Tyranny: Bastard's Wound (PC) Review

There are two kinds of expansions: those that… well, expand on a title by adding an additional chapter, and those that feel more like traditional DLC, since they just offer more things to do mid-game. Unfortunately, this is of the second kind, which is a shame, as almost every single fan of Tyranny (yours truly included) expected a continuation of the storyline right from the - in all honesty - subpar finale.

Bastard's Wound doesn't provide a new act to experience, then, and simply adds an area to explore, something that will mostly take place during the second chapter phase. Furthermore, although the "pain" won't be the same, this also ends abruptly. No, really, players will actually feel that something is missing after completing all this - it's that laconic. Oh, and by the way, don't come waiting for any added gameplay material, as this is mostly the same thing all over again, just with more missions to complete.

Taking place in an area inside the mysterious Old Walls, this new road that's possible to follow leads straight to a safe haven from the Overlord's power, and, as you might have guessed, yours. The thing is, though, that while you will still be able to bring your own version of justice into this microcosm, this generally feels more like Pillars of Eternity, with many a quest having a more traditional "You hero. Kill monsters" kind of structure.

Note that this new path is heavily detached from the main quest line, and not always in the best way possible, with one notable example being how some major events from the base game feel as they've never happened, whether this has to do with the death of some important NPCs, or some of your decisions - benevolent or otherwise.

The good thing is that the writing is, once again, top notch, as there's still plenty of versatility when it comes to the dialogue sequences and character interactions, with lots of ways to handle things in non-violent ways. Nothing will ever feel as epic as in the main quest, but the developer certainly didn't rush the writing and world-building aspect of it all.

Speaking of which, Bastard's Wound delves more into the history of Kyros' invasion of the Tiers, offers a decent amount of lore for everything, from the creatures of this world, to the Old Walls themselves, but, to be perfectly honest, doesn't really dare to add anything that will feel completely new. As a result, this largely feels as it could simply be a part of the original package, instead of a separate product.

What you are looking at here is about three to five hours of dungeon crawling - something that, just like before, constantly runs back and forth between good and repetitive. In other words, if you didn't like the gameplay portion of Tyranny, this won't change your mind. The best thing about the expansion, however, is the rest, which also takes about three to four hours.

Bastard's Wound's main thing are the side-quests that revolve around Verse, Lantry, and good ol' smelly Barik - your companions from the original. These are well-written, and help you get to know more about your ragged team of evil-doers, and while nothing really surprising will ensue, fans will enjoy most of the steps that this part of the journey consists of… as long as they can stomach one more dose of disappointment.