Some Random Impressions

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The game has been out not quite four weeks. I was able to play the Backer Beta and started playing the game as soon as it was released. I am a graduate of the Infinity Engine games. Made my initial Backer Pledge on day one of the Kickstarter. That is my background for reactions to this game so here are my personal opinions and impressions of this game.

This is the game I have been longing for. It isn't a clone of the IE games and I am glad of that. It has the story I wanted, a common adventurer caught in a situation he or she does not understand. (Shades of Planescape/Torment?). I find the detail amazing. Little comments or simply a bright colored butterfly flitting across the landscape. The integration of quests so that the game flows smoothly. Consequences to your choice of action. The importance of which side you choose in factions. Unexpected twists to what at first appears a simple quest.

This is not a game to be rushed. I take my time, explore every nook and cranny. Do every quest or task I can find. I feel that Obsidian was very brave to delve into the questions it puts forward as these are questions mankind has asked since ancient times and still has found no answers. There is for me a reality to this game, a feeling that in some past life I have been there. The Wheel turns and we move forward to what we do not know. Fantasy? Then life is fantasy.

I love the graphics and I would like to thank OE for considering those of us who may have some impairment or disability. Fonts can be sized to be comfortable. There is an option for those who are color blind. I was concerned as to whether or not I would even be able to play the game. No problem at all. I have watched my ranger reload his crossbow, seen Kana load his arquebus. The ability to highlight hidden objects and even NPCs is much appreciated. Thank you, Obsidian, for realizing that not all of us have twenty twenty vision and the reflexes of a sixteen year old.

Combat: This gets a lot of discussion. I like the engaement system as it makes sense to me. A person engaged in melee fighting should get a penalty for trying to disengae. That is my opinion and I stand by it. I have had no problem with my ranged characters. I do play on normal and things may be more difficult on hard. That is why it is hard.

Spells: I consider PoE's spell system an improvement over the D&D system which I did not care for. You can pick and choose what spells your wizard uses, change them around as necessary which you could do in the IE games also but I don't need to put five firebolt spells in slots and lose another one I might need. X # of spells per rest and X # of spells per encounter works for me. Resting becomes more realistic to me as it is due to fatigue or low health.

Companions: I love the scripted companions and find they add a great deal to the game just as they did in the IE games. I hope OE expands them, gives them even more comments and interactions. I love chatting with them, getting their input and advice. Finding out about who they are and what their needs and desires are.

A note here: For those of you playing on hard or power gaming you may need to fashion your own hired adventurers. The scripted companions are humans/humanoids. With the strength and weakness of that ilk. For me they are friends, comrades, true companions. Well Durance can be a bit caustic.

No rogue? Alas OE how could you? Wait I can play my favorite class. Shall I resurrect Nakia Nightshadow for this game? She has her own opinions on that but may send me one of her offspring.

Is the game perfect? No but it is the game I have longed for over more than ten years. Life is good. Thank you Obsidian.

 

Nice write up. I have to agree that, despite some expected shortcomings, the game is proving itself a worthy successor to the IE games.

Those shortcomings should only be improved with upcoming patches and the impending expansion.

I know that there are some who feel PoE deviated too much from the IE formula, and are not able to enjoy the game as a result. I feel for those people, I do. But similar to you Nakia, I'm generally finding that what has changed is either inferior but acceptable (e.g. lack of ammunition for ranged weapons, a few bugs currently in the game), is generally on par with IE in terms of quality and enjoyability (e.g. The interface hits the right points, as do party controls, voice acting, story, companions, music, etc.) or is flat out an improvement (e.g. the spellcasting system in general, improvements on chanter over the bard, the addition of talents, many quality of life improvements, and well, many, many others).

3 years ago I never thought I'd see a game like this produced ever again, and quite happy to have been proven wrong thanks to crowdfunding, and quite please with the overall result.

Granted, I'm still just barely into Act III so my comments obviously reflect only content that I've encountered up until that point.

 

Great review Nakia. Of course my first character was Sepp. The orlan seemed closest to a halfling, but I made him a rogue. I've been waiting 10 years for this too, and it has been worth it. Sometimes the details on the magnify glass seem a bit odd, like, "There is a pair of pants in this drawer." Not exactly that, but similar. I like that you can't play all the possibilities of quests, especially in Defiance Bay.

 

To me the game has a depth that is lacking in other games. I didn't say anything about things I don't care for because they are minor and my own gripes. There are things I would like improved or expanded. If I were to rate this game I would give it a 97% and I could easily give it a five star rating.

I am playing on Expert mode with normal difficulty. This makes for an interesting and sometimes frustrating time.

As for those who complain that PoE has departed from the D*D system I can only say two things.
One, the D&D system wasn't perfect, fun yes but perfect, no.
Two, I think nostalgia does enter into this. I do miss some of the companions but have become fond of the ones available in PoE.

After playing the TES games for roughly five or six years it took me some time to get used to combat. It does take time and patience.

As for bugs I have had no major problem and only a few minor ones. Nothing game breaking and the ones I had appear to have been fixed. I did have a problem with a spider and those sporlings are tough but I don't think sporlings are bugs. Yep, come to think of it this game is very buggy.

 

It does have all kinds or beetles and other insectoid species

 

Not using a D&D system didn't stop me from enjoying the game but I still think D&D is the superior game system.

 

Out of curiosity which D&D system? 2.5, 3.5, 4 or 5? Each edition changes the system in some way.

 

I'm fond of 2E but it on up is all serviceable, though I'm not keen on 4E and admittedly I haven't checked out 5E yet. I suppose it's more preference and personal fun factor than anything else.

 

2.5 is no longer published by Hasbro. I believe edition 4 was the version available when OE started PoE. So that would probably have been the edition they would have had to purchase a license to use. My point is that things do change.

 

As my only experience with D&D is in games, I find the class system quite fun, but the mechanics rather obtuse.

It doesn't really matter to me what kind of system is used, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the fun.

 

They reprinted the core books recently :3. It's not that I hate PoE's systems, just don't care for it because I'm a curmudgeonly dinosaur .

 

Speaking of dinos I am really one. I miss the ten foot pole. Imagine a Halfling walking around with a ten foot pole to disable traps.

Back to PoE: Little details are important to me. I love it when I click on a villager or a special hirling at the Stronghold and they have a comment about another person. I won't post any spoilers but to me that makes things special more real.

 

Nicely written, Nakia! As far as I can tell, you're absolutely right. I'm not that far yet, but this game really triggers the role player in me, iso a roll player. Perhaps because you write your own background while you play, you're encouraged to think like your character.

I can't, for instance, decide which faction to "join", because my character can't.

Spoiler

My character, Brahmupotiki, is boreal dwarf, who fled from the Deadfire Archipelago, and tries to redeem herself for her years as a raider. Perhaps she'll try to find Eothas' blessing if she can find out what really happened to him and on her way she wants to help her newly found friend Edér.

Thing is, she doesn't like nobility and knights and thus not too keen on the Crucible Knights, but she feels that The Dozens are too narrow-minded and she thinks Animancers can have a beneficial role in the world. She tries to steer clear from the Doemenels, cause their way of life boarders that what she tries to escape.

In many other games, I would just have chosen something I didn't care for too much, or seemed to be an obvious choice. But not in PoE, it appears. I'm really thinking, quite often, "What Would Brahmi Do?"

I love the idea that there is no real alignment system. The reputations give it a nicer touch, imo, as far as I can tell.

 

Wow, MoN, you have picked a tough one. I am playing on Expert Mode so get no hints as to what my choices mean. I started this character to be neutral but so far have ended up with a 3 for benevolent reputation. Seems he is a soft hearten guy after all.

 

Hahaha! Yeah, I recognize that. Each time I want to play evil, I fail horribly. I just can't do it. I'm a softy.

I got this thing called Metagaming turned on. My English is quite alright, but it's not my native language. Paired with the relative complexity of the game world (which war is what, where do souls go, whatever), I find some conversations hard to follow and I feel I need a little help.

Talking about conversations... I like the descriptions of the behaviour of the people you're talking to and I often find myself mimicking their facial expressions.

 

I can sympathize with you, MoN, there is a lot of text in this game and because of my eyesight it is slow going for me. Fortunately I don't feel any need to rush this game. It is very interesting and that includes the scripted party members.

What is Metagaming?

 

Oh, sorry. Wrong term. Or, actually, it is a correct term, but it's called different in the game.
Under Game section of the Option menu, you can (in Easy mode, at least) enable "Show Unqualified Interactions" and "Show Qualifiers".

With the first enabled, you'll notice that you're missing out on conversation options because a talent or attribute is too low. This is shown in red and it doesn't say what the actual phrase would have been. Something like this:
[Lore 3][Requirement not met], or
[Perception 14][Requirement not met]

The latter shows what requirement you needed to get a conversation option you can actually choose. Like
[Dexterity 15] Grab a rock and hurl it at the attacker.

I enabled these options because I was curious how often they would show up and never bothered to disable them again. Apparently, there are quite a lot of conversation options.

I sometimes see a notion like [benevolent 2] or [raider] at the top of an NPC's conversation. I'm not sure if that is because I enabled "Show Qualifiers", but I guess it is.

I presume that in Expert Mode there are no reputations shown behind the conversation options, showing the reputation you'll possibly get another rank in?
"How could you have done something like that? [passionate]"

 

Expert mode turns off all hints and tips. When I was playing the Backer Beta I did have the qualifiers on and decided to try playing it without any help. Sometimes I get unexpected results because of this. My first game (unfinished) I rated up in diplomacy but this game I seem to be more benevolent although also honest and stoic. Those are rated at 2. I do have one deceptive although I don't remember lying. One clever.

 

FYI if you've got rank 1 in a given disposition it means you've picked a corresponding dialog option at least four times; for rank 2 at least 12 times; etc.

Another thing that might not be clear if you're playing on expert mode: The 'clever' disposition doesn't mean clever in the sense of "smart and resourceful", but rather in the sense of:

"Sarcastic, sassy, foppish, or irreverent. May be well received by some as amusing, but other characters will assume that you are not to be taken seriously." [wiki]​

 

Thank you for the link, Ineth. One thing I like about playing on Expert is the lack of qualifiers. This way I give the answer I feel my character would give under the circumstances. I am not influenced or tempted to build a specific reputation.