Tyranny Review

[@MandaloreGaming]

Tyranny on GOG - gog.la/JudgeDreddButSwords THE LIST - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_K3ziSxT9zcUUGCddS4sF1uNJTWHSbOwB1CQX2Rx4Uo It hurts to think how things could be if this also got some crowdfunding budget. Still a good time! I also realize I said MWD instead of WMD because my EVE Online lizard brain is too used to saying it and I never caught myself.

[@nickhunter6700]

I've been wanting to play this game 👍

[@blackout295]

Awuigo

[@rcgamer7780]

wow I am grateful that you been able to release this much amazing videos in short time span.

[@tehplatipusguy130]

@@zachb8012 lol

[@robosoldier11]

Age of Mythology please.

[@leadpaintchips9461]

One of the things that they did in Tyranny that I desperately wished that more games did was the hyperlink thing in the text. That was a bloody game changer when it came to world building, making it so that even in the beginning of the first time playing I wasn't lost when people talked normally, referencing people, places, and important events.

[@TheHughgee]

Yeah it makes life *so* much easier, plus leads to more realistic dialogue. I hope more game devs take note

[@MakAlexMosc]

I agree, it was very usefull. Pillars of Eternity 2 and Pathfinder: Kingmaker had it too.

[@quint3ssent1a]

I also saw it in Pyre, and yeah, it is a game-changer. Tyranny does it better, though, it uses it with many clever effects.

[@joseaca1010]

Battletech did a similar thing, thank god cuz i knew jackshit about the setting

[@elFulberto]

Wasn't it how Morrowind dialogues worked? Made every NPC feel like a Wikipedia terminal.

[@cachaçaalchemist]

"The Scarlet Chorus is a mobile mosh-pit of your most hated band's biggest fans." Couldn't have said it better myself.

[@pantsmage970]

It's like he's been there before how accurate that statement was

[@Misanthropolis]

@@pantsmage970 I mean who hasn't at this point? Add solo artists and such to that list as well. K-pop stans? Hard to ignore if you are on social media right now. The Justin Bieber craze back in like 2011? Hard to ignore if you were on social media back then. Any emo band stan back in 2016-2017? Eh, you could have ignored it if you weren't part of any forum with a music thread where these people would hijack the thread the moment someone mentions something like Fallout Boy or Bring Me the Horizon, God forbid someone mentioned Blood on the Dance Floor. The years listed might be off, but I am trying to forget those dark ages, ok?

[@Kenkatsu17]

@@Misanthropolis emo was mid 2000s and it's not a phase mom!

[@Misanthropolis]

@@Kenkatsu17 I mean the second wave. I remember a lot of them came in like 2016 too.

[@Kenkatsu17]

@@Misanthropolis I must be super out of touch because I thought that scene died completely in 2009 lol. What bands were in this second wave?

[@maxducks2001]

A very small thing, but Tyranny pulls one of the greatest integrations of game mechanics into dialogue I’ve seen in years. It’s only for a single character: The Voices of Nerat. TVON is the leader of the Scarlet Chorus, the bloodthirsty horde of Kyros’ legions. He’s a soul consuming, trickery focused, magic bullshit wielding weirdo. And he can also speak in your head. Tyranny takes its way of explaining lore from Pillars of Eternity. Mainly in that it doesn’t really do so directly, at least not as much as other games. To counteract this, the game has a bunch of highlighted text that you can hover over to gain context on whatever they’re talking about. The Voices of Nerat will occasionally twirl his scepter in conversation, and the text is highlighted. And when you hover over it, you can read what he’s saying to you telepathically. Both the game and Voices even make sure you know that this is a thing by having him ask you to cough if you can hear him. It’s such a genius way of conveying a method of communication that isn’t audibly speaking without just outright spelling it out for you.

[@denniscain7218]

sorry, I just didn't like Tyranny. Everything that made PoE interesting was sadly missing from Tyranny.

[@danieldimov8625]

​@@denniscain7218To each their own, but man, that's a cool feature Tyranny has.

[@Hell_O7]

Did PoE do this? I don't remember that.

[@danieltobin4498]

I didn’t realize it at first so I just can’t help but imagine how frustrated the VoN is XD

[@AFKay-sv1dl]

​​@@danieltobin4498 I noticed it immediately but I was playing as character who sides with The Disfavored more than Scarlet Chorus so I kept being silent listening to arguing between the two. He was so pissed it was hilarious

[@ClothesCat]

In my dreams I see Tyranny the way it was meant to be, with more time and a bigger budget. Then I wake up and I realise I am not protected by Kyros' Peace, and I weep.

[@suetyhercules7717]

I mean doesn't Microsoft own Obsidian now. Maybe Tyranny 2 isn't so impossible, it's not like obsidian won't have the budget now

[@thinking-ape6483]

@@suetyhercules7717 Nope. It is a Paradox title...

[@suetyhercules7717]

@@thinking-ape6483 welp. Probably not then

[@thinking-ape6483]

@@suetyhercules7717 It is baffling. Everyone who has played it agrees it was a good if unfinished game...yet it sold poorly. No one knows why.

[@McHobotheBobo]

@@thinking-ape6483 Lots of gamers are poor young folks and we couldn't afford the game at the time

[@scifimisc9191]

A Tyranny sequel, spiritual successor, or really any game trying to go for a similar premise is probably my most wanted game

[@CarlDeer]

Pillars of Eternity is somewhat similar and made by Paradox as well. I liked Tyrrany's magic system better though.

[@demistr7435]

@@CarlDeer Made by Obsidian not Paradox.

[@CarlDeer]

@@demistr7435 my bad, Paradox was the publisher.

[@38procentkrytyk]

Check out Age of Decadence. It is more like alternative history of the Rome but worldbuilding and characters are outstanding but in different way.

[@myilmazalper]

Seems like Age of Decadence has already been mentioned, so I'll second that recommendation

[@youngthinker1]

Spoilers: If you speak of the decision on murdering a baby, then there is an alternative way of finding a solution outside of lore. If you raid the library before this, then you will find a book which talks about inheritance and such. It provides your character with the same outcome as the lore check. I think raiding the library before a ton of the decision are made, allows you to by pass so many lore checks due to how much stuff is in there.

[@andrewcapra7153]

There's also a third option, where you tell the mother to hold on a sec, and head back over to Tunon's court. You can chat over the problem with the other Fatebinders and one of them will spitball the idea of a formal renouncing of the throne. The fact that you can occasionally ask your coworkers for advice (even if sometimes that advice is "You're fantasy Judge Dredd, why didn't you just blast them in the face with a fireball?") is a great touch that makes it feel like you're not the only person in Tunon's court, the others are competent at their jobs and had basically equal qualifications to the PC until you were handed the second Edict to read

[@DivinityOfBLaze]

I have to say, there is a strong theory advocating for this all being part of Kyros's plan. Having a foil will essentially focus all "rebellion" and dissidents onto a singular figure. An Archon of Rebellion as an example. It also brings out all the fringe elements and hidden support for rebellion under a single banner... only for it to be crushed. As well as being a convenient way of getting rid of forces no longer beneficial to Kyros. Think of the Scarlet Chorus for example. This is the last real territory unconquered. They WILL go wild eventually and WILL be more trouble than they're worth. This? This is a great way to throw all such elements into a meat grinder.

[@mumfol4791]

SPOILERS obviously: It's been a while since I played Tyranny, but if I remember correctly, there were even some lines about certain archons (Ashe and the Voices) being only good for war and entirely unfit for peace, which to me heavily implied that the whole Tiers-Conquest was mostly to get rid of them. Kyros might even have an interest in keeping the Tiers as a place of constant war so that any warmonger can be sent there to die or at least be trapped in conflict so that they don't pose a threat to Kyros. Plus, the whole "Archon of the Tiers/Spires/whatever" promotion did come conveniently late, when the whole conflict about which Archon is to blame for the rebellion was almost resolved.

[@quint3ssent1a]

Well, yeah, maybe Kyros is like Tzeench, who conjures great plans only to subvert them by equally great plans. All his edicts have a clause that allows them to be subverted, you can actually do it at the start (by pronouncing edict after it's intended date you can set your timer to a WHOLE YEAR to solve your problems, lol). I mean, those clauses looks almost like they were meant to be found and used... for something.

[@quint3ssent1a]

Maybe Kyros is no longer a man of flesh, maybe it's now more of a mantle and he (she, whatever) needs you as a suitable replacement. I mean, theme of "many men behind one face" already was outlined fairly well with Nerath.

[@DivinityOfBLaze]

@@mumfol4791 It's doubly funny if you recruit the archons to your side, even the justice archon. But yeah, it comes off as a clean up operation where if they succeed? Sure. nice. If not? They all die.

[@AndreLuis-gw5ox]

Kind of linke in the Matrix, where the Machines periodically create a Chosen One, have he fund a new rebellion and exterminate the current one, so there can be an outlet for humans that dont fit the simulation

[@HellKnightX88]

"I would've liked a few one sided encounters where you're basically committing war crimes." Don't we all?

[@Alex.R.L]

Stellaris is the game for you! Be the Determined Exterminator or Fanatic Purifier you want to see in the galaxy. Or maybe go full Borg with a Driven Assimilator race. My first "win" was with a Spiritualist Egalitarian Xenophile fungus race. Hugs were mandatory. Those unwilling to accept hugs were pushed out of the galaxy, their names forgotten. The Reach Oligarchy stretched its boarders around the galactic core to metaphorically hug the whole of inhabitable space. Cake or Death, Hugs or Planet-Cracker.

[@robertblume2951]

@@Alex.R.L lets be honest all paradox games let you commit war crimes. Vikings in Ck2 hold blots and kill a minimum of 6 people in blood sacrifices and run your economy on raiding. In EU4 you can eliminate cultures and peoples.

[@robertblume2951]

@BenjaminTheRogue just saying you can eliminate them

[@NSDP15]

I call that new game plus in tyranny, once you get 500 lore and all the spell accents those area of effect spells kill almost everything

[@СемёнСемёнович-д9п]

In DLC you can murder entire Bastard's Wound for braking the law. Earlier you can authorise enslaving of entire village or order to burn it down

[@cometkite]

The idea of the Kyros empire using brutal methods of conquest to bring "peace" is actually quite similar to many ancient empires like the Romans, Incas, or even Mongols.

[@roland2690]

they are also somewhat simiar to Persian Empire, especially being the melting pot of cultures

[@jorgenjorgensen2739]

Or Americans...

[@TheLordboki]

@@roland2690 Persians actually had a very soft-handed approach to governing conquered peoples. Most of the stuff about tyranny is Greek propaganda.

[@roland2690]

@@TheLordboki thats True but their stance on peoples and religions was "Pay taxes and dont get in our way and we leave you alone"

[@Max_Kraft]

@@roland2690 Same with mongol khanate. Or habsburg empire. Many multinational empires did it the same way. It did well for some time. But many people forget that this empire never were democratic in any regards and insane brutal force was necessary for the rulers to hold the different cultures together and any sign of rebellion was crushed on sight.

[@dreamthief286]

"Intriguing setting with good writting and characters but it's also buggy, has some wierd direction and is blatanly unfinished." yep, checks all the boxes for an Obsidian classic.

[@Misanthropolis]

And they'll get away with it too because of those fanboys.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

It’s part of the brand. Like STALKER. If the new game isn’t buggy slavjank on release it wont FEEL like Stalker.

[@alexsysoev7774]

Get out of here stalker.

[@asweknowit123]

@@Misanthropolis We'd rather have an uncut diamond than a polished turd most of the time

[@Misanthropolis]

@@asweknowit123 Except it hasn't been an uncut diamond for a while now.

[@Taureor]

Tyranny is excellent. I like the writing quite a lot, stuff like describing the stench of a man who is forever locked into his armor. Other games would just say he is loced into it and maybe describe the look, Tyranny takes it in an ugly but real direction.

[@bluesap7318]

The dude probably has all the known and unknown diseases in existence.

[@xalrath]

​@@bluesap7318 Barik is an extremely unsubtle metaphor played completely straight, and it rules he is a completely loyal soldier for his general, who he respects above all others and believes in all things. he has been an exemplary soldier. his reward for being an exemplary soldier was being put on an intensely stupid ego-boosting mission for Dear Leader that killed all of his squadmates and left him trapped in his own armor, stewing eternally in his own shit, unless he can find some way to acknowledge that maybe Dear Leader does not want what's best for him.

[@SapFeaRon]

@@xalrath there is also a problem that he was not supposed to be alive inside armor. A lot of things points that he was a living suit of armor, but...then dlc comes and he is completly normal human inside armor. I guess he deserved happy ending, but damn it's weird since old dialog still there, about him not feeling anything or needing sleep..

[@xalrath]

@@SapFeaRon Graven Ashe protects. Do not mind the definition of "Protects" at play.

[@nickname8619]

@@xalrath in the end the greatest thing you can do for him is save him from himself at the end... because barik is an old dog that merely seeks to be barked at. But someone cares for him to break him out of it, you know? Its great to be able to play rebels for barik and see him come to terms with his past at the end

[@breath4255]

Idk if you read these or not, but the subtitles on your videos really help me watch them, i have a lot of difficulty understanding speech so the subtitles were a massive help. They might be difficult to make, and so you doing them is massively appreciated!

[@Jay22222]

I encourage you or anyone else reading this to reach out to creators and offer to do this for them. It is not usually done by the channel and they are so helpful. Especially if you’re Bilingual, it’s so disappointing to come across an exciting video and there aren’t even auto generated subtitles. I can’t imagine how frustrating this platform is for people who have limited English. It seems like 10M+ subs is a requirement to have any other language subtitles on an English language video!

[@MineSlimeTV]

@@Jay22222 as I heard it Was a feature. But either people abused it, or KZbin removed another helpful feature. It is possible but to how KZbin is made Either you pay a dedicated person, or you just have to make new videos to keep your head above water. I really was going to do so and try my best. Not sure if it's actually present. But subtitles now are mostly automatic, at bes but funky and not with much of it. at worst,not present.

[@hope6840]

Difficulty understanding speech? How do you live in our social world? Genuinely curious/concerned

[@hope6840]

@@henrycrabs3497 Lucky for him, I was just baiting for harrassment ammo

[@drakep.5857]

@@hope6840 have you heard of this concept called... sign language and being deaf?

[@mrluga]

So glad to see you cover this game. Was such a gem and sad to think there might not be more of it, or similar.

[@MandaloreGaming]

I desperately hope they come back to it again in the future. It clearly ran out of time and money, but even in the rough state it is there's so much special in it.

[@mrluga]

@@MandaloreGaming Same!

[@jerryjantola]

Same.

[@hihihi1q23]

@@MandaloreGaming Seems unlikely that Microsoft would allow them to make a text-heavy game like this. Obsidian's future is probably going to be stuff closer to Outer Worlds.

[@Cornhellius]

Sadly if there ever is a tyranny sequel, it won't be by Obsidian since the IP is owned by Paradox and the two are no longer working together. Wich is a shame because i much prefered the world and writing of this game to that of pillars of eternity.

[@kappa731]

The one thing you did not mention: you can declare the Edict of Swords after the named date and have an entire year to beat the rebellion, which is greatly tied to the fact that you are a servant of Tunon and the manipulation of laws is your speciality. I love the little details like this implemented, this is such a writing masterpiece. Probably my favorite rpg ever

[@michimatsch5862]

Was at first actually unintended but left in after discovered which just drives the point home even further.

[@chillax319]

Fantastic setting that sadly most likely will never be utilized again.

[@matthewbadley5063]

It's definitely cool that you can that. But honestly the time allotment is very generous. The fact it's even a plot point is pretty cool, you don't see many games doing something like that (or anything like Tyranny really)

[@RagnarRoxShow]

Tyranny: The Game Where You Play *"Fantasy Judge Dredd"* Great video, got really excited to see you give this one the treatment!

[@ncrranger6327]

Hey RagnarRox! Love your content man.

[@Napoleonic_S]

More like fantasy Darth Vader though.

[@Biouke]

That's generally how I explain Tyranny in simple words to someone :)

[@PalaDave99]

Mandalore and Horror Dad in the same place?

[@Tzilandi]

I always loved Conquest mode; being made to choose between a Lawful- or Chaotic Evil option, and having to decide for yourself which is the worse option always felt so much more compelling than the usual Good VS Evil dichotomy you normally get in something like, say, Star Wars. "Help the Old Lady over the road" VS "Shove the Old Lady in front of a car and steal her handbag" doesn't have the same punch as "conscript the meanest locals into the murder-gang" VS "just execute ALL the locals".

[@kouikilol5833]

"you can adjust the amount of voice callout".... WOLVES HUNT IN PACK

[@yewtewbstew547]

GOBLINS ARE WEAK TO FIRE

[@mrsing7465]

@@yewtewbstew547 THEIR KIND HATES FIRE AND ICE BOTH!

[@SpaceLTN]

we have triumphed

[@DP-fq7iy]

So glad DA added an option to stfu pawns.

[@adamr6621]

'tHE taIL iS SevERed!!1!'

[@mapkocc]

22:14 "Tyranny has an intriguing setting with good writing and characters, but it's also buggy, has some weird direction and it's blatantly unfinished. It might be an Obsidian classic" why must you hurt me this way

[@Jesus_Offical]

Fr

[@mapkocc]

thank you@@Jesus_Offical

[@CrazyConnor2]

"Buggy, has weird direction, and is blatantly unfinished... It might be an obsidian classic." Yeah that checks out XD.

[@asweknowit123]

It's a selling point at this rate

[@sporepda]

Honestly, i fail to find that funny. Its not a good thing and we, as consumers and fans, need to let Obsidian know that they are screwing up too much. As long as we let them get away with releasing unfinished games because "well, it has some merits to it, some parts of it is really good" they will continue doing so

[@awsome9245]

@@sporepda most of the time unfinished releases are due to the publisher

[@sporepda]

@@awsome9245 Well maybe they should learn their fucking lesson and stop chosing bad publishers? You know the old saying - "fool me once - shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me, fool me three times and maybe im a fucking fool and alll that was because of me". Besides, they almost always brought it upon themselfs by signing contract that they cannont fulfill

[@nerdyvids1]

@@awsome9245 At this point it happens with such regularity and under multiple different publishers that I think it’s safe to say the problem is Obsidian

[@nathanhuerta4445]

I’ll never forget changing a baby’s last name to avoid murdering it. What a game.

[@DenienN]

this

[@Goro-Nesan]

Oh... I didn't know you could do this... I just killed it.

[@LalaGrell]

... whoops.

[@gabrielkerne9175]

And I'll never forget killing a baby because of its last name.

[@Yemeth42pis]

@@LalaGrell whoopsie ! (I made the companion traumatised by killing her baby brother in the womb with her power do it ... probably the darkest thing I've done in a game).

[@skeletonwizard708]

I can not recommend Tyranny enough. It's definitely not finished and trips over itself at every opportunity, but it's just so *alive*. It's like a proof of concept for a much bigger game, like an alpha build for the greatest RPG you'll ever play. I hope a sequel gets made, and I hope they just make the player character a wizard. I think just doubling down on the magic system would be freaking Pillars-Of-Salt-Levels of biblical.

[@adrowsypoet]

I hope to buy this IP from Paradox someday and do just that

[@GeoGyf]

I highly disagree about the 'not finished' quotes. Tyranny is one of those few games that are your actions result into different world states and different areas. That means the overall length of the game has to be shortened, because the focus was on the different world states. There are 3 different world states and 4 endings. This is why the New Game+ exists, so you dont have to do the boring early game so you get to experience the different states. In short the game might appear short if you only play it once and dont see the variety. Tyranny is very similar to Witcher 2 which has 1/3 of its game vastly different depending on your choice, but ofc Witcher had way more budget. Idk what can be done with a Tyranny sequel and where it can really go. Kyros has the Edict of Time and who knows how many more Edicts. The reality is that we cant really challenge him/her and assuming we oppose him/her (because there is the option of simply surrendering) we are giving Kyros an outlet for the more rebellious/unstabilzing factions of his enormous Empire (which is 30 times bigger than the Tiers). Anyway a likely excuse is that Kyros is most likely us, the player controlling the protagonist like some sort of avatar and activating the Edict of Time with New Game+.

[@Draig-zb2tx]

​@@GeoGyf Wbile i love this game, it is definitely unfinished, and in the most litteral sense. I agree with you on the fact that the heavy consequences tour actions can have wouldn't mix well with a very long playtime. It wouldd become a nightmare to manage. But as it is, there already are huge writing inconsistencies. The main on i encountered was during my first play through were i tried to stay loyal to kyris all the way. Not necessarily always following the law, but always acting in the overlord's interet. Well despite doing that, and doing it well, when i come before Tunon in the final acr, without ever trying to turn him against Kyros, he suddenly spouts things about creating a new empire/society and no longer obeying Kyros. That's what i mean by unfinished, and blatantly so. You can't havd a game, that from character creation, with conauest, puts your choices at the center, and have the srory ultimately take almost all agency away. Even with the doc's, it's not even that the game is railroading hard that i find bothering. It's that it seems only one ending was put together in time. Anyhow, rant post, mainly directed at any who would come down here reading the comments

[@GeoGyf]

@@Draig-zb2tx You can have Tunon remain loyal to you, then you can both bow to Kyros together. That was my first ending.

[@Draig-zb2tx]

@@GeoGyf oh, thanks for answering. I know tho, that's what i did too, what bothered me is that, clearly, nobody wrote, replicas for Tunon with this in mind. He bow to you but speaks as if you were rebelling against the overlod. He only acknowledges the possibility of remaining loyal in one line that was added with the new "remain loyal" ending with the dlc. It's the climax of the game, and a moment the devellopers thought would only result in a rebellion against the overlod (because you'de be railroaded i to it without the dlc) and it shows. It bothers me simply because, well, the game was, and still is, marketed as one where you play the bad guy. As such, the loyal bad guy path being originally inexistant, and ultimately badly polished is not a detail. I suppose they couldn't bring tunon's voice actor back in for the new ending path, or didn't have enough budget, but frankly, they could've at least made a different non voiced speech. Again, i love the game, already made a new game +, but it is unfinished. That doesn't mean bad, just mean you can clearly see the seams, and they're clunky.

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

Pillars of Eternity menu theme: Mystical fantasy atmosphere full of wonder but with a hint of danger Tyranny menu theme: *BWAAAAAAAAAAA*

[@nickname8619]

@Anal Farmer1 hell no! Its just different genres, though i agree the story of tyranny left you thinking about it more, pillars is the kind of series to keep you fantasizing awesome shit

[@dimas3829]

@@nickname8619 fantasizing about what? About not lore-friendly shit that backers infested it with? The more you try to speak with locals and investigate Pillars world the more disgusting it gets. Truly a product of crowd-funding. The only decent thing there was Fortress, you know, the one developers outright destroyed in second part, annihilating your progress with it.

[@38procentkrytyk]

@@dimas3829 White March was actually better than Base game. For a game that suppose to give so many options to the player... vanilla PoE seems very limiting for me. You begin as simple fellow. You go to first town... meet a girl who wants some medicine. You give it from witch in the wild and... some other NPC gives you quest to go to highly secured castle with army of knights, paladins, monks and magicians and kill their leader. I mean. You need to finish half of the game to do so in Baldurs Gate. There is so little terrain around the game to just wander in PoE. There are two big cities that take half of the game and smaller locations are used as tutorials with little space to feel comfortable with my companions in this well developed world. I always avoid those Backers and even then those are not very memorable parts.

[@125discipline2]

@Anal Farmer1 pillar's ending: huh? tyranny ending: HA I OUTSMARTED TUNON!

[@38procentkrytyk]

@@125discipline2 Tyranny Ending: We can fight even the will of the Overlord. White March Ending: Why are we?

[@selwrynn6702]

I would pay for a game that is entirely the Tyranny character creation conquest mode.

[@ferrusmanus4013]

Yes please

[@derfzgrld]

Definitely

[@planescaped]

Uhh... it is bare-bones nothing without a game to show the consequences of your choices. A game that is just the conquest mode would be extremely dull. Come to think of it, I believe there are some mobile games that are nothing but escalating binary choices. So there ya go.

[@derfzgrld]

@Toad Hermit Yes I would

[@saintcharles4436]

Check Suzerain

[@macavityomega]

Is it just me or does "hugely overpriced" and "blatantly unfinished" come up together a lot with Paradox?

[@adamdobry5517]

Yeap. But still... it could been worse

[@hkl1459]

It is what it is.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I kind of despise Paradox, while still enjoying their games. Their DLC model alone warrants everlasting enmity, Also, what the fuck did you people do to Bloodlines 2? How do you fuck that up, Paradox? Their name should be “Contradiction” instead of “Paradox”. I’m too tired to know if that joke makes sense and I do not care.

[@ksh2596]

This is purely a coincidence. Nothing to see here.

[@historymarshal2704]

Just good ol' Obsidian bad luck. For some reason, they almost always get stuck with not enough time or money.

[@nira6064]

This honestly is a dream come true for me, you reviewing this game

[@coolgirl3890]

Same here! Tyranny is such an underrated game!

[@nira6064]

@@coolgirl3890 it's the first game I played on my pc so it has a special place in my heart. Shame we probably won't get a sequel.

[@coolgirl3890]

@@nira6064 I would settle for a ttrpg or a presequel if Obsidian's Microsoft overlords allowed it

[@narxes]

This honestly is a dream come true for me as well, you commenting about him reviewing this game.

[@grimace4257]

I think you need more fulfilling things to fill out your day.

[@Tgungen]

"And you are with the invaders" That single line immediately raised my interest

[@אביבעזר]

@@morgothable Allowing a particularly smartass player (or one who looks stuff online) to laywer the very first edict was just perfect. A dev said it was added as an accident but when they found it during testing they decided to keep it.

[@Umbra2310]

@@אביבעזר What do you mean by that?

[@Andreithelord]

@@Umbra2310 Kyros' Edict has everyone killed unless the Tiers are conquered before Kyros' Day of Swords. The Edict itself does not mention... which Day of Swords, which is an annual holiday/event. As a result you can bullshit the magic spell by wasting time in camp for a week then declare the Edict, which is a loophole abuse in the way it is worded. As a result, you have a whole year to do your shit. Supposedly, initially this was a bug, as the game has a calendar system, hence the counter to the Day of Swords, but the devs discovered it and kept it as a feature, as it was in theme with the "careful with the wording" idea the world's magic system (and law system for that matter, as in the game you can gain Tunon as an ally at the end by demonstrating him that, by Kyros' own law, Kyros' law is wrong and you are right, which makes Tunon betray Kyros because he must uphold the law Kyros itself created... which kills him inside a little) works.

[@jonathanhamilton2504]

I'm so glad you reviewed this. It's the Firefly of rpgs. Genius writing and setting, quality content, but cut off right at its prime and unlikely to ever be picked up again. A cult classic in every sense of the term.

[@pmarreck]

"The Firefly of RPG's" is spot-on!

[@TheMaulam12345]

@@pmarreck so it dies off?

[@pmarreck]

@@TheMaulam12345 hah noooooo

[@Tattletale-Delta]

@@TheMaulam12345 No it just kinda..... stops. Reminded me of Fallout 4's Institute ending.

[@standowner6979]

Firefly is basically a knock off of Cowboy Bebop

[@Tomwithnonumbers]

I love the idea that belief shapes power, but you're also shaped by your belief. There's the idea that even Kyros isn't really in control of who Kyros is anymore.

[@chaoswraith]

How could they under the influence of so much power

[@Phoenix-vf4nd]

Maybe that why Kryos tries so hard to be mysterious because if the world learn a little too much of her, she would become the exact thing that they expect

[@SanDeygo]

By far the best story is the Kyros loyalist/rebel path. It’s great to walk into the region, judge both factions incompetent and unite a bunch of rebels to crush the useless has beens

[@PeteTheGrouch]

Or, you can just go full anarchist & basically say "F**k EVERYONE!!"

[@nickname8619]

@@PeteTheGrouch thats the most boring playthrough, you basically become a cartoon villain with no dimensions and just kill everyone

[@PeteTheGrouch]

@@nickname8619 ...Tyranny is a game that is literally based around allowing you to _become_ the villain for a change, & you're griping about following the path that lets you do _exactly_ that..? Bruh, if you really wanna play some type of generic 'anti-hero' or pseudo saviour character, there's literally HUNDREDS of other games out there to cater to that itch... why even bother with a game like Tyranny if you're not gonna fully embrace being a mustache twirling bad guy?!

[@raindrain1]

@@PeteTheGrouch There's a world of difference between being a 'real' villain with real character and motives (like Tunon, or Graven Ashe, or heck, even The Voices) and a cartoony "fuck logic imma just kill everyone because I can" villain.

[@raindrain1]

@Manek Iridius Psycho Mantis also had significantly more depth than "lul kill everyone because I can". Heck, even the Joker, the ultimate in for-the-sake-of-it wanton murder and cruelty, usually has more depth than this.

[@MadisonRamanamabangbang]

Tyranny is a game I really loved thinking of ways to make it better more than I actually liked the game

[@ТАДАМ-ю4ж]

You slow probably

[@needycatproductions6830]

I love it for the creative ideas it gives me too.

[@deadoneeyetheunkillable3591]

@@ТАДАМ-ю4ж No, he is Einstein compared to you.

[@indeimaus]

2:41 a man after my own heart

[@hyperion9911]

Wots goin on here then

[@SemiPho97]

We are looking forward to the dishonored video :*

[@mrtyphoon8923]

I was about to call out that comment from under the Burial At Sea video, that Mandalore and Indeimaus are two youtubers who always manage to stick the Home Alone shock sound, but I see you've beat me here yourself xD

[@floppyj.burger5402]

Why do I always find you watching the same youtubers I watch. ITs like we are the same person

[@AngryTheGnome]

You can add so many "shocked scream" in a video, and I'll still find them funny

[@nathanhuerta4445]

My biggest fear for a sequel would be them revealing all of Kyro’s secrets. It already happened once with Dishonored 2 giving away all of The Outsider’s secrets, I don’t want it to happen here too.

[@vlad4o813]

This. The Death of The Outsider expansion ruined the Outsider's character. From a scary Satanic figure of the setting that was speculated to be the either a physical manifestation of the void itself or giant eldritch whale giving people powers for shits and giggles, to just some guy who got sacrifices to the void 4000 years ago in some cult ritual.

[@Sela1]

@@vlad4o813 Idk, I actually liked that premise because it humanized The Outsider and turned him into a sort of a logical progression of the main characters: Even though he had inhuman, godlike powers, he was still shackled by the nature of the Void which he did not fully understand. Like the main characters, he was forced by circumstances into taking up the powers of the Void. And once he reached those powers, like a high chaos playthrough, the Powers corrupted him to the point that he god bored by reality and decided to cause chaos and destruction through creating champions of his own and watch history unfold. But in the end he still partially remained human, and apparently the endless Void is a force/entity no mortal can rule forever.

[@Noisetank007]

@@Sela1 I compare it too the midi-clhorians from starwars. Sometimes it's just cooler to have a mystery instead of a possibly contrived reason for it existing.

[@jamesvivian2855]

@@vlad4o813 the outsider was never really satanic, although the overseers like to portray him that way. Death of the Outsider sucked mainly because of the characters motivations. Daud has gone from a badass assassin to a whiny bitchy old man. His argument is that the outsider either knew what they’d do with his mark or he made them do bad things. The Outsider makes it clear from the very beginning he only gives his mark to those he can’t tell what they’d do with it and he never intervenes directly. Daud has a lot more experience with the Outsider than Corvo so considering Corvo knows that Daud definitely should. He was given power, he chose to use it selfishly and cruelly but now that he’s dying it’s all the Outsiders fault. In the original dishonored he accepted what he did and chose to try and do better by saving Emily. He accepted he wasn’t a good person and he’d done horrible things out of self interest. His character development from the first game is gone entirely and he seems to have lost even his original character and maturity.

[@tbotalpha8133]

@MegaProudAlbanian I like the idea that the ultimate way of defeating Kyros would be to convince people that Kyros doesn't actually exist. That the strength of Kyros' empire comes down to its temporal structure and organisation, not any singular overlord. Basically going Small Gods on Kyros, by making people believe in the visible shell of the empire, not its invisble leader. Or, maybe by seizing control of Kyros' symbolic power, by redefining what Kyros is. Perhaps by going New Testament on Kyros, creating a reformist faith that tries to reconcile Kyros' claimed behaviour into a more benevolent and humane schema. And from there, arguing that the imperial orthodoxy is a "betrayal" of Kyros' values.

[@themurmeli88]

One of my most favorite moments in the game, is to discuss with Lantry about the theories of Kyros' edicts, as in what they are and how do they work, and when Sirin talks about her time at the court, and how she was almost able to make Kyros commit suicide through her song.

[@wwyd4akb]

same the character work in this game is exemplary, every single character has so much effort and work put in yet enough mystery to hook you

[@Limrasson]

I remember that so clearly, I wanted to remove that limiter crown from her head so bad.

[@gadellomagnollo1810]

Couldn’t stand Sirin on my playthrough

[@themurmeli88]

@@gadellomagnollo1810 You'd need to pick the conquest choices that include her, and side with her in order to have "positive relationship" with her. Otherwise, I don't think it's even possible to get on her good side.

[@GeoGyf]

Kyros could well be us, the player. Lantry mentioned the Edict of Time, we use that every time on NG+. :)

[@Trauson]

Oh Boi... Mandalore its showing his true colors now... He is gonna be a dictator over the Gameplay reviews now.

[@shotgunjustice9605]

But where's the organ harvesting and the slavery ?

[@ColonelZoren]

I find myslef oddly okay with that.

[@Trauson]

@@shotgunjustice9605 Soon... He needs to Unite youtube

[@s0uls4nd]

@@shotgunjustice9605 that's sseth department chief

[@michimatsch5862]

@@cibo889 what more can a poor boy do, helping the likes of me and you.

[@MysteriousSignal]

"Canonically gay fireballs" sounds like some sleeper agent activation phrase lmao

[@Mungotastic]

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick steady on there mate.

[@sethleoric2598]

Slaaneshi fireballs

[@ahardworker2154]

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick bit of a step mate

[@itsflyde]

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick What are you saying bro this is a video about an rpg video game Shut up

[@Jakster840]

This is fucking hilarious.

[@sgg3586]

Tyranny feels like a game that could have entirely forgone the top-down RPG aspect and literally just had you making decisions and dealing with everything through dialogue. Even the premise alone feels like you should've been more of a government official travelling with an army of personal yes-men to do all your fighting/dumb-work. The fact that you the player who is quite literally so important that if you fail, then EVERYONE in an entire region dies, yet has to go trotting around fighting your own battles feels more like you're a typical grunt. Like damn, I loved this game so much, but as was stated in the video it seems incomplete and certain story elements feel shoehorned. If anything I would like to see a full sequel or perhaps a spin-off in the vein of "Reins" in which you're just dealing with everything on a political level and seeing the outcomes of your choices evolve without your direct action. Because out of many of the RPGs I have played in the past decade, I think Tyranny definitely had one of the largest/complex spiderwebs of lore and politics for its world despite it being a classic dungeon crawling CRPG adventure at times.

[@JewTube001]

agreed. just started this game and i'm loving it, although running around in combat is kind of meh, and i'm not sure why my character has to be on the frontlines at all times. wouldn't have minded if it was more like disco elysium with no combat, or least some other sort of system where i feel more like a commander than some hands-on goon.

[@purnen]

If you liked the descision making aspects, check out Suzerain

[@deadoneeyetheunkillable3591]

@@purnen That but with magic fantasy bullshit in it would be perfect!

[@MitridatedCarbon]

Yes, the fighting sections felt like they were there just because RPGs have a fighting system. I seriously hope more top-down RPG games follow the path of Disco Elysium and throw the whole fighting system away when it's useless. sometimes, the decision-making or speech challenges are the best parts. like, there's a focus on the power of words and orders in this game. then make it like Preacher, when you have the ability to literally force the world to obey your words.

[@theunhappygamer1744]

@@JewTube001 Yeah the combat start off rather boring but gets better once you have a full party and can customize them with lots of spells/abilities.

[@SirTopHat_III]

Gonna be honest, I wasn’t expecting a review of Tyranny. Nice.

[@darkmasterm193]

Honestly, just seeing this vid really makes me wish for a *proper* 40k Inquisitor RPG video game, where you have to conduct your own investigations regarding stuff like cult activities or warp infections etc. and you would have the free choice of being Puritian, Radical or something inbetween... But alas something like this will *never* happen.

[@AAhmou]

Heck it could have a similar start to Tyranny. You've been sent to deal with a bunch of threats along a small fleet in a certain imperial sector, during your campaign you get to make a few choices where'd send your troops, which assets to protect, heck you may even get an option to exterminatus (Also since it's warhammer, it'd be pretty cool if you could get a game over in the intro lol)... The game starts with one of the few outcomes of your previous choices after the end of one long lasting arduous campaign, as an inquisitor you get a few last minute secret missions from your superiors, while initially it'd look like just some post war policing and investigations would quickly turn into an inquisition style conspiracy.

[@lokensicarius9347]

Maybe with time, I never thought warhammer total war would be a thing but that happened.

[@Max_Kraft]

@Manek Iridius Shhh... let people enjoy things.

[@4STR4STALeatherBelt]

@Manek Iridius "MUH RIGHT WING NAZIS" Please, fuck off back to Reddit.

[@datensaft]

​@Manek Iridius no such person exists

[@Angavelmar]

The "Chosen one" plot is not out of nowhere if you play loyalist. It fits perfectly into the omnipotence of Kyros. Kyros knew the Tiers conquest will go as it went and you are being shaped into a new Archon that will replace or bind into submission the Archons that disappointed Kyros. The idea is introduced a bit in the character background where you are groomed by Tunon from your background into the man of the court. Tyranny has a lot of depth, even if it feels sometimes like it is not finished.

[@SirSaladhead]

Haha, the Rome guy as the character portrait is a nice touch.

[@TheDidgerideuces]

Rome demands such a victory from her Generals! The day is ours!

[@michimatsch5862]

@@TheDidgerideuces just beware of the moon people.

[@TheDidgerideuces]

@@michimatsch5862 Luna Dalenda Est

[@MrHitmancheg]

Ah, Tyranny. I will never forgive Obsidian for cutting the story off after what normally is the first act.

[@matthewcarroll2533]

Obviously I'm just speculating here but with Paradox's big fossilized logo slapped onto it, I wouldn't for one second not think that they're behind the rushed development cycle and cut content that later got put in as "DLCs". (Paradox is notorious for their DLC policies; which is to say that they suck)

[@MrHitmancheg]

@@matthewcarroll2533 I would actually believe that if not for the fact those DLCs never fucking came out. The DLCs are just fluff. The game is simply rushed and unfinished. The story never got the conclusion it deserved and all I have left are massive blue balls.

[@MegamiIriasu]

@@matthewcarroll2533 It isn't Paradox's fault, Obsidian used Tyranny's money to fund PoE

[@nickname8619]

@@MegamiIriasu true, pillars of eternity 2 was their love child. Their magnum opus that they poured everything into. Sadly, it undersold!

[@codyvandal2860]

@@MrHitmancheg it's been a few years since I played it and I definitely remember being surprised that the ending felt a bit.. abrupt. But for a "first act" I remember the game being pretty goddamn long. Am I wrong?

[@Maggerama]

The moment when Tunon bowed to me was the apogee of my life.

[@AsaelTheBeast]

If you have four favor with him, he basically just gives you the trial.

[@VladI998]

Graven Ashe and the Disfavored bowing to me was mine.

[@joseaca1010]

"Tyranny has an intriging setting with good characters and dialogue but is also buggy has some weird direction and its blatantly unfinished, it might be an obsidian classic" that literally describes all of obsidian's best games

[@franelabus9182]

"The enemy of art is the absence of limitations" - Orson Welles I don't think there is a game studio that examplifies this quote better than Obsidian. The last game they put out without any significant issues was Outer Worlds and I think its one of their weaker titles. Yet all their "unfinished" games are some of my favorites.

[@boredgunner]

Comparing Tyranny to the likes of KOTOR 2 and NWN 2 Mask of the Betrayer like that really sells Obsidian short. There are leaps and bounds of qualitative differences there.

[@DorkLord54]

@@boredgunner Except KOTOR II and vanilla NWN 2 were both buggy at launch (and KOTOR II was also blatantly unfinished in the same way Tyranny is, only saved by the Restoration Mod).

[@boredgunner]

@@DorkLord54 Oh they're still buggy today. I'm talking game design and writing where Tyranny is so watered down unlike the other two.

[@yaldabaoth2]

Maybe but Tyranny really IS NOT DONE. The entire game is a prologue to a story you will never see.

[@Electroporcupine]

Tyranny is one third of a truly brilliant game. It's sad we'll probably never get any more of it, or really anything like classic Obsidian used to make.

[@joseaca1010]

papa microsoft bought em now, maybe now theyll be able to make up to half of a brilliant game

[@quint3ssent1a]

@@joseaca1010 nah, judging by what they did last time (cough *low-budget New Vegas in oreegenul setting* cough) now they probably can't do even a half of what Tyranny was.

[@joseaca1010]

@@quint3ssent1a certainly concerning, its as if obsidian can only make 2 types of games: - brilliant but buggy and unfinished or - finished and not-buggy but mediocre

[@McHobotheBobo]

@@quint3ssent1a Did you even play Outer Worlds? It's almost nothing like New Vegas lol

[@joseaca1010]

@Toad Hermit i dunno, they also bought inxile and wasteland 3 was very successful, plus they are actively funding Age of Empires 4, so chasing niches isnt out of the question that being said, i wouldnt put it past them to be so clueless they cannot understand how having multiple niche titles on top of mainstream ones adds up to their console's appeal

[@kingofbel6499]

I bought this game along with Pillars, went to give it a quick try and suddenly I had put 100h into it. I dont usually get that hooked right away with cRPGs. This one was different. Not just the combat was so satisfying but the best part is how you can actually be evil AND not lose on content, like in 99% of rpgs with morality system out there.

[@tyestarwaltz]

Every time I see a new Mandalore upload I feel like I need to get myself ready. Make a snack, get comfortable. Put it on the big screen because it's a treat

[@CaptainZlex]

I love how much the "Exact Words" trope plays into this game

[@Phoenix-vf4nd]

Especially with the first Edict in which by delaying the declaration of said edict by a week you end up giving yourself a extra 365 days to defeat the oath breakers best part is the devs added it by accident

[@friedipar]

@@Phoenix-vf4nd It´s probably not intended, but if it was, it would be some Kojima-Level attention to detail

[@Phoenix-vf4nd]

@@friedipar it actually wasn’t intended which made it all the better as it really play into the recurring exact words trope. When the devs find out they decide to keep in the game

[@jmarvins]

@@Phoenix-vf4nd I have heard that it was unintended, but when the devs realized it they decided NOT to patch it out because it made sense with the spirit of the game

[@DragonWinter36]

@@Phoenix-vf4nd There’s already an achievement to dying to the Edict of Swords, but I’d love to see a separate one for dying to the year-delayed version

[@mrtspence]

This game was absolutely incredible. At least from a writing perspective. One of the only games that actually dealt with (or, to be more correct, allowed the option for you to explore) the notions of empire in a way that is more nuanced and consistent with history than I have really ever seen from a game. The way it deals with concepts of morality, of law, and of just how much grey area there is in conquest and rulership is super interesting. In the broad strokes, there are few easy choices and it had me really, truly engaging with it on a moral level and thinking about the consequences of my actions like no other game ever really has. The universe felt like a Hittite version of a Steven Erikson novel, if that makes any sense. And that's a good thing. Interesting and unique. That being said, the combat was whack. My playthrough was on the highest non-ironman difficulty that was available at the time and, as someone who absolutely loves challenging games, I could not recommend doing so. I have never had to savescum or cheese so many fights before or since. It could be that the whole spear-and-shield setup that I did was particularly weak early on, but I doubt it.. The tutorial and first immediate area caused me two orders of magnitude more deaths than anywhere else and was super insanely, ridiculously hard. If my party positioning was off by one iota or I got even slightly poor rng on crits/deflects it was an instant wipe. So any of the fights that started after cutscenes that messed up my parties positioning would cause wipe after wipe. There was an early ambush scene where you roll up on a town occupied by rebel forces and, even if you know it's a trap, it always teleports your party right in the teeth of the enemy forces and I wiped there at least 20-30 times until I got the rng I needed. The "first boss" fight against the water folks early on is my vote for the hardest fight in gaming. Sekiro, Bloodborne, Ghosts n' Goblins, all that shit is childsplay by comparison. After dozens and dozens of attempts, I ended up winning by kiting far enough away that my instakilled partymembers would respawn and did that about 15 times until we attritioned the enemies down Zap Brannigan style. Because of the whack scaling system, what I did was disable levelling in every single skill in my party that was not of immediate optimal combat or persuasion utility to my build. I leveled up slowly, but my enemies leveled up dramatically more slowly. By the end of the second act, the game was super easy and I could sail through any fight. By the end of the game, I was an immortal being who couldn't be touched by my enemies and killed by just vaguely waving my spear in the direction of my foes. It was trivially easy to just make all the other archons my bitches and definitely deflated the ending a bit. Although there was certainly a large feeling of progression, that could have been accomplished by having levelling mechanics that were not objectively terrible. The way scaling works, having an interesting character/party with varied skills is actually a brutal handicap on hard settings. You get hard punished for experimenting even a little bit. My build was preordained the instant I created the character and straying from that path to try something new was objectively a mistake. This essentially took all of the decision-making out of the mechanical side of the RPG--I made exactly one set of choices during character creation. Although I didn't know it at the time, that was in fact the only meaningful decision I ever got to make for my character. 8.5/10 would recommend though, just not on hard difficulties. Let the difficulty come from the complex moral decisions and the full appreciation of the consequences of your actions--not the combat.

[@not_an_enemy1899]

I found most bosses easy on the second hard difficulty, except for the fucking big whisps who just fucked me up hard no natter what I did i went back and got evey single item i could get to help the fight and still got clapped the other fights where all first or second try wins

[@mrtspence]

@@not_an_enemy1899 Ya I feel you. Those wisps are pretty aids.

[@somerandomrpgenthusiast8451]

@@mrtspence Yeah. On my first playthrough I found that by around the second half of Act 2 I had become nigh on unstoppable, and most fights were really easy. The only ones that really challenged me were the ones against Ashe and Nerat, because they have extremely chunky health and both essentially one hit kill moves.

[@raindrain1]

I'm not sure what it is about this combat engine, but it's the same one used in Pillars 1 and 2 and I could just never really get past it. You can work with it to an extent but it never seems to really generate fun battles where you make meaningful turn by turn decisions and win by exploiting the enemy's weakness. Maybe it's because of the d100 system. Maybe it's d100+ the graze system making impactful hits too rare. Maybe it's the way every attack is an opposed check so you're ALWAYS at the mercy of the dice, regardless of whether you're debuffing, controlling, or damage dealing. I thought it was because RTWP sucks, and it does, but Pillars 2 had turn based combat and it was even worse because everything took forever to resolve. I just don't know.

[@Poonsta69-z9v]

Does anyone read these bibles

[@mrtyphoon8923]

Honestly, I loved how Lore skill was handled. Finally a game where I can feel that my character becomes more powerful wizard because they expand their knowledge amd gather new components for spells, not because "Magic number goes up therefore magic more powerful"

[@CrozierCrow]

If you're a fan of magic in games, I'd highly recommend Legend of Grimrock 2. has a super unique system that relies on a grid of 9 runes which requires you to find scrolls in order to cast. It's also highly abusable if you can memorize them for repeat playthroughs.

[@mrtyphoon8923]

@@CrozierCrow I kinda ignored Legend of Grimrock games because I'm not a big fan of dungeon crawlers like those, but if magic system is good then maybe they deserve a closer look...

[@bc803]

Morrowind is basically like that but the spell creation gets really silly at high levels

[@mikeangelo2886]

@@bc803 morrowind would actually benefit from "magic number go up" though, right now if you dont want to abuse alchemy the only valid chocies are altmer or breton with atronach sign due to limited amout of "mana".

[@bc803]

@@mikeangelo2886 yeah I know I just meant that you can do some crazy shit above just fireball or turn undead

[@ziadahmed2051]

"And you are with the invaders" Okay I'm hooked

[@LolLol-ok4lr]

but I can be evil... that's all I need :)

[@thecandlemaker1329]

The Marv scream is the Wilhelm scream of videogame reviews.

[@presmadagascar]

I'm such a sucker for "your magic powers are whatever your reputation is"

[@brigandboy1425]

"Blatantly unfinished." Exactly how I felt about it. Got to the end and went "Wait, what?" Such a disappointment because almost right up to the end, it was such a great game.

[@sweatygoblin2335]

The ending was such an enormous letdown.

[@pucktoad]

I disagree, but I played with the DLC. I worked with the Disfavored, then broke with them, and went anarchy due to their law break with Kyros. I was loyal to Kyros the whole time and at the end I argued my case to Tunon, fought him because he didn't believe me, and declared my Loyalty to Kyros. I never went "haha yeah fuck that guy me fight kyros" because I never picked those options. Maybe pre DLC the options I picked were not there, but the idea that the game is unfinished is silly.

[@leeboy26]

@@pucktoad No, the game was unfinished, with mechanics you get too late to be of any use, missing text and animation bugs, and a story without any arch that had the gall to assume you'd get the DLC for it to have any narrative sense.

[@deadoneeyetheunkillable3591]

@@pucktoad You are objectively wrong.

[@VladI998]

@@leeboy26 You don't really need the DLCs because the barely add anything to the overall narrative. The story made sense perfectly without it.

[@StarWindEnergin]

It's nice to see such an insightful review. I loved Tyranny. I've never seen writing like it before or after in a game. I also kinda loved the spell crafting system in it. It was created so intuitively that I think it would be imitated left and right if not for Tyranny's relative obscurity as a game.

[@PugDungeon]

Tyranny is perhaps the most criminally underrated game in recent time for me. Can not recommend it enough.

[@mikerueffer579]

I like to imagine that Kyros is a sort of wizard of oz figure where kyros isn't strong in magic at all they're just so good at bullshiting that they convinced everyone that their too strong to fight, and all their edicts are actually using loopholes in magic to make them extra strong. much like how the fatebinder can exploit loopholes in the edicts to render them useless.

[@Azraiel213]

If you can exploit design flaws in the fabric of magic to eradicate entire species, you are not weak.

[@TheSuperRatt]

@@Azraiel213 I think what they mean is weak in a fight. They might actually be a pushover when it comes to actual 1v1 combat! But like a true wizard, when given ample time to prepare, can bend the fabric of reality to their whims.

[@mr.battle20]

The player is Kyros. The Fatebinder is just your lackey.

[@felixdumbravescu2725]

@@mr.battle20 that sure would be a twist

[@kaspersaldell]

Actually not true at all, because Kyros draws her power from the many Oldwalls Spires littered across the world. There was a story about an old man who made a shrine to Kyros around one of the spires in the Tiers, where he worshiped her and preached of her power. He had even begin to form a sort of connection with the Spire. That was until one day, he said he had felt a presence of sorts, and started telling people that Kyros herself had visited the Spire long ago. He was sentenced (possibly by Kyros herself) to be executed on the spot, without any trial or reason. Which is (believe it or not) very unusual for a citizen, since the law has huge importance in the Overlord's empire. Her powers are also strengthened by people's belief and fear, if people believe and fear Kyros' power, then her Edicts are going to create even greater destruction. It's just like how Graven Ashe protects his soldiers. At first, it was just that people felt strengthened and inspired by the great leader he is, feeling more confident and unafraid in battle. That was until one of the later battles against Kyros' forces, where the soldiers' desperate belief in his powers started manifesting physically, his troopers were magically healed from their wounds, and those who were cut down would just rise back up again. Graven Ashe protects. At the end of the game, we also become strong enough that we are able to create our own edicts, not in the exact same way Kyros is able to do it, with terms that can break an edict, but still strong enough to rival her power.

[@Dogyphil]

3:23 I don't know why, Mando making fun of rantsonas made me very happy

[@gachilhan]

Thanks Mandalore, this gem is underappreciated

[@XUndergroundRap]

Agrees. PoE Tyranny and PoE2 was a feverdream for me. Too many people don't want to read with there games and these gems suffer for it

[@SwordWieldingDuck]

@@XUndergroundRap because it takes a lot of time. When i had more free time, i was reading everything i could in Mass Effect or Dragon Age, and games like that.

[@gachilhan]

@@XUndergroundRap I think they capture something that not many games have, reminds me on Dragon Age Origins where you could call your best friend's girlfriend a fat cow and kill innocent people for no reason. Player choice is so widely misused nowadays.

[@hammerpaw7338]

MANDALORE ON A KILLSTREAK WITH THESE REVIEWS! HE DOESN'T MISS

[@Sasha2113112]

He never misses!

[@Superschokokeks]

Hit or Miss, I guess he never miss

[@blindoutlaw]

I like how this game isn’t “you’re fighting to defeat the Dark Lord” nah mate. Dark Lord has won and you’re one of his goons. Enjoy

[@SwordWieldingDuck]

He is not even dark or evil though. He did bring a better life to 90% of people.

[@blindoutlaw]

@@SwordWieldingDuck I was over simplifying but you are right. Though I like this twist. You can go full dark minion or a good character doing his best working for the overlord

[@Diurdii]

The Aurelian character shows once again Mandalore's impeccable taste even in historical figures

[@punishedbung4902]

Epic gave this game out for free a while back. I'll have to try it now.

[@hkr667]

Thanks for the tip. I already have it too. Never particularly noticed

[@thatmagedude]

My favorite part of the game is how often your background and the prologue choices come up and affect the world

[@TheOneHoddToward]

Mandalore, you should try Age of Decadence. It's a whole different gist but the atmosphere is a fair bit similar to Tyranny. P.S.: Ah, you do mention it!

[@Yuggothfungus]

His review would still be nice. More people need to know about this gem

[@thebryceroy6155]

"King Baldwin IV cosplayer." Damn it, Mr. Mandalore, that was good.

[@shadowthespikythingy]

I know I already touched on this in the last time I thought about this video but, again, the "True Loyalist" route is not actually meant to express true loyalty. Rather, no matter what route you go, you realise Kyros is a petty tyrant who will find an excuse to dispose of you eventually, and your loud declaration of loyalty is a cynical ploy to delay the inevitable by denying the Overlord the pretext of punishing you for disloyalty.

[@Dronepeelo]

I was supposed to program and be productive and then Mandalore uploads. Damn it.

[@ZelphTheWebmancer]

Watching Mandalore is productive Watching Mandalore is the program Watching Mandalore is the way

[@Dronepeelo]

@@ZelphTheWebmancer This is the way.

[@ZelphTheWebmancer]

@@Dronepeelo This is the way.

[@mirabletest]

Me now

[@MoveToBeAlive]

Haha same I just got convinced to have a weekend instead.

[@burge117]

Thank you, Mandalore. Should make my Friday that much better!

[@magnuserror9305]

I love that barely audible berserk theme at 13:20

[@seankellar6817]

I was convinced someone in the next room had started up an episode for a sec.

[@bvdemier1]

15:44 This is a service annoncement: The Dungeon and Dragons movie is a must see movie just because Jeremy Irons chews 75% of the scenery

[@NicoBabyman1]

“I’M TURNING INTO A HUMAN VIBRATOR!”

[@7kurisu]

i actually watched it recently (reading Salvatore binge) and it was fun early 2000s CGI ham acting. just had nothing to do with DnD except that it had dragons and Thora Birch in it

[@marajango]

Mandalore: "Just because something is the law doesn't mean it's moral." Too many people: *Pikachu face*

[@wragokumbaya]

basically the plot of metal gear rising: *revengeance*

[@Misanthropolis]

Some closet legal positivists need to hear this today.

[@skitzoritz]

I find that almost every human I've met has overtly chosen to disobey at least one law on a regular basis.

[@lawlessx9]

BUT ITS DA LAWWWWW

[@DeltaAssaultGaming]

Roe v Wade proved that

[@Dionysus24779]

I had a ton of fun playing Tyranny, it offers you a quite rare experience because in-game the characters do not treat you like a lackey, your character is deeply respected by others, you have a high position in the evil empire and you are given lots of opportunity to really live that out. Playing a "loyal" Fatebinder was a pretty cool experience (being a rebelling one is more generic). I'm sad that the game wasn't properly finished and apparently didn't do well enough to get a sequel, as far as I know it has been hinted at that there might be a strategy game based on the Tyranny setting at some point, but who knows. This game has so much potential. I enjoyed it a lot more than Pillars of Eternity, though I have to admit I didn't play that much PoE as I couldn't get invested into its setting and story, seeing in this video that PoE offered you opportunities to "rule" was a surprise.

[@user-ux4gu2lh8c]

Holy shit “Rantsona” finally a word for those horribly annoying KZbin channels and their avatars.

[@kermit6366]

Damn those IHE rip offs.

[@ridhosamudro2199]

... you just know this?

[@remembertotakeshowerspleas355]

@@kermit6366 IHE is one of the worst.

[@fadmanloki660]

Avery called out

[@digestiveissue7710]

Bless mandalore for calling that bullshit out.

[@siegfriedchicken]

'it's a soundtrack to commit war crimes to' caught me off guard I almost spat out my drink.

[@manyfacedman8703]

“Music to commit war crimes to” is my new ascetic.

[@MakAlexMosc]

I'm in middle of Pathfinder: Kingmaker run and now I'm being forced to restart Tyranny... Thank you, Mandalore!

[@Cruddyhorse]

Same, I started Tyrranny during the pandemic but was just really turned off by it for some reason. But now I'm playing Kingmakrer

[@montparnasse97]

Just wrapped up a second Pathfinder run. It doesn't get any shorter lol

[@timeilers5612]

@Nanisoka Yeah, they really don't :( Then again, PF Kingmaker is a generally solid game with a lot of cool content. If only Act 3 wasn't so dreadfully asinine to me I'd consider delving in again again again again.

[@adahnyemeth6317]

Have they fixed optimisation issues in Pathfinder? I enjoyed the game greatly, but near the end my pc started letting me down with fps quite seriously. And god, the amount of enemies throughout the game... Great experience :D

[@Cruddyhorse]

@@adahnyemeth6317 I had my first major FPS drop last night while playing, and it was probably because It was a horde of zombies and my characters were throwing bombs, fire balls and summoning skeletons to fight so. Other than that it's been as smooth as can be. Would reccomend putting on an ssd if you have one, the amount of loading screens is annoying even if they're fast enough without one.

[@Carlos_of_astora]

man, the age of mythology soundtrack is such a banger, hope you review the game someday

[@Highretrogamelord]

You should've taken the "innocent untl proven guilty" approach...

[@astillia6073]

Have always thought this game was cool, happy to see you talking about it. The Chaos guy who talks to you through his Dictionary Flavor text is so cool.

[@LordThanatosOfHades]

I have been waiting for this for so long, Tyranny is one of my favourite games of all time. Every Tunon interaction is amazing and the spells are interesting. The way the world changed based on your choices and the way it handles good and evil was fantastic, and I will always wonder what could have been made of it with some more time and budget.

[@Phoenix-vf4nd]

Yeah especially how suicide is illegal in kyros empire not out of the sense that life is precious or anything but because you don’t own your life and killing yourself would be a waste to kyros(especially if it an Archon) and an insult to her as it violate their oath of fealty to her

[@dragoneye6229]

@@Phoenix-vf4nd *The information in this claim is disputed*

[@kirillzel]

It's really sad that Tyranny is kinda unfinished and not sold out nice enough for quality sequel to appear.

[@ТАДАМ-ю4ж]

Ofc it was first part of series, but people want war zone and dota

[@AzureRoxe]

@@ТАДАМ-ю4ж The fuck does that have to do with it? It failed because they rushed it hard since they wanted to focus on Pillars of Eternity 2, which was another big piece of crap.

[@Skeletonizer1200]

@@AzureRoxe PoE 2 was way better than the first one, especially story-wise.

[@teslacoil5697]

@@AzureRoxe I don’t think I’d call it a piece of crap, just kind of underwhelming. I enjoyed it well enough but my problem with Pillars is just how damn unmemorable a lot of it is.

[@gingerbill128]

@@teslacoil5697 yea its all instantly forgetful and you realise half way through you had stopped listening to the endless dialogue. POE2 at least wasn't as bloated and over written , just meh.

[@Arsenov92]

Mandalore, your use of Age of Mythology music is outstanding

[@Tophatlass]

Tyranny was such an interesting narrative experience. Certainly short and unfinished, but it has stuck in my mind for years. More rpgs with interesting narrative framings please! I just want to be a sort-of-nice evil goon just trying to live in this crazy, crazy world.

[@ryzziktrognesou1]

How the heck did I just find your amazing channel only now ? I'VE SO MUCH TO CATCH ON !

[@jayfight1]

Tyranny is one of my all time favorite games, and I am absolutely excited to see you review it

[@alexanderrahl7034]

"The scarlet chorus is a mobile mosh pit of your most hated band's biggest fans" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 give this man a God damn medal!

[@OtogiMyth]

so its kpop stans given license to murder.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

You're right, it does deserve a far more polished sequel, complete with the possibility of an old save bonus feature so to continue things quite well. Still, what we have now is way better than so many games nowadays, and that's always saying something.

[@dentonorr82]

It's always a good day when mandalore posts

[@Idasukimase]

Damn, Mandalore is on a roll. Never forget the yester years of the content droughts for months (ignoring his injury in 2019)

[@davidbodor1762]

I love Tyranny, it's a true classic for me. The magic system was absolute genius and that moment you mention about how lore is everything, it was one of my favorites. Getting that character to disown her child was a moment where I stood with my mouth agape, at just how brilliant of a get out of jail card based on legal chicanery it was, it fit the theme perfectly. Lore may be too much of an all-round skill but I think the game wants it to be used on everyone. I instinctively made made all my characters use lore out of the gate on my first playthrough, because magic just seemed like something that even melee fighters should have in this world/universe. A lot of the spells are suited for fighters, basically there is no rogue, fighter or wizard classes here, it's just wizards that shoot, wizards that stab and wizards that wizard. And I am a-okay with that personally, not everything has to have the traditional archetypes. The reputation and power of words and power of belief themes definitely made the world interesting for me. Archons being born out of what people believe them to be was an interesting concept and I wish there was more of it. What i loved most though is that you CAN side with the Tiersmen in this game, it's just really hidden behind some rather secretive checks. My only disappointment was that you can't have the Disfavored join you if you do side with the Tiers, even if you save Ashe's daughter. The game is definitely not a finished one, but it's the foundations of a great game. To me it's on the level of Fallout New Vegas in terms of classic status, and it has a similar real life backstory in terms of both having been rushed and never quite finished.

[@schrisu7252]

To be fair didnt expect this game to show up on mandalore's channel

[@SenisterDenister]

Oh snap an Age of Decadence reference? You ever going to review that? Looking forward to Colony Ship?

[@kallmannkallmann]

Great adventure book that have some "gameplay"

[@ryuzaki4638]

@@kallmannkallmann I think you described Disco Elysium. AoD has combat encounters.

[@Tudor_Rusan]

AoD is single-handedly the best cRPG for roleplaying as a legionnaire in power armor curbstomping barbarians. I really hope Mandy reviews it one day, or at least gives it more shoutouts.

[@wwyd4akb]

I really liked the Bane, with the forbidden knowledge and non-access to the old walls etc there was a real sense of deliberately hidden answers. This all points to Kyros in a really satisfying way for me. I can only hope for a sequel, possibly with a bit more polish on the lore skill aspects. And it wouldnt hurt to maybe add in some empire management aspects...

[@DaussPlays]

I keep seeing Kingmaker pop up in your videos... Looking forward to that one, I was blown away by the sheer amount of content.

[@dereklupsiewcz4862]

The fuckin faint Guts theme at 13:19 had me laughing for reasons I cannot understand myself

[@Levyafan]

7:56 The fun twist on this Edict is that exact wording on it is that you need to take over the spire "before the new year". You come into the valley a week or so before the year's turn, so you have some very limited time. HOWEVER, the Edict only becomes binding once you actually deliver it; if you were to, say, wait a dozen days until a new year is on the calendar before opening the scroll, then the Edict would wait until the NEXT turn of year - thus giving you a lot more time. It's a nice detail that once again emphasizes that while you might be serving the law, you also happen to be the one to interpret it most of time.

[@MahDryBread]

How do you even make these so fast?

[@stephenholt6956]

I think this about every one of your pokemon challenges my guy 😂

[@Chronische]

He is under an Edict himself, the Edict of Content Creation - failure to produce 1 every month or so will result in transforming fully into a Finger Family content creator, a dire fate! Also, hi! Funny seeing you here ;)

[@joseaca1010]

the medication finally managed to keep his Seeth side under control

[@Avengedtenfold]

Judging from his Twitter, he's been working on this one in particular for a while.

[@Jesse__H]

The amount of work that goes into these is staggering

[@sethlightfoot956]

Tyranny is honestly hands down one of my favorite games, it had a really refreshing setting and I can only pray to Kyros we get a sequal

[@TEMINIX]

Your reviews are the best. Well written, good audio, good breakdowns, no fluff, some jokes, but nothing off the rails.