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

[Sentinel]

Jesus Christ.

 

[Safav Hamon]

I've been playing RPGs for as long as I can remember. I know a good one when I see it.

This site can't let go of its hatred for Obsidian and nolstalgia for Baldurs Gate to truly appreciate it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

low energy bait

 

[Sentinel]

So let me get this straight, you're actually telling me that Deadfire is better than KotOR2 or Mask of the Betrayer?

 

[Lacrymas]

Deadfire is better than the Second Coming, don'tcha know?

 

[Safav Hamon]

So let me get this straight, you're actually telling me that Deadfire is better than KotOR2 or Mask of the Betrayer?

In my opinion, yes. Kotor II is an incomplete alpha game, and even with the restoration mod the story left me feeling underwhelmed. The combat and level design were also heavily flawed.

Mask of the Betrayer is my third favorite Obsidian game, but the engine, combat, ending, and short length hold it back. I also find epic level D&D boring.

 

[santino27]

Only thing I'm feeling edgy about in DF is the writing. The story doesn't make a lick of sense and doesn't fit the type of game it is, and all those companions who want to jump on your bazzo 5 minutes after meeting you are just rum-dumb.

That much I agree wtih you on, at least!

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

So let me get this straight, you're actually telling me that Deadfire is better than KotOR2

Writing - advantage KOTOR2
Companions - advantage KOTOR2
Music - advantage KOTOR2
VO - advantage KOTOR2
Graphics - advantage Deadfire
Worldbulding - advantage Deadfire
Level design - advantage Deadfire
Itemization - advantage Deadfire
Character development and systems - advantage Deadfire
Exploration - advantage Deadfire
Combat - advantage Deadfire
Non-linear design - advantage Deadfire
Technical polish - advantage Deadfire
Replayablity - advantage Deadfire
Amount of content - advantage Deadfire once the DLCs come out

Not even close.

 

[Lacrymas]

Deadfire doesn't have better worldbuilding than Star Wars.

Anyway, where DF is worse than KotOR2 and actually is important is the context in which KotOR2 is put. This doesn't only include the writing, but a world in which Star Wars is a modern myth, and an almost religious icon. It causes a schism in the myth that changes our whole perspective of it. Deadfire is nowhere close to that and simply doesn't have the influence and weight to compete. Everything else is myopic.

 

[Roguey]

Deadfire doesn't have better worldbuilding than Star Wars.

Worldbuilding in the Old Republic: Everything looks just like it did in the movies even though it takes place thousands of years in the past.

 

[Lacrymas]

That's painfully irrelevant and mostly Bioware's fault. And who knows, the progress of technology might turn out to work like that, a fairly long stretch of time where it accelerates, but hits a kind of brick wall at some level and it requires a lot of time to make the next breakthrough, but I digress.

 

[Safav Hamon]

The levels in Kotor II were boring as fuck. Peragus, Telos IV, Korriban, Dantooine, and Malachor V had some of the most uninspired design I've ever seen.

Say what you will about Kotor I, but the locations were far more interesting and atmospheric. The Undercity, Tatooine, Manaan, Kashyyyk, and Lehon all invoke nolstalgia.

 

[Prime Junta]

Eh, the old protagonist doesn't really matter much. I don't think you even do much with your Watcher-ness again. Shitty protagonist is shitty basically, but it's not it the problem. The problem is Eothas being the main story, which he shouldn't have been. He shouldn't have been in the game at all, but that's where we ended up.

I imagine the thinking went something like "we want to keep the old protag but we have to do a level 1 reset because of the mechanics changes, so we have to find a rationale... I got it, a god ate his soul" and things sort of went downhill from there.

A fresh protag would not have required jumping all those hoops. It would have been much easier to come up with a more FONV style story better suited for the exploration focus of the game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

low energy bait

well then guess thats enough for some people

 

[Lacrymas]

The levels in Kotor II were boring as fuck. Peragus, Telos IV, Korriban, Dantooine, and Malachor V had some of the most uninspired design I've ever seen.

Say what you will about Kotor I, but the locations were far more interesting and atmospheric. The Undercity, Tatooine, Manaan, Kashyyyk, and Lehon all invoke nolstalgia.

Peragus is intense and has a System Shock vibe to it. It's creepy and the surgical and cold precision with which the assassin droid pulled off its shenanigans made it even more creepy. Korriban is a ruin of a once thriving Sith academy and has the cave where the visions take place. Dantooine is a place where survivors are trying to rebuild. These are much more mature locations than anything in KotOR1.

I imagine the thinking went something like "we want to keep the old protag but we have to do a level 1 reset because of the mechanics changes, so we have to find a rationale... I got it, a god ate his soul" and things sort of went downhill from there.

A fresh protag would not have required jumping all those hoops. It would have been much easier to come up with a more FONV style story better suited for the exploration focus of the game.

I agree that a fresh protagonist would've been better, but they could've salvaged this and still delivered a good factions storyline, but they didn't. Trying to shoehorn the old protagonist of a game which only 10% of your audience completed wasn't a good idea in the first place, but that's nu-Obs for ya. I was against the old protagonist since the beginning, so you are preaching to the choir.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Peragus is intense

 

[Safav Hamon]

Pergasus is the most boring tutorial level of any RPG I've ever played

 

[Sizzle]

Peragus is intense

It's fine (even good) the first time you play it - the mystery behind what's going on driving the player forward, with a faint sense of unease.

However, on the very next playthrough, you begin to notice how there's very little to do there, how it's huge and linear and not very fun.

MCA sometimes designs these - areas which are good the first time you play them (Peragus, the half-hour unskippable conversation with the Think Tank at the beginning of Old World Blues), but become a chore in all subsequent playthroughs.

 

[Lacrymas]

There are mods to skip Peragus if you are so inclined. I replay KoOR2 very infrequently, so it never bothers me. Quite the contrary, the oppressive atmosphere is great each time. There are two things I've ever installed mods for to skip - the Fade in DA:O (which I've only replayed like once) and the sewers in VtMB (for obvious reasons).

 

[Grunker]

It's a horrible level, most tutorial levels that go on for very long are.

 

[Sizzle]

There are mods to skip Peragus if you are so inclined.

Are any compatible with TSLRCM?

 

[Lacrymas]

Since I don't skip Peragus, I don't know. Why wouldn't they be?

 

[Sizzle]

A friend of mine recently installed KoTOR 2 (without TSLRCM). I told her that TSLRCM is now pretty much mandatory to get the whole experience, but the problem was that she already completed Peragus, and wasn't feeling like playing it again.

I searched for the skip Peragus mod, but it turned out that TSLRCM is incompatible with it. So I was wondering if maybe there were some other similar mods that were.

 

[Lacrymas]

It depends on what you mean by "incompatible". I quickly googled it and everyone says there were no problems, but also say they've heard some people having trouble. One guy said you can't go to the HK factory if you skip Peragus because you don't get the sonic imprint sensor (but another guy says you can get in by other means). You can complete the level for her, I guess, if she's so reluctant to replay it.

 

[Sizzle]

She's moved on to playing NWN2 (with the romance mod) :D