First impressions thread!

[archaicEternity]

Hi everyone!

First, I'd just like to note that I'm very, very excited about this game and I have really enjoyed the time I've spent in the beta so far.  I'm going to organize these impressions into things I like, and things that I think are not quite working as intended.  Hopefully this will be helpful and I'm not retreading too much territory that's already been covered!  For the record, my first character is an Amaua Priest, and I have explored both sections of map, the ruins underneath the western section, the spider cave, and the ruins underneath the eastern explorable map.

What's Looking Good:

Environments:  The environments look stunning, and the design of both the town and the surrounding area also have a lot of visual interest which makes them fun to run around in.  One of the things I always liked about the Baldur's Gate series (and all isometric RPG games of the era) is how the settings have to straddle the line between 'a real, living place' and 'a painting' which I think the game is doing really well with so far (wind, lighting, etc.)

Character Models:  I was a little bit worried about the character models in the creator as there wasn't a lot of options (more on this later) and up close some of the faces looked a bit weird.  In-game though the models look very detailed and fluid and the character animations are more detailed even then I'd expected (particularly liked the winding up of the arbalest on reload).  Lots of small things make the characters stand out as being real adventurers, and not just a walking cloud of math, like they were in other IE games unless you were really invested in the story.

Interactables:  I like the choice to make interactable objects cut away to a text page which give you a lot of different ways to play out the scenario.  Obviously so far mostly this has boiled down to choosing your strongest guy to try and push the statue, but I'm hoping that once NPCs are fully implemented these will also become a party diplomacy thing i.e. I need to break into a house but my character who's best suited to this has a moral objection to it; I will need to either persuade them to make an exception or to choose a different party member who is less suited to the task

What Needs Work:

Pathfinding:  One of the biggest issues I've had in combat so far has been pathfinding (outside of combat it's been fine thus far).  Often, I have won or lost combat due to either my melee characters getting bunched up behind one another and not able to reach their enemies, or vice versa.  I think that having to individually move each character so that they can swing at an enemy is an unreasonable level of micro to expect of players, nor is it particularly fun.

Combat Difficulty?:  Perhaps I just haven't played enough yet but the difficulty of each individual combat seems to vary widely.  Even with two priests it's difficult to stop my fighters from dying of beetle poison, and the cast time for the longer healing spells I have found typically means that by the time I'm finished casting the result of the battle is a foregone conclusion.  

Character Customization: I'm sure this has been mentioned at length in the forums already, but it bears reiteration: there are too few character portraits available currently.  In a game like PE, identifying with my character is a big part of how I'm going to engage with the story, and if I have too few options for portraits, faces and hair at the beginning it's going to be a big issue.  Even more problematic, I opted to play as an Amaua as my first character, and there are no female Amaua portraits at all.  I realize that this is likely a Beta issue and that more will be added before launch but I can't overstress how important character customizability is to me as an end user

XP Notification: In my current playthrough I have completed two quests (Dragon's Egg and Thief vs. Police in Dyrwood Village) and I think it would be nice to be able to see more easily what my completion rewards are.  I'm certainly earning experience for it, but given how important XP and levelling is in an RPG I think it would be viscerally more satisfying for the game to let me know I'm doing a good job more obviously.

Comments?  Thoughts?  Please let me know!

 

 

[PrimeHydra]

Game is gorgeous, animation is smooth, character creation is deep, weapons and spells are varied, combat is complex. This game is shaping up to be everything I wanted Divinity: Original Sin to be.

 

The dearth of voice work is noticeable, but understandable; they'd want to do that stuff after the beta. But its absence reminds me of how memorable the dialog was in BG2. Good writing is paramount, but good writing with good voicework really takes the experience to another level. May they find comparable talent within their budget.

 

Load times are very long. But once polished and optimized, I have every faith that the Infinity Engine classics will have a modern match.

[paterik]

1st impression(s):

-----------------------

+ great (startup) introduction!

+ nice menu / ui styles!

 

- no team interaction

- pathfinding incl. "annoying hook" animation loop's

- enemy's (espc. animal) animation are awefull, ... look's like "freeware stuff" :°(

- npc's interaction? ok, wait ... the entity "talk"!

- bug's: *.* ... (e.g. level up wont work)

-- the "maps" are embarrassing, it seems to be a 2048x2048 meta-unit-square "place" to step into nothing!

-- the whole game look's like an infinty engine copy - even in game icons clone this holy "heritage"!

 

2nd impression:

--------------------

- are you kidding me?!?

[Tempus]

First impression is so far loving it.  Not going into the gripes I have since many are already doing it.

 

Story of the main quest in backer beta was great and had a major twist at the end.  The story was intriguing and mature and not all luvy dovy kidoish.

 

Feel that more conservations options are needed that have more impact on the game.  Like the end of the Blood Legacy with the girl, felt more options should have been available.

 

Certainly brings that IWD/BG feel of gaming, still a lot of work left to do and we only got a very small glimps of what the fnisihed game will be like, but it feels right on track and is exactly what I wanted in the game.

[Sarky]

Well then, first impressions:

 

Music: Sounds good, I like the understated inn tune particularly. Game music tends to play over menu music after quitting though.

 

Visuals: Oh my, I had a moment when I walked over the bridge to the water mill. It looks splendid.

 

 

Mechanics:

Character creation is nice and varied. I very much like how your culture changes your starting gear as well as a stat bonus. Be nice if it did more in the game, will have to wait and see.

 

There are several items in the store with the name and flavour text of *missing string*, and a few lines of dialogue where someone didn't realise they'd left caps lock on, or added a few words too many, or too few, in a sentence. A game like this lives or dies as much on its dialogue as on its combat, so more proof reading please to make sure it's spot-on.

 

Movement: Nice and smooth, nobody moves annoyingly slowly. I know you mentioned AI pathfinding is being worked on, I'm glad because they're a bit thick right now. I like how clicking on a crate/drawer will send the nearest person to open it. I particularly like how you gave barbarians a sprint ability. Was worried running looked very ropey back in some of the update videos, pleased to see it was improved.

 

Combat: Needs a little work, particularly on the visual feedback. Would like better indicators as to who a selected character is currently attacking/targeting with a spell, and maybe additional "Argh, I'm hit, see how I reel from the blow" animation or a spurt of blood/ichor to help you notice when a blow landed. I mean, arrows and magic projectiles, you can easily see who they came from and who they're hitting, not so clear whether a sword swing connected. In an inter-party scrap, the overhead status bars get very hard to distinguish and it's currently quite hard to make out individuals and make sure everyone's doing what you want. I suppose turning them off would be a solution, but then why have the option at all?

 

The combat abilities I've tried so far are pretty intuitive and straightforward. The little description box for each ability is very handy. I've tried the basic fighter/barbarian classes so far alongside the generic party members, and everyone seems to fill the role you'd expect, more or less. I'm a BIG fan of your stats altering things like strength, duration and AoE of abilities, makes more incentive to avoid the traditional min-max of a combat character.

 

I'd have more to say, but after exiting the mill in Dyrford the game sort of crashed...

 

Summary: 

 

Clearer visual feedback in a fight for status, hits, and targeted enemies, please. 

 

Make sure the finished game doesn't contain *missing string* items or a "cONTINUE" button.

 

I'm sure I'll have more to say when I try out the cipher next time. It feels like an Infinity Engine game in all the ways that really matter, mostly needs a wee polish and stability improvements. So far, it looks like I'm getting a pretty damn good return on my investment. Thank you for making this game, I am very much looking forward to the final product.

 

Ciaran.

[Longknife]

Make sure the finished game doesn't contain *missing string* items or a "cONTINUE" button.

 

 

Did you know?

 

*Missing String*

 

 

 

 

 

Lost my **** at that loading screen. I'll donate another $100 just for them to keep that in as an easter egg.

[Stun]

There are several items in the store with the name and flavour text of *missing string*,

Yep.

 

Although I'm not convinced that this is a bug. It might be intentional. I'm thinking there are hundreds of items called "missing string" throughout the game, and if you collect them all, you will be able to create a giant string that connects Twin Elms to Defiance Bay, allowing you to swing from one to the other without having to fast travel.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Stun

[Rillifane]

Though I have a high expectation of this game, I do have an impression that this beta has come out too early. Many aspects of this beta is more like in its alpha state. There are so many bugs and unfinished parts that are so trivial that don't necessarily need a beta test to get revealed. 

[The Loyal Nub]

I played a little more last night and really enjoyed the experience however I ran into a problem in that I cannot find a lockpick for Tryvig's tower. I took the Ogre's word about the missing girl (still had to fight the idiot) and I went back to confront Tryvig which sparked a fight between my party and him and his assistant (which was actually tougher than you'd think). I killed them and now I spot a room with a basement beyond the room I confronted him in. I suspect the missing girl is in that cellar and has been all along (not asking for the truth here). But I also suspect, haha, that I just killed the one guy capable of selling me a lockpick especially as no one else in town is selling one! Any suggestions?

[GrinningReaper659]

I played a little more last night and really enjoyed the experience however I ran into a problem in that I cannot find a lockpick for Tryvig's tower. I took the Ogre's word about the missing girl (still had to fight the idiot) and I went back to confront Tryvig which sparked a fight between my party and him and his assistant (which was actually tougher than you'd think). I killed them and now I spot a room with a basement beyond the room I confronted him in. I suspect the missing girl is in that cellar and has been all along (not asking for the truth here). But I also suspect, haha, that I just killed the one guy capable of selling me a lockpick especially as no one else in town is selling one! Any suggestions?

There may be something useful to be found in a barrel somewhere in that shop if one were to search carefully enough.

[The Loyal Nub]

 

I played a little more last night and really enjoyed the experience however I ran into a problem in that I cannot find a lockpick for Tryvig's tower. I took the Ogre's word about the missing girl (still had to fight the idiot) and I went back to confront Tryvig which sparked a fight between my party and him and his assistant (which was actually tougher than you'd think). I killed them and now I spot a room with a basement beyond the room I confronted him in. I suspect the missing girl is in that cellar and has been all along (not asking for the truth here). But I also suspect, haha, that I just killed the one guy capable of selling me a lockpick especially as no one else in town is selling one! Any suggestions?

There may be something useful to be found in a barrel somewhere in that shop if one were to search carefully enough.

 

 

Thanks, I'll have a look around again. I thought I'd searched pretty thoroughly however maybe I did miss something.

[Stun]

I played a little more last night and really enjoyed the experience however I ran into a problem in that I cannot find a lockpick for Tryvig's tower. I took the Ogre's word about the missing girl (still had to fight the idiot) and I went back to confront Tryvig which sparked a fight between my party and him and his assistant (which was actually tougher than you'd think). I killed them and now I spot a room with a basement beyond the room I confronted him in. I suspect the missing girl is in that cellar and has been all along (not asking for the truth here). But I also suspect, haha, that I just killed the one guy capable of selling me a lockpick especially as no one else in town is selling one! Any suggestions?

That locked door does not lead to a cellar. It leads to a rather sizable dungeon, who's other entrance can be found in the wilderness map where the Ogre was.

[The Loyal Nub]

 

I played a little more last night and really enjoyed the experience however I ran into a problem in that I cannot find a lockpick for Tryvig's tower. I took the Ogre's word about the missing girl (still had to fight the idiot) and I went back to confront Tryvig which sparked a fight between my party and him and his assistant (which was actually tougher than you'd think). I killed them and now I spot a room with a basement beyond the room I confronted him in. I suspect the missing girl is in that cellar and has been all along (not asking for the truth here). But I also suspect, haha, that I just killed the one guy capable of selling me a lockpick especially as no one else in town is selling one! Any suggestions?

That locked door does not lead to a cellar. It leads to a rather sizable dungeon, who's other entrance can be found in the wilderness map where the Ogre was.

 

 

Ah thanks for the tip! 

[Auxilius]

First impression: I suck at combat. I can't even beat the first enemies. But then, it's way too hard for a first encounter when you don't have the hang of the game at all.

 

Otherwise, it's gorgeous, but bland. Goes with the generic village with hardly any SFX and of course, no story.

[lightblade75]

1. My first impression was: WOW! This is the real Baldurs Gate feeling. The music and soundeffects are really amazing. I could listen to this music for hours.
2. The second impression was: A very big load of bugs. So many obvious bugs that does not have to be even in a beta. 
3. Texts are very well written. I am switching between German and English Language and even the German translation of the story is as nice as a fantasy novel.
4. Graphics of the character creation menu could be a little bit more polished.
5. Combat is really cool but way to fast to follow and to keep track of everything so fast...
6. Over all I think this will be a great game and has the potential to even get better or be as good  (in terms of story-telling) as the old IE games

If have to play a few more hours to find out how everything works. (E. g. how to use a lockpick)...

To be coninued...

[lightblade75]

Regarding character portraits: nearly none of the portraits has been convincing me. I wish there would be a lot more portraits. And they should show more of the traits of a character. It feels to me as if it is hard to find a character portrait that fits to even a "mainstream" character. IMHO portpraits are not in the high quality the ones from Baldurs Gate have been. But this is only my opinion.

[morhilane]

First impression: I suck at combat. I can't even beat the first enemies. But then, it's way too hard for a first encounter when you don't have the hang of the game at all.

 

Otherwise, it's gorgeous, but bland. Goes with the generic village with hardly any SFX and of course, no story.

 

What was your first enemies?

[Fluffle]

One of my first impressions is that many people seem to compare their very first fights in the PoE Beta

to the fights of games that they have played and mastered for years.

 

I remember my very first attempts in Baldur's Gate 1. Even if I did pass Shanks and Carbos and

my first wolf, Tarnesh would surely kill me.

 

After playing the beta a few times now, the beetles get easier and easier with each new playthrough.

 

I won't argue that the combat does need improvements.

However comparing the first fights of the beta here to the fights of a game you have known for years

seems a little bit unfair to me.

[LFNT_HNTR]

Greetings Fellow Adventurers,

 

I've been eagerly awaiting this day and will below catalogue my impressions of the Pillars of Eternity (Backer Beta).

 

I'll be updating this as I feel inspired to and my goal is to communicate my appreciation of the game to the developers. Perhaps they will get some nice ideas. I hope you fellows will also enjoy this as I know that I've enjoyed reading your musings and discussions over the months. I begin my journal:

 

Day 1:

 

 

The lute is beautiful in the inn, it is so warm, I feel it entwined with the sound of the softly crackling fireplace. I reflect on all of the worried posts I've read about the specificities of game mechanics, Dungeons and Dragons rules, and so forth. Will it ruin the game? And so forth. Just this, the lute and the crackling fire... Vips (Wasp in Danish), my female orlan rogue, a roughneck, her portrait, those intent eyes stare me down and were I on the other end of her glare in the street, or in a tavern for that matter, I wouldn't laugh at her expense. The tavern, static in the background, the inventory screen above, and finally the tattered, edge-burned parchment opened, 'The Moons of Eora'. What is this I've stolen? Everything I see and hear in this tiny uninterrupted moment, is perfect.

 

This one moment makes the entire game for me. This is the spiritual succession to my Baldur's Gate nostalgia. This, is everything I dreamt of when I heard of Pillars of Eternity.

 

The dialogues are intelligent and real. These are real people with emotions, inner thought processes, and purpose. I am not the center of the universe. I, fit here. I'm one of the tavern patrons. I'm new in town. Everything is, unknown, but familiar, a hospitable town with troubles of its own.

 

I began by walking over the bridge, disinterested in small talk with a group of people talking by the river. Crossing the bridge a guard begged my attention, and out of respect, as anyone would do, I acquiesced. He had a simple question, and I had a simple response. This is just so immersive, so believable. I am simply in love, and this lute music, the crackling fireplace, is like red wine for my soul.

 

Thank you Everyone who's made this possible. Fellows, if it were not for our common love of this genre this would not be today. Three cheers for you my friends, and all of the great talent at Obsidian!

 

More is yet to come...

[Frusciante]

Excuse me for this long post but I will now post my detailed impressions from playing the Beta for about 6 hours. 

 

I will start with the easy part: The graphics and art are absolutely amazing. I have been craving for a gorgeous 2d world to explore for a long time and I’m glad that I can finally do this again. There is lots of detail, great atmosphere and a great feeling of exploration.

 

The music is great in my opinion, fits the overall atmosphere nicely. Reminds me of both BG2 at times and morrowind which is a very good thing. Sound still has a lot of bugs so hard to judge for now. At least is seems promising.

 

The tone and quality of the dialogue so far is excellent. Since I like the world of PoE and the story will be very personal (as opposed to an epic you’re the chosen one story) I think this bodes well for the final game. Also nice are the many skills/attribute checks, the reputation/faction system and the scripted interactions.

 

So far this is pretty boring because I think most people will agree with me so far. So here I would just like to reflect on the art, dialogue, story concept and scripted interactions. It has been far too long since I have played a game with these qualities. There have been a lot of people here acting like PoE has no redeeming qualities at all at this point which is something I strongly disagree with.

 

Now on to combat. In general while reading the comments I feel that people dont like the combat for one or more of the following reasons:

A)     They hate RTWP IE like combat

B)      They are misguided/uninformed by the many bugs and missing features in combat

C)      They honestly just happen to have a very specific taste that makes them hate some of the deliberate choices made by OE.

D)     Some things are just not working out very well at this point

 

To judge PoE’s combat I will take BG2 combat as the standard of comparison. Let’s assume that this is actual good and enjoyable combat because we need to compare PoE to a fair standard (as opposed to some theoretical perfect game).

 

I believe PoE still has the potential to (greatly) improve on BG2’s combat. The main improvements in my opinion are:

 

1.       Melee engagement: this forum used to be full of people complaining about the lack of control your fighters had in IE to keep your enemies from reaching your backline. Having a system in place to keep enemies pinned down greatly increases the usefulness of positioning and tactics. One thing this system does need however is good enemy AI and encounter design. You need enemies trying to reach your backline anyway. For example using teleportation or abilities like wild sprint.

2.       Per encounter abilities: if it was up to me there would only be per encounter abilities in this game. Per rest abilities generate startegical considerations. Limited per encounter abilities generate tactical considerations. In moment to moment gameplay tactical considerations are much more interesting then strategic ones in an IE like game (I can elaborate on this if anyone is interested).

3.       Resting + health + stamina: I like the interplay between resting and health. Basically you cannot rest after each encounter so you need to manage your long term resource: health. In combat encounters you thus need always be on your best because otherwise you will get into trouble later on in the dungeon/area. Also I like that you dont have to load your priest full of healing spells anymore to survive an encounter.

4.       Stealth system: is much more clear and useful. Is great and fun to set up ambushes with your rogue and then teleport to safety.

5.       No rounds: my rogue can now teleport away instantly without having to wait untill he finishes his previous round. This is better suited for RTWP combat.

 

Now on to what is getting in the way of enjoyable combat at the moment:

 

1.       No auto-attack (this is a bug, will be fixed)

2.       Selection circles overlapping (main reason for cluster****, is a bug, will be fixed)

3.       No targeting feedback (confirmed that this will be implemented, will greatly improve clarity)

4.       Responsiveness (party members dont activate abilities etc, is a bug, will be fixed)

5.       No hit animations (will likeley be added later, some blood spatter etc would benn ice when hitting the enemy)

6.       Bugged sound effects (makes the combat sometimes feel unconnected, is bug so will be fixed)

7.       Low quality of animations (is a big potential negative that will probably not be fixed entirely)

8.       No melee engagement UI (will be added later)

9.       Movement speed too fast in combat (makes positioning feel less important, needs tob e tweaked slightly, unsure if this will happen)

10.   Spell effects sometimes obstructing vision (hopefully they will tweak this a bit but not certain)

11.   Balance (typical beta issue, OP blunderbusses etc, not worth discussing)

 

If they can fix all of these 11 points I am confident that PoE’s combat will be on par with that of the IE games. I’m no oracle so no idea if it will actually be better.

 

So far I havent talked at all about the attributes, feats and character progression. This is because from what I have played in the beta, the end result of character progression in this game is a party composition and abilities/spell composition that is very similar to that of the IE games. In other words it doesnt for me directly affect the fun of combat.

It does however affect ofcourse the fun of character building and progression. There is significant possibilites for improvement but I am pretty certain that it will never be nearly as good as in DnD 3.5 for example. I like NWN’s system the best honestly.

 

Some things I expect:

1.       Many more feats will be added which improve customization options

2.       Attribute system will be slightly changed to accomodate the huge butthurt

3.       Attributes will remain much less relevant then in the IE games which is very unfortunate

 

Random remarks about no combat XP:

-          People saying xp is needed because combat is bad: this is bull**** MMO addict logic. Improve combat or go home.

-          By definition incentive/reward for combat will be lower. Trade-off is that other options (stealth, conversation, puzzle etc) are now equally rewarding. This is a matter of preferences, no absolute good or bad.

 

Conclusion: PoE still promises to be a very good but not perfect crpg. It has great 2d art, music and dialogue so far. Good innovations like the health system, rest system, scripted interactions, faction/reputation system are great additions to the IE formula. I believe combat will be at least on par with the IE games. Major flaw compared to IE games will be character building/progression.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Frusciante

[Arhiippa]

After about two hours of playing the beta I'm starting to like it. Graphics, music and writing are mostly very good, although the characters models in character creation are quite ugly, but since I won't be looking at them too closely during the game it's not a big problem. At first I thought the combat was very hard and too fast, but after playing a bit more I'm starting to change my mind. Thus far this beta seems very promising and it will probably get much better when the worst bugs are taken care of. Right now it's a bit hard to be sure which negative aspects are caused by bugs and which are actual balance or design issues.

[aran665]

ok i've given it a few days of playing and goofing around in the game, so far i like it, combat isn't too bad, it's a little clustered and allied pathing needs a bit of work but overall it feels solid.  the overall party pathfinding is good, since they can find their way from one end of a dungeon to another without getting stuck.

 

not sure if this one is a known issue but i finished the dungeon where we find the skaen cultists, took the non-violent path and was allowed safe passage out, had the dungeon key quest item which did not unlock the door at the top of the ladder, and in the process BBRogue had been killed (if they are maimed and then die again i guess its permanent).

 

so since i couldn't unlock the door and had no one who could attempt to pick it, i entered the dungeon to go back the way i came... and the rogue is back in the party, but BBPriest is kicked out.  all 5 party members are now alive and well, but BBRogue's odd resurrection had bumped BBPriest from the party.

 

I also don't really like the method to level up.  its fine for a single level, but if you gain multiple levels its kind of lame to select your skills, press done and then do it again.  

 

generally i've really been enjoying the game, i like the look and feel of the game, the UI needs some fine tuning but i like it overall, I like the resource based rest system, i actually like the limited character inventory with being able to place items in stash but having to rest to access it.  I also liked character creation and the different backgrounds and areas your character can be from.

 

as a first impression of the progress on the game, its shaping up excellently.  I can't think of anything else but will post is i find anything interesting and fun or extremely broken

[Stun]

I believe PoE still has the potential to (greatly) improve on BG2’s combat. The main improvements in my opinion are:

 

1.       Melee engagement: this forum used to be full of people complaining about the lack of control your fighters had in IE to keep your enemies from reaching your backline. Having a system in place to keep enemies pinned down greatly increases the usefulness of positioning and tactics. One thing this system does need however is good enemy AI and encounter design. You need enemies trying to reach your backline anyway.

The last part of this is very true. The engagement mechanic is a terrific idea...right up until it is rendered pointless because enemies never try to bust through your front line in the first place

 

5.       No rounds: my rogue can now teleport away instantly without having to wait untill he finishes his previous round.

Well, I can't speak for any bugs you might be experiencing in the game, but this is not the design intention. All actions in combat have recovery times. There's also the interrupt mechanic, which will further move things away from "instant". Edited August 22, 2014 by Stun

[Tartantyco]

The last part of this is very true. The engagement mechanic is a terrific idea...right up until it is rendered pointless because enemies never try to bust through your front line in the first place

 

 

Not sure how you're playing the game, but if you engage an enemy with your Rogue or Wizard from behind the front line, Beetles, Wolves, Lions, and Spiderlings will rush straight through your front line and be all over your Rogue or Wizard in a second or two. Unless you make use of the engagement mechanic, that is. Even then, Lions and Wolves have abilities that let them rush straight through, and Stone Beetles can burrow.

 

They will attack whoever enters their FOV first, or whoever attacks them first, so if you're charging in with your fighter(s) they're not going to try charging through your front line, they'll just go straight for your fighters.

[Stun]

If your wizard is already engaging an enemy in melee from behind the front line, then discussing the tactical aspects of engagement mechanics is pointless.

 

They will attack whoever enters their FOV first, or whoever attacks them first, so if you're charging in with your fighter(s) they're not going to try charging through your front line, they'll just go straight for your fighters.

Right. The AI should be better than that. Because this just renders the engagement mechanics moot. Of course, this isn't the IE games where an unengaged mage is the enemy's biggest problem. Edited August 22, 2014 by Stun