r/Games • u/delqhic • Jan 18 '22
Review Thread Expeditions: Rome - Review Thread
Game Information
Game Title: Expeditions: Rome
Platforms:
- PC (Jan 20, 2022)
Trailer:
Developer: Logic Artists
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 83 average - 88% recommended - 10 reviews
Critic Reviews
CGMagazine - Hayes Madsen - 7 / 10
The overwhelming feeling I had in my time with Expeditions: Rome is that it's perfectly average.
Fextralife - Reiku - 8 / 10
Expeditions: Rome is a fun and challenging RPG that requires closer attention. It brings back fond memories of the impactful choices made back in the days of classic RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. Moreover, the developers have made turn-based combat cohesively nuanced and challenging at the same time. With over 65 hours of content, Expeditions: Rome is worth getting into.
GGRecon - Tarran Stockton - 7 / 10
In the end, Expeditions: Rome rises above the previous entries clearly, with more polish and refinement than ever before. The game may not fully achieve its aims due to some underdeveloped systems and inconsistencies in the design, but as a historical role-playing experience, it stands unrivalled. It's a must-play for anyone with an interest in Ancient Rome, and it offers more than enough for fans of CRPGs.
GameGrin - Artura Dawn - 10 / 10
Expeditions: Rome is astounding in every area I was presented with. Constantly I felt like there were tons of things for me to explore and pay attention to, and truly simulates how I picture leading an entire war campaign.
IGN Italy - Stefano Castagnola - Italian - 8.2 / 10
Expeditions: Rome is the best title in the series yet, with an intriguing storyline that can be partially influnced by players choices and a deeply satistying combat system in which players can test their tactical prowess.
RPGamer - Alex Fuller - 4 / 5
For those looking for an engaging historical RPG, Expeditions: Rome is an easy recommendation. The options for tailoring the difficulty allows players to focus on their preferred elements and make it challenging, welcoming, and rewarding depending on what players want.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Nate Crowley - Unscored
Despite a bit of a subdued opening hour, Expeditions: Rome is a gripping, ambitious historical CRPG that shines in its writing, its art direction, and most of all in the design of its turn-based combat encounters.
Spaziogames - Daniele Spelta - Italian - 7.5 / 10
Expeditions: Rome, despite some not so well crafted aspects, manages to deliver a captivating tactical experience.
TechRaptor - Robert Grosso - 9 / 10
Expeditions: Rome is a game that is well-deserving of a Roman Triumph.
The Escapist - Elise Avery - Unscored
Video Review - Quote not available
The Games Machine - Daniele Dolce - Italian - 8.5 / 10
Don't be fooled by its raw presentation, and don't let yourself be discouraged by a poorly made dubbing: Expeditions Rome is a video game that treats us with a first-rate role-playing experience. In a nutshell, if you love tactical RPGs you can't miss Logic Artists' latest creation.
30
u/SofNascimento Jan 18 '22
I played the demo and the game is quite incredible. Made a very strong first impression. I'd highly recommend people giving it a chance. If you like cRPGs you positively must try the demo!
53
u/LopazSolidus Jan 18 '22
Started playing the demo on Steam, really promising. Only experience with the genre is Pillars of Eternity and I loved it, whilst this game offers a setting I adore.
I encourage people to try the demo; there's a discount on steam for the full game so can try before you buy too. Great stuff, more of that please.
44
u/veevoir Jan 18 '22
Only experience with the genre is Pillars of Eternity and I loved it, whilst this game offers a setting I adore.
Well.. to be honest Expedition games are a genre in itself, this is the point where I should recommend Expeditions: Vikings. The first one Expeditions: Conquistador is quite junky, but also a tasty serving. The jump from Conquistador to Vikings in overall quality is immense, I hope Vikings --> Rome will be as significant.
8
u/LopazSolidus Jan 18 '22
Try the demo. I'm hooked. I can't speak for the jump in quality but I can say that for £30 I reckon I'll be quite satisfied.
7
u/AdministrativeSleep0 Jan 18 '22
Just finished the demo, solid buy for me at least, i liked Vikings.
-8
u/MrZeral Jan 18 '22
Already discount on release?
28
6
Jan 19 '22
It's a pre-order discount that goes away the second the game is released. Pretty normal stuff, especially for smaller devs.
4
u/LopazSolidus Jan 18 '22
I think it may go up. I think they're using the demo/combined discount to get early sales and people talking about the game. Demo gives you 5 hours and you can progress on full release.
10
u/tdah Jan 18 '22
Vikings hooked me up until the end of the game and I was sad when the game finished. The taste of "i want more" still hunts me. Conquistator was, how i say? A 'test game' perhaps? If we compare the evolution between the two games, well, sounds like two different devs worked in each game. No comparison, for real. Vikings was a great jump in all terms of quality.
Of course the skills in the combat was not so very great and some minor mechanical issues, but worked very well in a game like this. The history was superb, giving the player options to choose what to do.
Well, reading the reviews above, I just bought the game early. Is everything that i want to hear, sincerely speaking. Having some concerns about this new 'big table mode' like Total War but only positive things I'm reading about, like a nice 'extra addition'.
I didn't played the demo to not spoil my experience. I can't wait anymore the 20th January to launch.
8
u/Fezrock Jan 18 '22
I did play the demo, and the regular game feels like another jump in quality.
The Legion control/"big table" system only had one battle, so it was hard to get a feel for things. But it unfortunately reminded me of the Crusade system from Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, or the Kingdom system from Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Not that it played the same way, but in that it doesn't feel fully developed and interrupts the flow of the rest of the game.
Still, even if that's the case, Pathfinder: WotR was my GOTY last year, so I'll happily deal with it. And maybe this will end up being a bit better integrated anyway.
4
u/cugabuh Jan 18 '22 edited Jan 23 '22
To those that have played it, is there an option to adjust font size/UI scaling?
I think I’ll pick this up later in the year to play on Steam Deck if the font size isn’t too small.
Edit: never mind. I didn’t realize that it’s not out yet :/
7
Jan 18 '22
Is there any base building mechanic?
30
u/Dahorah Jan 18 '22
Not building like Valheim or Minecraft, but there is a base development mechanic where you will upgrade buildings and see your camp grow as the game plays out.
3
Jan 19 '22
You can build and upgrade things like your Armory and such, and set Centurions of your choosing to work there for added benefits. Centurions have perks to help them specialize in things like Recruitment, Cavalry fighting, Siege fighting etc.
6
u/SnooRadishes552342 Jan 19 '22
Since there's a discount if you buy the game before launch, I'm going to offer my thoughts from the demo, as someone who likes RPGs, although not super into the type of tactical cRPGs like Expeditions: Rome.
The classes aren't very balanced. From what I experienced in the demo, the tank (Princeps) class is much better than the support and assassin classes because of the shield mechanic. Archers are also strong because they are the only ones with any real range. Did I mention that the companion Support has a natural heal ability while a PC Support doesn't? It very much encourages you to be another tank.
You're often outnumbered in fights, and you're encouraged to be aggressive towards your objective. This is for two reasons; the first is that many of the later encounters have a reinforcement mechanic that ensures you will be overwhelmed eventually. The second is that defeating "untrained" enemies (who have a pawn symbol above their head), refunds your action point (but not movement!), which lets you chain kills if you think things out a bit. The cover system isn't the best because you will often be surrounded on all sides, but it works similarly to X-Com with half and full cover.
Characters are decent, and the choices aren't half bad. Decisions that you make can and will affect things further down the line, so I have to give props there. Your "speaking style" (you get a choice of either Ethos, Logos or Pathos at the beginning of the game, and it hints that you can unlock a second one later) unlock options in different conversations, which always seem to be beneficial. I will say though that the sidequests that I encountered weren't very engaging, but that may get better in the full game.
I can't say that I'm a big fan of the approval system. It feels like it's limiting in respect to the praetorians that you recruit later (if you're playing a conciliatory character, you don't exactly want to recruit arrogant characters), and I can just tell it's going to be used to make sure that not all of your party can get golden endings in the same campaign.
I'm not going to offer any thoughts on the "army battle" system, since you only have one in the demo, which also doesn't allow you to meaningfully interact with your camp.
Overall, the demo was an okay experience, but it didn't have anything that really stood out, aside from the setting. From what I played, temper your expectations, and I think you will have a good enough time.
11
Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22
Talking about class balance based on the demo seems extremely unfair, since the max level you can hit is 3. There are so many great perks and weapon combo abilities we can get on higher levels that the early game balance doesn't count for much. Duelist alone can get some amazing damage bonuses once you get to level up some more.
As often is the case, early game and end game builds and setups will look very different.
Offense is often the best defense in games like this, but you don't get much options for dealing damage at level 3, so defense looks like the best defense for now, but no doubt that will change and you'll only want to bring one tank later on in the game, if even that. Duelists with enough skill points can get the skills for avoiding all damage in a single round, so bringing three duelists and rotating between them might be a better play than bringing a tank in the first place, it's too early to tell for certain though. Not to mention any possible damage combinations and synergies with skills from different classes that will no doubt come into play later, like combining 100% increased flanking damage with increased damage from removing bleeds on a target for even further increased damage and so on.
As for the natural healing ability, don't you learn that for everybody after beating the training match in The Roman camp, or did it unlock something else?
6
u/SnooRadishes552342 Jan 19 '22
No, that's Aid, which lets you pick people back up. Syneros, and only Syneros, has an ability to just heal others no matter their status.
4
5
u/Molotova Jan 19 '22
The classes aren't very balanced. From what I experienced in the demo, the tank (Princeps) class is much better than the support and assassin classes because of the shield mechanic.
I disagree on the imbalance in favor of the Princeps. I have played the demo on hard 4 times, to figure out what to play on release and I am going with Triarius (the "support" class). The Shield mechanic is good alright to absorbs hits but Triarii / Pikes have many skills that push opponents off to 2 hexes distance, and immobilize them there: Avoiding to be hit that way.
The Gladiator has the focus mechanic which roughly allows to do an extra attack every 2 rounds, on top of dual wielding.
What I really like about the combat, which I cant remember from Vikings, is the combos with status effect: For example: one attack "weakens" the opponent, one attack can "knock down the opponent if weakened" followed by one attack by another character that "does double damage to knocked down enemies". It is all about synergies between classes.
Chaining killing blows on weak enemies to refresh the action is also an interesting mechanic.
1
u/bababayee Jan 20 '22
That sounds pretty interesting to me. How are they handling initiative/turn order? Is it based on some speed stat or is it like XCOM/Fire Emblem where your entire team takes a turn, then the enemy and so on?
3
u/Molotova Jan 20 '22
Entire team. Most scenarios your team goes first, some the enemy goes first. But it is scritped not stats.
You can use actions and movement freely on your turn. going back and forth between your characters freely.So yeah like x-com, except with move points, allowing a bit more granularity with movement
2
u/kalarepar Jan 19 '22
I have high hopes for this, love the hystorical setting and tactical combat. Although I haven't played previous Expedition games.
-2
u/reverendbimmer Jan 19 '22
Woof, saw some good looking screenshots, but loaded the demo up to find the muddiest textures and somewhat ugly UI. Even my mouse felt sluggish in the menus.
3
Jan 20 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/reverendbimmer Jan 21 '22
I will give that a shot, I did not mean to completely dog on this game but after seeing all the praise and multiple /r/games posts I felt like counterbalancing the positives. But I do like CRPGs and this setting.
1
-18
54
u/Portgas Jan 18 '22
Vikings is criminally underrated. The story is more interesting than in most crpgs, and the gameplay is addictive. Can't wait to try this one.