Czech game "Inquisitor" - ever heard of it?

[Phelot]

So, any Czech patriots here that have played this and can give us an idea about what it's like?

I picked up a copy and even contemplated writing a review for the Codex, but in the end I barely managed to complete the first chapter (out of the total of three, if I'm not mistaken).

It is more or less a Diablo clone. There are differences, but combat mostly consists of repeatedly spamming the best spell/attack available, interspersed with copious potion consumption. I did not find the gameplay particularly well balanced or addictive and the main dungeon in particular became really tedious relatively fast (the need to backtrack constantly due to absence of a "town portal" spell did not help). Overall difficulty felt distinctly higher than that of similar recent games I've seen (which are not many -- Diablo clones are easily my least favourite RPG subgenre).

Interface and inventory leave a lot to be desired and can get downright annoying at times. There's a large number of quests but practically all of them are linear and of the fetch/kill variety. The torture gimmick is a gimmick.

There are many dialogues, but a very large portion of them is taken up by various NPC's responses to the essentially same set of questions (related to the investigation you conduct) which predictably does get repetitive (although this also means you get to hear various views on and interpretations of the same facts which is arguably one of the game's more interesting elements).

Writing is uneven, full of faux "ye olde" Czech, and generally nothing much to write home about. Given the huge quantity (i.e. high cost of even a passable translation) and questionable quality of the original text, I expect the English version (if it ever happens) to be something along the lines of the first Two Worlds game.

All in all, the game has a large quantity of everything from text to spells to NPCs, monsters, etc. (it's advertised as having well over 100 hours of gameplay and I think that may even be a conservative estimation), but is otherwise quite forgettable. Even if the translation proved good (which I doubt), I'd only recommend it to people who are either really fond of this type of gameplay or find the idea of playing as an inquisitor particularly captivating.

Thanks for the review!

The above bolded part... how much do you figure that factors into your opinion because some of what you describe doesn't sound bad to me... but yeah if there's a lot of text in the game and it needs to be translated then I guess we're bound to get a shoddy engrish translation.

Again, thanks for the feeback

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

The above bolded part... how much do you figure that factors into your opinion because some of what you describe doesn't sound bad to me... but yeah if there's a lot of text in the game and it needs to be translated then I guess we're bound to get a shoddy engrish translation.

That's sort of hard to tell. It's specific in that the gameplay relies on the story (basically a whodunit) as much as it does on the kill-loot cycle for player motivation. Unless you enjoy both clicking and reading metric shittons of text, you're probably not going to like it.

Which means the translation is going to make or break it, and I strongly suspect the latter.

 

[Surf Solar]

So I just randomly stumbled over this on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvLmyKDP ... re=related

The aesthetics are very pleasing, but I couldn't find any info on an english version on the net. Was there some thread already for this on the codex? Any info on the combat system, etc?

 

[Satan]

yes, we did, many times. english version was to come out in 2010, but nothing was heard since then...

 

[Surf Solar]

They have uploaded some screenshots on their facebook (gasp), on Inquisitor 08-08-2011 so I guess its not dead.. I still cant find any (english) info though.

 

[SoupNazi]

Forum function "Search" - ever heard of it?

 

[oscar]

From a Czech that has apparently played it

http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php ... c&start=50

Hi there,

some info about the game (from my point of view):

- combat system is quite similar to one in Diablo
- the rest is completely different, the game emphasize dialogs, solving quests, many of which are about investigation of heresis
- there are TONS of text, but it is somehow pleasure to read it... I can judge only the original czech version, but the language... it's really excellent (no game (I have met) had this brilliant language so far) - it depends how it will be transalted
- I found few logic flaws.. (or the game haven't explained them yet)
- statistics of your character influence mainly your combat skills, and thats basically all (much like in diablo)
- that means, unfortunately, that intelligence do not influence dialogs etc..
- gameplay is quite straightforward (of course you can choose which quest you'll complete first), as I can tell
- there are 3 playable classes - paladin, rogue, priest with unique class skills (and those each class share)
- the story is quite good

- graphics is strictly 2D, like in diablo, animations are quite dull, bad. But you can get used to it.

So I'm still not entirely sure if we're talking Diablo (meh) or Icewind Dale (probably the best RPG-style we can hope for here).

From squinting at this screenshot there seems to be some hope that skills can influence conversation. But to get a better picture of this game I've asked them a few questions on Facebook. Hopefully we'll get a reply (I could even conduct an interview if they're willing).

 

[SoupNazi]

It's Diablo with a few very interesting aspects (questioning, torture, burning people etc) and oldschool gameplay, but ultimately it's more of an oldschool-hardcore action RPG than anything else.

 

[Surf Solar]

Damn, that doesn't sound as good as I hoped. I was hoping for a more sophisticated system where stats and skills actually matter in dialogues. It seems like a wasted opporturnity with all those stats or the very bueatiful graphics on there..

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Great graphics. Sadly, it kinda sounds like Lionheart. Though, IIRC the main problem with Lionheart was the inherent incompatibility of Special with Diablo-style gameplay, so there may be some hope.

 

[Phelot]

Yeah, we've had a few threads on this, but for some reason it seems impossible to find someone that has actually played it here. From what I recall from other sites, it's apparently not very good, but I could be confusing this game with something else.

 

[Renegen]

Wow, it looks awesome. A deeper Diablo 1? I don't have a problem with that.

 

[Haba]

Unfortunately not. The original developers from Wooden Dragon went their separate ways a long time ago and so there is no one to add any new content to the game.

And we are glad to hear that. But I'm afraid that the English version won't be released this year after all - even though I promised that. The release of Gyro13 and server crash recovery took more time than I originally assumed and since the beta test (= check of English translation in the game) will need some time, I don't think there is a chance to make it all by the end of this year. At least it will give us time for other things (like to translate the Inquisitor prequel novel).

 

[DwarvenFood]

It's Diablo with a few very interesting aspects (questioning, torture, burning people etc) and oldschool gameplay, but ultimately it's more of an oldschool-hardcore action RPG than anything else.

Sounds good.

Hope somehow an English version could still come to life.

 

[DwarvenFood]

I cannot find the latest thread on the game, but Forbes has mentioned the game:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/08/03/play-the-torturer-in-dark-medieval-rpg-inquisitor/

snippets:

Some people are a bit squeamish after reading the description of the upcoming RPG Inquisitor from Czech developer Cinemax. This is because you play as either a Paladin, a Priest, or a Thief tasked with hunting down criminals and heathens, torturing them to get the required evidence, and then reporting your findings.

It’s also a game filled with deep mystery and lore and the quest for clues, alongside what looks to be a pretty amazingly complex and riveting Medieval story.

I think it looks a lot like a high-definition Diablo II, right down to the somewhat stilted way the characters walk. Which is very retro cool.

Given that the game – which is reportedly about 150 hours long – took ten years to develop and another three to be translated into English, this could either be a masterpiece or a disaster.

The English-language beta runs through August with a September release date. You’ll be able to purchase the game on Steam.

I’m excited. It looks old-school, but in a good way.

Not sure if these are actual facts, last I heard, they were still trying to get it on Steam. But - good they are getting some exposure.

 

[Mirthless]

1-Aug-2012
And the beta is launched!

After years of translations and months of proofreading, the English beta begins with all three characters (priest, paladin, and thief) available. The plan says that the beta will run throughout August and the game will be ready for the September release. And remember, if you would like to buy Inquisitor on Steam, support us by joining our Community Group there.

You can also find several new screenshots on our Facebook page.

Stay tuned.
Directly taken from their website (http://inquisitor-rpg.com/).

 

[Average Manatee]

Game looks really nice. I just hope the translation isn't mangled like a number of other eastern european games.

 

[Zed]

Game looks really nice. I just hope the translation isn't mangled like a number of other eastern european games.

This would also be my biggest fear, from what little I know of the game. Good EE -> English translators seem to be hard to come by.

 

[oscar]

Was just thinking about this game the other day.

 

[Raghar]

It's a strong VD competitor. Can AoD beat this up?

 

[logrus]

Definitely my kind of stuff. I love such graphical style, reminds me of IE games and first Divine Divinity. A lot of "hand-drawn" details, dark style = already love this. The idea for the setting is appeling too. I hope that it's not the second Lionheart - great initial idea but quite a failure in implementation. Details like torture dungeon give me hope that it's well-thought!
Combat looks like Divine Divinity mixed with Icewind Dale = chance for

 

[Raghar]

Actually I played it. The worst part is the combat. Also you should expect a load of text majority of it looks strongly as if written by catolic zealots.

You would need to wait a lot for stamina because there is no rest button...

BTW if you don't want to hunt some bats, or your character can't survive these bats, you can threat guards by killing them. It would be smarter to say you are going to Bishop xxx, but you don't have such option, nor guards can go mad at you doesn't matter how much silver tongue you have.

 

[MetalCraze]

It's a strong VD competitor. Can AoD beat this up?

Everything is brown as fuck too but the game forces you to walk into combat from any direction. Clearly AoD wins.

 

[Raghar]

Umm bitches. Someone here has it installed and can answer your questions, and possibly even translate something.

So far expect Lionheart in combat, Bioware combined with Torment in writing.

Everything is brown as fuck

But that can be just a thematic decision. You know it describes ages when cities threw feces to streets, and city government used pigs to clean up streets afterwards.

 

[thesheeep]

Why the fuck does anyone make a game in Czech first?
I get that they make it in Czech at all, given their location, but first?
Seems lika a pretty nonsensical decision to me.

But maybe it is like in Germany where 60% (estimated perceived value) of all current AAA adventure games are made. Germany is like the market for adventure games, so it actually makes sense here to publish an adventure game in German first. So, is Czech Republic the market for oldschool H&S games?

Well, I hope they finish the english version sooner or later, as it does look interesting. And Lionheart would have been good, if... everything in it wasn't so extremely flawed.