Neo Scavenger

[LupusExMachina]

Now I'm disappointed. One and a half year and not one mention of this wonderful game.
If you liked BTW, you will like this one. Hardcore roguelike survival. For maximum enjoyment, never look at a wiki and prepare a pen and paper.

You will probably die within two days on your first run by something obvious. Didn't drink enough? Well too bad. Hypothermia? Hunger? Infection? Some pack of hungry feral dogs? Maybe a raider or some collapsing building. Got caught in the dark?
Something will get you and you will die. You will love it :)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/248860/

[FlowerChild]

I tried it last year, I think either a demo or a free trial of some sort, and my reaction was decidedly "meh". Didn't really get into it, but I don't remember precisely why that was.

[logorouge]

Ah, I did have quite a bit of fun with the demo last year, but the resolution and font were kinda weird for me, so I didn't go much further. I already have enough eye issues without adding more strain in the mix.

By the way, the game has a nice discount on it for the next 10 hours on GOG, for those interested.

[FlowerChild]

This has a nice Steam sale on it right now (think it was 5$), so decided to pick it up to give it another shot. I'm obsessing over Kingdom right now (also on sale), but will hopefully report back with more robust commentary than "meh" in the near future :)

[jackatthekilns]

I'm obsessing over Kingdom right now (also on sale)

So I picked this game up and now I'm hooked. I don't even know how to win and I can't stop playing

[FlowerChild]

So I picked this game up and now I'm hooked. I don't even know how to win and I can't stop playing

Kingdom is actually a short one once you figure out how things work, but yeah, I obsessed over it for a good couple of days, and absolutely loved my time with it. Definitely not a game you want to check a FAQ for, as I think it would ruin the whole experience.

Just started playing Scavenger late last night for a few hours, and started to really get into it. Haven't played enough to give a decent opinion on it yet, but so far I'm glad I gave it a second chance.

[LupusExMachina]

I'm glad you're trying it again. Makes for a very nice game inbetween. It's nothing big but good at what it does. I personally like the roguelike elements very much. Especially in conjunction with the "level-ups" you get from your growing knowledge about the game from run to run.
The start can be pretty random though. It has been more than once, that I started out only to get into a fight with a frail dog a couple of minutes into the game. You can beat those up even when you're naked. But most likely an infection will get you afterwards.
Good times... sitting by a fire and slowly dying from sickness, or hunger, you learn so much :D

[FlowerChild]

I had an incident last night where I got attacked by an unarmed bandit, hit him with an arrow from my bow, and he then proceeded to stab me to death with that same arrow.

I think that pretty much sold me on the game :)

I don't think I'm so keen on the story elements as I find they're kinda cheesing things out (so far I've encountered the food arena, and the primitive camp) and interfering with my own survival narrative, but otherwise I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Glad I decided to give it another go.

[FlowerChild]

Hmmm...yeah, the story elements are kinda dragging this down for me. Will spoiler this, as...fairly major story element spoilers :)

Spoiler

Show

I had a really good run yesterday, managed to get to Detroit and a few other POIs, had an amazing bunch of equipment (hacker skill so was selling hacked laptops for major cash), and managed to get fully upgraded cyber eyes going. Died up around the military base when a dogman woke me up in the middle of the night and tore me to shreds before I could do anything (my bad for not setting up an alarm).

Considered starting another game but "meh...don't want to do all that again" set in. It's a similar reaction to what I eventually had with Sunless Sea where the rogue-like survival elements are awesome, but the fixed story elements clash badly with repeated play throughs and add a sense of repetitiveness to the whole thing. In this case, I think it might actually be worse as the POI locations seem to remain the same, which means you're looking at nothing more than a whole lot of walking to the same places on restart.

I also find that there are some skills which are so obviously superior to others (ranged & trapping in particular) that I could just never see myself creating a character build that doesn't include them. I was going to try to ween myself off trapping next time (although not being able to start a fire early game without a lighter...yikes), but just the thought of not having ranged skill sends me into a panic. Combat is so extremely deadly, and can have so many long-term consequences to your health, that a melee build just doesn't seem even vaguely feasible to me.

I mention the skill thing as I find most of my builds tend to be extremely similar as a result, which tends to reinforce the repetitiveness of play throughs.

Anyways, good game, I just find myself questioning the whole concept of heavy story elements in rogue-likes in general.

[DaveYanakov]

That covers pretty much any game for me when stealthy ranged combat is a viable option. Not getting attacked in the first place is the only reliable way to remain not dead in my book.

[LupusExMachina]

-snip-

I used trapping for a while, but it actually isn't as powerful as it seems at first. There are other ways to start a fire without using a lighter which are available for all characters. Trapping is just the easiest and most convenient way. Same goes for ranged. I actually finished the game with a build that neither used range nor trapping and everything went pretty good.
Botany is quiet powerful for example. It gives you a decent supply in food and water and some readily available immunity buffs if you know how to use them. And Melee lets you build an upgraded spear, offering a quiet powerful weapon I used throughout the game. And by the way, not having ranged doesn't make firearms useless. They are still extremely powerful. So, the skills get better as you learn how to use them.
I don't know if it is different if you don't have melee, but my blows usually stunned my opponent. Together with the increased range of a spear that makes for a relatively safe way to deal with combat.
And as for the story... I finished the game without visiting DC once and doing none of the quests originating from there. There are several paths that lead to the endgame, all providing different story insights.
I think the build I used had botany, melee, eagle eye, hacking and some more I don't remember. Mechanic I think. Also quiet useful.

So, in general, I havn't found a skill which isn't effective and powerful if you know how to use it.

Spoiler about the use of hiding incoming :)

Spoiler

Show

Hiding might not seem extremely good at first, but you can use it to survive the robot battle at zom zoms and sneak into the ATN Enclave. Both together giving you the elusive reputation which is quiet powerful.

As for making fire

Spoiler

Show

Any sort of lens together with the sun ingredient allows to make a fire

And theres a lot more

So... there is a lot to the game. Though once you finished it once, you most likely won't come back. Nevertheless, the different paths to victory mitigate the "roguelike starting over experiencing the same" thing quiet a bit.