Black Geyser - Release on March 17

[Myrthos]

As reported before, Black Geyser will launch on the 17th of March and here is the official press release, which was under embargo until yesterday. That embargo thing is odd as it was already known, but it does also come with a trailer.

Old-School CRPG 'Black Geyser' Launches March 17

Become a Courier of Darkness in this isometric adventure

Oceanside, California, March 14, 2021 - CRPG Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness will officially launch on Steam and GoG on March 17th ($34.99). Developed by GrapeOcean Technologies and published by V Publishing, the old-school project inspired by the likes of Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale has increased in size and scope since it entered Early Access in August 2021.

Having delivered over 20 huge updates that have built upon and significantly improved almost all areas of the game, including Mac and Linux support, Black Geyser has made sweeping changes in recent months. From vastly improved loading times, to clearer player tutorials, new zones, enemies and questlines, the small development team have ensured they've focused on addressing and reacting to key player feedback

Launching with a brand new trailer to showcase just some of the game's locations and combat encounters, Black Geyser features challenging real time tactical combat with pause, over 300,000 words of dialogue, deep lore, and memorable companions. Players are free to build their own hero from five different races and 13 class types, while exploring an open world filled with unique enemies and bosses.

With a unique Greed mechanic that impacts on those around you, players will need to recruit characters with unique personalities, decide their party formations and equipment before explore a land ravaged by civil war and a mysterious curse. Your choices, good or evil, will decide the fate of the Kingdom of Isilmerald.

Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness can be purchased now on Steam and GoG as an Early Access title. It officially launches on both platforms on March 17, 2022.

Key Features

• A huge world map with 2 countries (Isilmerald and Northern Realm), dozens of districts, settlements, villages and towns.
• 5 playable races (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Feldegug and Rillow).
• 13 unique classes from 4 class archetypes (Priest, Outlaw, Warrior, and Wizard).
• Over 300,000 words of hand-crafted narrative.
• Traditional real-time tactical combat with pause.
• An abundance of spells to wield and crafting to undertake, all combined with deep character progression.
• Character actions impact greed, which directly affects the world around you.
• An original world filled with diverse characters, creatures and biomes.
• Fully voice-acted lead characters.

More information.

 

[Redglyph]

Yes, it's strange, that embargo.

They've also reminded us that the price would increase on launch, from 25 to 30 (EUR, USD or GBP):
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1374930/Black_Geyser_Couriers_of_Darkness/

But for my part, I prefer to wait for reviews and impressions here than to pre-buy.

 

[crpgnut]

When I played, the greed mechanic was mostly slapped on and not well thought out. Hope that changed. Crafting was barely there too.

 

[JDR13]

But for my part, I prefer to wait for reviews and impressions here than to pre-buy.

There's no way I would pre-buy this. The impression I got from the beta was that it's a very average game. Of course it could be vastly improved since then, but I have my doubts.

At least it made it out though. I remember there was a time when some of us thought this was vaporware.

 

[Telstar]

i'll buy it sooner or later, but I prefer to wait for a couple patches after release and the next steam sale.

 

[Arkadia7]

I played the demo, and was not impressed. (to be kind, I could be a lot harsher about what I thought of the demo)

Anyway, I think I'm safe to say that criticism. This game definitely isn't like, say, a Baldur's Gate 3 in terms of the potential popularity and fanbase it might have here.

 

[Couchpotato]

Yep it's basically a reskin of Baldur's Gate.

I mean that literally.

Still it's a new developer and their first game made on a small budget.

 

[daveyd]

If not for the RTwP combat I might pick this one up. That and the greed mechanic are putting me off. Graphicswise it looks really nice for a lower budget indie game (albeit very similar to Pillars of Eternity).

 

[Pappy]

There was a time I would have bought this right away to support the developer and make sure we got more games like this. Sadly, this doesn't look strong enough to warrant it. There's a certain quality bar for the genre that's been met by higher budget games lately, so it makes it hard to get behind this one at this price.

 

[purpleblob]

I was very disappointed with the demo so unless its been significantly improved since, it will be a pass for me.

 

[Andrew23]

Will try it, but not any time soon, there is too much on my plate already.

 

[Morrandir]

Well, I got it for 16€ on Kickstarter, so I'll give it a try.

And yes, @Couchpotato;, it just does look like another Baldur's Gate, which I would absolutely be fine with, if it comes near in quality.

 

[Redglyph]

I see that some races exclude a series of classes, for ex. dwarves can't be necromancer, ranger, templar and so on (8 are excluded out of 13, I think it's the worst case). It's a pity for the roleplay, I wish they hadn't done that.

 

[Morrandir]

What? Why would they do that?

 

[Redglyph]

What? Why would they do that?

To mimic AD&D, I suppose. I may be wrong about those limitations but that's what I saw in a recent video.

EDIT: or this one released today (Black Geyser: What To Expect From The First Hour), same source probably with the release version since it's sponsored content. It's a nice overview of the game, by the way, just don't watch the 2nd half which seems to get some early spoilers.

 

[vanedor]

What? Why would they do that?

To make the world more coherent / make more sense. It's very a non-woke idea

Personally, I like it.

 

[Morrandir]

To make the world more coherent / make more sense. It's very a non-woke idea

Ah, so you mean it's because staying true to the game's lore? Ok then, that's a reason I can get behind.

 

[JFarrell71]

Ah, so you mean it's because staying true to the game's lore? Ok then, that's a reason I can get behind.

I don't really have a problem with disallowing some classes for some races, but for me it's another example of why races in general is a poor, antiquated framework for making characters. It's dumb that humans can have any kind of personality or interests, but every dwarf is the same, every elf is the same, etc. You may be saying "they're not the same!" and yeah, maybe not exactly the same, but fantasy races all have very common and clearly defined traits they all share. It's the same thing with science fiction races. Humans in Star Trek are diverse, but every single Ferengi is sniveling and greedy, every Klingon is an honorbound warmonger, etc. It's a lazy shorthand that has survived into 2022.

Choosing a race in a fantasy game is still fine… it can be used to guide things like physical appearance. But for stuff like restricting classes, I think using culture would be better. Pillars of Eternity worked at least somewhat along these lines. So you could have, for example, a Dwarven culture that considered the animation of the dead to be disrespectful to the ancestors (so no Necromancers), but another Dwarven culture that had different beliefs.

 

[SpoonFULL]

I don't really have a problem with disallowing some classes for some races, but for me it's another example of why races in general is a poor, antiquated framework for making characters. It's dumb that humans can have any kind of personality or interests, but every dwarf is the same, every elf is the same, etc. You may be saying "they're not the same!" and yeah, maybe not exactly the same, but fantasy races all have very common and clearly defined traits they all share. It's the same thing with science fiction races. Humans in Star Trek are diverse, but every single Ferengi is sniveling and greedy, every Klingon is an honorbound warmonger, etc. It's a lazy shorthand that has survived into 2022.

Choosing a race in a fantasy game is still fine… it can be used to guide things like physical appearance. But for stuff like restricting classes, I think using culture would be better. Pillars of Eternity worked at least somewhat along these lines. So you could have, for example, a Dwarven culture that considered the animation of the dead to be disrespectful to the ancestors (so no Necromancers), but another Dwarven culture that had different beliefs.

But since this is a party-based rpg, restricting classes enables getting the most of each class in the party which is more fun and exciting than a party of jacks-of-all trades. Just humble thoughts of a rpg player than a D&D fan.

 

[Redglyph]

I don't like the game making it efficient for me by artificially reducing the freedom of choice. I want to be able to roleplay my dwarf as I like; there's no reason why he couldn't be a ranger if that's what he dreamt of since childhood.
Even if he breathes so loud that any elf could have shot him in the dark.

It's not a big deal, of course. I suspect the real reason could be reducing the amount of work to focus on something else, or to add more classes, which is understandable.