Here, it’s taken a step further, with upwards of a hundred active and passive skills. I am reminded strongly of Wasteland 2, where a limited number of choices, aesthetically, leads to a complicated statistics/skills chart. Your titular character is whatever you make of it, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed once you hit the character creation screen. Unfortunately, a vast array of (hopefully soon resolved) pre-release bugs and an endless stream of patches has prevented me from finishing my journey of conquest (or “trade”) before its release, but there’s still plenty to talk about this sequel (and precursor) to Expeditions: Conquistador. Certainly, there is a peaceful route to be had, but the time period – and Vikings as a whole – are not known in popular culture for their peaceful and loving ways, and one may need to be cruel to be kind. Expeditions: Viking developer Logic Artists wastes no time in emphasizing that your normal fantasy-style RPG morality need not apply here. You’re forced to kill your cousins at your father’s remembrance for their impudence, and forgiving their uncle for his ignorance will damn you in the eyes of your people.

Your father is dead, pretty much everyone wants your territory, and your only allies are in the mysterious lands across the seas.

Viking conquest shield taunt