Age of Decadence is a low-fantasy grimdark western RPG set in the rotting cadaver of what was once a steampunk version of the roman empire, prior to its destruction by some unknown catastrophe. Though the lackluster graphics are nothing to write home about, this intriguing and original setting is still nicely brought to live by the fine, though by no means outstanding writing. All these fine creative efforts are, however, marred by the fact that there is often no reasonable way to foresee many consequences of your choices in dialogue trees or in creating your character. Perhaps this was intended to make the game feel realistic but in practice it just feels like arbitrary railroading. The apex of arbitrariness in this game lies in how easily the final quest can become outright unwinnable for you (as it did for me on my playthrough) if you don't a) have sky high lore+crafting b) sky-high intelligence+crafting + an obscure item you can only buy from Feng right at the start of the game with zero foreshadowing that this gem will ver be of any importance c) skyhigh lockpicking+crafting d) are enough of a beast in combat that you can take like 12 giant scorpions in a row while being poisoned by the air in the dead river. The combat system is deep and interesting but is subject to an insance difficulty curve that ensures this facet of the game becomes rapidly inaccessible if you are not playing a combat specialist. I feel that many defects here could have been solved by allowing the player to take on additional partymembers or hire mercercenaries. Ultimatly, this is an interesting but deeply flawed game. I recommend buying Age of Decadence, not because the game itself is really worth your time-- it is not-- but because the developer shows a great deal of promise and I hope they will be able to better execute their unique vision next time around.
Magnificent story. The writing is almost unparalleled in modern gaming and the setting of the game puts a nice steampunk+Ctulhu-lite twist on the standard Dungeons and Dragons fantasy formula.Moreover, Torment strikes a nice bittersweet balance between having real consequences for the player's actions and not feeling like a hopeless grimdark slog (looking at you Age of Decadence). Combat is smooth and genuinely enjoyable, though it is a bit perplexing that the game doesn't let you set up your characters in a formation of your own choice before a battle begins. On the minus side, the game can be quite buggy but that didn't really detract from my experience. Don't skip this gem just because some people let their nostalgia for the great-but-overrated Planescape Torment set an unreasonably high bar for its spiritual successor.
