Recent reviews by Potion Seller

The problem? Rue Valley is not that game...but that doesn’t automatically make it bad. Its biggest threat is mismatched player expectations. Go in expecting Disco Elysium and you’ll probably bounce off it hard -- especially since the marketing leans on that claim a little too eagerly. But if you approach it as a cheap, linear narrative-adventure, there’s still some enjoyment to be found. The game lives and dies on whether you both realize what it is beforehand...and if you're willing to accept that: a linear story-driven experience with some misleading RPG mechanics, but one representing its cheap $30 asking price.


If it helps, here are a few “expectation alignments” I'd offer based on my experience with the game after the fact:

• Character personality stats are purely flavor
  
• You’ll see “unique” dialogue options (and occasionally blocked ones), but the game’s linear design makes these mostly cosmetic.
  
• Lean into your own personality for the best experience --it fits the spirit of the system more than the system fits itself.

• “Status effects,” by extension, are best ignored
  
• Your character can pick up temporary effects -- getting tipsy, getting soaked, getting yelled at by MILFs in enormous hats -- but these rarely matter because the underlying personality mechanics don’t meaningfully interact with them.
  
• I initially assumed these were meant to help you push through certain personality checks (e.g., taking a drink to loosen up), but that isn’t how the game actually works.

• This is a highly linear narrative adventure -- embrace that
  
• The mechanics and choices don’t support much replay value. Rue Valley feels like a “one and done” experience -- which, in fairness, the price reflects.
  
• Build a Eugene that mirrors your own flaws, pick dialogue that stings in a personal way when the game asks about your past, and let go of any lingering Disco Elysium expectations.

I bought the first iteration on Day 1 a year ago.

I only played for a few hours because of how badly optimized the game was, and how poorly it ran. I actually loved the game and desperately wanted to enjoy it, but couldn't. It literally ran so bad that it constantly gave me dizziness (which never happens) until the nausea pulled me away from the computer.

So fast forward a year later. I waited patiently, eagerly excited to finally experience this game the way it was meant to be played all along, and enjoy a smooth experience.

That's not what happened. There are more bugs on this "Director's Cut" than I ever even saw on Day 1 of the Original. Battles are lost because I can't select characters. High level enemies are glitching all around the map. If I'm completely honest, the performance hasn't gotten better, either.

inXile, I desperately want to be a fan but what the actual ♥♥♥♥ are you guys doing?

This is a game about failure.

Failure never feels good, and rarely does one even accept it. This game has violently dismantled my previous perception of failure in video games, and though I struggled to accept it (and nearly gave up in the process) I walked away with one of my most unique and insightful gaming experiences.

My first lesson came at the end of the first tutorial campaign. I had never lost a battle until the final conflict, the rebel leader. I made it through the first phase with numerous incapacitations. All I had left was the bulk of my researching cadre (my expedition was research themed, focusing mainly on diplomacy at the expense of soldiers capable of prolonged battle), and these few scholars were quickly cut down in the second phase. I grit my teeth and waited for the reload. That didn't happen. In Expeditions: Conquistador, your expedition continues on even when you fail. We all huddled in the market as enemy forces overtook the town, limping back to our ship and escaping to Mexico. I wanted to reload. It felt wrong letting the enemy take the town. I failed. It wasn't a choice I made in dialogue, it was my own incompetence. After a night of sleeping on it, I decided to continue on instead of retrying. After all, I was just a peaceful expedition focused mostly on discovery and diplomacy. It made sense that I failed in battle.

My second test of failure was the worst. It's what made me write this review. I continued on in Mexico with my band of researchers. I made ties with the natives, got married, and continued my pursuit of knowledge in this foreign land. But my small mistakes kept piling up. I decided to fight in too many battles, my injured soldiers piling up. Soon my doctor was injured as well, unable to tend to his patients. People started dying. I started getting angry. Ingloriously and anticlimactically, most my expedition was dead. I had no more soldiers. My wife was dead. All I had left were a handful of scholars unfit to survive in this untamed land. 14 hours in, my expedition had ostensibly ended.

Failure happens in Expeditions: Conquistador, just like failure ran rampant during the historical period it's based on. I led a naive band of scholars to doom, and in hindsight, it makes sense. Bright eyed and bushy tailed researchers aren't meant to survive such a savage land, not without appropriate protection. In my effort to be peaceful I forgot to anticipate conflict. And so I failed. But that's okay.

Unplayable at the moment, even for early access. Shouldn't have made the decision to begin charging money for this steaming pile of ♥♥♥♥.