Alright. Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is done and dusted. This is a pretty good CRPG that, as mentioned copiously already in reviews, pays homage to the classics such as the Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. It took me a little over 35 hours to complete the game seeing the majority of static content available.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3398302144

This is a real time with pause style CRPG, replete with a reasonably robust party system that includes being able to set individual party member's behavior in a few different ways as well as being able, with the unlocked leadership skill, to give the entire party a specific buff. And, in addition to the individual characters leveling up, the party also levels up, which unlocks character synergies such as bonuses for attacking the same enemy to rest bonuses. Unfortunately, the character behavior as well as the leadership settings randomly reset, and so you will need to be mindful of this while in combat. Because, if you don't, your wizards wielding staves will decide they're warriors despite lacking armor and skill and will wade right into the thick of melee. Outside of the random behavior reset, the system does work well, and your characters will make ready use of their abilities, consumables, and spells depending on how you have things set. Which can be a little cumbersome early on as they waste a lot of stuff, but late game, you really need your party members to have some degree of autonomy during combat, and this system shines in those moments.

Visually, there is a lot going on. I feel like this game is firmly set somewhere between the BG1 era and the BG3 era. It's superior to the early CRPGs as far as graphics go, and especially when showing off spell effects and such. But it is nowhere near being on the level of a BG3. The same can definitely be said of the character models, the world, and really everything. It's a tweener, lol. That said, this isometric world does look great, and some of the things you encounter look flat out cool.

There is a fair amount of voice acting in this game. Some is better than others. Zoria's voice acting is arguably the best, but everyone does at least a decent job. You do have your typical CRPG voice selections for your character. And they all sound pretty good. Initially. However, there are only so many times you can listen to your character recite the same joke over and over and over and over before you grow weary of it. The game could definitely benefit from some expanded preset lines.

Speaking of your character, you do have a fair number of options available during character creation, and you can pretty much make the character of your liking within the constraints of the game's class selections, which is reasonably robust for this style of game. I played as a Templar, but I don't really think you can go wrong in playing whatever class best suits you, and there are a few variations for each of your standard fighter/cleric/wizard/rogue classes along with a few blended classes, giving you a pretty easy opportunity to play however you like.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3401643629

The story is more or less the CRPG trope. You inherit your destiny and have to fight against a growing evil, eventually having your requisite showdown with a number of big baddies on your way to the top of the evil ladder. You can also play good or evil though, so maybe you help big baddie instead. This game makes provisions for any sort of morality decisions you may prefer to make, and there are very distinct paths for both. The core premise being that people are being cursed with insatiable greed and malice. You may partake of said greed and malice or be a paragon of virtue in the face of such. Or somewhere in between, lol.

The majority of the writing in this game is nicely done. The writers definitely thought through both how the players might act and how the world would respond to that, and a lot of the pivotal story moments were pretty cool. However, there is a breakdown in story continuity at the point where the Goddess of Greed decides she is no longer interested in supporting the efforts that are leading to everyone becoming greedier in this world. You'd think she would want that, being as how she is the Goddess of Greed, but apparently, she is really the Goddess of being Fickle instead.. I think the devs have plans to make a sequel, and unfortunately, they kind of took the lazy GRRM approach here in an attempt to leave that door open, at least from my perspective. As far as some of the end game stuff is concerned. Up to that point, almost everything made perfect sense. Although there are a few other less obvious story issues as well. Outside of those hiccups, the ending was still pretty enjoyable though. Also, there is a moderate amount of banter between party members and your main character during key story moments, which often embraces dry humor, which I appreciate.

This game does feature a unique morality system centered around the aforementioned greed curse. You have a Party Greed level, a Party Fame level, and a meter that rates how much people like you and your group. These all impact the World Greed meter, which then affects how the world changes based on the levels of greed within. Your decisions and actions impact all of these. This was a very cool system that I really liked a lot.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3399748955

Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with this game. I bought this during the 2024 Steam Autumn sale for $11.99, and I think that is an ideal price for this game. $29.99 OTOH is probably a bit excessive. There is some replay value if you intend to playthrough both primary morality story arcs, but I think this is going to be a one and done scenario for most players. So, grab it on sale is my recommendation. Either way, it's fun and definitely worth a look.

Alright. [i]Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness[/i] is done and dusted. This is a pretty good CRPG that, as mentioned copiously already in reviews, pays homage to the classics such as the Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. It took me a little over 35 hours to complete the game seeing the majority of static content available. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3398302144 This is a real time with pause style CRPG, replete with a reasonably robust party system that includes being able to set individual party member's behavior in a few different ways as well as being able, with the unlocked leadership skill, to give the entire party a specific buff. And, in addition to the individual characters leveling up, the party also levels up, which unlocks character synergies such as bonuses for attacking the same enemy to rest bonuses. Unfortunately, the character behavior as well as the leadership settings randomly reset, and so you will need to be mindful of this while in combat. Because, if you don't, your wizards wielding staves will decide they're warriors despite lacking armor and skill and will wade right into the thick of melee. Outside of the random behavior reset, the system does work well, and your characters will make ready use of their abilities, consumables, and spells depending on how you have things set. Which can be a little cumbersome early on as they waste a lot of stuff, but late game, you really need your party members to have some degree of autonomy during combat, and this system shines in those moments. Visually, there is a lot going on. I feel like this game is firmly set somewhere between the BG1 era and the BG3 era. It's superior to the early CRPGs as far as graphics go, and especially when showing off spell effects and such. But it is nowhere near being on the level of a BG3. The same can definitely be said of the character models, the world, and really everything. It's a tweener, lol. That said, this isometric world does look great, and some of the things you encounter look flat out cool. There is a fair amount of voice acting in this game. Some is better than others. Zoria's voice acting is arguably the best, but everyone does at least a decent job. You do have your typical CRPG voice selections for your character. And they all sound pretty good. Initially. However, there are only so many times you can listen to your character recite the same joke over and over and over and over before you grow weary of it. The game could definitely benefit from some expanded preset lines. Speaking of your character, you do have a fair number of options available during character creation, and you can pretty much make the character of your liking within the constraints of the game's class selections, which is reasonably robust for this style of game. I played as a Templar, but I don't really think you can go wrong in playing whatever class best suits you, and there are a few variations for each of your standard fighter/cleric/wizard/rogue classes along with a few blended classes, giving you a pretty easy opportunity to play however you like. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3401643629 The story is more or less the CRPG trope. You inherit your destiny and have to fight against a growing evil, eventually having your requisite showdown with a number of big baddies on your way to the top of the evil ladder. You can also play good or evil though, so maybe you help big baddie instead. This game makes provisions for any sort of morality decisions you may prefer to make, and there are very distinct paths for both. The core premise being that people are being cursed with insatiable greed and malice. You may partake of said greed and malice or be a paragon of virtue in the face of such. Or somewhere in between, lol. The majority of the writing in this game is nicely done. The writers definitely thought through both how the players might act and how the world would respond to that, and a lot of the pivotal story moments were pretty cool. However, there is a breakdown in story continuity at the point where [spoiler] the Goddess of Greed decides she is no longer interested in supporting the efforts that are leading to everyone becoming greedier in this world. You'd think she would want that, being as how she is the Goddess of Greed, but apparently, she is really the Goddess of being Fickle instead.[/spoiler]. I think the devs have plans to make a sequel, and unfortunately, they kind of took the lazy GRRM approach here in an attempt to leave that door open, at least from my perspective. As far as some of the end game stuff is concerned. Up to that point, almost everything made perfect sense. Although there are a few other less obvious story issues as well. Outside of those hiccups, the ending was still pretty enjoyable though. Also, there is a moderate amount of banter between party members and your main character during key story moments, which often embraces dry humor, which I appreciate. This game does feature a unique morality system centered around the aforementioned greed curse. You have a Party Greed level, a Party Fame level, and a meter that rates how much people like you and your group. These all impact the World Greed meter, which then affects how the world changes based on the levels of greed within. Your decisions and actions impact all of these. This was a very cool system that I really liked a lot. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3399748955 Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with this game. I bought this during the 2024 Steam Autumn sale for $11.99, and I think that is an ideal price for this game. $29.99 OTOH is probably a bit excessive. There is some replay value if you intend to playthrough both primary morality story arcs, but I think this is going to be a one and done scenario for most players. So, grab it on sale is my recommendation. Either way, it's fun and definitely worth a look. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]