This game lacks content

[termokanden]

Irenicus' dungeon was indeed very interesting, but some of the areas looked like they were ripped out from other places and badly merged together with the "main" part. Like the Aerial pocket plane with the Djin lamp.

That's why I never liked it. It feels more like a theme park than a believable dungeon. I much prefer the other dungeons. Even Watcher's Keep has a consistency to each level of the keep.

[DocDoomII]

 

Irenicus' dungeon was indeed very interesting, but some of the areas looked like they were ripped out from other places and badly merged together with the "main" part. Like the Aerial pocket plane with the Djin lamp.

That's why I never liked it. It feels more like a theme park than a believable dungeon. I much prefer the other dungeons. Even Watcher's Keep has a consistency to each level of the keep.

 

Yes, I agree.

And that is why I'm liking the (few) dungeons I cleared in PoE up until now.

All the rooms feel like they have a purpose. An altar room, a dormitory, a study, etc. Nothing absurd. And the architectural style is consistent.

 

The only one that is a bit bizarre is the very first one, but it's very short.

[freche]

Bell Puzzle. 'nuff Said.

O_o

What was so hard about that one? If you clear that level it (the journal) basically tells you in what order to hit the bells.

[Bayzent]

 

Bell Puzzle. 'nuff Said.

O_o

What was so hard about that one? If you clear that level it (the journal) basically tells you in what order to hit the bells.

 

Tells you one bell one time. Out of three bells four tones you have to do.

[termokanden]

There's a hint for the first one and the last as I remember it. Makes it substantially easier, but I agree it would probably be a bit annoying if you didn't find the clues.

[PsychoBlonde]

POE is better compared to BG1 in terms of scope. I agree it doesn't come close to BG2. Of course, basically no RPG since has.

 

 

I'm betting Pillars 2 might. :D

 

Also, I don't mind lots of combat in this game, because the combat is actually fun, as opposed to BG2 when it was basically just The Endless Annoying Parade of Spellcasters With Too Many Buffs.

[PsychoBlonde]

There's a hint for the first one and the last as I remember it. Makes it substantially easier, but I agree it would probably be a bit annoying if you didn't find the clues.

 

It actually tells you the first, second, and last if you look around closely enough, so all you have to do is "guess" the third one, which isn't too hard.

[PsychoBlonde]

How many levels do the Endless Paths have anyway?

 

I cleared the first 5 and they were extremely light on puzzles and heavy on trash mobs. I hope that improved later on.

 

 

15 levels.  Last two are extremely small, though, so it's more like 13 and a bit.

[View619]

BG 1 didn't have much content either. If the jump from POE -> POE 2 is similar to BG -> BG2, it will win over the BG series easily. 

Edited April 3, 2015 by View619

[Starwars]

I also think PoE has a certain complexity in some areas that BG2, for its enormous size, does not have. Choices in quests and so forth. Personally, I'd at least definitely say that I feel this game has much more (and generally higher quality) content than BG1 does.

 

But I cannot believe how someone could complain that PoE "lacks content". I mean... waht. That does not compute.

[Fighter]

Bell Puzzle. 'nuff Said.

 

I kept trying to remember what this was supposed to be. I remember now. I hit the bells randomly and got it on my second try... I am actually curious about what the 'real' solution was.

[vattghern]

But I cannot believe how someone could complain that PoE "lacks content". I mean... waht. That does not compute.

I take that to mean "it lacks more of the content I enjoy." There's certainly no shortage of trash mob encounters, that's for sure.

[lucid1222]

 

Hello, sorry for my english in advance...

So this game is better than 90% of rpg for past 10 years.. but still a great disappointment.

I write all this because i hope that someone from devs will read and will find something useful and next games/addons will be better. I reaaaly hope.

 

The biggest №1 problem of this game is BORING dungeons. In fact theres no dungeons, there`s only monsters.

Let`s compare first dungeon from BG2 and any dungeon in PoE.

 

Irenicus Dungeon:

Room1: Cutscene with Irenicus, 3 npcs to interact with, you will find strange portal if you go top room and warehouse with traps to the left room.

Room2: Strange machine shoots lightning and spawns mephits

Room3: Crystal room with Genie who wants to ask you a question. multiple solutions

Tunnel with goblins

Room4: Small room with golem, you can gain much info from him and even pretend to be its master

Room5: Laboratory, you can speak with trapped creatures if you got special item and gain some info about the dungeon and its master.

etc... I think you got the main idea. Lots of interactions and actions. Fun? Fun!

 

Now lets check any PoE dungeon (exept first one... its ok)

Room1: Monsters

Room2: Monsters

Room3: Monsters

etc. 

That endless routes dungeon is a big joke. I expected something like Watcher`s Keep (BG:ToB)

 

№2 (Most)Quests are too short, plain and do not affect anything. 

Remember all these great quests from BG?: The cult of unseeing eye, Circus quests, Umar Hills quest, Windspear Hill quest, De`arnise Keep quest and much much more....

 

№3 Pathfinding is terrible.

If you send 4 guys to kill 1 creature, first 2 will attack it and other 2 will stand behind(first 2) and do nothing. Some AI will be great too, because sometimes heroes dont even fight back and just stand.

 

№4 Players Home is useless.

Sure, we can upgrade something, hire mercenaries... but what for? Theres no quests or interesting events. Planar Spere or De`Arnise Keep were much better in that case.

 

№5 Those drawn by hand scenes (dont know how to call them) This stuff is great! More please!

 

№6  More legendary cool-looking equipment and more various monsters please! (Helm of Balduran T_T ) Well, I guess you did not have time for all this stuff... but still...

 

Tnx for reading, maybe i am wrong, but thats my opinion. GL 

 

Umm isn't this a no spoilers forum area.  Mapping out what's in dungeon rooms is a spoiler.. Reporting.

[Atheosis]

70+ hours is "lacking in content"?  Wow, okay.  Expecting a BG 2 amount of content from a 4 million dollar budget seems rather nuts to me.  POE 2 will probably much bigger assuming all the great reviews translate into big sales numbers.

[Atheosis]

I also think PoE has a certain complexity in some areas that BG2, for its enormous size, does not have. Choices in quests and so forth. Personally, I'd at least definitely say that I feel this game has much more (and generally higher quality) content than BG1 does.

 

But I cannot believe how someone could complain that PoE "lacks content". I mean... waht. That does not compute.

 

Yeah I'd say POE falls in between BG 1 and BG 2 in terms of content quantity, and I actually think the quality of the content is better than both.  Either way, to say this game lacks content is just insane.

[Volourn]

"In fact, most dungeons in BG2 are absolutely nothing special, just like in Eternity - and I say that as someone who loves BG2."

 

WRONG.

 

 

"Expecting a BG 2 amount of content from a 4 million dollar budget seems rather nuts to me."
 

I doubt BG2's budget was really any bigger considering ity was a sequel that took 2ish years and it released in 2000 or 2001(?). That said, PE's size and amount of content is overall fine.

 

 

"Yeah I'd say POE falls in between BG 1 and BG 2 in terms of content quantity, and I actually think the quality of the content is better than both.  Either way, to say this game lacks content is just insane."

 

Better than BG2? Nah, but otherwise I agree. BG1 does some things better than PE but overall PE is the superior game nostalgia aside. But, it should be consideirng a bunch of RPG developing rookies made BG1! It shouldn't be a huge  accomplishment.

[Caerdon]

"In fact, most dungeons in BG2 are absolutely nothing special, just like in Eternity - and I say that as someone who loves BG2."

 

WRONG.

 

You've won me over with your convincing argument.

[GreyFox]

I was hoping the endless Paths would be like a suped up Durlags...oh well.

[Volourn]

"You've won me over with your convincing argument."

 

YAY! I won an argument on the internet convincingly. We all know what that still makes me right? :D

[Frenzy-kun]

I agree with the fact that there is not enough content. But not in the direction you are pointing. Actuall, the dungeons are pretty good. One of the things I disliked the most in BG series were the awfully long dungeons.

 

The quantity is the key here. There are 3 acts. It feels like 3 chapters from Baldur's gate. there is only 8 characters, not well developed. It lacks of classes or sets as well as some magic or spells (some classes like cyphers has some levels where you can just select all their magics). I finished the game if 42 hours and I did a whole lot. I think that was impossible in BG.

 

I still agree on maps being monotonous. Enemies here and there and lack of other contents. In the first BG there were some empty transition places, but at least they got some stuffs to explore, like the gnoll fortress. The cloak forest was a dungeon inside the worldmap and you had to face the spiders' traps. Something I felt here is that it didn't matter much what enemies I found, the combat was a bit symilar. In BG1 I remember the spider traps, the basilisks, the bandits... some places you just run away because of  the creatures found. Basilisks are my nightmare and the sword spiders is something to be avoided until late levels. The mermaids that confuses you and stuff like that were really something. Now... well, let's say I care very little about status effect. I can die against a very strong and numerous enemy party but I really don't mind about status. Something temporal that usually doesn't make me stagger. I probably die more often because of getting out of spells rather than the enemy owning me. It feels like most of the battles are hard because of the numerous enemies or the difficulty to take them down rather than the enemy playing smart against me.

 

But that feels like lack of content rather than bad quality content. There are many surprises everywhere. The dungeons seems mostly good for me. As I always said, I really feel that the levels lack of other kind of interactions to make each level unique and memorable, but tha would be an extra layer of work, much above BG series.

 

For me, they needed to fill the empty areas of the map. On the bottom there is room for 2 more levels. On the top there is room for 5 more. With that you can always add 2 more episodes. And then, some "comming back" episodes like the last 2 in BG, going back to the first ruins to discover a new route in the dungeon and then going back to defiance bay to finish your business there. Then we could have a ~80 hour game. This could be enhanced with higer level magics, traps, enemies, missions and situations. And it would be great.

[Xharlie]

The O.P. also raised the issue of "too many monsters" and I strongly agree with that. The encounter-groups are so closely packed that it feels like an M.M.O.: very carefully draw exactly one encounter-group, kill it, repeat until you're out of camping supplies, return to town. The fact that you don't gain experience from these encounters [after the first few for the type] and you don't really get any useful loot either is a huge flaw in my opinion.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Xharlie

[NineCoronas]

Bell Puzzle. 'nuff Said.

 

I correctly guessed it on the first try. It's remarkably similar to the 1st level of Watcher's Keep.