Dark Envoy

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Jolor
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Dark Envoy

Post by Jolor »

Form the team that brought us Tower of Time - which is a whole lot of credibility, imo.

Dark Envoy launches "in 2020" and the pitch is:

"Dark Envoy is a non-linear RPG inspired by the likes of the Divinity series, XCOM and Dragon Age to offer free world exploration with an emphasis on tactical combat layered with lore and strategy."

Based on what I see and what ToT delivered, I'm keeping a keen eye on this game and wanted to share it with everyone.
So sayeth the wise Alaundo.
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Daehawk
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by Daehawk »

Dont like tactical combat at all. Also that music is the same as in Rebel Galaxy.
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stimpy
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by stimpy »

I'm working thru Tower of Time right now.
I was ready to give up on it until I bumped the difficulty down from normal to easy.
A bit repetitive, but still enjoying it.
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Rumpy
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by Rumpy »

I liked Tower of Time but had to give up on it due to performance issues.
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gbasden
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by gbasden »

Jolor wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:34 pm Form the team that brought us Tower of Time - which is a whole lot of credibility, imo.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about Tower of Time as well, if you don't mind?
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Jolor
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by Jolor »

My pleasure. Copy/Paste from my October 2018 post in Gaming in General / Games Finished 2018.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tower of Time 7 o' 8 tentacles

A really fun, party-based RTS / RPG "tower crawler".

Fairly common elements but with some interesting takes and most are exceptionally well-implemented:
Battles can be paused completely with the space bar or slowed down (arrow time?) so you can give your crew instructions. Great for me as I can't twitch like I used to (and I never really could).
You (La Hero) doesn't directly participate but instead can choose to influence your champions' decisions at certain points. Your decisions are invariably popular with some of your party and unpopular with others. Having party members who are negative impact party battle stats.
Loot (equipment, gold, jewels, and blueprints) are used to upgrade buildings that cap your level or upgrade your equipment.
As you win battles, you unlock optional boss battles that you can use to both hone your strategy and get more loot. I used this mostly to get upgrades that weren't available otherwise (afaik), and gold that I spent to level up my characters.
Each tower floor is unique and helps to advance the story.
Fountains and scrolls abound that you can have a single NPC use (both positive and negative results are possible but can be sussed out)
Some of the fight maps are repetitive but the game tries to keep things fresh by adding portals (tower defence tinge here). Would definitely benefit from have less repetitiveness. If you played the pre-release version, difficulty is ramped up ... but mostly (imo) via increasing monster HP and numbers in swarms. The game also took away being able to place your party anywhere on the battle map to within a limited "circle". I feel that really takes away from the strategy aspect that was there before.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll add some things that I forgot to include originally.
- It's not a constant slugfest. You can avoid enemies as you move around the tower. This lets you take a break to solve puzzles or look for hidden areas.
- The story is decent. You gain party members as they "hear of your heroics" (i.e. advance through the tower).
- I'm not going to spoil how the story evolves as you progress through the tower, but I thought that it was original and well done.
So sayeth the wise Alaundo.
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Jaymann
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by Jaymann »

That looks sweet. Could be a rare purchase for me.
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Jolor wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2020 9:40 pm My pleasure. Copy/Paste from my October 2018 post in Gaming in General / Games Finished 2018.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tower of Time 7 o' 8 tentacles

A really fun, party-based RTS / RPG "tower crawler".

Fairly common elements but with some interesting takes and most are exceptionally well-implemented:
Battles can be paused completely with the space bar or slowed down (arrow time?) so you can give your crew instructions. Great for me as I can't twitch like I used to (and I never really could).
You (La Hero) doesn't directly participate but instead can choose to influence your champions' decisions at certain points. Your decisions are invariably popular with some of your party and unpopular with others. Having party members who are negative impact party battle stats.
Loot (equipment, gold, jewels, and blueprints) are used to upgrade buildings that cap your level or upgrade your equipment.
As you win battles, you unlock optional boss battles that you can use to both hone your strategy and get more loot. I used this mostly to get upgrades that weren't available otherwise (afaik), and gold that I spent to level up my characters.
Each tower floor is unique and helps to advance the story.
Fountains and scrolls abound that you can have a single NPC use (both positive and negative results are possible but can be sussed out)
Some of the fight maps are repetitive but the game tries to keep things fresh by adding portals (tower defence tinge here). Would definitely benefit from have less repetitiveness. If you played the pre-release version, difficulty is ramped up ... but mostly (imo) via increasing monster HP and numbers in swarms. The game also took away being able to place your party anywhere on the battle map to within a limited "circle". I feel that really takes away from the strategy aspect that was there before.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll add some things that I forgot to include originally.
- It's not a constant slugfest. You can avoid enemies as you move around the tower. This lets you take a break to solve puzzles or look for hidden areas.
- The story is decent. You gain party members as they "hear of your heroics" (i.e. advance through the tower).
- I'm not going to spoil how the story evolves as you progress through the tower, but I thought that it was original and well done.
Your review prompted me to finally dive into Tower of Time after snagging it at the end of 2019 as a GOG freebie.

It's surprisingly refreshing to play a CRPG that emphasizes careful exploration with a clever combat system. It seems deceptively simple at first, but you soon uncover layer upon layer of deep tactical thinking. Suffice to say, it's mighty enjoyable indeed and definitely has me hooked.

FWIW, here's a gameplay trailer that shows it in action:

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Jolor
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Re: Dark Envoy

Post by Jolor »

Glad you're enjoying it. The gameplay trailer is a good representation of what the game offers.
So sayeth the wise Alaundo.
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