Tyranny
Play an RPG with meaningful, world-altering choices, unique and memorable companions, and a new perspective on morality. Tyranny casts you as the arbiter of law in a world devastated by war and conquered by a despot. Will you work inside the system or try to dismantle it… and will it be for the glory of Kyros, for the good of the world, or for your own ambition? From Obsidian Entertainment, the team behind Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tyranny is a classic-styled RPG with a new and original story, shaped and molded by your actions. The very layout of the world will be altered by your decisions as you choose sides, make allies and enemies, and fight for your own vision of law and order in an immersive and reactive story. Branching, unique stories in an original setting: In a realm where the tyrant has already won, the player must decide how to reshape the world.
Steam User 89
For some reason, Tyranny was pretty much unnoticed when it came out which is a shame because it is one of the finest and most innovative rpgs I played in recent memory.
Being known as the game in which you are the bad guy, Tyranny's premise is not only refreshing in a genre full of cliches and generic plotlines but is also way more nuanced than many give it credit for being. You play as a Fatebinder, a role best described as Judge Dredd working for Sauron but that doesnt immediately make you a mustache twirling villain. You can actually play as a fairly decent and morally upstanding guy (at least for a world that's pretty short on morals) and even end up on a more generic chosen one path..or you can be an absolute d***head, devoid of any morals and in it only for bloodshed. The choice is yours and your choice will shape the world around you but you will also suffer the consequences because Tyranny handles choice and consequence exceptionally well. Tyranny is also a more compact experience built for replayability instead of providing a hundred hours long journey. It is still quite decent in lenght but quite short when compared to most other crpgs. The shorter lenght works in the game's favor however because there are truly a lot of ways to experience Tyranny and I doubt any two playthroughs will end up feeling same.
Obsidian once again delivers excellent writing and worldbuilding. The lore is fascinating, story is unique and characters are well developed and relatable despite the lack of clear good guys. Everyone in Tyranny is morally grey and even the big bad guy, whose presence is felt througout the game, isn't a generic one dimensional villain.
I must also mention the character creator which had me on board immediately. Everything from class choice to backstory plays a role in the main narrative to some extent (mostly for skill/speech checks) but the best part comes with conquest, a multiple stage choice driven mode that builds not only your character's backstory but also sets the state of the world you are about to play in. It is an absolutely genious feature of the game and should be used in all roleplaying games as far as I'm concerned.
Tyranny uses classic real time with pause combat system which admitedly I was never a huge fan of. However, combat did grow on me thanks to some pretty great features. First, the game has pretty cool magic system due to it's fantastic spell creation feature. Second, the combo abilities between you and your companions which are unlocked by their growing loyalty to you. And finally, a faction reputation system which not only plays a huge role storywise but also unlocks new abilities for you to use depending on your standing with various factions.
Now, it's clear I absolutely love this game and it is definitely one of the best rpgs I played. It does, however, have some big problems. It's weakest aspect is in my opinion enemy variety which is almost nonexistent. While it does make sense narratively, fighting the samey dudes in different colored armor does become unexciting. The game's more fantastical enemies don't fare any better since they are pretty generic with zero variety as well.
Another issue that isn't a guarantee is the possibility of quests bugging out, which is no surprise due to the huge amount of different choices the game handles. I, personally, haven't run into anything game breaking and thanks to the game not being too long and it's generous autosave system it isn't that big of a deal.
While game handles choice and consequence quite well for the most part, some inconsistencies did start to show up during the final act of the game. There seemed to be a lack of certain options during the last few quests which kinda took me into a direction I wasn't necessarily taking up to that point. It's unclear to me if this is by design or a genuine mistake by the devs. It can lead to final act, and by extension the entire game, feeling a bit unfinished. I still think everything was more or less wraped up nicely, thankfully.
And that is Tyranny..an overlooked gem and an absolute top quality rpg that way more fans of the genre should immediately play. Sadly, due to Paradox owning the game and Obsidian now being under Microsoft, it's pretty clear we will probably never see a sequel or another entry in this phenomenal world.
Steam User 66
Where is our sequel???
Steam User 70
This... game... is... criminally... underrated.
Steam User 38
Tyranny deserve a sequel
Steam User 36
Good game. If you look for classical yet solid rpg - this is your game. Works flawlessly on Linux.
Steam User 22
Edit: Just finished Tyranny with 100% achievements. 4 playthroughs. A fantastic exploration into what evil is. Highly recommended. Just buy it.
Review update after a second playthrough: Absolutely amazing. Great replayability. What an underrated CRGP. Brilliantly written and developed so each of the 4 paths use the same settings but are completely differently woven. My original review still stands but the drawbacks are pretty minor. A must play.
TL:DR A great setting, story and characters let down by uneven act pacing and a lack of open world adventure. Still highly recommended at full price, and given its age, you’ll likely be able to get it at a deep discount during one of the sales. A pity there likely won’t be a sequel even though the story opens the door to it.
Some review poetry for those who like things that rhyme:
In the land of the Tiers
Where this story unfolds,
You play a fatebinder
Out for conquest and gold
A world rich in detail,
and captivating lore.
A setting like no other
Right to its core
From combat and dialogue
and character development too
This game is had elements
Which are almost perfect through
But not all is great
Uneven pacing and lack of freedom
An opportunity lost
To develop this kingdom
But despite these drawbacks
I can still highly recommend
That you give it a try
For its character and story blend
The longer version:
Tyranny sat in my unplayed Steam stash for years before I got to it. It was definitely worth a playthrough and I am tempted for a second go. This is one game where your choices really do influence the game and I can see a few potential endings and in-game paths. Tyranny sacrifices open world exploration for a tight story but I do feel they could have combined both for a more expansive world. It feels a little on rails with very few actual side quests.
The pacing was also strange. The game is broken down into 3 acts which were each completely different lengths. It was more like an intro, the main bit and a culmination/epilogue. While I was expecting a chunky act 3, it was short it kind of petered out. The story is left at a point where it is evident that they wanted to make a second game but I doubt that will happen, given that it wasn’t such a big commercial success. It’s somewhat of a travesty it’s clear that someone put a lot of love and serious care into the setting, the writing and the characters. Whomever you are, you're an unsung genius.
Steam User 33
Oh how I wish we could get a Tyranny 2 in a modern cRPG engine like Pathfinder WotR... one of the best cRPGs out there for those of us who wish to play an evil path that isn't (necessarily) just murder hobo, where your choices can actually lead to extreme consequences and where you can actually gain meaningful power.