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Is it Thursday yet? Yes it is.

<span class="bold">The Age of Decadence</span>, a dark, brutal, low-fantasy RPG of choice and consequence, is available now - DRM-free on GOG.com with a 10% launch discount.

The Age of Decadence is many things.
It's "an isometric, turn-based, single-player role-playing game set in a low magic, post-apocalyptic fantasy world, inspired by the fall of the Roman Empire." How unique does that sound? Pretty darn unique.

It's a brutal game. It's a game about the brutality and consequences of being human. Instead of saving the world from an all-encompassing evil, you'll discover a world that's already gone to hell, and you'll soon learn why.

It's an incredibly open game. The Age of Decadence respects your right to be a pacifist. A lying, manipulative pacifist. It's a game that'll remind you of a classic text adventure with branching choices and betrayal at every corner. It's also a game with incredible replayability - the choices you make and your origin will influence the game in ways significant enough that you'll feel compelled just to see the other side of the story. Whether an assassin, a drifter, a merchant or a merc - you'll have a thousand stories to tell, and few of them will end well. Check out our own early impressions of the game still in development.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. <span class="bold">The Age of Decadence</span> is available now, DRM-free on GOG.com. The launch discount will last until Monday, October 19, 12:59 PM GMT.


In the Press:
"Even walking the non-violent path, this game is no picnic, unless it’s a picnic covered with ants who act friendly, lure you into an alley, and then beat the shit out of you." --RockPaperShotgun
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tinyE: Again with the TBS. I suck at this genre.
You can play the game without fighting you know. You just have to play the coward or have enough money. But this game's humor is superb:

Level 1 Alchemy: You can tell it's salt just by the taste.
Level 4 Alchemy: You can't remember the last time you had eyebrows.

I think anyone can appreciate it as long as they don't try to be the uber combat oriented battlemage that wants to one shot everything. It's not that type of game. :P
It looks absolutely wonderful! Unfortunately I'm not sure whether or not I can afford it at the moment, which I means I can't afford it at the moment haha, but I'll be picking this one up sooner rather than later I hope!
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Uncreation: Implying Grimoire will ever be released... :P
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JudasIscariot: "Only 4 micro-issues remain!" :P
Grimoire confirmed!!!... er better tell Cleve that ;)
If you're playing a Dexterity focused character be sure to use Feint if you end up in a fight :D
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MaximumBunny: ... It's not that type of game. :P
Okay, so what type of a game is it? What makes it really good?
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Fairfox: "Trolling" does not mean "an opinion I disagree with." The user is allowed to not like the game, vehemently, and possibly against the flow. If one thing bugs me (and not much does, for I AM UNFLAPPABLE) it's people that try and remove opinion because they don't share/like it, and pretend it's for the greater good. BOO TO THAT.
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Phaidox: I'm sorry, but it is not possible for any sensible human being to take that user's review seriously. His/her "arguments" simply don't hold water. It's a joke, and a poor one at that.
Could you please explain your position on this? Having not played the game myself, the review you're talking about looks genuine to me.
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Fairfox: "Trolling" does not mean "an opinion I disagree with." The user is allowed to not like the game, vehemently, and possibly against the flow. If one thing bugs me (and not much does, for I AM UNFLAPPABLE) it's people that try and remove opinion because they don't share/like it, and pretend it's for the greater good. BOO TO THAT.
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Phaidox: I'm sorry, but it is not possible for any sensible human being to take that user's review seriously. His/her "arguments" simply don't hold water. It's a joke, and a poor one at that.
Problem is though that most user reviews are like this, even the positive ones, mostly ill-founded opinions, repetitions and general drivel. To be fair one would have to remove about 70% of all reviews if one would apply somewhat high standards, my estimation.

Already with the voting you get a totally crazy bias. Negative reviews are much more likely getting voted as not useful compared to positive reviews even if both are equally not useful.

Having said this I think the review is rather not helpful and I cannot understand how the author jumps to his conclusion, but so do I too for several other positive reviews of some of the games here.

And with the other three very good positive reviews of Age of Decadence one gets enough good information about the game. Soon this review will not be very visible anymore and the problem is solved kind of automatically.
Post edited October 15, 2015 by Trilarion
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Trilarion: Okay, so what type of a game is it? What makes it really good?
It has a demo on Steam for you to find out. I'm surprised GOG lacks them.

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JudasIscariot: Who hath summoned me?
Why doesn't GOG have demos? :o
I fully expect a strong backlash against Age of Decadence in the coming weeks. Short-sighted people inevitably hate things that violently break the prevailing slouch of mediocrity.
From one of the reviews by Pladio

"Note that being a Jack of All Trades and a Master of None is very difficult to play in this game. Focus on a few skills."

"Conclusion The major selling point of this game is the interweaving story arcs. I have played the game as a Merchant and a Mercenary and the game played completely differently based on my actions.
I would recommend this game to people who like turn-based combat and good stories and are not afraid of challenges.
I would not recommend this game to people who dislike turn-based combat systems, reading or are too much into graphics to enjoy older-looking games."

Wow sounds like its going to be a time sink :D
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deargdoom: .The huge over reliance on skill checks means the player is forced to cheese his way through each area rather than be encouraged to role play.

The combat isn't bad but in order to survive you have to create a min maxed character designed almost solely for combat. That's fair enough but any deviation from a character designed purely for combat means you have to engage with the shitty choose you own adventure skill checked to death non combat mess which is the majority of the game.
Agreed. Though my experience also comes from the demo a couple of years ago so take everything I say with a pinch of salt. In some ways AoD embodies the worst of old school RPGs, forcing players to horde levels until they bump face-first into a skill check and reload to use up some points. Allocating them immediately is a crapshoot, as there’s no way to know what’s useful. This takes me back to the 90s where you could easily paint yourself into a corner and end up with a botched character. Fallout had similar issues – whole skills were traps, useless sinks for the inexperienced to waste their hard-earned points. I love those games, but have grown accustomed (pampered, the elite might say), to a more user-friendly modern design. Pillars of Eternity is a thing of beauty.

Still, everything else looks solid and the promise of re-playability and value is tantalizing (I really like the world too). Will probably pick AoD up at some point but I'm most certainly not going into it dark for fear of wasting my time. Going to try and read up on character build guides.
Post edited October 15, 2015 by markrichardb
Hard? Skill checks? Old 3d graphics? Min / Max?

Yes, good, good. :Pats kitty:
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bad_fur_day1: Hard? Skill checks? Old 3d graphics? Min / Max?

Yes, good, good. :Pats kitty:
LOL ;) I like this.
I remember seeing hype for this game in like 2005. Totally forgot it existed. I can't believe it's out--it actually doesn't look too bad!
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thejimz: I remember seeing hype for this game in like 2005. Totally forgot it existed. I can't believe it's out--it actually doesn't look too bad!
thats interesting, so that game was about 10 years in development?