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

[moleman]

...it just seems unnecessary...

Problem is not that it is unnecessary. A good descriptive text could help create a certain mood or atmosphere. Instead it is just "text-bloating". It adds nothing. It is only a slog to read.

there are good examples in Deadfire but not many. good example: gulag and captain that does particular thing with his hands and items on the table, and using this description you can pick correct question and persuasion option.

Absolutely agree on that.

 

[Safav Hamon]

But I suppose you're right. People probably enjoy doing silly/creative stuff... and playing together/showing off.

I remember a guy at Obsidian said in an interview that they are looking to make all their games co-op in the future.

 

[Dodo1610]

That Wizardry 6 quote does what it needs to, it describes a scene that couldn't be shown with in game graphics, despite it's simplistic language and "style".


That POE 2 quote is necessary fluff it wants to sound intellectual and clever with it’s purple prose.
You can simply look at the portrait and see the dwarf’s face so there was no need for this description.

At least Deadfire no longer has far less purple prose then it’s predecessor.

 

[Darth Roxor]

mentioning wiz6 and not quoting the amazingest text in rpg history smdh

"Inside the control panel are six tiny buttons, each with a tiny label. Some instructions engraved on its face are as follows: *CAUTION* Safety detachment required prior to inchoate winder advancement. Do not activate coilwrap until a wait of 5 seconds post pump nascency, over safety interdigitation. Truss ascension may follow, but under no circumstance should fall extrinsic to pump and winder immurement. Final winder engagement induction for draw bridge facilitation.

It is good to know that the engineers responsible for the bridge wanted its operation to be accessible by anyone, and thus took the time to create such specific instructions, in that unique way that only real engineers can do."

 

[moleman]

mentioning wiz6 and not quoting the amazingest text in rpg history smdh

To my defense, I haven't finished the game yet.

 

[Strange Fellow]

mentioning wiz6 and not quoting the amazingest text in rpg history smdh

Excuse you.

Inside the trunk is a shocking article of, well, armor or something. It appears to be a heavy bra made of hard glossy black leather, and lined with sharp pointed metal studs around its edges. Although its use is not quite apparent, it does seem to have the "potential" for a certain kind of (*ahem*) appeal, if worn by the right person. Still even more perplexing, along with the strange bra, buried in the bottom of the box you find a long black whip. Hmm, now what would these be doing in the queen's boudoir?

 

[Iskramor]

No kcd and deadfire reviews and why?

 

[santino27]

The writing in general is a step above most videogames...

Problem with the writing in POE 2 is, that the authors thought putting as many words as possible in a single paragraph is good writing. Surprise, it is not.

I am currently playing Wizardry 6, a game not particularly known for good writing.

Here are some of the first lines POE 2 throws at you:

Spoiler

"An aged dwarf shares this strange floating platform with you. His face is creased by so many wrinkles that his features lie buried amid shadowy pockets of skin. Still, the dwarf's well-practiced habits have left telltale tracks of a welcoming rictus across his visage.
You can see his smile coming before it blooms, reshaping the dwarf's face from a hanging sack of flesh into something resemling an oddly-carved, merry gourd, replete with unhealthy bumps and discolored splotches."

Here a example from Wiz 6.

Spoiler

"Thick smoke fills the air inside this mangey den. And muddled about each of the tables, clutching a bottle of ale or steaming brew, is the wildest gang of thieves, rogues, brigands, pirates and cutthroats ever assembled under a single roof.
As soon as you enter the room, action crinds into a halt. All eyes rivet onto you and a deadly silence endues...
Glancing at each of the tables, it is amazing how much you can notice within a single second: a pile of gold coins, the faces on a deck of cards, even the chip on a corner of a set of dice. All this, and every little detail of every nasty face staring at you as well. In the odd moment you have before you think you are going to die."

Decide for yourself which is better writing.

Honestly, they are both pretty bad. The wiz 6 one would be fine if they excised the last three sentences, and tweaked the remainder slightly. The POE one has the standard nonsense of an amateur writer going overboard with description and trying to assign an adjective to every single noun.

That said, deadfire's intro has some of the worst text I've seen so far in the game. I don't know why Obsidian struggles so much with beginnings.

 

[Safav Hamon]

Like I said, there's barely any prose in the game except for the intro. It's one of the biggest writing improvements in the sequel. Descriptive text has largely been reduced to describing basic movements and emotions, e.g "Tekehu wraps his arms around your hips and smiles"

And damn, you guys act really dramatic over one line. That same line of text has been used to bash the game several times now in multiple threads. If you're going to hate on the writing, diversify your assets.

 

[Darth Roxor]

there is only one bit of writing in poe2 that is cool, and that's ondra and magran trying to nuke eothas

everything else is complete and total garbage

 

[Safav Hamon]

I disagree. There are plenty of cool moments that impressed me throughout the game. Falling just short of New Vegas.

Have you written anything creatively before, Darth Roxor? I'm assuming you have, or else you wouldn't state your opinions so arrogantly.

 

[Oreshnik Missile]

PoE2 intro reminded me of NumaNuma intro, instant tirggering
Both are unnecessary, slow, pretentious, contrived.
PoE1 intro was just fine.

 

[Darth Roxor]

There are plenty of cool moments that impressed me throughout the game.

of course there are

 

[ItsChon]

PoE 2 bad

PoE 2 good

Too bad I don't know who to believe without a fucking REVIEW!!

 

[Safav Hamon]

There are reviews all over the internet. You don't need Darth Roxor's seal of approval.

 

[ItsChon]

There are reviews all over the internet.

I want a review from a trusted source. It doesn't need to be from Roxor necessarily, but I do want to read one from the Codex.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'll just leave this here for people who are confused as to what good writing is -



The chorus of Canterbury women alone tells us more than the entirety of PoE1/2's ...prose. I intentionally chose something more modern to not be accused of picking something old and thus "irrelevant" to contemporary writing.

"
We wait, we wait,
And the saints and martyrs wait, for those who shall be
martyrs and saints.

Destiny waits in the hand of God, shaping the still un-
shapen:

I have seen these things in a shaft of sunlight.
Destiny waits in the hand of God, not in the hands of
statesmen

Who do, some well, some ill, planning and guessing.
Having their aims which turn in their hands in the
pattern of time.

Come, happy December, who shall observe you, who
shall preserve you?
Shall the Son of Man be born again in the litter of
scorn?

For us, the poor, there is no action.
But only to wait and to witness. "

 

[Strange Fellow]

There are reviews all over the internet.

I want a review from a trusted source. It doesn't need to be from Roxor necessarily, but I do want to read one from the Codex.

That doesn't make any sense. Different reviewers have different opinions, just look at the PoE1 reviews. A Roxor review isn't necessarily representative of the consensus (if there even is one).

 

[Darth Roxor]

the difference is other reviews are fake news while roxor review isnt

 

[Strange Fellow]

The chorus of Canterbury women alone tells us more than the entirety of PoE1/2's ...prose. I intentionally chose something more modern to not be accused of picking something old and thus "irrelevant" to contemporary writing.

It's funny because this is incredibly irrelevant to video game writing.

 

[Lacrymas]

Oh please. That's such a lame excuse, it is relevant and has always been relevant. Adding sentences that you can choose in the conversation doesn't invalidate the basics or even the more advanced aspects. The flow of sentences, the build-up in tension and ending cadence are universal.

 

[pomenitul]

At least quote The Four Quartets if you're going to bring Eliot's Anglican material into this. Or Ash Wednesday.

 

[Lacrymas]

I specifically did not wish to bring up those because I would've been accused of citing his most famous works and thus accused of pretentiousness and faux intellectualism. Anyway, this play is a good example, above and beyond anything in PoE. The second time the chorus of women enters, their desolate voices begging the Archbishop to not return really build up a sense of mounting pressure, that something terrible is going to happen.

 

[pomenitul]

Ash Wednesday would have fit the bill: well written, lesser known. Eliot had no feel for the symbolist drama he so earnestly tried to imitate. None of his plays can stand beside Maeterlinck's The Blind, for example.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'm not entirely familiar with Maeterlinck besides Pelléas and Mélisande, and only in the context of Debussy, so I wouldn't have even thought of him.