Age of Decadence Reviews

[Black Angel]

Didn't find a better choke for Hermon myself, all others I tried had 2-3 surround and they can still shoot at you, which one did you mean?

 

[Parabalus]

They can shoot at you if you stand there, from the side. You can also get netted.

 

[Black Angel]

I know, but it's still a pretty good choke point. Been using it for a long time now.

Also, I probably should've back off one more tile because I remembered only get netted after 3-4 of them are down, since backing off one more tile made the queue one tile longer and it takes a while for the guy with the net to catch up. Also, iirc if I have lower DEX and PER, the guy with the net would waste it on the way to that choke point.

 

[Vault Dweller]

http://in.ign.com/torment-tides-of-numenera/110137/feature/top-10-underrated-rpgs-this-generation

 

[Zer0wing]

The spiritual sequel to Planescape: Torment, Tides of Numenera is heavy on the decision-making and character-building.

Other than that, grats on entering the mass media.

 

[Sizzle]

Ah, to be on the same prestigious list as Torment: Tides of Numenera and Tyranny :D

Just kidding, congrats, Vince

 

[Rev]

How can D:OS be one of the most underrated rpgs of this gen when it sold more than 1.5 million copies and more than any other mid to low budget rpg?
Also, other names on the list are kinda bad, but who cares, just congrats VD and Iron Tower, it's nice to see you guys get some well deserved recognition for your good work from the media.

 

[Modron]

That list needs hammer and sickle.

 

[Kalarion]

I bought the full game several months ago in the pack with Dungeon Rats, but just recently played it through and beat it. I really loved it.

I played as a Merchant with a concentration on Persuasion, Trading and Lore. 10 INT/9 CHA/8 PER. In retrospect it was poorly built; I spread a bunch of skill points into Etiquette and Streetwise that I could have used to pump into my prime 3. I also blew some points bringing Crafting up to 6 for what turned out to be no good reason.

This is the first game I can recall playing where you can be truly non-combat and complete the game in a believable way. The one exception was when I tried to get rid of Cassius for Feng; it took me completely by surprise that the only way to satisfy the quest requirements was to kill him. Luckily he was a little bitch and I was able to kill him by spending a shitload on decent armor and a buckler.

This game forced me to smash my declined CRPG habits as regards really thinking through how a situation might go down and trying to play it logically, in the same way that Battle Brothers forced me to confront my bad CRPG habits with regards to combat. I used the wiki only once; in this one particular case I'm glad I did, because I would never have made the mental leap that certain quests would get locked out through game progression (I didn't connect the story tile about the Abyss after completing Ma'adoran with the fact that I couldn't go and solve Einar's riddle any more). That particular tidbit was further complicated by the fact that I didn't even find the slums until well into the Ganezzar part of the story line.

The world's story is really cool. I saw a lot of the lore with my skill mix but I can already tell there is a shitload more I can see if I specialize in other directions. I thought Agathoth and the temple in particular were very gripping; I had no idea what would happen next.

I put it down for now but I can see myself replaying at least twice and possibly more; once as a fully focused Loremaster with 10 INT/10 Lore/10 Crafting and some talky skills, and once as a warrior with Axes/Hammers and full crafting and alchemy (I'm not sure how I'll get that many general skill points but I suspect it's possible with some trial and error).

I can't wait to play TNW and I fully intend to pay launch price for it. Fantastic job Vault Dweller and co!

 

[Old One]

I can see myself replaying at least twice and possibly more...

Plan on more. The professions all play out in quite different ways. Assassin is a lot different from Thief, for example.

 

[Goral]

That particular tidbit was further complicated by the fact that I didn't even find the slums until well into the Ganezzar part of the story line.

How did that happen? Were you not using the map?

 

[Kalarion]

It was laziness compounded by stupidity. I came to Ma'adoran and never moused over the correct arch leading to the slums. After I couldn't find it right away I figured it was an area I would be organically introduced to by the game, and then it just dropped out of my mind until I looked at the quest log and saw I still needed to find the Abyss

 

[Goral]

Another negative (2/5) reviews on GOG:

I was pretty hyped when I started reading about this game, but overall, it was disappointing.They tout a vast array of skills available. Yes, there are. But many of them are only marginally useful, often for one particular quest. I'll use stealth as an example. I typically play ranger/rogue type characters, so I built one. There is no sneaking around, reconnoitering an area, picking your target. There is a dialogue page, that offers a choice to sneak into an area. You either succeed, or fail, which means you fight, or you run away. Fighting is rarely a good choice in this game. Particularly if you are given a choice. Which, for all the talk of choice/consequence in the game; there really isn't much of either. You are plagued by dialogue skill checks, that are ultimately simply scripted 'choose your own adventure' style events. They typically seem to end in a fight, a locking out of another approach, and more than occassionally a scripted flat out death with no option to even try and fight your way out.

There are no dungeons to speak of, nor is there much in the way of exploration. There is very little 'treasure' to be found, and most of what you do find are seemingly random artefacts that do...something...to a machine...somewhere. Maybe. If you pass a skill check. The storyline is lackluster at best, with no real impetus to follow it, and very easily broken. 12 hours, I completed the storyline, by complete accident. I simply found the location I needed to go to, and went there to try and explore, only to get locked into the endgame sequence.The one thing I can say about Age of Decadence, is that it takes a fresh apporach to combat. I like the way the combat system works insofar as instead of going through a skill rotation, you can choose a type of attack from fast, to power, to aimed shots. All with different action point costs. (Aimed shots are your friend here. If you have the skill). The problem is, there really isn't a whole lot of it. While I realize there are people who don't always want to play a combat character, personally, I play RPGs for combat of one form or another. It's an interesting setting, with an interesting combat system, but an overall disappointment.

Wow, such wordy and yet retarded review written by some casual gamer who wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing (completed it by accident, WTF?)...

Playing as a strictly combat-heavy character is pretty fun in this game, since it grants you means to finish most of the side-quests, even if it doesn't grant you the best prizes. But it lets you play the game. The combat system, although pretty wonky and discriminating all ranged builds, is pretty smooth and understandable. The first playthrough concentrating on combat is an extremely entertaining experience. But beware trying to make a pacifist character without consulting walkthroughs on all skill checks throught the entire game. Dialogue design and skill checks are positioned throughout the game absolutely arbitrary and tend to actually railroad your character. You need to plan every sp spent, with knowing what exact skills you will need to pass their checks in your next main/guild quest, or else you will get stuck sooner or later with no money and no possibility to progress your guild.

Some skills are absolute dumps (traps), others are used in a such arbitrary manner by writers, that a constant consulting wiki and save scumming will drive you insane. More often than not, the same quest chain will use different skill couple checks without a reason or context, that forces you to micromanaging every sp at your disposal. More often than not, choosing what seems a cautionary dialogue option to test your grounds will determine your choice 10 nodes later - only to see a skill check wall that you lack 1 point to pass. You can't play this game in a non-violent way if you don't know what the dev planned before actually playing it. Lack of quest information or any meaningful interactions (most NPCs are pure flavor, you can't even enquire innkeepers - you need to mouse check every single NPC to find the one) Couple that with a terrible engine and UI (HUD's ok, though), and you have an unbalanced mess. The game's decent only if you're playing a fighter. If you're looking for non-violent interactions and you're not its dev, don't bother. Just go back replay Fallout 1.

lol
Another idiot who wanted to min/max his character and couldn't handle occasional failure. Yeah, play Fallout if you can't handle it.

 

[Old One]

They fit the template.

"I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I have a strong opinion."

 

[hilfazer]

I just noticed Pope Amole 2 did another 'micro review' of AoD
https://youtu.be/85szVfsarFs?t=3029
, this time while playing Fallout 2.

 

[Goral]

This one is especially hilarious, retard went full-retard once Vault Dweller has proven reviewer is talking out of his ass:
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198030336925/recommended/230070/

I had watched this game for a couple years, I played it a couple times w the DEMO. And then i purchesed the full version, .. that was a mistake.

This game went from being a reasonable game to being crap in about 1 play through. AS, you must put all of your skill points into the class not into crafting and or anything else ONLY into the str/dex swords skills or dagger skills that your character needs for combat.

The story is not as good as i hoped, as you cannot utilise the skills required to make it more in depth as you have to load up your combat skills


Over all the implimentations is not as good as i could have been, not very well thought out in the skills difficulty area.


I am loving how the dev is forcing me to have his oppinion and no other oppinion may exist.

I have stated as a matter of fact the way the game is, you cannot beat the first set of bosses or any consecutive bosses with out maximim char class stats.

IF YOU TRY YOU WILL NOT SEE ANY BOSSES AND YOU WILL NOT BEAT THE GAME.

The game was not won the second time around even though i completed the game. The game was given to the enemy faction as they won,

So it is moot that the dev is bashing my review and demanding that i ONLY HAVE thier oppinion of the game. The game is getting worse by the second and i am not even playing the game.

Not surprising that his profile is private, most likely another Skyrim lover.

 

[hivemind]

my steam alt

 

[ShadowSpectre]

The issue is casuals find a game like AoD way too hard (will most likely not try playing it or scream for all to see on YouTube if they do) and the younger "gamer" generation thinks the likes of Fallout 1 is hard. They then write poor reviews where they cry about how hard it all is. Since we know that with the snowflake generation, failure is not an option and you all get a red ribbon. Despite AoD having some instances of failure actually result in a favorable outcome anyways (assuming you didn't die), they don't want to deal with the challenge. You can tell by a lot of wording that their idea of a game is to be the chosen demi-god "hero," running around and raping enemies with ease. Playing a character with limitations and spending a good deal of time (or perhaps the whole time) as a general nobody is not appealing to this crowd. Too bad though, because it makes Age of Decadence a true gamer's game in it's challenge and much more sweet once you forge a path through it.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

once you forge a path through it.

10 times or so

 

[StaticSpine]

Made in 2017 but looks like it was made in the 1980s

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198247542370/recommended/230070/

 

[hivemind]

jesus christ Goral
why are you still whiteknighting so hard, it literally doesn't matter anymore
the game was a success everywhere other than this brainlet shithole which rigged the goty vote

 

[hivemind]

it's like such an irrelevant thing anyhow

 

[Goral]

It wasn't made in 2017.

why are you still whiteknighting so hard, it literally doesn't matter anymore

 

[Fenix]

You should post pic if it possible of some game from 80s, we will see next exagerration.

 

[Fenix]

Vince, your composure is simply amazing.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/230070/discussions/0/1621724915797809569/