Vinlie

Sorry I was a bit cryptic with my wording, if you've ever attacked anyone in the Southforge citadel, instead of the place turning hostile against you, the game immediately ends and you can get a bad ending with you getting left behind in the cells, waiting to be found by the Shapers. Although, I'm fairly certain it just gives you the default death message afterwards, being "mortally wounded." I meant what would happen if instead of getting subdued by the rebels for attacking, they banish you into the next zone of the game, unable to be let back in because you're now hunted prey. What if you resisted against the Rebels for "forcing" you to use the Geneforge, you don't get a choice in 4 (and 5) and that's easily my biggest issue with those two games, you're forced to attain power through ill means. Perhaps one of the rebels that was supposed to take care of your execution commanded by Greta or someone else allowed you to escape freely into the wasteland as he or she understood that it's no easy decision to let one's self be altered by the Geneforge. This would only change the first couple of chapters of the game drastically I'd imagine, as there would a guard that would sound an alarm if he saw you (You were supposed to be executed) trying to make your way back into Southforge Citadel. Your only choice realistically would be to escape into the Forsaken Lands with seemingly no direction or reason. I think to make this balanced, the player would have some camp setup somewhere just so they can heal and regain essence until they found the Shaper Camp. Eventually, you'd find General Crowley in the Shaper camp (Or much sooner if he was placed earlier in zones as to have the player have some form of direction) and he'd teach you how to create basic creations and magic in exchange for hunting down rebels he spotted in an area. If successful, the Player might be granted access to a previously inaccessible area. Obviously he couldn't do it himself as he couldn't risk getting spotted by anyone, but why not send a newly "trained" lifecrafter to prove himself useful to the Shapers, as he has no connections so he'd have nothing to lose. Besides, this recently banished Rebel might prove to be a very valuable asset if he can prove himself successful here. This is also important because initially being a Rebel, you'd still be treated with disdain by the Shapers, but you haven't been touched by the Geneforge, so maybe once you do missions for Crowley, (and Alwan), your reputation might be looked more favorably. It could also be a pretty cool reveal for the Rebels to realize the person they banished in Southforge managed to become one of the Shaper's deadliest scourges by the end of the game, although I don't know what chapter would be a good reveal for them to realize you're still alive. The game would change once Chapter 2 starts as well, as you aren't allowed access to the Safehouses either anymore. Cool to think about, feel free to add onto this.

Too bad you can't do something like this in Geneforge 4. Imagine instead of the rebels immediately capturing you at the beginning of the game, you get exiled instead and you run into General Crowley early and you can do a full Shaper playthrough right from the start. Definitely not as much freedom in 4.

The progression aspect of G3 is my favorite out of all Geneforge's. In every other Geneforge except for maybe 1 and 2 kind of you're some kind of special character. In 3 you're just a Shaper rookie and people treat you as such until you make it later in the game where people start to respect (or criticize) your actions.

On that note who's the blue dragon in Geneforge 4's loading screen for the title?

Maximum offense for me all the time. The only endurance boosting item that I run in G4 is the (sadly nerfed from 3) Symbolic Cloak granting 2 endurance.

The gloves of savagery are pretty awesome tho.

I love the idea of being able to choose any class regardless of alignment in 5 because it allows to to really get into the roleplaying aspect of the game. However, my issue with the later Geneforge games is that you have this treasure trove of RPG elements - as in you can be whoever you want to be. Unfortunately, in 4 and 5 specifically, you're forced to use the Geneforge and have people look down upon you regardless of your actions. In 5 you're pretty much the chosen one and was pre destined to shift the tide of war. My favorite game for roleplaying is definitely 3 just purely based on because you're simply a foot soldier in the Shaper army. You aren't a trained Shaper yet, but your destiny is not yet chosen. You aren't forced to use the canisters or a Geneforge for story purposes so you're able to change the perspectives of people in the game based on your actions rather than an arbitrarily pre chosen outcome. You can be a loyal scourge of the Shapers that people will fear and respect, or you can be a freedom fighter rebel (even without the use of canisters!) that becomes a beacon of hope for others. Anyway yeah, classes are cool, what a tangent.

I remember needing to abuse cheat codes growing up while playing through the geneforge games, but now that I'm older, I can breeze through them even on Torment difficulty and have a damn fun time doing so.

There's an area in the snow lands near the end of the game that holds a rebel cache with an infinite food supply. You can destroy it if you've sided with the Shapers.

Are Rotdhizons considered too dangerous still?

I'm a very big fan of min-maxing in any kind of game. I always play Guardian and usually by the end I can make my Guardian some kind of a Demigod.

I wish the game didn't abruptly end right after finishing off Ghaldring but oh well.

Having some bomb ass ziti

I can't believe it

I've seen the endings and the non canister junkie loyalist ending is pretty nice, good influence with a amount of territory and influence - I just wish it was showed more in the actual story itself rather than just a nice nod in the epilogue.

Even you go full loyalist and don't use any canisters, every single Shaper will still view you as "warped". Kinda sucks because even though it makes sense for the Shapers to want to use your character for their own benefit to win the war, it wouldn't hurt to eventually have the loyalists begin to respect you, against their will. Just because of how dedicated and seemingly unwavering loyalty your character might have.

Geneforge 5 was super enjoyable to me, I just personally dislike the trope of being this unique person that people seemingly already hate because of an event that you had no control over, I.E. the Geneforge in 4 and 5. People will just automatically see you as different and treat you as such because you progressed through the story normally. This is why I love Geneforge 3 in particular because you are a normal Shaper in training and people will perceive you differently based on your actions, rather than see you as a "freak" because of a forced use of a Geneforge.

Wow

Was combing the replies to see if anyone mentioned that. Can't wait for this winter when I'm laid off so I can binge all the Geneforge games again!

It's a damn difficult area. I haven't beaten Mutagen (because lack of free time) but I recall the strategy I used in the original Geneforge. Kill one of the spawners as fast as possible if able and run towards to exit to reset the area. Each time through will be a little bit easier because there will be (hopefully) one less spawner.

Give Geneforge a try!

Tier 3 creations Drakon > Ur-Drakon > Unbound

"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship."

Prepare your asses for the long haul, the Geneforge series is gonna take a long while to remaster.

Brilliant