Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pre-DLC Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[IHaveHugeNick]

I stand by my original first impressions. Almost everything is a noticeable improvement, but the state of combat is simply insulting.

 

[Sigourn]

Romance eligibility "spoilers":

Spoiler

This screams "if we turn these two characters into faggots it will draw people's suspicions. Let's make it so they can't be romanceable at all!

 

[AwesomeButton]

I'm the one who will get actually angry when I start a thread with my opinion of companions on the Obs forums. And let the butthurt flow.

Honestly, I haven't even given the music a passing thought. I will tonight though. It goes beyond forgettable?

It catches my attention with how bad it is, although it has its good moments from time to time.

 

[2house2fly]

Also all of the game's text strings are editable/moddable, and can be found in:

Much of Deadfire's data is placed in easily-readable text files located in Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\exported. You can modify these files directly, but a better way to make mods that you can easily share is to use the override folder. The override folder is Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\override.

Any file in the override folder will take priority over the files in the exported data folder - so you can add new data objects to the game in these files, or replace existing ones.

You should create a subfolder in the override folder for each mod. So my mod might be in the folder Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\override\bmac-mod.

*.*bundle files can be anywhere in your mod folder, but *.stringtable files need to be in the same folder hierarchy as the file they're overriding. E.g. to override localized\en\text\game\gui.stringtable, your override file should be in override\[yourmod]\localized\en\text\game\gui.stringtable.

For example if you want to edit an item's Lore Dump text you can go to that folder and open ITEMS.stringtable and edit the text, and it will reflect in-game. All quest text is also there...

So all those pets that have no flavour text just "when this pet is equipped you gain a bonus" I could edit that to say "this is a good dog" or something?

 

[Parabalus]

I stand by my original first impressions. Almost everything is a noticeable improvement, but the state of combat is simply insulting.

You ruining it for yourself by playing Normal. Put it on PotD and enjoy the game.

 

[Cross]

Romance eligibility "spoilers":

Before release, people were talking about how hopefully, Deadfire would be to PoE 1 what Baldur's Gate 2 was to Baldur's Gate 1.

Well, if nothing else, they seem to have succeeded in following in Bioware's footsteps in the romance department at least. So much so that they seem to have jumped ahead all the way to Dragon Age 2.

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

RTwP combat is unfulfilling like a tranny. It is neither turn-based a man, nor real time a woman, is something in between.

 

[dragonul09]

Dude the fucking ship mates are useless in combat, most of the time they get stuck in one place doing nothing but watch my demise, while I have to deal with 15 heavy duty paladins bum fucking my casters, did they even test this game?

 

[aweigh]

I haven't gone much further than just past the beginner island but I think it's safe to say the game is an improvement over the first one. Frankly it would be shocking if it wasn't.

However it's very much a sequel in the sense that it won't change the mind of anyone who didn't like the first one.

 

[Lacrymas]

I am pretty ignorant with respect to music and composition. Furthermore, I have not even really notice PoE2's music thus far, which may be a bad thing.

Do you find it forgettable or sloppy (or both)?

That's a complicated question. It's obviously technically sub-par when even non-musicians can hear that that's not how an orchestra is supposed to sound. Technical aspects can easily be fixed with a few lessons with a good teacher, the problem is whether Justin can actually write music that has its own internal logic, dramaticism, theatricality, intention and whatever other aspects you prescribe to art. You can be illiterate and not know how to use the instruments you are writing for, just like a composition by a student we recently had to play, but can still create something that is striking in some way, just like that composition by that student. The composition was so sloppily written, impossible to play and his instructions were so laughable in that context that it transcended its technical aspects to create something that I will remember for the rest of my life. Which brings me to Justin - I don't see the spark of creativity in him, I think it's a combination of his obvious lack of experience with a wide range of music/art, his lack of education in this sphere, his lack of aesthetic goals and lack of direction. He is struggling with coming up with music and using the orchestra because he lacks these things and doesn't know what he wants to achieve. I don't think a lack of creativity is a damning sentence for life, nobody is born with the ability to create good things (or anything at all), that is cultivated and learned, filtered through yourself as a person outside of your chosen artistic discipline.

Basically, to use more vague terms, there is no art in his music, only simple note constructions, and it isn't aesthetically pleasing, even in such tortured "genres" as film/video game music.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I stand by my original first impressions. Almost everything is a noticeable improvement, but the state of combat is simply insulting.

You ruining it for yourself by playing Normal. Put it on PotD and enjoy the game.

Come on. I know this thread is moving fast, but I already said twice I switched to Hard. 5 hours later, and the difficulty remains facepalm worthy. Excluding Xoti, I literally didn't touch anyone's active abilities once. Just focus fire on one guy, then the next one, then the next one, and let the AI do the rest. It stopped being an interactive movie, which is a plus, but it is still laughably easy. I am still using starter items despite having half of inventory filled with better loot, because I just didn't bother to switch.

The only time I got in trouble is when I accidently attacked 5 exploding barrels while my party was clamped nearby. It's a joke.

PoTD and scaling are locked out. So not much I can do but push on like this.

 

[Prime Junta]

Okay this was funny

 

[Maculo]

I am pretty ignorant with respect to music and composition. Furthermore, I have not even really notice PoE2's music thus far, which may be a bad thing.

Do you find it forgettable or sloppy (or both)?

That's a complicated question. It's obviously technically sub-par when even non-musicians can hear that that's not how an orchestra is supposed to sound. Technical aspects can easily be fixed with a few lessons with a good teacher, the problem is whether Justin can actually write music that has its own internal logic, dramaticism, theatricality, intention and whatever other aspects you prescribe to art. You can be illiterate and not know how to use the instruments you are writing for, just like a composition by a student we recently had to play, but can still create something that is striking in some way, just like that composition by that student. The composition was so sloppily written, impossible to play and his instructions were so laughable in that context that it transcended its technical aspects to create something that I will remember for the rest of my life. Which brings me to Justin - I don't see the spark of creativity in him, I think it's a combination of his obvious lack of experience with a wide range of music/art, his lack of education in this sphere, his lack of aesthetic goals and lack of direction. He is struggling with coming up with music and using the orchestra because he lacks these things and doesn't know what he wants to achieve. I don't think a lack of creativity is a damning sentence for life, nobody is born with the ability to create good things (or anything at all), that is cultivated and learned, filtered through yourself as a person outside of your chosen artistic discipline.

Basically, to use more vague terms, there is no art in his music, only simple note constructions, and it isn't aesthetically pleasing, even in such tortured "genres" as film/video game music.

Thanks, I appreciate you trying to explain it. Musical theory and composition is wasted on me.

I will try to pay attention to it more tonight. I did expect something more thematic with respect to a sea themed expansion or chasing a building-sized god.

 

[Merlkir]

Me fisto...ooohh.

 

[agris]

Perkel thanks for the lengthy write-up.

Can you explain, in more detail, why you like the items more than PoE1 / BG2 beyond "modals not passives"? Are item sketches included for all items ala IE games? I forget, does PoE 2 color-code items like some MMOs do to indicate their rarity? You praised combat encounter design being much better, but that seems to go against what others have said about the game being incredibly easy. Are you playing on PotD? You didn't really touch on difficulty in your review, which is odd given that so many of the factors that you're so happy with should have a direct impact on difficulty (encounter design, itemization with active modals, level-ups feeling 'hefty', weapon specialization).

 

[Parabalus]

I stand by my original first impressions. Almost everything is a noticeable improvement, but the state of combat is simply insulting.

You ruining it for yourself by playing Normal. Put it on PotD and enjoy the game.

PoTD and scaling are locked out. So not much I can do but push on like this.

Sorry, missed that bit about Hard.

'difficulty PathOfTheDamned' in the console will work (after iroll20s), not sure for upscaling.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I stand by my original first impressions. Almost everything is a noticeable improvement, but the state of combat is simply insulting.

You ruining it for yourself by playing Normal. Put it on PotD and enjoy the game.

PoTD and scaling are locked out. So not much I can do but push on like this.

Sorry, missed that bit about Hard.

'difficulty PathOfTheDamned' in the console will work (after iroll20s), not sure for upscaling.

That worked, thanks!

 

[Iskramor]

I like all the new companions so far. They seem much better fleshed out and have actual personalities for a change. PoE1 was just a slog of "why do I keep this boring asshole around".

Xoti is a hottie hottie rock the body body

 

[Prime Junta]

why you like the items more than PoE1 / BG2 beyond "modals not passives"

Not Perkel, but I'll tell you why I like them more anyway.

The unique items just have a lot more thought put into them, both in the mechanics and the descriptions. For example very early on I found an ancient sword which confers the wielder with the fighting style its former owner taught: if wielded with a shield, you get both increased damage and deflection. (There were a few other perks as well.) What's more, that sword wasn't just lying randomly somewhere, it made sense for it to be where it was. Finding it felt like a discovery, not just picking up another bit of random loot.

This is further supported by the enchanting system. You can't slap a Corrosive Lash or whatever on any old item anymore; you can only enchant unique items, and only in ways that work with the characteristics they already have.

All in all it's just more fun. There's character and personality there, and those unique characteristics will certainly lend themselves to creative builds that make the best of them. They feel like Baldur's Gate 2 or Icewind Dale items, which the P1 items failed to do (other than the soulbounds, which were way OTT).

Xoti is a hottie hottie rock the body body

High-maintenance though.

 

[agris]

This is further supported by the enchanting system. You can't slap a Corrosive Lash or whatever on any old item anymore; you can only enchant unique items, and only in ways that work with the characteristics they already have.

All in all it's just more fun. There's character and personality there, and those unique characteristics will certainly lend themselves to creative builds that make the best of them. They feel like Baldur's Gate 2 or Icewind Dale items, which the P1 items failed to do (other than the soulbounds, which were way OTT).

Those changes to enchanting sound a lot better than the previous system. It sounds like PoE2 is closer to the game I was expecting with PoE1.

 

[fantadomat]

This answer is beyond ridiculous.

I will just post a picture of my first dialogue with fishfag.

He just stopped me and begun talking about how hard it is to be a saviour and a hero. After that i looked in his eyes expecting a soul reading moment,next thing i know is him asking me about fucking.

 

[jf8350143]

Spoiler

Apparently Eder can get together with Iselmyr, who is still trapped inside Aloth's body.

Maybe Obsidian is breaking some new ground regarding romance after all.

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

So Obsidian finally achieved the "incline" of BG2.

 

[2house2fly]

Can Eder and Xoti get together. How about other characters. Pallegina and Xoti don't get on- can their love-hate relationship blossom into "getting s room"?

 

[Prime Junta]

BTW is it just me, or is the Swashbuckler just plain ... good? Those fighter and rogue abilities synergise so well I can't think why I'd want to play a single-class either.