Game look promising, but actually feel like broken :
- loading time are just... too much...
- difficulty is overboard : playing on easy, get my ass handled by small spiders in beginning of game... nice...
- game feel sluggish most of the time.
- I get a corrupted save from "I don't know waht" but perhaps the following problem is the reason...
- Game is crashing every time I leave to desktop.
Now the good, because I want this game to succeed :
- great Baldur's Gate feelings
- great character customization
- great graphics overall
- nice story, voice...
Just too much problem at this time...
I stop playing until the most annoying problems are solved
JPR out!
This game is a cross between dungeons and dragons and city management. It is very deep in its customization options, and very detailed. It is also very difficult. I think the issues with difficulty come from the fact that some presumed knowledge of dnd comes with this game, rather than everything being explained explicitly in game. I am sure this will be fixed in up coming patches, but for now make sure you know how to fight swarms!
Dragon Age: Origins, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Alpha Protocal, Baldur's Gate, et cetera are much beloved games by me. And if you want to be free of spoilers; Then if these were enjoyable games, this one will likely be enjoyed by you.
This game is more true to a PnP ruleset than any that has been played in the resent memory of mine. Gone is the hand'holding even on the easiest difficulty.
Expect to run away from a Will'o'Wisp and lvls 1-3, or be required to use fire to kill a troll. In addition expect to read the beastiary for clues on monsters, because DR {Damage Resistence} is a real issue in this game and that makes it even more endearing to me.
Expect only veterans of this video games to be able to play on Ironman mode, because it is easy to talk yourself into a bind... or to discover you made a choice a couple ingame days ago that lead to increased difficulty. If your character talks themselves in front of a cliff, be free of any expectation of the game giving you wings to fly.
The game is good overall. Nice story, good characters(someone may say they aren't deep enough though), kingdom management is interesting, visual design is great.
There is just one simple problem - you can't enjoy all that because game is broken. Many main quests doesn't work properly, balance is terrifying, gamebreaking bugs, e.t.c. Current state of game is beta at best.
I nearly missed this great game because of the negative revievs. While I share some of the criticisms I really enjoyed the game up to now.
I believe that many of the negative reviewers have expected another type of game. This is a classic CRPG in the tradition of Baldur's Gate. The game does not stop you if you want to enter a dungeon which is too difficult for your party - you should just leave after noticing that it is too hard. I died a lot of times during a boss battle, went away, made two experience levels and returned. I beat the boss on normal difficulty on the second attempt.
The game expects that you learn the Pathfinder system and make yourself familiar with the abilities of you chars. For new players this may be boring or too confusing. I played a lot of DnD in the past, so I had little difficulty to get into the game, but again, this may be boring for other players.
The story is fun up to now, introducing several interesting and likeable characters and of course your quest to become a king (or a baron in the first step). I expect some story twists in the future, but believe that the story is not as complex and fascinating as in Pillars of Eternity.
The implementation of the alignment system is great - your main char can choose dialogue options which represent a certain alignment (e.g. lawful good). Your alignment then shifts a little bit to the alignment of the chosen option. So, good characters may choose evil actions sometimes, but may end up being evil after many little steps.
The mail reason why I give five stars for this game is that it feels that the game designers really cared for little details and a great atmosphere. This may be an unpolished gem, however, it is a real game for players who like classic CRPGs.
