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Old 07-13-2008, 08:19 AM
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San Dee Jota San Dee Jota is offline
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Re: [RPG]: Exquisite Replicas, reviewed by San Dee Jota (2/3)

Quote:
Originally Posted by silenceindigo View Post

It came to my mind from reading the review, Shelby, that you may simply not be the target audience for that game since "straight background answers" appears to rate high on your criteria. It seems that Exquisite Replicas surfs on the current indie game wave rather than its mainstream D&D4 and kin opposites.
Maybe. I think what bothered me wasn't that it didn't answer some questions as much as it ignored their existance outright. It does cover all the big questions of the setting though with canonical and open-ended answers, but offering more interpretations and possibilities is never a bad thing in my opinion. That said, while I didn't mind brainstorming answers for minor questions for my game (it practically dares me to answer them) I can see how others would be turned off by the game for that reason. It's a pro and a con depending on the GM.

Quote:
Originally Posted by silenceindigo View Post
Several points listed as negatives (e.g. how much weight can someone lift for a given Strenght score), I would consider positive and likewise the art emphasis is a strong point in my book.
That's one of my two litmus tests for new gaming systems. The first being "can a guy with a shotgun kill frail Aunt May with one hit", which ER passes, and the second being "do I have any idea how strong (or smart) someone is, in real world terms", which ER doesn't do so hot at. That's not to say the system doesn't work, it does and I tried to convey that there were some things I truly enjoyed about the system, but it strikes me as a system that could use just a bit more work. For others, not a problem at all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by silenceindigo View Post

"De gustatis et coloribus non disputandum"; difficult to please everyone !
Agreed. Hopefully someone reading this review will have an idea if the game is for them or not. Glad you liked it!
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