Bastard Bonds - Tactical RPG released on Steam

[HiddenX]

The mature tactical RPG Bastard Bonds has been released on Steam:

Justice has failed. The criminal, the deranged, the inconvenient, and the uncomfortable; all are cast across the sea to the greedy island of Lukatt, whose shores let nothing slip free. Whether sinner or saint, you are one of these outcasts, and it is there, in a dark cell on the cold shore of that island, where you will finally cut fate's throat and take control of your own future.

Gather a band of the criminal and the forgotten, forgive their transgressions or ostracize them, use them as workhorses or nurture their trust, slaughter your enemies or spare them, release the conquered or press them into service. Find a way to escape the inescapable, or find a way to bend it to your will.

Bastard Bonds is a mature, fast-paced tactical RPG with high-end pixel art and in-depth character customization, including built-in sprite mod support. Featuring more than 200 in-game locations, more than 1000 character sprites, an all-original soundtrack, and 40+ hours of gameplay.

More information.

 

[joxer]

Looks as an interesting dungeon crawler approach (you get stronghold), but I'm not sure why it's marked as mature.

The sad thing is that all enemies are godlike again and over time they're automatically revived. Dunno, if a mod appears that stops respawning, I'll buy it.

 

[mercy]

Camera shake kills my eyes and no walking animations, too much explody Über-Japanese actiongame effects. Otherwise this would be intriguing.

As the developers say:
- "Justice has failed."
- Not only that has..

 

[GothicGothicness]

I really dig the music!

 

[crpgnut]

I might buy it at $5. It looks like a Vogel game and I don't spend more than that on his stuff. I doubt the writing is up to Jeff's stuff either. Poor graphics will always equal a bargain buy for me.

 

[forgottenlor]

I'll watch this one, though my first impressions are iffy. If anyone picks this up, I'd be curious how it plays out.

 

[crpgnut]

I think it looks okay...for a budget title. I can't see spending $20 for something this generic. Once it hits the deeper sales, I'll buy. No offense to any dev that might be reading but the game doesn't stand out in any way to all the other budget titles that end up dropping price fast.

 

[Archangel]

Seems better than Bethesda games, but I am very tight on extra cash at the moment.

 

[Swann]

I am playing it now and I find it very interesting, with some original concepts. But, yes, perhaps it is a bit expensive.

 

[crpgnut]

How long have you tried it, Swann? Can you give a brief synopsis?

 

[Swann]

OK. I´ll try -it is diffiicult for me to make game analysis with my poor english.
Besides I only have played 2-3 hours.
-The game consists on a big map with spots. Each spot is a "dungeon". Your team must clear the dungeons, killing monsters (with turn based combat) interacting with objects (with special skills) and finding loot. There is a story that connects the dungeons and in the early stage it seems to be very linear.
-You can not save the game in dungeons. But you can go back to the entrance, exit the dungeon, save and then enter again. The monsters you killed remain killed. The tutorial states that the monsters respawns after a given time, but I dunno exactly when. This supposedly is useful for leveling lower characters.
-The leveling system is not very complex but still original and work with synergies. If you advance a level in certain skill, other skills in the same row and column also advance a bit.
-The inventory has very few slots, and it seems that items are scarce.
-The combat is turn based and defensive strategies and right positioning are very important.
-The atmosphere is dark with heroes somewhat between muscular and fat -your main hero is a escaped criminal. You choose what kind of crime you commited and this choice influences the availability of party members and personal traits.
-Tiny but charming retro graphics; tiny and not very comfortable interface.
-The first dungeon is a tutorial. Given that, I found it too hard, but after tutorial my first three dungeons have been really easy.

I´ll try to keep you informed when I play more.

EDIT:
Demo available
http://bigfingers.ca/BB/index.html

 

[revjwh]

I've been playing this game.

It's strangely addicting.

It has more choices in the first 3 hours than I made in all of Fallout 4.

The choices, so far, are mostly things like: do I light a signal fire, or disturb runes inscribed on a shrine.....

But there are lots of neat little touches so far - for example: when an opponent hesitates you have two options: you can demand a ransom for their life or you can try and recruit them - your success rate isn't well explained but has something to do with your alignment and your overall level compared to theirs.... but I appreciate that I have options!

Your alignment matters as you recruit people and since you can leave people at your stronghold you can end up putting all one alignment in your party which creates extra bonuses - likewise if you have mixed alignments (b/c you need their skill set) they might not do as well under pressure ......

If you think of this as a very simply JA2 in terms of securing areas and people and resources that is more in line with it than an RPG so far for me..... I've only played about 6 hours but I'm enjoying it.

The writing is fairly well done for a simple game and the developer assumes intelligence on the part of the player... which I also appreciate.

As you venture forward you get more and more choices of where to go - most maps are small and another touch I appreciate is: once you kill the final monster (although you don't realize this at the moment) the map immediately declares the "area secured" and you can then exit it from any spot..... although if you exit before carefully searching you might miss items or points of interest.

I used up all my items and felt threatened but with careful management of positioning and defending my healer was able to heal my other members and turn the tide - again, a nice touch for such a simple game.

Overall I recommend it (which makes me nervous: recommending anything to you guys because you all have such ..... erm ..... unique views) although I might recommend waiting until it's $10 or less if money is tight for you. I don't regret buying it for 18 but I also have a fairly decent cash flow.... if I didn't I'd regret it as too simple a game for the price by far.

The mature rating is due to language so far - since the criminals talk like criminals - although it's not juvenile (i.e. they swear occasionally but not over done).

Here's another example of a small touch: at the beginning you can lie or tell the truth about your crime of choice and it determines who joins you..... and they have a personality (a bit) and an alignment. I chose Necromancy as my crime and then declared it to be true - that I was truly a necromancer - as a result my companion is a zombie - which was a fun touch and the writing in between "set dungeons" reflects the different names/type of companion.

Ok - that's about all I can think of at the moment - but I'm actually enjoying the game enough that I just stayed up until 1 AM because I wanted to do "one more dungeon" and I still do but know I need to go to bed before Friday work arrives.

Hope this helps - if you ask questions I'll come back tomorrow and do my best to answer.

J

 

[crpgnut]

Thanks for the demo link, I'll give it a looksee.

 

[crpgnut]

Not bad. Very simple game but with a lot of depth in the details. I've played with it for about 4 hours in the demo and may buy it. You have 3 attack lines, 3 defense lines, and 3 utility lines for abilities. Utility is worthless in combat, but may give you a multiplier on the experience you earn for a whole dungeon.

As others have said, you get accused of a crime. How you answer the accusation determines your starting alignment which can affect several things as the game progresses. This is one of the few games that looks horrible, but might actually be worth the $18. It gives me a Jeff Vogel vibe, both for the good and the bad.

 

[crpgnut]

I'm not exactly sure of the letters..but LBGT approved

This game should be purchased by all gay members to show solidarity. The dev is blatantly homosexual and I'm not. Is it still okay for me to enjoy his game? Sure hope so I've been doing nothing but play it all weekend. Who needs sleep? Pixelated peckers everywhere during character creation and they're not 15" long