Deconstructions are a hip thing nowadays, but few games really deconstruct the genres they belong to. The Age of Decadence manages to deconstruct the CRPG genre from some of its most dubious characteristics while incorporating game mechanics similar to those of "Choose Your Own Adventure" games for much of its plentiful of options, real choices and real consequences together with great combat. No filler combat. Every battle is hard, challenging and significant, twice so for a hybrid with both diplomatic and combat skills. There are many strategic options and some tactical ones as well. Another good thing is that there are no hours to waste watching your character hiking. You can "teleport" anywhere, although you will miss some content if only you do so. This isn't a game that reacts to the limitations of characters better than most in the genre, whether Action or pure, and factional grudges matter. Not all is perfect, but the developer still is actively improving the game. In the last version I played, for example, the 40 Thieves is a somewhat disappointing faction because their quests have way too much killing and way too little stealth and thievery. Narrative "teleports" sometimes go too far. The engine is old, the graphics OK except for combat animations which outdo many AAA games. The number of choices thins. They are very significant in the beginning, where characters have completely different game starts, entire areas of the game will be accessible only if you created a character with the right skills and stats and joined the right faction to get through them. Once you join a faction, while there will be opportunities for betraying those later, doors will always close, and a reputation for disloyalty also matters. The Lore and Crafting skills overshadow all others when it comes to opening opportunities and crafting also helps a lot with combat. Despite that, few games outside of text-based ones can compare in the number of choices and consequences.
