I've been meaning to get around to Age of Decadence and Dungeon Rats for a while now, but this sounds even more my speed. What was your impression of those first two games, if you played them?
“There is just something to Colony Ship that just clicks for me. If you like old-school RPGs, like I do, then it will click for you as well.”
Seconded - there’s something here. I really enjoyed this game.
For people considering it: first, it’s great, worth your time, go get it. Second, keep in mind it isn’t a traditional D&D type game - outside of combat, there’s not a lot of RNG. I don’t agree that you can be a jack of all trades here - this is more that once you’ve picked a speciality (you’re stealthy, you’re persuasive, whatever) that’s probably going to be your jam for the game. If you played Age of Decadence it’s that - the rewards for diversifying aren’t really there unless you have foreknowledge of the game. Pick a build and stick with it.
But it’s set in a terrific universe. Like Corerunner said the quests are particularly memorable, but the environment and history really are. Totally worth it.
Great comment! Regarding becoming a jack of all trades: I wanted to make the point that there is little reason to spread skills out over your party members because of the character system. In other RPGs, you might be forced to have one character for picking locks and another for lore checks simply because you only gain a limited amount of skill points during level up.
This isn’t the case in CS as you grow your skills by using them. When I played a cult leader, Faythe handled the vast majority of all skill checks for me. My main character was mostly along for the ride.
But you’re right in terms of play style / in term of main character build. We have to decide on our primary approach on how to solve certain problems (violence, diplomatic etc.).
I played the demo of this and liked it but never got around to buying it. Mostly my tastes have changed and I'm not into rpgs as I used to be. Still the setting was cool and I hope the game gets the recognition it deserves.
I've been meaning to play this one for a while, but the $40 price tag put me off. I lament that it didn't find the commercial success it probably deserved.
You’re welcome, Sebastian. I’m glad you enjoyed the review. Yeah, the price tag didn’t help. The game is currently 50% off on GOG, which I think is a very fair price.
I think the game’s biggest problem in terms of commercial success are its looks. It has no distinctive art style and rather bland graphics. This makes it incredibly boring to look at. A distinctive art style is a great way to stand out in the mass of available games and Colony Ship just doesn’t deliver in that regard.
It’s not a matter of budget: even a (mostly) one-man-project like Intravenous looks better on screenshots. Katana Zero even more so. Visuals are probably just not very important to ITS.
I've been meaning to get around to Age of Decadence and Dungeon Rats for a while now, but this sounds even more my speed. What was your impression of those first two games, if you played them?
I didn’t play them. I tried Age of Decadence once but couldn’t get into it. I was told that Colony Ship is quite similar to AoD, yet more accessible.
“There is just something to Colony Ship that just clicks for me. If you like old-school RPGs, like I do, then it will click for you as well.”
Seconded - there’s something here. I really enjoyed this game.
For people considering it: first, it’s great, worth your time, go get it. Second, keep in mind it isn’t a traditional D&D type game - outside of combat, there’s not a lot of RNG. I don’t agree that you can be a jack of all trades here - this is more that once you’ve picked a speciality (you’re stealthy, you’re persuasive, whatever) that’s probably going to be your jam for the game. If you played Age of Decadence it’s that - the rewards for diversifying aren’t really there unless you have foreknowledge of the game. Pick a build and stick with it.
But it’s set in a terrific universe. Like Corerunner said the quests are particularly memorable, but the environment and history really are. Totally worth it.
Great comment! Regarding becoming a jack of all trades: I wanted to make the point that there is little reason to spread skills out over your party members because of the character system. In other RPGs, you might be forced to have one character for picking locks and another for lore checks simply because you only gain a limited amount of skill points during level up.
This isn’t the case in CS as you grow your skills by using them. When I played a cult leader, Faythe handled the vast majority of all skill checks for me. My main character was mostly along for the ride.
But you’re right in terms of play style / in term of main character build. We have to decide on our primary approach on how to solve certain problems (violence, diplomatic etc.).
Love a colony ship story! Will definitely check it out
I played the demo of this and liked it but never got around to buying it. Mostly my tastes have changed and I'm not into rpgs as I used to be. Still the setting was cool and I hope the game gets the recognition it deserves.
Great review! Thank you.
I've been meaning to play this one for a while, but the $40 price tag put me off. I lament that it didn't find the commercial success it probably deserved.
You’re welcome, Sebastian. I’m glad you enjoyed the review. Yeah, the price tag didn’t help. The game is currently 50% off on GOG, which I think is a very fair price.
I think the game’s biggest problem in terms of commercial success are its looks. It has no distinctive art style and rather bland graphics. This makes it incredibly boring to look at. A distinctive art style is a great way to stand out in the mass of available games and Colony Ship just doesn’t deliver in that regard.
It’s not a matter of budget: even a (mostly) one-man-project like Intravenous looks better on screenshots. Katana Zero even more so. Visuals are probably just not very important to ITS.