Underrail - Review @ RPGCodex

[HiddenX]

The Codex has reviewed Underrail:

Summary

Underrail is a fantastic game that stands proud as both a spiritual successor to the original Fallout and as a legitimately great game in its own right. Whilst Underrail does have its areas of contention (Deep Caverns, backtracking, walking speed, ability cooldowns) Styg has demonstrated through recent updates that he does understand and appreciate at least some of the issues people have with Underrail and is committed to making it as great a game as he can. Despite the struggle that is the Deep Caverns the rest of the game is more than worth playing and only slightly detracts from the whole experience.

With the first expansion for Underrail coming soon there is no doubt in my mind that Stygian Software will continue to deliver glorious incline for years to come.

More information.

 

[Darkheart]

Totally agree! Underrail is one fantastic game!
It's old-school, hardcore and without much hand-holding. If you can live with that you are in for an incredible ride (most of the time).

Also, it's almost too cheap. Around 15 € on Steam. What you waiting for?

 

[luj1]

Instant classic that can be replayed several times, and it's three times cheaper than some overrated RPG titles.

When a game is as good, I don't care about its clunky engine and sometimes slow-loading times.

 

[rjshae]

It's a decent game that has room for improvement. I agree with all of the issues the reviewer mentions. The lack of a meta-map and fast travel tends to make the game drag a bit. It could at least let us name/tag the individual maps for reference purposes.

 

[Deleted User]

Fast travel shmast travel. Why, back in my day we walked miles across the map, uphill both ways, taking hours to do so with re-spawns and we liked it!

The game looks cool, though. Unfortunately Desura went under and took my copy of Underrail with it. It's on the list to check out, though (along with 300 other RPGs… ).

 

[rjshae]

Fast travel shmast travel. Why, back in my day we walked miles across the map, uphill both ways, taking hours to do so with re-spawns and we liked it!

Mmm, what fun. My gaming time isn't what it used to be, so I like to make the most of it.

 

[Ripper]

I was put off because the endgame is supposed to be such a bummer. I wonder if there's any talk of modding it?

 

[Deleted User]

My gaming time isn't what it used to be, so I like to make the most of it.

If I had a dollar for every time I've seen this, I'd probably use the money to create a game for all the people who say it. An RPG where you can play for 5 minutes and do something significant in that time. I reckon it would make a fortune.

 

[abharsair]

A pretty good game, but the slow walking speed and the somewhat confusing maps were a design decision I wasn't really fond of.

 

[Couchpotato]

A pretty good game, but the slow walking speed and the somewhat confusing maps were a design decision I wasn't really fond of.

Yep nothing better then getting lost and having to draw a map yourself. :lol:

I was put off because the endgame is supposed to be such a bummer. I wonder if there's any talk of modding it?

I despise the ending.

If you failed you have to replay that part again from the beginning.

 

[Pongo]

I really liked this one, but my character build choices were poor and I got to the point where I just wanted to restart. As soon as the expansion is out I'm going back in!

 

[turian]

they still patching it.
and ill wait for the dlc.

 

[TomRon]

Great review. Bloody damn awesome game.

 

[Archangel]

Awesome game, by far Goty of that year (2015) until you hit the Deep Caverns… that place is so bad it completely ruins the goodwill the rest of the game collected in spades.
If you pretend the game ends just before you enter DC, you will love it. And that is 80h of playtime already.
Well except Deep Caverns gives some important answers to the game story and lore... which I learned from others and wiki as I quit the game half way into DC.

 

[Pongo]

I've seen absolutely loads of negative feedback on the deep caverns (I didn't get that far in my first playthrough so I don't have a personal view). Has there been any indication that the devs might look to improve that section of the game in a future update?

 

[Archangel]

I've seen absolutely loads of negative feedback on the deep caverns (I didn't get that far in my first playthrough so I don't have a personal view). Has there been any indication that the devs might look to improve that section of the game in a future update?

They did improve it a bit in patches after I quit it but still nowhere near to make it playable and fun like the rest of the game.

 

[screeg]

The reviewer mentions Styg's willingness to make changes, but some really *key* changes he's not so willing to make. The starfish-speed walking for example he couldn't change because the animations are sprite based. I never finished the game because of the Deep Caverns, although even before then it was feeling grindy, and that's from someone who plays games for the combat.

There are other naggy details too, but overall the game is a serious RPG and one of the very few that reminds me at all of the original Fallout.

 

[Deleted User]

An RPG of that size and scope is going to feel grind-y after awhile. It's the nature of the RPG beast. Deep Caverns, from what I understand, is an area that was designed to be a difficult, long slog. Resource management counts very much, it was difficult, grind-y, and so on. I.e. old, old-school in design. Since it was the endgame basically, anyone who actually made it that far (read: probably not a lot of players to begin with) were meant to be challenged in a way that 99.8% of modern RPGs would not dare to do, i.e. a crazy, devious and downright evil "final dungeon/area". Older RPGs did this quite a bit.

I applaud him for doing that, knowing full well it was only going to be a popular decision among the most hardcore RPG players, and even then would cause a lot of complaints. It shows that he thinks differently about RPGs, and that is cool. It also shows me (along with his constant updating throughout the years and careful gameplay tweaking) that Styg seems about as crazy as they come when it comes to RPG design and old-school RPG values, so I salute that man. lol.

 

[ElderGnome]

I am actually one of the people that makes it to the end of most games I find reasonable; Pillars of Eternity to be an example of a game I easily finished on Normal difficulty when a large majority of Steam players didn't. (Possibly out of boredom, I liked this game a lot more than many seemed to.)

I am playing through Underrail now and I'm a bit worried about the "Deep Caverns" because I hate long slogs and mandated mapping. So far the game has been fun and reasonably challenging; I'd hate to reach a part of the game I find so complex or difficult that it ceases to be fun. Again, long slogs and "getting lost" are not fun to me.

It will probably be the deciding factor for me in terms of buying the DLC; if I get stuck in the Deep Caverns and find the game to lose it's fun factor because of that, I probably won't get the DLC. If I find them manageable, I will.

Sometimes things can be a bit *too* niche.

 

[ElderGnome]

. I never finished the game because of the Deep Caverns, although even before then it was feeling grindy, and that's from someone who plays games for the combat.
.

This is my fear. "Grindy" is never fun to me. I also play games for combat and consider Temple of Elemental Evil to be a high water mark in terms of CRPG combat systems. (I love the D&D combat system, all editions.)

Underrail is fun because of the number of character combinations you can try, the combat, and an engaging story. I'm worried I'll be put off if it's hours of wandering through dangerous caves without much to see or do other than "stay alive and figure out this massive maze" ...