GreedFall II: The Dying World

GreedFall II: The Dying World is an immersive RPG experience where players embody a native of Teer Fradee, forcibly uprooted and transported to the old continent of Gacane. This new land is ravaged by war, a deadly Malichor plague, and complex political schemes among its many factions. Players must navigate treacherous new landscapes, from the city of Olima to the shores of Uxantis, utilizing diplomacy, cunning, and combat to forge alliances, regain their freedom, and ultimately confront an ambitious conquest that threatens the very existence of the continent and their home island.

GreedFall II: The Dying World: A Journey Through a Fractured Continent

The world of GreedFall has always held a peculiar charm, a unique blend of 17th-century aesthetics, colonial intrigue, and vibrant, fantastical naturalism. Developer Spiders, a studio known for crafting ambitious narrative RPGs with distinctive universes, carved out a niche with its 2019 cult hit. Now, with GreedFall II: The Dying World, the studio invites players back into this richly imagined setting, not as a conquering renaigsa, but as a native of the sacred island of Teer Fradee. This prequel promises an even deeper RPG experience, a bold reversal of perspective, and a significant overhaul of its core mechanics. While its Early Access launch in September 2024 has been, by many accounts, a turbulent voyage, GreedFall II still sails with the potential to be a defining entry for the studio, albeit one that demands patience and a keen eye for its evolving design.

Development History & Context

Spiders SARL has built a reputation over the years as a smaller studio punching above its weight, delivering compelling narratives and unique settings despite often operating with more constrained resources than AAA counterparts. Titles like Bound by Flame, The Technomancer, and Steelrising showcase their consistent commitment to the action RPG genre with strong story foundations. The original GreedFall, released in 2019, was a breakout success, garnering a dedicated player community over 2 million strong who appreciated its blend of BioWare-esque companion dynamics and unique colonial-fantasy themes.

For GreedFall II, Spiders and publisher Nacon aimed to expand this universe and deepen the player experience. Their vision involved more regions, more creatures, a greater abundance of quests, and a larger cast of characters and skills. Crucially, they planned a significant evolution of the combat system. Departing from the original’s more action-oriented approach, GreedFall II embraces a real-time with pause (RTwP) combat model, openly citing inspirations from classic computer RPGs like Dragon Age: Origins. This move was a deliberate gamble in a modern gaming landscape often favoring pure action or strictly turn-based combat.

The decision to launch GreedFall II: The Dying World into Steam Early Access on September 24, 2024, was a strategic one, intended to involve the community in shaping the game’s development. As the developers stated, “Having player feedback will be very important… since we want to offer a game that will satisfy our community and reassure us that we are on the right track.” The initial Early Access build presented about 30% of the final game, focusing on the prologue on Teer Fradee and the early chapters on Gacane, leading to Olima.

Technologically, the game runs on Spiders’ proprietary Silk Engine, targeting modern PC hardware with minimum requirements including Windows 10, an Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, 16 GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT. Recommended specifications push this to an Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600x and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or AMD Radeon 6700XT for 1080p @ 60 FPS. These specifications place it firmly in the contemporary gaming space, aiming for a graphically competitive experience. However, the Early Access period itself has been acknowledged by the developers as “painful,” with reports of internal working conditions leading to discussions of a strike, casting a shadow over the initial launch despite the studio’s ambitious vision.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

GreedFall II: The Dying World is a prequel, unfolding three years before the adventures of De Sardet in the first game. This narrative choice immediately sets a distinct tone, offering fresh insights into the complex history and burgeoning conflicts that define the series’ universe. The most significant narrative shift, however, lies in the player’s perspective. Instead of a diplomat from the Old Continent arriving on the mysterious shores of Teer Fradee, players embody a native of the island, forcibly “uprooted” and transported to the very land of the renaigsa (the colonizers, or “foreigners” in Yecht Fradí), Gacane.

This role reversal is not merely a cosmetic change; it forms the thematic core of GreedFall II. The protagonist’s journey is one of survival, freedom, and self-determination against overwhelming odds. Stripped of their homeland, they are thrust into a new world “ravaged by war and scarred by the Malichor plague and the political scheming of the different factions.” The explicit goal is to “regain your freedom and control of your own destiny,” ultimately aiming to thwart “one man’s ambitions of conquest, which could spell the end for the continent and your island.” This strongly suggests a central antagonist whose designs directly threaten both the Old Continent and Teer Fradee, potentially tying into the colonial forces seen in the first game.

The player character, who can be visually customized and has a female option, is referred to as a “Doneigad” (a “sage” in the local language), implying a spiritual or protective role within their native culture. This backstory enriches the personal stakes of their quest, framing it not just as a fight for individual liberty, but for the protection of their people and heritage.

The narrative unfolds across new landscapes on Gacane, from Olima, the “city of stars” of the Bridge Alliance, to the shores of Uxantis. These locations, glimpsed in the first game, are now explorable environments teeming with their own histories and factions. Players must navigate “treacherous waters of their schemes and conspiracies,” suggesting a deeply political and morally ambiguous world. Dialogue and choices are paramount, with the game emphasizing that “every critical choice you make will impact the story’s progression and the resolution of quests.” Diplomacy, cunning, and combat are presented as equally viable paths, allowing for a multifaceted role-playing experience that adapts to the player’s preferred approach.

Companions play a vital role, as is characteristic of Spiders’ RPGs. The player will “find allies to join your team,” helping them with personal quests, uncovering their secrets, and potentially forging friendships, rivalries, or even romances. Characters like Sybille, Alvida, Nilan, and Fausta are among those who can join the protagonist’s cause. This focus on character relationships and their impact on the narrative deepens the emotional investment, creating a more personal struggle amidst the grander geopolitical conflicts.

Thematically, GreedFall II delves into familiar Spiders territory while offering a fresh lens. The pervasive theme of colonialism, central to the first game, is explored from the perspective of the colonized. This offers potent commentary on identity, displacement, and the struggle to preserve culture in the face of foreign expansion. The Malichor plague adds a layer of existential threat, a devastating disease that mirrors real-world historical impacts of European diseases on native populations. Political intrigue, moral ambiguity, and the pursuit of freedom against overwhelming power are woven throughout, promising a compelling and thought-provoking journey that is a hallmark of Spiders’ narrative design.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

GreedFall II: The Dying World introduces several significant changes and iterations on the GreedFall formula, most notably in its combat system. The core gameplay loop involves extensive exploration, undertaking a diverse array of quests, engaging in combat, and developing your character through robust progression systems.

Core Gameplay Loop

Players begin their adventure in the familiar lands of Teer Fradee before being forcibly transported to Gacane, exploring regions like Olima, Thynia, and Uxantis. The game promises a “sandbox / open world” experience, encouraging players to uncover secrets, explore rich environments, and engage with various factions. Player freedom is highlighted as central, allowing for different approaches to challenges: “diplomacy, cunning or combat.”

Combat System

This is arguably the most controversial and discussed aspect of GreedFall II. Spiders made a bold departure from the action RPG combat of the first game, adopting a real-time with pause (RTwP) system, explicitly drawing inspiration from Dragon Age: Origins. This allows players to control their entire party, pausing the action to issue tactical commands and plan strategies.

• Early Access 0.1 Reception: The initial implementation was widely criticized. Reviewers and players frequently described it as “lopsided and unresponsive,” “unpolished and unoptimized,” and “clunky.” Complaints included “sluggish response times,” “tactical issues due to AI behavior,” and “excessively sensitive controls.” Game8 outright called it “terribly unwieldy” and “practically unenjoyable,” noting characters ignoring orders and poor AI pathfinding. This significantly hampered the initial player experience, leading to many negative impressions.
• Early Access 0.2 Improvements: A major update in March 2025 (version 0.2) brought substantial improvements. Player feedback, as acknowledged by Spiders, led to a significant overhaul. The combat became “immeasurably better.” The AI was refined to be “sharp, reactive, and can handle their own 85% of the time.” New “tactical commands,” such as “Hold This Position,” were lauded for improving party control. The ability to queue up three actions before a battle enhanced strategic depth. Animations were made “fluid, satisfying, and diverse,” and crucially, “much more reactive.” For players preferring a more action-oriented feel, the option to enable “Autonomous AI” and focus solely on controlling the main character (Vriden Gerr) made combat “much more dynamic and engaging.”
• Lingering Issues: Even with improvements, some combat issues persist. Players noted the AI sometimes struggled with ranged enemies or recognizing when targets moved out of their original attack range. Suggestions for future updates included options for companions to prioritize ranged targets or to dynamically re-target if an enemy moves too far. The desire for “multiclassing” capabilities was also expressed, to allow for more flexible character builds.

Character Progression

Players create a visually customizable character, with options to choose from diverse skill sets and classes. The 0.2 update significantly enhanced class diversity. Weapon types are varied, including swords (with unique animations like the “fencing animations for the Rapier of Woe”), and firearms such as pistols. The introduction of characters like Safia as a musketeer/bombardier expanded tactical options for controlling the battlefield. Consumables like bleed coatings, traps, bombs, salves, and throwing knives are designed to be “powerful, and feel like they actually have the capability of turning the tide of the battle.” While crafting is a planned feature, its full implementation and impact are still evolving in Early Access.

Exploration

The game encourages exploration of its “new landscapes” and “ancient lands.” Discovering the “secrets of the Underground Complex in Olima” and “wandering around, getting into things, and starting fights” provided an “immersive” experience with a “rich feeling of uncharted territories.”
However, early exploration suffered from significant flaws:
* Traversal: An “unbearably slow” sprinting speed, even without a stamina bar, and a lack of proper scaling for environmental obstacles (invisible walls, one-foot-high cliffs) made traversal frustrating.
* Encounters: The RTwP combat system meant that unlike many action RPGs, simply running past alerted enemies was not an option; engagements forced a full combat mode, hindering free movement.
* Hazards: An excessive number of traps was noted, potentially to encourage investment in disarming skills, but often feeling punitive.
* AI Pathfinding: Companions frequently got stuck on terrain features, requiring the game to forcibly teleport them or the player to manually intervene.
* Map Issues: The in-game map was described as “terribly unintuitive,” with hard-to-identify icons and a general lack of clarity.

UI/Interface

The user interface also received mixed feedback.
* Mini-map: The default placement on the left side of the screen was disliked by some, with a desire for options to move it to the right or revert to a mini-bar like in GreedFall I.
* Overlay Map: The absence of a translucent overlay map feature (common in other Spiders titles like The Technomancer) was missed.
* Camera Controls: The need to “press and hold RMB to move the screen/interface while navigating with WASD” was considered unintuitive.
* Menus: The aesthetic and integration of inventory, character, and class menus were criticized for not being as intuitive or integrated as in previous Spiders games.
* Combat HUD: The combat HUD was described as “absurdly large” and taking up “way too much screen space.”
* QoL Features: Players suggested quality-of-life improvements such as visible supplementary gear on characters, more “lived-in” city animations, and a more streamlined party composition process on The Constanzia (the player’s ship).

Bugs and Stability

As an Early Access title, GreedFall II was inevitably launched with a host of bugs. Initial reports detailed “game-breaking bugs,” soft-locks in tactical view, and frequent, seemingly random crashes, particularly in the city of Olima, which was described as “incredibly unstable.” Other issues included:
* Visual Glitches: Floating animals/NPCs/objects, slow-loading textures (especially in specific areas like Ingo’s camp), and NPCs standing idle.
* Combat Bugs: Enemies with 0 health remaining standing (“zombie hostiles”), inaccessible enemies due to abilities (e.g., Fausta’s Shadow Burst sending monkeys into the ground), and companions getting stuck in doors.
* Quest Bugs: Issues with quest clarity (e.g., Safia’s personal quest resolution, Vinbarr’s stolen present) and outright broken questlines (e.g., “Lost in the City” breaking fast travel upon completion, Nilan’s personal quest in the Olima sewers being bugged).
* Systemic Issues: Party composition being locked after a crash, and unpredictable “Tracking mode” functionality in Olima. Reports of “RAM usage suddenly spikes to incredible values” also pointed to optimization challenges.

While the 0.2 update addressed many of the critical combat issues, the sheer volume and severity of bugs at launch highlighted the “rough edges” inherent to the Early Access model, demanding significant patience from players.

World-Building, Art & Sound

GreedFall II: The Dying World leverages the established lore of its predecessor while expanding it significantly by transporting players to the Old Continent of Gacane.

World-Building

Gacane is presented as a land profoundly different from the wild, untamed beauty of Teer Fradee. It is “ravaged by war and scarred by the Malichor plague and the political scheming of the different factions.” The synopsis describes it as a “mysterious land of deceptive beauty, where cities are riddled with disease and crime.” This paints a picture of a more morally complex, decaying, and politically charged environment. Key locations include Olima, the grand “city of stars” associated with the Bridge Alliance, and Uxantis, both of which were merely names or distant concepts in the first game. The game’s reverse colonial narrative enriches this world-building, offering a critical lens through which to view the renaigsa and their homelands, often seen as enlightened or superior in other fantasy settings. The world map itself, as noted by players, is “gorgeous,” though historical inconsistencies in its dates suggest placeholder elements due to Early Access.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is one of underlying tension and decay, contrasted with moments of discovery. While the “natural landscapes feel very alive and dynamic,” the cities, in their Early Access state, felt “much sleepier,” lacking the animations and ambient noise that would make them feel “lived-in.” The frequent bugs and UI issues in the initial build, unfortunately, often broke immersion, preventing the full realization of the intended atmosphere of political intrigue and desperate struggle for freedom. However, the core narrative and setting lay a strong foundation for a compelling atmosphere once technical issues are ironed out.

Visual Direction

Visually, GreedFall II operates with a distinct aesthetic characteristic of Spiders’ titles, blending period fashion with fantastical elements. Promotional materials showcase detailed character designs and diverse environments, from the lush prologue on Teer Fradee to the grittier, more urban landscapes of Gacane. The Silk Engine, while allowing for impressive scope, faced early challenges.
* Critiques: “Confusing visuals” were reported by Game8, and Gameliner criticized “bad animations.” The character creation system was deemed “extremely lacking,” offering “much less than the bare minimum of options to make a protagonist that looks slightly more distinct than a typical, non-interactable NPC.” Textures loading slowly in certain areas also detracted from the visual polish.
* Praises: Despite these flaws, the overall “beautifully designed world” was noted by some, acknowledging the art direction’s ambition even if execution suffered. Specific praise was given to details like the “fencing animations for the Rapier of Woe,” suggesting that individual artistic elements do shine through.

Sound Design

The game features an “Original Video Game Soundtrack,” with selections available on various streaming platforms, promising an immersive auditory experience. Full audio support is provided for 11 languages, indicating a global reach.
* Critiques: The primary point of contention in sound design was the “jarring voice overs.” Specifically, when characters transitioned between English and the fictional native tongues (like Yecht Fradí), the delivery could sound “really, really awkward.” Reviewers noted that actors sometimes seemed to be “simply reading off of a script while trying to forcibly inject intonations just so it doesn’t sound monotone,” undermining the emotional impact and immersion during these critical cultural exchanges. When sticking to English, however, the voice acting was generally considered “pretty good” and “natural.”

Overall, while the artistic vision for GreedFall II is ambitious and promising, the Early Access state significantly impacted its presentation, with technical and polish issues often overshadowing the underlying creative strengths in world-building, visuals, and sound.

Reception & Legacy

The launch of GreedFall II: The Dying World into Early Access on September 24, 2024, has been met with a decidedly mixed reception, characteristic of games in an unfinished state. Its critical and commercial journey is still very much in its nascent stages, making a definitive legacy assessment premature.

Critical Reception at Launch

Initial critical reviews for the Early Access build were heavily polarized, often reflecting the rough state of the game.
* Negative to Mixed: Publications like Gameliner awarded a low provisional score of 30/100, citing a “lackluster” story, characters devoid of emotional depth, “clunky combat system, bad animations, numerous bugs, and a weak character creation.” Game8’s review, titled “Really Fell Off,” called the game a “disappointment,” criticizing “confusing visuals, jarring voice overs, terribly clunky gameplay, and sometimes game-breaking bugs.” Many critics found the shift to RTwP combat to be a misstep or poorly implemented initially, with Try Hard Guides noting it was “surprising and, frankly, not for the better.” But Why Tho? struggled to recommend the game even as a final build. Movies Games and Tech (50/100) and GamingBolt (60/100) acknowledged some promise, but emphasized that the game was “dragged down by frustrating mechanics and a high volume of bugs” and “needs a healthy amount of time and polish.”
* Cautiously Optimistic: Some reviews, while acknowledging flaws, pointed to the game’s potential. Twinfinite (70/100) described it as a “classic old-school RPG with a lot of heart and potential that is currently held back by its early access status and the lack of quality of life features.” GameSkinny (80/100) was more positive, calling it a “solid start for a game just entering Early Access,” particularly for fans of classic RPGs, and noted it was “already a game that I can play for hours without getting bored, even if I’m just exploring the world.”
* Community Reviews: Steam user reviews initially settled at “Mixed” (55% positive of 439 reviews all-time). This reflects a core group of players who either found enjoyment despite the flaws or are dedicated fans of Spiders’ previous work willing to endure the Early Access journey. The IMDb rating sits at a low 3.8/10 from 13 user ratings, though this is a small sample size. Metacritic, as of this writing, has yet to aggregate a “Metascore” due to the limited number of critic reviews, and user reviews are “not available yet.”

It’s also important to note the external context: Spiders developers themselves referred to the Early Access release as “painful” in an open letter decrying working conditions, highlighting the internal struggles that may have contributed to the game’s initial rough state.

Commercial Reception

GreedFall II launched at $39.99 for its Early Access version on Steam, with the promise that this price would be cheaper than the full release. The game was “collected by 9 players” on MobyGames, indicating a slow start, but Steam’s “Mixed” review status with 439 total user reviews suggests a modest but engaged player base for an Early Access title from a mid-tier studio. Nacon’s press release referenced the “best-selling narrative RPG, which has already attracted over 2 million players,” referring to the GreedFall franchise as a whole, rather than GreedFall II specifically.

Evolution of Reputation & Legacy

The Early Access model is inherently about evolution. The most significant indicator of GreedFall II‘s potential legacy lies in the impact of its post-launch updates. The March 2025 (0.2) update, in particular, dramatically shifted player perception, especially regarding combat. A detailed player report on Steam discussions noted that the 0.2 version was “immeasurably better” than the launch build, transforming the combat from an “unstable, unpolished, and occasionally frustrating mess” into a “rough edges here and there” experience. This commitment to active community feedback and iterative improvement is crucial for an Early Access title and bodes well for its future.

GreedFall II‘s legacy will depend heavily on its full 2025 release. If Spiders can continue to polish, optimize, and expand the game, addressing the remaining bugs and refining the UI and core systems, it has the potential to overcome its rocky start. Its bold shift to RTwP combat, if fully realized, could serve as a case study for how a studio can successfully reinvent a core mechanic based on player feedback. More broadly, it reinforces Spiders’ identity as a studio dedicated to complex, narrative-driven RPGs in unique settings, offering a distinct alternative to larger franchises. The game’s innovative reverse-colonial narrative perspective also sets it apart, potentially influencing future RPGs to explore historical and thematic concepts from alternative viewpoints.

Conclusion

GreedFall II: The Dying World is an RPG of immense ambition, seeking to expand upon its beloved predecessor by reversing narrative perspectives and fundamentally altering its core combat. Spiders, a studio celebrated for its distinctive narrative-driven experiences, bravely transports players to the Old Continent of Gacane, casting them as a native of Teer Fradee, forcibly uprooted and thrust into a world of complex political intrigue, devastating plague, and the struggle for freedom. This premise, coupled with a renewed commitment to deep player choice and nuanced character relationships, promises a compelling narrative journey.

However, the game’s voyage through Early Access has been turbulent. Its initial launch was marred by a host of technical issues, from persistent bugs and optimization woes to unpolished gameplay systems and a clunky user interface. The ambitious shift to a real-time with pause combat system, while strategically interesting, proved problematic in its early iteration, leading to widespread criticism. These initial flaws significantly hampered the player experience, resulting in a mixed critical and commercial reception.

Yet, GreedFall II is a living project, and its subsequent Early Access updates, particularly the impactful 0.2 patch, have showcased Spiders’ dedication to their community and their craft. Significant improvements to combat AI, responsiveness, and overall stability have demonstrably enhanced the game, transforming it from a frustrating mess to a more enjoyable, albeit still unfinished, experience.

Ultimately, GreedFall II: The Dying World stands as a testament to the promises and perils of the Early Access model. It is not, in its current state, a finished masterpiece, nor an immediate triumph. Instead, it is a game of profound potential, a meticulously crafted world waiting to be fully realized. For dedicated fans of Spiders and narrative RPGs, it offers a glimpse into a rich, unfolding saga and an admirable commitment to iterative development. Its final place in video game history will depend entirely on how successfully Spiders navigates the remaining development hurdles, polishes its rough edges, and delivers on the grand vision of its “deeper RPG experience.” With continued care and community engagement, GreedFall II still has every chance to cement itself as a worthy successor and a significant entry in the pantheon of character-driven role-playing games.