KickStarter Lords of Xulima

[IncendiaryDevice]

Minor nitpick:

Just got a reward after a fight that read:

This Golden Wyvern egg is highly prized and rare and likely the most valuable item in the world, or somesuch.

Spoiler

It's actually meant as an offer at an altar.

Oh right. I've been keeping all these special gifts throughout the game wondering what the fuck to do with them. I was wondering about all these locations where it asks you to offer something, but hadn't experimented with them beyond dropping in random unwanted items. Unless you mean something different to the statues and temple vacuums that I haven't come across yet.

 

[Brancaleone]

Minor nitpick:

Just got a reward after a fight that read:

This Golden Wyvern egg is highly prized and rare and likely the most valuable item in the world, or somesuch.

Spoiler

It's actually meant as an offer at an altar.

Oh right. I've been keeping all these special gifts throughout the game wondering what the fuck to do with them. I was wondering about all these locations where it asks you to offer something, but hadn't experimented with them beyond dropping in random unwanted items. Unless you mean something different to the statues and temple vacuums that I haven't come across yet.

Spoiler

I mean the altars/statues of the gods which are scattered across the maps (I think the Golden Egg was for Raznet's, but I'm not 100% sure

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I've read quite a few Xulima threads on the forums now & one consistent quibble I've seen is that people are remarking that they gave up the game before the Titans because apparently the Titans are too much of a grind and that they require too much time to kill. This hasn't been my experience at all, quite the opposite in fact. The two Titans I've despatched so far have been both quick and relatively painless. There I was prepared to the hilt with potions and various preparations and dug in in my mind for the long haul and they just fell down in no time at all with barely any potions nor extra tactics. I've had a whole lot more bother with regular encounters, like the main gang of thieves, a Nightmare teamed up with a Lich & even the Golden Wyvern I spoke about previously. The last Witch I gave a few shots at and had to give up trying really quickly just a few levels ago. But the first two Titans, piece of piss you damned pussies, lol.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Depends when you're taking them on, i guess, just as the "green" giants.
Might depends on your difficulty settings too

I tried early on for both (when i wasn't strong enough) and that was far more than a grind, then i tried again when i was just strong enough to kill them but not enough not to make it a struggle.
My first Titan (same for the green giant) was a tough motherfucker.
The second one felt weak.

I think the game should progressively increase Titan's stats/skills or offer customization settings in that regard, i agree it's a bit disappointing.
The toughest part of the game for me was the "lightning" castle.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

The toughest part of the game for me was the "lightning" castle.

I can't stand turrets in RPGs. I didn't like their introduction into Jeff Vogel games, in this regard even helping to kill me away from enjoying Geneforge as much as I could have in large part and here in this game they're are without doubt the shittiest element. Luckily there aren't too many of them, but when they do show up it's a right pain in the backside. There's a lot of reasons why Xulima's are even worse than even Vogel's turrets, but I guess I'll bleat on about that more when I finish, such as it would help greatly to solve a square walking puzzle if you could actually see the squares etc.

 

[Covenant]

Hmm, 'turrets' sounds discouraging. I'm already getting burned out just with regular traps. The system of 'walk back and forth in a small area hoping it'll detect the trap before the tedium becomes overwhelming' is tired and shitty. Particularly compounded by the fact that I'm playing it on the difficulty setting that requires you to be in town to save. More fool me I guess, but I prefer games like Wizardry - or fuck, even Etrian Odyssey - where your progress is hard-fought and can easily be taken away by overconfidence.

The game as a whole seems like one of those ones that's balanced around reloading a bunch until an encounter goes your way (I see Sacred raised a similar point on the previous page - I actually agree with pretty much every point he made to be honest). The balance of hits and misses makes combat way too swingy - it's not at all uncommon for me to attempt an encounter, get decimated, reload and attempt it the exact same way and have an easy time just because of the rolls going a different way.

I'll stick with it a while longer as I'm still fairly early in the game, but so far I'm not finding the game really lives up to its hype. I think I'll forever be holding out for an old-style dungeon crawler with the mindless choices that promoted tedium removed, and balanced for Ironman mode.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I'm playing it on the difficulty setting that requires you to be in town to save. More fool me I guess... so far I'm not finding the game really lives up to its hype.

Play on the recommended difficulty then, duh.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Total time played as logged by the save: 102 hours 31 minutes

Days in the real world that I've been playing it: 36 days

Game days as per time in the gameworld: 314 days 06:58

Final level of the party: All at level 50 except the Cleric at level 49

 

[Anthedon]

102 hours? Damn. I threw in the towel at half that.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Hmm, 'turrets' sounds discouraging. I'm already getting burned out just with regular traps. The system of 'walk back and forth in a small area hoping it'll detect the trap before the tedium becomes overwhelming' is tired and shitty. Particularly compounded by the fact that I'm playing it on the difficulty setting that requires you to be in town to save. More fool me I guess, but I prefer games like Wizardry - or fuck, even Etrian Odyssey - where your progress is hard-fought and can easily be taken away by overconfidence.

The game as a whole seems like one of those ones that's balanced around reloading a bunch until an encounter goes your way (I see Sacred raised a similar point on the previous page - I actually agree with pretty much every point he made to be honest). The balance of hits and misses makes combat way too swingy - it's not at all uncommon for me to attempt an encounter, get decimated, reload and attempt it the exact same way and have an easy time just because of the rolls going a different way.

I'll stick with it a while longer as I'm still fairly early in the game, but so far I'm not finding the game really lives up to its hype. I think I'll forever be holding out for an old-style dungeon crawler with the mindless choices that promoted tedium removed, and balanced for Ironman mode.

Well, to be fair, the game is intended to be difficult, even in normal mode, so the iron man mode is clearly for masochists and if you're not, you picked the wrong option.
Iron man modes and super hyper mega hardest difficulties seems far more trivial than it should in "modern" RPG.

Let's keep in mind it's originally intended for those whom finished the game already and fully understand the game mechanism.

A fisrt play through with an unbalanced "weak" party isn't fit for that.

Still, with the quantity of battles thrown at the player, i think they should have been faster, except for boss battles and "elite" monsters.

As for the traps, it's not just about this game, all the BG-like games have it, it's annoying as hell, i feel like when a trap is detected, your party should avoid walking on it, yet, no game added this option to my knowledge, worse, most of the time, monsters don't trigger them.
That's not just unfair but tedious as well.

IncendiaryDevice congratulations !

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

As for the traps, it's not just about this game, all the BG-like games have it, it's annoying as hell, i feel like when a trap is detected, your party should avoid walking on it, yet, no game added this option to my knowledge, worse, most of the time, monsters don't trigger them.
That's not just unfair but tedious as well.

Yes, I was quite surprised about the delay with regards to traps and how equally frustrating it was to the Infinity Engine games. Even with max Perception you still find yourself walking on them due to them not appearing as soon as they're in range. It's not a huge biggy in the grand scheme of things, but it's certainly a very valid nitpick.

 

[Wintermute]

i feel like when a trap is detected, your party should avoid walking on it, yet, no game added this option to my knowledge

D:OS did.

Jagged Alliance 2 you could flag traps and they would be avoided by your guys (and the enemy, too).

 

[eggdogg]

102 hours? Damn. I threw in the towel at half that.

Miss me with that towel shit, Ive got over 300 hours logged in Xulima.

 

[Covenant]

I'm playing it on the difficulty setting that requires you to be in town to save. More fool me I guess... so far I'm not finding the game really lives up to its hype.

Play on the recommended difficulty then, duh.

I think part of it's a naming issue. Ironman typically means 'No reloads'. As I said, I prefer games where you're not expected to reload a lot unless the reloads are because you're making mistakes. The sort of game where once you're really good at it, you can complete a true Ironman run. That implies that your skill and tactics is much more important than the effects of RNG in the game. The alternative is that the RNG is enough of a factor that if I reload and attempt the same fight enough times, I'll eventually just get lucky enough to win. That doesn't really appeal to me - it's just attrition. It's not like I'm bothered by the difficulty of the combats, I'm just getting pissed off by the traps.

Obviously this game explains what it means by its own definition of Ironman but in using that term I got the impression it would be balanced more toward the Wizardry style than, I don't know, the Might and Magic style. Or perhaps Baldur's Gate - I never attempted an Ironman run of that but I do remember the combat being fairly swingy. Assuming you didn't cheese, anyway.

i feel like when a trap is detected, your party should avoid walking on it, yet, no game added this option to my knowledge

D:OS did.

Jagged Alliance 2 you could flag traps and they would be avoided by your guys (and the enemy, too).

That's probably the one thing in JA2 I can't understand at all. Is that blue flag placed on the mines supposed to be real as opposed to symbolic? Why can't Barry just say 'Hey, there's a mine next to that tree on the right, don't step on it'? Why is the only way to clear that flag throwing a bloody grenade on it? Why wouldn't that set off the mine?

Speaking of JA2, that's another game that decided to make up its own definition of Ironman, which is a bit annoying when trying to talk about doing a 'real' Ironman run of it.

 

[Incendax]

Step 1) Buy game.
Step 2) I love pet classes! Let’s have three summoners in the party.
Step 3) Try to summon. Learn they take up slots.
Step 4) Cry.

 

[a Goat]

The game is exceptionally good and I think the only reason it doesn't attract interest on the first sight is mediocre art direction. The backgrounds aren't bad but characters and enemise are just fucking shit.

Other than that good combat, fun exploration, some nice dungeons, very nice character development. Worth recommendation for everyone.

 

[Emily]

The game is exceptionally good and I think the only reason it doesn't attract interest on the first sight is mediocre art direction. The backgrounds aren't bad but characters and enemise are just fucking shit.

Other than that good combat, fun exploration, some nice dungeons, very nice character development. Worth recommendation for everyone.

It had quite a bit of attention and following.
And it is a really good game overall as well. There is a sequel coming out.

 

[AbounI]

The game is exceptionally good and I think the only reason it doesn't attract interest on the first sight is mediocre art direction. The backgrounds aren't bad but characters and enemise are just fucking shit.

Other than that good combat, fun exploration, some nice dungeons, very nice character development. Worth recommendation for everyone.

It had quite a bit of attention and following.
And it is a really good game overall as well. There is a sequel coming out.

They aren't working on a sequel, by now, that's all I can say. Confirmed by their music composer

Bon, je me doute que même si tu savais tu ne pourrais pas me le dire, mais je tente quand même hein… Tu vois, j’ai un lion en train de me traquer, et il me tombera direct dessus si je ne te pose pas la question. Alors, par le plus grand des hasards, tu ne bosserais pas sur un Lords Of Xulima 2 ?
(rires) Nan. Je peux te le dire : je ne bosse pas dessus. Je ne sais pas ce qu’il en est du côté de Numantian en ce qui concerne une suite à Xulima, mais ils sont actuellement très concentrés sur They Are Billions. En tout cas, si y’a un 2, j’aimerais beaucoup le faire. On verra, mais s’il y en a un, c’est pas pour tout de suite.

https://www.loutrage.fr/nicolas-diteriks-music-composer/

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The game is exceptionally good and I think the only reason it doesn't attract interest on the first sight is mediocre art direction. The backgrounds aren't bad but characters and enemise are just fucking shit.

Other than that good combat, fun exploration, some nice dungeons, very nice character development. Worth recommendation for everyone.

It had quite a bit of attention and following.
And it is a really good game overall as well. There is a sequel coming out.

They aren't working on a sequel, by now, that's all I can say. Confirmed by their music composer

Bon, je me doute que même si tu savais tu ne pourrais pas me le dire, mais je tente quand même hein… Tu vois, j’ai un lion en train de me traquer, et il me tombera direct dessus si je ne te pose pas la question. Alors, par le plus grand des hasards, tu ne bosserais pas sur un Lords Of Xulima 2 ?
(rires) Nan. Je peux te le dire : je ne bosse pas dessus. Je ne sais pas ce qu’il en est du côté de Numantian en ce qui concerne une suite à Xulima, mais ils sont actuellement très concentrés sur They Are Billions. En tout cas, si y’a un 2, j’aimerais beaucoup le faire. On verra, mais s’il y en a un, c’est pas pour tout de suite.

https://www.loutrage.fr/nicolas-diteriks-music-composer/

translate it to american please

 

[Grauken]

https://translate.google.com/

 

[a Goat]

Yeah the problem is they went to make RTS and sold like 10 times the numbers so there probably won't be a sequel anytime soon.

 

[V_K]

Um, FYI - even though They Are Billions sold like crazy, it's still in Early Access. It's pretty natural that a small studio wouldn't start working on another game while their current one is still unfinished.

 

[Incendax]

Up to 40 hours played on this game, and I can't stop making new parties. It's the worst case of alt-itis I've had in a long time. Hahaha.

The biggest downside (for me) to this otherwise fun blobber is that many classes only have an extremely small number of things they can do. I really wish there was a Respec option, just to add some variety and try out different builds. Restarting is fine for shorter games, but this is a loooooong one.

 

[Serus]

The game is exceptionally good and I think the only reason it doesn't attract interest on the first sight is mediocre art direction. The backgrounds aren't bad but characters and enemise are just fucking shit.

Other than that good combat, fun exploration, some nice dungeons, very nice character development. Worth recommendation for everyone.

It had quite a bit of attention and following.
And it is a really good game overall as well. There is a sequel coming out.

They aren't working on a sequel, by now, that's all I can say. Confirmed by their music composer

Bon, je me doute que même si tu savais tu ne pourrais pas me le dire, mais je tente quand même hein… Tu vois, j’ai un lion en train de me traquer, et il me tombera direct dessus si je ne te pose pas la question. Alors, par le plus grand des hasards, tu ne bosserais pas sur un Lords Of Xulima 2 ?
(rires) Nan. Je peux te le dire : je ne bosse pas dessus. Je ne sais pas ce qu’il en est du côté de Numantian en ce qui concerne une suite à Xulima, mais ils sont actuellement très concentrés sur They Are Billions. En tout cas, si y’a un 2, j’aimerais beaucoup le faire. On verra, mais s’il y en a un, c’est pas pour tout de suite.

https://www.loutrage.fr/nicolas-diteriks-music-composer/

translate it to american please

They are not working on it but on They Are Billions. If there is a second Xulima the guy would like to work on it but that's not going to be soon. End of translation.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Re-launched Xulima, trying to get through it this time (stopped after clearing the main island just before reaching the last city last time).

Hardcore mode but not iron man(i hate not being able to save everywhere ), not sure which difficulty i picked on my first playthrough, i thought it was the recommended one but it doens't seem harder at all so i guess it was hardcore as well (cleared the first castle + temple so far )

Combat is far better (faster) without a summoner, that guy is a plague due to the fact summons not only slow the combat, they make you use golot's summons and then, you try to target every enemy with it, making every encounter a chore.
Without the summoner, so far combats are fast enough except for the most difficult ones.

My party :
- Front Gaulen (2H axe), Paladin (hammer + shield), soldier (2H hammer)
- Back Cleric (2H staff), Bard (short bow), Mage (2H staff)

The paladin is really good so far, his auras are really useful.

The soldier is kind of the same as the barbarian, except with less hp, i think the barbarian is better as his rage skill is passive and you don't have to bother with MP but the soldier's skills gives an attack boost and unlike the barbarian rage passive, you can choose when to use the soldier's skills. So i guess the soldier win the fun battle (a couple of active skills to pick)

The bard is surprisingly good too, not overpowered, just "balanced" good.

Other ones are pretty much required (Gaulen, nobody likes him, Cleric, just try to play without one and having a mage around is comfortable), never tried the arcane warrior, thief is useless (so gaulen can be of use outside herbology and exploration and be the "thief" ) except for his shurikens ability.