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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS




Of Orcs and Men is a fantasy RPG developed by French game studios Cyanide Studios (Blood Bowl, Game of Thrones) and Spiders Studios (Sherlock Holmes vs Jack The Ripper, Mars: War Logs) which was published by Focus Home Interactive (Trackmania, Wargame, Cities XL) back in 2012.

The game is more or less your bog standard RPG game along the same lines as Divinity and Mass Effect's mechanics but not as long or as expansive in it's story telling. That however, is made up for in it's rather "unique" approach to fantasy tropes when it comes to the main plot.

Despite it's flaws, and it's rather mixed reviews, Of Orcs & Men has a bit of charm that's hard to ignore. You can tell the devs put some love and care into the game, and while it didn't come out as perfect or polished as other games in the genre it still stands out on it's own for trying to do things just a bit differently.

The title of the game is clearly a nod to John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men, and while you may think it's a re-imagination of the story in a fantasy setting, you'd be mistaken. While there are some similarities, such as a George & Lennie type duo as the main characters, the game went a different direction. There is an attempt to tell the story in a rather different way than what we've become accustomed to with RPGs, but overall the game just couldn't pull off the lofty ideas the devs had. It's a shame really because with some more development time it could have pulled it off and been more successful.

About two years after its release, Of Orcs and Men got a prequel called Styx: Master of Shadows which was more of an action stealth game that went over Styx's backstory. That was better received than Of Orcs and Men.



Of Orcs and Men puts the player in control of an Orc and a Goblin who are on a rather harrowing journey. The land they find themselves is is openly hostile to them due to their species, as the Human ran empire has gotten into the habit of exterminating or enslaving all Orcs they can find. The goblins are a different story which we'll find out a bit more details of as the story progresses.

Orcs & Goblins are, traditionally, viewed as the evil horde of creatures that humans, typically the good guys, have to fight against. This trope of fantasy writing is, however, being flipped onto it's head in Of Orcs and Men. It's rather rare that we get to play as a "villain" in any game, let alone a monstrous creature that is perceived to be the bad guy by the rest of the game's universe. This, initially, is why the game is somewhat charming and can stand out just a bit and why I originally purchased it. Who doesn't want to be a big rear end Orc slaying Humans after years of the reverse?

The two main characters are Arkail and Styx.

Arkail is a member of the Orc tribe the Blood Jaws who are a rather well known group of dangerous Orcish warriors. He's also referred to as the Butcher of Bay Harbor due to his actions at the battle of Bay Harbor between the Orcs and the Humans.


Styx is a smart rear end Goblin who has gotten by due to his wits, his propensity to not piss off anyone too much, and his rather unique abilities. He's a well connected guy who uses his connections to help Arkail out along the plot.



This is going to be a video Let's Play, which is a bit different than other RPG LPs out there which tend to be screenshot LPs. Part of this decision is that this game's, albeit flawed, charm is the voice acting of the characters and the inflection & tone of them. This will help you grow to appreciate what the devs were going for in terms of the story.

Updates will be every Tuesday. Since there are difference choices to be made I'll be polling the thread every now and then to find out what we want to do when presented with a choice.

There are also minor dialogue choices that, for the sake of convenience, I'll control as they can help add some backstory and fluff that aren't necessarily plot changing.

:siren:As usual, there's going to be a rule about not spoiling the story for others.:siren:






















Mekchu fucked around with this message at 04:33 on May 16, 2016

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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Reserved

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Last Transmission posted:

I like the concept so far. Seeing the tables turned for once is refreshing.

And I can see why Styx got his own game. Having to think about the best approach to each encounter is much more interesting than just charging in constantly.

Yeah, Styx's game is more or less Splinter Cell/Assassins Creed 1 in terms of general game mechanics. It's actually pretty fun and might be worth doing an LP of at some point. Haven't finished it though.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

anilEhilated posted:

My, that's a lot of swearing.

edit: Nevermind, I can't read. Looks interesting enough.
How long would you say this is compared to other RPGs on the market?

To date, including the time I've put into this LP, I have 14 hours on it and pretty much did everything I could find on the first play through.

For a comparison I have like 50 hours on Witcher 3, 14 hours on South Park Stick of Truth, 20 hours in KOTOR 2, and so on. It's about middle of the road in length for a game of it's size I guess.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jun 7, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
There's a bit in the next video of the LP that is pretty atrocious in terms of voice acting.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Jun 7, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Burning Sensation posted:

Last time I played this game it was around its initial release date, so my memory is iffy at best, but Arkence just really stood out to me as being utter poo poo, especially given that she's a major character, as opposed to "random bloke #13" or whatever.

Also, I don't know if it's worth even mentioning at this point, but I utterly hate this game's explanation for the origin of its goblins. I barely remember what it even was, really, I just remember that it infuriated me for some reason.

Maybe I'm just a really angry man and I need to chill or something. Guess we'll get there when we get there.

The upcoming scene will remind you that, sadly, this game wasn't as polished as you'd hope it'd be.

And no, the bit you mentioned second isn't worth talking about just yet.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Ironslave posted:

The writing is also leagues above the writing in this game, in that it doesn't rely on the constant use of "gently caress" to let us know the story is "mature."

Yeah. It's a game that should get an LP (by someone else maybe), but seeing where that story came from is sorta important. Plus I like games that meet the "neat story/game mechanic idea that falls flat" gimmick.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jun 8, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
You get used to the writing as the game progresses. It's not amazing writing mind you, but its just something you become accustomed to with regards to the game.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I'll try to find the name of the voice actor. He's pretty good in Styx's standalone game.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Yeah. On an unrelated note I've been playing Styx Master of Shadows on my first playthrough alongside recording this LP. I am really bad at stealth games :smith:

Edit - Styx's voice actor is Saul Jephcott.

What other works do you know him from?

Beyond Two Souls
Mars: War Logs
Empire: Total War

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jun 10, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I never had any issues with the combat, save for the cheese stuff I showed off. It's really simple and sorta boring which is strange since that's like 75% of the gameplay. Styx's stealth stuff is where the game shines, and they turned that into it's own game that's actually pretty good.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Going to try and get updates out on every Monday after this next episode comes out which should be later today.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Jun 17, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS


In which Styx hits puberty.

Edit - Oh I forgot to mention that we need to vote on whether or not to talk to Oboth.

Just bold your choice and I'll go through the votes on Sunday when I record the next session.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jun 11, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
If anyone's interested in getting this game or the Styx spinoff, they're both on sale for like $10 each on Steam.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Jun 11, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
So I had a shower thought this morning.

I think the reason why Styx's voice was so bad in that convo with Fox was because that was an early take. Nothing crazy, but then I was thinking how/why they let that bad/early of a character voice acting get into the final product and came to the conclusion that since it was two studios doing the work together they ended up just going "oh (insert name) will double check" and it slipped through the cracks. That's the only egregious voice acting I can recall in the entire game at that level. Some of the characters sound bad, but that was the most prominent one.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Ghost Stromboli posted:

e: Regarding the actual game being played, the whole cheesiness in combat seems less to me like you're abusing the game and more that it's relatively easy to avoid death with the duo going. I'm not sure if that's cheesing the system or the system not being balanced and having to let the player keep reviving the characters over and over. It could be a quick solution to a bigger problem they had. Not having played it myself though, I can't really say for sure. Just looks that way.

I consider it cheese sort of like how in Starcraft certain moves/opener strategies are considered "cheese" in that it's sorta gimmicky and not in the "spirit" of what is meant to be done. Which is why I said I won't be using that technique in the LP.

Also, while I appreciate the talk about the motiff & how this game compares to other titles that may have done it better we should try to keep the discussion focused on this particular game as much as we can. Thanks.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Premiere is acting up, so the video may not be uploaded until later tonight. I'll post it here as soon as its ready.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS


We meet with Oboth, kill a few humans, and get lost in a linear map.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
And we're back! This time we take care of a pest problem...sorta...oh and discover new bugs!

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Just a heads up, since I am terrible at keeping a schedule I changed the OP to reflect a new release schedule of every Tuesday. Two vids a week was a bit too ambitious for me given my other projects etc.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Been a little while since the last episode and I apologize for missing last week's release. We have a new episode this week and we also have a choice to make.



Do we go and confront Dorek, allowing us to finish the Challenge of the Black Hand, or do we move on with the main story?

Voting ends Saturday at 23:59 Eastern US.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Yeah, there was certainly a lot of potential here but I think the writers just 1) didn't know which way they wanted to go or 2) wanted to play it safe.

It's a shame, the game could have been good if things had been just more refined.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Oh also, do you guys really want to see the character upgrades being made at each level or do you not mind that stuff being cut out and just explained in the VO?

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

corn in the bible posted:

Why are you playing this terrible game when you could be playing the sequel

Because its the game I wanted to LP. It's not that complicated really.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS


After a bit of a layoff I'm back with another episode. Stick through until the end as we have another choice to make and knowing why there's a choice is a bit important to that plot point.

Sarkyss or Arken?

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I don't know to be honest. I think maybe they just bounced off stuff and didn't get hurt that bad? Even then if they took damage from a human swinging a sword, surely they'd be in a lot of pain after that big of a fall.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
[]

We're off to go save Arken as you requested.

I'll just say this episode features a lot of me bitching about the maps because I just really dislike the linearity of them throughout the game.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Hammurabi posted:

So Styx is the only sapient goblin? I had figured that the feral ones had just lost their minds in the catacombs, but the dialogue seems to now imply otherwise.

Yeah so far he's the only Goblin that has ever been known to talk.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I haven't forgotten about this LP. I've just been sort of lazy about getting the next update out, new episode will be out on Sunday. Promise.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS


We have a decision to make.

Do we help the rioting orcs or do we not? Just need a Yes or No.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

anilEhilated posted:

Just dropping by to say I finally caved in and bought Styx's Big Magical Adventure. Enjoying it greatly so far, so thanks for that; I probably wouldn't even have noticed that game if not for this LP.

Its a good game. I haven't completed it yet, but it's a stark difference between Orcs & Men thanks to a more focused approach to the design.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

AnxiousSloth posted:

I'm going to vote yes, and I'm curious. How much longer is the game? I've quite enjoyed it so far although the character dialog seems really quiet and I had to turn up my speakers to hear.

We just got into the second chapter out of the five for the main story. Side quests obviously add more time to the playthrough. Though those sort of trail off after this chapter and the main story is pretty much all we are directed towards doing.

It also doesn't help I've taken forever with updates over the past month or so, going to try up the output so there's at least a new one each week.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Sep 12, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I am, I just have been super lazy and focusing on other stuff for the past few weeks.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
We're back after another lengthy break because I am a bad and got caught up doing dumb things with my life.



In other news, Styx Master of Shadows is $10 on Steam right now: http://store.steampowered.com/app/242640/

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

If I were any good at Styx Master of Shadows I'd do it as an LP after this one.

Edit - Actually it'd be cool to see someone do an LP of it if any of you are so inclined.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Oct 14, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
The story is definitely quirky, but I think it flows fairly decently. Ark is, basically, a warrior trying to preserve his culture while Styx is a liar and a crook who has no issue calling out the bullshit he sees.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Oct 21, 2015

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Thanks dude. I am never quit sure how to assess how my own VO stuff comes across.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Yeah the fact Arkail is totally down to murder his fellow Orcs while saying he needs to free them and preserve their ways is always kind of funny.

Edit - Also by this point you should start to notice that the writers start to get more of a grasp of what they want the characters to be like which is a shame since the first act of the game was pretty much bogged down with ham fisted dialogue.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Oct 23, 2015

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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Yeah the characters really grew from very bland stereotypes to "oh neat they got some personality & actual characterization" in the course of the first few hours.

And yes, that monologue by Styx is good. It's one of the couple of scenes in the game that redeemed the poorer areas in my opinion.

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