This is a very beautiful game, obviously a labour of love. It takes time getting used to being a vagrus, ie. planning your expeditions and making a profit out of it. It can at first divert you from delving into the story, but things fall into place and then there's a fascinating and deep world to explore. The writing is sumptuous. I had no idea I would enjoy my journey so much with this game! It's like a "choose-your-own-adventure" book. As a sidenote, the OST is incredible & the illustrations are superb.
First of all, let me say I'm delighted to see that the game does more than appealing to good graphics and interesting setting. Being a former medievalist, I just love whatever deals with manuscripts; but the strategic side seems to be actually quite decent! I haven't played the game enough to go in-depths about this but I see already there's a lot going on (and possibly even more during development): beasts, hand gestures, roguelite elements. It's a very interesting mix and I wish the developers will carry on full force on this game: it deserves it!
This game truly brings back the same feelings I had when I first launched Fallout as a youth: a sense of awe at the detailed and somehow realistic world presented in the game, as well as an insatiable thirst to know more about it. Not only is the Age of Decadence really well written, but the complex choices/consequences system offers a lot of replayability. My first playthrough took me 18 hours – among the best hours spent playing a video game in my entire life. However, I would not recommend this game if you: 1- don't like reading; 2- are allergic to the old stats/skills checks system in dialogues and quests; 3- are willing to play a god (hehe…); 4- dislike not being able to achieve every quest in one playthrough. But that's it. The rest is pure gold. *CRPG skill check passed*
