The combat - Despite low difficulty it delivered a lot of fun throught out the whole game. While all systems and mechanics in place, there's obviously a massive amount of work went into encounter design. If somehow they'll raise the difficulty and fix the AI, this'll be one of the best RPGs in this regard if not the best. Still, any RPG fan should try it out.
Any combat analogues that you could compare the game too? How does its difficulty compare to Dungeon Rats/Age of Decadence, Underrail, Battle Brothers, and KotC I & II?
The writing. Yeah, this one is rather a total mixed bag but bear with me: the main stuff is written very good. The plot is fucking insane but I think at the same time perfect for such a game. While romance stuff is basically wasted companious still feels very alive thanks to their well developed arcs/personal quests and other involments. Some NPCs are really stand out too, I would never think before that Larian could pull off a character like Raphael and yet here we are.
It's extremely difficult to get a standardized measure of what qualifies as good and bad writing, as it differs from person to person. That being said, here are some standards/dislikes when it comes to writing, and I'm wondering if you could comment on whether or not it exists in the game, and if so, to what degree?
- Excessive Diction: Simplicity is king, and it's extremely common for writers to substitute more complex words when a simpler one would do much better. There are many different examples of this as I'm sure you know.
- Excessive Descriptive Language: Unlike books, games have the ability to utilize art to compliment what is being written about. I hate when games go overboard describing something instead of letting the artwork shine through and having the player notice these thigns for themselves.
- Colloquial Language: Something really common in games with a lot of dialogue, especially when said dialogue is voice acted.
- Character Responses: Another problem with games that have a big word count. The more you write, the more variance in a player's possible response. One of the most annoying things is when you cannot respond to something in a way that you feel your character should.
- Overall Competency: Just in your general view, how well is everything written?
The AI - they so to say overcomplicated it, apparently. Because sometimes it does really cool stuff but most of the times it does all sorts of stupid shit instead. I mean I really like the argument "goblins are suppose to be stupid" - but not fucking everyone. They need to fix it, at the very least various pauses before turns, game's barely playable w/o speedhack sometimes thanks to those in big battles.
How bad are we talking here? Could you go more into specifics?
But then... they didn't do it and as a result UI looks like mmo one which suppose to look bland/neutral because anyone who cares enouth can easily mod it there but here? Looks awful, lacks any character.
Is the UI just insipid or is it offensively bad?
The diaries everywhere. Relatively small gripe but they went so overboard with this shit it's not even funny. Everyone and their dog has it. You have immense reactivity already in place, you can talk with the dead and animals, why add up? Too ridiculous plenty of times.
How obtrusive is this?
Romances. Larian promised too much here, have failed and because of that, many companion interactions suffer from it. In other words, if only that effort was redirected it would lead to much better companion experience. Worse, even as stands, it barely qualify as BioWare+ fare.
Same question as above. How intrusive is this, and do you have the option to kill a companion for coming onto you without the whole game world turning against you? I'd be fine if a few companions got butthurt, but just wondering. Does every single male companion eventually try to fuck you? What is the best set of companions in your opinion, spoiler free if you please.
