Robinson's Requiem first impressions

[Gunstar]

I recently aquired RR from Songbird and I sat down to play it for the first time last night. I've played the 3DO version some so it's not my first time with the game in general.

 

Well, I played the 3DO version numerous times, and generally ended up dead by some unseen assailant, usually a tiger. In the Jaguar version, I've already killed two tigers that I was able to see from a distance and prepare! The game is actually FUN on the Jaguar! The biggest improvement, to me, is the Jaguar's keypad! It allows you to move around without using the cursor and arrow buttons and it absolutely saved me from a quick death with the tigers as I could "walk and chew gum at the same time" so to speak. The Jaguar's keypad is a God-send for this game!

 

other than that, it's pretty identical to the 3DO version. It seems to me the Jag version has cleaner FMV, I like the garaud shading over the 3DO's fog effect, and as I recall the 3DO had a grey background to go along with the fog effect (to hide polygons popping into view), while the Jaguar actually shows sky and clouds, but you do notice the polygons popping into view, but I like it better this way, I think it looks better.

 

Other than those things, the Jag and 3DO versions seem identical, and another example to prove the Jag is a least as powerful as the 3DO (every game on both the 3DO and Jag are either identical, or the Jag version is better!).

[+Cobra Kai]

I really like this game. The Jaguar version is the first version I've ever played of it, and I think it's pretty damn fun. You're right about the keypad, I can't imagine this game having good controls on any other console, but the keypad setup is perfect. I made a nice custom mylar overlay for this game. I took a break from it because my game glitched when I was doing pretty good, and it frustrated me so now I'm concentrating on D2000 mostly.

 

What happened with my Robinson's Requiem game was that my bow and arrow that I spent all this time making, and making all the arrows, well it stopped firing arrows, even though I had ammo for it. I managed to kill the first Tiger with it, and I could see the arrows flying on the screen. But when I got around to killing the other Tiger on that plateau, my bow would 'fire' and use ammo, but the arrow graphics on screen weren't there and I actually wasn't able to kill that Tiger. Oh man that frustrated me, so I figure I'll have to start over anyway, so I took a break from the game. I also got stuck a few times in the background graphics and had to reset a few times because of that.

 

The game has some glitches and lacks polish, I am interested to see if anyone can actually complete it.

[Gunstar]

It's pretty easy to get stuck on the hillside polygons, most times you just have to go back exactly the way you came, I don't recall ever getting permanently stuck (on the 3DO version, and not on the Jag version yet either), but both versions of the game have the same problem, so it's not a Jaguar glitch but a RR engine glitch or shortcoming.

 

So far, everything has worked as well for me on the Jag version as on the 3DO version, but I haven't played too much yet. But the game is so much more playable with the keypad movement controls! With the 3DO you had to use button combinations (as in holding a button down) with the D-pad to do a lot of stuff that the Jaguar does without holding buttons, becuase it has the keypad controls. It's just unbelievably for intuitive than using the 3DO game pad, plus, the strafing controls translate to the shoulder buttons on the Jag pad too! Though, to be fair to the 3DO, the 3DO mouse is compatible with RR, and I never got to play the game that way on the 3DO.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Gunstar

[JagChris]

It's pretty easy to get stuck on the hillside polygons, most times you just have to go back exactly the way you came, I don't recall ever getting permanently stuck (on the 3DO version, and not on the Jag version yet either), but both versions of the game have the same problem, so it's not a Jaguar glitch but a RR engine glitch or shortcoming.

 

So far, everything has worked as well for me on the Jag version as on the 3DO version, but I haven't played too much yet. But the game is so much more playable with the keypad movement controls! With the 3DO you had to use button combinations (as in holding a button down) with the D-pad to do a lot of stuff that the Jaguar does without holding buttons, becuase it has the keypad controls. It's just unbelievably for intuitive than using the 3DO game pad, plus, the strafing controls translate to the shoulder buttons on the Jag pad too! Though, to be fair to the 3DO, the 3DO mouse is compatible with RR, and I never got to play the game that way on the 3DO.

 

I have the PC version, the Jag version is still easier.

[+Cobra Kai]

The very first game I played of this, I had no idea how to do combat and that Eagle clawed both my eyes out.

 

I like the survival aspects of the game. You really don't see that in modern RPG games. Yeah, in Fallout 3 you have to monitor your radiation levels and balance your radiation intake with drugs, but it's nothing as in-depth as RR. Why is it fun to have to swab a wound with disinfectant, then bandage up the area? Why am I actually concerned about my character's body temperature and heart rate? I don't know why it's fun, but it is. Probably gets tedious with extended play, but I like the early attempt at realism here. This is a very good example of early open-world 3d gaming.

[Gunstar]

I've been slowly getting into this game, I've restarted a few times, to be better prepaired in order to survive longer. But, I'm really "getting" this game now and aside from the survival aspects, this game reminds me of three other games (now that I've gotten into one of the caverns and battled Mole-men), the caves remind me of the 3DO games Slayer and Death Keep, it obviously reminds me of Silmarils own Ishar series, and it reminds me of the old Alternate Reality series, what it was and what it would have been like if it had gotten to the 'Wilderness' Alternate Reality as layed out in the developer's story notes and interviews. And it's just about as hard to get your "character" to survive the first few days in any of those games, as it is in Robinson's Requiem, but I'm really loving this game as I get better at it.

Edited December 22, 2012 by Gunstar