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Is Age of Decadence good?

nomask7

Arcane
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
7,620
Is it good? How does it compare to Fallout?
 
In My Safe Space
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Messages
21,899
Codex 2012
It's a game where Vince has portrayed people he works with, so the result is rather repulsive. IMO not worth playing unless it has lots of rape.
 

nomask7

Arcane
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
7,620
I kind of want to play it while waiting for Grimoire's release (or at least a bug fixed superdemo), but I don't want to buy it unless it's good.
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2013
Messages
6,165
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Serpent in the Staglands Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Is it good? How does it compare to Fallout?

Wish I knew. Not too keen on Early Access yet though. Not when there are still so many classics to play.

Classics usually lack any sort of choices & consequences and have too much unavoidable combat.

As mrbtongue said, "choice and consequence" used to form part of a larger design maxim described as "simulation." It was seamless with setting and story and thus a quiet, rarely noticed feature.

The form it takes now draws so much attention and expectation that it can never live up to the hype. Ala, Mass Effect.

Not necessarily bad, but not intrinsically superior either.
 
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Commissar Draco

Codexia Comrade Colonel Commissar
Patron
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Messages
20,856
Location
Привислинский край
Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Yes and its Indie game in which VD is candid about his opinion about untermensh who wants to have easier combat or PC not 100% dedicated to one trade which shows; game is either very short when you guess right where and when to put XP into right attribute and skill or very long and tedious when you fail your [check] and have to fight... and since you didn't put all your XP from the start into combat skills you will die a lot then and GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE.
Pros: Unique setting, interesting quests and well written dialogue and C&C a plenty. Cons: Choose your adventure made on poorly coded 3D engine making the game slow as frack and for many above mentioned VD philosophy; Worth 20 Jewgold Commissar payed but it is not a Fallout.
 

Shadenuat

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
11,955
Location
Russia
My opinion is based on old demo.
It's worth a few playthroughs. Combat is done fairly well, probably the strongest point of the game. What holds it from being very good is that you only have one character to control. There are a lot of weapons and builds you would want to try, but you only can pick one per playthrough. So instead of winning by tactics, you'll mostly have to win by creating right build and a chance.
Writing is fine, not very memorable, but not boring. Like Commissar Draco said, it suffers from "choose you adventure" syndrome, and it's very, very strict in terms what you can do and what can happen to you. It's also a bit dry for my taste.
These two systems (combat&dialogue) stick out like two boxes you can play in, and there is little connection between them. You can't break into someone's house and murder him with a dagger when playing assassin, unless you can "talk" to a door to get there and then talk to a person and pick a line to kill him and pass some sort of a check (just an example). It does feel crude, particularly in comparison with other titles like, say, Underrail, which pays huge attention to actual unique systems like characters alarm state, crafting and it's use on environment, "free" stealth and so on, like real Fallout or like Arcanum.

But maybe something changed/will change in new demos and final releases. And even if not, I'd still vote with my buck, because what is done well in AoD, is done well, and fun to play.
 
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Xor

Arcane
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
9,345
Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
I just preordered it on Monday and I've been playing it every night since when I have time. I still haven't gotten far enough to write up a proper review, but here are my disorganized observations:
-Combat is hard. I'm playing a combat character and I've still died a few times on several encounters so far.
-The skill system is good, it might even be great. I'm sort of reserving my judgement until I get further into the game. Right now I'm worried the slow rate XP is handed out in and my natural tendency to try to make jack of all trades characters will result in my character being terrible at everything by late game.
-Load times are annoyingly long. This is probably an engine issue, but it's really frustrating to die to an encounter for the 5th time and then have to wait 60 seconds for the map to reload.
-The C&C is there in small ways - I helped a group of refugees, then later they gave me a quest based on my honorable reputation which I probably picked up from another quest I had done previously. I'm sure it's there in large ways too, but like I said I haven't gotten that far yet.
-The writing is very descriptive. I wouldn't call the dialog top-notch but the extensive descriptions are well written and that makes up for it, at least to me.
-Pretty much everything is done through dialog - there's no option to use the "sneak" skill that I've found, but I've used sneak a few times in dialog for quests, for example. I've seen just about every non-combat skill come up in dialog a few times and a few combat skills have come up as well, as well as reputation based stuff.
-The interface is a little obtuse and an option for setting keybinds or at least a readme with a list of keybinds would be appreciated. Nothing frustrates me like trying to figure out which key is quicksave.
-Also the options menu is glaringly different than the rest of the interface. Again, I'm guessing that's an engine issue. Not really a problem but it did stick out to me.

All in all, it's definitely worth the $25.
 

zerotol

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
3,602
Location
BE
Should we not wait for the full release?

I have only played the combat demo and not the following one because i am waiting for the full game, otherwise you would have experienced something unfinished.

And unfinished games tend give frustrating experiences.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,660
Why not just download the demo and try it out for yourself? Don't expect it to be a Roman-reskinned Fallout by the way.
 

nomask7

Arcane
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
7,620
Why not just download the demo and try it out for yourself?

It wasn't up yesterday. I also assumed it was just a combat demo or some short thing you couldn't get much of an idea about the game from.
 

IDtenT

Menace to sobriety!
Patron
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
Messages
14,365
Location
South Africa; My pronouns are: Banal/Shit/Boring
Divinity: Original Sin
Is it good? How does it compare to Fallout?

Wish I knew. Not too keen on Early Access yet though. Not when there are still so many classics to play.

Classics usually lack any sort of choices & consequences and have too much unavoidable combat.

As mrbtongue said, "choice and consequence" used to form part of a larger design maxim described as "simulation." It was seamless with setting and story and thus a quiet, rarely noticed feature.

The form it takes now draws so much attention and expectation that it can never live up to the hype. Ala, Mass Effect.

Not necessarily bad, but not intrinsically superior either.
Where Bioware, the industry and the gamers misstep is in how they define C&C. The confusion is in defining the player contribution. On the surface that's relatively obvious if you just list those words C&C as they stand, so I don't begrudge them their claim. C&C to me on the other hand is more about character based C&C. If you create a stupid character it can only make stupid choice. ME type C&C on the other hand depends on tugging on the heartstrings of the player and not the character.
 

Deleted member 7219

Guest
From what I've seen, it is a really really good RPG, inspired by Fallout, Planescape Torment and others where you really interact with the game world and you're largely in charge of your own destiny.

I don't really play RPGs for the combat, so I've been mostly avoiding that part of AoD.

Pros: Dialogue, quests, factions, skill system, writing, game visuals, interactivity (C&Cs), originality of the setting

Cons: Hardly any sounds at all - I don't mean voice overs, I'm talking about crowd sounds, footsteps, weather effects etc. It seems like there's nothing. The camera can be annoying - I would love to have a MotB-like option where you don't have to keep scrolling to follow your character. There's too much teleporting in quests (especially towards the end of the first town, there's a part where you can get lots of skill points after completing a Merchant's Guild quest but you're immediately teleported into a conversation across town before you can spend them. This thing can happen a lot). All of these are not to do with the game design, but are probably due to funding, Iron Tower being a small indie studio.

Niggles aside, my main concern is length. If there are only going to be three towns, I reckon you could complete the whole thing in around 5 hours.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Is it good? How does it compare to Fallout?
It's good. It's pretty decently hardcore though. Don't expect to have your hand held - at all. Great dialog, excellent C&C. Combat ranges from strategic to nearly impossible. Don't expect a cakewalk even if your are a combat build. Some paths are easier than others. If you run into every situation looking for a fight and not thinking you will die.
Cons: Hardly any sounds at all - I don't mean voice overs, I'm talking about crowd sounds, footsteps, weather effects etc. It seems like there's nothing.
I think you are exaggerating the feel of it. There are weapon sounds etc. No real ambient noises, but the music is pretty awesome and atmospheric, so I rarely noticed. If you go into it expecting Dragon Age sounds, forget it, but it's a lot better than Geneforge or Avernum etc in the sound department.
 

hiver

Guest
It is inspired by Fallout but it doesnt play like it. Or other such games that may come to mind while playing it.

Biggest difference might be that it actually requires playing with almost all "backgrounds" to really enjoy the game itself.


As for the atmosphere, it manages to do a lot with relatively little. I never noticed something is missing.
Of course it could be better and have this and that and whatever but thats really not the point here. The point is that it works and that it has its own unique, very recognizable feel to it.
In that i consider Theron among the best realized cities in cRPGs. Its not much - but its very solid.

- since this is still a beta any additions of this kind until it launches will only make it even better.
 
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a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Nah, you don't need to play with all backgrounds to enjoy it. Maybe to fully enjoy it sure, but that's true of almost any game (though most are so linear that replaying is painful).

I will agree that it doesn't quite play like Fallout though.
 

hiver

Guest
Yes, you actually do and the game is made to be played like that.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Yes, it is designed to be replayed, but it is also enjoyable to play as just one class. I never go through a play-through with a class and go, "Wow. So boring. I can't enjoy this without switching to another class." I could go through an entire playthrough with a merc and say, "That was enjoyable." and not play it again for a few days.
 

AN4RCHID

Arcane
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Messages
4,730
Why not just download the demo and try it out for yourself?

It wasn't up yesterday. I also assumed it was just a combat demo or some short thing you couldn't get much of an idea about the game from.
The free demo that's been around for almost a year (?) has hours of gameplay. Been playing the early access demo and I haven't even gotten to the new stuff yet. Hiver's right, it's a game that's meant to be replayed many times over, so even the small area that was available in the free demo has a ton of content. Playing with different backgrounds gives you different perspectives on quests, and even playing the same background multiple times will give you pretty wildly different experiences, in part due to the brutally unforgiving combat.

One of the things I really am impressed with in this game is the balance of skills and attributes. You'll really struggle trying to make the best character possible, because all the stats are valuable (except Charisma is conspicuously dumpable).
 

nomask7

Arcane
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
7,620
How does the C&C work? Is it automatic and based on character or is it more player-centered?
 

hiver

Guest
Yes, it is designed to be replayed, but it is also enjoyable to play as just one class. I never go through a play-through with a class and go, "Wow. So boring. I can't enjoy this without switching to another class." I could go through an entire playthrough with a merc and say, "That was enjoyable." and not play it again for a few days.
So? What does that have to do with what i said?

Did i claim playing a single background is not enjoyable? In fact there is enough choices and options in the game to make playing a single characters type a very diverse experience. Its not just weapons and skills load-outs that have huge consequences on your path through the game, but you do have several chances to betray, switch sides and/pr play against different factions - which changes a lot of stuff.

The fact remains that it is a game thats made to be played with all backgrounds to really fully experience.
You actually go through wholly different stories - instead of going through same one only with different classes or builds. Or through same quests and situations from the different angle of another build - which is one of the better things in the game.

Fallout had a little bit of that and AoD was very inspired by that kind of design. Among others.


How does the C&C work? Is it automatic and based on character or is it more player-centered?
Both. But this time the scales are tipped more towards character skills and stats then anyone is usually accustomed to.
 
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