Jump to content

kozzy

Members
  • Posts

    206
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by kozzy

  1. http://kotaku.com/were-really-digging-pillars-of-eternity-1693310820 They seem to really really like it so far! I posted some of the thoughts but click on the link to see more! We're Really Digging Pillars of Eternity A few of us have been playing Pillars of Eternity, the lovely new crowdfunded PC role-playing game that sets out to re-create the vibe of old Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate. Safe to say we love it so far. I've got many more hours to play before I feel comfortable writing a full, thorough review for Pillars, which comes out Thursday, but Kirk and I took some time last night to have a broad chat about what we like and don't like about Obsidian's latest. You can read it all right here. Jason Schreier: Let's get this started: Pillars of Eternity is a stellar video game. Anyone who liked Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, or any of those other old isometric PC role-playing games will absolutely love Pillars... and anyone who hasn't played those old games owes it to themselves to dig into PoE nonetheless. Kirk Hamilton: Right to it! Yeah, I like it a lot. I'll admit that you and I are both kinda in the tank for this kind of game, since we both grew up playing CRPGs like the ones Pillars is (wonderfully) channeling. But I am enjoying the heck out of it. How much have you played at this point? Jason Schreier: I think my clock is at around 13 hours, but that doesn't count the few hours on my first character (you know it's a good RPG when you feel compelled to start over after three hours just to try a new class) and it definitely doesn't count the time I've spent dying against particularly tough encounters. Hardcore RPG fans will rejoice to know that this is a very challenging game, even on Normal difficulty. I think I'm in act two. What about you? Kirk Hamilton: I've played about 8 hours, I'd say. I'm a bit behind you in the story, because I sense I was doing more sidequests, at least at first. I'm currently exploring the first big town, have a full party of six, and I've gotten my head around combat. It was a bit of an adjustment—like you said, this game can have teeth! Incautious adventurers will get wiped out more than a couple times at the start. Jason Schreier: That first big town, it's worth noting, is nearly as big as the city of Baldur's Gate (from BG1). Defiance Bay, as it's called, has got five districts, a whole lot of buildings, tons of quests, an obligatory sewer/catacomb system, and like four different Kickstarter-backer-named inns. It's not quite as huge as Athkatla, the main city in BG2, but it's a substantial, interesting city, with tons and tons to see and do. And apparently there's another one that's just as big! Kirk Hamilton: Oh, nice. Yeah, I'm still getting my bearings in Defiance Bay. I walked in on some thieves planning a heist and killed them all. Then I went to the library. Just another day in Dyrwood. So, let's think... what do people want to know about this game? We're just supposed to be writing "impressions" of it, and neither of us has played enough to say anything SUPER authoritative, but clearly we both feel confident saying this is a good game. What do you like about it? Jason Schreier: When I first loaded up Pillars, I was bouncing around a few questions: 1) Will this feel like old Infinity Engine games? 2) How deep and interesting are the progression and combat systems? 3) Are the quests going to be more interesting than your average "go kill some rats and deliver this package"? And finally, 4) This is an Obsidian game — is it going to be super buggy? So let me try to tackle those, after ~13 hours of playing. 1) Yes, in every possible way, from the size and shape of the cursor to the way enemy health displays phrases like "Injured" and "Near death." 2) They definitely take some getting used to, since Pillars of Eternity has replaced the familiarities of D&D with its own set of rules and systems. Gone are +2 weapons and Magic Missiles, replaced by a whole host of unique yet somewhat similar weapons, spells, and mechanics. Let's touch upon all that more in a bit. 3) Sort of. Some of the quests have felt rote; others are really interesting, enhanced by the story and setting, which revolves around souls. Again, more on that in a bit. 4) Surprisingly not buggy! I've seen some typos, and once in a while the game will screw up a script trigger and I'll have to reload an auto-save, but everything's mostly stable, which is lovely. Whew. OK, lots to talk about there. Kirk Hamilton: I'm with you on most of that. What's struck me as remarkable about this game is how effectively it demonstrates the potency of a lot of storytelling techniques—writing, in particular—that video game RPGs have "evolved beyond" over the intervening decade and a half. The writing is the most obvious thing—dialogue boxes don't just contain dialogue, they contain descriptions of how the character said what they just said. That's because the characters themselves are tiny little figures viewed from on high—you can't see their faces, let alone their body language—but it's surprisingly, almost startlingly evocative. At one point early on in the story, the character Edér makes a short joke, which is followed by: "He smiles at this, but it is the smile of one recounting a joke for effect rather than enjoyment." That bit of writing is so effortlessly potent, when it'd take a crew of well-paid animators and mo-cap artists to capture such a thing visually. Of course, text-based games didn't just stop doing this sort of thing even as big-budget RPGs moved more toward representative animation. Hell, the whole Twine-game resurgence is based on the ideas that 1) Simple writing can more easily capture the imagination than complicated animations and 2) It's much more cost-effective to favor writing over graphics, meaning the games about more things can be made by more people. Back in 2000, the tech limited people and forced game designers to rely on text as a means to convey nuance. Now, it's more optional, but in channeling the vibe and approach of those older games, Pillars is a good reminder that simple writing can be a wonderful thing in a video game. That was kind of a whole digression, but you know what I'm saying? For all the thoughts I have about the combat design, the quests, and all that, the writing is the thing that really sticks out to me so far, both in quantity and in quality. Jason Schreier: Yeah, I mean that's been one of Obsidians finest finest skillsas a developer from Fallout: New Vegas to Alpha Protocol to Knights of the Old Republic II. They've got some of the most talented writers and narrative designers out there, and that's clear in Pillars, both through the big themes and the little character moments. One thing that's unique to this game is that rather than just striking up random conversations with an NPC, your character can go up to them and look at their soul, which tells you a short story about who they are and where they came from. I haven't done this with every single NPC — there are points where I just want to get on with the story — but the ones that I have read are lovely little bursts of story and flavor. Kirk Hamilton: I'm amazed that they made so many of those! I've stopped doing them all because there are like five or six in every area I visit, and each one is such a mini-emotional-journey. But while I do like the writing, I guess the specific thing I'm talking about is how the game uses... "every part of the language buffalo," maybe. It uses writing in a way that modern big-budget RPGs rarely do, at least outside of the codex. I can't even remember the last time I played an RPG and the game TOLD me the character's eyes were downcast as he spoke, rather than trying to show me. Like... the "cutscenes" in this game are just text, with music, sound effects, and black and white illustrations. I have to imagine everything. It makes me feel less like I'm playing a modern CRPG and more like I'm doing a pen and paper D&D campaign. Jason Schreier: Which is awesome! Maybe not for everyone. Maybe Pillars won't sell 40 billion copies like, say, Skyrim has. But if you can appreciate what it's doing, and you don't mind reading a lot, this is something special—an RPG that is OK giving you mini-choose-your-own-adventures where you can decide whether to climb up those vines or throw a grappling hook at the window, all in text. I love that sometimes I'll talk to an NPC and see them lost in thought rather than just cutting straight to dialogue. Or how sometimes I'll try to open a chest and find myself suddenly participating in a text adventure, where I can examine the chest more closely, or try to force it open, or walk away and hunt down the key. It's really rad. Kirk Hamilton: It really is. It's funny—as much as text-based games have been the province of more experimental indie games over the last few years, this is a good reminder that a lot of that stuff has its roots in more conventional (or, "conventional") PC gaming. Fantasy, dragons, dungeons, the sort of stuff so many big-budget games these days still focus on. Text-based gaming has something to offer everyone! And hey, speaking of conventions—what do you think of the world Avellone & company have built here? I like some aspects, but some of it hasn't quite drawn me in yet.
  2. Oh thank you for this, just perfect, feel just like Cartman atm!
  3. Pacific timezone (Obsidian and Valve both go off pacific time)
  4. Nice to see Cities Skylines and Pillars in the top 3 atm in sales. Paradox is probably glad to have scooped up Skylines and Pillars.
  5. The price is perfectly fine, Divinity Original Sin was same price.
  6. People watch youtube videos of a game they had no interest in or wouldn't buy before. After seeing gameplay they decide to buy it, this has been around for awhile. Sure I would like to play it now but I have no issue with them getting keys to reviewers/youtubers quicker. Not sure why some are acting entitled, reviewers and youtubers get games before everyone else, just the way it has been and the way it is. Be patient and play in a few days!
  7. They said early this week so if it's not today I would expect them 2morrow.
  8. That is not a huge amount imo for steam, as you get alot more exposure. I always thought it was 30-50% that steam/gog got right away. Hell, artists on Itunes get 10% for selling music on Itunes, I would take that 70% over 10% any day!
  9. There are so many fantasy style names out there on the internet, just do a google search Or just make them up yourself, or name them after your favorite tv show characters like Game Of Thrones. Or use the same names from some classic old school rpgs that you used many years ago For me I usually have one as Kozzy and one as Kahlessi, others I just make up wierd sounding geeky names
  10. Yup, the music is epic! I was playing some Skylines, just listening to the music on some stream as i built my city lol. I could always tell when the streamer was fighting with that music
  11. Welcome to the Obsidian forums! Steam forums are always hell, even if the game is loved by fans. Hell the Cities Skylines forum has been filled with silly stuff and that game is loved by the community (96% average for fans last time I looked on steam). I rarely go to the steam forums unless it is to see notes on an update or in Pillars sake, tossing some GOOD in with all the bad First kickstarter I ever backed was this one! Divinity Original Sin I did to, which turned out great.
  12. Woot Woot! Even with all the big 2k sales they have had the last 4-5 days. Once those are done with Pillars will jump even higher. Keep spreading the word folks!
×
×
  • Create New...