The Age of Decadence

The 11.5 years of development really shows in the well crafted story, and detail rich text throughout the game; The writing is top notch quality. AoD has all the great aspects of a proper traditional RPG. It's not your typical modern RPG. You aren't a powerful jack of all trades. You must min max to focus on a play style, kind of like fallout 2; highbreeds only work if you are a novice with a strong familiarity towards the game. This is still rewarding due to the games underlying theme. The world is in chaos and there's a mystery behind it. The only way to piece together the rich story is by multiple play throughs. It's like ground hog day the RPG, relive the same event multiple times, trying to uncover the mystery and ultimately achieve a satisfying conclusion... eventually.

At the outset, AoD seems like a really great game. I was willing to overlook a bunch of the mechanical terribleness that literally ever other game on the market has solved. Like, having to find a quest NPC who is essentially hiding in a closet in the middle of a large city, when the sum total of your instruction is 'Oh yeah, he's somewhere in that city.' Frustrating doesn't begin to describe it, especially when this exact scenario happens 10 or 20 times throughout the course of the game. If I hadn't gone online and found some suggestions, I'd have deleted the game about 4 hours in. There's a lot of talk about choice and replayability, but frankly, that's all a load of crap. The game starts in City 1, progresses to City 2. then to City 3, then to the Final Temple. Yeah, you can fool around with different professions and sidequests, but it's essentially running around a racetrack, and you get to choose whether you run in lane 1 or lane 6. Wheee. Summary: Interesting world and story, awful mechanics, nonexistent replayability. Worth an afternoon or two at $10, but certainly not worth $25-30.

I hate to say it but, this game seems a lot less like an RPG than an adventure game with the illusion of choices. It's extremely text heavy, and it seems that certain skills are virtually essential to completing the game (i.e. lore). So, a lot of possible character builds appear to actually be inviable, and if you paint yourself into a corner, so to speak, you'll have no alternative but to restart the game. Unimpressive graphics. Also, load times are a pain. They're only 10-20 seconds, but when you have to savescum your way through practically every combat encounter, it is unpleasant.

Pros: Combat and mechanics are solid and varied, even if some of the features are one time use only, as the game provides you with no incentive or chance to use them. Lore and setting are genuinely good, and interesting to read about. Story and pacing are not something to write home about, but will keep you engaged all the way through. Cons: Railroading galore, reminding me more of a poorly executed "choose your own adventure" book or a D&D session where the DM is really protective of his story and therefore all unplanned branches are prone to end in a "rocks fall and everyone dies". The plot is split into rigid paths, allowing for some semblance of choice. While some of it you can skip, you will be doing yourself a disservice, as you need all the skillpoints you can get. Only of course you don't know you are skipping anything until there is no way back, as the dialogue goes on and on, railroading you into choices you don't intend to make. There are rarely more than 3 dialogue options at a time, separating into two categories: ones that move the plot and "tell me more" with skillchecks sprinkled in between. You have no idea what skillcheck will come when and failing them most of the time gives you no second chance, leading to an instant game over or a fight (read: an interactive game over for a speech focused character). Mid to late game this can halt your progress if you don't have the skills or skillpoints and need to make the check. TL;DR - there are two main ways to play this game: pure melee or, if you like punishing yourself - speech focus with liberal walkthrough usage and save scumming. Besides that expect a decent story, unique and captivating lore and constant, out of the blue railroading. Better wait for a discount.

PROs - Post apocalyptic Rome! Interesting lore that you'll actually want to read. And there's a lot to read, so if you like games like Planescape: Torment or the Shadowrun series, then you'll feel right at home. - No hour long tutorial, no lengthy cutscenes explaining what you already know, no handholding. - The combat is challenging and satisfying. You're no plot messiah who can effortlessly slay the legions of evil because you're "special." No, you're some random shmuck who'll have to earn your badass status by actually working towards it. And you will die. A lot. There's no easy victory in Age of Decadence. - Every choice has consequences. Maybe you'll avoid picking a fight with a pickpocket, since you decided to play as a bookworm who has no combat skills. Perhaps a noble refuses to speak with a murderous thug with limited people skills. Etc. - Replayablity. There are several professions you can choose with their own guilds and questlines. And a lot of dialogue, events, and even locations are locked behind skill checks. Unlike most games, each playthrough feels completely different from the last. - The writing is pretty decent. Think pulpy dark fantasy like the First Law and Black Company books. CONs - Very hardcore experience. If you must have next gen graphics, voice acting, and easy mode stay away. - Very rigid character building that doesn't feel quite as intuitive as it should be. - You will die alot. Seriously. If you want a power fantasy look elsewhere. - The game likes to teleport you from scene to scene, which is annoying. - The system encourages "saving" skill points to spend instead of playing naturally, due to the hidden skill checks.