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 Overview Revenant is a hack & slash, isometric RPG from 1999, published by Eidos Interactive and developed by Cinematix Studios, a developer who only made one other game, Total Mayhem, released in 1996. Compared to other games from back then, Revenant went pretty much unnoticed and it is admittedly a mixed bag of goodies. But it does have some good stuff. Our protagonist is Locke D’Averam, a revenant who didn’t ask to be rescued from the local equivalent of hell, Anserak, and leaves no chance unused to express his discontent – about everything and everyone. Compelled by the spell used to summon him, he is send across various regions to, I’m not kidding, rescue the daughter of the local warlord, while slowly recovering the knowledge of his previous existence. The combat system can best be described as an isometric kind of Morrowind combined with a brawler, deriving damage and such from your stats, but also relying on successfully landing hits and avoiding them manually. Melee combat consists of various weapons as well as hand-to-hand combat, and revolves around three main attacks that build into 9 combo’s, with almost every enemy having a special death animation if you can pull off its finishing move. The game features almost 50 different spells derived from various combinations of 12 talismans, and also includes several different types of arrow for some…admittedly very tacky bow-combat. All dialogue is voiced and it’s great in its cheesiness, but the further you get, the less dialogue the game features. What the game could’ve done without is some of the drawn out dungeon crawling which gets progressively worse later in the game. Let’s see whether I still have the patience to traverse that. How’s this going to happen then? This is my first LP so it’ll be a technical and narrative learning curve for me and any feedback is appreciated. As far as the game goes, I’ve played it once before and although it was a long time ago, this is mostly not a blind playthrough. To familiarize myself with the game, I might once in a while play through a section, and then record the same section later on with commentary so I can get a bearing in certain dungeon sections and avoid boring you with my bumbling about in search for progress or an exit. How did you get the game/music working? I talk a bit about that in the first few minutes of part one. However, contrary to appearance, I didn't get the music to work. You can get the game to play one track whenever you load a fresh game, but after one track it stops. Not only that, but the volume sliders do nothing and the original settings have the music so loud some conversations get buried. Instead I used the music from the CD, adjusted their volume, and looped them under the proper footage. Anything else? Yes, in fact. The game is in no way as detailed with its story and world building as something like Baldur’s Gate, but there are a few books stashed away that I’ll offer outside of the gameplay videos. Finally, to go with the theme of cheesy voice acting and to augment the small amounts of lore, I thought I’d give it a shot and present some new, ‘uncovered’ (that is, invented) bits of background story, relating the actions of our protagonist and their possible consequences, from other perspectives. Whether this is a good or bad idea is yet to be seen. Episodes                  Bonus        All conversations and cutscenes Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 Fleve fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Mar 9, 2015 |
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Feb 3, 2015 18:49
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This looks fun, though I am hoping the game is not going the obvious route with the story. I hope the bonus videos keep the same tone. I laughed. "He stole an apple..." 
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Feb 4, 2015 00:25
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I was thinking about this game the other day; my brother had it when I was but a wee lad, and I could remember the purple color of the box and what the main character generally looked like. I'd spent a bit trying to figure out what the hell the game was before I resigned myself to believing I'd never know.? Edit: Also, holy poo poo, you sound like Patrick Stewart.
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Feb 4, 2015 00:38
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SystemLogoff posted:This looks fun, though I am hoping the game is not going the obvious route with the story. Thanks! The idea for that began when I thought I'd make up fake lore images as though they were actual historical finds. Then I thought, heck, text kinda sucks without the right intonation and I might as well learn how to do more in avisynth than just trim videos. What ended up becoming that video (after, admittedly, a silly number of retakes) started out as this:  I've got a few more ideas lined up for more additional stuff, one already recorded but I still need to cut up the footage to go along with it. Leavemywife posted:
Haha, thanks. I've had people tell me before I sound like X or Y, but whenever I listen to myself, recording or not, I'm just not hearing it. It's weird.
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Feb 4, 2015 01:39
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I've admittedly never played this game. I have, however, played the hell out of Total Mayhem. Actually, I think it might have been the first PC game I ever bought. In any case, this looks to be fun, and I look forward to what the game has to offer.
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Feb 4, 2015 02:20
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Good god, Kain had better skills in the first Blood Omen game! Also, calling it now: wizard is totally a good guy. 
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Feb 4, 2015 02:38
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This game. This game. I love how the start makes it pretty clear they called upon you to get rid of the local equivalent of Jehovah's witnesses. "People lock their doors and hope the priests pass by..." edit: I love how detailed the violence in this game is. Notice at the execution, the guy gets split in half - and his thigh bones are still attached to the top half. The combat in this used to be very satisfying. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 08:08
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Leavemywife posted:Edit: Also, holy poo poo, you sound like Patrick Stewart. Holy crap, that's uncanny. And holy crap, I would never, in a million years, think I would see this game being LPed. We're in for one hell of a ride, people. Well.. Half a hell of a ride. E: Some of your pronunciations lead me to believe you might be Swedish! Am I close or embarrassingly wrong? THE BAR fucked around with this message at 12:52 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 12:37
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Eh, I think he sounds more like a nordic Matt Berry. Anyway, this game is astoundingly dickish. No wonder that dude ended up chained in hell, he's like a mean machine.
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Feb 4, 2015 20:17
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I'm actually half-Dutch, half-German, but I'm cool with adding Scandinavian to the weird conglomerate of my voice. Anyway, the second part is done. I still need to cut up parts for the bonus, because...well, I ended up making something else first. My first recording was done without a pop filter, which was noticeable. This second recording was done with an improvised sock on the microphone, which still wasn't good enough. I ended up making a DIY pop filter and wanted to give it a try with some pop sounds and at that point I...uh… I kinda went full-autism and ended up going for a quick and dirty a cappella piece of a Revenant track which fit neatly under a time-lapse I wanted to do anyway. So yeah, there's that. Pop filter seems to work, too. Getting me a decent microphone has been like giving a puppy a whole box of toys at once.
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Feb 4, 2015 21:21
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I love how the villagers seem to be aware of the true nature of their savior. Let's face it, he's a murderous kleptomaniac hellspawn. The rear end in a top hat conversation options are great; I've played it way, way back and don't think I ever had a nice Locke. The dancer conversation is one that really stuck in my mind. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 21:51
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Yeah I first thought it might be boring to go through two videos of conversations, but heck, the conversations are the best part of the game and most of them have great rear end in a top hat options. Later on, perhaps from when we enter the caves, I'm probably going to have to use a lot more cutting to keep things interesting. Still, even then there's a whole bunch of small conversation pieces that are worth it. Also, finished the bonus piece. Now that I no longer have to spend a day figuring out what blood sacrifices I have to make to the avisynth gods to get .jpg's working properly that went a lot faster. Edit: Also, some notes. - That bonus should be the last recording from the era before pop filters. - I think I have to grumble and rumble less. - On the same note, just airing silence isn't a bad option either sometimes I guess. - Finally, I'll try to keep the loot-searches to a minimum; watching my own recordings, following the frantic mouse-movements in search for loot makes me feel like a cat hunting a laser pointer. Edit: poo poo I keep forgetting things. I promised the books. So here's those that don't spoil what I myself want to talk about. The Cataclysm (ie., 'this world is hosed')     Military Intelligence on the Children of the Change Cult (ie. 'we're hosed')      The Church (ie. 'the gods are loving with us')    The Trade Syndicates   The Warrior Clans     
Fleve fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Feb 5, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 23:13
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I've always been curious about Revenant so it's good to see that someone's finally doing an LP of it, and doing a good job too. Also, am I the only one who noticed that the straw dummy in Jong's little training area was referred to by the damage status messages as "mudokon1", like Jong was referred to as "JONG1" when you sparred with him? Kind of funny seeing an Oddworld reference in a dark fantasy RPG.
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Feb 5, 2015 03:03
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The master of combat is a Japanese stereotype with a katana, that our main character is not an rear end in a top hat to. Oh 90's game development.
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Feb 5, 2015 03:58
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The little bonus videos are amazing. Kleptomaniac vortex indeed.
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Feb 5, 2015 10:47
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This game looks really good. I can't wait to see what happens when we get out of the town.
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Feb 5, 2015 11:46
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Man this game, I loved it when I was younger and even have a huge A2 poster of it. The german voice over was... pretty cheap, but at least least the wizard didnt sound so.. blatantly you know, evil. And Locke wasnt super pissed and screaming all the time.
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Feb 5, 2015 19:09
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Fleve posted:I'm actually half-Dutch, half-German, but I'm cool with adding Scandinavian to the weird conglomerate of my voice. Anyway, the second part is done. I still need to cut up parts for the bonus, because...well, I ended up making something else first. I dug out my old boxed copy of this game, and the manual says you can indeed see you skills in the various Weapons etc. When you're on the character screen, at the top you have "Stats/Skills" with 'Stats' in green. Click on 'Skills' and you switch over to the skill screen.
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Feb 5, 2015 20:18
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Nuramor posted:I dug out my old boxed copy of this game, and the manual says you can indeed see you skills in the various Weapons etc. When you're on the character screen, at the top you have "Stats/Skills" with 'Stats' in green. Click on 'Skills' and you switch over to the skill screen. Holy poo poo, you're right! I completely forgot about that. It helps a lot for when I switch around some weapons or want to check how much hand to hand combat I have. There's also the invoke skill which governs whether you gently caress up all your spells or not. I really wish my manuals and boxes hadn't gone lost during a move; used to have a sweet almost book-size Baldur's Gate II manual as well. Heck, I actually read the whole thing back then. I can't imagine anyone would read a whole manual nowadays. anilEhilated posted:The little bonus videos are amazing. Kleptomaniac vortex indeed. Thanks! I find it really difficult to judge my own stuff. I usually start out with being all giddy from finding a new idea and wanting to work it out, and then I always end up listening to myself and every joke so often that everything falls flat and doubt creeps in. It's like a very short bipolar cycle. As long as I keep getting ideas, I'll keep creating more bonuses. I got two pieces written out already, just need the footage and perhaps come up with another voice to act it out with. Lord Windy posted:This game looks really good. I can't wait to see what happens when we get out of the town. New recording is done and so far it contains lot of grinding. Also, running around. Also, forgetting to save for a while and then running into a mob of enemies or a glitch. So I've got a whole bunch of cutting and editing in front of me. The grinding wasn't all that necessary and is more a personal decision. It'll make future videos easier to create and watch because getting a few levels and a new weapon significantly improves killing speed.
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Feb 5, 2015 22:56
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Next part is done. 2 hours of raw footage condensed into one half hour episode and a 2½ minute training montage. It's sortof a bonus, sortof a continuation of the episode because it summarizes the whole levelling part. Edit: Heck I'm going to call it Bonus 3 or else it'll confuse me. More edit! I forget stuff easily! Seeing as how we've murdered a whole bunch of new enemies and used some spells, I feel like these book are more appropriate now. Predatory Creatures of Ahkuilon       Magic  
Fleve fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 6, 2015 21:09
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This game looks pretty cool. I remember seeing a tonne of promotional material for it in PC Gamer back in the day, but strangely don't recall ever seeing a review or any actual coverage. Please continue to choose the rear end in a top hat option where reasonable, the voice acting in the game cracks me up. I was also going to comment that you sound uncannily like Patrick Stewart. Avery Bullock (from American Dad) style Patrick Stewart. Looking forward to future CIA training films.
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Feb 7, 2015 06:06
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That is exactly the voice I was thinking of. It's honestly very soothing to listen to.
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Feb 7, 2015 09:35
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You singing that a capella song in the item shop in episode 2 was fantastic.
jopparoad fucked around with this message at 11:26 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 11:12
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The Arsehead posted:You singing that a capella song in the item shop in episode 2 was fantastic. Thanks! While editing episode 2 I just kept on hearing the same song over and over again, so when it came to testing my pop filter, there really wasn't anything else left in my head  Zushio posted:This game looks pretty cool. I remember seeing a tonne of promotional material for it in PC Gamer back in the day, but strangely don't recall ever seeing a review or any actual coverage. Please continue to choose the rear end in a top hat option where reasonable, the voice acting in the game cracks me up. Hah, I read that same PC Gamer article I think, it was very colourful and it's why I ended up buying the game. Revenant was one of the few games I actually bought at full price back then. I think I played it on a 16mb Diamond graphics card. Reminds me of the ancient word for the alternative option in those days, the virusy magic referred to as 'warez', more commonly a circular trap without reward. Metacritic seems to be too lazy to add the old reviews, but GameRankings shows a whole bunch that I've never seen before; the GameSpot review is surprisingly good. It's fun reading how they all thought Revenant looked amazing. And the Avery Bullock comparisons humble me. I was afraid my intonation could sometimes be interpreted as sounding bored, I'll happily go for soothing though.
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Feb 7, 2015 12:03
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If my memory doesn't fail me the fire spell would have been very effective against those spiders. Magic in general can be very useful in this game and I hope you'll show off more of it.
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Feb 7, 2015 13:53
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Nuramor posted:If my memory doesn't fail me the fire spell would have been very effective against those spiders. Magic in general can be very useful in this game and I hope you'll show off more of it. Definitely. I gave it a try but I didn't include the footage. My invoke skill was so pitiful that, until I started grinding nourish, every spell failed miserably. I'll probably do some more of that off-screen so I can start using magic properly. When I first played the game, part of the magic was to find out new combinations on your own, the experimentation was pretty fun. I still wish the game gave you more than 4 quickbar slots for spells, but, and perhaps that's just rose tinted glasses, I kinda look back fondly on the times I desperately wanted to cast a spell that wasn't on the quickbar, pull up the magic screen, feverishly enter the combination, and then land a successful cast that saves the moment. Of course that needs to be contrasted with the times I pull up the magic screen, mux up the combination, see some hopeless spell fizzle or summon a banana, and get slaughtered by ninjas.
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Feb 7, 2015 14:21
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And part 4 is done. It's a pretty full episode and I've thrown in a tiny bit of songcraft somewhere near the end. The real bonus I'll have to collect/cut from current and previous footage, which should be done tomorrow.
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Feb 8, 2015 01:16
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The water you sail on looks like blue carpet. No wonder Locke seemed so pissed about it. And please never stop singing, you wonderful bastard. Leave fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Feb 8, 2015 |
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Feb 8, 2015 01:39
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This is where the game starts showing that the combat is actually pretty drat fun. Both the circlestrafing bossfights and crunchy fatality animations are a huge part of what I remember about playing it way back when. Come to think of it, nowadays that reminds me of Dark Souls... And naturally, Locke continues to shine. "I think I'm being set up here..."
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Feb 8, 2015 09:26
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I'd completely forgotten this game, but I used to love it when I was younger  I think I still have a disc copy around somewhere...The only thing I actually remember about it is how much of an arsehole Locke is, so I'll be watching this with interest.
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Feb 8, 2015 12:48
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gently caress, I recognize that stealing ladies voice. Also surprised Locke didn't reply to her never stealing again with "I'll make sure of that" and then killing her. Seems in character.
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Feb 8, 2015 14:46
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I don't think Locke murders people he only hates slightly. He does talk a lot of poo poo though. He probably ended up in hell on his poo poo talking skills alone.
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Feb 8, 2015 14:50
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Locke doesn't so much murder townspeople as that he refuses to take poo poo from Ahkuilon. There's hardly a person on that island who isn't a fool. The dancer dances in an empty tavern, the warlord thinks a single person will kill armies, the local medic is stoned, and the only person capable of travelling across the seas (on a bloody island!) is a drunk with a raft. Also, bonus part 4 is done!
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Feb 8, 2015 17:13
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Wow, this game looks like a ton of fun, Fleve! I wish I had found it myself back when it was new, I'd have probably eaten it up.
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Feb 8, 2015 18:49
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We're still at the good part, mind you. Also, love the accents. Almost as cheesy as the game's voice acting.
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Feb 8, 2015 18:54
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Tuxedo Ted posted:Wow, this game looks like a ton of fun, Fleve! I wish I had found it myself back when it was new, I'd have probably eaten it up. This is definitely the good part. The next episode is still going to be interesting from the game-content alone (new enemies, probably some fatalities, fun boss fight) but after that I’m going to have to sharpen my scissors or creativity. But, to be honest, back in 1999 this first part of the game was really pretty drat amazing, and the later parts, while grindy, were still decent enough. I mean, I guess it was sort of par for the course back then, it's not as if Diablo 1 had such a terrific end-game either. Goddamn corridors and succubi. anilEhilated posted:Also, love the accents. Almost as cheesy as the game's voice acting. Thanks! They're a lot easier to pull off than to convincingly act with a different voice/tone; even the B-movie acting in Revenant is probably deceptively difficult. Some of my attempted recordings were.... unimaginably horrible. Perhaps I'll throw a bunch of them together and add some bloopers if i get enough fun ones.
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Feb 8, 2015 19:52
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Diablo 1's endgame as a warrior made me quit the game and restart as a wizard. I really liked Revenant back then but I think I only finished it once because its so annoying to get to run on modern system. Early 3d acceleration games are the worst.
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Feb 8, 2015 20:15
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Was Harowen voiced by Jennifer Hale? 
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Feb 9, 2015 05:42
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Lokapala posted:Was Harowen voiced by Jennifer Hale? Huh, well gently caress me, that's a good catch. The Voice Over wiki and IMDb have some pretty detailed info, and yep, it shows Jennifer Hale voices both Harowen as well as Andria, the woman we had promised to sacrifice to some dark gods in the intro video but then decided not to; breaking that deal kinda landed us in hell. And, for those who played Alpha Protocol, Alan Parker, the old intelligence analyst, is apparently voiced by Cam Clarke, the same voice as Gus who was our drunk sailing champion.
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Feb 9, 2015 11:47
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Fleve posted:I really wish my manuals and boxes hadn't gone lost during a move; used to have a sweet almost book-size Baldur's Gate II manual as well. Heck, I actually read the whole thing back then. I can't imagine anyone would read a whole manual nowadays. To be completely fair the whole BG2 manual was like 90% tables, spell names/descriptions, class descriptions with the rest being mostly just extra lore. I still have mine tucked away in a chest somewhere.
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Feb 9, 2015 15:05
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