Greedfall: The Dying World Reviews
Despite unfortunate launch-window technical issues, Spiders' ambitious shift towards turn-based combat results in a commendable prequel.
I just hope that it's realised that, with some more time and care, this series could be so much more than a decent tribute act to better games. GreedFall is a rich world, and so much love has gone into it. But that love is spread unevenly throughout The Dying World.
I'm pretty disappointed with Greedfall: The Dying World. Despite going through Steam Early Access, the end product is buggy and messy, and the combat uninspiring. This combined with slow pacing that gives three false endings to the opening before you get into the open world makes it get old quickly. Perhaps wait for a sale, or a lot of patches to fix things up a bit.
GreedFall: The Dying World is yet another budget RPG from Spiders, whose developers continue to struggle with self-improvement. Once again, interesting ideas are not fully realized, and the overall experience is marred by clunky gameplay and inconsistent visuals.
Review in Russian | Read full review
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A humdrum start to Greedfall 2: The Dying World brings down the experience quite drastically. However, once you scale the prologue, the rest of the game feels like you would expect a Spider Interactive RPG to play: likeable characters, political storylines, and straightforward exploration. Combat is its own thing, with the game giving you options to go elbows deep into a clunky but serviceable tactical system or toggle settings so that combat is mindless. The team took too big of a bite this time, and the overall quality paid for it. Still, there is a good Spider Interactive game here, but it might take you a while to find it.
Every time I make an impactful choice or uncover a new part of the story or tidbit of lore, I'm reminded why I adore GreedFall. That feeling fades, however, whenever The Dying World pushes me into combat or the tedious build menus. GreedFall: The Dying World is an up and down experience; one that you want to love, but one that doesn't love you back.
Greedfall: The Dying World fails to live up to the potential showcased by its flawed but ambitious predecessor, resulting in a wearisome experience that is merely 'okay'.
GreedFall: The Dying World, unfortunately, misses the mark with an incredibly buggy experience and lacklustre combat, despite a story and world that could have been worth exploring.
Seeing Spiders go in a completely different direction with GreedFall 2: The Dying World is bizarre. There is some promise, but it needs a healthy amount of time and polish to develop into something worthwhile.
Spiders remains the best of the B-tier European RPG developers, and that’s a compliment. Belonging outside of the big-budget blockbuster developers affords a creative freedom that Spiders has never been hesitant to embrace.
Fun narrative-driven experience that takes GreedFall into tactical RPG territory
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Review in Spanish | Read full review
An ambitious roleplaying game marred by unsatisfying combat and too many graphical glitches.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I ended up thoroughly enjoying my time with GreedFall: The Dying World but it certainly isn't for everyone, especially impatient folks who aren't willing to let it grow on them as they carefully tinker with the wealth of options and gameplay systems. ⚔️
GreedFall: The Dying World managed to charm me with its varied game world, companion management and rock-solid story. I therefore opted for the story mode. On the other hand, I couldn't be pleased by the many bugs and glitches I ran into (just like in Styx: Blades of Greed), the gibberish chatter that distracted me and that overwhelming feeling that the game feels unfinished. If I had been from Spiders I would have stayed in early access for another six months and taken the feedback from the community or internal testers to heart. The game is ambitious, you have to call a cat a cat, the ideas and the concept are good but you feel from everything that it rattles. But as I said, Nacon is in dirty papers and they will need pennies. This does not benefit the final quality of the game.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Though the narrative is laudable both in terms of its uniqueness and for mirroring similar real-world conflicts from the colonized’s point of view, the game falls afoul of some of the same shortcomings as its predecessor and, in the case of its revamped combat system, even makes some new missteps all of its own.
Greedfall: The Dying World is a great return to its rich universe by flipping the perspective of the main storyline and letting players view the story from another angle, the islanders’ point of view. This narrative shift is one of the game’s strongest selling points, adding emotional depth and moral ambiguity to the conflict between colonists and natives. The world- building, faction dynamics, and player- driven choices remain engaging and heighten the replayability, especially for diehard fans of story-driven RPGs. However, while the foundation is solid, the execution isn’t always consistent. The writing and voice acting fluctuate in quality, and not every quest carries the same narrative weight of consequence. The RPG systems – skills, attributes, and talents – offer satisfying freedom in shaping your character as you want, but the combat system, despite its added tactical options, can feel somewhat limited and occasionally unbalanced, with basic attacks often overshadowing abilities. In the end, the game succeeds in expanding the Greedfall universe with meaningful ideas and player agency, but it falls slightly short of its full potential due to a lack of polish and consistency in key areas.
GreedFall 2: The Dying World gets a lot right and fans of the first game should be pleased, though the sequel's shift in combat style somewhat limits accessibility and makes it a tough sell to newcomers.