Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

Chapters 1-3 are 10/10s Chapters 4-5 are 7/10s This honestly one of the best CRPGs I've ever played and its insane the amount of love that went into bringing the Grim Dark future to life. My only complaint is that Chapters 4-5 felt lackluster, the first three chapters were amazing and rewarded exploration - but when you got towards the end of the game it genuinely felt as if it devs didn't know how to guide the player towards its conclusion. I'm not saying it has a bad ending, its actually really good one that varies on based your decision, but what I am saying is the feeling of exploration feels non-existent towards the end. You can still make your choices that influences the story, but just that feeling of freedom is gone is all I'm saying. Aside from that this is a very worth it experience and even more worth it if you love Warhammer. As this being my first Owlcat game, I can't wait to play their next project Dark Heresy because of Rouge Trader. The Emperor Protects!

Lord Captain: Abelard, notify the esteemed tech-priests at Owlcat studios that they have done admirable work on this game! Abelard: Yes, lord captain! Lord Captain: Abelard cancel my meeting with the governor. I'll be in my private gaming room for the rest of the day, do not interrupt! Abelard: Consider it done, my lord. Lord Captain: Abelard, introduce me, I'm having a crush on her! Abelard: Certainly, my lord. Lord Captain: Abelard, scratch my ass now! Abelard: My lord? (Abelard sighs and comments quietly) ehem.... The Rogue Trader never fails to astonish.

Just finished my first play through and must say it is incredibly good and I plan to do it all again with a different build. Pros: Decisions (mostly) matter and they are more nuanced (mostly) than the standard choices (ie in most games its a choice between its puppies and kittens or choose to brutally murder everyone - this one generally has legitimate pros and cons of choosing different paths). Secondary character quests were pretty good across the board. Main story had enough twists and turns to be interested without being convoluted for its own sake. The open world aspect (ie can travel around in largely whatever order) is cool. A few cons: My biggest complaint is that the trading and warp systems are not explained well at all. Also only having a limited number of warp points to use is a pain when at the start you dont know what the major centers will be. I found myself having to use a lot of red paths (or in one case not be able to make a path at all) to planets it turns out I needed to access a decent amount. Heard there are some common mods for this and highly recommend. The warp events get extremely tedious after a while (fighting 3 demons with all the loading screens inbetween for 2 pieces of mediocre loot is pointless but I didnt always have the other stuff on hand to fight them off and ship repair gets annoying when there is only a limited number of opportunities to get scrap). My other main complaint is that the classes seem hilarious unbalanced and there are several midgame/endgame powerspikes (looking at you wordbringer fight) that punish you excessively if you have used vanguards or haven't spec'd assasins and psyker/officers the right way. A lot of people will just tell you to min-max better but that kind of defeats the whole point of the RPG aspects when they want you just to numbercrunch better. Overall a very good game which I recommend though with the caveat of A) read some guides to get started and B) get a mod that unlocks more astropath points per scan thing at least.

If you like Warhammer 40k and want to live in it's world (not as a space marine) then this game is for you. I do not find the turn based combat tedious like I do in some other games. Reminds me a lot of Sunless Skies if Sunless Skies was Warhammer and you could actually see all the locations in person.

Chapter 1 and 2 are great, I really enjoyed exploring the expanse and learning about the setting. Chapter 3 is so bad though. They take away your role play ability as a lot of dialogue options just result in you being killed and needing to reload and go through dialogue trees multiple times looking for any options other than absolute cringing submission to your enemies. They interrupt the game every few 2-3 minutes for a cut scene where the character whines about how much pain they are in. No access to space travel, no access to shop, no access to other worlds to break up the monotony. Endless combat sequences with tons of enemies after they have taken your gear from you. Areas where you can't take more than 5 steps without coming across a trap, turning a 3-minute area into a 30 minute area. It is so linear, it really should have been one of those choose your own adventure sections that you complete in 3-5 minutes. On top of that I somehow missed the space marine character I was looking forward to meeting and completed the chapter without finding him. This chapter was such a frustrating experiance, I don't think I will even be completing this game. Every time I try to boot it back up I just have them memories of this crap coming back and it ruins my mood. I just don't understand how anyone could think this is gameplay that is worthwhile or interesting. I am so disappointed that a game that started so positively spiraled into this

I had a dream about 40K CRPG for many years - and now have it. I just played for several hours, but I'm already loving it. The game is in good shape now, 1+ year after the release. Strongly recommend if you're a 40K fan.

I have some mixed feeling about this game, but as a game i picked up on sale for 50$ (50% off) this is a game of quantity and not quality. I would only suggest this game if your both a big fan CRPGS, Tactical, and Warhammer 40k. I was not a 40k fan going into this game, was more of a unknown to me. I ended up not caring much for the universe. If i were to high light 3 areas of the game (tactical, Story, and game design) Tactically speaking, this game is simple, none of the combats are difficult, and once you figured out something that works you can use it the whole game. The different game setting really is a matter of how spongy you want things to be. and this being the biggest reason i wanted to play this, really hurt the experience for me. Also found the leveling system in the game became more of a chore than excitement, because i never really needed the power. Story : This is sort of a mixed bag, if you played Pathfinder Kingmaker, you find there are alot of the same story beat here, just with a 40k skin. Almost gave up on this game after Act 2 was done, but it did get better, and would high suggest focusing main story if you get bored by the side stuff. I did find myself just spam clicking stuff from time to time due to the lack of voice acting, I honestly didn't care at times which got me into trouble from time to time, but story was very cookie cutter. Game Design : A few frustrating things here, The loading time is bad, my machine is rather beefy but still What the heck.... Also the auto save system is poor, you have to do all the saving yourself. When you do reload it make you hit a key to load in, found myself waiting when to play after reload, and it was waiting for me to hit key way too often. Movement get clunky around traps. Leveling system is bad. Thou i really did like the purchasing system from vendors. made trash loot useful for rep. The biggest flaw thou of this game is lack of voice acting. All main characters (main or personal quests) need to be voice acted for a game of this price. The DLCs Void : (1st story DLC) the character you get here is powerful, she alone took out whole encounters for me. the story was ok, but it would just sort of pop up in the middle of you doing something and take you away from the main game for hrs at a time. Lex imperialis (2nd story DLC) story was silly, character i ignored. the DLC dropped on me while i was in act 4, so i was too powerful for it to be fun, and didn't really care for the character or his robo dog. maybe i missed some tie ins from how late i got it. If you do buy, i would wait till there done with all there Season 2 DLCS and are out, make sure you a 40k fan going in, and wait for a deep sale. the nickle and diming of DLCs for more mostly unvoice acted side content really takes this game from a recommend to not, along wiht issues i stated above. this is at best a 40$ value (with the to be made content)

Aside from being a great cRPG this is probably the best game to get into Warhammer 40k if you are not familiar with the setting.

My biggest issue I have with the game is the lack of visual and audio flare. None of the attacks have any weight to them and the audio feels stock-like. I WANT to like this game but there's nothing that makes me go "woah, that looks/sounds awsome!"

This is a good game, although it can be complicated like many of these types of RPGs; you need make solid choices when leveling characters or they will be out of sync with the power curve for later in the game.

If you like this type of game, you will enjoy it. If you like 40k lore, you will love it. I've purchased all of Owlcat's Pathfinder games and have never finished a play through. I finished this game on my first play through.

Outstanding game. First proper Warhammer 40K RPG and literally the best game both for 40K vets and noobs. Pick up this, if you are just strating your Warhammer journey, it's great even if you do not understand anything about the universe at all, the game teaches you a lot.

[h1] It Never Ends! [/h1] If I had to sum this game up in three words, that would be it... [b] IT NEVER ENDS! [/b] OwlCat's previous game WotR left a sour taste in my mouth, but I've wanted to get into 40k for awhile now and chose this as my official introduction to the series. And I will say that the first 3 acts of this game were a blast. I really had thought that OwlCat had redeemed themselves in my eyes. I liked the story, the characters, the character builds and combat. But beginning in Act 4, the game royally shits the bed and saying that it overstays its welcome would be an understatement. Again, you're handed an unending checklist of sidequests, bombarded with 15-30 second loading screens constantly, and interrupted with ANOTHER loading screen to be handed ANOTHER sidequest. Eventually, your character builds will become so broken that you're clearing every encounter in 1 turn and the only time you're not is when the boss has some gimmick where they don't die in one hit - even on the hard difficulty settings. I almost gave up, but sunken cost fallacy demanded I keep going. Little did I know just how much more game there was following Act 3. Act 4 and Act 5 are a miserable slog and just when you think you're almost done, it just keeps going. More sidequests, more planets, more loading screens, more menial tasks that your incompetent Vox Master thinks are worthy of a Rogue Trader's time. Here's what a typical 30 minutes of gameplay looks like: Start on voidship bridge leveling up your character and talking to your High Factorum to trade items. Go to star map to go to the system map. 20 second load screen. Zoom out of system map to galaxy map. 20 second load screen. Oh no! I forgot to buy an Item I need. Back to bridge - 20 second load screen. Back to galaxy map - 20 second load screen. The system you need to go to is 5 galaxies away - you can't just go straight to the system you need to, you have to pass through each individual system on the way. Click on the next system, interrupted by Vox Master, "Lord Captain, to serfs in one of your compartments aren't happy with the quality of their rations, we need you to personally settle this matter." 20 second load screen to go back to bridge. Choose between jettisoning the entire compartment out the airlock, diverting the entirety of the ships food supply to their compartment, or sacrificing them in the name of Lord Nurgle. 20 second load screen back to bridge. 20 second load screen back to galaxy map. Rinse and repeat for ~100 hours. This is my second most played game now, and I guarantee more than a third of that is just sitting through loading screens. This is all so disappointing because there were so many genuinely fun and exciting and interesting moments in the first half of the game (and probably the second half too if I didn't get completely burnt out). Chances are, I won't be picking up OwlCat's next 40k game or the new DLC - friendship with OwlCat has officially ended. Tl;dr This game gets a 2/5: + The 40k universe is cool. - Way too long. - Doesn't respect your time. - Some of us have jobs and a life. - Why does a CRPG have so many bugs? You literally just click on shit?!

Rogue Trader is GOD DAMN INCREDIBLE CRPG. When it was released, I've read some mixed reviews about it... mainly that it was bugged... So I waited, and ho God Emperor how Right I was. This is by far one of the best CRPG I've ever played with Planescape Torment, Shadowrun Dragonfall and Baldur's Gate 3. I do prefer Rogue Trader to BG3 to be fair. So the game isn't perfect : it's very long, sometimes where it shouldn't be. The insane number of skills and things to consider when you level up makes it a chore when it should be a fun moment... But appart from this, the story is incredible, there are SO MANY DECISIONS to make, all the time, that REALLY DIFFERS and have an impact on the game. I won't spoil, but this is the best Warhammer 40K Game ever made. Art is top notch, Music is perfect, writing is great, the cast is PERFECT as well (even If I had to judge some of them for Heresy)... I can't say how much I loved this game. You have to try it. Plus, both DLCs are really great too, with character arcs and story that are really interesting and really add some crazy fun moments. Thanks Owlcat. Thanks a lot. I'll be there for Dark Heresy.

Abelard, Inform the dregs on the lower decks that the Lord Captain is most pleased. The only experience I had with warhammer prior to this game was reading the Eisenhorn trilogy and playing Space Marine 2, so I'm still a relative neophyte when it comes to singing the Emperor's praises. That being said, this is a wonderfully written game that I personally found much more approachable than the pathfinder titles, which are also extraordinary. Owlcat in particular have a knack for constantly throwing unbelievably daunting challenges toward the player. I can think of no other developer who've made my player characters fight godlike creatures on so many occasions. You don't need to be a crpg enthusiast to enjoy this game. The writing is absolutely phenomenal, being both hilarious and deeply profound in many areas. Having just finished my first playthrough being Dogmatically loyal to the God-Emperor, I look forward to spreading the joy of chaos to the Koronus Expanse in my next playthrough

Great game if you're looking to lose hundreds of hours of your life, leaving in it's wake a long succession of ignored texts, phonecalls, social engagements, and other responsibilities all because your life as the Lord Captain on a space ship is more important. I forgot what the sun looks like.

It's a really good RPG with some Owlcat teething problems, but if you want to experience the grimm darkness of the 41st millenium, it's the best thing short of entering the Emperor's service.

Rogue trader does an amazing job not only with the story but also the atmosphere of 40k. If you have played an owlcat game before you will definitely appreciate this game as well even if it's in a space setting. The skill tree is big it can seem a lot to new players but the community is really nice and there are a lot of good build guides. The first dlc added so much content and yet another good build. As for the characters there are so many i like and even the ones I don't like/use are well done. Owlcat and the voice actors did a great job. Some notes though some bugs do pop in and the voice acting is not for every bit of dialog. Also it is a very human centric play of 40k as there are a couple xeno companions but the main cast is mostly human. Chaos is a bit weaker of the paths you can go down but the environment around does change depending on what path you go down and it is still a fun path to go down at least once.

Lore is really engaging. I loved it, although one part of the game was much weaker. Gameplay wise It might be confusing at first, what to build, how to play etc. But person can really quickly get used to it. Soundtrack is one of the best I ever heard.

Solid game. The narrative is nicely done with a lot of side quests, rich lore, and meaningful choices. Wish there were more voiced dialogues instead of heavy reading. Space combat felt a bit challenging, but it adds to the experience 9.5/10

As with all Owlcat Games, RT too needed some time to become playable, but now it's the best RPG in the WH40k universe there is.

This game... it's very //excellent; engrossing; amazing// I love it also, Opticon-22 supremacy, love that little autism creature.

Abelard, please educate these people about the glory of executing the Emperor's will and obliterating xeno scum through a ceaseless torrent of heavy bolter fire.

I really wish I'd known about this game sooner. I only bought it because of the Skulls sale event but its been some of the best 126 hours I've had even dying in Grimdarkness mode and having my save file deleted when I died. My son, a baby sitting in my lap, hit the spacebar at a very critical moment... at least one of us had a laugh right then. but its funny in hindsight

Just buy it , I dont need to write a lengthy review . Everything is top tier. If you are reading this you are already doing yourself a disservice instead of serving the emperor with a swiftness.

I initially started playing Rogue Trader because of a burgeoning interest in Warhammer 40k. Along the way, I discovered that it is also one of the finest RPGs ever made. Whether you are a fan of 40k or not, this game is just that good. That being said, it is a little wordy - so be aware of that before you dive in. It's got a lot of great voice acting, but also pages and pages of written dialogue. All of it is great, but worth noting.

[h1]Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader - A (flawed) Masterpiece[/h1] (Minor/Out of Context Spoilers) Oh. My God. What an [b]incredible[/b] experience this was, start to finish. Owlcat has absolutely outdone themselves this iteration, because [b]holy cow[/b] did this impress. I just reached the ending credits screen - Which - Let me tell you, this is a [b]LONG[/b] game (178/hrs as of this Review). Keep in mind, I used Toybox while playing this (Veteran Owlcat players will understand) and I went out of my way not just to complete every side objective and rumor, but also had to [i]reload[/i] several times to either fix my game, or explore another course of action. This game has it's fair share of "Owlcat"-isms, there's a section towards the end of the game where you can decipher a Xenos language, but not only is this bugged normally (Sometimes it doesn't complete), but you don't realize this until a few Warp Jumps later, well when I was another half an hour or so in. Whilst this was frustrating, [b]this[/b] is the exact reason why I opted to install Toybox halfway into my playthrough after I realized it was available. Regardless of the various chips on the surface, this game is absolutely [b]fantastic[/b] narratively - Barring a few hiccups here and there between Act 2 and act 3 - Finally getting to those Ending Slides to find out how my Iconoclast run results was [b]SO INCREDIBLY SATISFYING[/b] I almost shed a tear. You're given an extraordinary amount of both physical [i]and[/i] political power, to do with as you wish in several instances. This is Grimdark 40k, so you'll also be expecting a fair amount of betrayal, probably from those closest to you and that you least expect (Not Abelard though, that man is the GOAT). I cannot properly put into words in a game review just how accomplished but bittersweet the ending left me, knowing the eventual twists that came from my companions - Who of course fell into their own brand of disarray once the Rogue Trader was no longer on their conquest - Going off into their own directions, some with happy endings (Incredibly rare for this story theme), some with sad endings, and some with more.. [i]Ambiguous[/i] connotations ([b]The Cycle MUST be Discontinued!![/b]). [h2]My Finality[/h2] In the end, my Protectorate was attacked by the Imperium of Man - As - You see - My proclivity to seeking peace before violence with Xenos and prioritizing the welfare and health of my fellow Man was considered the highest level of Apostasy.. [b]But by then it was simply too late[/b]. I had ultimate faith in my Ship-Born son - [spoiler]Nomos[/spoiler] - To deliver myself and the rest of my Worlds from the raging fires of a rusting, unfeeling, uncompromising, and ultimately decaying Imperium - As you see - That is one of the ultimate realizations.. The Imperium of Man in this age is living in a great Lie. No, I'm not speaking as some Warp-addled psychopathic Heretic - Though one may see my actions as such on the surface - I'm speaking as someone who played a Rogue Trader that did their [b]damndest[/b] to protect the lives of their people both Human [i]and[/i] Mutant and Xenos. Some of my companions fell, some of them even attacked each-other, but [b]all[/b] were satisfied. In the end, I was a savior of the Expanse, one who weighed Mercy and Vengeance on a very specific and sometimes downright Heretical scale - But I never stepped beyond that threshold, despite what the Imperium may have ultimately thought in the end. I worked with their [spoiler]Inquisition[/spoiler] stooge until the very end, but at the bitterest of moments, when that monster demanded I murder my son, then all the bets were off. Big props to Inquisitor Van Calox for being [i]more[/i] than patient with me [spoiler]murdering his Boss[/spoiler]. The remaining sectors of the Von Valancius were [spoiler]isolated from the very fabric of Space that held the known Universe[/spoiler] by the [spoiler]Shard Nomos[/spoiler], my son, and greatest, ultimate achievement as Rogue Trader. It was not any battle, nor skirmish nor near-death experience that was my finest accomplishment, it was the birth of my Progeny of Ideals within [spoiler]the very heart of my Voidship[/spoiler], as it was that very entity that saved my Protectorate, and ushered in a micro-age of peace, mercy, and true righteousness to the few people that were blessed to witness it. Yeah, I'm [i]something[/i] of a God-Emperor myself.. In all seriousness, I believe I embodied [i]most[/i] of the [b]ORIGINAL[/b] tenants set out by the O.G BIG E himself.. Besides - Y'know - The Xenos negotiating. I pushed the envelope, I broke boundaries, I annihilated countless interlopers; [b]I became Legion[/b]. [h2]Conclusion[/h2] This is an incredible game despite the frustrated times I may have had with it. I think the Classes could be.. Tweaked somewhat. While they mostly follow the Owlcat formula, I never did [i]vibe[/i] with anything besides Soldier/Arch-Militant, because it was just so straight-forward. By the time you're halfway through this game, you'll be spending your turns mostly buffing and debuffing enemies before doing one or two attacks (If you aren't a combat-main), otherwise you'll be spending your time buffing yourself to do a [i]lot of damage[/i] (If you [b]are[/b] a combat-main), go figure.. It's just.. [b]IT TAKES SO DAMN LOOOOOOONG[/b] sometimes. Eventually I just start shooting stuff and ending turns with AP and MP remaining [i]just[/i] to keep things moving. Regardless of my combat ranting, I genuinely recommend anybody - Even if you aren't a Warhammer fan but are interested in exploring the universe and are a fan of CRPGs - To give this a go. It'll be a while before I give this another swing (I need a break, dawg), so enjoy that Lex Imperialis DLC drop (RIGHT AS I FINISHED MY RUN, TOO!) I'd love to see an eventual sequel, hopefully with Dragon-Age-esque "Pre-World" building ala Inquisition where you can import Save Data and have the story reference past-game choices, but before that we need to get our teeth into [b]Dark Heresy[/b]. What a wild ride, ladies, gentlemen and non-binary buddies. 9/10, would mess with forces beyond comprehension and elevate myself to a veritable Demi-God Legend with a [spoiler]C'tan Shard[/spoiler] son again.

One of the best CRPGs I have ever played, might not be BG3 but as a WH40K fan this is probably better....

If you enjoy grimdark, brutally bleak humor, or wanna play a sci-fi CRPG with co-op up to six people, its hard to find a better one. Until they release the sequel. Only a hundred hours in and I'm still not done with my first playthrough.

This game fundamentally nails an immersive, character driven, look into the grimdark 40th millennium. Full stop. Rogue Trader is (for now) the most immersive 40k game I have ever played; I wanted to discover every system, search each map, craft the best Plasma rife Sniper-Magos that I could, engage in epic planetary conquest, and follow each back-alley cold-trader. There are some CONS: Jumping from the 'Koronus Expanse Map' to the 'System map' to the bridge of my ship with loading screens between each sucked a lot of momentum out of exploration. - There are a very finite amount of resources, which means saves can be ruined by a thoughtlessly consuming the last piece of ore you need to complete your colony. You are rewarded for committing to a course of action, but you will not be told when a small choice might contradict your vision for the play through. I have other gripes but I encourage all CRPG fans and 40k fans alike to watch some game play or just dive in. Ultimately, since I'm a 40k simp, 9.5/10. I sunk more than 100 hours in this game in just a couple of weeks, so my unbiased review is a 9.0. I loved it.

Owlcat's best game from both a gameplay and story aspect. They excel with turn-based combat and the there is none of those brutal random difficulty spikes that were in Pathfinder. As far as the story, characters, and quest line there are no tone breaking moments either. There are few problems little voice acting for the main plot, and the game is still littered with bugs that brick quest lines and achievements. Pacing after act 3 is atrocious if you did most of the content in act 2. Over all if it had a bit more depth to its themes, character writing, and whole lot more production value it would be on par with games like Fallout NV, BG3, and The Witcher games.

Outstanding, incredible game play and role playing, with infinite replayability.

Amazing story and game overall highly recommend

While the prologue and each act are individually quite satisfying, I'm a bit disappointed [spoiler] The Cult of the Final Dawn - y'know, the heretics whose actions kick off the game - aren't the final antagonist and disappear completely before the final act. Basically you find out there's a SECOND great conspiracy going on - which, in itself, isn't a problem - and the conclusion of that story is also separately quite satisfying, tying together a ton of loose threads including the actions of the drukhari, culminating in an excellent final boss in terms of both identity and gameplay.[/spoiler] I just wish this game had a sort of 'main antagonist' - it would feel more like a complete story and less like 'the ongoing adventures of von valancius and his wacky pals.'[/spoiler] The combat can get overlong - I strongly recommend increasing the speed of animations. In a way, it also gets much easier, but maybe I'm just a character building god. (Iconoclast Officer/Strategist+Diviner/Sanctic Psyker) Some of the talents definitely feel way stronger than others. In fact some archetypes too feel much stronger than others - i hardly used vanguard at all, and many of its talents and abilities felt massively underwhelming. Whereas tactician and archmilitant have god tier talents all the way through. Bounty hunter, assassin, and strategist all feel kinda mid, but since strategist is more of a number skewer it might be better than i give it credit for, just less fun. For most of the early game you're stuck with a single soldier and warrior (as opposed to three separate operatives and .) Just a bunch of minor nitpicks. This game is great. Way, WAY too many loading screens. It shouldn't force a load between the galaxy map and the solar system map. Just too much. You'll be making that transition a lot. Great characters [spoiler]JAE IS BAE[/spoiler], good mysteries, satisfying combat visual effects. Biggest problem is no ogryn.

The game has a pretty good and grim story in the best traditions of the setting. The problems are outdated graphics and gameplay, slighty hard role system and some bugs but the game story addicts and after the few hours you don't pay attention on it. Imo the best 40k game at this moment. 9/10.

Story complexity, nearly endless ways to build a party, a lot of side objectives and discovery.

Bloody hell. Oh yeah also this is a long review. First off, to create the illusion of structure in this review I will begin with a seemingly unrelated statement: The worst game I've ever played in my entire life is Pathfinder: Kingmaker. That's right, leave your little clown emoji and jog on, losers. Okay, now it's just us, let's carry on. I know of Warhammer 40k peripherally. I've never played any game in the universe before and have never played the tabletop miniatures stuff despite being nerdy enough to not only withstand but also win a 10 hour game of Twilight Imperium, and old enough to remember when the words "parallax scrolling" were cause for arousal. I bought Rogue Trader off the back of a work colleague's recommendation, at a point where I was waiting patiently for Date Everything to not get its release date delayed again, so I needed something to fill the void. I did not expect to be playing one of the best CRPGs I’ve ever seen in four decades of gaming. You are a Rogue Trader, blah blah plot explanation. There is not one single facet of this game that is not at least very good in quality – the glory of Rogue Trader is/are the sheer amount of facets there are to enjoy. You have strong RPG elements, involving three core morality paths you can follow resulting in different outcomes, dialogue options stemming from your skills, background and companions. The companions are beautifully written – flawed and great and a mess all at the same time, and brilliantly voiced, with their own personal questlines to complete. And of course, the main story is bold, sprawling and epic, as befitting the setting. But there is so much more to this game. First off, the combat. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your soldiers in X-COM got to do like 15 actions every turn? Christ. I’m writing this review at the precise moment of me completing one run of the game, 140 hours. 97 of those hours are me ensuring that Kibellah never has less than 27 buffs on her every single combat, even the random warp ones where you’re up against three pink horrors. The vast majority of battles in Rogue Trader aren’t decided in the first few rounds – they’re decided in the first few turns. There is a character called Sister Argenta, and I cannot even describe to you what it is possible for her to do in a single turn, because it would be like when the walking miasma of nervous sweat and odour in the board game café starts explaining why he’s just beaten you at Yu-Gi-Oh. But here’s the important part: Argenta ain’t nothin without her queen, Cassia. Warhammer 40k often comes across as such a violent, uncompromising universe of horror and heresy that, from the outside, it seems inconceivable that two people would even be able to sit down and have a cup of tea without pulling plasma pistols on each other within seconds and melting each others’ faces off. Yet Rogue Trader excels at showcasing the quieter, more nuanced aspects of 40k – the class divide, the endless politics, the intrigue and yes, the diplomacy. It also beautifully evokes the brotherhood and siege mentality that brings people together in even the most heinous and brutal circumstances. And this feeling of weathered, yet necessary companionship really translates into the combat – your allies are constantly buffing, supporting, protecting and directing each other, often more so than many other tactical squad games. For all her martial zeal, Argenta cannot navigate the battlefield alone (see what I did there?). Better move on or I’ll hit the word limit. MUSIC – the music is insane. Prior to playing this game, if you could pluck from my brain the exact thread of consciousness responsible for conceiving of what the soundtrack to a 40k RPG should sound like, it would be identical to what has been put together in this project. The music is one of the most magnificent parts of this game – it is dark and brooding, it is holy and reverent, it is screaming with its guts all over the pentagram, it is telling you that you won’t survive unless you make damn sure nothing else does. An absolute triumph of noise that never lets up even in the quiet moments. There are other gameplay elements that I was completely unaware of going into this game, too. There is ship combat that is fully fleshed out, with tactics and skills and environmental buffs. There is colony management, with hard decisions to be made when problems arise on them (pro tip it’s heresy it’s always heresy what else was it gonna be let’s be real). There is star system exploration with warp navigation management. There is trading with various factions to get the most powerful items in the game. There are secret companions. There is a lot of game to this game outside of the classic CRPG trappings, and it is ALL done really well. I didn't even talk about levelling up, one of the most bonkers parts! Oh well I'm tired. And then just the little touches sprinkled everywhere, just small details too numerous to mention that make this an RPG that achieves the most important tenet of the genre - attention to detail. Despite my play time, my only (non) criticism of the game is that I wish there were more of everything. I wish you could have more dialogue options with your companions. I wish there were more star systems to explore. I wish there were DLC I could OH My GOD So on top of all this, my jaw detached from my face and smashed on my keyboard halfway through my playthrough when I realised that Owlcat Games, the geniuses behind this project, are the same REPROBATES that made Pathfinder Kingmaker, not just the worst RPG ever made, but the worst GAME ever made! This is a better redemption arc than stupid No Man’s Sky, which is still a terrible game by the way, you’re all just giving A for effort like a doting pre-school teacher, get those reviews back on Not Recommended, now! Stand by some principles for god’s sake. What was I saying? Oh yeah this game rules – get it and purge some serious heresy. THE DIVINE WATCHES OOOOOOOOOVER UUUUUUUUUUS

I very much enjoyed the Rogue Trader CRPG and its expansions: Void Shadows and DLC. I came into the game as a Warhammer 40k neophyte, and while some of the importance of terms, people, and locations was lost on me during the first few playthroughs, I was compelled to stay by the twisting story and compelling characters. The ensemble cast of the Rogue Trader's retinue is a winning combination, because making interesting and varied characters is something that I think Owlcat does exceptionally well. Each new expansion has only added value to the game's replayability, so definitely don't skip Lex Imperialis or Void Shadows. My only gripe, and this is true of not just Rogue Trader and Owlcat's games in the Pathfinder series, but also any direct TTRPG ruleset to PC (including Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Numenera, Shadowrun, and to a lesser extent BG3), is that I don't think the game's combat and player mechanics translate one to one as well as studios hope. My preference is for combat systems to be designed for the PC/console gaming experience, not a ruleset port with some optimization. But that shouldn't stop you from playing the game; after all, there's a LOT of story to get through, and you can find plenty of build guides to help you crush heretics.

Its pretty good. The writing is incredible and the gameplay is ok-ish. The music is fire and the ropleplaying elements are incredibly solid. I do wish they divided huge paragraphs of dialogue between more dialogue screens though. There is often way too much text and is not fed optimally enough to the player. Other complaints I wish there more portraits for the major and minor characters. Even generic ones would be such an improvements. There is a definite lack of voice acting thats likely due to budget constraints. You get used to it, but it would elevate the game .5-1 points Overall my personal rating: 8.5 Great Game and worth the buy

Great 40k game, great CRPG. A 40k CRPG is long overdue and Rogue Trader rises to the occasion.

This is one of the very best games I’ve ever played. Due to the complexities of the tech tree, I watched videos on YouTube about the best builds for each character. That was very rewarding. Having a sniper deal massive damage to tough, debuffed enemies standing in a kill zone is amazing. The game really lets you plan your battles. The quests are immersive one by one, and the overarching stories are on the level of a well-written novel. The fact that the game allows your character to evolve based on your choices, rather than forcing you into a predetermined script, adds so much to the fun.

Tried to play Co-op with my friend, literally can't take an action without an immediate desync. looked all over the internet for assistance and apparently it's just like this.

Very fun and it really immerses you into the world of 40k.

The music is great, the atmosphere is great, the voice acting is great, the gameplay is great (mix of BG3 and XCOM). On top of that, the warhammer universe adds so much mystery and atmosphere to the game such that it is a lot of fun to play. There is a tutorial that explains a lot step by step. However, be warned that the customization of characters and skill system is massive. It might take you a while to find the character that you want to play.

So far this game scratches every want I would have for a CRPG set in the Warhammer 40K Universe. The story so far has me on the edge of my seat and every chance I get I am playing this game. I will update this review as I play more but so far this game has been worth the price tag.

This game plays like a combination of the Pathfinder role playing CRPGs from Owlcat and Shadowrun Returns. I'm not familiar with the lore of the Warhammer 40k universe, so a lot of that is lost on me. However, I find the story fairly engaging and robust. At the time of writing, I'm still in Chapter 1 of the game (I left it on a couple of nights, which is why my time in game shows as high as it does). Skills, abilities, and the leveling system look to be extensive. Again, I'm only level 13 thus far, so I can't speak to mid- to high-level. So far, I'm enjoying the game and would recommend it to others, especially on the current 50% off sale.

For any Warhammer 40k fan or sci-fi reader this game is a gem. It is a lot of text and a lot of lore but also a lot of gameplay. It is surprising how much content there is packed in this.

13 Hours in and loving this game. Really enjoy the setting and story thus far. It is slightly buggy, but nothing that breaks the game. Recommend lowering the resolution on your PC if its lagging a bit, really helps performance and game still looks really good. Got this and Pathfinder in a bundle on sale, great get!

It's hard to overstate the quality of the content to dollars ratio here. I am currently on my third playthrough (1. when I bought the game 2. Void Shadows Release 3. Lex Imperialis release) and I have over 400 hours sunk into this thing. If you have the time and the funds, just to it.

Game is pretty fun, and with all the options for your character builds, you have lots of options for build-outs etc. I am just getting into about the halfway point of the first ACT and have spent a good amount of time exploring all the nooks & crannies looking for loot etc. The story-line is actually pretty interesting and stays faithful to the Warhammer 40K lore for the most part. its very cool to be able to play in this sandbox.