WH40K: Rogue Trader - Full Review After 200+ Hours

[@DocMadfox]

So a few Lore corrections - in your favor. 1) Romance - People who've said Romance isn't a thing in 40k have never read the Ciaphas Cain books. Commissar Cain romances everyone from a Tech Priest lady to an Inquisitor acting as the in-universe editor of the book. Just because Space Marines have no interest in romance doesn't mean the rest of the Imperium is now only doing the nasty for purposes of procreation. 2) Alien Teammates - Rogue Traders often keep useful Xenos as mercenaries - such as Kroot Mercenaries and Ork Freebootaz. The RT should 100% have had the choice of recruiting some more xenos. Our Warrant of Trade basically makes it so only us or the Inquisition have this option. You're 100% right these should've been included. 3) Cyborgs - I've seen people in the comments saying only the Adeptus Mechanicus can be freaky cyborgs. This is untrue, if you can buy implants you can use them. There's are specific implants the Adeptus Mechanicus keeps to themselves (Potentia Coils, most life extending ones, etc), but generally you can get Subskin armor, a metal arm, etc by just having a reason to have it, or the cash to splash.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Awesome!! Thank you this gives me hope that we'll get some of those options in the next game.

[@kingleech16]

Depending on the author, many books show the Imperial Guard as willing to shell out the cash for replacement bits even for low ranking guardsmen. There was an old A-RPG that had the pluses and minuses of cybernetics as a key plot point, I think that could work really well in a 40k game.

[@KraznyVeshov]

I was really hoping to be able to get an ork party member. It would be hilarious

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

Why would Drukari, and other xenos races have any respect for RT authority? We see occasional alliances of necessity within the lore, but rarely to this extent. The Eldar are intelligent enough to work with, as well as anyone under the Imperium, and ofcourse the friendly Tau.. but its a stretch to expect other races to care about an Imperial badge. As for romance... It ruins most rpgs, and is silly. Very rarely is it done tastefully, or even add anything to the story

[@nathandanner4030]

On point one I not totally opposed to Romance but one problem with the writing is that aside from Companion Quests there is very little other quest material that isn't the main quest. It feels like the story is very stripped down and the bare minimum was included to make a functional narrative. There are certian points where you are bottlenecked and 'railroaded' because you have to do certain things to continue the story...the transition from Act 2 to Act 3 is probably one of the worse pieces of writing I have seen in a CRPG. Which is a shame because the Location of Act 3 is probably one of the most Awesome location to visit in 40k.

[@tairyu2574]

My favorite part of this game was how they managed to separate the silly and serious sections of this game. In one quest, there was a haunted ship straight out of Event Horizon. In another, there was Fidelio.

[@SlanderedGaming]

😂

[@loganshort7334]

Fidelio is JUST as horrific as Event Horizon though. I don't think it separates the humor from horror, but rather blends them.

[@АйдоралСмертестойкий]

You do have a morbid sense of humor if Fidelio's story makes you laugh.

[@gwendaljambu4310]

@@loganshort7334 Yeah, this quest is sad if you try to resolve the mystery of Fidelio

[@KingslayerSrb]

must be me, but I don't remember a single silly moment in the game. But I also didn't like the writing all that much, and found myself just glossing over the seemingly infinite walls of text

[@Azhalan]

I'll likely buy the game once it has been patched a couple more times. 40k to me is the most interesting, if rather dark and extreme, IP around.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I think this game represents 40K very well so I hope you enjoy it.

[@nathandanner4030]

Yeah, I definately think it's worth it to wait for the "Enhanced edition" if you can wait it out.

[@shanietraps]

You don't know me. And I don't know you.. but let me just say, this is the most enjoyable CRPG iven played the last 10 years. Trust me if you dare, but this game is just as good as baldursgate, just with less polish.

[@Tullaryx]

They've gotten a couple of major patches up since release. For the most part the bugs I've come across has been on the graphical side of things. I've crashed a couple times, but I was told in the past that if one was to play an Owlcat game then saving religiously was a must so I always had a recent saved game to load up when I do crash. But I haven't come across any of the gamebreaking bugs that some have come across.

[@tincano-beans2114]

Give it a few more patches than you think. The next few will be fixing the SUPER broken things, but owlcat takes eons to actually make a working gane 😂

[@Tullaryx]

I've finished a first playthrough of over 120+ hours on normal as Iconoclast and I will say that this game could've been in play as GOTY if it had fully voiced dialogue and exposition. There's bugs in the game but not in the same amount that previous Owlcat came out with and never (at least in my playthrough) game breaking ones. I do hope this game is successful financially because I could see Owlcat building up this Rogue Trader side of 40k video gaming with a proper sequel instead of just a DLC.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup I would really love to see Owlcat do another one.

[@florianfrancis1517]

One thing i wanted to mention is that Ulfar does get 2-3 items that are designed for him in his personal quest in Act 4. But you gotta run around like a madman and pass some awareness checks to find them.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Hmmmmm okay thanks I'll check that again on my next run.

[@drazarkabalblade9486]

@@SlanderedGaming If it helps, they are in the siege mission, in a secret room where you can find I think a chainsword and a boltgun for astartes. It's in the first floor, the one where you start, with a false wall that goes into a storage room. Don't know the difficulty for the test though, I had a 100+ Awareness Cassia with me. I don't think you can find any equip for him before that though. Other than that there is his special Axe, and a special bolt pistol given as a gift before the 5th chapter, on Footfall. Maybe I missed something, but considering the quality of the gear I don't think I have. Though again, I didn't managed to do his special mission the 5th chapter since it was bugged to hell and back.

[@tazz2070]

@@SlanderedGaming You can find a lot of his gear sold by the traders. The Mechanicus have the most options such as helmets and weapons, with only the Kasballica mission and Ecclessiarchy having a few (I only saw a bolt pistol and chainsword with the mission and some helmets with the Ecclessiarchy).

[@mikejenkins1270]

I finished act 1 last night, having a blast. I really love this setting, not a long time tabletop guy or anything like that. But I probably started with the Dawn of War games years ago. I've been playing Darktide with some friends a lot and I can't wait for the Henry Cavill TV series. Thanks for the review! I really agree about the need for more voice work, Owlcat doesn't need a hundred million budget to match Larian's full motion capture dialogue, but they need a ton more voiced dialogue. I have very few friends who will put up with this much reading.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup many people have left comments saying they won't even give their games a chance because there isn't enough voice acting.

[@Erligan]

As an entry to the Universe of Warhammer 40K, Rogue Trader seams perfect: There are plenty of explanation, that helps understand what happens and how this Universe works. Also, Main Character is a regular human, without any backstory that you have to know.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup this was my first Warhammer game and it felt like a fantastic entry way into the lore.

[@azurewraith2585]

saying romance doesn’t belong in 40k a setting where humanities greatest power is how fast they reproduce is crazy to me.

[@JonathanFlexx]

I actually kind of loved voidship combat and I wish there was more.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Nice glad you enjoyed it!

[@joshbubb9503]

I think the first DLC is expanding on that more

[@feliph64]

it's like battlefleet gothic in turns, I liked it too

[@jefferydraper4019]

@@feliph64 Its like a very simplified version of Battlefleet Gothic 2 Armada. 10-15 years ago it could have been packaged and sold as a separate game by itself.

[@feliph64]

@@jefferydraper4019 i found it really fun to play, makes me want to play gothic armada again

[@chrisporter8120]

Overall it's quite good, was released in an unacceptably broken state but it was quite good once it was modded into a functional state, it'll just get better as Owlcat actually finish the game

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup I agree a few patches will let it really shine.

[@michaelbaker8284]

Its more than that. You can tell around half way through chapter 3 that its just an unfinished game. Chapter 4 is utter barebones, the colony management is broken at that point and everything looks one step past storyboard. This game is 3-6 months from being a finished release.

[@chrisporter8120]

thats what I'm saying, Owlcat need to actually finish making the game, I'd probably say it was released a year early, I was fairly lucky with act 4 more or less working for me, but yeah, it is bare bones, and act five was just broken beyond belief @@michaelbaker8284

[@skelton4795]

​@@michaelbaker8284sry u had such a horrible experience, personally i didnt run in a lot of bugs in my first run, like 5 or so and everyone of them was fixed by just reloading, hope u will have fun once it gets patched

[@michaelbaker8284]

@@skelton4795 I really enjoyed chapters one and two. They set a high bar and clearly bit off more than they can chew. They must not have enough people working there because I know alot of simple issue were caught in beta months ago and never fixed.

[@paulmd7747]

They need to divide everything involving reputation by 10. By the beginning of Act 4 I should be able to pretty much max out my rep so I can actually USE the items available. Also, they need to integrate Void Ship combat into the story more and make it more dynamic (building up a fleet, different ships, etc.)

[@antonego9581]

as a 40k fan, this game is the dream. No other game has delved into the lore like this one does, and the writing is quite good. It has some issues but this is a true work of passion and its shows

[@megad7060]

Ulfar was a mistake. It feels like a "it's 40k, so we need to have a space marine in the party" scenario. The rest of the game does so much right, too. A personal favorite of mine is Calcazar being a *radical* inquisitor, which rarely gets representation in games.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I thought Calcazar was done in a pretty cool way.

[@ryannewman4412]

I totally get what you're saying but I would have been SOOOO bummed if they didn't include one. I just wish we got him at the start of act 2

[@drazarkabalblade9486]

I don't know, I feel that Ulfar does a Space Marine, especially a son of Russ, really well. Mostly because I like the way he speaks of what being a space marine means, and especially his flair for the show and focus in more than soley war. The problems with him are mostly technical, being.. bugged as shit and having very little way to prepare him, and equip him.

[@nathandanner4030]

I mean 'Inquisitor:Matyr' is a game about Inquisition and one of the main 'alignment' mechanics is Radicals vs. Puritans...

[@feliph64]

@@drazarkabalblade9486 thematically, yes, game mechanics, it's a mess.

[@abraxis59]

Nice coverage! One thing I want to point out as it does explain a few of the things you don't like about the game: Games Workshop (the owner of the IP). I used to own a game store and I worked very closely with GW and there are two things I can say about them. 1, They are VERY enthusiastic about working with their partners if they think you are dedicated to the success of their products. 2. They are INSANELY protective of the IP. So, it is very possible that some of the times when you thought the game was being too dogmatically adherent to the lore and setting of the WH40K universe, it is because GW insisted on it even if it stifled some aspects you would expect in this type of game.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup I have heard a couple of similar comments. Thanks for calling this out.

[@BenderSnake]

Space Marine 2 devs just confirmed this, GW was extremely nitpicky about details.

[@TheLostLibrary]

Great video! I, too, love exploring the lore in games. Also, your part about the combat not being for everyone was helpful, as this game is on my list. I love tactically turn-based combat. Thanks for sharing.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@stubbs8624]

Excellent and comprehensive review as always. I especially enjoyed your like/neutral/dislike structure on the game and the time stamps are great. I preordered and have not played the game yet, due to the reported bugs especially from Act 4 and onwards, as well as dialogue or quest flags not popping when they should, and I hate to hear that you experienced some of these as well in the review. It’s also disheartening to hear that there isn’t more voice acting for pivotal moments, seems like a strange decision considering how great the voice acting was in Wrath of the Righteous. The mentioned lack of character development is another blow too and a weird departure from what made their previous Pathfinder games so good. That being said, I am still excited to play it once it gets patched up more and hopefully with an expansion or two they can address some of the characters and villains arcs that seem to be lacking, in addition to lack of reactivity for colonies or ship battles.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I definitely recommend playing it and enjoyed my first run.

[@Corusame]

I'm in the same boat, this game is right up my tree but sad to hear there's some bugs in it. Once a good chunk of them are squashed I'll jump in.

[@DocMadfox]

On the note of wanting to look like a freaky cyborg, I 100% agree. Really wish they'd have let us play as a Mechanicus Rogue Trader, even if it made no sense.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Maybe their next Warhammer game will let us play as a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

[@johnboles8440]

@DocMadFox check out Mechanicus. More a tactics game than RPG but does have some reactivity to choices.

[@mhjmstultiens]

You're not the only one saying the companions weren't Rogue Trader's strong suit. Which is interesting as they were such a high point in Owlcat's earlier games. Very thorough review.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yeah a couple of people have mentioned it probably has more to do with Games Workshop than Owlcat.

[@kenpachiramasama1139]

@@SlanderedGaming idk how you give anyone an arc in this game like warhammer 40k honestly just about everything just getting worst in general. Like what could really due when almost everyone is brainwash into their beliefs and to go outside that mean death in the setting.

[@Whanevs]

​@@kenpachiramasama1139you are totaly wrong. You can give amazing arcs to characters in 40k. You can restore characters feith, seduce them to darkness and anything in between. There is not only grimdark in 40k there is room for true heroes, selfless sacrifices and insperational tales too. Things can by all means get better, you cant kill khorne for example but you can defeat chaos on the planet and save billions. There is a LOT of plainly bad guys not only shades of gray, so goody goody paladin type can exist in 40k. Or you can give depth and understandable motivation to even most despicable character. That is why setting is so great.

[@tincano-beans2114]

​@@kenpachiramasama1139tell me you have no idea about anything in 40k without telling me... 😂

[@tincano-beans2114]

They're just kinda flat, and they come with preset beliefs that you don't really have the ability to change or affect.

[@kharacon]

Finished Chapter 3 just before the holidays and taking a break for patches. The voidship and colony management feel central to the theme of taking care of thousands and millions but I agree that there hasn’t been enough reactivity to that, esp once landing & talking to various nobles. If I defeated marauding chaos ships or choose to establish a pirate base, I’d expect someone to comment. I’m a 40k fan, and Rogue Trader has the conceit that the normal rules don’t apply. I think corrupting companions would be very interesting, and playing as a high-noble dynast aromance could very easily take a more serious focus with implications. Very curious to see how heretical run plays out, so far the choices appear obviously evil without profitable upside - not quite the subtle temptations I was expecting. I feel the latter makes much more sense as a trillionaire space privateer actively watched by the inquisition.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I am also really looking forward to how Heretic plays out.

[@adrgs12]

One thing it should be mentioned is that you can speed up combat, you can set the animations really fast and above all skip non attack animations, which will SIGNIFICANTLY speed up the part of buffing up, but right now there's a bug with fast combat and ship combat, in which your ship will spin randomly after the end of the movement, just disable fast combat during ship combat. Great video Slan! Also: There's a secret ending, you really have to be involved with certain charctaer on the ship

[@ElGrompho666]

Right now, I'm stuck in Act 4 or to be more accurate, I stopped playing in Act 4 (on the Mechanicus planet) because combat is becoming really tedious. The Pathfinder games had a similar problem in that Owlcat just kept throwing more and more meaningless trash fights at you and although I generally prefer turn based combat, I ended up speeding things up by switching to realtime with pause. In Rogue Trader, this isn't an option and thus, certain fights can take almost forever. Plus, since the skills you use are largely buffs/debuffs, the fights always begin the same way and as much as I generally like the character system, with the sheer amount of fights thrown at you it just becomes a terrible slog. It's also very clear where they stopped playstesting, because as soon as I entered Act 3, the bugs were coming in hot. Nothing gamebreaking but enough to be annoying. And I totally agree, the decisions where to put voice acting and where not just seemed very random. That being said, I think it's a great game and they mostly nailed the Warhammer 40K atmosphere, but I think I'll take a break for now until they've brought the final two acts up to standard.

[@Алексей545-т6б]

Since then chaos space marines become "trash fight"? And yep, this is 40k where usually you deal with billions of enemies to the point where several factions including Chaos simply swarm you with numbers

[@SlanderedGaming]

Owlcat mentioned they plan to do a patch down the line that rebalances a lot of combat and might significantly change some of the abilities. It will be interesting to see how much the lategame changes after that update.

[@dobajoba5869]

Do you have a link to this?@@SlanderedGaming

[@ElGrompho666]

I really hope so. I mostly had fun for the 96 of my now about 98 hours, but where I'm at now, it's just a terrible slog and for a week or so I haven't had the desire to return into the fray @@SlanderedGaming

[@ElGrompho666]

So what you are saying is that the amount of trash fights in late game is lore accurate? Well, here's the thing, most WH40K games aren't lore accurate mechanically, not even the tabletop. ESPECIALLY not the tabletop. There is a fine line between "does this fit the lore?" and "is this fun gameplaywise?". And the deeper you get into the late games, the less fun fights become. @@Алексей545-т6б

[@markmahler6446]

Great review, as always! I really appreciate the depth & breadth of your breakdown, be it characters, mechanics, story, or aesthetics. As for my two cents: I love the game. It is-to quote one of my favorite content creators-absolutely fantastic ;). I’ve always been more of a fan of turn-based games anyway, so this is right in my wheelhouse. It’s even gotten me into the lore of 40K, so Games Workshop needs to give Owl at a big bonus on their contract, as Warhammer seemed impenetrable to me before Rogue Trader and now I’m buying 40K novels and scooping up older video games to scratch this itch (if anyone’s in the market for a good detective noir title in the Warhammer universe, check out the Eisenhorn novels!)

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thanks glad you enjoyed the review!

[@maxkammer9847]

I would really like to see a patch that brings in more voice acting. I was very confused at times. I even thought there was some issue with my machine when main characters, particularly in the beginning would have voice acting segments and then it would just stop. They never recorded lines and it's very strange

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yeah it's weird the sections that have voice acting and the ones that don't.

[@khal7702]

that's how games used to be, not that weird for a RPG

[@Darkholow]

Thanks for the lengthy review! I'm in Act 5 right now, because I had to wait for patches to fix the Act 3 to Act 4 transition. I really enjoyed my time with the game thus far, but i 100% agree you with companions feeling distant, which is a bit turn off. It is lore accurate, but I dunno if doing it at the expense of companions was worth it, because in RPG's those are one of my favorite parts of those games alongside the story. Now that Rogue Trader is done I hope that Owlcat will go back to adapt Pathfinder modules, because I vastly prefer fantasy over Sci fi, even though 40K is my favorite Sci fi setting.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup I definitely plan to play more Warhammer games after this.

[@doellison]

I been enjoying your Rogue warrior videos. You spent a long detailed time on those dislikes. Hard to remember anything else. As the saying goes, save the best for last.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I actually spent significantly more time on the likes but I have been wondering if the order should be changed around.

[@grayfox1599]

Contrary to you, i felt that the game had more voice acting than PFs). They focused entirely on companions, which i appreciate coz in previous games the only thing keeping you from forgetting what party members sounded like was occasional camp banter. Here lots of conversations with them on the ship are voiced, makes it more lively. Big story moments however did take a big hit because of that plus consistency of where voice acting happens can be jarring at times

[@SlanderedGaming]

That party members voice acted conversations you had on the ship but in actual quests out in the world they were silent.

[@tawkoeh]

The argenta revealing her past scene wasn’t voice acted which felt off. Good thing the cassia book scene that interrupted my space travel was voiced tho 👌

[@fistimusmaximus6576]

At the start, I only went iconoclast because as a rich noble officer I didnt see myself jumping through flames. Problem is I heard because the points are limits I feel compelled to stick with Iconoclast in dialogue choices even if it goes against my character roleplay as I won't be able to reach rank 5. Perhaps next time they should add more of these points to allow more potential freedom? Also like you mentioned with this scale also effecting companions more than choices or dialogue perhaps a approval score for them aswell.

[@sxztube]

I really liked the voice acting! I would love to see them expand that more in future offerings!

[@SlanderedGaming]

Owlcat is fantastic at quality voice actors.

[@notalefty999]

Thanks for the review, hope you had a great Christmas.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thanks, you too!

[@topsy915]

pretty well put together review! didnt spoil too much and was excited to try out the game. cheers

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thank you!

[@GUNmiller2]

Love your content, and your in depth reviews! I'll be sure to try this out once I clear up some of my backlog.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thank you!

[@roguerifter9724]

I went Forge World Crime Lord Iconoclast Officer on my first run Anyone who actually thinks Romance doesn't exist in Warhammer 40,000 setting doesn't know the lore well. Honestly I was surprised by the level of loyalty Argenta showed my Iconoclast in her ending which I think counts against your complaint about the relationships not changing . I adore Cassia and she's one of my favorite romances in gaming. And I hate it when the protagonist of an RPG is the commander or pilot of an armed craft but ship combat is only in cutscenes so I loved the voidship combat in this even though my ship's default weapon loadout caught me off guard. As a veteran of the settings tabletop tactical games and RPGs I was expecting a Sword class Frigate to start armed with nothing but cannon batteries since that's standard for the class in setting. And to get a ship with the number of weapon hardpoints your Voidship has in the tabletop RPG you would need a Cruiser which are around three times the size of the Frigates you can use in this game. Still as a lover of Frigates in general I was pleasantly surprised one was our primary ship in this game. I guess you had bad luck with Ulfar or something because I found a decent array of Space Marine only weapons in my run. And his chapter 5 companion quest you're supposed to use Cassia's ability to cut a new path through the warp to reach it. Which is very bad if you've run out of navigator insight before getting there. There definitely needed to be a way to get more insight in chapter five because of how much you need it there IMO

[@Ercarret]

Hm. I'll keep what you said about the navigator's insight in mind. I ran into a similar problem in Wrath of the Righteous. I was accidentally "too" good at the army stuff because I enjoyed it so much and basically wiped out most of the enemies on the map before I really started doing the actual "real" quests. That led me into a weird situation where my army started losing morale quickly because there were no more strongholds to conquer or armies to defeat. For some reason, they disagreed with me when I thought that having more or less beaten the demons back to Hell was a cause for celebration. Instead, they were like, nah, let's lose morale completely and let everything fall apart. I'm not looking forward to doing a similar mistake a second time so I'll hold on to some navigator's insight when I start nearing the endgame.

[@Abp.Mars-Assembly]

Decent review. I would say best review Ive found online. Video and article Reviews either fluctuate between opinions based on lack of proficiency with CRPGs, opinions based on Owlcat incentive shills or Warhammer 40k fans that would gobble up anything Warhammer. And many times a combination of all three. I completely respect and appreciate that you covered this game on low difficulty. What I detest is high difficulty content by people who dont even study the mechanics or have good comprehension of it. And they dare do this while racing to dump their slop on KZbin before everyone else. And they still cant measure up to the attention the few good channels like these get. I played all of Owlcats games, played this game's BETA and I will say, im glad i didnt spend a dime on this game. The only thing I find innovative is the Dogmatic choices often being the best choices even if they are often evil. Its very rare that games make some evil choices actually the best choices. I do believe Owlcat is way behind allot of game standards when it comes to dimensional interactions and plethora of other things games like XCom has achieved a decade ago and games like Aliens Dark Descent perfectly nails. I do not believe Rogue Trader rates a discussion where Baldurs Gate 3 is mentioned at all. They basically had to pay a spot in the Game Awards to even be noticed. Bottom line is, Rogue Trader isnt even a blip to the gaming world. And after playing all Owlcat games, the playing this at the end of 2023, its a no brainer.

[@gregorturner4753]

i haven't played rogue trader, but one of my friends has the core rule book and it actually has his name printed in it as he purchased the first edition when it first came out. I ended up playing deathwatch as a spacewolf sniper, so much fun. and dark heresy as an inquisition investigation team, i played a militarum officer yeeted by the inquistor after a dig i was on found a xenos artifact and i was ordered to terminate the rest of the team under inquistion orders. we also had a cop, a psycker and a techpriest in the party. So I am really REALLY looking forward to playing this game.

[@Xellius13]

This is BG3 level of quality game. If they had budget for voice acting and animation like Larian - they would easily take GOTY

[@TheAngrySaxon1]

The menus are absolutely gorgeous!

[@TheJimPlays]

Solid work my dude. While I am playing this game and having a blast, I'm also a bit of a 40k nerd so I understand a lot of the nuances in the setting. I'm sorry to hear that there's no proper antagonist in the story though, but Owlcat has a history of listening to fans and overhauling their games in response to feedback so who knows? Maybe they'll even do a sequel and pit you directly against Winterscale or a WAAGH of orc or a thousand other great options the setting provides.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup I really hope the game does well enough for them to do a sequel.

[@MakAlexMosc]

37:20 especially baffling as first announcement trailer was voice acted from Theodora's perspective

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yeah I wonder why she wasn't added.

[@damagingthebrand7387]

Excellent review, thanks for your hard work.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lang1892]

your summary of the emperor and the imperium is heresy

[@SlanderedGaming]

😂😂

[@steele5823]

Best review I’ve seen so far! Couldn’t watch Mortismal’s 100% because of the spoilers so great job with that. And Werglia’s review is hilariously biased. I don’t understand why Owlcat can’t spend the time and money to record voiceovers for major characters and/or all lines after the success of WoTR. It’s definitely holding back their sales. Same with rushing the release. Give it a few more months in the oven and full voice acting and it would release to tons of critical acclaim.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Video games are very expensive to make so I understand just because you have one that's successful doesn't mean you can go all out with the next one. That being said their customer base isn't going to expand until the games have more voice acting.

[@steele5823]

@@SlanderedGaming I think that in order to address the cost issue, they should focus on voiceover instead of cutscenes and the Owlcat mini-systems (voidship combat in this case). The cutscenes are welcome but expose the lack of mouth movement and doll-like character models and animations. I’ve been enjoying the voidship combat so far, but I’d rather see investment in VO. I don’t think I’m in the minority on that. Maybe they should just include full VO as a kickstarter reach goal next time. With that said, I still love this game after dozens of hours of playtime though.

[@acrab6527]

@@SlanderedGaming I think Unity becoming insane half way through development of a game on the Unity Engine may have just forced them to finish it real fast and move on to another engine that won't take half their profits.

[@tincano-beans2114]

​@@acrab6527do they even hit that thresthold in sales tho? 😂

[@ombra711]

Extremely fair review, especially the Voice actor point, every major character should have had at least one line to let us know how they sound. I tapped out at Ch4. since Jae's the sewer in Jae's quest will not appear, so I'll wait for a patch that sorts the game out.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Hope you enjoy the the last two acts once you are able to circle back.

[@danielgranda896]

Thank you for this great video! I appreciate you laying it all out without spoiling the hell out of it. It will be interesting to see what the expansions will be. Xenos and Chaos are my guesses. I agree the Space Marine member should have been left out. It definately feels like shoehorning the “40k” stereotype. EVERY (except Blood Bowl) other 40k game has Astartes. I think it would have said more to leave them out and add an Ork or Ogryn member for the Xeno BEEF. It will only get better from here!

[@negruvadalamuie5461]

I took Arch Militant for Ulfar and he is a god compared to the others, it almost feels like cheating using him. On a normal playthrough, though. I think that his main selling point for this spec is the high amount of stats he gets, all useful for the spec itself (ballistic and weapon skill, toughness and strength) - basically anyone else I have is only close to his stats if I focused on 1 - 2 specific stats. You can get items for him from the traders. A helmet(really good, grants take cover on all your bursts) and a chainsword, helmet is from the Mechanicus faction and I can't remember who has the chainsword to be honest, I want to say (oddly enough) the cold traders. There's a ton of cool items from those traders, I think there's more space marine stuff there than what I mention but none come to memory now.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I never found other equipment that only he could equip. All the good stuff that he could use, other people could potentially use as well.

[@Doombot221]

I know the Tau are on basically the other end of the galaxy in-lore (although there is a portal near the expanse that they could presumably use to get to your region), but I think that might have been a really good option for another xeno character. Orks might be a passable though unreliable one, and kroot now that I think of it might have been a great idea for another melee creature. Could def see a kroot acting like a rogue or monk type party member. There's also other lesser known aliens that could have been presented as well

[@SlanderedGaming]

I keep hearing about Orks so that's the group I am most excited to learn more about.

[@Doombot221]

@SlanderedGaming they are definitely some of the most fun, I think in terms of being able to cooperate they'd be quite difficult so the others make more logical choices perhaps

[@Corusame]

​@@SlanderedGamingOrk's thrive on conflict and war. Everything else is secondary. To have an Ork merc on the team would be possible if they know we'll be fighting a lot.

[@acrab6527]

@@Corusame You'd have to keep clearing squigs and snotlings out of the air vents, though.

[@101Mant]

Pretty sure an Ork freebooter would work for a Humie if they pay enough teeth. Not sure many companions would tolerate them though.

[@warrend2880]

Watched a lot of your videos on this game and thinking of finally picking it up with the release of the 1.1.58 patch. I'm sure I will be coming back here for all your excellent info after buying th game...

[@AW-wf2dx]

Great review. And I agree with your approach of waiting until you have beaten it to gain the necessary perspective on it. Curbstomps that bizarre PC Gamer review, as well!

[@jamesnewman7509]

Despite Owlcat's output being very much my thing, I've not bought this yet. I will, no doubt, but not yet. Despite having spent (checks) 832 hours in WotR, I've somehow only completed it once, as Lich (the restartitis is real), I decided I wanted to *at least* complete Angel, Demon and Aeon, as well as Inevitable Excess and Lord of Nothing before I buy this. Hopefully, by giving myself clear targets I'll be able to stop constantly restarting and accomplish this in notably less than 2,496 hours. But still, it will take long enough that this game will hopefully be in a good state by the time I finally get to it.

[@antonstsezhkin6578]

Doing anything but eating, working and breathing when you are told is a 100% accurate description of 40k. 🏆

[@Dan-uf2vh]

The "secret" ending is having Nomos help you out but that is very easy and obvious to get especially on an Iconoclast playthrough (where it's also mandatory for having a "good" ending).

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup that's exactly how I feel.

[@Wake-Less]

Big fan of your coverage, Also like your challenge :) Rogue Trader TTRPG is my favorite of all time and im just ecstatic that we even got this game so I am biased in loving it. I would like to point out a few things though, the game isnt really anything like the TTRPG rules wise except in the most shallow form. I assume youve never played the TTRPG which is why I bring it up. That doesnt bug me at all but I thought id point it out. For instance the naval combat in the game which is definately the red headed step child of the video game (which is really sad) has NOTHING in common with with the TTRPG, ships classes, importance, combat mechanics, modifications etc are all either gutted altogether or simplified so greatly they dont look anything like what inspired them. For me the naval combat was sadly a big deal (its actually a huge part of the TTRPG, critical piece really) but I got over it because im just happy its there! If they would have taken it out completely like you wanted 9given its not super integrated well) tbh the RT TT hardcore nerds like myself would probably have been hugely turned off. You cant be a rogue trader and not do ship and empire building stuff. I wish it was WAAY more complicated and integrated though. I am quite happy about the lack of whimsical D&D esque relationships in the game. I am only in act 2 atm but very happy with it. Though dont let even hardcore 40k fans tell you there is no room for "friends" or "love" interests in 40k. I am not sure who told you that XD 40k at this point is as varied as any other major sci fi settings and can be colored quite alot depending on the reader/writer. Dan Abnett is my favorite 40k writer and his stuff is miles different then some of the other writers for example. I understand what youre saying about friendship but im glad that not all RPGs follow the D&D friends around a table approach and that other options are around such as this game. For example I played BG3 and while I loved it, the horniness and friendness (while fun) was just crazy over the top. I like that it is much more muted here and works better for this setting and story imo. I agree with alot of your points though, if youre gonna have Astartes in the game make it a BIG deal. Otherwise better to leave them out and do maybe Kroot instead! Since everyone wanted one XD Great job, thank you for the review.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Glad you enjoyed the review and that the game is working for you thus far. Actually what I would prefer is that naval combat be more integrated as opposed to taking it away. I really liked Kingdom and Crusade management unlike other people and was expecting something similar here. I absolutely agree that your relationships with party members should be more muted than they are in D&D but I think this might be too far over to the other side. I know many Warhammer fans probably find it appealing though.

[@Wake-Less]

Thank you for the response! :) I hope they get to improve on your suggestions if tehy get to make a second one, as well as mine. As I dont think alot of what you wanted is not compatible with 40k @@SlanderedGaming

[@Ercarret]

Nice review. I've just begun doing the main quests in Act 2, yet I'm somehow still 70+ hours in. I guess I just like roaming space and exploring star systems. Hahahaha. My main problem with the game is that combat just takes SO LONG all the time. It's not a turn-based problem, it's just due to how all of the encounters are designed. There are just so many little scrub enemies that are no problem knocking off but who each have their own turn and just bog the pace down. On the opposite end, there are (so far at least - I AM still in the beginning-to-middle of the game) very few really challenging fights that really test out your skills and how well you've built your characters. It feels like I'm just mowing down cannon fodder, and while that can really work in a faster-paced game (the Space Marine FPS comes to mind!), it isn't terribly fun here. To me, at least. Or...well...I do enjoy the combat. I just wished it was tighter and more difficult. One thing I disagree with you on is that it's a shame there aren't more xeno companions. I can see why you'd feel that if you haven't played Warhammer 40K before, but man, they do NOT get along. It's not like a game like Mass Effect where you have a bunch of alien races that generally get along, then a bunch of fairly antagonistic races, and then some REALLY BAD ones. Nah, in W40K, they're all pretty genocidal towards each other. I'm not a huge W40K fan who is neck-deep into the lore of the universe, but I'm fairly certain that most of the races out there have at least razed a planet or two of Humanity's. While Chaos is kind of the big bad out there that absolutely everyone can agree to hate, no one is friendly with each other. I'm actually surprised that there are xeno companions at all, at least without you having to go full heretic to bring them onboard. Overall, I feel like you get a bit too much leeway with your wild ideas as the player character. I brought a mechanical "pet" onboard the ship and everyone around me rightly freaked the eff out because it was an unholy abomination that could put the entire ship at risk, but after yelling at me for a little bit (all voice acted, haha!), they all eventually cooled off and went along with it. W40K is just a...weird setting. Things are very black and white, and honestly mostly just black and grimdark. I feel like Owlcat had to de-extreme it a bit in order to build a proper game around it. All of this being said, I can recommend Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus if you liked Rogue Trader. Mechanicus is less of a CRPG and more of an XCOM-type tactical turn-based game, but it's hard to not see a lot of similarities even so. I really liked that game even if it had one of the weirdest difficulty curves in a while, with the beginning being hard as nails and the end being fairly easy. But it was still a fun game. It follows the tech priests while they're battling another xeno race that I don't think is in Rogue Trader. Obviously I'm not done with Rogue Trader yet but I see no inclination that this particular race would pop up. And that's kind of what I like about Warhammer 40K. Between Space Marine, Rogue Trader and Mechanicus, you have three games where you not only battle three different alien races/groups of aliens, but you're actually playing as three different parts of the Empire. There's a LOT of lore there. Sorry for rambling a little. Point is, great review! :)

[@benjamin8459]

The biggest dislike I have with Rogue Trader is the non-linear narrative to the missions and story line. Using WotR as an example, it's established early on what your goal is and what villains you're up against. As you progress on Crusade every new area you discover has a mission or errand attached to it, so it feels like you're constantly working towards the goal even on side quests. In RT it's almost the opposite; missions that send you out of your way then force you to backtrack, a lot of the exploration and side quests feel like filler that have no consequence to the main story or are just there for resource gathering, which can actually feel like a chore. And like you mentioned in your review, there is no clearly defined villain or end goal, you're just kind of walking from one problem to another which can have an affect on actually being invested in the story.

[@alexanderbakulin8836]

Funny, because that's what i liked the most about the game. It has a sense of exploration, which something like Mass Effect is really lacking (not even mentioning Starfield). It's only natural in a game about space travelling. This game feels more Star Trek than the last Star Trek game.

[@SlanderedGaming]

The game sorely needs a real villain. I could tolerate the non-linear nature of it if there was at least a villain you were clearly trying to overcome. Like Alex mentioned it has a Star Trek quality that is endearing but the lack of a true obstacle harms the experience.

[@jellycubed3575]

Thanks for the review of the game. Loving the RT content, just like the WotR content. I will say that I disagree about Ulfar's mechanics. I enjoyed using him as a melee and ranged character with his knife and pistol setup. Though I feel like his pistol needs to count as a pistol and be usable in melee range. I also agree with the concept of having other Xenos brought into the party. I could absolutely see a Tau in the service of a RT.

[@falkyrie5228]

34:33 When we already have a Drukhari in the party, getting an Ork or Tau wouldn't be much of an ask

[@CrazyxEnigma]

I appreciate you didn't get into spoiler territory at all, I got a pretty important plot point spoiled for me in a different review with no warning.

[@johnsmith401]

For me one of the mayor dislikes was one of your likes, the combat, its a heavy broken system right now, you can beat the game on unfair with argenta and 2 officers, one cassia and other yourself or jae in first round, you dont need any other companion, and there is a point when you get the first exemplar talen when you just finish every encounter in 1 round with just argenta and one officer, making infinite loop of turns. There are 2 core problems, the extra turn habilities and the stacking bonus system as a whole. they need to scrap it and redoit, cause in the end do not make sense that a character can do +1k dmg with each bullet of a 24 bullet burst, the final boss of the game have half that HP, and you cant do more damage cause there is no more enemies to fire at, if there where more, youll do more and more.

[@drewlarsen5226]

I have not finished it yet, both a couple restarts YAY restartitis, and holidays. I really feel like this is a prime example of a game that with 2-3 more months in the oven could have could have made a noticeable difference, but I think both wanting it out for the holidays and back when they did announce it was right after unity talked about changing the pricing structure for 2024 they wanted to avoid that. As to the amount of VA I do wonder if the strikes over the summer affected the amount of VA the game got as VA is done towards the end of most projects and or with the increased rates if their budget for VA was set before the increased rates meant less VA

[@SlanderedGaming]

I suppose that is possible. Hopefully their next project won't have to deal with the same issues.

[@drewlarsen5226]

I am willing to give a bit more benefit of the doubt as they have delivered 3 games in a row I have and or am currently really enjoying especially WOTR that has given me over 1700 hours of enjoyment. -@@SlanderedGaming

[@cassidywest5539]

I always thought that the companions don't become closer to the player is because they are already fleshed out characters with a set worldview (in the game world that is). They are either "business" partners, subjects, servants etc. One does not simply change a character of a Battle Sister, a Space Marine, an eldar or a Dark Eldar for that matter. It does really reflect the 40k genre. I've read many books from the universe and I have yet to see a budding, happy romance in any of them. Even the famous Cain when he has his trysts and romances it's never really about love or feelings, some of his "adventures" are one night stands, some just for pleasure and even Cain himself has no illusions about him and Amberley, in fact he knows all to well that if he fails or flat out disobeys her she will kill him. And don't get me wrong, that's coming from someone who would love to see some Sister of Battle action.

[@blackfistxu7953]

I was waiting for this video! Great video!

[@SlanderedGaming]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@epencrep]

Was pretty interesting diving into the lore and combat was decent but I really dislike the leveling system and the overwhelming amount of choice that feels like it doesn't actually effect gameplay. I'd like to see more distinct abilities over a bunch of stacking BS that just makes your current abilities slightly better in very specific situations.

[@finnelis7239]

Great reviews, I thank you for it. Makes me regret all the more that you dropped your let's play, though I totally understand why you chose to (or maybe even had to).

[@dude92]

I just want to react for your sentence where you said that there is not a single chaos god showing up in the game. You would never see a chaos god in warhammer 40k. If it happens, then it's a goodbye galaxy scenario. It is because for a warp creature to enter realspace, it requires enough warp enery to sustain it's body in realspace. That's why when in game you use too much pshychic power, you destroy the veil between the immaterium and realspace, and chaos creatures start to appear. A chaos god would require so much warp energy that it is simply not possible for them to show up in realspace. Even after the fall of cadia and the fall of the last necron pylon (ancient necron structures that could nullify warp energy) that held the eye of terror (a tear on the veil between realspace and the warp that came to existence after the birth of a chaos god) back from expanding, there is still not enough warp energy for a chaos god to exist in realspace.Chaos gods create demonic legions and aquire followers from chaos cults and traitor space marine legions, but they themselves cannot fight. The closes being to a chaos god that could enter realspace was Vashtorr, an unholy blacksmith demon, that was stronger than a demon prince, but weaker than a chaos god and he was searching for a way to transcend to chaos godhood.

[@almalone3282]

He's a tourist who thinks warhammer 40k is just sci-fi D&D don't be to harsh on him

[@greyroo]

Thanks for the excellent review showcasing the good and the bad. While I have already bought the game and played the tutorial I am now going to wait for some patches to drop before getting into it proper. Owl Cat are not beyond releasing some serious patches and it sounds like the game could use some more of that attention before I continue.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup Owlcat is updating it very regularly. Hope you enjoy the game once you get into it.

[@TajinQ]

The state of this game on release is inexcusable and its a real shame, because underneath all that is an excellent game with great writing and really cool gameplay. I'm still sour from my first run which has been ruined by plenty of bugs. I'll come back to this game in a few months when it will be in a decent state. Hopefully Owlcat finally learn their lesson and improve on QA for their next game because it's really hurting them

[@SlanderedGaming]

They made significant strides with every launch so hopefully next game is the one that comes clean right out the gate.

[@moosiemoose1337]

Great review. Currently playing through the game and just finished act 2.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thank you!

[@ser-Ike]

Correction: the voidship, a sword class escort ship, carries approx. 26,000 crew.

[@foxdavion6865]

People who say "Romance has no place in WH40K" obviously haven't read enough Black Library novels. Because here is a brief list of actual romances that I remember from all the novels I've read and frankly the Rogue Trader video game is in my humble opinion the closest thing I've ever seen in video game format to a standard Black Library book, if somewhat scaled down due to well limitations imposed by only 3 years of games development and making sure this game can run on a toaster (seriously this game can run on a computer 7+ years old), anyways... the list: - Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn develops a relationship with a Medicae, not sure if she is a Sister of Battle or a member of the Imperial Guard or a Mechanicus Adapt, can't remember, but as far as I'm aware that relationship stuck despite not being mentioned much since except in reflection. - On a Night Lords Ship slave named Septimus has a relationship with another slave named Octavia (the ship's Navigator) and they both flee. - In another book a Ship's Confessor Cyrene has a relationship with an Officer. - A well known relationship between Commissar Ciaphas Cain and the Inquisitor Amberley Vail; The fact they never made it official baffles me as they had been an item for over 100+ years together and their social rank is appropriately on the level. - In the book Deamon World, a weird twisted relationship between a hermit/slave and a deamonette. - Fulgrim details a budding romance between a sculper and an artist with a bit of a love triangle from a musician in a Horus Heresy novel. There are many others I can't remember. But as far as lore/canon is concerned, the relationships in Rogue Trader check out; They wouldn't be there if Games Workshop didn't approve. To my knowledge only the western community support team for Owlcat were against the two Eldar relationships, both that of the Aeldari and Drukhari respective. Voidship combat is also *LITERALLY* Battlefleet Gothic:lite. It as if Owlcat copy+pasted the code from Tindalos's now 7+ year old game. It plays and feels exactly like OG Armada. You'll know what I am talking about if you've played it (right down to the ship skills and abilities, right out of Battlefleet Gothic rulebook). This is obviously something Games Workshop stressed the devs to do, as this is very much in line with GW's MO; Games Workshop has a rather patronising attitude towards their customer base and have it stuck in their heads that fans would be confused if spaceship combat was different than what they are used to from existing games so for consistency it should stay the same. It is the same level of closed minded disrespect of the intellect of their customers that Nintendo has; Everything has to be the same, or our dumb fans would get confused... no, only your dumb boomer employees get confused. The fans *prefer* it to stay the same because fans are like that, they don't like change to things, often to the detriment of those things. Also, seeing someone pimp out an Imperial Frigate (which are technically light cruisers) to the point it ends up as being as powerful as ships of that size and class during the 31st Millennium is ridiculous too. Taking on ships three times it's size and class ratio alongside entire fleets of escorts all on it's own is hilarious to me. It is akin to "Do you think your crappy sports lookalike car can take on my custom ride in a street race? lol". With that said, space combat is no joke, even though you're using a super strong custom frigate with rare tech bells and whistles with the plot armour of space pirate captain Harlock, at the end of the day it is still just a frigate and if you mess up you'll get wrecked up very quickly. Soon as your shield is down, get hit by multiple missiles, someone blows up right next to you or someone rams you who is bigger than you, you're toast. If you encounter Cruisers or Battleships (the game shows you the type of ships you'll face in the little image icon on the system screen), don't fight, RUN. If it gives you the option to attempt to run, take it. Your ship won't be powerful enough to take on Battleships until Act 5. And in Act 2 you can only take on Cruisers on Normal settings if you've pimped your ship out, otherwise, run from those too.

[@ragingpapist103]

I'm in love with the game, but there are a few glaring issues besides bugs. I feel like there should be a ton more NPCs with actual character portraits, same with the criticism as some very major characters have no voiced dialogue. I'm also concerned that there may not be enough points to obtain rank 5 heretic at the present, but thats only a rumor. From the announced DLC, they are going to add 2 more companions and roughly an additional 30 hours of story, which is really exciting as long as those things are quality and those companions are well integrated into the entire game-have plenty to say in every chapter. Lastly, even as of Chapter 2, you don't encounter your rival Rogue Traders enough. As en example, after completing Janus I had to determine how I wanted to tackle the food situation, but never got to meet Winterscale. I can't determine if I want to side with them or the station if I don't even know who they are.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup those are all legit issues. I am still definitely looking forward to the DLC though.

[@onci31]

Great time, but kinda same issue as previous games, they really need to add value to their games. And i had e very strong feeling that they are less then Pathfinder too, maybe because they dont voiced the most important encounter, and frequently i thought "it would be really cool if it has been voiced" for example that exchange of lines between Heinrix/Argenta and DMechanicus at Gamma, anyway very cool video and really love you positive attitude

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thank you!

[@vvodonenko]

One of the events for the planets gives an Axe for Ulfar I believe. At least I think that's where I got it.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Events from Colony Management? I didn't see any axes from the late game rewards but I'll check again on the Iconoclast run. Thank you!

[@Helthegrim]

​@@SlanderedGaming I know I got a Power Axe in Act 4 after the Main Quest on the Forge World Planet we get sent to, think its based on how his personal quest there is handled.

[@AleriaStarlight]

Got to act 4 yesterday so I'll not fully watch the review just yet. But so far it's been a great game with a few dips. Mostly on the companion side of things honestly. I ended up forgetting and not caring about a bunch of the cast quite quickly. Unlike Wrath where I always felt like I was missing out if I did not bring certain characters. I hope with more patches and some great DLC the game can improve and be on the same level as Wrath later down the line.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup me too!

[@jefferydraper4019]

I enjoyed watching the game. I was disappointed in the game breaking bugs or quests that just ended with a whimper. It does feel very 40K. Ive been in the 40K universe gaming since 1991, and this RT was straight out of the Rick Priestly book. I kept waiting for Abdul Goldburg to show up.(For those of you that remember him from that book) A couple of things that I hate...you get great party members that you just never get to use because you have soooo many good party members to choose from. Maybe there needs to be a way to remove the option of using the same, old ones EVERY time. Injuries, or they leave for an offscreen task like Von Calox did at one point. Another thing is I have played Owlcat games, so the synergy between characters and their abilities is soooo vague to me that Im afraid I will have no clue how to create an effective team on my own. Finally a final battle with EVERY member showing up would rock.

[@personjc567]

I love this game and warhammer in general, but the part of this game I was most disappointed in gameplay and dialogue wise was being a psyker. Gameplay wise there are so few power compared to what a psyker lore wise can do or that for some reason requires a staff to do it, like no biolightning, a true firestorm (that doesn't rely on ignite), blood boil, etc. The staves in my opinion should augment certain disciplines or abilities. Also there is like only 3 dialogue options if you are a psyker and then for the rest no one will acknowledge that you are a witch. Like if I am a telepath at the least, then I should be able to read the minds of others.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I haven't done a full playthrough yet as a Psyker so I cannot comment yet but yeah the small amount of powers definitely seems like a concern.

[@khaerinaenno]

"Romance has no place in Warhammer setting". Comissar Caiphas Cain, who has about half of his career being linked to his romance with Inquisitor Amberly Veil, left the chat. Interrogator/Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor, who had a pretty pivotal moment of the death of fellow acolyte and lover swordmaster Arianhrod Esw Sweydyr, left the chat. That's two signature characters I can remember right now who doesn't just had affairs; but for whom romance and romantic partners were pretty much important in the story.

[@SlanderedGaming]

It seems like Warhammer fans are split on this topic because a ton of them said they didn't feel like Owlcat should even include romance in the story.

[@khaerinaenno]

@@SlanderedGaming As far as I know, Warhammer fans (myself included) are very much split on every topic which is about "what is the _true_ Warhammer" stuff, with a big reason for that being that there is a lot of very different approaches from very different authors, and GW kinda wing it saying "everything and nothing is canon". From the perspective of the person who is pretty deep in this rabbit hole for two decades, I'd say Owlcat did a very good job depicting at least one, pretty developed perspective on setting, even if I would change some things; still, this perspective is less "there is only war in a galaxy, and laughter of hungry gods", and more "well, Imperium, first of all, is populated by humans, who are, by definition, humanlike, and not just caricatures; so definitely they would have romance, because that's what humans do; of course, they would be interested in heresy and xenos, because, again, that's what humans do". Still, I'm trying to remember that it's not the only perspective possible, even if it's the one I sympatize more.

[@antonstsezhkin6578]

The void ship does not have "millions of people" it has about 62 000 crew. But the planets you own (yes, right you own PLANETS) can have milliards of people.

[@grantwallace1882]

What a great review - very thorough and detailed.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thank you!

[@Galonghin]

I made the same Build as ulfar for my main character, and I gotta say, if you build it right it's Boss killer

[@Bluefooted23]

I really like the way you review games, i.e. Likes/Neutral/Dislikes.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Thank you!

[@Renytenz]

In options you can set skipping the non-attack animations. I feel its kind of required considering how many buffs and debuffs you use later in the game

[@Nihoolious]

The fact there is no voice acting in act 4 outside of companions ending quests/romances and zero whatsoever in act 5 is bizzare. Im assuming that its just another late game bug because it makes no sense for the final conversation especially to be silent.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Agreed I do feel like that's something that will change with patches.

[@mossberg0]

While I listened to your review, I thought how funny it is, most things you point out as drawbacks and dislikes are things I consider to be actually rarely encountered good design choices and restraint on the devs' part. :)

[@Donjuan51]

I think an orc character option for the retinue would be cool, hopefully owlcat adds one later. I also agree that Ulfars character didn’t make sense and was poorly executed.

[@Erligan]

Warrior from Fortress World, makes interesting combination, if you want to play Character with Sword and Pistol. Creating Commissar, or a Corsair/Pirate inspired character.

[@SlanderedGaming]

I definitely want to play a Commissar at some point.

[@TW-rd5ub]

I’m just playing now and 3 months after your review it’s still really buggy with parts of act 2 almost unplayable, and other graphical bugs that partially obscure the screen. But I’m 100+ hours in so obviously they’re doing something right! I think they’ve nailed the setting pretty well, and the stories are genuinely interesting. My biggest gripe is that levelling up your characters is a chore - there’s a bewildering array of options, and it’s not always clear how one upgrade will interact with earlier choices - it doesn’t help that some introduce new systems and tokens to keep track of. If they could find a clearer, more visual way to present the information I think it would be a huge quality of life improvement.

[@Dirt1061]

Great review! I fully agree with it, but I am only in act 2.

[@xtremeranger30]

Unfortunatley the next two major story DLC's are more Imperium companions with a Death Cult Assassin and an Adeptus Arbites. Really missed opportunity for more xeno companions like Tau Fire Warriors, Kroot and Ork Freebooterz.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yup I have a video coming out tomorrow talking about that.

[@kenpachiramasama1139]

Not going to lie Ork would be cool but you have to kill him at some point in the dlc, cause can not try to kill you at some.

[@drazarkabalblade9486]

If I read right though the Death Cult adds a lot of stuff for the ship, which could be interesting.

[@theonlyexclusive4295]

Hey brother, Does the custom portraits use the same dimensions as pathfinder’s portraits?

[@SlanderedGaming]

Not sure but it does tell you the dimensions in the menu when you try to pull up a custom option.

[@theonlyexclusive4295]

Okay awesome. Thanks for the fast response!

[@dsagent]

I just wanted to say my psyker exploded and my game crashed right after casting warp lighting. Oddly fitting.

[@SlanderedGaming]

😂😂

[@Алексей545-т6б]

Emm...Yrliet has a great and multi layered character arc Argenta have such one as well But would you able to unlock it - depends on your dispositions and multiple choices . The only one had not grow much is Maragai, but he is drukari (but even he has option to become harlequin)

[@SlanderedGaming]

I did a Dogmatic run so Yrilet didn't make it. Argenta doesn't have a character arc, she has an issue that she needs help resolving but completing it doesn't change her in any significant way. Pasqal and Cassia have character arcs and I have heard Heinrix does as well if you romance him. I'll revisit this topic after completing more playthroughs.

[@Алексей545-т6б]

@@SlanderedGaming My Argenta basicly face against her own arrogance and "Chosen one" complex (which cost lifes to many good people) and stand on Repentia path (basicly suicide in the Emperor name)

[@jordanarsenault3952]

im so glad this game is really good Side note wouldnt it be awesome if you could recruit like a Tau fire warrior who escaped the influence of the Ethereals and is like in hiding with the rogue trader as a sniper. I totally agree that while its very un lore friendly, i think RPGs like this are the best opportunity to explore things in a setting that would otherwise be very very almost impossibly rare.

[@lukehendriech3812]

I personally like the companions of Rogue Trader more than BG3, Pasqal in particular is my favourite (AD mech fan all the way)

[@АйдоралСмертестойкий]

Heretic playthrough is indeed flawed in terms of companions' reactivity to your actions but more so in the fact that you are currently unable to progress as heretic starting chapter 4 - most heretic choices there require you to have heretical disposition of rank 4 while it is only possible to get rank 3 at this point in game. The devs responded to the issue that fix is in the works right now and that it will be retroactive giving missing heretical points to all players who made the right choices so it is advised to not progress until the patch is released. I absolutely love the stuff you are able to do as a heretic tho. Dominating your enemies, harnessing the energies of the warp, it feels so good. Even if others choose to avert their gaze from the atrocities you perform you know what you have done and you can savor every second of it. I absolutely love this game. The ability to live through the books I ve read, the atmosphere, the spirit of the setting - all that easily overshadows the bugs.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Awesome!! Glad you are enjoying the game so much!

[@thehamman210]

So just beat the game last night, enjoyed the hell out of it, but I do agree the act 4 and 5 weren’t that great act 5 mostly. After beating the last boss and getting the achievement for beating the game I remember thinking to myself “oh that’s it.” Maybe it was the lack of voice acting but that ending didn’t feel like an ending to me.

[@grandlancer]

While I like the management systems of this game (including space combat) one problem which I hope is a bug is, at certain points I lost the passive effects earned from the colony advancements. I think maybe it was during chapter transitions but I'm not sure, I wasn't specifically paying attention and just noticed at one point they were gone.

[@1millioncicades183]

I had a similiar issue two days ago in chapter 2, it turned out that for me to keep those effects active it is good to go to your ship bridge everytime before visiting locations on the planet. They will become visible & active again (looks like some flag can be turned off in game logic). Still, I am not sure if they will stay at act 3 - I heard this is when its starting to be really problematic & unfair. Maybe events from the beginning of chapter 3 are turning off the same flag so effects are not useful again?

[@TechnoLawyer]

I’m definitely playing through this one once it has received a few more patches.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Awesome I hope you enjoy it!

[@TheHeretic0099]

I need help, I am at chapter two and I’m stuck with 3 missions where nothing on my map pops op, those being waiting for the footfall virus thing, the attack in the silence of mer segit and blade of….something(forgot name), like there’s nothing on the map and I’ve explore EVERY planet and system, like all

[@PrincessOzaline]

I will say I'm working on an Iconoclast playthrough, and I do think a few the characters are more friends. I mean I'm basically defudinging the ship the police, and being nice to everyone. I really like that both the dogmatic and iconoclast options really show how horrible the Imperium is, I laugh at how brazen the satire gets. Also romance has been in lots of Warhammer novels, fans are not right about that... Especially at this higher level, where the nobility has more freedom. Heck according to the Caiaphas Cain novels Sisters of Battle don't have a vow of celibacy (no he doesn't hook up with one, just learns about a relationship one of his fellow teachers is in), he did date a tech priest for a bit though. So I am with the people who want a romance with the Sister.

[@SlanderedGaming]

Yeah I really think Argenta should've been a romance. I like her as a Dogmatic option more than both Heinrix and Cassia.

[@skolas-aditya]

Hm, it seems a lot of Heinrix's character development is locked behind his romance. You can't really influence him much unless you're *that* close to him. He even gets a special ending if you manage to make the right choices when romancing him.

[@classiclarry88]

Pro review. Going to check out your Baldur's Gate review also. I haven't played games like these in many years. Been a fan of 40k for a long time so might check this out after several more months of patching. BG, played a lot of the first 2 so I feel compelled to try that eventually. Was afraid of several of your dislikes like a weakening story and no major antagonists. Ulfar especially, should have been a wrecking ball clearing the map of enemies alone... (Would have also preferred a chapter that gets less attention like a White Scar or a successor chapter). Can you not take him or is he part of the main story line?