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Review RPG Codex Review: The Age of Decadence

VentilatorOfDoom

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Tags: Age of Decadence; Iron Tower Studios

Rejoice my brothers and sisters for in these desperate times darkened by the taint of FO4 the time has come for us to review Irontower Studio's The Age of Decadence. As usual, our review is superior to those of lesser sites like Gamebanshee or RPGWatch, but how neutral-positive will it be? Was that hipster Darth Roxor masochist enough to extract enjoyment out of the game?

16njL3A.jpg

Have this excerpt...

If there is one element of AoD that has greatly exceeded my expectations and, in fact, amazed me, it’s definitely the combat. Before playing it, I was absolutely certain that single-character turn-based combat that wouldn’t be very basic, very terrible or very random was unattainable. I figured that AoD’s “brutal, hard and unforgiving” combat system would simply boil down to praying for crits to go your way, similarly to Fallout & Friends. I was so wrong, I don’t even know where to begin.

For starters, it is amazing just how many tools AoD gives you to handle every situation and tip it in your favour. A typical combat encounter has you heavily outnumbered, with the odds usually being 3:1, but sometimes even putting you alone against ten opponents, many of them using all kinds of dirty tricks. Fights often look downright hopeless, but assessing your situation and adapting to it properly will easily take you to victory. There were many moments where I found myself thinking “that’s it, I can’t beat those gits”. But then I’d take a deep breath, analyse what was going on and what I was missing, and come up with the solution. “A-ha! If I switch to a different weapon, throw grenades all around, cripple that dude and smack the hell out of another one in the first two turns, I should hold out till the end since the rest of them are scrubs”. This is exactly what combat in AoD is all about. Analysis, preparation and planning.​

...and then proceed to read the entire piece here.
 

likaq

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it even has an inbuilt CYOA mode if you hate RPGs

Retarded combatfag detected.

Review should end with:
This is literally the worst crpg I’ve played to date. That’s right, I even had more fun with Pillars Of Eternity - at least it was a fun romp, as opposed to this lifeless, uninspired husk. Disappointment, thy name is Age of Decadence.
 

EG

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If only it could have been Fallout. :)
 

Darth Roxor

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it even has an inbuilt CYOA mode if you hate RPGs

Retarded combatfag detected.

Review should end with:
This is literally the worst crpg I’ve played to date. That’s right, I even had more fun with Pillars Of Eternity - at least it was a fun romp, as opposed to this lifeless, uninspired husk. Disappointment, thy name is Age of Decadence.

the church of aod is ever vigilant, its armour is contempt, its shield is disgust and its sword is hatred
 

Commissar Draco

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Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Setting is much Roman... Eastern Roman known as ''Byzantine'' by westerners; although I do agree the game would be far more :obviously: and post apocaliptic if the soldiers would wear laminar armors instead of segmentatas, carry spathas, spoke Greek and fought Kebabs instead of not Mongols but it would be even less selling then as for plebs only Romans are I/II CE AD Romans. Good review otherwise if not as fun to read as other ones did by Komrade Roxorowitch or VD himself.
 
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Cazzeris

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Good review, overall. Ultimately, everything that is praised and criticized here seems reasonable :greatjob:
 

SniperHF

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Substantially less TROLOLOLOLOL than was billed, 0/10 :M


Pretty fair review.

Some points though:

as money in AoD is absolutely not an issue)=

Obviously as someone who isn't a fan of the non-combat side of the game you probably wouldn't have run into this, but there are many people who think those builds lack for cash.

However, that is not to say that everything is perfect around here. The biggest stinker is probably the enemy AI.

Aimed strikes that reduce enemy combat stats,

I dunno, I don't think it's outright bad. There were many instances where for example I'd be surrounded and so weakened with arm attacks that I couldn't fightback anymore. What actually annoyed me most about the AI was the obvious trap combats later in the game where the AI gets the first move (despite you initiating the fight via dialog). Or more annoyingly when they ALWAYS net you round 1 like the Armor recovery fight. But say the Teron fight with the Raiders the leader will make a decision to net you or not based on the situation. I'm sure there's something going on under the hood with the later fights but the high degree of chance where they always do the same thing is a problem.

You know what Nets and Bolas remind me most of though? Grenades and Rockets in WL2. Basically freebie equalizers.


As for the backgrounds altogether, one question that I have to ask is what exactly is the purpose of the non-affiliated ones. AoD doesn’t really support a “freelancer” path through the game

Pretty much agree with that one. Maybe some extra opportunities to get in with other guilds could have improved the situation.

Thus, it is unfortunately very easy to funnel yourself into a “trap” build. The developers have stated multiple times that making a character that simply “makes sense” is enough for you to be successful. But I really do beg to differ. My first character, an assassin, I envisioned as a “ninja” type of survivalist sneaker relying on his own wits, focusing on Alchemy, Sneak, Streetwise, etc. What I had in mind was climbing into people’s villas via balconies, putting scorpions under their pillows and disappearing into the crowds unnoticed. You know, typical assassin business. Imagine my surprise when the assassins’ guild modus operandi was mostly centred around approaching people from the front door and shanking them, forcing me into countless Impersonate checks and never letting me pull off the things I expected my character to do.
...................
I even ran into a situation that made me think “oh, good that I have 100 unspent SP to pass this check”, which is basically AoD in a nutshell.

I don't think trap build is quite the right way to put it. The game relies heavily on feedback and the problem is many of the skills don't offer any. The infamous thief that doesn't need lockpick for 2 chapters until LOL the final faction quest screws you over. But all the feedback of lockpick up to that point is that it's basically optional and provides extra side bonuses like extra money or a few SP here or there.


Probably my favourite moment in the game was a blind fighting sequence against an enemy with a hypnotic gaze that is realised only through in-dialogue checks for stats like Dexterity or Critical Strike.

Yes, great segment. Probably worth mentioning that it takes place in Ganezzar which is criticized for being underdeveloped in a lot of other ways. There are some gems in there too just less.


However, you won’t find a single merchant in the game that would sell arrows above iron, even though steel is as common as potato.

Yeah that's a puzzler, though it's not nearly as much of a problem for melee as you can easily win pretty good gear. Usually crafted stuff is still better but the gear you can win is pretty decent in Maadoran.

but the funny thing is that the Roman aspect is the least present here.

Made that same point a few times. Still there's some presence like certain armors and the Aurellian faction.

In this way, AoD is actually for everyone, simply due to the breadth of playstyles and approaches supported by it.

Except retards apparently but YMMV :smug:
 
Weasel
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Actually more neutral-positive than I thought it'd be after reading Roxor's comments in the AoD threads. Good to read a thorough review after most of the AoD reviews I've seen, where the reviewer struggled to win a single battle or played through once as a merchant.

Review: :4/5:
Butthurt megathread potential: :1/5: Milder tone than expected, and sadly the AoD militia has fewer members and more restricted options in combat than Sawyer's Dragoons.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Darth Roxor, would you say that the game's combat is what tipped the scales in favor of a positive verdict, and that otherwise this would have been an angrier review?
 

FeelTheRads

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it even has an inbuilt CYOA mode if you hate RPGs

Retarded combatfag detected.

Review should end with:
This is literally the worst crpg I’ve played to date. That’s right, I even had more fun with Pillars Of Eternity - at least it was a fun romp, as opposed to this lifeless, uninspired husk. Disappointment, thy name is Age of Decadence.

What's the problem, lecuck? Is a review acceptable only if it praises your favorite game?
FFS, this review is far from being as hard on the game as it deserves and fanbots will still be butthurt because it's not just praise and only praise.
 

Darth Roxor

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Darth Roxor, would you say that the game's combat is what tipped the scales in favor of a positive verdict, and that otherwise this would have been an angrier review?

We have a saying in potato - if grandma had moustache, she'd be called grandpa. I'd rather not deal with what ifs.
 

Infinitron

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Darth Roxor, would you say that the game's combat is what tipped the scales in favor of a positive verdict, and that otherwise this would have been an angrier review?

We have a saying in potato - if grandma had moustache, she'd be called grandpa. I'd rather not deal with what ifs.

Well, I ask because you had a negative opinion about the game's demo (including the combat), so basically I'm curious what exactly changed your mind in the final game.
 

Perkel

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:3/5: review

Needlessly long and most of the time reviewer starts to talk more about himself his personal preference not the game.
Also some bullshit is there as well like in case of 3 non affiliated starting points.

Sure they are similar but they play entirely different.

Loremaster almost completely can ignore affiliations to houses and follow secrets of ancients.
Drifter IS blank state character which can "drift" between various factions
Grifter is your snakeoil salesman using people (even if he himself isn't in position do to so) cheating any lying.

They all are starting points for ROLEPLAYING and is for me far more important than most of the stuff in game.
Overall though it is fair review. Just way too long.

ban roxor
 

Tacgnol

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Grab the Codex by the pussy RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
Well written review.

Nice to see praise for the combat path. I really enjoyed my combat playthrough.
 

Sensuki

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Codex 2014 Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong A Beautifully Desolate Campaign
Good review, enjoyable read.

Haven't played much of the game but I will probably give it more of a crack in the future. Combat does have a very big strategical lean (and a very small tactical lean) which makes it a bit less enjoyable for me than some of the other more recent TB combat systems.

and sadly the AoD militia has fewer members and more restricted options in combat than Sawyer's Dragoons.

:lol:
 
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valcik

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What about humor in AoD, Darth Roxor? Couldn't find it mentioned in your review. This scene for instance, where's a bunch of IG bigots stalking their naked friend Brutus, who walks the streets of Teron proudly:

„Go home Brutus, you are drunk!”
qlc2D80.jpg
 

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