GreedFall Review

Released in September 2019, GreedFall is the work of French developer Spiders. For the last decade or so, the company has released a wide array of RPGs to varying degrees of success. Yet, they have never quite managed to release that one game that puts them among the elite.

Each of their efforts so far has been flawed to some extent, some more than others. None have been able to stand toe-to-toe with the truly great examples of the genre that have released in recent times. The question is, does GreedFall live up to its promise and rise above its predecessors?

Story

The early concept of GreedFall was for it to have a strong focus on the story and characters. Early references were made to classic RPG series from BioWare, such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Those are ambitious aims, and yet the RPG does seem promising at first.

Taking inspiration from the 17th century, GreedFall is set on a newly discovered island. Various colonial powers are vying to subdue the native inhabitants and take control of the paradise. You take on the role of De Sardet, a merchant who is searching for a cure to the disease that is afflicting his family.

Despite this potential, GreedFall does not manage to tell a very interesting story. The possibility was there to explore themes such as colonialism and the impact it has on those it affects. Regrettably, the game tackles concepts like this with all the subtlety of a steamroller.

Another issue is that there are far too many stereotypes when dealing with the local natives. Such is the lack of tact that it often borders on being offensive. The rest of the plot is just your standard fantasy tropes, with nothing original or imaginative brought to the table.

That isn’t to say that the whole narrative suffers. A few quests have some excellent writing behind them. And some characters are interesting, but there are just not enough of them.