Bedlam - A post apocalypse Banner Saga

[Bjorn]

I haven't been excited by a Kickstarted game for awhile, I put a bit of a moratorium on myself about backing anymore until some of the current ones actually get finished (which two got done this month, so I suppose the moratorium can end!). Bedlam looks soo fucking good. And overall they seem to have very clear and well thought out designs and expectations for what they want to make.

Banner Saga engine

FTL + Banner Saga style gameplay

Designed for single session playthroughs

NG+ Mode though for those who want longer sessions

And it just looks fantastic!

I backed it at the $20 tier. Seems like they are well on their way to their goal, though it hasn't skyrocketed up like some projects do.

[Architecture]

Really, really dig the pseudo-Moebius art direction.

[Bjorn]

It definitely looks like a comic version of this could have easily existed on the pages of Heavy Metal back in the day.

[Winks]

The post-apocalypto death-locomotive sold me.

[Murdoc]

The vehicle is giving me a Vampire Hunter vibe and, yeah, that landscape is very Moebius, they just need to get rid of the DOF on the foreground stuff, it isn't doing them any favors.

 

Oh man those costumes are definitely inspired by Moeb.

 

I don't know if I am ready for another tactics game now, seems to be so many, but I do love the art style.

[sclpls]

I'm not sure if I want to back this or not, but I'm definitely keeping my eye on this one.

[boy]

This looks just wonderful! I think "post-Moebius" is a great way to describe an aesthetic that I will always be 100% down with.

[Architecture]

Also reminds me of Geoff Darrow's linework and Brandon Graham & Co.'s recent revitalization of Prophet, with a touch of Jamie Hewlett thrown in for good measure.

[elmuerte]

Cool. Love the art.

[Bjorn]

It's 4 days away from closing, and still 19K short ($111K raised, $130K needed). This is one of the only Kickstarters I've backed that looks like it's going to be close.

[Murdoc]

Yeah okay, art references alone, I'm going to chip in. Fingers crossed.

[sclpls]

Man, I've been backing less kickstarters these days, but if it is still looking close on the last day I think I will need to back this one...

[Erkki]

Looks interesting, although I haven't played Banner Saga yet. What is Moebius?

[sclpls]

Moebius: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Giraud

 

If you don't feel like looking through the wikipedia article, probably sufficient to know that he was a French artist who had a tremendous visual style that the game has adopted.

[TheLastBaron]

here's an example of something that's classic Moebius

[syntheticgerbil]

Gah! I don't have any money to give but I really want these guys to make their goal. Looks like a dream project for them.

 

This stuff feels more like Otomo than Moebius to me though, less fantastical and more technical. That said Katsuihiro Otomo was greatly influenced by Moebius (but isn't everyone?).

[Twig]

Geez if there's ever an artbook for a video game I wanted, this is one of them. I was about to back it at whatever level would get me a physical copy. Five hundred bucks to get to that tier, though! Dang. I can't afford that. I was expecting $100 at most.

[Gormongous]

This stuff feels more like Otomo than Moebius to me though, less fantastical and more technical. That said Katsuihiro Otomo was greatly influenced by Moebius (but isn't everyone?).

 

I saw the same thing and agree with you, but I can understand not wanting to identify with any Japanese artist too early in production. There are very specific expectations for any project with manga influences that I'd want to avoid even if I were really making Dominion Tank Police: the Video Game.

[elmuerte]

Less than $4k in 3 days. Looks like it's going to make it.

[Bjorn]

Yep, they've blown right past it and are now easily hitting their early stretch goals with a little under 48 hours to go. 

[Dewar]

Hmm, glad they made their goal. I'm interested to play, but I'm a bit gunshy right now.

[Bjorn]

So I think this is going to be the first Kickstarter project I've backed that hasn't been massively delayed (original intended release was "late summer 2015", and mid-September is close enough to call that a win).  Comes out in just a few more days!

[Dewar]

Nice, added to my wish list.

[Architecture]

September 16 is still technically summer.

[Bjorn]

I played through a couple of runs of this last night.  I really like it!  The final art is gorgeous, and the animations are fantastic.  The game is fucking hard.  On Easy, I failed my first two runs.  There are 4 classes, and two of the four can be one-shot at first level.  Soldiers will die, there's no stopping it.  Veterans are worth their weight in gold.  The world feels very well developed.  There are obviously some side quests/stories that can develop (like I found a key that could be used *somewhere* but died before finding where).  

There is a risk/reward element with every single decision.  

You have 4 resources: oil, food, power and passengers.  You can upgrade your Dozer to use fewer resources, but that takes power, which is also used to deploy powerful effects during combat that can make a massive difference.  Don't upgrade your dozer, you might run out of resources.  Upgrade your dozer, you might face a squad wipe.  

You can deploy 1-6 soldiers per combat.  The fewer soldiers you send, the higher the rewards you earn (you get bonus food, oil, power and mystery bonuses for sending in just 1 or 2 people).  

But, there are salvagable resources on the combat boards.  Collecting them can be very risky though, as action points are precious and spending even one to get a resource may get someone killed.  

Combat is interesting.  Instead of cycling through your squad like most games would, each side alternates and gets 2 action points per turn.  Those action points can be spent with any soldier, with any combination of actions (move 2 soldiers, move 1 soldier twice, move and attack with 1 soldier, attack with 2 soldiers, etc).  So it's harder to predict which soldier your opponent will use, but it gives you a ton of flexibility in responding.  

Classes differ on their HP, attack range, damage and movement.  Each one feels really distinct.  

There are unique Elite units you can recruit that fit within the existing classes, but have custom stats, animations, etc.

I can see me getting into this as much as I did FTL.  There are unlockable Dozers, which don't look like they add quite the variety that the ships in FTL did, but definitely give you something to shoot for.

 

Next to Broken Age, this is by far the most polished and complete feeling game I've backed that has come out.