It was a long wait, but GreedFall – The Dying World by Spiders is finally out and I am already on my second playthrough. Being a fan of the first GreedFall-game, and Spiders-games in general, I really had a blast rediscovering the island of Teer Fradee and the continental factions. Also, it was great having two of the Merchant Congregations’ rival families from the first game play an integral part in the story too.
What’s it about?
So, when I first watched the trailer back in 2022 I asked myself whether this was a sequel or a prequel. It is, in fact, a prequel, and we now learn more about the first contact between the natives of Teer Fradee, the Bridge Alliance and Thélème. The story borrows heavily from history, specifically the colonization of North America, but, of course, the Malichor, the sickness that is central to the first game’s plot, is present and already beginning to become a danger to the continent.
As promised in the trailer, our hero Vriden Gerr – nicknamed “Rootless” or “Short Roots”, is a native, and an apprentice doneigad (shaman) no less. You will be able to choose a gender at the beginning of the game, which is why I will be referring to the protagonist as “they/them” in this post.
Following classic story-telling tradition, Vriden Gerr is brought to the continent against their will in the beginning of the game, along with their two best friends. By chance, they will be teaming up with a number of members of the other central factions, some of which we are already familiar with, thanks to the first game.
Short Refresher: In the first game – GreedFall – we were playing on Teer Fradee exclusively, acting as legate of the Merchant Congregation, a faction bound to neutrality. Our goal was finding a cure for the devastating Malichor that ravaged the continent. On the island of Teer Fradee the major rival factions – and potential enemy factions – were Thélème and the Bridge Alliance. Supporting factions – or maybe more? – were the Nauts, the Coin Guard, and the Natives themselves.
In GreedFall – The Dying World, our protagonist’s motivations and goals are a little different. Not only will they have to find a way back home, they also need to take up arms against a ruthless general bent on world domination, to even get anyone to finance their voyage back to Teer Fradee. That’s a tall order but, luckily, our hero has a sizeable arsenal of weapons, armor, skills, and teammates to choose from.
What I expected of the game
What I really like about Spiders’ games are the political machinations. You have to make friends among the factions, of course, since you will need as many of them as possible on your side when facing the big bad in the end. To do so, you will have to garner favor, manipulate, bribe or lie, and that means taking sides. Which – combined with your methods – could potentially upset other potential allies. This sort of political backstabbing – choosing between diplomacy and violence, moral high ground and deceit – was particularly well done in the first GreedFall, and is handled in a slightly different fashion in GreedFall – The Dying World. Which is totally fine with me!
Apart from that I was very much looking forward to exploring a new world and new factions. There are, actually, a number of new factions, but, and that is new, you will also have to deal with factions within faction. For example the Merchant Congregation: will you side with the de Sardets, for old times’ sake, or with the de Vespes? And what sort of consequences can you expect? Also, your companions will react with approval or disapproval, depending on your choices. So, listen closely to their views on current events and get a feel for their moral boundaries. You will quickly learn what to say and do, and, maybe, even how to put together your party, to level up approval of a number of companions at the same time.
The last thing I was curious about was the combat system. I did not find that very satisfying in the first game, but, in GreedFall – The Dying World it has improved massively. Sure, it does take some getting used to, and you will sometimes have to babysit your party excessively, especially if you have yet to unlock the higher tiers of their skills trees. While I did play on a lower difficulty, enemies still packed enough punch for me to have to keep on top of my party’s arsenal and equipment. You can also choose to turn your party invincible, which makes combat much easier, and much more boring.
The Locations
While you will spend the prologue on Teer Fradee, the dangerous, beautiful island our native hero calls home, the majority of the story is spent on the continent, travelling between the two major cities of Olima and Peren, the Eskiara coastal region and the environments f these locations. Then there is Uxantis, an island belonging to the Nauts, the seafaring faction we already know from the first game. Thanks to the Nauts, the party’s headquarter is the Constanzia, a nice little ship that can carry us anywhere we need to go.
Expect beautiful, diverse landscapes, a lot of crumbling ruins, lively cities, and a lot of critters and enemies challenging you at every turn.
The Factions
The Natives of Teer Fradee are our own faction, and it is really nice diving deeper into their lore and customs. But, while I appreciate the effort put into developing the native language, what I did not appreciate was forcing the player to read subtitles during the prologue. Having our protagonist consistently speak their native tongue makes no sense whatsoever when said protagonist is speaking to their own people. Since we are playing as them, we should be able to understand what they are saying. Or not? Well. That bugged me, especially since I tend to do other stuff during cut-scenes and usually just listen to the dialogue, which was not an option in this case, for obvious reasons.
Nauts
The seafaring Nauts are a very interesting faction, since many of their members are given to them by their clients, as tribute. For example our dear Captain Vasco, he of the first game, was actually the son of a family from the Merchant Congregation, who was given to the Nauts in exchange for their continued services. The Nauts provide naval transport to the other factions, and in this case they are made unwilling accessories to human trafficking.
Coin Guard
Much like the Nauts, the Coin Guard is a very specialized faction which takes on contracts all over the continent, and on Teer Fradee, lending its mercenaries to the highest bidder for security and protection. Which is how they get involved into the abduction of our protagonist.
Thélème
This country takes its faith very seriously. And while they were a major candidate for becoming the main antagonist in the first game, in this installment their machinations are relatively tame. I say relatively, because there is a specific questline that could screw up our protagonist’s own goals.
Bridge Alliance
The Bridge Alliance was the second major faction in the first GreedFall, and thanks to its scientific pursuits it also poses a major threat to Teer Fradee in this game. Fortunately, there are more moderate forces to be found in Olima that we can enlist for our own gains.
Merchant Congregation
This faction relies on trade and therefore values its neutrality when it comes to dealing with the other players. Which was a great premise for our Merchant Congregation-protagonist de Sardet in the first game. In this one, we are faced with the dilemma of which powerful family to enlist as allies: the de Sardets, or the de Vespes. I chose the de Sardets, considering they are closely tied to the Merchant Congregations dominant family, the d’Orsays, in the first game.
Deuten Empire
The Deuten empire is not as fleshed out as the other, already established factions, and it mainly comes to life through one of our companions, Ludwig, and its war with the Bridge Alliance on the continent. Maybe we get a chance to delve deeper in a story DLC later on?
The Characters
An RPG needs a party made up of members of the different factions, of course, but this time around we get to choose three companions out of our roster of seven in total. Which is great! I hated that we could only take along two in the previous game. That made for a sometimes very imbalanced party setup.
Apart from our protagonist there is a second doneigad on our team, our childhood friend Nilan. Nilan is a hothead, an archer, and wears light armor. Thanks to his temperament, he disapproves of our (my) insistence on diplomacy, which makes for some very interesting plot points and an interesting character arc. Will you be able to reign him in, or will he go off the rails?
Alvida, a Naut, is the second companion we are getting acquainted with. She is plagued by her bad conscience for helping our abductors, and so she helps us in turn. She uses a blade and is fast and agile in a fight, and wears medium armor. Her bestie is Sybille de Vespe, an assassin diplomat of the Merchant Congregation. She uses double daggers and gets a pistol later on, and she is extremely fast and handy in a fight, and very persuasive. The fourth companion is Fausta, a woman from Thélème, who finds herself in dire straits in the beginning as well as close to the end of the game. As a mage she uses the magical Rings of Thélème, and she wears light armor.
Then there is Till, a Coin Guard sergeant, who also sees the light after having wronged us, and who will be our main tank, at least he was for me. Wearing heavy armor and wielding a heavy, two-handed weapon, he will later be outfitted with a pistol too, for extra punch.Ludwig, a smuggler and former soldier, is a citizen of the Deuten Empire and, like Alvida, also a sword master. As a smuggler he knows the cities very well and is always useful to have around.
Finally, we have our Bridge Alliance companion, the rifle-toting Safia. She is more of a mentor-figure, and, like Till, she cannot be romanced.
Weapons, Armor, Classes and Skills
Contrary to the first game, the number of classes has expanded drastically. You can play as a warrior, either with two-handed weapons or one-handed weapons, as a rogue wielding double daggers or specializing in pistols, poison and traps, or as a mage, wielding either the magical rings from Thélème or the new magical bracelets from Teer Fradee.
In the beginning, after having configurated your character’s appearance, you will have to choose your path, either Destroyer, Protector or , and your weapon of choice. There are a few preset classes, such as Obsidian Warrior, or Living Vlade, Dark Mage and so forth, Good to know: by speaking to your companions you will unlock more skill trees later on, allowing you to use more weapons and diversifying your arsenal.
While each of our companions as well as our protagnist can develop Skills and Attributes, ony our protagonist can invest point in Talents. Those Talents are Craftsmanship, Alchemy, Survival, Diplomacy, Stealth and Mechanics.
Skill Points
You can assign Skill points to your path (Destroyer, Protector, Charity) and / or to class-specific skills. Each of your companions will have their personal Skill tree, such as the Smuggler’s Path in Ludwig’s case.
Attributes
Depending on your class, weapons and armor, you will need to invest in different stats. Warriors usually invest in Strength or Agility, while mages push Will, and archer Perception. What you will need to invest in in any case are Endurance and Focus. Endurance boosts your resistances, and Focus allows you to build up action points that you will need for your special actions.
Talents
While our protagonist is the only one able to select and upgrade Talents, having a good relation with your companions boosts them too. For example, Nilan will boost Surival, while Sybille boosts Diplomacy. Also, you can collect capes along the way, which also carry specific talents and will boost your own. For example, if you have a Craftsmanship-Level of 2 and need Level 3 to craft armor or recycle stuff, grab a cape that boosts your craftsmanship and you are good to go! Craftsmanship is neded to craft your own armor, recycle unwanted stuff and upgade your arsenal. Very important! Alchemy allows you to brew potions and coatings, Survival helps your perception and tracking abilities. Stealth is not only important if you want to avoid conflicts in restricted areas, it also allows you to use high-level disguises. My favorite Talent has to be Diplomacy, since it makes things much, much easier during dialogues. And then there is Mechanics, which you will need to crack locks. Which will become very useful later in the game.
The Verdict
Spiders always delivers on the political intrigue, and while there are still a few bugs plaguing the game, at least on the PS5, the landscapes are fascinating, the companion quests compelling, and the soundtrack epic and sweet. Definitely recommend!
In other news, I have yet to finish Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Kingdom Come Deliverance…
Until then, keep on playing.
Cheers
Vanessa
whatchaa.com 