Tyranny

Tyranny is more Obsidian rpg magic at play. Built on the engine that fueled Pillars of Eternity, and with admitedly a lot of reused assets, it feels like a stand alone expansion of that game. That is only the surface though, as Tyranny as a very rich lore and enough gameplay mechanics to sufficiently differentiate itself.

The best part the game is the setting, story and choice and consequences. You play as fatebinder, a sort of law enforcer for the emperor as it conquers the last few domains outside of its influence. You will decide the lives of many conquered foes, regufees and victims of war, and its a game that has a lot of gray consequences. Many of the choices are locked of by skill limits or starting traits, some of which completly alter the flow of the story (akin to the Witcher 2). Its a very unique setting position for the player to be in, and the game presents gray morality from beginning to end. Its definitly a very humane and even philosofical game, with a couple of interspersed humour to make it bearable to play. Amazing writing as is usual by Obsidian.

The world isnt huge, but still there are quite a lot of different locations to visit. Small areas are often left to sidequests, and they only open up after you started them. The big dungeons take some time to navigate them and are filled with combat encounters as well as some simple puzzles.

The combat I found to be the weakest link of the game, which again is nothing new for Obsidian. The real time with pause system works well enough and is responsive but there some issues with the pacing of the campaign, party AI and repetition. The enemies start out as challenging in normal, but about 1/4 of the way in every fight becomes a breeze to get through, even if some enemies are absolute tanks. The party AI continues to do some very odd decisions even after mixing the AI, which makes micro managing pretty essencial. Its not terrible, but there is a lot better out there and Obsidian needs to step it up in this regard.

Overal Tyranny is a masterful work from this talented studio. I appreciate the somewhat shorter campaign (though its devoid of meaningless content) and the simplification of combat for the higher focus on the story and consequences. Its a slight step off from Pillars, but at the same time it manages to be the more creative and bold game out of the two.