It's kinda stupid that there is no choise...

[Kligan]

Why do I HAVE to kill brotherhood soldiers protecting abbey? Even though the *reason* is clearly pure nonsense. Only after a whole squad has been slaughtered the game gives me a choise to "change my mind".
Why do I HAVE to kidnap a person even though it's clearly that the questgiver is a pos?
Why do I HAVE to kill Leheart and "support" Vernalis just because I didn't want to do any dumb crap like poisoning wells in villages?

For as good as the game is, it is so disappointing to see that I don't have a choise most of the time when it comes to progressing through regional stories.

[Sigmar]

yeah the choices are really limited, especially in some really dumb ways. kill team 1 or kill team 2, there is no nuance? not even something as basic as spending influence to persuade them to not be dumbasses?

[JimmysTheBestCop]

The game isn't a true crpg. It's really a merc management sim. With turn based combat and some minor rpg elements.

Choices, outcome, etc nothing matters except food and gold for your mercs. There are some minor differences or changes but again it's pretty minor.

[Mitth'raw'nuruodo]

Originally posted by JimmysTheBestCop:

The game isn't a true crpg. It's really a merc management sim. With turn based combat and some minor rpg elements.

Choices, outcome, etc nothing matters except food and gold for your mercs. There are some minor differences or changes but again it's pretty minor.

Those things are not mutually exclusive.

[JimmysTheBestCop]

Originally posted by Mitth'raw'nuruodo:

Originally posted by JimmysTheBestCop:

The game isn't a true crpg. It's really a merc management sim. With turn based combat and some minor rpg elements.

Choices, outcome, etc nothing matters except food and gold for your mercs. There are some minor differences or changes but again it's pretty minor.

Those things are not mutually exclusive.

But this game isn't story driven or story focused. It's a sandbox game.

Other games have much better combat and much better stories or rpg elements. The expedition series of games comes to mind.

But they aren't sandbox. I can't even think of a turn based sandbox game with an rpg story

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by JimmysTheBestCop:

The game isn't a true crpg.

I think this is the way to look at it.

Several aspects of this game are implemented as challenge choices rather than moral or role playing choices.

Take stealing for example: in RPGs I don't steal from ordinary folk (routinely loot farmer's houses for example) unless I decide to play a criminal party which is not that often. So in Wartales I don't steal from merchants, caravans, training centres or houses etc.

However many locations have lock boxes and if you open these taking the contents is not considered stealing by the game (with one or two notable exceptions). Now it seems ridiculous that you get fingered for stealing if you steal three apples from a farmer but if you unlock his chest and nick a valuable family heirloom you get off scot free.

The answer to this is that a) as far as the game is concerned unlocking chests is a mini-game challenge, not stealing and b) some of these lock boxes contain important plot items or unlock additional content. In other words the farmer's chest is not really the farmer's chest, it's the game's chest and just happens to be located at the farmer's property because the game engine wasn't or couldn't be configured to do the lock pick mini-game out on the world map.

In a similar way if you get a mandatory fight and no peaceful resolution available as a result of doing a quest then the fight is the quest challenge. One way to reconcile this in role playing terms is that rather like the farmer's chest isn't really the farmer's chest, such fights do not involve actually killing the misguided band who are trying to get in your way, it just involves giving them a good hiding, a bloody nose (cover you eyes, Boo, in the event the game shows a decapitation as a result of a crit at some point during the fight).