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Turin Turambar
Jun 5, 2011



Finished Rook's story. I liked how one of the things you are told in the intro or by the first npc is some throwaway line about how dangerous is the bog, how the terrain itself and the venomous insects can end you. Because in reality it wasn't a throwaway lore line, but it's actually true, the dev implemented both stuff that appears from the ground in the battles, and I was bitten by a parasite in a random even that had... gameplay consequences.

The story itself was a bit disappointing, as in the last day it loses focus, I didn't like how the resolution to Fellemo vs Kalandra conflict barely had anything to do with them, but instead the game throws out of left field something about a new cache of technology in the deep bog that both are interested, with the final boss being some random monster.

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Inadequately
Oct 9, 2012

Buller posted:

Smiths campaign really fucks you over with constant fights.

I haven’t found Smith’s campaign to be significantly more battle-heavy than the others, though obviously it helps to have a bit of foreknowledge on the campaign to know what is and isn’t avoidable. My last Smith run finished with 10 battles and 33 Negotiations, which seems about on par for any of the other campaigns if you go negotiation-heavy. I think it’s just more noticeable for Smith because his self-destructive battle style means he tends to take even more damage than usual from his battles if you don’t have the cards to properly manage it.

ugusername
Jul 5, 2013

Turin Turambar posted:

Finished Rook's story. I liked how one of the things you are told in the intro or by the first npc is some throwaway line about how dangerous is the bog, how the terrain itself and the venomous insects can end you. Because in reality it wasn't a throwaway lore line, but it's actually true, the dev implemented both stuff that appears from the ground in the battles, and I was bitten by a parasite in a random even that had... gameplay consequences.

The story itself was a bit disappointing, as in the last day it loses focus, I didn't like how the resolution to Fellemo vs Kalandra conflict barely had anything to do with them, but instead the game throws out of left field something about a new cache of technology in the deep bog that both are interested, with the final boss being some random monster.

About the story: that's the point. It was never about Fellemo vs Kalandra, it was about gaining resources to go into the deep Bog through one of them for that cache for the mysterious third party from day 1. Which I personally found cool the first time around. Double triple crossing spy action all the way.

Chaotic Flame
Jun 1, 2009

So...


Picked this up on Steam because I couldn't wait for 6/4 and love it. Won my first run as Sal on Steam but didn't even make it through the first boss on Switch lol. I did get my first Switch clear on run #3 (run #1 for Rook). Can't wait to dive into Smith.

The production values for this game are insane.

Ciaphas
Nov 20, 2005

> BEWARE, COWARD :ovr:


Almost got a win on my very first run, going heavy on diplomatic negotiation

Sadly my combat was not as fleshed out and I lost to Kashio with a couple dozen hp left :argh:

This game is fuckin amazing tho and it has the best character design look at this weaponized megasnail

Kull the Conqueror
Apr 8, 2006

Take me to the green valley,
lay the sod o'er me,
I'm a young cowboy,
I know I've done wrong
The Smith story was hilarious. I have such limited tolerance for wacky scifi adventure but it was written so dang well

Shine
Feb 26, 2007

No Muscles For The Majority
My thoughts on Smith remain:

Shine posted:

The new character, Smith, is a complete and total fuckhead and I love him. This update rules hahahahahaha

e: His combat gimmick is drinking loads of alcohol and being an rear end in a top hat with the empty bottles. This is loving great

e2: ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahaha

Lister
Apr 23, 2004

As someone who pretty much 100 percented the game before release, I am underwhelmed that the only extra release content was Smith's final day and some extra npcs/redesigns. But I am glad so many more people are getting on board. The story clearly has more places it can go. I do wonder if they'll go the dlc route or just fast-track a sequel now the groundwork is done.

The prestige level grind sucks. I do wish all the difficulties were open to pick from at the start. The runs can be so long, the fact that you have to do seven of them with each character blows. I posted last page, but I make my fun by seeing how many people I can end up killing in a single run. The key for extra dead is to hire people to help you in fights and let them die as well as killing your opponents. Hard to pull off though, but I'm up to 52 with Sal.

Turin Turambar
Jun 5, 2011



I've been playing a bunch with Rook these last days, and it's clear for me his campaign should be adjusted: it has an inverted difficulty. Day 1 is the hardest one, when he has the basic, non-upgraded deck that sucks, a streak of bad luck in a negotiation with a random rear end npc and you can end up losing 20 resolve points. Day 2 is easier (with the exception of the boss fight, which usually is one of the hardest moments of each story), then day 3 and 4 are easier each than the previous one. You climb up in power faster than the game difficulty does.
Sal's story has a much more normal difficulty progression.

Also, this is the type of game that it's more than the sum of factors, it shines more in the mix of setting, tone, writing, dynamic character relationships, combat and strategic choices done with character ugprades, money, etc. But if I were to take out most of these factors and judge only the combat, I'd say is a bit weaker than StS and Monster Train. I'm not seeing the same build variation, and it also has less enemy types.
Brawl mode, which is where I believed you are supposed to grind in the game, end up feeling weird, with a series of fights that clearly are cut and taken from the story mode, losing their context, and losing part of the dynamic relationships and being more simple in the strategic choice. The game's primary mode is clearly the story, which on the other hand after the first three times start to feel repetitive.

So I don't think this game will be that replayable. Not that it matters because doing a few times each story already means 35 hours of game, which is more than enough for the low price I paid for the game.

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
Can someone explain why I sometimes can't seem to target hostile arguments, like here?


card I was playing:


One small change I'd like would be to have your arguments have similar art to the cards that make them, which isn't always the case. Getting to grips with all the negotiation rules and ui took a while.

Rinkles fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Jun 12, 2021

Shine
Feb 26, 2007

No Muscles For The Majority

Rinkles posted:

Can someone explain why I sometimes can't seem to target hostile arguments, like here?


card I was playing:


One small change I'd like would be to have your arguments have similar art to the cards that make them, which isn't always the case. Getting to grips with all the negotiation rules and ui took a while.

In this case, it's an auction that ends when you win something, IIRC, so you can't attack the Core Argument (opponent hit points). Check out the special cards you receive for bidding and such.

I think there are a few other negotiations like that in the game. Basically, you're meant to do something other than "win" the negotiation.

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?

Shine posted:

In this case, it's an auction that ends when you win something, IIRC, so you can't attack the Core Argument (opponent hit points). Check out the special cards you receive for bidding and such.

I think there are a few other negotiations like that in the game. Basically, you're meant to do something other than "win" the negotiation.

yeah but i couldn't target any argument on their side of the negotiation.

Shine
Feb 26, 2007

No Muscles For The Majority

Rinkles posted:

yeah but i couldn't target any argument on their side of the negotiation.

Oh! Um, dunno then. :(

Chaotic Flame
Jun 1, 2009

So...


Any word on if the Switch version will be patched to fix all the bugs? I just got hit by the bug where you lose all your progress. :smith:

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
the more i play this game, the more engrossed i am

SKULL.GIF
Jan 20, 2017


Finished Smith's story for the first time, I liked his the best out of the three.

It seems pretty clear that all 3 stories have at least like 8 endings each.

Shine
Feb 26, 2007

No Muscles For The Majority

SKULL.GIF posted:

Finished Smith's story for the first time, I liked his the best out of the three.

It seems pretty clear that all 3 stories have at least like 8 endings each.

And even if the overall ending is the same, how you get there can vary big-time and gives the characters (yours and major NPCs) new context. It's good poo poo!

RoboCicero
Oct 22, 2009

"I'm sick and tired of reading these posts!"
Yeah, I just finished Smith's story and had a blast. The forgery mission that you can do the first day is great because I open palm slammed the "butts" option every single time. The final battle was, for me a one-on-one fight in the belly of the beast, but I could see it playing out way differently if I didn't chose to make up with my siblings, only made up with some of them, etc.. I think Sal's story is, ironically, the only one I haven't finished because I played through the first 3 days so many times while it was in EA

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
I'm thinking about buying a pc copy (the PS4 copy is from my brother's account), because playing with a controller isn't the most convenient and this would also let me play on my laptop.

Doubt there's any cross saving, and there's probably no way to edit my saves to approximate my PS4 progress, right?

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
Got to prestige 3 boss for Sal and completed prestige 1 story for Rook. The game is great!

But I suspect it's similar to Invisible Inc in that it gives you wrong expectations and it's hard to sell to people. Invisible Inc looked like XCOM clone, and with this one people probably expect Slay the Spire. Both were awesome game but didn't get enough renown.

I dig everything about this game. I'm a little afraid it won't be able to keep the higher difficulty balance the way good deck builders do. There's so much different stuff in the game I won't be surprised if there are some broken strategies destroying the high level play. But hew, even if tomorrow I realize a perfect strategy for Sal I'll still have a few tense playthroughs making sure it works, and I haven't even touched Brawl, third character or daily runs. So even if it's not as good as StS or Monster Train it's still a great ride with all the visuals and the story.

SKULL.GIF posted:

It seems pretty clear that all 3 stories have at least like 8 endings each.

I've only played Sal and Rook but both seem to have 2 paths. In case of Rook there's a lot of variation on that path, but the only serious choice comes at the end when you got to the expedition, and then in semi-final battle. What am I missing?

ilitarist fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Jun 15, 2021

Samopsa
Nov 9, 2009

Krijgt geen speciaal kerstdiner!
The final boss is always the same for each character, the people who help you and the buffs/difficulty are what change around. All quests are stored in their own lua file which are quite readable and they also contain comments, so if you wanna spoil yourself you can just look at those. I'll do a short write up later for those that are interested!

Samopsa
Nov 9, 2009

Krijgt geen speciaal kerstdiner!
Griftlands stores a ton of data in lua scripts. They're plainscript and easy to read, even if you don't know poo poo about programming. They're also easily accessible! Go to your Griftlands folder -> find data_scripts.zip -> open or extract.
open folder 'scripts' inside. go to the folder 'content'. The folder 'quests' within contains all encounter, quests, sidejobs, etc.
Seperated out into:
Brawl (for the Brawl mode)
Contracts (the jobs main quest givers give you during the days, like oolo/nadan for Sal, kalandra/fellemo for Rook, etc)
Experiments (left over stuff, not used in game afaik)
Opportunities (the time-limited orange things on the map)
Scenarios (the random encounters you get while traveling)
Sidejobs (the missions you can pick on the map to do that are not given by your handler, Rook has none of these, Sal a ton, Smith a few)
Story (the main story mission, like end of day bosses, first day, final boss, things that happen at your bar/room, etc)

Each folder is split per character, with a few common ones in scenarios and opportunities.

Once you open a characters map you get a list of .lua files. These are plaintext and can be opened in notepad, whatever. You can even edit them, but we'll just look at the content to see how quests work and such. Lets pick a random encounter first because they're the simplest.

As Sal you might run into a wandering chef peddling his wares. You get a random effect from each meal, but you won't know what the effect is until you take it/remember it from previous runs. Lets open the file and find out! The file is named wander_chef.lua, found in Griftlands\data_scripts.zip\scripts\content\quests\scenarios\SAL\.

When you open it the first batch of lines already give you the info you need, here it's opened in notepad++:


Let's break it down.

code:
local battle_defs = require "battle/battle_defs"
local negotiation_defs = require "negotiation/negotiation_defs"

local food_options =
{
    CRAYOTE_CASSEROLE =
    {
        condition = function()
            local player = TheGame:GetGameState():GetPlayerAgent()
            local current_resolve, max_resolve = TheGame:GetGameState():GetCaravan():GetResolve()
            return player:GetAspect("health"):Get() < player:GetAspect("health").max or current_resolve < max_resolve
        end,
        effect = function(cxt)
            ConvoUtil.DoHealthDelta(cxt, 4 )
            ConvoUtil.DoResolveDelta(cxt, 4 )
        end,
    },
Crayote Casserole heals 4 hp and resolve.

code:
    FLEAD_STEW =
    {
        condition = function()
            local current_resolve, max_resolve = TheGame:GetGameState():GetCaravan():GetResolve()
            return current_resolve < max_resolve
        end,
        effect = function(cxt)
            ConvoUtil.DoResolveDelta(cxt, 5 )
        end,
    },
Flead Stew restores 5 resolve.

code:
    SAUTEED_GRUBS =
    {
        condition = function()
            local current_resolve, max_resolve = TheGame:GetGameState():GetCaravan():GetResolve()
            return current_resolve < max_resolve
        end,
        effect = function(cxt)
            ConvoUtil.DoResolveDelta(cxt, 8 )
        end,
    },
Sauteed grubs heals 8 resolve.

code:
    FURRUSK_LIVER_SANDWICH =
    {
        effect = function(cxt)            
            cxt:ForceTakeCards{"well_fed"}
        end,
    },

    KEYBONE_SQUARES =
    {
        effect = function(cxt)
            cxt:ForceTakeCards{"hearty"}
        end,
    },

    PICKLED_EYES = 
    {
        bad = true,
        effect = function(cxt)
            cxt:ForceTakeCards{"ulcer"}
        end,
    },

    SALTED_SNAIL_EGGS = 
    {
        bad = true,
        effect = function( cxt )           
            cxt:ForceTakeCards{"sick"}
        end, 
    },
}

These 4 give you cards: well fed, hearty, ulcer, or sick. Lets look at the next few lines to see what these cards do:

code:
--Card from food effects
Content.AddBattleCard( "well_fed", 
{
    name = "Well Fed",
    anim = "taunt",
    flavour = "''Urp'.'",
    desc = "{HEAL 5}",

    rarity = CARD_RARITY.UNIQUE,
    series = CARD_SERIES.GENERAL,

    cost = 0,
    target_type = TARGET_TYPE.SELF,

    flags = battle_defs.CARD_FLAGS.STATUS | battle_defs.CARD_FLAGS.CONSUME,

    OnPostResolve = function( self, battle, attack)
        self.owner:HealHealth( 5, self )
    end,
})
Well fed is a battle card as mentioned in the code, and it heals you by 5. It also destroys it after a use (consume).

code:
Content.AddNegotiationCard("hearty", 
{
    name = "Hearty",
    desc = "Restore 5 resolve.",
    flavour = "'A nice and juicy Vroc roast! Just like Mom used to make!'",
    
    cost = 0,
    flags = negotiation_defs.CARD_FLAGS.STATUS | negotiation_defs.CARD_FLAGS.CONSUME,

    rarity = CARD_RARITY.UNIQUE,
    series = CARD_SERIES.GENERAL,

    OnPostResolve = function( self, minigame )
        self.negotiator:ModifyResolve(5, self)
    end,
})
Well fed is a negotiation card as mentioned in the code, and it heals your resolveby 5. It also destroys it after a use (consume).

What about the other 2? Ulcer and Sick are not in this file. That's because they're re-used status effect cards from drinking! In the file content\negotiation\basic_negotiation.lua these cards are defined:
code:
    ulcer =
    {
        name = "Ulcer",
        cost = 2,
        flavour = "'I forgot my pills, this is going to be awful.'",
        quip = "sick_card",
        remove_on_rest = true,
        

        flags = CARD_FLAGS.STATUS | CARD_FLAGS.CONSUME | CARD_FLAGS.SLEEP_IT_OFF,

        rarity = CARD_RARITY.UNIQUE,
        series = CARD_SERIES.GENERAL,
    },
    sick =
    {
        name = "Sick",
        cost = 1,
        
        desc = "Lose 2 resolve.",
        flavour = "'Hesh, you look like garbage.'",
        remove_on_rest = true,
        
        OnPostResolve = function( self, minigame )
            self.negotiator:ModifyResolve(-2)
        end,

        flags = CARD_FLAGS.STATUS | CARD_FLAGS.EXPEND | CARD_FLAGS.SLEEP_IT_OFF,

        rarity = CARD_RARITY.UNIQUE,
        series = CARD_SERIES.GENERAL,
    },

Ulcer is a 2 cost status card that is destroyed when played, with no other effects, and sick a 1 cost / lose 2 resolve status card that expends when played. Both are destroyed when you sleep.

That's basically all you need to know to make a choice for this quest. Other quests are more involved or simpler, but this should give you plenty of info to start. All cards, grafts, statuses, quests, items... everything is in there for you to dig around in (and even change).

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
I've had really busted negotiation decks that basically couldn't lose (and would often win turn 1), but my battle decks are usually a loose collection of cards with a minor theme. I mean they've been good enough to win the game multiple times, but it always felt like I was getting away with something.

That said, one run I was dead set on replicating a negotiation deck from earlier but couldn't find a key piece and ended up with a deck that couldn't do much during the auction. I think like in MTG draft you have to be careful not to force archetypes, and go with what you open.

But it's also been fun to experiment. My first Hostility deck with Rook, where I tried to ignore as many Diplomatic cards as possible because each of my decks was Diplomatic until that point, ended up pretty strong.

Still sometimes it feels you're a bit too much at the mercy of the available cards' RNG, but I guess that's the point. Sometimes you'll have a tougher time than others, even if you know what you're doing.

Rinkles fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Jun 15, 2021

Farquar
Apr 30, 2003

Bjorn you glad I didn't say banana?

Rinkles posted:


Still sometimes it feels you're a bit too much at the mercy of the available cards' RNG, but I guess that's the point. Sometimes you'll have a tougher time than others, even if you know what you're doing.

That's what I love about this game. I enjoy having to adapt to my available choices in a game. When I have so much control that I can just pick my favorite archetype every game, I tend to lose interest much quicker.

Lister
Apr 23, 2004

Just beat my death record tonight. Once you guys finish most of the game, you'll start making your own arbitrary challenges to keep playing interesting too.

90s Shoes
Jan 30, 2014
This game is... almost great. I feel like the idea of conversation vs combat is more fun than how it actually plays out, and the convo decks kind of all feel the same across the characters.

I also think the game goes too far out of its way to throw random cards into your decks, which kind of hampers the fun of the entire premise sometimes, because you just end up saying gently caress it, the deck is what it is. I dunno.

The presentation is nice and the plots are all fun enough once or twice but I find, much like with Monster Train, a few victories deep I'm not compelled to play much more or grind for rewards.

There's almost too much metagame for me, honestly. Slay the Spire really was too good for us, no deckbuilder in its wake has quite hit on the satisfying balance of mechanics it had.

Oh well, still worth the money and time spent and I'd recommend it to people who like Spire and such, just with some caveats. Part of me would almost rather it have been a straight up full-fledged story rpg with card battles, without the roguelike trappings in this case though.

Anywho, as a random aside, I feel like every Klei game I've played has fallen just short of my expectations, which maybe goes hand in hand with what another poster above was saying about expectations of their games based on their premise vs the reality of what you get. I dunno.

I think Mark of the Ninja was my favorite.

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
Tried Brawl mode. It's certainly closer to the standard deck-builder formula. It also seem to be using a much wider set of characters and items. But it doesn't feel like a right way to play the game. Even if I have to go through the same dialogues again and again story mode seems right to me. More restricted but more structured. Wonder if other players feel the same.

SKULL.GIF
Jan 20, 2017


Brawl feels a lot harder than the regular mode.

Shine
Feb 26, 2007

No Muscles For The Majority

90s Shoes posted:

I think Mark of the Ninja was my favorite.

Mark of the Ninja was dope.

SKULL.GIF
Jan 20, 2017


Had a Brawl Sal run where I basically broke the game wide open with 2x Inside Fighting, 1x Domination, and Shoulder Roll. Turns out when you're generating a dozen combo points per turn and can full-convert that combo into 99+ defense, you can just kind of do whatever.

Also a bunch of the later card unlocks are very powerful so if you're struggling early on and feel like you can't really do anything -- that is, apparently, by design :rolleyes:

Samopsa
Nov 9, 2009

Krijgt geen speciaal kerstdiner!

SKULL.GIF posted:

Had a Brawl Sal run where I basically broke the game wide open with 2x Inside Fighting, 1x Domination, and Shoulder Roll. Turns out when you're generating a dozen combo points per turn and can full-convert that combo into 99+ defense, you can just kind of do whatever.

Also a bunch of the later card unlocks are very powerful so if you're struggling early on and feel like you can't really do anything -- that is, apparently, by design :rolleyes:

Eh, this is the same in StS and most other card games. The new card sets start introducing new concepts that, while powerful, are kept from first time players to avoid overwhelming them. Doing a couple of failed runs, unlocking new cards, and finally beating a campaign is a pretty decent loop to start off with imo.

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
It's exactly like StS. I remember playing StS for the first time and beating Act 3 boss. But on the consequent playthroughs, I couldn't come close for a while cause new cards meant unfocused decks. Later I realized you don't have to take the cards the game gives you and could beat Act 3 boss again.

Griftlands throws new keywords at you. Unlike StS your initial deck already has cards for specific styles (at least for Sal and Rook) that will be dead weight for most builds, so the problem of removing cards is bigger than in StS. On the other hand, those cards can almost always be upgraded to have some OK effect like draw/discard.

Deceptive Thinker
Oct 5, 2005

I'll rip out your optics!

ilitarist posted:

Griftlands throws new keywords at you. Unlike StS your initial deck already has cards for specific styles (at least for Sal and Rook) that will be dead weight for most builds, so the problem of removing cards is bigger than in StS. On the other hand, those cards can almost always be upgraded to have some OK effect like draw/discard.

most of the base cards also have an upgrade option that pops up every once and a while giving it a huge number and a "destroy" keyword which removes it permanently after using it - which is great if you're trying to get rid of them

Ciaphas
Nov 20, 2005

> BEWARE, COWARD :ovr:


got my first Rook win :toot: Blacklist is insanely busted

Now on to Smith :D

ZepiaEltnamOberon
Oct 25, 2010

I Failed At Anime 2022
If I Duplicate a Destroy-able card with my Graft, do I have to use the Duplicated one to prevent my original one from being Destroyed?

Inadequately
Oct 9, 2012
Yes, Duplicated cards are temporary and only stick around for that battle regardless of whether you use them or not. Playing the original will still Destroy it.

SKULL.GIF
Jan 20, 2017


Wow, I don't know if I just built a bad Negotiation deck but Prestige 2 is a giant jump in difficulty for talk battles to the point I had to skip a bunch in the late stages of the run. Regular combat didn't seem that much more difficult.

ilitarist
Apr 26, 2016

illiterate and militarist
Yes, prestige 2 is a big jump in negotiation difficulty.

I've just had a Sal prestige 3 run where my negotiation deck was unbeatable. But some dude gave me a bane that gave me -2HP every time I got Power gain. I had a lot of cards for gaining power, and worst of all right before the day 4 boss some dude gave me an item that gave me temporary power each time it's drawn. It was a dumb and sad death.

Hauki
May 11, 2010


I can’t not take every fight with Smith and I keep dying to my own hubris. The other two I cleared on p1 first try at least. Mechanically the game feels like a variation on a theme but I’m digging the aesthetics at any rate.

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Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
lol it took me like ten runs to realize Rook also had access to a card vendor/remover.

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