Review RPG Codex Review: Darth Roxor on Disappointment, thy name is Pillars of Eternity

[Seari]

He's retarded because he finds the combat effortless, or are you because you actually have to put effort into it?

 

[Irenaeus]

Retards are good at games.

 

[Sensuki]

He's retarded because he finds the combat effortless, or are you because you actually have to put effort into it?

It doesn't require any effort in thinking, just clicking the mouse to queue up per encounters over and over again lol

 

[Seari]

He's retarded because he finds the combat effortless, or are you because you actually have to put effort into it?

It doesn't require any effort in thinking, just clicking the mouse to queue up per encounters over and over again lol

Ya, I know. I predicted this when they announced per ecnounter abilities, I remember everyone defending the system.

 

[Vault Dweller]

You honestly think BG cost 25 million to be made, get real. Feargus was very likely talking about multiplatform, cinematic, fully voice acted game which was slowly becoming standard for RPG genre at the time.

 

[jewboy]

In terms of PoE vs DA:O which has more complex combat? I'm thinking DA:O was actually a bit more complicated. PoE is more streamlined. Sawyer managed to factor out so much complexity and really simplify the whole system. Really both games could probably be played by nonhuman primates, but if I had to teach say a chimpanzee to play either game well I really think PoE would be my first choice.

 

[Sensuki]

Both have shit combat. Boss fights are better in DA:O though I guess ..............

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Or some people could just have no fucking idea what they're talking about / are bad at the game ?

There are loads of people here that have exactly the same problem as I do.

These 'loads' of people who reinforce your idiosyncratic viewpoints are most likely not much more than a tiny vocal group compared to all those people who experience combat and combat difficulty completely differently from what you describe with such conviction as definite universal experience. Have you ever considered the possibility that its not all those other people's perspective that is wrong because they are all 'retards playing it wrong' but your perspective on the combat that might be kinda warped cause you are such a raging sperglord an expert player? After all, apparently even most Obsidian devs are playing on normal difficulty.

 

[DeepOcean]

In terms of PoE vs DA:O which has more complex combat? I'm thinking DA:O was actually a bit more complicated. PoE is more streamlined. Sawyer managed to factor out so much complexity and really simplify the whole system. Really both games could probably be played by nonhuman primates, but if I had to teach say a chimpanzee to play either game well I really think PoE would be my first choice.

PoE system is better, Dragon Age encounter design is better... well, I mean... at least DA:O has mages that can fuck you up with cone of cold and fireball that really hurtz...

 

[Seari]

DA:O>PoE

 

[Sensuki]

These 'loads' of people who reinforce your idiosyncratic viewpoints are most likely not much more than a tiny vocal group compared to all those people who experience combat and combat difficulty completely differently from what you describe with such conviction as definite universal experience. Have you ever considered the possibility that its not all those other people's perspective that is wrong because they are all 'retards playing it wrong' but your perspective on the combat that might be kinda warped cause you are such a raging sperglord an expert player? After all, apparently even most Obsidian devs are playing on normal difficulty.

No, I don't. There are systemic issues regardless.

Even if that was the case (which it isn't), being an ex-competitive gamer, I believe that combat in any game should be designed and balanced for good players. Things seem to fall into place nicely when that is done.

Unfortunately you're (plural non-singular) probably better off being an idiot scrublord than good at games these days, you'll be entertained easier.

 

[Shadenuat]

In terms of PoE vs DA:O which has more complex combat?

They're comparable but DA:O has a few advantages. Generally while classes have more abilities, you can't say that garbage like wounding arrow or stopping arrow from DA:O is better because there is more of it than in PoE which has only one or two skills for ranged attacks. It's not like loads of abilities in DA:O make combat more complicated. You just rotate them by cooldown. Although they sure make combat more fun to watch.
Where DA:O wins is:
- Magic. Spell combos and spells themselves feel more useful and interesting.
- It has technical edge in creature movesets, which DA:O uses to create situations which you have to react to. Generally, DA:O's abilities are just more deadly which makes for more interesting combat. Spider jumping on character, ogre grappling him or dragon chewing in his mouth are both impressive and do respectable amount of damage - they are as deadly as they look.
Not only PoE doesn't have anything like that, what it does often just lacks that kinetic something. Animations end almost instantly, some abilities make characters get stuck and shuffle in terrain or fly over it, spell effects range from disco ball blinding to barely noticeable. It's hard to savour what you accomplish in PoE.
I think the only ability that says "oh yeah fuck now that worked" is Monk's Force of Anguish because it's just so over the top. Fighter's accuracy boost or defence boost? Yeah +10 that +10 this. Barbarian's Carnage? Will know about it after you read the combat log. Killing somebody with 5 AOO's? See Barbarian's Carnage. Etc.

Dragon Age encounter design is better

Not really, neither game mixes creature types well. The reason why DA:O encounters may feel better is because creatures themselves are designed better. They have more types of attacks, more animations. These attacks to more bad stuff to your party. They have a clearer resistance system. If you use a fire spell on a walking tree in DA:O, it would set on fire and take continious burning damage. Spiders would ambush you and jump on you from the ceiling. Ogres would bum rush through your whole party. Revenants casually threw your characters around a-la Scorpion from MK. Things like that improved the often banal and monotonous encounter design that didn't go wild like in BG2.

 

[Irenaeus]

Normal is fine. I have had several challenging fights during the game. If you think I'm a bad player, you can challenge me to 1x1 on any RTS you want.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

The only advantage of DA:O system for me is that characters can move around, instead of getting grounded in engagements all the time. There should be more options of disengagement that don't force you to hit the enemy in PoE.

 

[Lhynn]

Normal is fine. I have had several challenging fights during the game. If you think I'm a bad player, you can challenge me to 1x1 on any RTS you want.

i think shoutboxing makes you play like crap.

 

[hiver]

Where is the contradiction?

Like I said, it wasn't about you contradicting yourself, just that your cherry-picking in response to someone saying they bought the game off of your recommendation seemed a bit heavy-handed.

edit: anyway, I think your review was relevant in the context of the importance of review "tone". You could read your review as "good for what it is", stupid retro Wasteland romp, but the tone says something different to (probably) most people.

I know that the logic of your reviews is that you're judging them within the context of budget/dev time/scope, and base your tone off of that, but that doesn't always come across.

I don't look at the budget/dev time/scope. They merely help you understand certain things but should never be a factor. I look at the goal and the goal was to make a sequel to WL, to make a real 'old-school' game loaded with reactivity. As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly what they did. I did inform the readers of the flaws and I did warn the readers that it's neither Fallout nor Jagged Alliance. I do regret that some people overlooked the warnings but they were there.

You made a series of inane assertions how its good based on the fact that you enjoyed it, nothing else - and paid the thinnest lip service to some "problems" scattered over that pile of garbage you call a "review", while concluding how its great and awesome and other bullshit.
as i riposted.

Nobody really expected fallout or jagged alliance, that a retarded strawman as i already explained so it has no meaning when it comes to quality of the game.

And neither does the fact that it was meant to be Wasteland sequeal make any of its idiotic quests, false reactivity and cheap schlock for imbeciles - actually good.
All that means is you enjoyed some stupid shit.
nothing else is in that review.



Of course we have been over this already,
but as usual when you dont have any arguments you just pretend nothing happened, and just continue on, like an ass.

 

[Dreaad]

 

[BlackAdderBG]

Dragon Age encounter design is better

Not really, neither game mixes creature types well. The reason why DA:O encounters may feel better is because creatures themselves are designed better. They have more types of attacks, more animations. These attacks to more bad stuff to your party. They have a clearer resistance system. If you use a fire spell on a walking tree in DA:O, it would set on fire and take continious burning damage. Spiders would ambush you and jump on you from the ceiling. Ogres would bum rush through your whole party. Revenants casually threw your characters around a-la Scorpion from MK. Things like that improved the often banal and monotonous encounter design that didn't go wild like in BG2.

There is a lot of trash combat in Origins,but overall I can remember five to ten good encounters and couple excellent ones-like two of the four revenants,the ambush in the gay elf companion quest,fade daemon,deep roads double emissary fight and Branka/Caridin +4 golems and Shale just on top of my head ,but the only one decent that I remember from Pillars is the Ogre Shamans in front and inside their cave which ironically are copypasta.Also every spell-caster in Origins was dangerous on higher difficulty.Other than that your comparison is spot on.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

DA Origins is a bar too high for Pillars of Eternity. It clearly beats DA Inquisition, which is 11/10 by respected critics!

 

[jewboy]

Normal is fine. I have had several challenging fights during the game. If you think I'm a bad player, you can challenge me to 1x1 on any RTS you want.

You pussy. I've barely played the game at all, and I did not find PotD to be particularly challenging. Normal? Wtf?! Whatever you are smoking I want some. Maybe it will make the combat challenging on Normal.

 

[Dreaad]

Normal is fine. I have had several challenging fights during the game. If you think I'm a bad player, you can challenge me to 1x1 on any RTS you want.

You pussy. I've barely played the game at all, and I did not find PotD to be particularly challenging. Normal? Wtf?! Whatever you are smoking I want some. Maybe it will make the combat challenging on Normal.

He's black, give the man some slack.

 

[jewboy]

I realize that this is totally off topic (haha like that matters here) but with all of these favorable DA:O to PoE comparisons maybe another look at that game would be in order. I could never get past the the area or city right after slogging through the initial wilderness area with all those boring identical monsters. I can't remember if it was the annoyance of all the incessant trash mobs before it and then again after it or the annoying constant cooldowns or some other annoyance that I no longer remember. Are there now any mods or cheats that reduce or eliminate the trash mobs and cooldowns or whatever other annoyances made me ragequit and rageuninstall that mess of a game? I always heard that some of the fights against dragons etc were kind of fun but never got that far due to the unendurable boredom of the initial combat.

 

[Apexeon]

If Feargus asks for that real budget - 20-25 mil or even half of that, the project will never get funded. Hence the need to play it safe and grow that IP like a fragile flower.

That $20 million was probably for a fully voice acted, fully 3D game that also works on consoles.

All $20 million means is less risk taking (gameplay) and more "mass market appeal" (**** hot art with tits).

A good example that just popped up is that star wars game Battle front 3 vs BF2.
BF3 is less of everything and **** hot art (80% of the budget). The thirsty main stream will lap it up like a pack of dogs out of a desert.

Throwing more money at a game does not make it more old school.
Probably 60 % of the budget went on POE's art. Art does nothing but get you sales (people buy art not gameplay).
Awesome art can paint over some dam big gameplay cracks but costs a ton.
Sometimes you get the planets to align with **** hot art and gameplay which = classic.

A indie without **** hot art and awesome gameplay gets a pat on the back.
Old school gameplay is only valued by a niche.

 

[Volrath]

I realize that this is totally off topic (haha like that matters here) but with all of these favorable DA:O to PoE comparisons maybe another look at that game would be in order. I could never get past the the area or city right after slogging through the initial wilderness area with all those boring identical monsters. I can't remember if it was the annoyance of all the incessant trash mobs before it and then again after it or the annoying constant cooldowns or some other annoyance that I no longer remember. Are there now any mods or cheats that reduce or eliminate the trash mobs and cooldowns or whatever other annoyances made me ragequit and rageuninstall that mess of a game? I always heard that some of the fights against dragons etc were kind of fun but never got that far due to the unendurable boredom of the initial combat.

There's like 3 of them.

 

[hello friend]

**** ****.

*** ***** **.