Is the plot complex?

[hollerer]

Is it just me or does anyone else find the plot a bit complex from the start?

 

I've read fantasy books and played fantasy games before but what I found missing in this game was a clear introduction right from the beginning. The game starts: you are in a caravan coming from somewhere and going somewhere and that's it. Then, you're put to world with rather deep and complex history and ongoings. There's like multiple dozens of names, places and gods that are just blasted at you and you're expected to know them all from the get go. It's really difficult to form a picture what's going on when you don't know what is connected to whom and when.

 

What I'm missing is clear summary of what the player is supposed to know when he starts the game.

[house2fly]

You don't really need anything more than what you're given. If you're curious about lore there's some in the various descriptions at character creation, otherwise you're a traveler seeking shelter in some ruins, let the adventure commence.

For what it's worth, the sequel does have an intro that serves as a bit of a primer to the world

[LittleArmadillo0]

What the caravan leader mainly is there for is background on the Dyrwood. It is more of a backdrop than what the plot is.

Plot starts rolling as soon as you leave the tutorial dungeon.

I understand where you are coming from. When I first played PoE it was pretty jarring when I played it the first time. My advice, try focusing on the main objective of the game until you feel like you are getting your bearing straight.

[claudius]

It helps to read the books and notes.  I try not to think of the books as something that is distracting me from the action.  Rather the books are part of the exploration.  Sometimes instead of working on a quest I will go to my stronghold library or to the Defiance Bay library and read books there.  Also restarting after 4 months away and half through the game probably helped to review the lore.

Edited January 10, 2019 by claudius

[NikG]

I found exploring the lore through dialogue and reading books to be sufficient. But I did fart around way too long before actually going into Defiance Bay and realizing that's where the main quest line was! I got my stronghold fully upgraded way before I finished act 2.

[Boeroer]

On 12/12/2018 at 9:14 PM, hollerer said:

Is it just me or does anyone else find the plot a bit complex from the start?

Can't say I find the plot overly complex. First time players might find it obscure and mysterious - but that's intended up to a certain point.

[NikG]

I wouldn't say the plot is complex, but that you're given so much stuff to do on the side that it's easy to lose track of the main story. I wandered around for days (in game) before I even got to the the quests in Defiance Bay, and then I managed to hit all the side quests there too before I stumbled back onto the main story.

If anything the main story is a bit linear, albeit not a straight line (at least through act 2, which is as far as I've played). There are 3 factions in Defiance Bay, but which one you end up with really doesn't seem to affect the outcome of act 2. Your choices in many interactions throughout the game will change your "dispositions", however, which does affect how NPCs relate to you in dialogue; that's pretty neat.