AoD dex' reviews

[Perkel]

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Age of Decadence is hands down one of the best RPGs i have ever played. Is it perfect ? No, there are a lot of things that could be better and so on. But all those things are insignificant to what Age of Decadence does.
I knew Age of Decadence probably will be good RPG, i omitted early access because i didn't want to destroy my fun playing unfinished game. What surprised me was that Age of Decadence simply took my expectations and run away with them.

So to start. I think Age of Decadence is imo game that should be classified with Mask of the Betrayer and Planescape: Torment. After finishing it, feeling i got is essentially like those games. Here story is main focus. Difference though is that in both Planescape and MotB there was central story you followed but in AoD there isn't one. AoD gives something much more important. True Role-Playing. Game doesn't pigeon hole you to one story you should follow. Game instead gives you every tool you can wield to shape your character and your future. Unlike Planescape and MotB game doesn't give you fake "discoveries" to make. In those games almost everything is set for you to uncover it. In AoD literally everything is for you to explore and to know and game doesn't set you on linear journey in which you will see most of the things. You can learn of secrets, rumors, events and so on and only you can verify them. Every-time you delve into some event you have this feeling that what you did is not the end and there is something more under it. This sense of unknown is what both PST and MotB didn't have and why AoD is just so awesome in that aspect.

Unlike most of RPGs AoD delivers trully RPG aka Role Playing game. AoD campaign outshines even PnP RPGs in amout of options you can choose and play. Even if you would have best game master i bet 100$ he wouldn't be able to accommodate to so many options game gives. More that that we are not talking here about just C&C, we are talking here about THE C&C. There is like shit ton of choices in in AoD that completely changes things and world in game. My only minor complain is that almost all C&C don't have hidden consequences that can bite you in ass later in game (from my play trough though), usually if you have to choose something outcomes are usually short lasting and predictable.

I absolutely love how game handles events. When you do something you usually are taken to scene of event instead of trekking whole city to it. This disallows preparing for combat events and you usually start in place designer wanted not where you wanted it.

Story itself is fascinating. I really really really liked it. Which is achievement itself when you consider just how different one playthrough can be. I don't want to spoil anything but my character was combat oriented and story by end of it really really got interesting despite fact that i played basically murder machine with head count something above 60. Ending i got felt just right to what i did in game. It wasn't grand or amazing. It just fit my character well.

This is the benchmark all role playing games will be compared to from now on.

I really wish game had 2D background. Listening to this small but amazing OST really sets the tone and i feel 2D handpainted backgrounds would really really make game a lot better.

I played in my playtrough as combat oriented character (literally 10ns in almost all physical skills) and i can safely say combat is really really really amazing. It is not the complexity of it but scenarios in which you fight that makes it. Always outnumbered, always trying to scrape barrel for that one right slash. It really gives you options to handle differently events in game. I often had to replay and change my tactics because something that worked for X didn't work for Y. You may not believe it but i think this gme has the most balanced combat model ever and despite that it is still fun and allows for bad rolls.

Game is short but i think being short is big plus here. I finished my playtrough in ~15 hours but that time may wary probably on build you use and choices you make. Ending i got (which i wanted) was really easy to do and there were other things to do, to get different ending which could extend game. Either way game main focus is replay-ability, if game would be something like 50 hours you wouldn't replay it a lot and game literally gives you every now and then huge C&C that can completely change focus of your story. So most fun from game is those replays, to see things unfolding differently or from different points of view.

When i finished The Witcher 3 this year i thought RPG of the year was already set. I think now it is safe to say that AoD is easily the best RPG of the year. It is the benchmark we will be using for years or decades and i really really really want to see AoD2 or just continuation of that world or lore. When i was trying to get into game i thought that roman empire theme would hurt game but in the end i think the fit perfectly to that world and lore.

Sure there are things i didn't like but those problems are simply to insignificant to matter. I think 5h more would make this game legendary +5 instead of +4.

In other words Bravo ITS bravo. This is the rpg benchmark it is fucking amazing it exists. I hope ITS will make AoD2

 

[Elhoim]

 

[Goral]

Perkel
Post it on metacritic, Steam and GOG please, we need more such good and comprehensive reviews (most are 2-3 sentences long).

 

[Perkel]

Perkel
Post it on metacritic, Steam and GOG please, we need more such good and comprehensive reviews (most are 2-3 sentences long).

added

I think true achievement of game is complete freedom which rivals best PnP game masters work. Here almost every situation can be completed differently.

Spoiler thread will be amazing to read. I mean most of that thread will be like talking to completely strange people where they had different start, events and endings.

 

[Perkel]

Did second play-trough today. This time loremaster/charlatan. Holy fuck almost whole game was different. Sure there were things in common but overall path was completely different.

I think this time i will go for mixed loremaster/combat guy. Maybe thief ? or Assasin ?

 

[Goral]

I've had the most fun as assassin, loremaster, mercenary and praetor (in that order). Assassin's main quest is epic (the events at the end of your stay in Teron are just mindblowing, one of my favourite moments in any game) and Neleos is along with Militiades my favourite character. I can't seem to find him though and IIRC Vince said that he would appear later. Maybe that has changed.

 

[AwesomeButton]

A shorter version (thankfully) of my longer AoD review, posted on Metacritic:
It's also on Steam.

Age of Decadence, by Iron Tower Studios is an RPG which sets the standard against which RPG connoisseurs will measure future role-playing games for years to come.

The game has a number of features which set it apart from most RPG releases in recent years. To name a few such traits, I must refer to the realistic attitudes, motivations and interactions shown by its character cast and in its worldbuilding, the turn-based combat system with a heavy emphasis on tactics, which yet remains surprisingly intuitive, or to the mind-boggling variety of outcomes of its main story and secondary quests. AoD is truly an exceptional occurrence in the recent history of role-playing games.

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic antiquity, depicting a world not all that different from how people of the Roman Empire probably used to perceive it in the days of the great Barbarian Invasions of IV-VI centuries. The setting is not strictly historical though, so expect partial "contaminations" and amalgamations of Roman era with Ancient Middle East and fantasy themes adapted to those two ingredients of the setting.

Whereas other games ask for fast reflexes or perseverance in mouse button clicking, good old-fashioned common sense will be the main requirement that AoD poses of you as a player. This may seem like it goes without mention, but really, in this game "think before you act" is your guiding principle, along with "save your game often". Whether it's about an ingame decision - like fighting a group of six armed-to-the-teeth thugs - or about your long term strategy in character-building - like spreading his character's skillpoints too thin over too many unrelated skills, being realistic about your character's capabilities is what will keep you alive. Putting yourself in your character's shoes, circumventing his limitations instead of playing superman - isn't this what role-playing is fundamentally about?

With realism being a chief design principle, building your character should be done with thought as to which skills will complement each other best. The two ends of the continuum are a pure fighter or a pure diplomat, but a player would rarely settle with a character concentrated solely on combat or on talking. In the majority of cases, your character will end up somewhere in between.

There is a lot of depth to AoD's combat, with weapons split into groups where increasing your skill with one weapon in a group provides synergic effect to your skill with other weapons of the same group. To add to that, the same weapons can execute different types of strikes, or be used to strike at different body parts, with varying action point cost and to-hit chance. The end result is that switching from one weapon to another, or from a single weapon to weapon and shield, coupled with changes to the types of strikes you will preform with that weapon, can dramatically alter the course of combat, without any changes to your skill levels with the given weapon.

Age of Decadence is unlike any other RPG you've played in that it will play out differently every time you replay it, depending on your character's background and skills distribution. The developers at Iron Tower Studios have spent a stupefying 10 years in mostly filling up the game with branches of the main and secondary quests, and with branches of the branches. Reactivity in an RPG can never be too much, and in AoD it reaches a point where the world begins to feel more real and alive than you are used to, especially if you have an affinity for its down-to-earth hardboiled novel-like writing style.

Age of Decadence is an RPG done right. The game combines great writing and storytelling with branching storylines more complex than anything you've seen in a computer game. It boasts a perfectly balanced turn-based combat system and deep classless skills-based character creation and development system. What makes the game stand out among the titles of recent years (and decades) is how the quality exectuion of its systems results in you playing an RPG in the way it's meant to be played - looking at the world through the eyes of your character, walking the dusty streets in your character's own sandals.

I can say without a doubt - AoD is a classic that just got released. I urge you to buy it and play it now, so that by the time the mainstream becomes alert and also proclaims it a classic, you will be ready to boast about how many times you finished it "before it was cool". And since the game is indie,it has the added benefit of being relatively cheap, so for the price of a triple-A game, you can buy two copies of AoD and gift one to a friend, who would later thank you for showing him the game.

With all this said, really, what could be better...? I'd say Age of Decadence II, hopefully.

The complete thing:

Spoiler

Introduction
Age of Decadence, by Iron Tower Studios is an RPG which sets the standard against which RPG connoisseurs will measure future role-playing games for years to come.

The game has a number of features which set it apart from most RPG releases in recent years. To name a few such traits, I must refer to the realistic attitudes, motivations and interactions shown by its character cast and in its worldbuilding, the turn-based combat system with a heavy emphasis on tactics, which yet remains surprisingly intuitive, or to the mind-boggling variety of outcomes of its main story and secondary quests. AoD is truly an exceptional occurrence in the recent history of role-playing games.

The game confidently brushes aside what have become "RPG tropes" in recent years - the linear progressing central storyline, the obligatory combat and "trash combat", the player character's being the center of events and his actions - the sole engine progressing the plot, putting the player in the banal role of "the chosen one". If you've heard of AoD, chances are you've played such games before and AoD will give you a much needed break from the cliches.

Compared to the tapestry of samey games designed with the mindset of "getting all the checkmarks for an RPG", and in the end, with very few exceptions, "succeeding" to feel like a shit B-rated movie, Age of Decadence seems like a guest from a different time and place. In AoD's reality the amputation of player choice as a design principle and the equalization of "traditional" with "boring" are things that never came to pass.

AoD does follow traditions in RPG making, but those are the traditions of providing the player with freedom to write the story of the game through his or her actions. The game rewards the player for thinking through the eyes of their character, and eventually punishes him for straying away from common sense. "Common sense" - remember that expression, because we will refer to it again.

Setting and backdrop
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic antiquity, depicting a world not all that different from how people of the Roman Empire probably used to percieve it in the days of the great Barbarian Invasions of IV-VI centuries. The setting is not strictly historical though, so expect partial "contaminations" and amalgamations of Roman era with Ancient Middle East and fantasy themes adapted to those two ingredients of the setting.

Fantasy elements themselves though are strictly low-key. The game takes a slightly ironic approach to the cliche perception of the main protagonist as a hero of superhuman abilities and power. On the contrary, as you navigate through the ruins of the Roman Empire, devastated by the most terrible war in memory, it's a realistic outlook and understanding of your own character's human limitations that will serve you best.

Unroot the RPG cliches from your mind before starting AoD
This is a design principle which is rarely, if ever, seen in RPGs. The game offers an innumerable amount of paths towards a goal, but the player's task is mainly to find the path which suits his character (a process also known as "roleplaying"), rather than choose the path he finds to be the coolest or most heroic. And I grant you that strictly "heroic" paths are the exception in this game.

It's not a game about heroes saving the world, but about a guy or girl, shaped by his or her life to have just a few real talents and many imperfections, who has been caught in the middle of something far bigger than him or her, and maybe getting a chance to affect the great scheme of things.

What follows from this principle is that whereas other games ask for fast reflexes or perseverance in mouse button clicking, good old-fashioned common sense will be the main requirement that AoD poses of you as a player. This may seem like it goes without mention, but really, in this game "think before you act" is your guiding principle, along with "save your game often". Whether it's about an ingame decision - like fighting a group of six armed-to-the-teeth thugs - or about your long term strategy in character-building - like spreading his character's skillpoints too thin over too many unrelated skills, being realistic about your character's capabilities is what will get you the most fun out of the game. Putting yourself in your character's shoes, circumventing his limitations instead of playing superman - isn't this what role-playing is fundamentally about?

Building your character
Age of Decadence doesn't feature XP, character classes or character levels. The most prized reward for the player are the skill points which go directly into improving your character's skills, and this is the character's means of progression, apart from upgrading his outfit and gear.

Knowing that realism and the application of common sense are chief design principles, it suggests itself that building your character should be done with thought to which skills will complement each other best. The two ends of the continuum are a pure fighter or a pure diplomat, but a player would rarely settle with a character concentrated solely on combat or on talking. In the majority of cases, your character will end up somewhere in between.

The challenge comes from striving to create a balanced character without spilling your precious skill points over too many unrelated skills, which would prevent you to both pass skill checks, which are the main means of progressing the story without (directly) resorting to violence, or defeat your enemies in combat.

That's for the challenge, and the fun comes from picking the best skills (combat and non-combat) to go with your character's background. The background is your character's biography which determines the way the main quest will start for you. This is where the aforementioned common sense comes into play. If during character creation there is no little voice in your ear which tells you that etiquette will probably not be a good complement for the fighting skills of a mercenary, I'm afraid this game is not the best choice for you. If on the other hand, your intuition tells you that a mercenary with "streetwise" skills sounds plausible, you've come to the right place.

On Combat
Combat in a computer game can be on the easier or more difficult side, but also boring or nail-biting, balanced or unfair. In AoD, combat is a minigame in itself, which is more or less reserved for characters built with combat in mind. There is a lot of depth to AoD's combat, with weapons split into groups where increasing your skill with one weapon in a group provides synergic effect to your skill with other weapons of the same group. To add to that, the same weapons can execute different types of strikes, or be used to strike at different body parts, with varying action point cost and to-hit chance. The end result is that switching from one weapon to another, or from a single weapon to weapon and shield, coupled with changes to the types of strikes you will preform with that weapon, can dramatically alter the course of combat, without any changes to your skill levels with the given weapon.

Even for those proficient in combat skills, combat isn't for the feint of heart. Combat encounters have been carefully balanced around an expected amount of skill at the given moment in the game, so defeating more than one enemy, even with a player character proficient in combat, can take a couple of game loads and experimentation with different weapons and tactics. Fortunately, the formulas for your attack and defence scores is clearly provided when you hover over said scores in the character screen, and your to-hit chance, as well as other info on your enemy, is shown when you hover over an enemy character.

Where the game truly shines
Age of Decadence is unlike any, or almost any, other RPG you've played in that it will play out differently every time you replay it, depending on your character's background and skills distribution. The developers of Iron Tower Studios have spent a stupefying 10 years in mostly filling up the game with branches of the main and secondary quests, and with branches of the branches. Reactivity in an RPG can never be too much, and in AoD it reaches a point where the world begins to feel more real and alive than the graphics' detail and superficial linearity of gameplay would have you expect, especially if you have an affinity for its down-to-earth hardboiled novel-like writing style.

It occurs to me that what seems like a contradiction at first glance is actually an instructive example that serves both players and game developers. Besides being a superb role-playing game, AoD is also a lesson to those who would take notice of it - a game world that feels real and achieves suspension of disbelief is conjured far more effectively through good writing and lots of reactivity than it is with the latest iteration of the Frostbite graphics engine.

Minor grudges
There are two main things I regret about AoD. Both of them stem from the fact that the game is an independent title developed by a small team over a period of 10 years. The first issue I have is with the graphics being 3D. This has been done in order to reduce costs - 3D is cheaper than 2D nowadays. And with the game's development having started so long ago, it's more than probable that the graphics look dated by contemporary standards. Thanks to the flawless execution in the actual RPG aspects of the game though, the graphics being less than top-notch can never affect the fun you'll have playing the game. I diverge from the grudges and switch back to superlatives, but it's a most curious thing to observe how a game that on the surface is comparatively weak on the production values' side comes to create such a realistic world through its storytelling and language.

The second aspect of AoD where I see room for improvement is simply the amount of side-content. Not that what's present in the game isn't enough to set the atmosphere, quite the contrary. I do understand Iron Tower Studios' commitment to quality over quantity and the constraints they have been working on, but I was so much invested in AoD's rendition of late Antiquity that I found myself wishing for more side-quests and more bits of world lore to be available even for players who don't specialize in lore and history (which is one of the character backgrounds you can choose during character creation).

Additionally, I'd have wished for the conversation interface's black background to have occupied less screen space, and more varied icons for item material types, but these are really minor things and the only ones that come to ming.

Conclusion
Age of Decadence is an RPG done right. The game combines great writing and storytelling with branching storylines more complex than anything you've seen in a computer game. It boasts a perfectly balanced turn-based combat system and deep classless skills-based character creation and development system. What makes the game stand out among the titles of recent years (and decades) is how the quality exectuion of its systems results in you playing an RPG in the way it's meant to be played - looking at the world through the eyes of your character, walking the dusty streets in your character's own sandals.

I can say without a doubt - AoD is a classic that just got released. I urge you to buy it and play it now, so that by the time the mainstream becomes alert and also proclaims it a classic, you will be ready to boast about how many times you finished it "before it was cool". And since the game is indie, it has the added benefit of being relatively cheap, so for the price of a triple-A game, you can buy two copies of AoD and gift one to a friend, who would later thank you for showing him the game.

With all this said, really, what could be better...? I'd say Age of Decadence II, hopefully.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Thank you.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

What I've seen so far already ranks in one of best RPGs ever made.

Now, considering I still have Madoraan and Ganzaawhatever to do with 5 or 6 different factions, AoD might end up knocking Fallout 2 and PS:T of their fucking thrones.

I doubt it will, but just the fact that I'm cnsidering that possiblity...

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Assassin's main quest is epic (the events at the end of your stay in Teron are just mindblowing, one of my favourite moments in any game)

boatmen 4 lyfe

 

[Urbanolo]

Goddamn is this game good. I don't think the combat is as hard as it was advertised though (playing dodge/sword assassin with full combat stats and no con), the only really hard fight so far was in the second city in the slums with the band that wants 1000g for letting you pass.

Arena was even a tad bit too easy.

 

[Nar-Speth]

I think this time i will go for mixed loremaster/combat guy. Maybe thief ? or Assasin ?

Go with mixed thief, it's pretty good, heavy "adapt or die" style.

 

[Anthedon]

Kept mine short, I have a feeling people only tolerate Steam reviews a few sentences long.

Age of Decadence has you wandering the decaying remnants of a once vast and powerful empire heavily influenced by the Roman one. Various factions are squatting in the ruins, vying for supremacy. Those the player can join (and betray). Your choices do very much matter in this RPG. The unique setting alone makes AoD worth a look.

You can make your way through the game never lifting a weapon. Instead exploring ancient structures, deciphering old lore and using your charisma and wits to avoid fights. Or you can don lamellar armor, pick up a Gladius and stab your way to victory (or more likely, defeat).

There's not a lot of handholding going on here, contrary to what one expects from an RPG in this decadent age.

 

[Daedalos]

Is this an accurate review?

 

[Mozg]

I think comparing the Commercium vs. Thief "skill check routes" is useful, because Commercium is pleasant and entertaining while Thief is incredibly annoying. Thief feels like it is full of brick walls and unpredictable checks, and CYOA sections where you have to make like 5 random checks in a row or reload and do it from the start. In Commercium you reliably get through stuff with streetwise, persuasion, trade, and your charisma, with understandable/predictable interludes where you want Etiquette (dealing with nobles). I think I got through Maadoran entirely without reloading and doing a check over just by pumping the core Commercium skills (and that was on a character with 10 int and crappy charisma, so I had to avoid/eat the consequences of failed charisma checks).

Also why the fuck in that Thieves' Guild quest at the end of Teron does your ambush party have like 2 fucking crossbow bolts a piece. Bring 20 fucking bolts you stupid assholes your turdmetal daggers can't get through iron breastplates. Arghh I recommend not playing the TG line bros. For sure don't play it first

 

[Carrion]

Is this an accurate review?

For the most part, yeah. I don't fully agree on all of his points, but it's a fair review that gives you a pretty good picture of both the good and the bad sides of the game.

 

[Elhoim]

Also why the fuck in that Thieves' Guild quest at the end of Teron does your ambush party have like 2 fucking crossbow bolts a piece. Bring 20 fucking bolts you stupid assholes your turdmetal daggers can't get through iron breastplates. Arghh I recommend not playing the TG line bros. For sure don't play it first

They have around 20-25, but they should have a bit more. Will fix now, thanks!

 

[Mozg]

They have around 20-25, but they should have a bit more. Will fix now, thanks!

I don't know why they stop shooting and start trying to melee - I guess I was only assuming it was ammo. I had a plan to keep the mercenaries back from my crossbow allies with fire vials but the allies just refuse to keep using their weapons that aren't useless in that fight and pull out their 0 damage daggers.

 

[Elhoim]

TG2 or TG3? Because in TG2 (the cart ambush) they had only 4 arrows, but it was fixed in the update.

 

[Mozg]

Ah, yeah, the cart ambush not the mob. I haven't logged into steam for that patch to go through I think. Great, if that's fixed you have several fire potions between the guild seller/the guy outside the inn/what you can make with the oil from the smelter site.

 

[Perkel]

Is this an accurate review?

More or less though i disagree with:

- combat is lacking in sense that you shouldn't use aimed attacks etc. IMO you need to use aimed attacks. Especially legs. If you have something like feint then also it is critical to use it.
- skill checks can fuck you up. Yes they can IF you spend points everytime you earn them. Smart people only use point when you need them. I often walked with 60-100 points and only used them when i needed them most.

 

[Drowed]

Is this an accurate review?

I think it's spot on. I would say some things differently, or add one or another detail - but overall it's a very accurate description of the game.

 

[Eyestabber]

Is this an accurate review?

From the comments:

Scott Ferguson 5 dias atrás
"I'm playing Pillars of Eternity and its probably 200x better than this"

 

[Wolfe]

Absolutely loving the game so far, 16 hours in, mercenary and joined the Imperial Guards. I think the best part of it all is the freedom you're given, you aren't tied to a clicheic main objective but are free to just .. live as you want to, depending on your background and the choices you make. It reminds me of the first two Fallout, but taken to a new level of freedom and roleplaying possibilities. Beside the beautiful writing, the fact that the game is set in a fresh and unexplored setting is a big plus. The combat is brutal and keeps getting more difficult, but so far I've managed to get past all the situations where I thought I'd be stuck through better tactics and maybe some luck. Can't wait for the second playthrough, haven't decided yet between Loremaster or Merchant.

Bravo Iron Tower Studio, most likely RPG of the year.

 

[Lemming42]

Having just completed my third playthrough, I think this is one of very few games that actually gets gradually better and better with each replay. The range of options is staggering, along with the way you can lock yourself out of entire questlines and areas.

If we ever re-do the RPGCodex Top 70, AoD could put up a seriously good fight for a place in the top 20 at the least.