Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[Safav Hamon]

PoE1 actually diverges from BG in many ways that were annoying, namely Combat & Encounter Design / Itemization / Progression / Exploration.

The problem wasn't that those elements diverged from Baldurs Gate, but that they were complete afterthoughts.

Sawyer is actually a good designer when he puts in the effort. Deadfire's encounter design, itemization, progression, and exploration are all amazing, because they were turned into the main focus of the game.

 

[Lacrymas]

I really don't understand why people complained. It seems to me they never played BG, or they played it so long ago they didn't remember how it was like...

I played BG1 after PoE1 and I preferred BG1 in all aspects that count. After trying BG1 with SCS, there's no contest. And I'm still one of the very few people on here (and pretty much everywhere) who can squeeze some enjoyment out of PoE1. We've talked extensively about how PoE isn't actually like BG at all and the only similarities are surface ones, and it would've benefited from being more like BG.

 

[TemplarGR]

I played BG1 after PoE1 and I preferred BG1 in all aspects that count. After trying BG1 with SCS, there's no contest. And I'm still one of the very few people on here (and pretty much everywhere) who can squeeze some enjoyment out of PoE1. We've talked extensively about how PoE isn't actually like BG at all and the only similarities are surface ones, and it would've benefited from being more like BG.

I am not aware of what "you talked" about, but the similarities are NOT "surface ones". In fact, i was under the impression the outrage was because it was too similar to BG, not too different...

PoE literally is a clone of BG. Literally. I can match 1:1 most spells in PoE to BG spells. The classes are similar in every way. Even their controls are the same. The races are pretty much the same. The dialogue system is the same, the fucking game is the same. The only difference is it is not Faerun and it is not DnD 2nd edition but a more streamlined clone that plays pretty much the same.

Care to elaborate in what specific way PoE is different to BG? Because i can't find any, seriously.

I have to say, i liked BG1 more than PoE. I am more familiriar with DnD and was resistant in trying a new thing only to realize it was the same shit with slightly altered names and a few quality of life changes. I also liked the BG story and characters more. But PoE wasn't disappointing in any way, it was still a good game.

 

[Safav Hamon]

I recruited Ydwin in the beta branch, and combined with her BoW content she's essentially a full companion now.

Not only does she have an entire tree of new dialogue, but other companions will occasionally interject. She also has special conversations every once in awhile.

 

[Safav Hamon]

Here's a small preview of her new dialogue tree. I'm impressed by how large it is, and fully voiceacted.

Spoiler

 

[2house2fly]

Was that meant to be added with Beast Of Winter? In August? Lol

 

[TemplarGR]

I have been playing PoE II lately, after having completed the original, and boi oh boi what an improvement it is... People who say it is not GOTY are on drugs.

 

[Jenkem]

Was that meant to be added with Beast Of Winter? In August? Lol

My thoughts too.. what the fuck is Josh's problem?

 

[AwesomeButton]

I'm impressed by how large it is, and fully voiceacted.

Oh my! fully voice acted! I think I just came!

 

[Iskramor]

Was that meant to be added with Beast Of Winter? In August? Lol

My thoughts too.. what the fuck is Josh's problem?

Nihilism living in commiefornia etc...

 

[Iskramor]

I have been playing PoE II lately, after having completed the original, and boi oh boi what an improvement it is... People who say it is not GOTY are on drugs.

Writing is beyond horrible and its is voiced which makes it even worse.Easy refund.

 

[TemplarGR]

Writing is beyond horrible and its is voiced which makes it even worse.Easy refund.

Of course. After all, only writing matters. I don't like books with bad writing. Oh, what do you mean we aren't talking about books?

BTW, did you like Divinity Original Sin 1/2 by any chance? Did you like THAT writing? Because here on the CODEX some games get a pass for the same things they criticize other games for...

 

[AwesomeButton]

In its worst moments, Deadfire's writing is at the level that's "standard" for D:OS2.

But that's accounting for the fact that Deadfire proclaims it attempts to be "grounded", "low-key", while D:OS2 is purposefully lighthearted (and unpurposefully cringe most of the time). So Deadfire's writing is the result if sheer creative impotence while D:OS2 is more or less "cringe on purpose".

 

[Iskramor]

Writing is beyond horrible and its is voiced which makes it even worse.Easy refund.

Of course. After all, only writing matters. I don't like books with bad writing. Oh, what do you mean we aren't talking about books?

BTW, did you like Divinity Original Sin 1/2 by any chance? Did you like THAT writing? Because here on the CODEX some games get a pass for the same things they criticize other games for...

Good writing is critical for game like deadfire div os is different thing and no i dont like turn based games except Age of Decadence.

 

[2house2fly]

I hear the same kind of thing about Pathfinder Kingmaker; people like the writing not because it's good but because it's not aiming particularly high

 

[aweigh]

AFAIK no one on the codex likes Divinity games. The writing is horrendous, the art style atrocious. I've never seen anyone make a thread praising the DOS games.

 

[Sacred82]

AFAIK no one on the codex likes Divinity games. The writing is horrendous, the art style atrocious. I've never seen anyone make a thread praising the DOS games.

dude

use the search function, Kodex went nuts over D:OS


then something something happened (muh armor system) and everyone turned edgy af

 

[jf8350143]

AFAIK no one on the codex likes Divinity games. The writing is horrendous, the art style atrocious. I've never seen anyone make a thread praising the DOS games.

dude

use the search function, Kodex went nuts over D:OS


then something something happened (muh armor system) and everyone turned edgy af

Probably because the second game sells tons of copies and becoming too popular for the Codex's like.

 

[Yosharian]

Where has Sawyer said that he hates BG2?

Edit: well, I found this exchange between Sensuki and Sawyer:
https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9547

I thought this was interesting:

Sensuki: Regarding encounter design, is there anything in Pillars of Eternity that rivals or surpasses the complexity of some of the encounters in Icewind Dale 2 (Orc Shamans beating War Drums to summon reinforcements, Goblins falling off Worgs)? Will there be pre-stealthed enemies? Are there any new scripting features that were built for PE that made things possible you couldn't do in the IE games?

Josh: Honestly, I think it will take us a while to exceed the complexity of IWD2 fights. IWD2 and BG2 were built with a lot of tried-and-true scripting functions that programmers and designers developed over previous titles and expansions. Like any other feature, AI in PoE is being built from the ground up, so we have to add layers of complexity over time.

And this:

Sensuki: The Spell FX direction in the IE games were very RTS-inspired. Effects were opaque, easily distinguishable from one another, fairly contained in size and clear visual feedback was given when a unit was affected by a spell (on the unit and UI). In contrast the FX shown for PE have been a little in the opposite direction edging towards modern flashiness, brightness and style. What is the intended art style for the FX in PE moving forward?

Josh: I don't think it's accurate to say that the IE games' VFX were opaque because they were RTS-inspired. They were opaque because the early games simply didn't have any alpha blending capability (just alpha test). With 3D particles and alpha blending, I think it's inevitable that there's going to be as much of a visual shift from the older games as you see with our 3D characters. That said, the early footage we've shown of the game was often missing hit effects. Those will go a long way in helping the player see exactly when a character has been affected.

Sensuki: If you look at games like Starcraft, Warcraft 2 or Total Annihilation: Kingdoms which were all late-90s RTS games, the Spell FX in Baldur's Gate are a very similar style to those in size, sensibility and detail which leads me to believe that BioWare's BG1 Spell FX design was inspired by those more than something like Diablo. The Spell FX direction for the following IE games seem to have built off the original formula.

 

[Quillon]

 

[TemplarGR]

AFAIK no one on the codex likes Divinity games. The writing is horrendous, the art style atrocious. I've never seen anyone make a thread praising the DOS games.

WTF? Dude, the CODEX was shilling for DOS like there was no tomorrow, wtf are you talking about?

 

[Infinitron]

They're doing a PoE2 stream on the same day Indiana is announced? Hmmmkay...

Hopefully there's a trailer.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

turns out project indiana is just a PoE2 dlc

 

[Riddler]

AFAIK no one on the codex likes Divinity games. The writing is horrendous, the art style atrocious. I've never seen anyone make a thread praising the DOS games.

People praised and talked about DoS1 a fair bit.

 

[Jimmious]

D:OS was awesome. D:OS2 is good but they fucking made the combat worse and that was very annoying. All other aspects got improved though, others more and others less.