Admirable Design Decisions

[Verde]

So as great as PoE1 was, there were a few things that bugged me from a RP perspective which are remedied in the sequel:

 

1. Your race being recognized, esp Godlike. This adds so much more to the characters imo.

 

2. Peaceful resolutions. At one pt in PoE1 I started to feel guilty for all the slaughtering I was doing. But I didn't feel like I had options. Not the case in PoE2.

 

3. Skill checks vs. Attribute checks. If you didn't pump Int or Res in PoE1 you missed out on a TON of checks. Not the case in PoE2. Sure attributes have their place, but I enjoy checks mostly from my skills, allowing more freedom in how I build my char.

 

What about ya'll? What design decisions are you digging with the sequel?

Edited May 21, 2018 by Verde

[Skazz]

I’m probably going to get some flak for this, but words can’t describe how glad I was that almost every class spell/ability is Per Encounter now.

 

I had way more fun with my Loremaster than I had expected.

[Verde]

Great pt Skazz! Totally agree.

[gibonez]

I’m probably going to get some flak for this, but words can’t describe how glad I was that almost every class spell/ability is Per Encounter now.

 

I had way more fun with my Loremaster than I had expected.

 

Why would you get flak ?

 

Combat skills being per encounter really helped alot of the classes and playstyles to actually be viable.

 

Take the rogue being able to go into stealth per encounter for "backstabbing" is now viable due to per encounter skills.

[rjshae]

My favorites are multi-class implementation and a broader selection of skills. These provide a vastly broader range of character building choices, so we're more likely to be able to build the type of character we want.

[Starwars]

 

I’m probably going to get some flak for this, but words can’t describe how glad I was that almost every class spell/ability is Per Encounter now.

 

I had way more fun with my Loremaster than I had expected.

 

Why would you get flak ?

 

Combat skills being per encounter really helped alot of the classes and playstyles to actually be viable.

 

Take the rogue being able to go into stealth per encounter for "backstabbing" is now viable due to per encounter skills.

 

 

He should take a lot of flak because it is WRONG! 

Hehe, just joking. 

 

Anyways, as far as I'm concerned, the most admirable thing is that they did the open-world thing where you can shortcut the story and go where you want, as well as the faction quests and how they interact with everything. Just opening the game up a lot more, how you explore as well as how you can solve encounters in different ways.

 

I also think the relationship system is, while rather basic in Deadfire, a very nice idea and hopefully it will be expanded upon in future games.

 

And also, I'm glad that they did Neketaka as a very densely packed city. Not everyone is a fan of all the talking (if you decide to comb through Neketaka in one go) but it's a real work of art I think. A fantastic hub location.

Edited May 21, 2018 by Starwars

[Wormerine]

Class/combat/quest/ship design is miles ahead of the 1st game. All the controversial decisions payed off. Looking forward to replaying it in a more polished and balanced state.

[tinysalamander]

2. Peaceful resolutions. At one pt in PoE1 I started to feel guilty for all the slaughtering I was doing. But I didn't feel like I had options. Not the case in PoE2.

 

From playing PoE1 I got the feeling that the only people who can afford to be totally honest are killing beasts (people often don't appreciate honest answers). Basically, if you see an honest man be on your guard. I found that kind of amusing, even if it was just my impression on how things worked.

[IndiraLightfoot]

1. A huge city full of lots of dialogue and criss-crossing quest threads. At this time and age, that was very brave of them, and I loved most of it!

2. Letting us reuse our PoE1 character with decisions and all, but still having PoE2 start at lvl 1 - top-notch decision in my book.

3. Making several dungeons darker, to the point where you almost needs a torch. I've kept that sabre offhand torch the whole game. I just love illuminating caverns and crypts!

4. Adding weather effects and hampering terrain.

Edited May 21, 2018 by IndiraLightfoot

[flamesium]

Once the bugs and balance issues are ironed out I'll be hard pressed to think of any aspect which isn't better than Pillars 1. Most of it significantly so. Apart from the general standard of everything just being better I'll go for:

 

MULTI-CLASSING. The single biggest improvement. Thinking about builds is half the fun for me, and this opens up so many more options.

 

Extensive use of vignettes. These add so much flavour, especially when the crew of your ship get involved.

 

Party members contributing to skill checks. Also the seperation of active and passive skills.

 

Weapon crafting being unique to the weapon.

 

Letting you do more of the faction content.

 

Everything not being depressing constantly. More frequent and better moments of humour.

 

Letting you travel directly to the building you want.

[Yenkaz]

3. Making several dungeons darker, to the point where you almost needs a torch. I've kept that sabre offhand torch the whole game. I just love illumination caverns and crypts!

 

 

I never noticed this...

 

Until I didn't bring Xoti to one dungeon. Aaah, why is this deep cave so da... oh.

[ThacoBell]

Basically everything about PoE2 is better than in PoE1. Though I did really enjoy the stronghold in 1.

[Skazz]

Basically everything about PoE2 is better than in PoE1. Though I did really enjoy the stronghold in 1.

 

Gameplay-wise, yeah.

 

The main plot, on the other hand...

[Yenkaz]

Eh, I wish a few more dungeons could be more quality over quantity, but it's nitpicking. Each one has an atmosphere.

[PangaeaACDC]

Class/combat/quest/ship design is miles ahead of the 1st game. All the controversial decisions payed off. Looking forward to replaying it in a more polished and balanced state.

 

Especially the ship design

 

 

Agree with the OP. Think they made some tough calls with this game, and most of them have paid off in making an enjoyable and versatile game.

[ThacoBell]

 

Basically everything about PoE2 is better than in PoE1. Though I did really enjoy the stronghold in 1.

 

Gameplay-wise, yeah.

 

The main plot, on the other hand...

 

Indeed. I haven't finished the game yet, so I can only comment on the gameplay.

[Crucis]

 

I’m probably going to get some flak for this, but words can’t describe how glad I was that almost every class spell/ability is Per Encounter now.

 

I had way more fun with my Loremaster than I had expected.

 

Why would you get flak ?

 

Combat skills being per encounter really helped alot of the classes and playstyles to actually be viable.

 

Take the rogue being able to go into stealth per encounter for "backstabbing" is now viable due to per encounter skills.

 

 

There are some people whining about how wizards got nerfed hard, as if there was any chance that the devs would let wizards have the same number of spells they had in PoE1 just with per Encounter.  That would have been ridiculously unbalanced.

 

Personally though, I liked them being per rest.  I liked the idea that you needed to ration your spell use as a wizard or other per-rest casting class, unless you intended to break immersion and just spam resting after every battle.  I enjoyed the challenge of having to manage my limited numbers of spells on Durance and Aloth, while trying to get as far as I could before falling back to rest.  I also liked the PoE1 Endurance vs Health system for this same reason.

 

However, I can deal with the per Encounter casters.

 

One thing that's really lacking though is that there's no need whatsoever to rest on a regular basis.  You can travel for weeks on end without resting, as long as you haven't taken any (or too many) wounds or some curse you want to remove.  This isn't right.  I'd really like to see some kind of endurance system added that limited the length of time you could operate between rests.  I would say that it should be assumed that you're getting regular rest while you're traveling on your ship.  Maybe have it timed such that you're assumed to get a Rest every time your crew eats/drinks, so that someone couldn't just spam a rest just by getting on the ship and immediately getting off.

 

Regardless, there really should be an endurance mechanic that sort of forces you to rest from time to time, or suffer from increasingly more severe fatigue penalties.

[Verde]

 

2. Peaceful resolutions. At one pt in PoE1 I started to feel guilty for all the slaughtering I was doing. But I didn't feel like I had options. Not the case in PoE2.

From playing PoE1 I got the feeling that the only people who can afford to be totally honest are killing beasts (people often don't appreciate honest answers). Basically, if you see an honest man be on your guard. I found that kind of amusing, even if it was just my impression on how things worked.

Ha. Any examples salamander?

[tinysalamander]

From playing PoE1 I got the feeling that the only people who can afford to be totally honest are killing beasts (people often don't appreciate honest answers). Basically, if you see an honest man be on your guard. I found that kind of amusing, even if it was just my impression on how things worked.

Ha. Any examples salamander?

 

Hmm, well, there was a certain quest (one of the early ones, maybe?) where a group of people was searching for someone, and when I did find the one, my character understood that their story wasn't quite what they sold me. So she let the person go. Then I came back and my character said the truth. Understandably, they weren't amused, although I'm not quite sure their decision to attack a group of armed “hobos” was a smart move. And it's not like they had any power over my character, so, why attack me? Although that part is a bit fuzzy in my mind by now.

 

My character is deadly truthful priestess of Eothas, I guess

[wih]

It seems that everything is better in Deadfire than in PoE 1.

 

For me, the standouts are:

 

  - AI scripting. The main reason I backed the game. I love battles but micromanagement is so tiring.

 

  - The slowest combat speed setting. It is so nice to be able to observe the action and read the log without having to pause every half second. This inspired me to look for ways to mod the combat speed in the original PoE and it turned out to be possible!

 

- Skulls!

I actually do not like open world games because my first Infinity engine game was Icewind Dale, which was linear. In it I conquered a level after level and I had a constant sense of progression. Because of its linearity, the levels were well balanced and I always had a fighting chance.

Open world RPGs on the other hand make me enter a location where enemies kill me easily and then I do not want to just leave the area in order to return when I am higher level - this simply feels like a cheating and an ultimate defeat to me. So I try to win the encounter no matter what, which only leads to frustration. The difficulty indicators solve this problem for me.

 

 

Some other highlights:

- Penetration system. I just discovered it. Feels more tactical. Without it I would run around in exceptional leather armors only.

 

 - Vignettes. They really make me feel like I am on adventure. Without them Neketaka wouldn't look as rich. The vignettes were present in the first game too, but were rare.

 

- Small thing, but it is nice that quests can be sorted by difficulty, location and update time. There is even a search function.

Edited May 22, 2018 by wih

[Katarack21]

Every single aspect of PoE 2 is improved over PoE. I mean that; from the graphics to the quests to the classes and combinations to the combat to the reactivity of the world to the epic scale of the story, and more. I can't find anything about the game that isn't superior to the original, and that's ****ing impressive.

[the_dog_days]

The only things I think are better (to any degree) in Deadfire over POE1 are the fact that many of the systems designs are there specifically for shorter playthroughs, the graphical enhancements, and the ship is an improvement over the stronghold. The combat, story, characters, and world building were better in the first one.

[CAlmond]

1. I prefer the Health/Endurance system of the first game. But I can work with the injury system of the second game.

2. I like the increased freedom of going around exploring on a ship. For me, PoE2 brings the random exploration of Skyrim which I liked and combined it with a party in isometric view, which I also prefer over the basically solo (plus sidekick) first person view running around that you do in games like Skyrim.

3. I like Chanters and Ciphers

4. I both simultaneously like and hate the extra peaceful resolutions. I was playing a pirate and I wanted to subtly make the VTC families to kill each other, yet I kept on accidentally going down a path that leads to them making peace. But on a separate playthrough with a more benevolent minded PC, I like the peaceful solution.

5. Quest sorting/grouping is very nice

6. The city drawings whatever they're called are nice.

7. Party skill checks. I always found it annoying in not just PoE, but RPG games in general where my PC might be super dense, but I have a highly intelligent companion, why do we still fail wisdom/intelligence/knowledge type checks when my party member can do it for the group.

8. Multi classing

9. The water, lighting and shadow work. I mean that's just stunning, it's one of the reasons why at least one of my companions usually has a torch-like offhand,

[SonicMage117]

I like the setting and the color pallette change. High use of fluorescents and neons are a welcome change for these old eyes.

 

I'd say everything is equal but different, from what I've played, seems like there's a bit more freedom and flexibility. You tell me.

[Lord_Mord]

 

Vignettes

 

What's that?