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 Vlad the Impaler is a CYOA developed by the fine folks at Section Studios. Released in September 2014, it promises an "action packed adventure, where your wits are just as important as your strength....Supernatural powers, an abundance of undead abominations and plenty of secret expeditions throughout the game, along with awesome, gothic graphics, illustrations & challenges." I could say plenty about how the game is trying way too hard to be super grimdark and edgy, but I think I'll just let the Steam store page speak for itself: quote:The scent of murder hangs in the air. It is the year 1452 and a city under siege is desperate. You receive a letter, bearing the king’s seal, begging for your help. A once beautiful, peaceful place is now a tormentor’s paradise; dark, bleak and heavy with fear. ...Yeah. For bonus points, the game also uses a black and white art style so everything is some shade of grey for added grittiness or...whatever. It has its moments where it fits, but for the most part it's just kinda there. So how is this going to work? It's a pretty standard choose your own adventure, so there shouldn't be any surprises in store here. The only wrinkle is going to be self-imposed: For the purposes of the LP, each of the three characters represents our "lives". Should we fail to clear the game with any of them, I'll do a quick run through to show the ending, but the game is honestly pretty easy so that shouldn't be a problem. But we'll deal with that when the time comes; for now, let's get this trainwreck started. Updates Ye Olde Tutorial Mage: Day 1 Mage: Day 2 Mage: Day 3 Mage: Day 4 Mage: Day 5 Mage: Day 6 Mage: Day 7 Mage: Day 8 Mage: Day 9 Mage: Day 10 Artix fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Feb 16, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 02:37
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reserved
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Jan 21, 2015 02:37
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Ye Olde Tutorial So first things first, we have to choose which of our three intrepid adventurers to follow. The only thing this really affects is what achievement you get at the end of the game, because you can easily outstrip the starting stat boosts by the end of the first chapter.  Voice acting is hard, okay?   And that's about all the game is going to give us to start things off. We get a nice little atmospheric image like that at the start of every chapter, one of the few times I actually like the way they used the art style.  Here's the main screen we'll be looking at. Our stats are always visible in the upper left, and any locations we can visit are labelled on the map itself. Note the counter in the center at the top - the first part of the game is divided into five chapters of three days each.  After selecting a location, it brings up a list of the events that we can see there. Obviously there are far more than 15 events in the game, so we'll have to pick and choose carefully. In addition, some events do not carry over between chapters, so there may be times where we either view something now, or we might not get to see it at all. [Here we vote for what event to see]  After both of you have sipped from your cups, the nephew asks what information his uncle can help you with.  Each event typically has two different outcomes, and depending on what we choose a variety of things can happen. We might get information, an item, or we might end up totally wasting our time. The latter is the biggest concern, because 15 days isn't a whole lot of time to get everything we need to solve the mystery. [There would be a small, much shorter vote here. Probably a quick post count, like first to five or something] >Ask about Istanbul  The cover reads "Architects of the Empire." Between its covers are stories of the various buildings within the city, from the Basilica, to the palace, to the city walls. One obscure passage that catches your interest is about the mad architect who designed the city's cistern. It seems to elude that there was a secret temple to Medusa hidden within the cistern, but the door would only open when the cistern was flooded.  Afterwards, the game tells us what we actually got out of the event. In this case, all we did was a little book-learnin', giving us a small boost to our intelligence. Again, this can be anything from stat boosts or penalties to new items, or nothing at all if we ended up wasting a day. [The next two days worth of stuff would go here]  At the end of each chapter, the game brings us up to speed on what we did, as well giving us our updated stat total. We already have more intelligence than what the mage started with, so you can see that your starting class is very important in this game.  And from there the game tosses us directly into Chapter 2, where we get another plot dump and do the whole song and dance again for another three days. Artix fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Jan 22, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 02:38
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Ford the river
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Jan 21, 2015 02:47
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Is that...MISERY I smell? Another LP starting? Oh, no, wait, it's the Falafel. Let's get some Falafel.
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Jan 21, 2015 04:31
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Name the character Falafel. Then get a baklava.
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Jan 21, 2015 08:32
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I love how some of the options seem like, "Eh, I could go investigate stuff, but I've got the munchies, man." This should be wonderful.
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Jan 21, 2015 10:25
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So, we should be a Mage called Esme Weatherwax, and we should Search for the Head of the Guard.
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Jan 21, 2015 10:59
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Name: Nora Moms are tough!
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Jan 21, 2015 12:22
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Lotish posted:Name the character Falafel. Then get a baklava. A Falafel
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Jan 21, 2015 12:24
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> Start nailing turbans to heads, ask questions later
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Jan 21, 2015 17:12
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Alright, I'm gonna call it here, looks like we're playing as a mage with the munchies. Normally I'd let it go a little longer, but I want to get thing started so I'm going to grab some lunch and then we'll have the first update here in a bit.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:01
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Day 1: Buy a Falafel It was close, but the first character up to bat is the mage. While it's true that there are very few differences between the three playable characters, I was being a tad disingenuous when I said that the only difference was which achievement you get. The most notable actual difference between the three classes is how your combat options change during the course of the game. As you can probably guess, the mage can learn new spells along the way, while the explorer can unlock special dialogue options. It's a nice touch, I guess, but ultimately pretty inconsequential.  Anyway, Big V sends us on our way to figure out what the gently caress is going on here in Istanbul. But you know what? It's a bit of a hike from Romania to Turkey, and we're kinda hungry now that we're here. Istanbul has been embroiled in this whole mess for what, weeks? Months? What's one more day, really? Let's get some food and we'll start investigating properly tomorrow.   Alright goons, decision time. Do we help this man, or tell him to gently caress off so we can enjoy our lunch? I don't want to spend too much time on these secondary votes, so bold your choice and I'll call it after like...I dunno, maybe a couple hours unless one side builds up a commanding lead. Artix fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 19:48
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I don't see how giving away an article of clothing to a random dude will in any way come back to haunt us. Hand the guy your cloak.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:55
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Give him the cloak. What could possibly go wrong? And once you make a falafel friend, he's a friend for life.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:55
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Tell him to gently caress off and get his own cape. Preferably while pointing very obviously towards the man and yelling to the approaching guards "HERE'S YOUR GUY! RIGHT HERE! THIS IS THE MAN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR!" like Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park. Because whatever this guy did he clearly did it and deserves whatever punishment the local ruler deems fit to mete out.  Renegade.
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Jan 21, 2015 20:33
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Have my cloak. I am sure it will magically return to me at the end of this event. 
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Jan 21, 2015 20:49
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Being nice can't possibly have any ill effects in a game as bright, cheery and edgy as this. Share the love, share the coat.
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Jan 21, 2015 23:59
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>Give him your cloak "No, but I overheard the Vizier discussing it with someone when they thought they were alone. Now he's sent the guards after me, saying that I snuck into the royal harem! It's a death sentence!" "Here," you say, giving him your lunch. "In case this afternoon's chase is making you hungry." He looks at you with profound gratitude. "Thank you, my friend!" he says, melting into the crowd. You turn around to buy more falafel as the palace guards brush past you. One of them finds the man's cloak on the ground and swears out loud. "He's no longer wearing a cloak!" the large man shouts, then turns to press deeper into the crowd. Very interesting... So the Sultan's most trusted advisor is in on the corruption... Alright, come on game, that's just cliché. The Vizier is always evil. Surely you could have stretched those creative muscles just a little bit farther? Results +1 Charm +1 Intelligence Updated Stats Agility: 5 Dexterity: 5 Strength: 5 Constitution: 5 Intelligence: 7 Magic: 7 Charm: 6 Well regardless, that was a surprisingly productive first day. Where do we go next?
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Jan 22, 2015 00:06
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This is great. After we get more food, we should get a book to read on our government-funded vacation. I want to see what happens if we intentionally take all the options that appear to be the least productive and see if the game makes us stumble upon clues through sheer luck instead, like a GM frustrated with a party that refuses to follow plot hooks. "Just because I gave you the option to gently caress around doesn't mean you are supposed to be taking it GOD FINE as you get your goddamn muffins the vendor is murdered before your eyes and they fall on the muffins NOW GO DO YOUR JOB"
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Jan 22, 2015 00:58
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I also like the detail that we still got a falafel out of the deal.
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Jan 22, 2015 01:04
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I was worried that our mage might wear that guy's cloak when that guy is trading cloak with him.
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Jan 22, 2015 01:09
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Shei-kun posted:This is great. After we get more food, we should get a book to read on our government-funded vacation. That was my plan too. Just bumble about like the friendliest, most generous idiot tourist and see how long we could go before we either bumbled into winning or died horribly. A game this comically grimdark needs its boundaries pushed. To Printer! We need more books!
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Jan 22, 2015 03:51
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Just for the record, the book seller event is the same one as in the tutorial post up there. So if we do end up doing that, everything's already there to do that. E: In fact, I'm just going to say that for the purposes of showing more content, if we do in fact go to the book seller, I'm going to pick the other choice since asking about Istanbul is already up there. Artix fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Jan 22, 2015 |
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Jan 22, 2015 04:00
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Huh. So it's all stats? You don't like specifically learn the temple secret one day and use it later?
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Jan 22, 2015 04:07
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Well to be fair we've only seen two events so far. There are events that work that way, in that we don't get any stats out of the deal but we learn some kind of important information or get an item for our inventory, but they're not super common, no.
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Jan 22, 2015 04:14
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Heh, baklava is killing it in the poll. MAGE HUNGRY
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Jan 22, 2015 07:57
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Bregor posted:Heh, baklava is killing it in the poll. MAGE HUNGRY WIZARD NEEDS FOOD BADLY.
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Jan 22, 2015 08:09
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Bregor posted:Heh, baklava is killing it in the poll. MAGE HUNGRY Are you really surprised that it's winning?
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Jan 22, 2015 08:56
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Day 2: Get some Baklava Alright, so we've had our falafel and now we're ready to get to work. We're going to get to the bottom of this mystery no matter what it- Hey, is that baklava? Alright, one more day isn't going to hurt anything.  She looks as though she's coveting the sticky desser that is getting all over your fingers. You give her a slight smile of condolence. Then, hands suddenly emerge from a secret fold in the tent, and pull the girl inside without a sound. Of all the abductions that you've been following in the city, you never thought you'd actually witness one happening. You walk over to the front of the tent, finishing off the last of your dessert. "Welcome, my friend!" says a smiling merchant in a turban. "Are you in need of a lamp or oil?"  Well it seems like we've found ourselves caught up in a kidnapping case, goons. Are we a good cop or a bad cop?
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Jan 22, 2015 15:59
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When have we ever been a Good cop? Bad Cop time!
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Jan 22, 2015 16:41
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Wait, "Istanbul" in 1452? We need a crying Byzantium smily. I wonder how many Byzantine World conquests attempts at Paradox this game spawned.
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Jan 22, 2015 19:14
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Bad cop best cop
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Jan 22, 2015 19:29
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Bad cop 
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Jan 22, 2015 20:12
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Bad Cop. We're a hardboiled wizman who doesn't take guff from anyone.
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Jan 22, 2015 20:33
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Goddammit baklava, this always happens when we eat you! Anyway, since this seems like an abduction just use force.
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Jan 22, 2015 20:40
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Liam Neeson.
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Jan 22, 2015 20:52
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>Force your way through His eyes meet yours with surprise and a little confusion. Not wasting a moment, you leap at him. His free hand draws a knife, but you slice that hand away at the wrist. The kidnapper screams as you kick him to the ground, as blood sprays from his severed stump. You spin around, knowing full well that the merchant will be attacking from behind. He runs himself through on your blade, a look of anguish and shock crossing his face. You wrench the weapon free of him, spraying blood across the piles of lamps, then turn back to question the kidnapper. Unfortunately, he is already gone. The trail of blood should be easy to follow, but you abandon such thoughts in favor of rescuing the girl. You pull open the basket, untie her, and carry her outside. A woman immediately comes running up to her, and takes her out of your arms. The girl calls her "Mommy", and so you let her go. The mother thanks you profusely, saying that Istanbul needs more heroes like you. Results +1 Strength +1 Charm Updated Stats Agility: 5 Dexterity: 5 Strength: 6 Constitution: 5 Intelligence: 7 Magic: 7 Charm: 7 That's twice now we've gotten to play the... er... can we really call that "hero"? Anyway, we're not very good at this "tourism" thing, but at least we got some baklava and falafel out of it. Day 3 is the final day of Chapter 1, so make it a good one. Artix fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Jan 22, 2015 |
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Jan 22, 2015 21:16
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Artix posted:That's twice now we've gotten to play the... er... can we really call that "hero"? Anyway, we're not very good at this "tourism" thing, but at least we got some baklava and falafel out of it. Day 3 is the final day of Chapter 1, so make it a good one. Man, worst vacations ever. At least let's buy some souvenirs from the bookstore.
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Jan 22, 2015 22:08
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Holy poo poo, who knew buying baklava would make us a goddamn child-saving hero? Also, through the keep-what-you-kill rule, we now own a lamp shop! 
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Jan 22, 2015 23:45
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