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Age of Decadence is the best CRPG I have played since FO

W

walking fiend

Member
There are many reviews of the game out there, so I won't get into the typical details.

What differentiates it from almost every other RPG that has been released since FO, is that it actually does let you play a role. You can be a lore master, a fighter or a merchant, and, most importantly, you can only be one of those. Depending on how you build your character, there are certain paths and events that will be completely closed to you, and some that will be open only to you. Of course, the game allows the specialization to become it's core through properly balancing the difficulty and excellent writing with multiple cohesive branches and environmental events.

Compare it with, say, Elder Scrolls series (which I have chosen as a reference point since most people are familiar with), where regardless of your stars or race, you can pretty much do anything you want as long as you max your stats. In most other RPGs, at most your fighting abilities will vary from one role to another. The only other RPG that I can think of which got the 'role' playing part seriously, was Vampire Bloodline.
 
L

LordJim

Member
I have finished the game twice and still haven't actually engaged in combat properly.
I should probably try to conquer the Arena once.
 
M

Mr. Tibbs

Member
I love that in AOD you have to behave sensibly. Like if you barge into a noble's house and push your luck too far, you'll face dire consequences. Warnings are followed through, and ill-conceived plans have disastrous results.

In most contemporary RPGs, if you try to manipulate an NPC and fail, you can fight your way out regardless of build. Invariably, you end up a God-like soldier, with the charisma of a movie star, who can sneak into any encampment, and take whatever you please without facing any real consequences. As a plucky Thief, the first-time I confronted a bandit camp I attempted a bogus strategy of, "I'll let them know what I know and reap some reward from this unique dialogue option." The leader of the encampment laughed at me, and in about 3 seconds I was deservedly staring at a game over screen for not using common sense. What the hell would a group of viscous rebels care about killing a loner who attempted to blackmail them?

You actually have to play a role in this game. You can take risks but only calculated ones. It's one of the most honest cruel game world I've ever experienced.
 
G

guit3457

Member
I already have the game on GOG but I'm waiting for the spanish patch. The devs are doing an amazing job supporting the translation teams.

Can't wait
 
S

Speely

Banned
Thanks for reminding me about this game, OP. I read some great impressions/reviews and studied up on it, then completely forgot about it in a glut of other games.
 
H

hobblygobbly

Member
Yeah I loved it too, it and Pillars of Eternity were my favourite RPGs last year.

It's tough to get people to try to play it though, graphically it doesn't look great, and when they do play it's really challenging and people die too easily, had people I recommend it drop out quite early. This is mainly because of attributes/builds, this is a game that if you don't choose attributes correctly for what you want to do you can reach an impasse in the game where you just cannot progress any further. Granted, the design philosophy seems to also be built around replayability, it's a short RPG but with a hell of a lot of choice and consequence so you get to try many builds and different paths in the game.

I kind of got the impression that you sort of play almost like Varys from Game of Thrones depending on your playstyle when you take less of a combative approach since you can get into intrigue, spying, betrayal, etc and severely alter incomes of quests that you may never directly interact with.

Also I love the theme/world they built - I'm quite tired of very high fantasy RPGs so it was a nice change, also why I love PoE's world Obsidian built because it has a mixture of fantasy with the theme of early renaissance.

Also the developers behind AoD are also working on a new RPG, it's a science fiction RPG that if I remember correctly takes place on a large colony ship.
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
hobblygobbly said:
Also the developers behind AoD are also working on a new RPG, it's a science fiction RPG that if I remember correctly takes place on a large colony ship.
Click to expand...

They are working on 2 games actually. 1 is a tactical RPG based on the AoD setting that is a shorter term project, the other is the Sci-Fi Colony Ship RPG.
 
D

Durante

Member
Mr. Tibbs said:
I love that in AOD you have to behave sensibly. Like if you barge into a noble's house and push your luck too far, you'll face dire consequences. Warnings are followed through, and ill-conceived plans have disastrous results.

In most contemporary RPGs, if you try to manipulate an NPC and fail, you can fight your way out regardless of build. Invariably, you end up a God-like soldier, with the charisma of a movie star, who can sneak into any encampment, and take whatever you please without facing any real consequences. As a plucky Thief, the first-time I confronted a bandit camp I attempted a bogus strategy of, "I'll let them know what I know and reap some reward from this unique dialogue option." The leader of the encampment laughed at me, and in about 3 seconds I was deservedly staring at a game over screen for not using common sense. What the hell would a group of viscous rebels care about killing a loner who attempted to blackmail them?

You actually have to play a role in this game. You can take risks but only calculated ones. It's one of the most honest cruel game world I've ever experienced.
Click to expand...
That's a great summary of what I like most about AoD.
 
M

Mr. Tibbs

Member
Durante said:
That's a great summary of what I like most about AoD.
Click to expand...

I just find games that cut-off content from the player to be incredibly satisfying.

In other titles, you'll make a decision that is presented like it's going to be tracked and is really going to matter. As you keep playing, you quickly realize that promise is just an illusion or, at best, only ends up being superficial window dressing that has no bearing whatsoever on the critical path beyond providing a bit of color (i.e. briefly acknowledging the player's alignment during dialogue).

AoD feels like the work of a maverick. The class-specific choice and consequence on offer is staggering. It deserves way more love!
 
S

selo

Member
Had never heard about this game before, sounds like something I might enjoy. Adding it to wishlist!
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Sinatar said:
They are working on 2 games actually. 1 is a tactical RPG based on the AoD setting that is a shorter term project, the other is the Sci-Fi Colony Ship RPG.
Click to expand...
Can't wait for their sci-fi RPG. It, Copper Dreams, and The Last Night are my most anticipated sci-fi games
 
H

Hektor

Member
That you can play through the entire game with a noncombat character is sadly such a rare thing.

I think most games not allowing you that is the biggest sin of crpg's.
 
O

Oreiller

Member
Mr. Tibbs said:
I love that in AOD you have to behave sensibly. Like if you barge into a noble's house and push your luck too far, you'll face dire consequences. Warnings are followed through, and ill-conceived plans have disastrous results.

In most contemporary RPGs, if you try to manipulate an NPC and fail, you can fight your way out regardless of build. Invariably, you end up a God-like soldier, with the charisma of a movie star, who can sneak into any encampment, and take whatever you please without facing any real consequences. As a plucky Thief, the first-time I confronted a bandit camp I attempted a bogus strategy of, "I'll let them know what I know and reap some reward from this unique dialogue option." The leader of the encampment laughed at me, and in about 3 seconds I was deservedly staring at a game over screen for not using common sense. What the hell would a group of viscous rebels care about killing a loner who attempted to blackmail them?

You actually have to play a role in this game. You can take risks but only calculated ones. It's one of the most honest cruel game world I've ever experienced.
Click to expand...
Ok, you sold me on the game. I still have to finish both Pillars of Eternity and Original Sin but I'll make sure to play this one eventually.
 
A

Arulan

Member
Mr. Tibbs said:
I love that in AOD you have to behave sensibly. Like if you barge into a noble's house and push your luck too far, you'll face dire consequences. Warnings are followed through, and ill-conceived plans have disastrous results.

In most contemporary RPGs, if you try to manipulate an NPC and fail, you can fight your way out regardless of build. Invariably, you end up a God-like soldier, with the charisma of a movie star, who can sneak into any encampment, and take whatever you please without facing any real consequences. As a plucky Thief, the first-time I confronted a bandit camp I attempted a bogus strategy of, "I'll let them know what I know and reap some reward from this unique dialogue option." The leader of the encampment laughed at me, and in about 3 seconds I was deservedly staring at a game over screen for not using common sense. What the hell would a group of viscous rebels care about killing a loner who attempted to blackmail them?

You actually have to play a role in this game. You can take risks but only calculated ones. It's one of the most honest cruel game world I've ever experienced.
Click to expand...

Nicely put.

A lot of games condition players to want to experience all the content. If they see a slum within a town, they openly proceed into it because they want to see the content. After all, it's often that the choices they're asked to pick from are all successful, it's simply a matter of what preference the player has. The Age of Decadence however treats every option within the context of the setting. Attempting to play the good person for example in such a world is often naive. Others will take advantage of you for this, and you'll most likely end up dead because of it.

Some good reading material related to the game and its lead designer:

The Fanatic and His RPG

Against RPG Decadence: Vince D. Weller Interview

The latter, which the former article mentions is an interview with the lead designer from 2008.

This was my favorite RPG of last year, and hope others enjoy it as well.
 
R

R0nn

Member
Thanks for reminding me of this game OP.

It's really too bad that proper roleplaying like this isn't more appreciated.
 
S

Sir Ilpalazzo

Member
This game sounds fantastic. I don't typically play RPGs but this sounds like it'd be a great experience. I've got to try it out someday.
 
N

Neoleo2143

Member
I really ought to get to this game one day. From what I understand, it's not a game with one long road and too many routes branching off that connect back, rather it's a game with many shorter roads that follow their logical route to their destination.

Specialization is indeed the heart of a Table Top Role Playing experience.
 
R

Raxanas

Neo Member
I dont really care about graphics (i mean i finished BG 1 and 2 recently) but for some reason i couldnt stay in this game for more than an hour.Dunno i think the battle system alienated me greatly
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Raxanas said:
I dont really care about graphics (i mean i finished BG 1 and 2 recently) but for some reason i couldnt stay in this game for more than an hour.Dunno i think the battle system alienated me greatly
Click to expand...
You can play the game without ever entering combat. Arguably those kinds of playthrough is much more rewarding
 
H

Hektor

Member
Raxanas said:
I dont really care about graphics (i mean i finished BG 1 and 2 recently) but for some reason i couldnt stay in this game for more than an hour.Dunno i think the battle system alienated me greatly
Click to expand...

You don't have to use it tho. You can just play a noncombat character like a loremaster or a merchant and get through this game with the help of wits and dialogue alone.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
The combat is actually quite in depth and rewarding once you get past the UI
animlboogy said:
AoD actually has pretty cool combat underneath that awkward-ass UI, so I'm excited for this, too.

It was amazing the moment I realized I could hack my way through much tougher battles than I thought with my squishy assassin by lacerating people's hands to lower their to-hit chance. Doing that, crowd controlling with nets, and falling back to choke points was a pretty good time for a game with a reputation for everything but the fighting parts.
Click to expand...
 
T

Tigersprite

Member
Thanks for this post - it's finally inspired me to play my copy of Neverwinter Nights and I'm having a blast. Will defo put this on my list too.
 
R

Raxanas

Neo Member
More_Badass said:
You can play the game without ever entering combat. Arguably those kinds of playthrough is much more rewarding
Click to expand...

But but but,how will i join boatmen of Styx without fighting at all?Anyways after finishing some stuff i will try to give it a 2nd try.There arent any mods right?
 
M

Mad Season

Banned
walking fiend said:
There are many reviews of the game out there, so I won't get into the typical details.

What differentiates it from almost every other RPG that has been released since FO, is that it actually does let you play a role. You can be a lore master, a fighter or a merchant, and, most importantly, you can only be one of those. Depending on how you build your character, there are certain paths and events that will be completely closed to you, and some that will be open only to you. Of course, the game allows the specialization to become it's core through properly balancing the difficulty and excellent writing with multiple cohesive branches and environmental events.

Compare it with, say, Elder Scrolls series (which I have chosen as a reference point since most people are familiar with), where regardless of your stars or race, you can pretty much do anything you want as long as you max your stats. In most other RPGs, at most your fighting abilities will vary from one role to another. The only other RPG that I can think of which got the 'role' playing part seriously, was Vampire Bloodline.
Click to expand...
At least link us to it
 
S

Santiako

Member
I did not know this game existed. Added to my wishlist and will buy and play at some point in the near(ish) future. Thanks!
 
K

kswiston

Member
If I play a merchant, do I get a story and quest path that caters to merchanting? I actually tend to NOT like combat in RPGs, and would be interested in playing something with alternatives that aren't treated like a variant of hard mode.
 
H

Hektor

Member
kswiston said:
If I play a merchant, do I get a story and quest path that caters to merchanting? I actually tend to NOT like combat in RPGs, and would be interested in playing something with alternatives that aren't treated like a variant of hard mode.
Click to expand...

Yes, it does. But you can still make wrong decisions that lead you into fights that you can't win as a merchant, so you gotta play smart in the dialogues.

In my main merchant playthrough i only ended up fighting once and in that fight i was playing bait for AI soldiers.
 
A

Arulan

Member
John Kowalski said:
No i mean i like them because your build doesn't really restrict what you can do.
Click to expand...

Your preferences are your own, but this freedom comes directly from the game not caring. For as much as Bethesda likes to talk about their living worlds, their worlds are mere sandboxes with content. The term theme park is often used. The world doesn't react properly to your actions. Becoming the leader of every guild and faction is perfectly acceptable, despite the conflicts that arise from it. This example is usually brought up because it's one where they've regressed. Morrowind did care which faction you aligned with, and restricted you from others which resulted in conflicts. Fallout: New Vegas also cared about your actions and reacted appropriately. Both of these game even furthered freedom by allowing you to kill any NPC, although the latter handled it significantly better.

I'm reminded by a post in another thread relating to Fallout 4, where someone stated that he decided not to help
Codsworth
. He doesn't mean choosing an option that the game presented to him to refuse, or a consequence of any sort for his actions, he means purposely avoiding this NPC so that the quest never starts while the game doesn't respond in any way to his inaction.

In order to have these believable worlds that most of us crave, choices and consequences are necessary, and doing so correctly means often restricting content.

kswiston said:
If I play a merchant, do I get a story and quest path that caters to merchanting? I actually tend to NOT like combat in RPGs, and would be interested in playing something with alternatives that aren't treated like a variant of hard mode.
Click to expand...

Yes. Sounds like the game for you. ;)
 
V

Vince (ITS)

Neo Member
Hey guys,

First of all, thanks for the interest and kind words. It means a lot. If anyone is interested, I strongly suggest to try the demo first to make sure you like the overall design. The demo gives you access to the first 3 locations and about 30 quests (split between different factions). If you have any questions after trying the game, I'll be more than happy to answer them and walk you through if you're stuck or don't know what to do.

Edit:

kswiston said:
If I play a merchant, do I get a story and quest path that caters to merchanting? I actually tend to NOT like combat in RPGs, and would be interested in playing something with alternatives that aren't treated like a variant of hard mode.
Click to expand...
Yes. There are several non-combat paths through the game. You can play a merchant or a praetor (a knight serving a Noble House) without fighting at all, using diplomacy and manipulation. Each faction has its own quests and goals and most quests have multiple solutions.

Neoleo2143 said:
I really ought to get to this game one day. From what I understand, it's not a game with one long road and too many routes branching off that connect back, rather it's a game with many shorter roads that follow their logical route to their destination.

Specialization is indeed the heart of a Table Top Role Playing experience.
Click to expand...
That's correct. There are parallel questlines and many events usually take place at the same time and they are shown from different perspectives. For example, in the starting town the Imperial Guards (the army faction) are trying to take over, the merchant guild is trying to stop them (military rule is bad for business), the assassins are hired to kill the Imperial Guards' commander, the thieves are going after the payment for the assassination, etc.
 
Z

Zukuu

Banned
Really didn't like the game after I've tried to play it, even tho I technically love it. The problem I have with it, is that it screams "absolute freedom" and then pigeonholes you into specific specs to actually stand a chance in combat or be able to actually solve ANY QUEST without combat. It's just utterly disheartening, because otherwise it could have been a very great game.

Also, the combat is far too RNG reliant. I mean I created a 2h soldier with everything into combat and couldn't even fight off 2 random thugs or so in the desert city (from what I remember).
 
M

Mobius and pet octopus

Member
This is the type of game that seems really up my alley atm. There was a time when I was really into roman empire stuff as well. I should give this a shot.

I only fear for my pillars of eternity playthrough, although I haven't touched that in like 2 months.
 
stuminus3

stuminus3

Member
Zukuu said:
Really didn't like the game after I've tried to play it, even tho I technically love it. The problem I have with it, is that it screams "absolute freedom" and then pigeonholes you into specific specs to actually stand a chance in combat or be able to actually solve ANY QUEST without combat.
Click to expand...
Isn't that kind of the point? "Absolute freedom" is the polar opposite of role playing. There needs to be rules or it doesn't work.
 
V

Vince (ITS)

Neo Member
Zukuu said:
Really didn't like the game after I've tried to play it, even tho I technically love it. The problem I have with it, is that it screams "absolute freedom" and then pigeonholes you into specific specs to actually stand a chance in combat or be able to actually solve ANY QUEST without combat. It's just utterly disheartening, because otherwise it could have been a very great game.

Also, the combat is far too RNG reliant.
Click to expand...
If your skills are low, you're relying on luck (aka RNG). If your skills are good and you know what you're doing, you don't need luck. As for builds, playing a talker is the easy mode. You don't need much but above average INT and CHA and invest most points into talking skills: Persuasion, Streetwise, Etiquette, Lore, Trading.

Playing a fighter is harder but you don't need to have a specific build. Check this thread with player-submitted builds with over 100 kills:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/230070/discussions/0/490123197946992902/

http://images.akamai.steamuserconte...617/6A621927F07A339F3575403E94E72C023EB61C0E/
Str 7, Dex 8, Con 6, Per 8, Int 7, Cha 5, bodycount 155
Hammer 8, Dodge 10, Critical Strike 6, Lore 8, Persuasion 8, Crafting 6, Streetwise 5, etc.

http://images.akamai.steamuserconte...440/75C85ECCE7979E440D6445477A35523B8EE33473/
Str 5, Dex 9, Con 5, Per 8, Int 6, Cha 7, bodycount 109
Dagger 9, Dodge 9, Critical Strike 7, Alchemy 6, Streetwise 6, Impersonate 5, etc

http://images.akamai.steamuserconte...013/B00403C16CE17A55C23AF08305021966511D6E61/
Str 8, Dex 8, Con 6, Per 8, Int 7, Cha 4, bodycount 328, note that the character has no defense skill and is relying on Critical Strike instead.
Axe 9, Critical Strike 7, Crafting 10, Lore 8, Persuasion 6, Sneak 6

http://images.akamai.steamuserconte...287/5E3E9E32132B35FA9643F91CF51BCA7D6ADFBC2B/
^ knife fighter with Dex 4, a shield, streetwise, and 222 kills.

There is a HUGE variety of builds but you need to know what you're doing.
 
Z

Zukuu

Banned
stuminus3 said:
Isn't that kind of the point? "Absolute freedom" is the polar opposite of role playing. There needs to be rules or it doesn't work.
Click to expand...
I edited it with an example. Even as absolute trained soldier you can't really fight very efficiently at all. That means I can't solve my quest via fights, so I NEED specific non-combat traits to be able to solve ANY QUEST, which I don't have or if I had, I would be even worse in combat. Even in the very first city you get locked out of like all quests due to that.

I remember something about a kidnapping and could neither talk or fight my way through it. I think you can pay them, but there is no chance in hell I have that much gold at that point.

So yeah, like I said, it's an illusion of freedom of how to play / create your character, but ultimately you are forced to take that 3 in talking (can't remember) or play a specific class to advance beyond that point etc

I think it boils down to combat being simply awfully balanced, which is even more enhanced due to the RNG nature of the combat system itself.

I tried a few times, no dice. Unless you play a pure talker, you are not going to have any fun with the game.

edit:
Yeah "dodge" is something you need, but that boils down to RNG again. I tried to make a 2h Halberd fighter and never could get it to work efficiently. I accepted that I can't take that bandit camp on alone, but when 2 or 3 random untrained thugs absolutely demolished me with no way of me ever winning unless RNG-Jesus smiles upon me later, I gave up and quit.

I played around with the thought of playing it again at some point, but with the recent surge of cRPGs I'm gonna hold off until I need to scratch my cRPG itch again with no other games in sight. Technically I like what the game does, it's just a bit unbalanced executed imo.

I hope we'll see another game / sequel that handles it a bit different. Will be on board to check it out.
 
T

Taruranto

Member
Eh, I didn't like how automated it felt in some sections, almost like playing a text adventure. Like this section in which
you go out of town for a mission, talk to some NPC, they basically teleport you around and you solve stuff though dialog and finally you are automatic teleported to the next town and meet the next big shot. (or something like that, I really don't remember much other than the fact I went through 3 locations in a couple of scenes.)

I remember complaining about it when the public beta/demo got released years ago.
 
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