Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pre-DLC Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

Much better game that will only improve further when patches and DLCs starts flowing.

 

And the writing and the even more disconnected main quest.

All the good writers have left Obs, and it shows.

Most everything else: quest solutions, factions, dungeon design, fewer trash mobs, improved itemization, build variety - is a step up from the first game. If/when they patch out the combat difficulty and fine-tune the game some more, it'll be pretty good.

For now, it's the same case as when PoE1 first came out - a promising game, that could be so much more.

 

I wouldn't say the writing is flat out worse. There's less of it, so that's a huge plus.

The main quest is IMO more comical compared to PoE1's tedious and serious, I liked it more - but they both felt similarly disconnected.

 

to be quite honest, for all the stupidity in the writung and the non-existence of the main quest

poe2 still doesn't have anything that could match the pure distilled tardation that is the trial in poe1 (or at least i havent yet stumbled upon anything as idiotic)

 

Let me know what you think of the final "showdown" with Eothas

Compared to PoE1, there are fewer writing lows (it's more succinct, so it goes without saying), but there's also nothing in the game that even remotely approaches Durance's level of quality.

 

I don't get why everyone is surprised about the Rathun. Onekaza does tell you quite a bit about them

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you get an invitation for an audience with her after clearing Hasongo.

and even if you skipped talking to her, there are a few NPC's at least mentioning 'Magran's Warriors' even if not describing their appearance.

 

The unique enchantments are hilarious and really good, actually

 

Writing is greatly helped by Deadfire's infinitely superior worldbuilding. A generic quest can still be fun if you do that quest in a world that is least somewhat consistent, believable and created with attention to detail. They also seem to have new style guidelines that made writing less prose-like. It was a rare moment when I felt people just vomit lore at me and I begged them to stop so I can get my quest and move on. First game did it constantly.

Main quest is average and misses the opportunity for a great twist in Ashes Maw, but at least it kept my interest for longer than the first game, where I pretty much didn't give a shit about any of it, until it came to actually facing Thaos.

All that said, I agree that it doesn't have as many stand out moments as PoE1, but it also has less whathtefuckisthisshit moments, so there's that.

Obsidian definitely lack talent they used to have and probably found their new level with Deadfire/Tyranny. But I think this group can still make some decent games if they have some good direction and project leader who keeps everybody in check.

 

Just completed Magran's Teeth, I felt a bit disconnected after cleaning the map and just exploring. Thought the Gods would grab me by the balls, but no they were just cool when I told them see what happens.

The main story really isn't part of the game's charm, but at least it's not taking itself as seriously as PoE1 and infallibly insulting intelligence.

 

Yeah, that's another thing - I was constantly waiting for some sort of twist (hell, not even that - just for something unpredictable) in the MQ that never happend.

It's pretty unimaginative (and, even worse - boring in its setup and execution) from start to finish.

 

That's probably my favourite random encounter. Really managed to instill creepy, that group did. And then I had to look at the hooded guy...

 

The primary reason for this is that all the deep lore is safely stored behind wikipedia links in the dialogue, so you never have to read it.

It's actually pretty funny in itself, because I really never read those things, yet I don't feel like I've ever missed any info by doing that. Most of the attributes and meaning behind the treacherous island of Ekeragellardedwpr or whatever other fuck can be gleamed from the dialogues themselves, which is just another strike against the retarded deep lore spewing writing of poe1 (and not only poe1).

 

I am playing Shadow Tatics now, and, man, I just wish Sawyer to take a look at this game and copy everything about it. The mechanics are SO GOOD

 

jesus christ i just imagined shadow tictacs as designed by sawyer

excuse me i need to apply bleach to my brian

 

Better game then every single game from Avellone to this day

 

i know right that's some arcane mystical idea right there

 

They have to pad out the word count, though, so everyone can see they are writers™. Or to tell themselves they are. I do admit there is a certain want to create something big so you can prove to yourself that you are a writer/composer/painter/whatever and that you aren't just flailing impotently around and trying to vaguely and disappointingly imitate the great masters. At least in this, I understand them. The problem is the quality in the end.

 

Yeah, like I have already said, the right way to fix the main plot is to make

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Eothas reveal he is not a villain and then die in the volcano

After that you just skip all the boring god stuff entirely and make the finale about all the factions racing to Ukaizo and see who can become the leading power. Maybe set up some Cad Nua style massive battle where all the others factions try to stop the one faction you supported.

A story about human conflict is always preferable to gods waving dicks, because player feels like a part of things and has agency. Deadfire makes you feel like a spectator.

 

also i've just gone through the item nerf list again in bigger detail, which only reminded me that i really gotta doubletime it to the end lest something even dumber be put into this game in the meantime

but there was one thing that caught my attention in particular:

i simply cannot imagine the spiritual emptiness that must be exuded by the individual responsible for this change

"5% bonus to 30-40 damage is much too much. We shall reduce it to... 3%"

and lo, a singularity has formed in Irvine, California, called forth into this world by the purest display of cold, emotionless autism

 

Would have preferred the final showdown to be something like:

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You get several options on how to deal with him: join him/help him in some way/be a silent witness to his destruction/convince him that what he is doing is wrong (but in a way that's actually hard to do, with plenty of skill checks, maybe even needing some hidden knowledge (similar to the Master in FO1) you unearth along the way to have a chance at succeeding/and, the one option I felt was missing the most - having the choice to somehow destroy him, probably with the help of the other gods (maybe by opening some sort of portal - similar to how you could enter the luminous adra - and using your Watcher abilities to seperate the souls he was housing, or sever his connection to the statue itself).

Basically, anything that could make you feel like the actual hero of the story, instead of just following him along and then having him go along with whatever you tell him to do. This reduced not just the player's agency in the story, but also made the gods seem like even more ineffectual twats than they were in the first one.

 

That is AoE, so it's 5% to every party member. That's pretty big for a single item.

Passive "invisible power" items being gutted are not the problem, this is a perfect target because it increase party power massively and isn't exciting in the least.

 

So?

No, really, go ahead, answer me this one simple question:

"So what?"

 

Do you get how good that is?
If it was one item with +20% damage on the wearer, would you still go "So what?"?