Terrible and Great RPGs from Spiders Studio

[@click4gameplay]

Did you play any of these RPGs, and which one is the best, in your opinion? 🤔 Get yourself an awesome T-shirt or a hoodie, in my official merch store! I just launched a bunch of new designs: www.bonfire.com/store/click4gameplay/ * Support the channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=2826612 * Become a KZbin member: kzbin.info/door/jekkqakBWqPu44aExSDxxAjoin * Socials: My twitter: twitter.com/c_4_g Join my discord: discord.gg/QNe59zv My Instagram: instagram.com/c_4_g_/

[@matt_r.2510]

I have yet to play Steelrising but I have played Greedfall and Bound by flame. Greedfall is my favorite. The writing and voice acting is top notch for a AA game.

[@peterrjg6843]

Greedfall. Loved most of the Technomancer too, apart from having to revisit Ophir all the time (and the respawning mobs).

[@darioildiario3001]

"RPGs" ^_^

[@metalklown]

I played all of them except Steel Rising. And Greedfall is the best, but The Technomancer was really strong as well.

[@XhumpersX]

I played and loved greedfall. I played technomancer to chase that high, and I enjoyed it enough to beat it, but it was a big step down. I am thinking of trying bound by blood, but im not sure. Anyone else try and like it?

[@arkeshn729]

I would love to see what Spiders could create with even half of an Elder Scrolls budget.

[@claymorexx]

Please no

[@Ordraacks]

Not an elder scroll

[@arkeshn729]

@@claymorexx Greedfall budget 5.5 million.. Skyrim 100 million (85 million development, 15 million marketing).. now imagine Greedfall 2 with a 50 million dollar budget

[@johndodo2062]

​@@arkeshn729 you really think they only spent 15 million on marketing? I have a bridge to sell you

[@SpecShadow]

of course smaller & more competent team could make better game for a fraction of money Bethesda used... buit it would sell less because it's not popular developer/publisher

[@solpd3183]

I have a soft spot for Spiders. They seem to be trying their best with the budget they have, and I totally respect that. Looking forward to GreedFall 2.

[@nousername2942]

Let's just hope they don't make you wear that weird hair strip on one half of your face lol

[@zzodysseuszz]

Greedfall was fucking god awful, I need to see way more to be excited for a second one Edit: when an echo chamber uses ad populum, it’s honestly kinda funny. Look, your standards have to be extremely low to play greedfall and have enjoyed it. That shit was unbearably unfinished and boring. It’s not any better than your average monthly iOS game coming out.

[@solpd3183]

@@zzodysseuszz Really? well, to each their own. I honestly enjoyed it, but I do hope for some improvements in the sequel.

[@pyrosiumofficial]

@@zzodysseuszz Interesting take. Everyone seems to have loved it.

[@maximumoverdrive7554]

​​@@zzodysseuszz greedfall was fucking awesome. Better then anything a triple A studio was putting out. At the time

[@medalgearsalad1419]

Spiders and Piranhabytes are the leading giants in Eurojank RPGs. Basically these crazy SoBs are putting out good AA games, while other AAA studios are putting out bug ridden, unfinished, and lootbox frenzy games. Keep that in mind.

[@miceatah9359]

ok their games are still mediocre af so what exactly is your point?

[@minbari73]

Crap C games you mean, that are crap to play and crap to look at. Was fooled into buying Greedfall once and never again with their garbage.

[@Skull.man00]

​@@minbari73huh? Greedfall is a decent game.

[@minbari73]

@@Skull.man00 I wish i could refund it. It was utter crap.

[@Biouke]

Due to their relative successes with Greedfall and Steel Rising the studio recently grew from 35 to 80 people. Spider's head and founder moved from her position to a creative director's role to free herself from the paperwork and continue making games. I'm glad to see this studio grow, I remember playing Mars War Logs when it came out and thinking there was potential, hoping Spiders stay afloat long enough to prove what they're capable of. Also glad to see them perpetuating the French touch : Ambitious artistic games with original premises and great worldbuilding despite the lack of budget overall. Arkane seems to have lost that spark to corporate BS recently, UbiSoft dropped that ball years ago and I hope that Spiders, Amplitude, DontNod and many others will be able to preserve at least some of this "artisanal" mindset :)

[@ulfk5667]

Arkane has the problem they are to big for the games they made. That has nothing to do with corporate BS. Dishonored and Prey were to big for the immersive sims they were and nobody wanted to play them. So they tried something new to survive with Deathloop and Redfall and that didn´t work very well. Arkanes story is a real tragedy and the antithesis of the spiders story.

[@Biouke]

@@ulfk5667 I get your point but to me it has MUCH to do with corp BS. Arkane and Eidos Montreal made big budget immersive sims and got relative success with Dishonored and Deus Ex, for a niche genre like this I'd even say they were great successes. They sold well and still do, both on consoles and PC. The problem is Zenimax and Square-Enix, selling enough to keep the studio afloat isn't enough for these parent companies, they want huge margins to please the share-holders. And they want unending financial growth, which is base neo-liberal stupidity. They grow a studio from 30 to 300 people, diluting the creative vision and freedom, letting key workers go to hire fresh, naive slaves. After a point the studio releases soul-less under-crafted soup and goes bankrupt. It can happen quickly or slowly (the long downfall of UbiSoft, Blizzard, etc...) but it happens. Spiders is at that crossroad where they finally get as big as their ambitions, I hope they won't become too big for the games they make too. Depends of their parent company's goal too, wait and see how Nacon/BBI manages them after buying Spiders from Focus Home Interactive. So far I find interesting that after struggling for many years with the combat part of A-RPGs they got the green light to make a souls-like A-RPG. They can learn from this experience (and relative success) to better their next games.

[@ulfk5667]

@@Biouke Dishonored was a successful game yes. And so they tried to walk this path and what happened? Dishonored 2 sold much worse than the first part. They tried it again with Prey. Nobody bought this game. Than came Death of the outsider. And it bombed saleswise. And all these games were fully developed under the umbrella of Zenimax. So you can´t say they didn´t try it. Deus Ex is another cup of tea imo. There i can see your argument.

[@Deliveredmean42]

​@@ulfk5667Prey was indeed an unfortunate casualty for one big reason: They gave it the wrong name. Remember that the Prey franchise had a rough history, and the unreleased number 2 sequel was still fresh by the old fans especially that Pray 2 open world looking trailer, and that was before we learn the awful sabotage by Zenimax. Arkane's game should had a more unique name, but of course Zenimax want to keep that IP alive somehow, even if it pissed or confused the general gaming populace.

[@ulfk5667]

@@Deliveredmean42 to be honest i don´t think that had much impact. Prey 2006 wasn´t the big Smashhit. Yeah fans of the first prey maybe didn´t buy the 2017 game. But they even didn´t do that if the name of prey 2017 would be different. Prey didn´t sold because it was an immersive sim. A genre popular by the critics but disliked by the mainstream.

[@NotMeButAnother]

I've only played Greedfall, but I really enjoyed it. It's painfully straining against the limits of its budget, but I enjoyed having a decently well-written companion RPG as well as the underused setting.

[@siegfriedgottz698]

The setting sold me alone i love shot and pike warfare wish fnatsywriters would use it more

[@dificulttocure]

Nah, the problems of Greedfall have nothing to do with low budget, it's just poorly thought out rpg mechanics. There are millions of rpgs with lower budgets that are so much better. Example: Outward.

[@Maityist]

​@@dificulttocure to each their own but I think you play Greedfall and Outward for completely different goals.

[@NotMeButAnother]

@@dificulttocure Outward is great. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure that if Greedfall could have had a continuous open world without loading screens, they probably would have done that, and the budget limitations also are obvious when looking at how they skip scenes that would require a lot of extra voice acting (e.g. the trial of the evil scientist). That said, of course not all problems of Greedfall are rooted in budget - the aggro ranges of monsters and their reset mechanic are just bad and they should've done better.

[@siegfriedgottz698]

@@dificulttocure all cities looking the same regarldess of faction ownership kinda blew balls

[@jobbingtoaster1502]

"My name is Innocence," slayed me every time. Also, from what I've seen of their games, Spiders is getting to the point where they could pull a Nier Automata. They started making jank games, but similar to the Nier developers, Spiders slowly improved overtime. If they can keep it up, they could eventually make a game like Nier Automata that ends up being universally praised and loved. They almost made it with Greed Fall.

[@TheWildManEnkidu]

Steelrising was a bit of a step back for them, but proved they're learning how to make combat more engaging and fluid. Greedfall 2 could be the one to watch out for with them.

[@jobbingtoaster1502]

@@TheWildManEnkidu Here's hoping Greed Fall 2 turns out great then.

[@teyrngalahad5719]

I hope i will be proven wrong, but i think their budget is too limited for the kinds of games they want to make.

[@milanhvozdik3379]

@@TheWildManEnkidu I think stepping out of their comfort zone, quite successfully I must add, was a great thing for them to do. More like a step to the side to find a much better path than back.

[@salahmoharram6136]

Nier Automata was made by a completely different studio than any other Nier/Drakengard game.

[@vagrantender]

Spiders is a team I genuinely admire. Because they take risks making things that no other studio wants to do.

[@rayz0101]

The sheer range of settings and mechanics is pretty impressive.

[@kainscion9085]

It's really great that someone finally made a video about this studio's games. Definitely, a video I'd recommend to someone to see all the improvements they've made. I do want to point out two mistakes. 1. Of Orcs and Men: Arguile's rage isn't random. Put him in defense mode to decrease it. I believe there's even a bar that lets you know how far it is. 2. Greedfall: De Sardet doesn't have the Malacor. The mark on his face is explained in the game and explains why some of the natives mistake him as one of their own.

[@filipstudeny]

I played GreedFall, Technomancer and Bound By Flame. I love those games, however there were times where if they implemented jumping it would make navigation much more fun, because I spend alot of time backtracking so that I could go around a fence. GreedFall is by far my favourite game, I love how some of the quests are connected, if you complete one quest it affects some other quests, it's not for all quests but for some smaller ones, I mainly love the companion quests, if you end them early or completely ignore them it changes the story little bit.

[@jamestownsassacre9211]

I gave greedfall a chance and I really like a lot of what it does as far as customization, art style, and even the tone of the game. I cannot get past the combat though, is it going to open up more as I progress into the game? I want to enjoy the game for what it is but there are certain aspects that make it hard to keep on, even though I feel like there's something there

[@Skull.man00]

Yeah. The stuff with Kurt took me by complete surprise. Was doing that mission about myself & Constantine ,and suddenly THAT happened.

[@dennisdavidov782]

Before the formation of Spiders there was Monte Cristo that made Silverfall which is another game worth covering.

[@BadManiac]

Spiders is a studio that has consistently improved over time. Technomancer and Greedfall are my favorites. Steelrising is great but too hard for an old fart with borked hand-eye coordination like me.

[@arkeshn729]

Steel rising is the Spiders game I skipped. Might try it for 10 bucks but I'm a little burnt out on souls like games.

[@BadManiac]

@@arkeshn729 Steelrising is good, just not for me, I bounce off most souls likes. Just don't have the manual dexterity and reaction timesto make em work. Still bought it to support spiders. One of the best AA studios IMO.

[@stockpilethomas7900]

Don't they have a easier mode on it?

[@xicario129]

For some reasons spiders has always kept the same combat mechanics for the last 4 games i think

[@luxoflux5064]

@@stockpilethomas7900 it's easy by default, it has to be the most easier of all souls like that have been released so far. You might struggle with a few specific mobs in the path but every boss is slow, dumb and you either make it hard for winning or just stick close to them and you use buffs to kill them in 20 seconds max.

[@vegn_brit5176]

I only played Greedfall. It was an enjoyable game. My main gripe with it was the constant running back and forth to complete the later quests. I enjoyed the combat though and am curious to see what they come up with in Greedfall 2.

[@balduran.]

Of orcs and men is my favorite, replayed it quite a few times. Great soundtrack, the dynamic between the main duo and the combat itself. Came out when I was at my lowest so I am little biased though. Greedfall is probably their best game objectively speaking, though the amount of running was insane.

[@teyrngalahad5719]

I love the soundtrack of the game. Last played it when it came out, but i still listen to the OST.

[@JumalaPlays]

Hey, it's nice to see you covering of orcs and men! If anyone is interested in stealth games, the Styx games are more than worth your time!

[@KrisP91]

As somebody who has played most of the Spiders games it is a real pleasure watching them evolve and get better with each new game they create. Props to them 👍

[@Eaglehead11]

So happy to see someone appreciate Greedfall. I really enjoyed this game when I played it and was baffled some people hated it. Spiders reminds me alot of CI Games where you can literally see their progress and gain of experience. Starting with bad to mediocre games to games that are enjoyable and fun. Then again it took CI far longer ngl xD

[@baudsp]

For Faery, the flying around really shines in the levels after the first. And it also offers some alternative solutions to quests

[@ave3360]

All the gothic/risen music in the background in your videos always make me wanna go replay another 100+ playthrough xD

[@TehPh1L]

Coming from Gothic I really loved Greedfall. Was the first and pretty much only that gave me alot of things I was looking in an RPG. Im really looking forward to Greedfall2

[@grymmjack]

Great review. I actually beat Faery on my Xbox lol. It was janky but fun. I guess I'm not as hardcore as most, and older than some so it does not take much to impress me or make me happy. This video was great. Thanks for making it, it reminds me to play these games more. Even orcs and men, styx etc.

[@Rigby350]

Being hardcore means willing to play anything even if it's not up to par, being hardcore does NOT mean not willing to play games just cause they're janky

[@bigego503]

Have played all except Of Orcs and Men (only play on console and don't think it's released there) and Steel Rising, which I may not be able to play due to age and arthritis. I can appreciate them all and take note of the fact that they seem to be constantly learning from their mistakes, a character trait I heartily approve of. Eventually, I will attempt (and most likely fail) Steel Rising and was made happy to hear of sequel to Greedfall. Good vid

[@daddydeadly3428]

Surprisingly, Of Orcs and Men is actually backwards compatible on Xbox One / Series.

[@bigego503]

@@daddydeadly3428 I didn't know. Seems to be unavailable but will keep my eye out. Thnx

[@carlosmagnomacieira8210]

of orcs and men has a pc version... I did not play it because I did not like kt

[@Mataniel]

Played Bound by Flame, Technomancer and Greedfall. By far, I enjoyed Greedfall the most becuase of the refined combat and customization. But something about Bound by flame just screams for more. World is kinda interesting looking upon it and a sequel to that game, or at least in that setting would be cool as heck if they used similar sekiro like combat they did in Steel rising. I just hope they make world building better and more meaningful quests for their games in the future. That's where almost all of their games lack.

[@XhumpersX]

That genre of combat is called "souls-like" and its a well populated tag on steam in case you like that stuff.

[@Mataniel]

@@XhumpersX Souls like is one thing, Sekiro like would another. I 'played every single notable souls like game available. Hopefully games that are inspired by Sekiros deflect/parry combat are on the rise with Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and Surviror and Thymesia being prime examples of it.

[@headbangerdnb]

You're crazy. Mars: War Logs is an unpolished, euro-jank masterpiece. It's like BioWare's soul jumped right out of that studio after Mass Effect 1 and found a new home in France. You should go back and finish the game. Story's good and choice matters, which is very evident if you replay it and make different choices. Nice twist at the end of the second act too, depending a few key choices. I would love for Spiders to remaster it and do a deluxe edition bundled with The Technomancer. Edit: I'm listening to your Technomancer review now where you're comparing it to Mars: War Logs, and it definitely sounds like you didn't even make it out of the prison, which is literally just the opening act of the game.

[@lairofhorrors1756]

M:WL is Amazing! One of my favorite RPGs of that generation! Definitely Reminds me of an old Bioware title! I agree if he got past the first hour he would probably of liked it!

[@pixelcount350]

He probably only did a couple of hours and left. I finished that game to completion. Here's hoping for a third game in that series.

[@onizate]

I never knew Of Orcs and Men was a prequel to the Styx games. You had my interest, now you have my attention!

[@drearmouse9510]

Wow, I absolutely Loooved Mars War Logs. Even on the hardest difficulty. A couple spots felt pretty unfair, but it gets pretty epic if ya pick the right abilities. Definitely worth tryin again if ya find some time & patience!

[@KrazyKain]

I think one reason people hate the combat in both Mars and Technomancer is that enemies can just decide to dodge your attacks, and you'll just swing through the enemy. If you don't immediately dodge when you notice that, they'll get a free hit. It actually adds a fun sense of rhythm to the combat when you are aware of it, but if not, it'll just feel like enemies just get a free hit in on you.

[@drearmouse9510]

@@KrazyKain Yeah, it was definitely clunky at parts, but whew.. so much atmosphere & strategy I honestly barely even noticed it. Though I am a diehard Piranha Bytes & Spiders fan, so prolly a bit biased in that regard. xD

[@KrazyKain]

@@drearmouse9510 Piranha Bytes and Spiders... You are a person of good taste. Literally my favorite rpg developers.

[@drearmouse9510]

@@KrazyKain Aaamen! No one does it quite like them. Just had a flashback of needing to shrink a giant troll with a scroll in Gothic so ya cld squish em, and it's like.. you don't even see that type of curious gameplay anymore. And that was over 20 years ago!

[@btnhstillfire]

No lol. Thats one of the worst games Ive ever played. Theres no excuse or defending that garbage game.

[@andrewstencel]

I played Bound by Flame, The Technomancer and Greedfall to completion, and those were pretty good games, although with some flaws. Greedfall was the most well rounded one of those, despite some repetitive elements, but I had fun overall.

[@Qrdez]

My dude, Technomancer is not the sequel, it's moving in the same timeline, or even a lil bit earlier, we're able to meet few characters, that will appear LATER in Mars. Anyway, thanks for reminding about Spiders, one of the weirdest game dev studio, and I totally love it :)

[@gri22lybear]

Bound by Flame has to be my fav game in their repertoire! I’ve played a bunch of their games and I love Spiders, but Bound By Flame is actually the only one that I’ve beaten atm. 😊

[@wolf4640]

This was the most interesting video i've seen so far on KZbin this year! Thank you for your work man.

[@dl30wpb]

I just played the Mars game a few months ago. Got it for around a dollar. Was pretty good for what it was and the price. Greedfall was a hidden gem. Like a bargain bin Witcher 3.

[@timinou9915]

If you liked Styx , hes own solo games are worth trying too ! I kinda hope they do another game in the Bound by Flames world. Loved the game but its kinda short and limited.

[@Minority119]

V good games but man I'm not gonna lie I'm still rather miffed they went and had prequels based on Styx instead of a sequel that picks up on that cliffhanger

[@timinou9915]

@@Minority119 Im guessing they realized Styx was the most popular and interesting character. The games are mostly stealth and platforming so at least both serie are their own thing. They might still do a sequel later , who know 😜

[@matt_r.2510]

Greedfall is how I first found your channel years ago. I'm so glad you made this video as I have always wondered about the other Spiders games. You and I have similar tastes and I have played or try to play most of the games you have covered or recommend.

[@armelior4610]

I only played the last 2, and the improvement in Greedfall compared to technomancer is huge. Not so much the technical side, but better quests, writing, bigger world, better voice acting,etc. which is the important part in a RPG. It still was too long for its own good, because there is too much backtracking and the enemy variety is too low. I rarely had trouble with the limited aggro range of combat encounters, but it's a positive when you're just sneaking around a group of wild animals for the 15th time and don't want to fight AGAIN : just run !

[@jessehayes8052]

Greedfall was an incredible game with a unique story, great combat, beautiful setting, and a useful and rewarding party system outside of a Bioware RPG. Bound By Flame had most of those qualities but was too short, and needed a larger variation of enemies, I had wished that the game was expanded and allowed you to build a large resistance force against all of the Ice Lords

[@Miki90Mar]

Played almost all of them my favorites are definitely Technomancer and Greedfall although Mars War Logs is not that bad either even if a bit short, Bound by Flames i wanted to like more but i kinda hated the sluggish combat and the damage sponge enemies towards the end. But i gotta say they all got a particular charm to them

[@jainaymadden2084]

I'm crying because I've had an idea for this video for years, but then again, I'm not a content creator, so at least someone talked about Spiders. Definitely gonna give this a watch.

[@milanhvozdik3379]

I finished Bound by Flame (it was kind of meh by the end, but had fun), then I played Technomancer and Greedfall, enjoyed both games, but dropped them as soon as I unlocked everything I wanted in progression. Just didn't have the motivation to continue. But I really really liked Steelrising. The combat loop was extremely satisfying. Input sequencing kind of felt like an easy version of Sekiro, just with dodge instead of parry. Played with two swords most of the time. Also loved the stamina regen by cooling and fun ways of dealing with elemental damage: Attacking when frozen, dodging when of fire, and NOTHING for some reason when electrified. Could have been jumping or something, not sure why they didn't do anything with that. And the story was also good, some sidequests had really good writing and dialogue. Characters that are supposed to be scientists acted really consistently and believably, which is really rare. And level design and boss fights were great. I had so much fun beating shit up I didn't mind the lack of enemy variety at all.

[@chillhour6155]

Huge respect to these middleware developer's who go from strength to strength, I hope one day they can find similar success and growth Fromsoft have achieved over the decades

[@TheXiconhoca]

Excellent vid, as always :) I played most of these and enjoyed them in varying degrees - couldn't for the life of me beat the last boss on BbF on hard and i thought that the combat in The Technomancer was quite fun, i played it on pc some years ago. I join the majority hailing Greedfall as the favorite, played it, in multiple PLs and always loved it - excited to see what comes next from Spiders.

[@Renegathu1]

DUDE i love that you put the GOTHIC game sountrack on the background

[@jessecurle716]

The Technomancer is a game that I still think about regularly. The setting, the atmosphere, the mechanics. It's all just so genuine and effective. 30fps isn't ideal, but that's a minor quibble. Mars: War Logs is an excellent prequel as well. I'd love to revisit Mars in a future title.

[@frntkgamingshorts]

*For Mars: War Logs (yes, I love the game) - the names in the game such as "Innocence", Roy "Temperance", "Charity", and other names that sounds like characteristics are given by the corporations that rule Mars. Those corporations are the ones providing necessities such as water so they hold a lot of power - you can give commands to your companion but you can't fully control them like Roy (the main character). There are 4 commands from what I remember - if you're interested in old school rpgs I would recommend it. It's much easier to get in to than Witcher 1 (which I also recommend)

[@ImmortalGodEmperor]

at last, someone covers Faery. That's like their most forgotten game, nobody talks about it ever

[@DetetiveRick]

Of orcs and men...how i wish there were more game devs who would make games with unusual characters like orcs,goblins and so on. Tired of noble humans, hippie elfs and drunken dwarves. This game and styx are one of my favorites.

[@stateofmind578]

I played them all and Greedfall was a big step forwards. I loved that game. Steelrising is another big step forwards. Keep it up.

Fun choice to mix Spider games with Gothic music. I often wonder what it would be like if Piranhabytes and Spider games teamed up. And (maybe later) try giving another chance to Mars Warlogs. It's my favourite Spiders game so far. I replay it like once a year and love it. The only game I replayed more is probably Gothic 1 and 2 NOTR 😀

[@AxxmorbidfloristxxC]

Out of all the early spiders games, I always liked the combat in technomancer. It’s not even close to the standard of steel rising obviously, but i seem to have had the opposite experience than c4g in this one. Although I did mainly use the staff too.

[@Mitchiepoo97]

I’ve gotten all four endings on Bound By Flame. I really like the setting and the lore, even though they don’t really tell you the lore outright. The combat and quest system could be better, but it was really good for its time. Also the music is lovely and haunting.

[@Negolash]

I absolutely love of orc and men and Styx games that followed.

[@DevilOfRoses]

Spiders has always been the little developer that... could? I enjoyed Mars: War Logs, even with its jank, and the fact that combat came down to beating things with a stick, but it was fun and getting an indirect sequel filled me with more joy than most AAA titles ever provide.

[@LivingZombieJew]

With every next game (excluding Steelrising) it looked like Spiders are going in right direction to make awesome big RPG. But they are going there in a very slow pace and in a last game they went of the rails and just followed the trends. Look how CDPred went so fast from Witcher 1 to Witcher 3 and that's something that Spiders are missing.

[@click4gameplay]

My name is Innocence.

[@trust.worthy]

Fr?

[@MortSalazar]

What i appreciate a lot about Spiders is that they weren't afraid to make something "Meh" to try and then improve upon it Cuz no one does good right from the start, you gotta let yourself make something bad until you get to something good And you can just see that, how they keep improving with every next game, trying new things, improving old ones until they hit the mark And finally they made something well enough to get a quality sequel. I for one am excited about Greedfall 2

[@bobbuilder155]

Mars war logs had a better skill system than technomancer and bound by flame, in my opinion

[@elitereptilian200]

It sucks that Greedfall didn't sell all that well, it is a very good AA rpg and if spiders is capable of this, I would really like to see what they could do with am actual good budget..

[@TrueRem]

Greedfall is my favorite rpg on this list,i recently played it and was pleasently suprised on how enjoyable the story and game was,still havent beaten it yet,might replay it just to see the other options i missed.

[@paulfigueiredo3168]

I'm obviously in the minority, but I found the combat in Technomancer to be pretty fun, especially on the hardest difficulty. One on one was almost a rhythm game, getting the timing of when to dodge, when to jab and when to shoot (Rogue is easily the most fun) When fighting a group, I found it super fun to lure one or two away from the group while the others are busy with my squad, then lure them into a narrow path and lay a trap. Can the combat be a little button-mashy? Yes, of course, if all you're doing is stand-up melee, but its far far deeper than that if you want to go that route. I actually find technomancer to be superior to Greedfall in pretty much every way; though I admit that much of it has to do with being much more interested in the lore and the story of The Technomancer. I would very much love a sequel.

[@Sarnatuile]

I've played Greedfall and Steel Rising. I prefered Greedfall overall, but I do enjoy the themes they use for their games. I think the themes in both Greedfall and Steel Rising to be very enjoyable. However, I didn't enjoy Steel Rising as much, because it's meant to be a souls like, but it feels a bit too clunky and the flow of the combat wasn't my thing.

[@locdogsgg9135]

Steel rising was a fun game on its own I pre ordered and completed it without any regret at all so yeah I look forward to their next game 😊

[@twistedturns65]

I love this developer, they're basically the 'littles developer that could' and since Mars: War Logs, I've been loving watching them grow.

[@Chaotik_Pranxter]

Big sale going on Xbox, picked up Mars: War Logs, Bound By Flame and Jade Empire for $6.12!!! Epic score, thanks for reminding me of these games!

[@kennethng7922]

Greedfall is a huge walking simulator, the game is great but the amount of running back and forth to do most of the quest makes me never wanna come back to spider games again. Most quests make you run around in circle to do the most basic things (sending a letter, look for a parchment in the basement etc)

[@frankkennedy6388]

The idea of Technomancer was good, it's a shame the game wasn't. It should have had a longer story, and the ending was so obvious (Atleast you can get all 3 endings without replaying the game) The intro boss was definitely harder than it needed to be. Interesting to hear that the combat was just bad; I thought it was intentionally hard. The staff turned out to be the only weapon you need, except for a certain boss.

[@SultanOfAwesomeness]

18:51 wait… hang on… did Bound by Flame really just casually invent a proper sword sheath with capable of being drawn from the back? I find that both amazing and hilarious because it’s been a thing that fantasy types have been debating about how ‘realistic’ or ‘plausible’ such a concept is.

[@Sthephyr12]

I've been playing their game since Mars. Always been a favorite little indie studio of mine, even if they're pretty hit or miss. I like seeing how their games change between releases.

[@AaronHendu]

I have most of their games due to tbem always being on sale or part of bundles. I have been meaning to try that Mars one...seems like something I would certainly enjoy.

[@scullyy]

I thought Technomancer's stance system was just really bad. Played through it only using rogue, never touching the other ones. They should have done more to incentivize using the different stances or gotten rid of the stance system completely.

[@michaeleverett9091]

I've played all of them except Faerie, and I agree with many of the comments here. Mars War Logs is an entirely different game after the fight in the train station, and truly opens up at that point. One of the things I love about it and Technomancer is how little it cares about you - it will swarm you, it will let enemies use tactics that feel unfair, and it won't care. Of Orcs and Men is on the weaker side because of the adrenaline system, which is the main reason I never finished it. But I keep meaning to go back and give it another try. Bound By Flame is wonderful, cheesy story and all. Humanity is going extinct and your enemy is an unfathomable evil, with pieces of the story even diving into this. It has major Berzerk vibes and an amazing soundtrack (the same composer also did Technomancer and Greedfall). Technomancer is by far my favorite, and playing on PC helps quite a bit with the combat feel. It is slow and methodical, but if you can meet it on its own terms you've got 50+ solid hours and 10-15 decent ones, especially the ending to each act. Just be careful who you choose to befriend, as it might take away the thugs you've been grinding on for XP. Greedfall is my second favorite game but favorite story, hands down. Almost every party member is strong enough to carry their own game (almost - the Bridge Alliance alchemist needs to die in a fire and the islander is exactly what you expect), but the game maintains the focus on diplomacy the entire time.

[@tamniall]

What if *Spiders* & *Piranhabytes* merged together? 🤔

[@linkhidalgogato]

i had no idea that styx was from a different older game thats kinda crazy certainly took me by surpise seen styx in a spiders game

[@elveone]

Spiders is one of my favorite studios and I've played everything on the list except Faery. I quit Of Orcs and Men very early because I couldn't really deal with that combat system for more than a couple of fights so I cannot really comment on it. If I had to rate the rest in terms of how good they are I'm going with SteelRising, The Technomancer, Mars: War Logs, Greedfall, Bound By Flame. Here is why: Bound By Flame did nothing new for the studio. All of the systems this video attributed to BBF were actually pioneered in Mars: War Logs and that game did nothing to expand on them. The combat in BBF was way WORSE than Mars: War Logs because it lacked the impact of the previous game and the didge and parry options that were previously universal actions got each stuck to a weapon with both perfect dodges and parries actually becoming a detriment to you because they lock you into a lengthy parry without any invulnerability during it. Additionally you cannot actually parry or dodge ranged attacks and the enemies are huge damage sponges. The biggest flaw of the game is definitely the combat but its second biggest is that it ran out of budget during the second act of the game with seemingly 7 acts in total planned so everything abruptly stops just as the story gets going. Greedfall is a decent game but it is the exact SAME systems without any significant improvement for the FOURTH game. The open world was big but it was also repetitive. Additionally if you decided to explore without progressing through the story first the game would not give you ANY quests in the areas you would be exploring and you would have to go a second time through all of them for the main and side quests. The combat had about as much of an impact on melee as in most of The Technomancer and you had very similar ttk as the previous game as well but you would have to cheese your way through a lot of it because of the sheer amount of enemies. The addition of a second party member that you could not control precisely just made the whole thing more chaotic. The story was not really significantly better than any of the previous games - Spiders have always had pretty interesting worlds with very good characters and this is one of their more straightforward efforts in terms of story. The skills that you unlock in this game are really underwhelming in comparison to The Technomancer and they are very few of them - you basically have the same amount of skills as you do in Mars: War Logs. This game is this low on the rankings because it wastes its potential on trying to look bigger than it really is than fixing the flaws the previous games had in terms of systems. Mars: War Logs pioneered ALL of the systems that were seen in the Studio's games up until Greedfall including the branching storylines, trait requirements for certain actions and romance options and surprisingly the combat has much better impact on melee than both Mars: War Logs and early stages of the Technomancer before you got the lighting enchantment on the weapon. Dodge and Parry have different roles - you dodge out of aoe attacks while the parry is reserved for dealing with melee enemies. The story is surprisingly deep and impactful for such a short game and lays the foundation of the very interesting world that was slightly expanded in The Technomancer that mostly showed a different viewpoint on the same world from the other corporation's city. On a gameplay level this game is worse than Greedfall but it offers a complete meaningful story without any bloat which the gameplay and variety can support better. The Technomancer was really good for what it was. It fixed most of the miss-steps from Bound By Flame and focused more on delivering a complete experience with a variety of gameplay options than on surface-level stuff like the studio did in BBF and Greedfall. The game masterfully references a lot of the events in Mars: War Logs without really making it necessary for the player to have played that game and expands on both the combat and the magnitude of the story. It is basically all of what Greedfall is but better balanced and better served. SteelRising is on a whole different level. It is a non-linear experience with a lot of side content set in an alternative history fantasy setting. It is less focused on stats and more focused on how the player can act differently in combat depending on his choices. The game has a lot of good metroidvania and platforming elements and because of that the level design is on a whole different level, literally and figuratively. The combat is finally GOOD and it is actually better than a lot of other soulslikes. Also in spite of the subgenre change the story is just as if not more complex than that in any of the previous games of the studio with variety of choices to make and you get to decide the fate of a lot more than a few different characters. Visually the game has more variety to its environment than any of the previous games and it is obviously more impressive than any of them. I really love that Spiders took the time to develop this game in order to fix the biggest flaw they had in all of their previous games.

[@webcelt]

Mars: War Logs does explain being able to walk around on Mars, though I don't recall how. Mars was terraformed, but suffered a disaster that left the colony with a thin margin of survival. Technomancer wasn't just a sequel, but also a prequel. It started before War Logs, then there were references to the War Logs events, and then followed up. My complaint with those games and Bound By Flame was the repetitiveness. You have to pass through some areas repeatedly, and the enemies you beat before are back up like nothing happened and you have to fight them again. I suppose that worked for grinding out experience points, but it got annoying.

[@simplysage3562]

Spider just need that lil push A studio trying hard Fundamantals are there its just the finishing touches Like a chef who can cook a steak but struggles really hard to spice and garnish it

[@xGeorge95]

I absolutely loved Mars: War Logs and I don’t really know why. The writing is terrible, the graphics are ugly, and the combat is crap. It feels like the developers really cared while making this game, but just weren’t there with their skills yet. As seen later on, their games did get better and better in every department. I see Mars: War Logs as a good example of a company testing out a new strategy and it not working but learning from those mistakes and coming back stronger.

[@schalitz1]

I honestly like spiders. They're the underdog and they make pretty good games especially when you take into account how little they have in the way of resources, man power, money, etc...

[@Seoul_Soldier]

Watching Spiders evolve has been such a great ride. It's nice to see a studio slowly improving over time instead of what's happening with Bethesda: getting worse with every release.

[@coltonwilkie241]

To be fair to Bethesda, the last game they actually developed was Fallout 76. They've just been publishing shit games from their teams.

[@krzysztof6591]

The amount of wood in this game would heat my house nicely over the years.

[@LuizFelipe-lk1hs]

I'm not a big fan of Greedfall's bosses, the first one was really hard, maybe because we are really weak, but all the other bosses were quite easy imo. I had more problems fighting enemies that were way over my level, but I recall that at a point the difference in levels doesn't matter anymore.

[@M0ONCommander]

Greedfall was just an awe-inspiring experience. I've rarely seen a story about colonialism be approached with such ostensible sensibility. The amount of respect given to the native culture, their language and their deep, rich history. Every new location felt reminiscent of playing dragon age inquisition. Not open world, but decently sized snippets so gorgeously fleshed out. Palpable influence of people in the environments and sometimes just majestic vistas. The de vespe DLC with the big canyon, and the shallow river comes to mind. Sunlight shining through in the water, and as you look up, there's a stone arch that just screams imponence. A game that truly made me want more after finishing it. Romance, as anti-climactic as it ends, was a fun journey to piece together. Siora might still be among my favorite companions for any game, and father Petrus, as conniving as he is, has a grandfatherly charm to him. S-tier game in my book.

[@masonolivo5909]

It actually is explained why you can walk on Mars. When it was first colonized, they altered the atmosphere of the touchdown regions, of memory serves

[@fuzzylogic3017]

I purchased (on a major sale), played through and reviewed Faery: Legends of Avalon. I considered the game truncated to less than half its proper length. I wish they return to it one day and complete it properly. Its gameplay was quite enjoyable as was the story.

[@joshuabroekema6416]

I thought Mars: War Logs and Bound by Flame were 5/10. Technomancer was a 9/10 experience for me and Greedfall a 9.1/10. I play RPGs for stories, lore, characters, and dialogue and they gradually got better with a big up in quality from Bound by Flame to Technomancer

[@n1ng3n]

I remember that for defending the quality of Greedfall against a bad and biased review i got a ban from a videogame site that give a low score (6.7/10). I don't know why spyder games are always mistreated and get bad reviews, because The technomancer, Greedfall and Steelrising are good games in my honest opinion. Mars: War logs is not that good, but it's like a blueprint for The technomancer that is a more enjoyble experience. I'm currently playing The technomancer and is like a mix between The witcher 3 and Mass Effect. I'm surprised by the overall quality of the game. Yeah the combat sometimes is a bit junky, but it's not broken. Combat is similar to The Witcher 3 but have move variety in styles and building possibility. The progression is also good. Greedfall is one of the best RPG of 2019 and i don't know why this game get all this hate. Steelrising is one of the best souls-like together with Nioh, Remnant from the ashes and The surge 1, 2 (excluding From software games) and i think that something like Mortal shell, Ashen, Hellpoint or Thymesia are much worst than Steelrising.

[@subjetividadobjetivaconmak4259]

Steelrising was my first Spiders game. It certainly isn't worth $50, but on sale it definitely is. The Revolutionary France in me enjoyed it gor what it was and I think it at least deserves more recognition than the one it got after its release.

[@apresmidi153]

I've played a bunch of these and didn't even realize they were by the same studio. I really loved the "Fantasy world apocalypse" theme of Bound by Flame despite the constant random profanity. Currently playing GreedFall and love it. I am excited to see where the sequel goes.

[@Psymon_real]

Really hope these guys make a real homerun game, seems like they deserve it.

[@cumrat2282]

I adore Spiders, they are like Pirahna Bytes cousins. Greedfall is their greatest game, but I played Bound By Flame 2 months ago, and it was decent.

[@crow__bar]

I've only played GreedFall and Steelrising so far out of the Spiders line-up, and it was funny to see how the first of those is essentially "AA Dragon Age" and the latter is "AA Dark Souls". However those descriptions really should not put potential players away. Both of those games have their unique twists to the gameplay and stories, and it really does feel like they only got inspired instead of making lower budget clones. I definitely prefer GreedFall out of these 2 games tho. I even wrote a short review for the game on Steam, which is something I do very rarely, but I felt like this game deserved it. Yes it wasn't incredibly polished, yes there was a lot of re-used assets (interiors especially), yes the enemy variety wasn't huge, yes there was a lot of mindless backtracking. But for all of those faults, the story and the world Spiders have created really carried the game as a whole. Steelrising I don't have a lot to say about. I have enjoyed it, the alternative history setting was very intriguing at first, the combat was good, if fairly easy and cheesable. But the game isn't that memorable (or at least it wasn't for me) that I would be praying for a sequel to come out, unlike with GreedFall 2, which I have a lot of hope for. I really hope the studio gets the attention it deserves, so they can expand their budget and one day make the RPG of their dreams without being dragged down by a lack of funding when compared to the scope of their vision.

[@serjtubin]

Gotta love that Gothic 2 soundtrack in the background :)

[@fetusthegreat9797]

I love spiders. I have really enjoyed watching them grow and bound by flame, steel rising, and especially greedfall are some of my favorite games

[@TheAxiolamer]

I loved the combat of greedfall

[@ded2thaworld963]

Terrible and great is the perfect description for these games.

[@brendenyamagaya8647]

I played theough bound by flame years ago on xbox 360 and lost the disc was really happy to find the nostalgia and i realized how odd the story was, but i enjoyed the customization of the weapons and armor and the fact it had a fable-esk moral system where your choices brought you closer to the demon or choosing to ignore the demon entirely i really hope spiders brings back this system in a future game!

[@Stalker950-l3x]

Bound by Flame always looked interesting to me. Might pick it up soon.

[@fioloz]

I loved Mars War logs, it had flaws but it was amazing. These devs and piranha bytes make the best rpgs imo.

[@luden3677]

I loved bound by flame but ended up dropping it because the voice actress for the female character was….interesting. Greed fall is my FAVOURITE and I’m currently playing through Steelrising which I adore so far

[@danielm2808]

I bought Technomancer for about £1.xx but I also got Greedfall on sale and looking at what you’re saying I think I’ll just play Greedfall.

[@Free_speech_is_dead]

Of Orcs and Men spawned 2 sequels based on the goblin dude Styx. Its 2 amazing stealth games.

[@click4gameplay]

Check out my video about Cyanide RPGs. I covered both Styx games there. 👋

[@cadestormdance6301]

Styx has his own spin off game series thats an underrated series