unimural Posted January 19, 2016 Consortium is a tough one. It's a game that I'm not sure I can recommend, but I want to. It is also very easy to spoil by saying anything at all about it. At least if you have any sensitivity to spoilers. It is an insanely amibitious game, that's kind of a meta sci-fi reactive, immersive sim of an extension of many of the ideas of The Last Express. It's also a bit of mess. It's been patched, and it is now in a very good state, but it's still a bit of a mess, at least in some parts. And it kind of doesn't end, rather it just stops. How do you recommend something like this? I suppose that's part of the problem. Your experience with Consortium will not smoothly remain the enjoyment spectrum. But it does contain really unique things, and I really really want everyone to play it. I'm just not sure I can recommend it. But I would encourage you to try it. It's on sale -80% until the end of January, so now is a really good time to give it a try. And I really want Chris to play this and talk about it on the podcast. Also Jake, but I'm trying to be realistic. The reason why I'm posting now about it though is that they have a Kickstarter up for the sequel. It's not looking very likely at the moment, with them still not having reached even 10%. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idgi/consortium-the-tower?ref=users Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ninety-Three Posted January 19, 2016 I have hazy memories of Consortium, which Steam tells me I played for four hours. All the descriptions I heard made me want to get to the special bits of it, but boy, I did not have any fun with it. It started off by dumping twenty thousand words of lore into my glossary. The shooting was awful and the plot seemed to expect me to have read all fifty jillion codex entries to get anything out of it. Hearing from someone who actually liked the game, I'm slightly interested in going back to it, so I have two questions. First, am I really supposed to read all (or at least a lot of) the lore right away? Because there is so much of it, and it's so dry. Second, when does the game get good? I got as far as beating the suit that runs around the ship before, should I keep trying or is not enjoying it by then a sign it's not for me? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeremywc Posted January 19, 2016 Consortium was a let down for me as well. The roots of the story were started in the late 90's as "Amen: The Awakening" at Cavedog. They had loads of lore written and posted on Cavedog's site before it was cancelled. GT let Greg MacMartin keep the rights to the story and it's clear he spent a long time tweaking it. It started to re-emerge a few years ago as an AR game on iDGi's website. I like some of the concepts they are shooting for, but the execution hasn't been up to par so far. I really hate to say that because I remember being super excited for Amen when I was younger. I backed the second round (and the first) out of weird nostalgic obligation. I'd like to see them get the opportunity to finish the story and flesh out the mechanics, but I'd only recommend it to others who *really* geek out on immersive sims. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eot Posted January 20, 2016 Consortium is something I've been meaning to play for a while, bought it this past winter sale. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unimural Posted January 23, 2016 Hearing from someone who actually liked the game, I'm slightly interested in going back to it, so I have two questions. First, am I really supposed to read all (or at least a lot of) the lore right away? Because there is so much of it, and it's so dry. Second, when does the game get good? I got as far as beating the suit that runs around the ship before, should I keep trying or is not enjoying it by then a sign it's not for me? 1. Reading the lore is optional. It may help you clue the murder mystery together, but it's certainly not required for that, at not even necessarily helpful. 2. It's not for you. There's not much of the game left after that point. As I said, the game doesn't end, it rather just stops at one point. When I first played the game, I don't think I even used the guns beyond the mandatory and horrible virtual reality training bits. Oh, I guess you kind of have to fight the suit. But I immediately liked the concept of the game, and I truly enjoyed the ship. I admire the game for trying and to some degree succeeding in making the ship feel real. Of the crew existing independently of the player. But none of it works fully. Conceptually I very much value the vastly divergent nature of the story, even though I'm not much into replaying games. I still like it a lot. But it is a case of me enjoying what the game evokes than what the game is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stack Smashing Posted February 11, 2016 The game is currently free on GOG. Though I won't be able to play it until the Kickstarter has ended. With Firewatch and The Witness out, that is. (And some other stuff I have to get done ... but mainly with those two out.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
