Expeditions: Rome - Demo Released

[Redglyph]

Ancient Greek was harder than Latin IMO, they really played with the language and you had to cling on to the declensions and the context to get the sense of any sentence. Even so, the literal translation didn't usually make sense because it was often allegoric. So it was a lot of fun (and many late hours in the night to do the homework).

That's probably because Greek had more philosophical essays than military stories, though.

I'll have to check on Lesbos to see if there's any of those texts

 

[Couchpotato]

Yeah, we Europeans are so proud to have had ancient Greek and Latin at school

I can thank the Hercules and Zena TV show for that knowledge.

Also known as the fabled homeland of Amazons.

Plus I read a ton of historical fiction.

 

[Redglyph]

I've played a little bit with the demo… this is quite a polished game. Very positive overall.

There's a learning curve and some of the descriptions are not always clear to me yet, because I haven't had many combats or used many skills. But in general, everything is described and detailed in helpful tooltips, and at the beginning there are mini-tutorials presenting the items and the panels. All of that can be found back in the Codex any time.

Visuals were on ultra when I started, which made the GPU somewhat warm but nothing excessive. I turned it down a few notches because I prefer quiet to gorgeous graphics (I may turn it back up now and then). It remains very pretty on medium/high, so it shouldn't be a problem for older cards hopefully.

The music is splendid and the sounds immersive. Voice acting is very good too, and very natural. It's funny to hear the military jargon of the Roman army, I should have brushed up on that. And I've met or heard about characters I knew from translations made long ago at school, which feels a little strange. When you walk by, you often hear the comments of people on what happened, or on other ongoing matters. Everything is subtitled, audio is English or German, and there are many other languages selections for the texts (and the UI I suppose).

On the minus side, there's little interaction with the environment or the NPCs, it's very functional but doesn't go beyond the scope of the quest. It's not necessarily bad, but it feels like a lost opportunity when there are so many other elements that make it a believable world. So it's more comparable to a tactical game like Solasta (but several levels beyond of course) than a D:OS2.

Combat seems very engaging, it requires a good coordination between the party members. It looks like fights are easily lost on small mistakes.

I've only encountered a few minor bugs related to the control so far, it seems quite stable. I can't judge yet if there are any problems of stats, skills and so on.

 

[purpleblob]

My impression is not so positive: I finished the demo on easiest difficulty in 3.2 hours.

Don't know historically accurate or not but the game doesn't allow me to name my female character. Everyone constantly reminded me that I'm a woman so I shouldn't try to do what men do but then listen to my command without any quarrel which was quite immersion breaking.

The demo was very linear and 95% of the content is combat. I could see that the combat will be very tough on higher difficulty so I guess that's a good news for many Watchers. I got tired of it though, because there were several encounters with lot of enemies and additional reinforcements arriving at x turn(s), extending the duration of the combat. Good thing not every encounter is about killing all enemies - you can win the battle by meeting other objectives.

I met 4 companions in demo - its early game so you don't get to find out about them much. They seem pretty 1 dimensional atm but at least they have more dialogues than in Vikings so far (no party interjections yet tho). Voice acting is pretty decent altho I'm not a fan of full voicing. Also, am I the only one having trouble remembering companion/NPC names because they are so long?

I'm not happy with how "persuasion" works - the game offers 3 different methods - using logic, rhetorical quesitons or your position/power. I picked logic and pretty much I'm locked out of using other 2 methods - its such a strange design choice and doesn't seem to have any meaningful consequence on which method you picked.

There seem to be some sort of faction reputation checks but I have no idea where to find the info on. When I finished quests, depending on how I resolved it, I saw messages like "x faction approved/disapproved" popping up but then no idea where I can find the overall approval/disapproval meter with each faction.

You get to experience 1 legion battle in demo as well - I absolutely hated this part. I assigned a general to lead my legion and got to decide which stratagem (tactic I guess?) to use in each of 4 phases. Then the each phase plays out on its own, with little shapes like triangles etc representing each unit. They sort of go back and forth and sometimes say you/enemy lost x troops etc but doesn't really explain how your strategy impacted those numbers at all. I literally didn't understand what was the point of the whole thing (maybe just a flavour that you lead legions?) but I regretted not using auto resolve button and skip the whole thing.

So, after finishing the demo, I actually took Rome off my wishlist. The demo definitely didn't sell it to me, a shame.

 

[Redglyph]

I think it's hard for a demo that must serve as a tutorial too, to show how deep or how branched a game will be, so I'm just hoping they'll deliver.

I have not completed it yet, so my impression were only on the superficial features, the overall presentation. It does feel more tactical than story/adventure so far, but there are signs of political intrigues developing and a nice historical background. From the dev blogs, it is supposed to have depth, including the companions, but it's hard to tell with the demo.

The class system doesn't seem very deep in comparison with Pathfinder or D&D, with 4 base classes, and 3 specializations in each of them.

Also, am I the only one having trouble remembering companion/NPC names because they are so long?

No, you're not We have to get used to it I guess.

Roman names were often in 3 parts: first name / family name / "cognomen" which often complemented the surname in large families (by specifying the branch of the family). Not sure how it was chosen, some were apparently a little funny, like Caesar (= hairy) or Cicero (= chickpea), maybe that's why the game says it's a "nickname".

The cognomen became hereditary after a while. So sometimes there was even a 4th part, the "agnomen". They had a complicated system indeed, and apparently it varied depending on the social class too.

Anyway, I discovered that it was possible to rename the character from the stats page (top right button). Why it's not possible at character creation, I wonder.

 

[Redglyph]

There seem to be some sort of faction reputation checks but I have no idea where to find the info on. When I finished quests, depending on how I resolved it, I saw messages like "x faction approved/disapproved" popping up but then no idea where I can find the overall approval/disapproval meter with each faction.

Yes, it's not crystal clear, and to my knowledge they haven't talked much about it.

I think I found out. It's displayed under each character in the status page, look at Bestia in the screenshots, each is a different outcome of the same conversation (I reloaded the game). He remained "indifferent" if I chose a modest reply in a specific dialogue, but became "pleased" if I was arrogant by taking all the credit for myself. And you can see in his personality traits that he's arrogant.

It's not a very clear status, there's no precise value showing where we stand or all the different traits to potentially please or displease.

I suppose we'll get a better idea when the game is out and reviewed, but I think I understand why you don't like it so much.

 

[Redglyph]

Here are the known issues (pinned on their Discord)

Spoiler

Known Demo Issues:
- Issues when changing resolutions and/or window modes
- When rebinding actions, some UI elements do not reflect the new key bindings
- No user feedback when a save file fails to be created
- During certain UI pop ups or cinematics, the cursor will be missing for a few moments
- Under certain situations, the combat SFX from legion battles will persist after the legion battle is over
- Shadows for certain foliage assets have a bit of a flicker under certain times of day or graphic settings
- Pressing certain buttons on the game over screen can incorrectly close the game over screen
- Some region specific keyboards do not have the correct button icons
- Some bodies can be difficult to loot (depends on how the ragdoll physics positioned the body)
- The gauge for the Party Water and Nourishment levels does not function.
- On certain hexes, the character's legs won't animated correctly (they'll be twitchy)
- Some UI widgets will have a slight jitter when moving the camera
- Using the F11 key to toggle between full screen and windowed mode will cause the mouse cursor to not move around the entire screen
- Some Non-English translation issues may still exist

 

[purpleblob]

I think I found out. It's displayed under each character in the status page

Messages I saw said something like arrogant/peaceful/aggressive etc factions which made me believe its more than companion reputation. Bestia's approval of me may be impacted too but I assumed that there are other NPCs or whole faction reputation may be tracked somewhere but I couldn't locate it.

I suppose we'll get a better idea when the game is out and reviewed, but I think I understand why you don't like it so much.

My dislike comes from few things:
1. Female MC bias - I know this is intended but personally think it wasn't handled too well by devs
2. Linear story and too much combat - could be because demo is tutorial area
3. Lack of in-depth tutorial/no clear instruction given on what info can be found where - unless the demo is much earlier build to the final version, I worry since there's only about a month left till release

Its a shame because the game feel much better polished than Viking. I will keep an eye on Watch impression. I wonder if anyone here will try out female MC since it should feel different to male MC?

 

[Redglyph]

Messages I saw said something like arrogant/peaceful/aggressive etc factions which made me believe its more than companion reputation. Bestia's approval of me may be impacted too but I assumed that there are other NPCs or whole faction reputation may be tracked somewhere but I couldn't locate it.

That's a good question to ask them, it's definitely a bit hazy. Apparently, the "grades" are the same as the morale in Vikings?

I've seen that it was important for the centurions too, I was careful to pick those with a higher morale and who had the same affinities. Though you can apparently send them to the baths to make them happier.

Also, I don't know if that's only important for NPCs in the proximity, like in the same camp, or if that counts for everyone. And if that counts for future recruits.

My dislike comes from few things:
1. Female MC bias - I know this is intended but personally think it wasn't handled too well by devs
2. Linear story and too much combat - could be because demo is tutorial area
3. Lack of in-depth tutorial/no clear instruction given on what info can be found where - unless the demo is much earlier build to the final version, I worry since there's only about a month left till release

Its a shame because the game feel much better polished than Viking. I will keep an eye on Watch impression. I wonder if anyone here will try out female MC since it should feel different to male MC?

I'm tempted to try, I'll probably run through the demo again (but when is another story).

The codex is great, but it's missing info on several topics, I also hope they clarify them as much as possible.

 

[purpleblob]

I'm tempted to try, I'll probably run through the demo again (but when is another story).

I believe the demo is only available till Monday

 

[vanedor]

2. Linear story and too much combat - could be because demo is tutorial area

That's always my problem with that sort of games. Like the Banner Saga serie. I tend to prefer games that offer a bit more freedoms. More choices. More exploration. Where dialogs have more impacts. Not just one tactical battles after another.

 

[Moriendor]

Well, I indeed learned latin for 7 years.

Bah, amateur!

I had Latin classes for 9 years in school (5th grade to 13th grade) and took the advanced course in 12th and 13th grade (Latein Leistungskurs in German). We were only eight people in that advanced course/class so it wasn't exactly very popular but it was nice and cozy and we had a helluva time on our school trip to Trier.

I was already wasted by the time we reached Cologne main station and that week in Trier is pretty much a blur. We spent that week on an old ship that was turned into a hostel.
Our teacher, who was age 64 and, no joke, whose name very aptly was Julius, bought us one round after another of Viez (a local apple wine) or Schnaps. I wasn't really into the whole apple thing so I drank more Schnaps than Viez (yuck).

The fish of the Moselle river must have been particularly happy one night when our teacher bought us an extra round and all four of us guys (we were four boys and four gals) fed the fish, so to speak .

Ah, good old times…

 

[Redglyph]

I believe the demo is only available till Monday

That's the access for streamers, not the demo. Unless they phrased it badly, which is possible.

 

[purpleblob]

That's the access for streamers, not the demo. Unless they phrased it badly, which is possible.

Demo is still available so you were right

 

[Redglyph]

Demo is still available so you were right

Nice! Does that mean you've decided to give it another chance and played again?

One of the devs (Meta) said on Discord they'd try to add keyboard remapping for the camera to the demo before the release, so it seems to imply the demo would remain at least until then.

Which is nice, apparently it's not good for their stats to leave a demo. Lost Pilgrims explained that to answer one of my questions a few months ago:

a demo on the main page has a negative impact on the Steam algorithm for some reason (it considers the free download visits as a ‘non-purchase’ and sends less people to the page), so like many indiedevs we only activate it during events

Silly world, eh?

 

[Redglyph]

Demo update #1

There's a small update to the demo (3.8-MB download), but a long process of updating the 24.7 GB of installed files

Demo Patch 1#
Minor Demo Patch-notes

• Ini file fix for the Windows 7 crash.
• Enabled access to the customization menu from Legio Victrix's camp via the trophy in the Legatus tent.
• Disabled Twitch Drops UI in main menu to coincide with end of weekend drops event

 

[Morrandir]

Ini file fix for the Windows 7 crash.

Why the hell are they supporting an OS whose support expired almost 2 years ago?

 

[vanedor]

Why the hell are they supporting an OS whose support expired almost 2 years ago?

Because they are nice and it was an easy fix?

 

[purpleblob]

Nice! Does that mean you've decided to give it another chance and played again?

Sadly, no

I'm quite short on time at the moment (Christmas and all) and would prefer playing something more enjoyable with small amount of free time I have

 

[Carnifex]

I'm pleased to see them taking steps to support windows seven, even if I'd not played any of their previous games, that alone would likely have me shelling out ducats on day one, just in sheer appreciation.