Age of Decadence Reviews

[Lios]

++ Combat archetypes that make sense. Combat scenarios that have the rare privilage of sharing both realism and the epic feeling of accomplishment, and wishing their creators to die out of cancer.
++Writing. When an in-combat shout such as "I'm gonna fuck you up" is a powerful tool and not something to laugh about. Human beings talk like uman beings in a scenario of annihilation. Vultures and predators everywhere, and a chance to encourage a merchant proletariat bro, if memory serves.
++Balls. To force the player into a specific state of mind. Locking content for me is a plus always.
+Art(drawing not texhnology): To the point and fucking well done simultaneously, which is a bigger feat than "go full in dick and balls together haha" which plagues the majority of creativity in video games art.
+Teleporting. No bullshit when it's not needed, and side-quests you can miss if you don;t move your sweet ass a little around, abound.
+ Mechanics: see also "++Balls"
+ Miltiades. This is an already perfect archetype you can use for various IPs.

--Graphics is yellow and brown diarrhea.
-Camera is sometimes a far tougher enemy than ordu army.
--The CYOA components while dick-enhancing, have to be re-worked and pissed upon with more sadistic tendencies, as well as art-junkied like Pillars of Eternity but with the better art of AOD and some cool things extra you're supposed to conceive.
And some more but I forget now.
Great great game.

 

[Goral]

Age of Decadence has been included in the 10 best RPGs (besides Witcher 3) in the gaming section of the biggest Polish web portal:
http://gry.onet.pl/artykuly/10-najlepszych-gier-rpg/wbrlx7

It's the first slide too so quite a few people will learn about this game.

My bad translation looks like this:


Released in October last year the indie game of Iron Tower studios is by far the ugliest out of the whole list but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It's an amazing (piece of) RPG set in original world that combines the postapocalyptic atmosphere seen in Fallout with ancient Rome background. The player can take different roles and has to find himself in a world destroyed by magic, where gladiuses, a pike/spear and lorica segmentata are sold in the stalls among lost civilization's artifacts that combine advanced technology with powerful magic.
Age of Decadence offers several different plots because every character goes a different path that offers complex, multidimensional story and observes the events from different, unique perspectives. Add to this brilliantly written dialogues and exciting combat system based on rules introduced in Fallout, fitted to this games reality.

But you can trust me that in Polish it doesn't sound much better (ask Darth Roxor or JMR).

 

[Darth Roxor]

skyrim, mass effect 3, dragon age inquisition, truly a prestigious list to be included in

 

[Antigoon]

Err..so Torment is included as well?! And thats supposed to be an all-time list with the oldest game being new vegas?

 

[Goral]

The title says "What to play after Witcher 3? 10 best RPGs" so it's not exactly that. And clearly Age of Decadence is the odd one on that list but this kind of exposure is still good.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Has this been posted yet?
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/age-of-decadence#

I especially like how VD is helping educate our children on how the world is shit:

• Families can talk about mature content in games. How do things such as language, sexual content, drug use, and violence affect kids or desensitize them to objectionable content?
  
  
• Talk about choices and consequences. How can a decision made right now affect a person's life in the immediate and the distant future?

Looks like a regular weekend in countryside.

 

[Infinitron]

How'd it get one star for "positive role models"?

 

[HoboForEternity]

How'd it get one star for "positive role models"?

Militiades of course. every child born should aspire to become such law-abiding, successful, kind-hearted and honest citizen like Militiades.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

How'd it get one star for "positive role models"?

Militiades.

EDIT: Goddammit HoboForEternity

 

[Lurker King]

Looks like a regular weekend in countryside.

There is no sex in AoD.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Looks like a regular weekend in countryside.

There is no sex in AoD.

"Various characters are shown in revealing clothing."

- So it's a game like women's beachvolley then?

 

[HoboForEternity]

Arent female PC topless if you equip no armor?

 

[Lurker King]

The character models of the female NPCs look like asexual manikin trannies. Some of the artistic photos are good, though.

 

[Cadmus]

You know, I think the game got much better reviews than I had been expecting. Practically anything I read calls it an intelligent, brave and classic RPG.

 

[HoboForEternity]

You know, I think the game got much better reviews than I had been expecting. Practically anything I read calls it an intelligent, brave and classic RPG.

Or "whaaa waaa too hard! Mommy!"

But otherwise, some good players who review it give overall a decent impression, while pointing out the flaws too.

 

[Goral]

Someone at NeoGaf has provided a good advertisement to Age of Decadence: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=216557278

Even Vault Dweller responded. Of course there are also posts like these:

I like bethesda games specifically because of what you mentioned.

Really didn't like the game after I've tried to play it, even tho I technically love it. The problem I have with it, is that it screams "absolute freedom" and then pigeonholes you into specific specs to actually stand a chance in combat or be able to actually solve ANY QUEST without combat. It's just utterly disheartening, because otherwise it could have been a very great game.

Also, the combat is far too RNG reliant. I mean I created a 2h soldier with everything into combat and couldn't even fight off 2 random thugs or so in the desert city (from what I remember).

I edited it with an example. Even as absolute trained soldier you can't really fight very efficiently at all. That means I can't solve my quest via fights, so I NEED specific non-combat traits to be able to solve ANY QUEST, which I don't have or if I had, I would be even worse in combat. Even in the very first city you get locked out of like all quests due to that.

I remember something about a kidnapping and could neither talk or fight my way through it. I think you can pay them, but there is no chance in hell I have that much gold at that point.

So yeah, like I said, it's an illusion of freedom of how to play / create your character, but ultimately you are forced to take that 3 in talking (can't remember) or play a specific class to advance beyond that point etc

I think it boils down to combat being simply awfully balanced, which is even more enhanced due to the RNG nature of the combat system itself.

I tried a few times, no dice. Unless you play a pure talker, you are not going to have any fun with the game.

edit:
Yeah "dodge" is something you need, but that boils down to RNG again. I tried to make a 2h Halberd fighter and never could get it to work efficiently. I accepted that I can't take that bandit camp on alone, but when 2 or 3 random untrained thugs absolutely demolished me with no way of me ever winning unless RNG-Jesus smiles upon me later, I gave up and quit.

I played around with the thought of playing it again at some point, but with the recent surge of cRPGs I'm gonna hold off until I need to scratch my cRPG itch again with no other games in sight. Technically I like what the game does, it's just a bit unbalanced executed imo.

I hope we'll see another game / sequel that handles it a bit different. Will be on board to check it out.

 

[Severian Silk]

My AoD review:

"VD is a wanker."

 

[Kev Inkline]

My AoD review:

"VD is a wanker."

Your review may be hard to swallow, but at least you didn't go soft on him.

 

[Cadmus]

The fact is that the game requires such a change in the mentality of the average Skyrim larper that I can understand these fuckin retarded arguments like ITS TOO RNG FOR ME or THERES ONLY AN ILLUSION OF FREEDOM BECAUSE I GOT KILLED, but once you "get it", it all starts making sense because it's no rocket science.

Severian silk is a waste of oxygen.

 

[PlanHex]

I tried to make a 2h Halberd fighter and never could get it to work efficiently.

Should have put more points into the Halberd skill, duh.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Should have put more points into the Halberd skill, duh.

So basically he put EVERYTHING in spears and axes and no dodge/block? No wonder he failed.

 

[makiavelli747]

THERES ONLY AN ILLUSION OF FREEDOM BECAUSE I GOT KILLED

Fucking hell.

 

[PlanHex]

Should have put more points into the Halberd skill, duh.

So basically he put EVERYTHING in spears and axes and no dodge/block? No wonder he failed.

He says he put skills in dodge. It's probably a case of spreading the skill points too thin, then going straight from the vignette to the bandit camp and ending up like a pincushion.
Though if you guessed right and he actually put skill points in both axes and spears because he wanted to use halberds, that's pretty

 

[Goral]

One of the newest Steam reviews: http://steamcommunity.com/id/weregamer/recommended/230070/ (played 3.4 hours)

I wish I liked this game more than I do, because it tries so hard. But having played the first chapter through several times with different characters, I've found that while each had different details, each also felt too much the same, and I ended up with really no emotional incentive to continue into the next chapter with any of them.

I think the thing that bugs me most is that there's just not enough built-in story to carry the weak mechanics, and not enough player leeway to give the feeling of an emergent story; in the end, I'm doing boring things in order to expose the ho-hum single conversation that will advance the unengaging story.

It's as linear as a JRPG, without the depth of writing *or* the interesting combat mechanics that make those satisfying. It's as story-light as a tactical RPG, without the multiple tactical options that make those interesting.

Honestly, I think the developers would have been much better off using RPGmaker or another such tool that would provide all the basic mechanics and engine for them, so they could really work on their story and flavor. But instead all their energy has been soaked up getting mediocre mechanics and production values onto the screen, with nothing left to make it shine.

Spoiler

Actually I'm sure someone is trolling

 

[Baron Dupek]

Not trolling, just average steamtard being average