Your favorite things in Deadfire

[Starwars]

So, it's been a few months. We've had time to digest the game a little bit, and to voice our complaints about difficulty, combat mechanics, sidekicks, romances, story, ship combat and all of that stuff.

But at this point, what were the things that Deadfire really succeeded at in your opinion?

 

Here are mine in no particular order:

 

-Opening the game up. For some I think this clashes a bit with the narrative, but I absolutely love that we got a full world map to sail around on at our own leisure. It wasn't something that I actively wished for after PoE but I think it was a very positive thing for the game.

 

-Factions. Somewhat tied to the above point but again, I love the fact that the game got a "New Vegas treatment" and made a large part of the game story be... well, about the Deadfire, the power plays and the people within in. Discovering the factions, working for them, deciding who to help and who to screw over, getting your companions' take on them. I love that. Possibly my favorite improvement on the first game.

 

-Making companions less of a story hub and more of an active element as you're travelling. I think everyone (myself included) always want as much depth as possible in the companions, it's pretty amazing how much companion interjections there are in dialogues throughout the game and I think it was a good trade-off vs the "heya, let me exhaust all the dialogue options" style that was more prevalent in PoE1.

 

-Neketaka. I (and many others) have been wanting a really good RPG city for a while now and for me, Neketaka really delivered on that. It was extremely fun to explore, plenty of merchants, quests and characters. I'm really glad they chose to make it a big focus of the game.

 

-Audio immersion. I think the audio team did a great job at making scenes come alive, especially in stuff like the scripted interactions.  And stuff like the tavern music really sell the atmosphere. Broadly speaking I think I liked the music in PoE1 one more but overall, the sound of Deadfire is a big improvement.

 

-Day/night/weather cycles. I would love to see more done with this in future games, making day and night matter more and have the game be a bit more "simulationist" but Deadfire made good strides in this area as well. Hope that it's something they develop more in the future.

 

-Multiclassing. Just plain old fun to tinker with.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Starwars

[uuuhhii]

faction and big city are definitely best part

some island content are lacking but overall much better than most poe1 map

day night cycle are the worst implementation of an idea in deadfire

waiting 5~10 hours everytime standing in front of vtc headquarter

and make it inaccessible on city map

why not

[daven]

I like the audio.

 

Attacks in combat feel like they have a lot more weight compared to the first game.

 

The animations are much improved.

[MaxQuest]

But at this point, what were the things that Deadfire really succeeded at in your opinion?

- Neketaka

- Character models and animations

- Music, shanties and audio effects (really a solid improvement vs PoE1 where some tracks started to become unpleasant over time)

- The way the game engages you in the beginning and makes it personal (it's Obsidian's strong point really)

- Enchantment mutually-exclusive paths for unique weapons

 

And would also answer the same question, but without the "really" word, i.e:

But at this point, what were the things that Deadfire succeeded at in your opinion?

Same as above, plus:

- Multiclassing

- Subclasses

- Factions (aside from final quests)

- Exploration

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

But at this point, what were the things that Deadfire really succeeded at in your opinion?

- Neketaka

- Character models and animations

- Music, shanties and audio effects (really a solid improvement vs PoE1 where some tracks started to become unpleasant over time)

- The way the game engages you in the beginning and makes it personal (it's Obsidian's strong point really)

- Enchantment mutually-exclusive paths for unique weapons

 

And would also answer the same question, but without the "really" word, i.e:

But at this point, what were the things that Deadfire succeeded at in your opinion?

Same as above, plus:

- Multiclassing

- Subclasses

- Factions (aside from final quests)

- Exploration

 

I agree with all of this except for factions, but that's just me. I loved roaming around in F:NV and doing my thing, but hours and hours into the game, it became obvious that those factions were a bit too heavy handed to my liking. That says it all. If that gave me ire, I mean. And I obviously detested Skyrim's factions as well - controlling entire storylines, and still you could do them all - they weren't even exclusive. Ideally, I'd love to have seen Deadfire without factions, or at least make them less obvious and numbers-game-y.

Edited August 21, 2018 by IndiraLightfoot

[Verde]

The graphics, music, and animations.

 

The Clever dialogue options.

 

Unique enchantments.

 

Rogues.

 

Multiclassing.

 

I wish the stories and writing and characters were as quality as the gameplay. Alas I feel like Deadfire is more Diablo-cRPG than Baldur's Gate. Everything is a vehicle for leveling your character and getting your gear - I barely feel invested in anything other than the factions.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Verde

[Wormerine]

-Neketaka - RPG is as good as its cities and Neketaka is pretty damn good. A bustling, large city which you go in&out throughout the whole playthrough and consistently find something to do.

 

-Setting - Deadfire is a really cool place. This ties a lot to the factions. I wish the natural habitat would be explored a bit more (naga, sea monsters etc.) - but maybe mega bosses will do jst that.

 

-items! I like me some unique items. Playing around with them is really fun, and finding new special item is always exciting.

 

-I am liking more the way companions are done - probably thanks to the tooltip system which lets you know which companions you should take for each quest. Not ideal, but this time all of my seem much better fleshed out - in my first playthrough I missed some key interactions for some of them, which make them feel much more shallow.

 

-I like the world map. I would like a bit more mechanics to be thrown in there - random encounters, more dynamic enemy shops and faction control, but it is still much better than what was before. I enjoy charting a journey plan and going on a chain of bounties, discovering uncharted isles, and major quest mission in one smooth trip, then coming back to Neketaka, handing in he quest and planning the another journey. However, I wish the game was more dynamic, making those journeys more interesting/messing your plan up.

 

-scripted interactions is what I hoped they would be when they were first announced for PoE1. Liking them a lot.

 

-mechanic changes - overall, I feel like Deadfire’s gameplay is smoother and more enjoyable - building a character is much easier due to new skill tree layout, I think that ditching per-rest system works in this game’s favour. Still, game becomes too easy in 2nd half.

[Teclis23]

Leveling up (building power)

The cartoony feel

Graphics

The character avatars look awesome with the right gear

Arkemyrs quest (so funny after robbing him)

Killing benwith with the piano bomb (lol)

The freedom of the semi-open world

Building builds with the multi-classing

The subclasses

Discovering synergies

[wolfrider100]

My favorite things in Deadfire are,

 

- If you wanted to, you can be a pirate.

- New unique gear to find and put to use.

- Scripted interactions being improved on.

- Now being able to travel on the open sea.

- Neketaka (it's a pretty cool major city hub).

- All the new ships you can own and upgrade.

- Sea shanties, which your ship crew can sing.

- Having a lot more bounties to complete now.

- New and old companions (Glad Eder's back).

- Obsidian adding AI companion customization.

- New factions (they also have been improved).

- Multiclassing and subclasses were both added.

Edited August 23, 2018 by wolfrider100

[cokane]

-Improved factions

-More sophisticated use of the scripted encounters, the gullet underground is a solid example

-Better audio design

-The ship > Cad Nua

-Neketaka > Defiance Bay

-The exploration, mapping quests

-Ship combat as an idea (it's raw and flawed, but could be great with some iteration)

-Color, art design, much clearer backgrounds, much more legible areas

-Expanded and more sophisticated thieving/stealth

-Companions have more interesting interactions

[bringingyouthefuture]

- Being a pirate

 

- Game mechanics (slow motion combat mode, thieving mechanic is way cooler, Food bonus resting and crafting, Pets mechanic, how skills stack between characters, etc)

 

- game replayability with the various classes, companion NPCs, factions and ways to solve quests    *In regards to Benwith ... what?!!!!! I missed that lol

 

- the agony of having to pick between two evils ...

 

- graphics and animations look great

Edited August 21, 2018 by aaronghowell

[InsaneCommander]

- Multi and subclasses

- Exploring the sea with your ship

- Being a pirate

- Sea shanties

- Neketaka

- The expanded skill system

- More interaction with

 

 

the gods

 

 

[MotelOK]

I dig the shanties, the colorful visuals, and my brother from another mother Eder.

[zendingo]

Favorite:

 

combat

multi-classing

subclasses

AI customization

 

Unlike others here, I really dislike big cities in these kind of games. It's fine the first time around, but I dread it every time I play a new game. So much time wasted NOT fighting.

[Prince of Lies]

My Dread Pirate Power Fantasy™

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Tripple crown solo.

 

The Fox and the Farmer.

 

Undercity.

[pikea1]

There's really so much to like.  But my definite #1 is the ability to tweak the AI.

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

Scripted interactions being improved on.

 

 

 

 

The expanded skill system

 

 

 

my definite #1 is the ability to tweak the AI.

 

Nice ones, folks. I forgot about these.

[daver]

-Graphics:

  real time lighting, awesome reflections and shadows (watching your characters shadows from Xoti's lantern bounce along a wall in a dungeon)

  weather effects (wind/rain)

  water that characters can wade through, leaving ripples and slowing them down

  parts of the environment are destructible, like exploding barrels (Aloth once killed everyone on screen (enemies, my party, and a merchant) by launching a fire ball at some barrels.

 

-Factions:

  Loved having to deal with the various factions, even though they all had major negatives in how they dealt with the Deadfire.  Would love it even more if this area of the game were 

  expanded to give various options & choices to possibly get some of them to work together.  Loved destroying all slavers.

 

-Reputation System:

  Loved how this reflected not only reps with companions, but with factions & cities.  One of the best visual rep systems I've seen in any rpg.

 

-Companions:

  Much more involved companions this time around, a lot of good and lol moments with the banter, great interjections of opinions during certain quests & events, some really nice

  scripted scenes.  Companion quests gave some insight into their past, and fleshed them out a little more, although those quests could have been expanded upon a bit more to make 

  the end seem more complete, as well as the "romance" options that felt somewhat lacking.  But overall, great improvement over POE1.

 

-Combat:

  I love it.  Far more detailed and with great spell effects, and I love that they have included options to be able to tweak the combat behavior of companions, much like DA:O.  There's a 

  far wider range of difficulty levels than most games would even consider (I know there are those that want a harder PoTD, but the options here are still commendable).

 

 

-The Map & Exploring

  I love the whole open map dotted with islands & storms, not knowing what you're going to find.  Love the shanties while on my ship.

 

-Skills, Conversations, Abilities & Miscellaneous: 

  Skills play such a big role in conversations now, sometimes a check for the Watcher only, but mostly a party check.  So many hostile situations can be avoided and turn out better 

  good conversation options & skill checks.

 

  A good balance of active & passive abilities.  Some of those passives are hugely important.  Spell casters don't know every spell ever created, whether wizard, priest, druid, cypher, or 

  chanter.  You have to build a unique character/companion as you go along.

 

  Some fun unique equipment, not just weapons & armor, but accessories, and your companions comment when you give them one.

 

  I like the reduced crafting options.  I never upgraded a non-unique in POE1 anyway, so having it restricted to uniques is a good move I think.

 

  Pets give certain benefits when equipped. 

 

  I like the food/resting options while camping.  Benefits from certain foods can provide huge boosts, and the affects last.

 

  I like managing a ship & the crew, keeping morale, and I even like the sort of mini game that ship combat is.

[Harry Easter]

My favorites were:

 

- Neketaka: This is a lovely big city, that just feels good to explore. I like also how the devs managed it, to make it feel like it's own thing.

- Factions are not as strong as I wished they were, but they give a good idea what you could do in the Deadfire Archipelo

- Sailing is actually quite cool and I love my sailors shanties.

- Character models and animations are a big plus, because now every playerrace looks cool enough, that you want to play them.

- More extra dialogues for races and classes. Stuff like this make me really interested to create more characters and test how different it feels to play with them.

- The replayvalue is way higher (see above).

 

My favorite thing are the islands though. They are a good way for small, but really good modules and the game rewarded the player with some really interesting gems, that gave more depth to the world AND were fun to play, too. A nice collection of mini-adventures, that were connected by the lore. That meant, that the story wasn't as tight, as I wished it could be, but it also turns Deadfire into a game, that's easier to play just for some hours.

[TheMetaphysician]

I'm repeating a bunch of stuff others have said, but here's my favorite stuff:

 

- City design, especially Neketaka but including smaller cities. Gave a wonderful impression of depth that I haven't had in a game like this since Athkatla in BG2.

- AI options. I still can't believe we haven't seen this since Dragon Age Origins; it should be a staple of the genre. Kudos for bringing it back!

- I loved the pirate theme, the ship exploration, the sea shanties, and ship-boarding combat with its awesome music.

- The scripted interactions -- they made the world feel so much more real and immersive.

[Porcelyn]

Blowing up Ben. It will always be my favourite.

[juanval]

"My favourite things", what a beautiful song.

 

- I love the general setting: renaissance era, souls and animancy, adra, Engwithian ruins, variety of places, etc. To enjoy it better is highly recommended to read the guidebook.

- Deadfire lore.

- Neketaka is great. And the small towns too.

- The graphical aspect and the music.

- The factions and their interests. Vailian Company is great.

- The freedom of travel across the overland map.

- The possibility of playing PoE2 with the same characters I played PoE1 (Eder, Pallegina and Aloth).

- The variety of quests: Bounties, small quests, faction quests, plot quests, character quests, etc.

- Conversations and consequences of decisions.

Edited August 26, 2018 by juanval

[Sherab]

1. Graphics - I think they are at the level better than in the first game, but at the same time, just good enough - I do not expect anything more fancy from this type of game.

 

2. Exploration.

 

3. Broad role-playing possibilities - as in the first game, there is plenty of choices and ways to portrait our hero.

 

4. Unique equipment indeed feels unique - in the first game quite often "enchantig" of "normal" equipment was way to go, while "unique" equimpent, maybe with some exceptions, was not really better or really unique. Now unique items seems to be mostly superior to normal stuff.

 

5. penetration system - actually, I thing that constant DR from first part was more reallistic, but from gameplay perspective it has also it's main flaws (making armor almost useless in later part of the game, due to massive damage our hero and his/her companions could recive in combat). I generaly don't like percentage damage mittigation, as less reallistic and less immersive. But I admitt, that from gameplay perspective, it propably works better, and coupled with this penetration system, it actually makes sense.

 

 

 

But. I would like to mention some cons too (from personal perspective):

 

1. Affliction system - I preffered the old one - maybe just because I've used to it. But I find new one not very intuitive and clear. I'm confused by it. It is hard for me to find out with affliction actualy do what, and especially, what kind of "antidote" I should use against it.

 

2. "Simplified" combat system - again, I preffered the old one. Ok, new one can be interested in a way - it is more tactician, than strategic, so to speak. But I find somehow old one more interesting and involving.

[Androoh]

*some spoilers - not sure how to do the tags*


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1. Neketaka. Loved exploring this place and I liked that on the drawn map that there were areas one couldn't click on - In my imagination I was thinking that these will be the residential areas, warehouses, the back alleys etc - it's a small thing but it had me process the city as having a bigger scale where thousands of people are living. Indeed these were alluded to in the occasional text based bits too.

The map is so often taken to be the exact territory in games.

2. The balance of show and tell. I think the original game wasn't as strong in this area in some bits. For example in the first game when you're communing with the gods and you have walls of texts to describe what's going on, or when you're doing grieving mother's personal quest - Why not animate this, or show some visuals to accompany it? Deadfire took this in to consideration a bit more I think.

3. Multiclassing. 

4. Blowing Benweth up with the piano bomb.

5. The Nemnok quest.

6. Exploring the beyond. Animancy as a theme being explored more.

7. Ydwin being far less annoying (or an 'anime' character) than I predicted her to be.

8. The graphics, lighting and animation. Everything is clean, crisp and colourful. Being able to match my avatar to my portrait was satisfying. Torches having a use in a dungeon, or Xoti's lantern really added to the atmosphere or exploring ancient Engwithan ruins etc.

9. The open world exploration. Felt like BG 1 in this regard which I personally like a lot.

10. The removal of camping supplies and the old resting system.

11. The factions and politics were well written / engaging in my view. 

 

12. The 'helpers' for the lore and language terms, akin to what exists in Tyranny.

13. Reputation / dispositions system.

14. Fully voiced NPCs.

15. Ambiguous moral decisions. I am all for agonising RP decisions.

16. Weapons and the way enchantments were handled made them more unique. Much prefer this to being able to enchant everything in the first game.

17. Stealth/Explosives. Having to use fire crackers to distract guards when you blow up the RDC powder house as an example - Was good to have a dedicated segment of the game where you had to use stealth and factor in NPC attention 'cones' because I honestly never tinkered with these skills much.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Androoh