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

[Sensuki]

So, switching to a different weapon that does a different type of damage to which your enemy is more vulnerable, based on the composition of a group of enemies, isn't tactical response? Deciding which spells to use based on your enemies varying resistances isn't tactical response?

You switched weapons in combat? I did that once or twice, but generally switching weapons is a strategical thing that you do before combat. I generally used the same abilities and spells - debuff and damage. Rarely if ever did I deliberately use spells that targeted specific defenses because there aren't many enemies in the game that required doing that. Frankly the debuffs I had going kinda made it not matter what I attacked.

Switching weapons is punished by +2 second * recovery factor penalty

Deciding between damage and cc spells during combat depending on how the battle is going

I spammed the same shit every encounter after I got to level 4, didn't need to change strategies at all

or choosing to break engagement when it's worth it to do so

ROFL? Why would you do that? Sub-optimal play. The fact that you even needed to consider breaking engagement means you fucked up

aren't tactical responses as per your definition of tactical?

I suppose if you're bad at the game you might have to tactically respond more than if you don't many or any mistakes.

When mobs overwhelm or ignore my front-liners, which they sometimes do, I sometimes choose to disengage a squishy spellcaster and engage that enemy with a more hearty unit while my squishy retreats to a safe distance, because the damage from the disengagement attack is acceptable if it allows the unit to survive and continue contributing to the fight.

The hardest encounters that's not endgame is the Ogre in the cave on hardest difficulty, because he has a bunch of bear buddies. But that fight is optional anyway.

I took ZERO damage in that fight. When they weren't missing Eder, they were paralyzed or knocked down, also blind - GG.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Changing weapons wasn't viable in my playthrough, besides couple of characters everyone had two weapon slots which meant that they could carry just one set of melee and ranged weapons. Besides, most hard fights are fought against new or unique monsters and these usually aren't in your bestiary, which means you can't make an educated choice most of the time.

 

[Irenaeus]

I made several educated guesses with varying grades of success, thus learning how to play and beat the game.

I'm awesome.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I didn't bother with something as useless as weapon switching and I've beaten the game 30 hours faster, I'm a god.

 

[Brayko]

It really is just Baldur's Gate mixed with Sawyerism..with an interesting attribute system with flaws and uninspiring skills poorly designed.

Nothing nags me worse than the uber level buffs, DR was spot on with that one.

 

[Seari]

SA comes through again, providing both a summary of Darth Roxor's criticism and several well thought out critiques that the Codex couldn't manage in 68 pages of bickering

All I saw from the two responses was mostly just "Nuh uh" and a few truly retarded statements.

 

[Volrath]

SA comes through again, providing both a summary of Darth Roxor's criticism and several well thought out critiques that the Codex couldn't manage in 68 pages of bickering

All I saw from the two responses was mostly just "Nuh uh" and a few truly retarded statements.

People still haven't figured out Bubbles's trolling.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Bubble's trolling is very subtle and artsy. I imagine that's how monocled gentlemen used to troll in the olden days.

 

[Seari]

 

[jewboy]

I can't wait for VD's review to come out so that we can all learn that PoE is "good for what it is". DR is like the new VD. Seriously you guys should really be comparing this game to DA:O or DA2 or WoW or Diablo3. It's a hell of a lot closer to more modern games like that than to fucking Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate. Just because the graphics kind of suck relative to modern games doesn't make it Old School. Just because we were promised a sequel in spirit to certain games doesn't make it so. The Sawyer had his own weird agenda that had little to do with any of that and that's what we are seeing. Compare it to 4th Edition D&D if you want, but comparisons to either Icewind Dale or either Baldur's Gate are just silly. It really has nothing in common with those games except maybe the graphics.

 

[Sensuki]

SA comes through again, providing both a summary of Darth Roxor's criticism and several well thought out critiques that the Codex couldn't manage in 68 pages of bickering

All I saw from the two responses was mostly just "Nuh uh" and a few truly retarded statements.

I think that was the point

 

[zero29]

Bubble's trolling is very subtle and artsy. I imagine that's how monocled gentlemen used to troll in the olden days.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I can't wait for VD's review to come out so that we can all learn that PoE is "good for what it is". DR is like the new VD. Seriously you guys should really be comparing this game to DA:O or DA2 or WoW or Diablo3. It's a hell of a lot closer to more modern games like that than to fucking Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate. Just because the graphics kind of suck relative to modern games doesn't make it Old School. Just because we were promised a sequel in spirit to certain games doesn't make it so. The Sawyer had his own weird agenda that had little to do with any of that and that's what we are seeing. Compare it to 4th Edition D&D if you want, but comparisons to either Icewind Dale or either Baldur's Gate are just silly. It really has nothing in common with those games except maybe the graphics.

In this thread we learn that Baldur's Gate - that shallow game that started the decline - was actually Old School, double capitals. Fuck yeah.

 

[hello friend]

I made several educated guesses with varying grades of success, thus learning how to play and beat the game.

I'm awesome.

Usually I like your posts Irenaeus, but you've been way too transparent in this thread. Look at Bubbles. Don't you want to be like Bubbles?

 

[Irenaeus]

 

[Hatred]

Nashkell mines still had more variety than the Skaen Temple

I see you're still under the delusion that the difference between a skeleton and a kobold is bigger than the one between two completely differently built cultists. The opposite remains true.

I'll bite. What are these differences you speak of and how do you overcome them either strategically or tactically. Any kind of elaboration would be interesting.

 

[Brayko]

I can't wait for VD's review to come out so that we can all learn that PoE is "good for what it is". DR is like the new VD. Seriously you guys should really be comparing this game to DA:O or DA2 or WoW or Diablo3. It's a hell of a lot closer to more modern games like that than to fucking Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate. Just because the graphics kind of suck relative to modern games doesn't make it Old School. Just because we were promised a sequel in spirit to certain games doesn't make it so. The Sawyer had his own weird agenda that had little to do with any of that and that's what we are seeing. Compare it to 4th Edition D&D if you want, but comparisons to either Icewind Dale or either Baldur's Gate are just silly. It really has nothing in common with those games except maybe the graphics.

I consider BG/IWD to be early popamole and nothing old school so comparing it to them is far more accurarte than DA:O which propelled moley pops into cinematic "treasures".

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Baldur's Gate wasn't oldschool when it came out but it's oldschool now, since different things were old then. Just like things from the 80's are retro right now, despite not being retro in the 80's.

 

[Seari]

And here I thought the decline started with NWN.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

This thread has a lot of posts in it.

 

[Brayko]

And here I thought the decline started with NWN.

The fall of Troika and rise of Oblivesda was the biggest blow. BG>NWN>DA:O was a more progressive thing.

 

[Awakened_Yeti]

I remember when BG1 came out and I remember how everyone freaked out about RT with pause combat instead of TB... didnt want it then and I still dont think its good enough today, but whatever its a standard now

so yeh, the bullshit has been going on for a long time

my very first experience of was when they removed the text parser from sierra games and went to the point and click model.. i was like "wtf? motherfuckers are dumbing this shit down!" - and it has never ever ever ever stopped since then... its the way of things in this industry

but you see, now the indies are circling back, so the cycle can begin again... into and then eventually back to

and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on

 

[jewboy]

In this thread we learn that Baldur's Gate - that shallow game that started the decline - was actually Old School, double capitals. Fuck yeah.

I never said it was, but it is clearly of a whole different generation from Dragon Age forward. I didn't even like Baldur's Gate I, but the style of play is just not comparable to Dragon Age or PoE which are clearly Modern with a capital M. Just like 4th Edition D&D is fundamentally different from the 2nd and 3rd editions.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

It all started with KoTOR - it showed the western devs that making a game with almost no encounter design, that focuses on cinematics and story without actually having good cinematic or story is the way to go. There is no RPG I've played that was less fun to me than the first KoTOR.

 

[Vault Dweller]

And here I thought the decline started with NWN.

Technically, the decline started when action games started selling more and more, leaving RPGs far behind. They were dead as a doornail when two unlikely heroes - Diablo which was originally TB dungeon crawler and BG which was originally RTwP strategy - saved the day and "revitalized the genre" by showing how to make games that sell (i.e. how to make games that appeal to an ever-widening audience).