Old Spice Guy
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
- Location
- Riding a horse, backwards
I've had a bit of a play. There's actually quite a lot to like in the game itself. The one on one combat for example - that's pretty fun though it seems I can't both cover and move effectively because the screen well, janks around a bit and doesn't work. The archery I sucked at for a while but seem to have got the hang of; headshotting is so OP it's not even funny.
But as a historian, this game...vexes me. There's a lot done right. Like the placement of shops in towns, the general architecture and map (the actual cartography and illustration is delightful) development, the beehive construction, the clothing (though the shoes are not nearly endowed enough in the toe department and it's stuff common from about the 12th to late 15th centuries not just the early 15th) - and the way people interact without Henry by going to the tavern and drinking and dicing at the end of the day. That's all wonderful.
However we then come to the elephant in the room. That this game could easily be so much better if the lead developer wasn't such an ass. Like, I want the Cumans to be humanized rather than well, the monsters we see. It wouldn't take much. I got to interact with the priest; I'd love it if he called out Henry on thinking and hating in the way he does - and if Sir Raditz would also do the same it would be so good. A bit more examination of the actual conflict would be so much more interesting and just a little more agency for Theresa, even just a couple of lines after her little questline would be so good. That and some Jews. That region in the Czech heartland? There were most definitely Jews there ffs. I want to see some.
And that's the problem with the game. It comes very close in a few aspects, but when we the player actually have to interact with people we lose out and there is no thought provoking challenge, no actual exploration of the history. And that's sad. Ironically it does portray some medieval attitudes fairly well, just not because of the gameplay. The small mindedness and racism? That's sadly pretty spot on.
Thanks Vavra. You took something that could have been great and shat on it.
Edit; This whole thing is crying out for a Christian Cameron-esque fanfic to actually make it historically accurate, and thus great.
Edit 2; That and the whole dropped halberds everywhere eating my PC. The guards drop them and they just pile up...
But as a historian, this game...vexes me. There's a lot done right. Like the placement of shops in towns, the general architecture and map (the actual cartography and illustration is delightful) development, the beehive construction, the clothing (though the shoes are not nearly endowed enough in the toe department and it's stuff common from about the 12th to late 15th centuries not just the early 15th) - and the way people interact without Henry by going to the tavern and drinking and dicing at the end of the day. That's all wonderful.
However we then come to the elephant in the room. That this game could easily be so much better if the lead developer wasn't such an ass. Like, I want the Cumans to be humanized rather than well, the monsters we see. It wouldn't take much. I got to interact with the priest; I'd love it if he called out Henry on thinking and hating in the way he does - and if Sir Raditz would also do the same it would be so good. A bit more examination of the actual conflict would be so much more interesting and just a little more agency for Theresa, even just a couple of lines after her little questline would be so good. That and some Jews. That region in the Czech heartland? There were most definitely Jews there ffs. I want to see some.
And that's the problem with the game. It comes very close in a few aspects, but when we the player actually have to interact with people we lose out and there is no thought provoking challenge, no actual exploration of the history. And that's sad. Ironically it does portray some medieval attitudes fairly well, just not because of the gameplay. The small mindedness and racism? That's sadly pretty spot on.
Thanks Vavra. You took something that could have been great and shat on it.
Edit; This whole thing is crying out for a Christian Cameron-esque fanfic to actually make it historically accurate, and thus great.
Edit 2; That and the whole dropped halberds everywhere eating my PC. The guards drop them and they just pile up...
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takes the thin veneer and shaves a few more layers off of it. Someone mentioned that the plot was basically a nationalist fairy tale and I thought they might have been exaggerating, but their words (even as a non-native English speaker) were spot-on. Everyone who is native is Dudley Do-Right, everyone from outside is a complete piece of shit. It isn't even fantasy: it is a fairy tale. One of the characters in the game even fills the functional role of a fairy-fucking-godmother!