Wilco
Self-Ejected
A balance patch, addition of perks or engine change won't fix this game, sorry bros. It's fundamentally flawed. The game needs to be essentially redesigned - the character system, combat AI, loot system, dialogue system and repetitive music all need to be changed or redesigned.
Character System needs the most fixing:
-Attributes that are mostly useless and don't affect/barely affect skills is the the biggest flaw in the character system (and the game) at the moment - you can have a brawler with 10 INT and 2 STR that still does tons of damage. Needs to be changed so that attributes play a larger role in game play and also affect skill progression and effectiveness.
-Another big problem is useless attribute point gain e.g. you gain nothing by having attribute points in INT between 4-8 (in other words, there is no benefit to going from 4 INT to 5 INT during character creation or level up). Every attribute point needs to count for something and should improve your character in some way.
-Make all general skills and weapon skills useful in some way. Every weapon group should have it's advantages and disadvantages. Right now, you only really need assault rifles and brawling and you will beat the game. Likewise, certain skills are pretty useless and/or don't need to be leveled beyond a certain point e.g. mechanical repair, surgeon or field medic past a certain level (I think it was 8 points), hard ass not as useful as other ass skills.
Combat AI:
-AI enemies need to do more than run at you and attack you. Have them beg for mercy or run away when they can see that they are losing. Have them try to flank you or get to higher ground when they can. Currently, there is no challenge or strategy when fighting most AI opponents. For such a combat heavy RPG, you'd think the combat AI would be a priority, this needs to be changed.
Loot System:
-Fucking random loot drops bros! Where is the reward in finding a special item after unlocking a hard safe protected by a swarm of Raiders? I would even say lower the amount of crates/safes etc... In a post apocalyptic world, wouldn't it make sense that people would scavenge for anything they can? meaning most safes/crates would be empty or non existent.
Dialogue system:
-Currently just clicking buttons that leads to swarms of text. Moreover, you can't ask the same questions that you did before. Your rangers lack character for the most part. This may have been the standard in the old-skool pre 90s rpg days - but is kind of archaic in light of the dialogue system of the Fallout and IE games.
Music:
Mark Morgan is excellent and the tracks in the game are excellent, but there isn't enough variety to cover the scope of the game. The music plays a big part in making the areas in the game feel unique and adds to their atmosphere. It's very disappointing to reach a new area and have the same droning music play from the last area you were in. You don't get that feeling of being in a unique area e.g. Brotherhood of Steel theme suggested that they were technophiles, the Glow theme made the area feel like it was a creepy, dilapidated hole full of radiation.
Actually, after listing these faults, I can see that the game won't be fixed no matter how much Inxile patches it. At best, it will remain a good attempt at evoking some of the old school RPG nostalgia that we miss from the 80s and 90s. At worst, it would be considered an average to poor RPG.
Character System needs the most fixing:
-Attributes that are mostly useless and don't affect/barely affect skills is the the biggest flaw in the character system (and the game) at the moment - you can have a brawler with 10 INT and 2 STR that still does tons of damage. Needs to be changed so that attributes play a larger role in game play and also affect skill progression and effectiveness.
-Another big problem is useless attribute point gain e.g. you gain nothing by having attribute points in INT between 4-8 (in other words, there is no benefit to going from 4 INT to 5 INT during character creation or level up). Every attribute point needs to count for something and should improve your character in some way.
-Make all general skills and weapon skills useful in some way. Every weapon group should have it's advantages and disadvantages. Right now, you only really need assault rifles and brawling and you will beat the game. Likewise, certain skills are pretty useless and/or don't need to be leveled beyond a certain point e.g. mechanical repair, surgeon or field medic past a certain level (I think it was 8 points), hard ass not as useful as other ass skills.
Combat AI:
-AI enemies need to do more than run at you and attack you. Have them beg for mercy or run away when they can see that they are losing. Have them try to flank you or get to higher ground when they can. Currently, there is no challenge or strategy when fighting most AI opponents. For such a combat heavy RPG, you'd think the combat AI would be a priority, this needs to be changed.
Loot System:
-Fucking random loot drops bros! Where is the reward in finding a special item after unlocking a hard safe protected by a swarm of Raiders? I would even say lower the amount of crates/safes etc... In a post apocalyptic world, wouldn't it make sense that people would scavenge for anything they can? meaning most safes/crates would be empty or non existent.
Dialogue system:
-Currently just clicking buttons that leads to swarms of text. Moreover, you can't ask the same questions that you did before. Your rangers lack character for the most part. This may have been the standard in the old-skool pre 90s rpg days - but is kind of archaic in light of the dialogue system of the Fallout and IE games.
Music:
Mark Morgan is excellent and the tracks in the game are excellent, but there isn't enough variety to cover the scope of the game. The music plays a big part in making the areas in the game feel unique and adds to their atmosphere. It's very disappointing to reach a new area and have the same droning music play from the last area you were in. You don't get that feeling of being in a unique area e.g. Brotherhood of Steel theme suggested that they were technophiles, the Glow theme made the area feel like it was a creepy, dilapidated hole full of radiation.
Actually, after listing these faults, I can see that the game won't be fixed no matter how much Inxile patches it. At best, it will remain a good attempt at evoking some of the old school RPG nostalgia that we miss from the 80s and 90s. At worst, it would be considered an average to poor RPG.
