Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Website: https://www.fatesofort.com/ Price: $15 US @ GOG or itch.io
Blurb: “Fates of Ort is a retro inspired fantasy RPG with a focus on strategic action and a story driven by your decisions. It is a tale of sacrifice and difficult choices, in a world under threat of annihilation by the avaricious force of Consumption magic.“
Before we begin, I need to warn you that you will be reading a lot. This is not a pick up and jam five minutes, game, you need to invest time.
The game labels itself as a “retro fantasy RPG”. Since it is isometric, it immediately conjures up images of “Shadowlands” or “The immortal” from 30 years ago. In my humble opinion, ‘fates of ort’ is lacking in the graphics and sound, but makes up for it in gameplay (a slight twist on the mechanics) and story. However, it is different and interesting enough to keep you playing. It is real-time and it is not. Something which confused me at first. Time stops when you do, so holding down the mouse button will make you move, but releasing it freezes everything. Is it worth blowing your hard earned cash on? Let’s find out.
Story
This is a game that tells a story, there are no two ways about it. It seems some Duke, a relative of the king, has rediscovered “consumption”. A kind of wasting-away magic. (A quick primer for our younger readers, “consumption” is what TB [pulmonary tuberculosis] used to be named, which is a truly horrible disease). You are a novice to “the academy”, and, on your first day, you get offered a ‘gift’ by the Duke. What I liked is that the game does not hold your hand here. You can choose to receive the gift or reject it, and both choices offer you a chance to change your mind. The Academy is wiped out, and you and your sister die. Yep. The duke kills you, 900 damage with one shot. Luckily you met with the fates, erm, sisters, first. From what I understand, the game is non-linear, but also not totally open world. You still have your main story / quest, and side-quests sort of flow into it. There are also side stories, which seem to have no bearing on the main story at all. At first, the story feels static, but as the game progresses, the pieces of the puzzle slide into place and the world becomes richer. The dialogue between your character and NPC’s is listed above and your options listed below (see image). This formula makes for simple, clear gameplay, a la SNES. Though there is sword fighting and spell casting, the heavy lifting is in the dialogue.
Sound and Graphics.
I understand the reason for the pseudo-8-bit graphics and style, but I feel it could be better. I am a fan of pixel graphics, just not a fan of this faceless type. Also, I feel there is a discrepancy between the pseudo-8-bit of the game and the pseudo-16-bit of the interface, like the little hand cursor. The isometric view, I love, or should I say I love the way it fools my brain into thinking it is 3D in 2D. Everything other than the characters feels detailed and would have blown people out of the water in 1989.
The soundtrack gets an A, it is awesome, but it is no earworm. It does get out of your way and enhances the game (Immersion). The in-game sounds are fitting, and the only one that seemed a bit loud was the walking. The variety of sounds also makes you not get annoyed in the first half-hour of the game.
Gameplay
The main game loop is getting into scraps, collecting loot and advancing our character, but it is how it is implemented that makes it shine. The idea of time being frozen until you move, and stopping when you do, allows for a very tactical game. Though you are armed with a sword, you get to cast magic as well. The magic system also has a twist. Instead of having pre-set spells, you combine elements and shapes to get an effect… and that may be subject to change as well. Magic is powerful in this game, but, like everything in life, it comes at a cost. This prevents the game from being soulless, like Microsoft’s dungeons, which is just running and button mashing. I would choose this over dungeons 1, 2 or 3, any day. You are a lot more human, where enemy hits actually do a lot of damage, and you will get penalised if you don’t let time stop to plan your next move. Time is on your side. Healing potions are not.
Though the isometric levels can be big, they are not too big, so you forget which way you came in. The game may not be open world and endless, but you get to explore as much as you like, within reason. When you reach an exit point on the edge of a map, the game loads the next level and you can continue adventuring. There are strange icons that sometimes appear on the edges of the screen, but I assume these are other exits or points of interest. Now let's get back to the reading. The text is not full of filler, it is down to the point, which I appreciated. There are oodles of quests and side-quests for you to do. If you do not read properly, you may bungle your quest. The game does not prevent you from bungling quests. This puts another twist on the genre.
All-in-all, it is an interesting game and it works great on Linux. As there is no local pricing, I would not shell out the equivalent of $15 for it. It is one of those I will wait to go on sale, before considering buying it.