Age of Decadence Reviews

[Baron Dupek]

Edit: My favorite negative review was from the guy who had over 140 hrs played and said "This game gets boring pretty fast".

Can't beat the one, where some steamtard clocked 10x more than this (around 1770h?) and wrote "It's ok".
EDIT; I mean - different game.

 

[t]

What I'm saying is don't treat people like idiots just because they like to play various games, RPGs and walking simulators alike. Of course do treat people like idiots if they write stupid-ass shit in their reviews.

 

[anus_pounder]

Yes it is.

Actually checked it right now. Vince has clocked in 110 hours of Skyrim. Does this make him an idiot?

Hes a member of the rpgcodex (as are you and I), what do you think?

Yes it does

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

Gamespot says the game cones out on 31 December 2015 and no review.

Trimis de pe al meu Galaxy Nexus folosind Tapatalk

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.gamespot.com/age-of-decadence/

Vault Dweller

 

[Vault Dweller]

Gamespot gonna Gamespot?

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

Voted on Metacritic and also on Indie game awards. Ashamed I still don't own the game but I will buy it in the near future. Excellent game! "In a world were Fallout 4 has dumped down all of the RPG elements and Dragon Age also is no longer interesting ,Age of Decadence reminds you that gaming needs to be hard to be great and shows what CRPGS are all about : choices and consequences."
I also can't believe that it's finally here after so many years. Congrats!

 

[Goral]

Another positive review (from Slovakia this time): http://www.sector.sk/recenzia/30869/the-age-of-decadence.htm

The only negative things they mention are old graphics, "abundance of text might be deterring" and "few technical problems". All in all the reviewer is highly impressed and calls it a Fallout in another setting. He also says that Age of Decadence is a beautiful interactive book that requires from the player a lot of attention and proper decision-making. But the feeling when you manage to steer the story in the right direction or beat opponents is priceless.

It makes me sad that Slovakia and Czech Republic sites and magazines have so many reviews compared to Poland (and we have over 2 times bigger population than both of these beautiful countries combined).

Florian Gheorghe
Voting isn't enough, you should also write a positive review on Steam, GOG and Metacritic.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

Another positive review (from Slovakia this time): http://www.sector.sk/recenzia/30869/the-age-of-decadence.htm

The only negative things they mention are old graphics, "abundance of text might be deterring" and "few technical problems". All in all the reviewer is highly impressed and calls it a Fallout in another setting. He also says that Age of Decadence is a beautiful interactive book that requires from the player a lot of attention and proper decision-making. But the feeling when you manage to steer the story in the right direction or beat opponents is priceless.

It makes me sad that Slovakia and Czech Republic sites and magazines have so many reviews compared to Poland (and we have over 2 times bigger population than both of these beautiful countries combined).

Florian Gheorghe
Voting isn't enough, you should also write a positive review on Steam, GOG and Metacritic.

I already reviewed on metacritic but on Steam I first need to buy the game to actually review it.

Trimis de pe al meu Galaxy Nexus folosind Tapatalk

 

[Lexxx20]

I don't know if these opinions matter at all since Codex despises Reddit, but still... Here's End of Year discussion of AoD on Reddit with plenty of negative reviews.

 

[Ninjerk]

Mostly more of the same. Is it any wonder the guy with a Bioware reference in his name cannot into game mechanics (and praises Pillars for that matter)? I think the next time I go to the casino I'm going to ask for my money back at the Hold 'Em table. Do they really expect me to understand the game before I start putting money down on it?

 

[Cadmus]

I don't know if these opinions matter at all since Codex despises Reddit, but still... Here's End of Year discussion of AoD on Reddit with plenty of negative reviews.

Meh, those are some kids who try to put their personal (shitty) taste in words that sound like objective criticism. The discussion is horrible.

Whatever, fuck them. I'm waiting for the final update for the next replay.

 

[Infinitron]

VD is posting in that discussion: https://www.reddit.com/user/IronTowerStudio

That's always been the case with skill-based systems. Pillars is a class-based game where you choose one of the carefully balanced classes, then level up to become stronger.

AoD offers you 6 stats and 23 skills, inviting you to create a combination that suits your style and knowledge. There are no right builds as there is a fairly large variety of viable combinations, but you can't expect any random combination of stats and skills to work.

To be fair, the main issue with the game is that it's balanced for specialists, making the hybrids (fighter/talker, etc) the hardest class to play, requiring the most knowledge and experience. Since most people go for the hybrids first, they die horribly and form a very negative opinion of the game.

That's more frankly worded than I expected.

Also, the BioWare name guy is a former Codexer.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Well, that was the main complaint even here. The game is balanced in a way that goes against every instinct 99% of RPG players have, when creating new character, in a game they're playing for the first time.

I don't think VD fully appreciated just how much of an effect it will have. It should have been telegraphed to the players in plain language when people first start the game. "Hybrids are bad. Specialize".

Instead they went for the "rarara this game is hard" message. Which every gamer will obviously completely ignore, because everybody things they're amazing at games, especially the people who are actually shit.

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Also, the BioWare name guy is a former Codexer.

NotCaseyHudson?
Should give him a chance for redemption or BLAM! because I feel the Decline is claiming him already.
No such thing as a former Codexer. There's only Codexer or Traitor.

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, okay, that guy is dumb. In response to somebody telling him his comparison is absurd and that AoD if anything should be compared to RPGs like Fallout or Arcanum - "Yeah, okay, maybe it's more like Neverwinter Nights."

 

[makiavelli747]

The game is balanced in a way that goes against every instinct 99% of RPG players have, when creating new character, in a game they're playing for the first time.

i don't believe this, in any rpg you have to specialize, even in Bethesdas oblivion/skyrim you need to specialize to grow faster than opponents. PoE style games are no deferent, they just holding players hand by not allowing to make lame builds.
those people are whining because they lost, and nobody told them that they can actually lose in AoD. if skill checks difficulty was for example at bloodlines level, then nobody would complain.
so its basically the same old story - people like to win, if you don't allow them to feel good about themselves, then the game wouldn't sale

 

[Irenaeus II]

Yeah, I like that AoD makes people who identify as "good gamers" question their entire existence. I gift it to as many people as I can for that purpose.

 

[Ninjerk]

Blinking away tears, NotCaseyHudson screams, "I AM good at video games, god dammit!"

 

[Lexxx20]

VD is posting in that discussion: https://www.reddit.com/user/IronTowerStudio

That's always been the case with skill-based systems. Pillars is a class-based game where you choose one of the carefully balanced classes, then level up to become stronger.

AoD offers you 6 stats and 23 skills, inviting you to create a combination that suits your style and knowledge. There are no right builds as there is a fairly large variety of viable combinations, but you can't expect any random combination of stats and skills to work.

To be fair, the main issue with the game is that it's balanced for specialists, making the hybrids (fighter/talker, etc) the hardest class to play, requiring the most knowledge and experience. Since most people go for the hybrids first, they die horribly and form a very negative opinion of the game.

That's more frankly worded than I expected.

Yep, that's vey well put. Totally describes my first play through as a hybrid build.

 

[Cadmus]

Well, that was the main complaint even here. The game is balanced in a way that goes against every instinct 99% of RPG players have, when creating new character, in a game they're playing for the first time.

I don't think VD fully appreciated just how much of an effect it will have. It should have been telegraphed to the players in plain language when people first start the game. "Hybrids are bad. Specialize".

Instead they went for the "rarara this game is hard" message. Which every gamer will obviously completely ignore, because everybody things they're amazing at games, especially the people who are actually shit.

Bullshit, nigger. Fuck everyone and everything who puts the game down "because it's hard omg I can't be a dragon" who gives a shit about these fucktards. The reddit thread is a good example of illiterate cocksuckers who won't ever appreciate the game even if it says in big red letters DON'T PLAY LIKE A FUCKING RETARD. They'd go and make a 6 speech/6 traps/ 6 block and uninstall the game after the first failed combat. They would complain they have no option to ROLEPLAY like in Skyrim.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

. They'd go and make a 6 speech/6 traps/ 6 block .

Nigga please. As if we all didn't do exact same thing when we first started and died 15 times in the process in the first fight.

 

[Mozg]

I put all my points in an attack skill and a defense skill because it is a linear attack-defense roll game and thats what u do. First character won... sort of. He finished.

I wish that the checks had been telegraphed extremely hard by the skill descriptions. If the skill level blurb for Lore 5 had been, say, "You fully understand the basics of using most professional machines and quotidian concepts from the old empire. You're still nowhere near the understanding of an old empire master, though." instead of whatever lolz joke the skill level blurb actually was, and then Iron Tower actually referred to that description when deciding on skill check levels very rigorously, I think that would go a long way to making skill checks full-bore good instead of an ehhhhhh compromise when you can't cover stuff with real gameplay. Every effort should be made to make you feel what a skill level means before you ask people to decide about doing checks with it.

 

[Infinitron]

I put all my points in an attack skill and a defense skill because it is a linear attack-defense roll game and thats what u do. First character won... sort of. He finished.

I wish that the checks had been telegraphed extremely hard by the skill descriptions. If the skill level blurb for Lore 5 had been, say, "You fully understand the basics of using most professional machines and quotidian concepts from the old empire. You're still nowhere near the understanding of an old empire master, though." instead of whatever lolz joke the skill level blurb actually was, and then Iron Tower actually referred to that description when deciding on skill check levels very rigorously, I think that would go a long way to making skill checks full-bore good instead of an ehhhhhh compromise when you can't cover stuff with real gameplay.

That reminds me - here's an old post about this topic, worth recalling now perhaps:

Skillchecks should be more predictable. Maybe skills should be associated with specific groups of NPC? Like:
Streetwise - thugs, beggars and other lowlife scum
Etiquette - nobles and wannabees
Persuade - common people and all those who doesn't fall in any category
Intimidate - everybody, but it should be supported by something like bodycount, good gear or reputation so you can't intimidate someone into shitting his pants only with the power of your majestic personality
So if someone send you to deal with the bandits you'll know that you need streetwise and your fancy etiquette will only get you horribly raped. Then you gather some info on these bandits and find out that their leader is not a stupid brute but an intelligent ex-noble. And because of this "ex" he hates etiquette even more, but can be reasoned with by logical persuasion. You have a choice: persuade him or use streetwise skill on his thugs.
With info gathering part dialogues really can be puzzle-like. Also to support this model player should be allowed to use every fucking skill on every fucking NPC. Wrong skills always fail (maybe with some exceptions).

 

[Vault Dweller]

I don't really like this approach. Remember that Harvard professor who failed his Streetwise check and fell for a Nigerian 'help us transfer millions of dollars to your account' scam? In real life all these checks can be used in a single conversation with any person. Anyone can be conned, anyone can be convinced (persuasion), intimidated, etc.