So... is this for me?

[Dementia5 認知症]

I let this game slip under my radar. I was wondering if I could cull the community with a few questions.

The art direction of Solasta looks to be not too far removed from Neverwinter Nights 2, a game I adore and was fortunate enough to purchase on Steam when it was available (looks like only a few hundred keys were sold). Gameplay does resemble Divinity II and the Baldur series. Or perhaps Pillars of Eternity.

Being a Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 fan (jury is out on 3, I have moral objections to a game at that price point that after two years is still in Early Access!) I thought Solasta might scratch the itch. It adopts D&D 5 ruleset which gives it some of today's relevance. Also looks like there is a creator kit included to develop homebrew mods. This is attractive to me as I enjoy a modding community and have created some myself for other properties.

Looks to be turned based, but that's okay since I play most of my cRPG tactical games in "space-bar" mode between rounds as I am not so "gud" LOL

So, how is the comparison to NWN2, BG, PoE or ____? wanted to stoke some discussion rather than just watch an LP I admit to see if there are like-minded cRPG fans that can endorse this.

[Wantoomany]

If you want a deep story and role-playing elements this game is lite on that. If you like D&D style tactical combat this game is fantastic.

[Dementia5 認知症]

Sounds like a decent trade-off!

[Ommamar]

Originally posted by Wantoomany:

If you want a deep story and role-playing elements this game is lite on that. If you like D&D style tactical combat this game is fantastic.

I think the official campaigns, if there are more, will get better on that front. The campaign creator is only limited by the players ability to create from a story stand point. I don't think it is quite to the point of a full on continuous persistent world, with the dialogue system you can still tell a pretty good yarn.

I have played all the games the OP mentioned to me Solasta is its own thing. Although it has trapping of all mentioned it has a different feel to it when playing. If I was forced to compare it to older cRPGs I would go with Ice Wind Dale or Temple of Elemental Evil, although Solasta uses the much more streamlined 5E SRD rule set.

[Dementia5 認知症]

Icewind Dale is a nice endorsement. Are there any modded campaigns that are worth checking out from the Workshop? To the point where one should purchase the game? That is, is there potential for growth?

[Helios]

The system will be more simplistic and "chill" than, say, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. It DOES scratch the itch however. The official campaigns so far are (reportedly, I haven't finished) nothing special in the story department but the underlying engine is good enough that when the campaign manager gets updated a little more the mod community will be "cooking with gas."

This is an indie game that punches above it's weight and shouldn't be slept on, if D&D crpgs are your thing.

[Aldain]

Originally posted by Dementia5 認知症:

Icewind Dale is a nice endorsement. Are there any modded campaigns that are worth checking out from the Workshop? To the point where one should purchase the game? That is, is there potential for growth?

Silverquick has 2 major ones out iirc, I know Vel has a few as well, those are the ones I find most noteworthy off the top of my head, but there's probably more.

There are campaigns popping up fairly often, there's even a contest for it being held by SirMadnessTV (the 3rd contest in fact), and every major update has come with something being added to the Campaign Maker so far, so it could still possibly expand further with more tilesets.

[Dementia5 認知症]

Originally posted by Helios:

The system will be more simplistic and "chill" than, say, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. It DOES scratch the itch however. The official campaigns so far are (reportedly, I haven't finished) nothing special in the story department but the underlying engine is good enough that when the campaign manager gets updated a little more the mod community will be "cooking with gas."

This is an indie game that punches above it's weight and shouldn't be slept on, if D&D crpgs are your thing.

I meant to ask about Pathfinder. It's funny, I heard the game was a little bit "fluffy" a bit contrived on the lore, with theme park fantasy tropes.

I've done some digging around, a lot of folks saying the story is indeed a little thin but everyone's bragging about the combat system for this game. It's one thing for me to pull the trigger and buy it and another to play it to its completion. Of course I won't know that until I get it, but so far sounds intriguing.

I'm a bit of a lore monger so I have to admit I wish there was a bit more immersion with the storytelling, but the gameplay does look like fun.

[Silverquick]

Originally posted by Dementia5 認知症:

Icewind Dale is a nice endorsement. Are there any modded campaigns that are worth checking out from the Workshop? To the point where one should purchase the game? That is, is there potential for growth?

It is,
Honestly it plays more like a cross between NWN2 and Temple of Elemental Evil.
Which by the way I proved beyond reasonable doubt in my most recent player made module.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2794826415

From NWN2, it uses the conversation and cutscene system from it. (I was a Hall of Fame designer for NWN 1 and 2).

Also I'm a big fan of Icewind Dale and the BG series from the old Infinity Engines and I tend to design my areas like that.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2645808195

[Dementia5 認知症]

Originally posted by Silverquick:

Originally posted by Dementia5 認知症:

Icewind Dale is a nice endorsement. Are there any modded campaigns that are worth checking out from the Workshop? To the point where one should purchase the game? That is, is there potential for growth?

It is,
Honestly it plays more like a cross between NWN2 and Temple of Elemental Evil.
Which by the way I proved beyond reasonable doubt in my most recent player made module.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2794826415

From NWN2, it uses the conversation and cutscene system from it. (I was a Hall of Fame designer for NWN 1 and 2).

Also I'm a big fan of Icewind Dale and the BG series from the old Infinity Engines and I tend to design my areas like that.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2645808195

You had me with the bold print. And I like the cutscene system from NWN2.

Not to butter your bread, Silverquick, but I have heard good things about your campaigns. After reading the descriptions and checking the screenies I can see why (Moathouse on the Borderlands... that is too rich!)

So now you really got me thinking. I used NWN2 to create a campaign that was loosely based on Darklands. It was a great exercise even though it went unfinished. I even had a web page for it, which back in the day was a less popular pursuit. I've taken it down since, but found the old website here: https://web.archive.org/web/20170927194500/http://www.neverdarklands.net/

I am beginning to accept that I could build a campaign from scratch, loosely based in the world of Krynn, one of my fav realms and another unfinished project I worked. So far I have not heard much in the way of developing Solasta campaigns with the scale of a persistent world, but that would be quite a venture building a MORPG setting for private players. Is this possible?

As far as the original Solasta campaign goes, yes I have heard it is thin but I wandered over to Screenrant and read the review (which also pokes at the generic story) but here is what I found
https://screenrant.com/solasta-crown-magister-game-review/:

Solasta: Crown of the Magister takes places in the fictional country of Solasta, a nation once ruled by a powerful kingdom of elves that were wiped out by a mysterious event centuries ago. The main characters are sent on a quest by the ruling body of Solasta to investigate a shady circumstance, and somehow stumble into a larger quest to save the world. The game's story is chock full of dozens of fantasy tropes to explore and magical Macguffins to acquire, but Tactical Adventures manages to tell this familiar story well. - Screenrant

Call me shallow but that sounds kind of cool. Like an old style D&D 1.5 mission.

So now I am an apologist for Solasta LOL It really sounds more and more like the spiritual successor to NWN2. And it is current, with mod development and 2020 production values. This sound about right?

[Malus]

This game is worth the money and is a must for D&D video game fans.

Not to derail the thread but right now there are two fantastic but very different D&D 5e games out.
its really amazing.

[anfindel13]

As noted, Solasta's official campaigns are story -lite - quests are somewhat basic, many of the fetch variety, character models and voicing are also on the lower end. However, the combat is a faithful implementation of 5.0, - probably the best tactical, turn based combat since the original Tomb of Elemental Evil. More importantly, as more campaign creation tools and data sets are released, this could well become the NWN2 of this decade, allowing creators like Silverquick the means to make some truly awesome campaigns. I am not a fan of 5.0 (raised on 1.0 and 2.0 myself), but truly enjoyed the game regardless of my preference. Still hold out hope for BG3 in terms of story telling and so on, but Solasta has greater potential long-term, due to the creation aspects.

[Dementia5 認知症]

Noted. And I come from the 3.5 ruleset myself but played 1.5 the most, if you can believe that. And:

Originally posted by anfindel13:

...Solasta has greater potential long-term, due to the creation aspects.

is good to hear, as I was hoping Divinity II would make this possible but I have been disappointed. Although the Dm tools (vignettes, polls etc...) are really nice.

I should ask about the DLC. How mandatory are these? I ask because the "creation toolkits" of other properties often insist on having the most up to date game. That is, dungeon authors/developers often include additional tilesets from DLC. Is that accurate? or is the DLC considered erroneous? I think there are two campaign based DLC packages, are they worth looking into?

[Dementia5 認知症]

Also, are there mods that support a "DM mode" a la NWN/NWN2? Do not think this is a Solasta feature.

[xxx]

Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous are leagues ahead of Solasta as RPGs. Solasta is a very linear game, has nothing plot-changing in decisions, mostly awkward dialogue and feels overall very clumsy in comparison. Pathfinder on the other hand reminded me a lot of those past BG 1+2 gaming sessions.

[rdpeyton]

Originally posted by Dementia5 認知症:

Noted. And I come from the 3.5 ruleset myself but played 1.5 the most, if you can believe that. And:

Originally posted by anfindel13:

...Solasta has greater potential long-term, due to the creation aspects.

is good to hear, as I was hoping Divinity II would make this possible but I have been disappointed. Although the Dm tools (vignettes, polls etc...) are really nice.

I should ask about the DLC. How mandatory are these? I ask because the "creation toolkits" of other properties often insist on having the most up to date game. That is, dungeon authors/developers often include additional tilesets from DLC. Is that accurate? or is the DLC considered erroneous? I think there are two campaign based DLC packages, are they worth looking into?

If you're familiar with 5th edition, you know that it's a far cry from 3/3.5 in terms of character building. I guess it's actually closer to AD&D in that your options on leveling are fairly sparse.

It does look like the dm tools - which they continue to work on and add to - are going to end up giving us some fantastic user-made content. I can attest to the high level of Silverquick's modules, and of those I've only played the ones released before the substantial update to the dm tools. I imagine they're significantly better now.

One other thing to note is that you create up to four characters, and during the campaign you can "recruit" another couple for short periods, but there's nothing like the level of interaction between any of the characters or the characters and npcs that you'll find in any of the other games you've mentioned in this thread. Instead, when you create the characters you give them personality traits like "altruism" or "cynicism" that will affect how they respond in dialogs with npcs. I think you assign them four total, but you can choose some more than once. It's a pretty neat idea and I think they pulled it off for the most part.

I've enjoyed playing the game and I am optimistic that as more people release campaigns, I'll continue to enjoy it for a long time.

I like the DLC they've released, and will continue to buy them as they come out, but I don't know whether they're mandatory for you. I'd buy the game and play the original campaign for a few hours to see if you like it.