Review RPG Codex Review: The Age of Decadence

[Arch-Vile]

Nice review, although I was expecting much more butthurt.

Perhaps the UnderRail one will provide us a bit more entertainment.

 

[Lord Azlan]

Nice review - I like that you explained what you thought was good and bad.

Read your combat section with interest as my own brief try at it and comments from others has put me off a bit.

Your Biowarian comment scared the crap out of me.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Biowarian comment is out of place and I have no idea what it means.

 

[Black_Willow]

Way better VN than Sharin no kuni for sure.

Age of Onii-san delivers.

 

[Excidium II]

Good content as usual.

I wonder if VD will comment or if he has gone full profeshunal.

 

[Niektory]

I hope he'll go full VD and respond to every single paragraph.

 

[DeepOcean]

I hope he'll go full VD and respond to every single paragraph.

I'm hoping for a quote battle too.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Can't wait.

Viata Sheep raw

 

[Excidium II]

Can't wait.

Viata Sheep raw

Nice compression men.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I wonder if VD will comment or if he has gone full profeshunal.

I brofisted it when it was sitting in the content forum. I'd comment but I've just discovered Witcher 3 so I have monsters to kill and question marks to explore.

 

[Excidium II]

You're gonna love skellige's question mark distribution.

 

[Viata]

I really want a review from him, since I too love combat over story. Sadly I don't think he's able to bash AoD without trying too hard. The game is way too good.

 

[Crispy]

Those white redactions are triggering me.

 

[Amasius]

Coming from Roxor this is pretty much a 12/10 review... Nah, surprisingly good analysis. There are some minor points I disagree with in the review, like there were some minor things that bugged me about AoD, but in the end they were well worth my money/reading time.

 

[Tigranes]

it even has an inbuilt CYOA mode if you hate RPGs

Retarded combatfag detected.

Review should end with:

This is literally the worst crpg I’ve played to date. That’s right, I even had more fun with Pillars Of Eternity - at least it was a fun romp, as opposed to this lifeless, uninspired husk. Disappointment, thy name is Age of Decadence.

the church of aod is ever vigilant, its armour is contempt, its shield is disgust and its sword is hatred

Say it isn't true! Nobody is more vigilant, more armed with contempt, disgust, and hatred than our intrepid Serial Reviewer.

Good review in general, there are minor factual errors (like overemphasising the frequency of Impersonation over Infiltration for Assassins) but almost always the broader point (about underutilised skills and oversights in skill use distribution) is valid, so no point quibbling.

I think the big emphases are all on point as well, e.g. combat rightly praised for offering versatile solutions to level the odds and rightly criticised for a brain-dead AI. Similarly, AOD's strength is its sheer variety of situations and outcomes, but the game builds an expectation of an even more extreme reactivity and versatility that it cannot then always satisfy.

I do think the accusation of characters 'cheating you' through the writing is unfounded, because the Monastery is really the only place where it is a significant issue. Where else do we find characters teleporting, knowing things they shouldn't know, and otherwise acting as omnipotent deus ex machina? AOD's strength is that each NPC is taken as a real person in the situation, rather than a functionary. One can question whether some of them make the most sensible decisions or have the most sensible motivations, sure, but by and large, everybody does a good job of acting out their basic identity, which is a refreshing change from the paper-thin film-set way most RPG characters get written in.

 

[Johannes]

The developers have stated multiple times that making a character that simply “makes sense” is enough for you to be successful. But I really do beg to differ. My first character, an assassin, I envisioned as a “ninja” type of survivalist sneaker relying on his own wits, focusing on Alchemy, Sneak, Streetwise, etc. What I had in mind was climbing into people’s villas via balconies, putting scorpions under their pillows and disappearing into the crowds unnoticed.

True, but that is what happens when you want to subvert the conventions with realism. We all have this ninja assassin mindset, but the assassin guild in AoD is more down to earth and realist. That’s the reason why the thieves guild is more powerful and connected than the boatmen, and why each of the individual guilds end up being involved with the consequences of their jobs. Moreover, while you can’t do most of your missions in a Hitman fashion, you have some nice text-adventures in a ninja fashion. Most of your criticisms agaisnt the merchant playthrough reveal more about your preconceptions about this topic in fiction than whether the quests are believable or not.

I haven't played Boatmen questline, so can't comment on that, but my impression of them is exactly ninjas. That comes from defending the boss merchant from Hamza as a IG, felt like a very cartoony assassination attempt.

But a specific mindset is necessary in many other ways, and here things start to get a bit ugly. It is perhaps the most difficult to get accustomed to the idea of hoarding skill points.

True, but then again, it is about realism. The only way to get rid of this problem is to have a fluffy character system that doesn’t really matter. If you can allocate SPs anyway you want and surpass all the challenges the game world impose on you, then you don’t really have any challenges to begin with. In that case, the skills, stats and SPs would be purely cosmetic.

The alternative would be not to hand out so much SP during the game, making you play a more fixed skills character like is already the case with stats.

 

[Excidium II]

Good review in general, there are minor factual errors (like overemphasising the frequency of Impersonation over Infiltration for Assassins)

But where is proofs? Have you even played 7 times like esteemed reviewer?

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I wonder if VD will comment or if he has gone full profeshunal.

I brofisted it when it was sitting in the content forum. I'd comment but I've just discovered Witcher 3 so I have monsters to kill and question marks to explore.

Turn off question marks and the minimap in general, enjoy a much improved experience.

Are you planning to review it?

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

Excellent review, as always Roxor

 

[Tigranes]

Good review in general, there are minor factual errors (like overemphasising the frequency of Impersonation over Infiltration for Assassins)

But where is proofs? Have you even played 7 times like esteemed reviewer?

I have played it MORE than seven times. This means I finally have objective proof: everything I say about AOD is right and all who question me are stupid dumbfucks, fundamentally breaking the careful balance of Codex fights.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Assassins' true role is as Inquisitors.

Spoiler

suffer not the heretic to live

 

[Serious_Business]

Can't take this kid's sense of humour. Trying to sound nonchalent all the time gets on my fucking nerves. I can already hear him write a nonsensical reply to this. Here, I'll do it for you :

a genius must have its detractor and since i have you i guess that makes me a genius

Yeah, asshole. I guess it does

 

[Vault Dweller]

Are you planning to review it?

Planning to play it until it gets boring and repetitive, then play something else. If it was a new game, maybe, but it's been already discussed to death on the Codex. I doubt I can add anything new at this point.

So far I'm enjoying it. The sandbox aspects are done MUCH better than in Skyrim and DA:I. Both the combat and character systems are better than in Witcher 2. So there isn't much to bitch about.

 

[SniperHF]

Are you planning to review it?

Planning to play it until it gets boring and repetitive, then play something else. If it was a new game, maybe, but it's been already discussed to death on the Codex. I doubt I can add anything new at this point.

So far I'm enjoying it. The sandbox aspects are done MUCH better than in Skyrim and DA:I. Both the combat and character systems are better than in Witcher 2. So there isn't much to bitch about.

Generation Ship RPG done in 2037, thanks Witcher 3

 

[Grotesque]

I have monsters to kill and question marks to explore.

And here I am thinking that you would have disabled those map question marks put there for dumbfucks with a fetish for instant gratification.