Having missed out on Greedfall when it initially launched, I wandered into the Gold Edition completely blind. On paper, the idea of pirates, monsters, a complex narrative, and a bustling world sounds like an attractive package. But nothing could have prepared me for the journey I was about to undertake as Lord De Sardet. While the game may suffer from a few minor issues, Greedfall: Gold Edition swept me off of my feet with its fun combat and heart.

Greedfall’s narrative is centered around Lord De Sardet, the son/daughter of an aristocratic family who governs a small island. With a terrible disease ravaging the island and its people, you must set off to the mythical island of Teer Fradee to find a cure. But it isn’t too long before you’re entangled in a web of ancient conspiracy as various tribes are at each other’s throats.



The story is impeccably well-written, with a great spread of political intrigue between the diverse emissaries of Teer Fradee with its various twists and turns. Moral choices are at the forefront, with the consequences of your decisions remaining a mystery until much later. As with many RPGs, it’s very easy to get lost in the barrage of sidequests and this became overwhelming rather quickly in Greedfall. Thankfully, the PS5 upgrade makes this more than manageable, with its faster load times and fluid framerate.

It’s in this beautiful writing that developer Spiders make Greedfall’s various elements shine.

Part of Greedfall’s in-depth mechanics allows you to assemble a party to traverse the land with. Who you set off with is entirely up to you, but I would encourage playing around with different party members. Greedfall rewarded this playstyle by giving me a handful of sidequests that added a layer of depth to the characters, indirectly causing me to have an emotional attachment to some of them. It’s in this beautiful writing that developer Spiders make Greedfall’s various elements shine. The world feels incredibly lived in, and it’s really easy to lose a few hours just exploring Teer Fradee and its characters. Some of it can feel overwritten at times, but Greedfall rewards players willing to venture further than just what is presented at the forefront.



Greedfall allows players to delve into alchemy and crafting, all while having a mix of fighting styles. You have an assortment of melee, ranged, and magical abilities to take on the various enemies throughout the game's mystical world. It’s almost par for the course, really. Nothing Greedfall does really screams original, but Spiders take on the concepts and lore more than make up for the lack of originality. That being said, the loot system was rather underwhelming. More often than not, the gear collected ended up being vendor fodder. I would have loved to have seen a loot system as rich as Greedfall’s characters, but that may just be something worked on in Spiders’ next game.

The new enemy types and armour were great, but I was left longing for more.

There is a lot to love about Greedfall’s upgrade, but equally, there is still a long way to go. The DLC, for example, was both great and underwhelming. The narrative was beautifully written, and so was untangling the mess that the De Sardet’s rival family, the De Vespes, caused. Aurelia De Vespe was well-written, but everything was over rather quickly. I expected there to be a climax to the rivalry, but I was met with a neat narrative ending and that was the end of it. The new enemy types and armour were great, but I was left longing for more. That is both Greedfall’s blessing and its curse. In my yearning for more, I hoped that the DLC would have delivered an experience that matched the base game.



The PS5’s 4K HDR 60fps and texture upgrade does wonders for the game’s visuals. This further livens up Teer Fradee and its characters, but I wish the same could be said about Greedfall’s animations. Many will be able to look past this, but thanks to Greedfall’s visual overhaul, these elements stick out more. That being said, the voice acting makes up for the animations during dialogue. But some accents are hit or miss.

Another welcomed feature is the DualSense support, which providers richer haptics. Greedfall’s implementation won’t rival Astro’s Playroom, but it was enough to provide a layer of immersion during combat. Only the L2 trigger benefits from the DualSense support, but it does fit in with Greedfall’s combat mechanics. That being said, Greedfall benefits most from the PS5’s load times which are drastically reduced from that of the PS4 version. Fast travelling and loading up new areas of the map are fluid and streamlined, making Greedfall a far more immersive experience. If a quest requires you to go back to an area, you are given a prompt to fast travel, which breaks the monotony of having to constantly backtrack during missions - something Greedfall suffers from.

Greedfall benefits most from the PS5’s load times which are drastically reduced from that of the PS4 version.

Greedfall: Gold Edition ran smoothly, with little-to-no framerate drops. Everything ran well, and the game had very few issues. I occasionally ran into moments where certain textures would have an unexpected colour change, but these moments were very few and far between. Outside of that, the game ran like a dream.



I wasn’t expecting such a drastic difference, considering the game retails for R575. But I can say that Greedfall managed to exceed my expectations in both its incredible writing and upgraded visuals. Whether you’re playing Greedfall for the first time or returning to experience the upgrade, it’s definitely worth the look. The technical issues from the original release are mostly gone, despite the clunky animations. Greedfall can be unfairly judged right off the bat, but this is a game that fans of the RPG genre will definitely enjoy. Spiders have excelled in making a great game with Greedfall, from the well-written narrative to the robust combat and RPG mechanics. Newcomers will benefit the most with the Gold Edition, while those only looking to play the DLC may be left disappointed.

*PS5 Review code provided by Focus Home Interactive