otokage

Like how every victory that she has leads to another catastrophe and how regardless of what she does everything seems to keep to be miserable only thing that changes is who are the abusers and the killers. And how she constantly grows thicker skin that allows her to do more drastic measures. PoE isn't as dark and cynical as you are actually able to make people start to tolerate and live peacefully together. Oh but the hope is always behind, isn't it? You still think she's going to make a difference in the end, the same as brandon, tyrion, and other good characters, etc. That's what it means not being hopeless. You don't expect an epic fantasy to grow more hopeless and miserable chapter after chapter, and still be miserable at the end giving the feeling that you achieved practicaly nothing regarding "making the world a better world". That would be ok for a drama, a tragedy... But imho it doesn't really fit very well in fantasy, no matter how dark.

I believe when the OP talks about the dark setting, he means it as a synonym of... Hopelessness. I see people is kind of confused here, thinking he is referring to violence, but I don't think this is the case nor do I think violence makes any work dark. Do you guys know when you see GoT and see Khaleesi doing some cool thing with the dragons, and you are watching the chapter thinking "Hell yes! Do it girl!!!". Well, that never happens in PoE. Get the point?

I'm running out of "Likes"

> not dark and gritty at all > graphic torture of POV character described in great detail, 214 instances of rape (somebody actually counted!), child murder, pretty much everybody is either an **** or dead u wot m8 Maybe this is just a problem of what we consider "gritty and dark" to be. To me, a gritty and dark world is a miserable, scary, hopeless and too serious world: places are depressing, people are depressing, life is sad, there's no place to humour, etc. In this sense, PoE is very dark and gritty imo. Game of thrones doesn't feel depressing to me, at all: gore, murder and rape are just elements of realism, especially if we talk about the middle ages, but don't make a story depressing unless the point of the story is how miserable is everyone due to rape and murder, which is not the case in GoT.

All characters relate to the watcher one way or another. All care for the watcher in a way. "Which characters get on best with the watcher" is a question that will be more related to your subjective perception that to real elements. Meaning, if you like Eder, you will feel Eder and your character have a especial relation that is lacking with other characters. Again this will be purely your personal, if I may biased, opinion. So, this said, I liked Eder, Sagani and Hiravias the most. The three share one element, they have hope in the miserable world of PoE, even if their own lives/pasts are also miserable. They don't seem to be trapped in the depressing whirlwind that is everywhere in the world. This gives a little light in this dark, dark setting, and therefore it was very welcomed by me. That is imo their most important feature, although they have others that differenciate them, ie Eder is gentle, fair, very funny and sometimes immature; Sagani is also a good woman, more serious/mature but still looks like what Eder will be when he grows up (more); and Hiravias is also funny, although a bit scatological and foul-mouthed in his humour, and also very determined/brave/selfconfident. The other characters didn't get my atention. I liked Grieving Mother at first because she was a cipher, but my enthusiasm was quickly reduced due to her personality. There were better, much more interesting options for the cipher, like Lady Web. I also liked Pallegrina the first couple of hours, but her personality quickly turned too flat to my taste. As for the interaction between party characters, I believe Sagani and Eder have more dialogue between them than any other couple, but no great friendship between any of them imo.

Sure, this option also was in Dragon Age. It would be a very good adition imo.

The biggest problem of PoE is, no doubt, the impossible-to-evade comparison to the legendary BG. Indeed this is a title doomed to live in the gigantic shadow of other game forever. Hopefuly, Obsidian will pay atention to all this issues and make PoE 2 a much better title, with more personality, more length, more immersion, more variety of scenarios, a reactive environment and an epic campaing lead by characters that actually feel like heroes or antiheroes, not like regular low-profile people.

PoE heavily relies on lore to hook players. It is by far the best aspect of the game and the story requires a lot of reading and thinking to keep up with it. If you are not attracted by this characteristic, I would advice watching some youtube videos, maybe even walkthroughs of the first part, to see if you like it or not.

I don't agree with the OP. It is only logical that high intellect and resolution will be most useful and recurrent talents to use in a conversation. We see this everyday in fantasy: mages usualy end fights by diplomacy and wisdom, and not by using their (immense) power. While warriors rarely achieve what they want by talking. Now, I remember perception, power and tradition being pretty recurrent as conversation options. Sometimes I always saw survavility, which seems legit. I don't know how "mechanics" and "stealth" or "atletism" can be used widely on conversations except for very specific points, that will obviously be a very reduced part of the whole dialogues that are in the game.

I voted "just right" because I wasn't bothered by the dark atmosphere, but I also liked your OP because I agree with you the game is gritty and dark, very serious, and there's little recognition for your achievements. The watcher is a subtle hero (or antihero?) and the world is also subtly being destroyed, but people in this world is unaware of this, trapped in their own depressing and miserable war-driven lives. Btw, Game of Thrones is mature and realist, but not dark and gritty at all. Even with the recurrent deaths, every chapter feels pretty heroic to me, and humour is always present, unlike in PoE.

Well I agree the game is not near DA origins on "epicness", but more in line with the "the world is ending but nobody is noticing" BG kind of plot. I like both concepts if carried properly. I find the story of PoE the best part of the game. It got me hooked from start to finish, but calling it "the spiritual succesor of BG" has put impossible-to-beat expectations in the title. The story is not so good, the world is not so reactive and the characters do not have so much personality. Also, the duration of the main quest is relatively short, too short to develop a strong bond with the characters and too light paced to feel you are in danger. I believe Obsidian can make better and will do better in the sequel.