was fully voiced it still blows most of the competition out of the water with the story and setting alone.
Truely an underrated gem of a game.
There is also a way to trick the edict of swords in the first act:
If you wait for 8 ingame days before proclaiming the edict, you get a full 365 days of time to conquer ascension hall. I love how the game accounts for that!
Was that a bug?
@@vivino100
I'd rather call it a useful oversight
@@vivino100 it was a bug, but the devs said it fit the spirit of the game and kept it in.
The whole "just abdicate" actually does fit.......if you choose to fight for the Tiers and not for Kyros, since there's usually a way to circumvent Kyros' Edicts that doesn't require huge bloodshed.
This is one of the interesting things about the Rebel path. Unfortunately, this path actively feels a bit......incomplete at times.
Ya I love the rebel path but it has its issues for sure, it’s great it’s an option though for sure. Thanks for the support!
I remember not doing the right missions to have the lore necessary for that option.
Most memoriable choice I ever made in a video game. I couldn't let my rebellion fall apart. No matter the cost.
I defeated Kyros, but I lost that game for sure.
I think the point of that option, and other similar ones like waiting out the time limit at the start, is to demonstrate that for all their power Kyros is still fallible.
One of the most interesting things about the rebel path is that it exists, and the game will remind you of this in the epilogue. The loopholes were in the Edicts the whole time. Kyros left the door open... did she want you to step through the entire time? And if so, just how far is he ahead of you in this game?
Is it possible to stay loyal to Kyros through the entire game? I remember wanting to, but in the final act, my character betrayed Kyros and convinced Tunon to join me, despite me actively trying to choose dialogue options to stay loyal to Kyros...
I only did one playthough, and it was right after the game was released, so I don't remember exactly what happened, but I'm pretty sure I did not become a good guy who "fought for the freedom of the Tiers" either. It was more like becoming an independent godking tyrant ruling over the Tiers with an iron fist, to oppose Kyros.
Tbh, this kind of "unwanted" outcome has happened in a lot of my RGP playthoughs where you aren't explicitly told what the outcome of each dialogue option is. Still remember killing Wrex in Mass Effect 1 despite trying my best to pick the dialogue to save him.
Nobody forgot Tyranny for those who played it. This is one of the best Obsidian work with Pillars of Eternity and Neverwinter Nights 2.
And most of its players base is eager to see more of this universe and game mechanics.
It’s a shame that this game wasn’t concluded properly. I truly think that this could’ve been a huge hit if Obsidian dedicated a lot of effort to this like they did for Pillars of Eternity.
I really wish this was PoE, in terms of how much time and budget went into it.
@@JewTube001 Ditto, given I never finished PoE due to the level cap kicking in so early. Ditto on PoE 2. Tyranny didn't have that issue and a much more compelling story where choices mattered more. Made me want to play it more for two reasons. Never understood the hype around PoE.
It was concluded, there's no reason to do a second as it would have to have seven times the size of the original game. All endings taken into account, you have either, world domination by Kyros where she basically rules everything, you have the good boy ending where you basically join the rebels and help them retake their land and Kyros isn't happy about that, then you have the other ending where you tell both sides to fuck off and kyros sends you, from the wind, a map of her entire realm with your symbol where you stand, basically granting you the independence you asked for and the Tiers asked for. So where do you go now? You wage war on a God? Sounds boring.
I can say one thing for the inventory: It's very useful to just sell everything you don't immediately need to the first merchant you come across. Firstly, it frees up space, and secondly, it'll give you valuable coin to spend if you find merchants with actually useful gear or items, or to spend on skill trainers or forging at the spires. Not counting the inventory quest tab from which you cannot sell, the characters' active inventory slots which can be actively used in combat, and artifacts which you also can't sell, I typically go around with only a dozen or so items. Important ones are the reviving shrooms and potions, and the consumables that give you more wit or resolve, because of the subsequent effect of increasing lore to be able to prepare more powerful and complex spells (hero potion [+2 all attributes], skycap mushrooms [+10 lore, +4 wits], and sableroot [+4 resolve]). Aside from that, its just brass and hide for upgrading light armor at the forge, sometimes a second set of armor for very specific enemies, and the Silent Archive and Fragment of Cairn's Brilliance (only if you complete their requisite quests of course) for the same purpose as consumables; increasing lore, and again, depending on the playthrough, maybe health potions and vagrant's chaw for extra healing or invisibility potions for, well, becoming invisible. Also I guess temporary extra armor/weapons in Act 1 & early Act 2 for whenever I encounter a new party member I wanna add to my party (almost always a full caster party of Sirin, Eb, and Lantry).
Oh i like that; instead of 100+ hours of the same game with slight differences upon replaying, you can get 20+ hours of a different game based on how you play. really cool.
Ya I’m for sure a much bigger fan of this kind of design for sure. Thanks for watching!
Indeed. And in this case, the different paths are REALLY different and lead to very different experiences and outcomes. Choices that actually matter and deeply affect not only your own character, but the entire world around you.
I also very much prefer such short but sweet stories in limited scope but narratively deep and dense settings. Nothing worse than an overly long epic storyline with half just being filler and busy work to slog through.
there's a lot of possible variations in this game. for example you might occupy a city as a certain side in the prologue, and then liberate later on. but you could also occupy it as another faction, and not liberate it. or never occupy at it all so it'll still have it's original guards.
My single playthrough was 75-76 hours💀
This game indeed lacked in popularity, and that can cost Obsidian their living. But I've seen a few recent videos remembering this gem exists, and this warms my heart.
Well, I think Tyranny could get a new life under Microsoft. As long as Obsidian is passionate about making another, I'm here for it.
@@pythonxz Problem is the Tyranny IP is held by Paradox, not Obsidian or Microsoft, so they can't do anything with it.
@@S3Cs4uN8 Oh, right. Bummer.
I especially looooooooved the magic system. It was truely unique and an amazing concept. I revisit this gem occasinally.
Nothing beats Tyranny in terms of philosophy and theme, the game is a gem that probably will not be replicated for a very long time.
Thank you for making this video Frankly
Thank you for watching! It’s super unique for sure
While Tyranny definitely does a great job at covering Ethics, in terms of other branches of phylosophy Planescape: Torment is the best, imho
@@user-hc5wr9qm3z Planescape looks incredible as well, I've heard it's a 10/10 story in a mediocre game, sad it's so old.
"What can change the nature of a man?"
Ever heard of planescape?
Resist Kyros? Ha! You will all be crushed under her heel. She brings order where there is chaos. She brings peace and prosperity. All hail lord Kyros!
👀👀
do note, Kyros is not necessarily a woman. Its possible they are a he. No one knows their gender. Many people reference kyros as a he or a she.
The fact they didn't get to fully finish it is one of the greatest tragedies of gaming
That’s an unfortunate but common trend with obsidian games (see KOTOR 2 and Fallout New Vegas).
@@nobodythisisstupid4888 what about KOTOR 2?
@@SartherisA lot was cut out.
@@marcelberes469 really? and I remember it as an already huge game...
@@Sartheris the end section of it is known to be substantially cut down and even with the restored content mod, it feels kinda disjointed, the pacing is kinda bad, and it feels like there’s a lot of loose ends. Don’t get me wrong, some of it is fantastic, like the dialogue with Kreia and Scion, but it also felt like it was falling apart by the end. Also, the environments seem generally more empty, like less time was able to be dedicated to filling out environments and the texture work can be extremely plain. Nar shadaa comes to mind since it almost reminded me of a mod in visual appearances. There are also a ton of bugs that can break side quests, and it crashed on me a helluva lot more than kotor 1 did. The issue kinda was that they made the game so large when they knew they had an extremely short timeline, so when the shipping date approached, this fantastic game they built had to have fairly important things cut or never made to begin with in order to ship a functioning game. For all the bugs Fallout New Vegas has, it feels substantially more complete than KOTOR 2 imo.
I don't think we'll ever get a Tyranny sequel but a man can dream.
Is this worth playing today?
@@ALulzyApprentice
It is imo if you like old school rtwp rpgs like Baldurs Gate, Pillars of Eternity and such.
@@ALulzyApprentice If you like crpgs then definitely worth playing today. Just know that at the end it was pretty clear there was supposed to be a sequel in mind
Playing this game was an incredible experience. I remember finding my role as Tunon's Fatebinder captivating - and the fact I had to routinely communicate with Tunon and justify myself really added a sense of importance to my decisions - Tunon was watching and he knew everything. I think he's really one of the most interesting characters in the whole game and reveals SO much about Kyros' nature.
The whole "delay reading the edict to get a year of deadline" is one of my favourite parts of the game and I always love hearing other people's thoughts on it and how it fits with what they got out of the game. I love to hear it appreciated!
Definitely a fun and unique RPG. We need Tyranny 2 and Pillars of Eternity 3, Obsidian! 😭
Preach
I think avowed is supposed to take place in the poe universe just from a first person perspective.
avowed is story wise poe3, happening after the cycle of reincarnation is broken
@@robertwiesner6825 Sadly, the lead designer of the first two games is not working on it.
Tyranny will never get a sequel. It's the main reason I can't recommend it to anyone -- it was made for a sequel it will never receive.
I am happy to see this game is not forgotten. I had a blast with it despite it's issues. The setting is fantastic imo. The main theme, art direction, music is all good. Very atmospheric title.
Enemy varriety leaves much to be desired though. Combat isn't challenging later in the game too which is disappointing. But there are some frustrating (and thus good) fights in the begining!
Still hoping to get a sequel. Thanks for covering this gem.
Thanks for watching and supporting the channel! Ya it had some issues for sure but is a great game
I think optional fights are much harder then mandatory ones. Bleden Mark was a horror for me, Tunon slightly easier, but still hard. Blight (or were they Scourge?) bosses are tough af, same as some optional artifact fights. Main enemies rarely made me reload more then once on hard. I think it should be a go-to way of spreading difficulty in rpgs generally. Love Tyranny
@@adahnyemeth6317 Didn't fight Tunon but I imagine he's probably tough as hell. Bledan Mark was a joke in my playthrough though. "Blight or scourge" - yeah I don't remember what was it called either but it caused trouble too. Battle at the end of chapter 1 was hell and the begining of the game in general is tough and fun. And that's about it. The Voices of Nerat wasn't difficult too.
I guess it depends on the build? Magic is crazy powerful in this game and by the end-game I had two casting characters with high lore. They just obliterated everything. Not to mention the crazy damage from Verse.
Fantastic game that feels both awesome and undercooked :( Sequel would be God-sent.
@@Lulasz yea, me trying to balance out my team with phys/mag damage (which doesnt make sense in this game, but is already ingrained in me) probably made it worse. Also yes, Nerat is a joke. The toughest fight with the blight/scourge i was referring to is the one directly inside the oldwalls. Dont remember the location though. Well, i got your point man, i probably made it harder for myself not making all my chars use magic.
@@adahnyemeth6317 Devs didn't make the best job at making all builds viable. I mean, technically they are but magic is overpowered as well as the lore and finesse attributes. It was pretty ridiculous that dumping points into finesse would benefit almost every character. Lore was op too imo.
Great game though!
Playing it atm, not finished but highly recommend! Really interesting world and gameplay, especially how you shape history in events before you actually begin playing
My thoughts too love it!
Welcome to the club of Tyranny's orphans. By now you have already finished the game, I assume. And most likely itching for a sequel that will, sadly, never come.
Do play new game+ and try out new story beats. You can carry a couple artifacts into a NG+ every time you beat the game. And it opens up so much more story/choices/builds and interactions!
Honestly, the story, mature writing and original setting are so good, fresh and compelling, that all other shortcomings and rough spots this game may have can happily be overlooked.
Also the fact that a full playthrough isn't overly long, actually doing multiple ones to explore all the different paths is not too taxing.
Seriously one of my all time fav CRPGs and a seriously underrated gem that definitely deserves a sequel. Or even a prequel, chronicling Kyros' rise.
Not a good RPG for beginners though. But definitely one for connoiseurs.
Man I wish this got a sequel it was a Wonderful game.
Tyranny is sitting on my shelf unplayed for forever now. I am feeling grateful for having a better understanding of it now. I know now, that this will be a hotseat experience with somebody special
glad you will get to experience it! And thanks for watching
If you want a CRPG that makes you ask serious philosophical questions, I'd recommend "Planescape: Torment". A few scenes made me want to go back and re-read the philosophy handouts from my old classes
It's spiritual successor Torment: Tides of Numenera is also really good.
Planescape and Disco Elysium.
Yes.
Im a god, how can you kill a god? What a grand and intoxicating innocence.
I haven't forgotten.
I still consider it my favorite game of all time and hold out hope for a sequel. Even after so many years have passed.
Real time with pause is definitely an acquired taste if you come from a turn based background. I myself started with Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous and Wasteland 3 and decided to build a backlog of CRPGs to play. So far I've played Fallout 1 and 2, Tyranny, Baldur's Gate 1 and I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate 2.
The thing with real time with pause is that you're supposed to micromanage and keep pausing the game all the time so you end up splitting the entire fight into micro-turns. I also come from a competitive Starcraft 2 background so I absolutely loved how in Baldur's Gate there's no attack of opportunity when disengaging, which means I can freely micro a character that is taking hits out of the fight and bring him back without the aggro.
The biggest advantage real time has compared to turn based is that actions happen at the same time. This is huge in games that were designed as real time first and had turn based added later like Pillars of Eternity 2 and the Pathfinder games. Being able to cast spells with your mages at the same time is a huge difference maker. By playing these games on turn based (unless they were designed as turn based games first) is making things slightly (some times a lot) harder for yourself.
Last but not least, if you haven't played Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous yet, I 200% recommend it. Never have I played a game that answered the question "which game would you bring to a deserted island to play forever?" so vehemently. The build variety + mythic paths gives the game an insane amount of possibilities. I played just 1 game with 1 build and it took me 200 hours to beat. And the game also has a DLC that is pretty much a rogue-lite version of the game but without the story, just combat and build crafting. It became my second favorite game of all time just behind Bloodborne.
There were moments in tyranny so shocking for me I had to put the game down for 6 months just to process the horror I caused.
36:06 I would not say that it takes away so much power from the moment, for the fact that it shows to what extent a concept can be twisted to complete an edict.
It's just a bit too convenient a cop-out for a game with such dark themes. "Fall" to me doesn't sound like it would be fulfilled by a simple, legalistic application.
I’m happy to have found you his obscure corner of gaming CZcams. I started following in the hopes that I’d learn of interesting games I’d missed, only to be consistently reminded of games I enjoyed years ago.
Thanks for watching haha
Starting the game with conquest mode got me addicted to the setting instantly. It was like playing an interactive version of The Black Company as one of the Taken.
Dude. This.
I m happy with real time pause games. NWN BG1/2 Pathfinder, they all work great and most importantly gives you the sense that you can't control everything and you have to rely on the AI as u would rely on your team members. Meanwhile, turn-based you direct everyone like it would be you, not like a comander that's not omniscient and can't follow everyone in battle, giving orders to make sure there's a common strategy but not telling every individual party member what to do( from a role playing point of view)
Would love a sequel to this game but imo it was a master class in restraint. It came in and gave you exactly what you wanted in a CRPG and never over extends itself.
After going through the game until NG+4 with the same character and examining every nook and cranny of the Tiers, I feel the need for a sequel. The end is so open it hurts, almost begs for continuation. Especially if you would go forward with your ending and decisions.
Part of the reason Tyranny's reputation system works so well is that it too ties into the game's "power of belief" theme. For example, as your Wrath with a faction increases your character becomes a bogeyman for its soldiers, with the sheer terror your presence inspires giving you very real combat advantages against them because they believe you're unstoppable.
Tyranny was something of a diamond in the rough, with a lot of experimental ideas. Some were great, others not so much, and it's a shame it didn't get the budget and development time to fully explore them or finish its tale.
I've been replaying this game almost every other year since it's release. I'm dying for a sequel!!!
my favorite isometric rpg, unique setting, tough choices, great dialogue, awesome soundtrack, fantastic magic system, can finish it in a weekend, flashy combat, worth it to play multiple times.
While the Favor/Fear system is neat, I have a personal gripe with it in that it encourages you to play a very bipolar character in order to get both the Favor and Fear powers, particularly for your companions. I really like Lantry, but I like his Fear power a lot more than his Favor power so I have to be abusive to him in order to get what I want out of him. While it is possible to get to Favor/Fear 5, it requires a lot of micromanaging who's in my party and what my stance is on any given issue. This is especially prevalent with Sirin, who gets pissy any time I work with Kyros, and will not only Fear me, but also penalize my Favor as well. It's clear she was designed for the Rebel Path not because you recruit her on it, but because *she'll make you regret bringing her on any other path.*
That criticism aside, the Magic system in Tyranny has got to be my favorite system in any RPG. Being able to mix and match Sigils give me more control over my spellcasters. I'll take Tyranny's Sigil System over any game with 1000 spells available to the player specifically because Tyranny lets me tailor EVERY spell to whatever situation I want them for. I CAN create an Area of Effect Haste spell, but I can also use specific sigils to either exclude myself or exclude allies but increase the potency. I CAN make a Classic Fireball that just explodes... or I can use an Unbound Chain and Frostfire Sigil to turn it into a chain Frostfire Bolt spell that simultaneously chills and burns my enemies while targeting the damage type they are weaker to. I can even combine these choices if my Lore is high enough to make an exploding chain of Freezing Fireballs.
While I will forever be salty that Tyranny doesn't seem to have any chance of getting a Sequel, the thing I'm most salty about is this incredible magic system is exclusive to this one game because I greatly prefer mixing and matching elements of spells to suit my needs as opposed to the typical cRPG '12 flavors of Fireball'
Actually great point about the fear and favor system, and ya the magic system is amazing I really want other games to just copy it honestly lol, and thanks for watching!
See, my Fatebinder was a bit of a direct, arrogant, aggresive lawful evil type. My companions were Lantry, Eb and Verse. All 3 of them had maxed out both Fear and Favor and I didn't minmax my convos for it, I actually roleplayed. Didn't use Sirin, her rebelious nature would have gotten her killed by Vader (my Fatebinder) too quick.
So you free a prisoner enslaved by Kyros for challenging her, and are upset she doesn't like Kyros?
21:35 you forgot that our character already spoke an edict and survived in the conquest mode. That is what really gave us a reputation at the beginning of the game
Tyranny is perhaps my favorite Obsidian game. For all its flaws, it does choice-and-consequence very well, and is one of the few games that’s made me really examine my own mortality, perhaps because it places you in the role of a villain in a world already controlled by the villains.
I love PoE 1 and 2 and Torment Numera was awesome too but this one absolutely bypassed me. Going to have to try it now.
Really want to try numera I think it would be a fun one to do a video on
@@FranklyGaming First try its predecessor - Planescape Torment. Numenera can't even touch Planescapes "feet".
This is my absolute favourite game of all time. Thank you for shining a light on it with such a fantastic video!
Thanks for supporting my channel!
Another thing that I noticed in Tyranny: It is heavily implied that the special powers of the archons comes from the belief of other people.
When you learn about the history of the archons, you notice that they all start out as regular people and their powers only manifested once they managed to amass some renown and loyal followers. The ideas projected onto them made them what they are.
Not to mention that magic is typically based in calling upon the power of archons and using their symbols. Of course, there are other sources of magic, but belief seems to be able to transform mortals into something like a demigod who manifest their own unique magic that can even be used by others as well.
Which raises one important question: What about Kyros? Kyros has lived for over 400 years by now. Would a crack in the fassade, a lower level of belief from the public possibly be a threat to their immortality?
Also regarding the combat, the thing with real-time RPG combat systems is not the fight itself. It is the preparation. Choice of battlefield, buffs, sneaking, thinking of formation of your party. For example, when you fight in a hallway with some empty rooms. Lure your targets to you, block entrance with your frontliner and hurl spells, spears and stuff at the enemies.
Another thing, as in DnD or any other similar game, damage output of a full health enemy is the same as of the one on brink of death, so reducing difficulty of fights is simply focusing on non-tanky enemies.
Last thing I wanted to emphasize are control spells. Stuns, slows, miss chance and other stuff are way better than raw damage, especially in your first playthrough.
My party often consists of a tank, mostly Barik for his ability to bind more enemies into engagement, a skirmisher, pretty much a filler role for any character I wish to use but has no real reason to be included, and two mages, each with healing and a set of spells for control, like the pitfall, rimespike or fireball with bouncing properties. Later in the game, when you reach approximately 400+ Lore, getting almost full power fire, lightning and earth rain spells is what ends any fight on max difficulty in seconds, especially if I run a third mage.
Hey, this is a great video and I'm really glad that more people are talking about Tyranny, which is truly one of the most underrated games ever.
By the way there is also a 4th unique path - Independent/Anarchy in which you don't side with either the Rebels, Disfavored nor Scarlet Chorus but you pick your own path... in which you are helped by Bleden Mark.
About the combat at around 7:00 I think the criticism is fair if you don't like that type of combat but I wouldn't say it sucks. You maybe don't like it but there are CRPG nerds like me who love that kinda stuff, just my two cents :)
Oh ya 100% I get that I think it’s just really hard to get into as a new player in CRPGs like for me wasteland 3 and baldurs gate 3 were easy to jump into but tyranny was hard.
I’ve played some POE2 as well though and the combat is similar to tyranny but I like it there a lot more feels more fluid I would say. Tyranny’s combat has grown on me for sure though so happy I finally got into these games.
Thanks a ton for watching!
@@FranklyGaming Completely understandable. I played most mayor CRPGs from the 90s to today, so when I see some quality of life features in newer games it feels like I'm time travelling 1000 years into the future... :")
Going from modern CRPGs that have these little things in them really makes the transition into older games kinda jarring. Especially original Fallout, Baldur's Gate... etc.
Also sadly Tyranny had a smaller budget so you can definitely see some of that reflected in the gameplay compared to Pillars of Eternity 1 or 2.
@@FranklyGaming funny, i played poes after tyranny and i kept thinking 'man tyranny was better' atleast story wise. Maybe not control wise
"I've grown from a man to a God" - After Dark theme starts playing
Purchased this game during Christmas and still really enjoying it! I recommend reading all text and remember the armies at the beginning of the game you made major decisions towards 😊
I absolutely love this game! I really wish a sequel would get made!
Congrats Bro you nailed everything , and Yes there will be a Sequel , But the Game was a small (REAAAAAAL SMALL ) experiment and Try For what the REAL game is meant to be , See you Later , and REMEMBER what Kyros Said , For that will make you happy !
Thanks for the support!
One of the few games where the story was so great it made me obsess about it, even though the gameplay was so-so most of the time. It did dark fantasy right, without feeling pointlessly edgy, but just consistently bleak. "What would a fantasy world be like AFTER the evil overlord already won" is such a great concept, but so hard to make interesting, yet Obsidian blew it out of the water.
The companions that joined you were incredibly written, too. All these years later and I'm still upset I never got to free Sirin from that headdress that Nerat has put her in; at least I've managed to build a somewhat friendly relationship between her and my Fatebinder, at least by this game's standards.
Your video really made me want to replay it all.
Just started replaying this game today, good video to find.
Good video, I'm glad you enjoyed the game. I hope you will check out the Pathfinder games eventually. They let you switch freely between realtime and turnbased combat!
Thank you! And still need to check out pathfinder will for sure my favorite so far has been baldurs gate 3 and wasteland 3, Poe 2 has been good as well
Really enjoyed this game. Don't remember much from it I just know I played and finished the story.
Would love to see a sequel one day honestly, and thanks for watching!
Then replay it again and choose a different path. You'll feel as if playing the entire game for the first time. Also it's not too much time investment.
I was hooked on Tyranny from the very first note of the music track on the main menu. It's a wonderful title! Thanks for sharing your video.
Loved this game and I’ve played it multiple times and god how I wish they would make another one. Either continuing the story from where it left off or maybe an earlier look at the empire
I definitely want a second Tyranny game. The first was great, the only issue was the final chapter which felt rushed to me.
Tyranny is an amazing game.
So underrated for sure, I appreciate you supporting my stuff!
Having played it recently, I can see why people forget about it.
The final act just kinda just starts and immediately ends, which basically wiped my memory of most of the game.
You can get Tunon and Bleden Mark to fight eachother, that was incredible.
If you love discovering secrets of an ancient, advanced civilisation, then check out "Trails in the sky 2" (of course playing the 1st game before, bc they originally were meant to be 1 game)
I just wish they world port it to Nintendo Switch, but that seems pretty unlikely. I like CRPGs but with things like Divinity Orignal Sin II, Icewind Dale, and Baldur's Gate having been ported, I've developed a preference for playing that style of game on my Switch.
I keep hoping some of my other favorite CRPGs might get ported, too but I've been hoping for that since Switch was first released so I kind of gave up on it.
If I can ever afford something like the Steam deck maybe I'll get to actually play Tyranny, but until then I guess I'm at the mercy of the Video Game Gods and their ability to get gaming companies to play nice and become friends with Nintendo. Being a gamer and a grown up with too many responsibilities and less time for gaming sucks. 😅
At least I can count on your in-depth videos to see at least part of what some of these story-driven games have to offer. I hope you keep making videos about the more obscure but great games with awesome narratives. They're always enjoyable!
Hopefully you get that steam deck one day lol, and thank you so much for the kind words and watching! For sure more to come
Pillars of Eternity got ported as well
As much of a joke as it can be, let us not forget the evil even the Devil doesn't mess with - Lawyers. In that scene you talked about during the last segment, THAT evil shows itself.
It also plays into the greater narrative of the story, as Tunon's interrogation later points at; That a mere clerical correction could undermine the authority of Kyros...
And as someone who was roleplaying the annoying asshat lawyer that you can't do anything about because you KNOW he's legally right and you KNOW he's enough of a unit to fold you like a pretzel, that angle was glorious.
Some of the greatest rpg games, are those where you cannot discover everything with just one playthrough.
Same as what you said about this game, having places or quests etc. you may or may not even find because of choices made in your first playthrough.
It’s more rewarding, it makes the journey more fun to me.
It’s why I liked Neverwinter Nights so much or Planescape: Torment
If you haven't tried it yet, check out Pathfinder:Wrath of the Righteous. It's my favorite CRPG of all time because of the depth and number of the character classes. The story is pretty phenomenal too.
4:39 that is exactly how Pathfinder:Wrath of the Righteous is. Deep, yes but it is also very tiring. The amount of content and the storylines in that game feel superficial to me. It is exact opposite from Tyranny.
Nobody forgot Tyranny, its just rightfully dismissed as a horrible execution of a promising concept.
Horrible? What are you on about? It was executed perfectly. You didn't rightfully dismiss anything but your own opinion.
Wow man the illustration and animations are great really good job man
Very similar themes to Planescape: Torment, where one of the fundamental ideas is that belief is one of the most powerful forces - in that one, that's where the gods' power comes from & it can effect the things around you, whether it's convincing a person that they don't exist & making them vanish from existence to using a pseudonym so much people believe that "Adahn" is a real person, who then manifests & you can talk to. In Tyranny, Kyros is powerful in large part because people believe Kyros has power & then that power is used to reinforce it further - anything you do to undermine that weakens Kyros, it's also a big part of the rules for how their name can be used, as that would mean it's essentially diluting it.
I love this game, and love to see someone dig into it so deeply.
The lats parts of this video are so well written. Props!
Really appreciate that thank you!
My favorite moment in Tyranny was saving the baby and ending the edict at the same time. It's such a good moment, especialy if you're on the rebel path, the only problem I have with it, is that you cannot convince Graven Ashe to betray Kyros, there's no option to bring up his grandson and convince him.
I was really hoping I could return the Disfavored into their former selves, sigil and all.
I do wish though that saving the baby didn't come across as so - easy? Having your cake and eating it too, in a sense. It would have felt more organic to me if there was a Subterfuge option to convince Amelia to proclaim that the baby wasn't in fact the Regent's. Similarly tied to the theme of belief creating reality, but less of a "happy ending" since she's have to sacrifice her integrity and memory of her love for it.
I love Tyranny, was play it so often. I was lave the talk option to not talk and have a own notice of it in the story. Just awesome.
So glad to see more discussion of tyranny!
Hell yess a Tyranny video! Been crazy about this game ever since I saw Mandalore's video on it.
dude that edict of storms dilemma gave me chills
I’m actually getting tattoos of the art from this game. It’s one of my favorites. The sound track still gives me whole body chills
my impression playing tyranny if I am remembering correctly was that kyros was a balancing evil (see the manga The Executed Sage Is Reincarnated as a Lich and Starts an All-Out War) where they exist as an evil that must provide a constant threat so that people will not turn on each other (unfortunately I think the divide was too great among the tiers for them to effectively unify properly and kyrosses forces too strong resulting in their loss)
There is a cheese at the start where you rest till the set deadline passes before you read up the edict and you basically get a year to complet the prologue act.
WOW
Well done. As a big fan of this game, your synopsis is both thorough and enjoyable.
Thank you for the kind words!
As many steam games I have how did I missed this, well I was neck deep In No man Sky and FF14 apparently. Great review and the algo blessing me got you a sub. keep up the good work.
this game is a masterpiece!
i remember my mind BLEW when i discovered that i could go with the rebels at the start! that was the reason for my second play, but i dint finish.
I got the game back in 2016-2017 thanks to a review from the youtuber Splattercatgaming.
I have been in love with tyranny ever since I stepped foot on the tiers, bronze axe in one hand, and a broken disfavoured sword in the other.
It itched the Dark Sun scratch that I had since I was a kid in a comic store.
I remembered tyranny, but we all do forget it from time to time.
And then I reinstall it, looking for a new angle of play.
Hell, I haven't touched the vigour magic, I keep meaning to!
My most memorable experience was when I had an opportunity to talk to a retired Fatebinder, who possessed a lot of information on Kyros. Including HER real person. It pretty much flipped everything I knew about the overlord on its head.
After that, when I was talking with my party and mentioned Kyros as "she", the archon of song chimed in that it's impossible, Kyros is a he, and she knows it, because she almost put a spell on him, to which you can respond "I know what I said". It paints a great picture of Kyros being able to manipulate people to the point they themselves don't know what to think about her.
It also gave me huge Black Company vibes with the whole sorceress overlord character.
It was strongly influenced by black company by the admission of the creators
i didnt forget about it
i still want more content even to this day
its too good to just... let it sit there
I remember loving and playing this game. I have yet to beat it due to getting distracted by other games.
I consider myself a fan of Obsidian and Paradox, but I had no idea this game existed until it was included in one of the monthly Humble Choice bundles. Thanks for telling people about this incredible game!
Great essay, Tyranny definitely deserves more attention!
I haven't forgotten about it and still play it from time to time.
This game doesn't really need a sequel. But a remaster would be much appreciated.
The story isn't really finished though. Some of the archons can still be developed and we know nothing about the other countries in that universe.
Great video. I really need to finish this game.
Thanks for the support!
This is the only game where I actually enjoyed playing a villain, because “evil” was written well
Really is a great villian story
Just the other day I decided to finally play this game on my pile of shame. And it was amazing. Finally a game where choices really matter. Also loved the world building. Sad they didn't do a sequel.
Another video on my favorite game, good shit
I loved this game. Always good to see others giving it some shine
I freakin love this game! I played a lot of this game at a "friends" place and after enjoying it so much I decided to buy it. So much good dialogue and voice acting.
The only bad thing in that game was the very small variety of ennemies.
But having a wolf woman, a soldier fused with his rusted armor and a girl who could kill with her voice in my crew made me forgive that flaw 😊
i discovered the game two months ago, bought it because the description made me interested. And i can say this much, it is a game i played through without playing any other games, it is a fascinating world, the Lore is not really engrained into my memory, but overall i very much enjoyed the game.