RPGCodex Review #1 - Hŵrpa Dwrp

[Stun]

This is the only unique part of that review, and I utterly agree with it:

the Endless Paths of Od Nua, aka the Kickstarter “megadungeon”, complete with 15 floors of content. This entire dungeon could be completely scrapped or repurposed and the game would only be better for it. Simply put, it is very obvious that its designers have never played any Ultima Underworld game or Arx Fatalis. The Deep Roads Endless Paths are just a series of banal fights that stretch on for 15 floors straight. They didn’t even bother to put in an obligatory full-puzzle level, or an actually believable underground society/ecology (there are only scraps of this, and most of the stuff that is in simply makes no sense). You first fight copypasted kobolds, then copypasted oozes/trolls/beetles, then copypasted undead, then copypasted spiders and finally copypasted golems, from start to friggin’ finish. Only the final two levels are worth a damn.

He's right. The mega dungeon was the thing I was most looking forward to in this game and PoE totally let me down with it. I actually didn't mind the repetitiveness of the encounters that the reviewer whines about (Durlag's tower is just as guilty on that front). No. What got me was how 'shallow' and unemmersive that entire dungeon experience felt. There was hardly any story. There were hardly any puzzles. There were no Od-Nua-unique loot to be found (and no, that Bore-snore Esoc you can assemble isn't Unique) Also, We were promised gradual, level by level difficulty progression but we got nothing of the sort. We got 8 straight levels of same-same and then we got a spike in difficulty at about level 9 or 10 that remained until the end.

 

And the End... <gag> a Super DULL end boss. Durlag's tower gave us the Demon Knight, and then Aec'le'tec. Watcher's keep gave us friggin Demogorgon. What did Od Nua Give us? A dragon without a name. A generic and completely faceless foe.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Stun

[Marceror]

I must be doing it wrong because I just enjoy playing PoE.

Yes, you clearly need to try harder to hate the game. What's wrong with you!

[Nerdwing]

Sometimes I don't know why the Codex bothers reviewing anything, as they seem to like about four games made in the late 20th Century.

 

It's a perfect example of how cognitive dissonance creates a hill tribe of in-bred opinion. No, not opinion, dogma.

 

I agree with (easily) a third of this review, is just the holier-than-thou tone that makes my gorge rise.

^^

[Shevek]

The review that from the codex that people will actually read will come later.

[Sensuki]

I dunno, this one has the most comments of any Codex review ever

[Shevek]

Ya, but how many actually read through all that bile?

[Sensuki]

Everyone except you and Irenaeus probably.

[Hebruixe]

Meh. I found the article pretty disinteresting. The author is just another attention whore trying to make a name for himself.

[Shevek]

Roxor writes through a ranty personality. That review is one long turd and reading through his verbal masturbation is jUst a waste of time.

[Manart]

Well... as much as I don't agree with most of what the reviewer said, I still found his point quite compelling and will keep a critical eye out for the things he talked about the next playthrough. If nothing else, at least he made his point in a hilarious and compelling manner, instead of just yelling at the viewer that a) He is right and b) You are wrong and you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

Ah classic Sensuki-senpai, making me love to hate what you dislike about the game.

[WebShaman]

I agree 100% with the review.

 

And I love how some are "taking it".

 

It goes down like aged brandy.

 

Btw - one can still have fun with the game and still agree whole - heartedly with the review. It is not "mutually exclusive" like the bleating of the Obs sheep would have one believe.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

The mega-dungeon is disappointing and I'm surprised at the level of effort put in by Obsidian. Some of the levels are so small it's basically a corridor to the next level with maybe a room off to the side.

[keriana]

Terrible article. It isn't even really a review. Just ranting.

[Sensuki]

The mega-dungeon is disappointing and I'm surprised at the level of effort put in by Obsidian. Some of the levels are so small it's basically a corridor to the next level with maybe a room off to the side.

Like with everything in the KS, they were most concerned with delivering the promised features e.g. "15 levels" than anything else. Other developers cut features to much jeering from their respective communities.

 

The result is butter scraped over too much bread.

[Gromnir]

Everyone except you and Irenaeus probably.

well, no.  mat516 seemed to express our concerns about the review already, so no need to repeat.  the thing is, where matt no doubt read the whole thing, we couldn't. am admitting that we got a few paragraphs deep before we realized it were offering little more than a bad nostalgia flashback to too many rants we recall from a couple years o' poe development.   the disenfranchised, limited by the obsidian message board medium, found a new outlet to release pent up vitriol?  am not actually opposed to such rampages as Gromnir has indulged once... maybe twice.  

 

*shrug*  

 

lewis black at least tries to make us laugh when he does this kinda thing.

 

no harm though. it is just a review.  why do we need a review to tell us about a game we already played?  

 

have never made it through an entire codexian review since spazmo's debacle o' a toee review, but at least spazmo pretended as if he were giving tim cain a fair review.  sensuki's link had us rolling our eyes after two paragraphs.  

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited April 22, 2015 by Gromnir

[LadyCrimson]

I agree with (easily) a third of this review, is just the holier-than-thou tone that makes my gorge rise.

Yeah, pretty much sums it up this article/review/rant for me too.

 

Pillars is not even close to perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but my main problem with it was the combat encounters feeling bland.  The Stronghold being not necessary is true but didn't bother me at all since it wasn't a part of the main gameplay itself, imo. I just ignored it/didn't care.

 

In workday week terms, it's like the early part is Friday (woot!), the middle part is Sun. night/Monday (sigh, back to work) and the last part/end is Wed night (closer to Friday!). Pillars never reaches any major heights but in the end all of the things I did like mitigated the things I didn't like, enough to equal something that I overall like in spite of a few glaring weaknesses. I still wish the combat had been more attention-holding however. It really does drag things down in the middle.

[manageri]

Some good criticisms, others not so much. Apart from the conclusion (of the game being **** overall, which I don't think it is at all), I mostly disagree about how he thought everything about the combat system is ****e. I think it just needs serious tweaking in many places but has solid potential. Story criticisms are always more or less 100% subjective so no point arguing that. Long review, but at least he spent the time pretty well and described his issues in detail.

[Sensuki]

well, no.

I was actually referring to people that commented specifically on the article on the website.

 

I stated "most commented article on codex ever" (in as many hours) and Shevek responded with how many of those people read the article.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Sensuki

[Namutree]

I found myself agreeing with most of the points but rolling my eyes with how blown out of proportion they are.

This was my experience as well.

[perilisk]

So, I read the review. Two thoughts:

 

1. I really have been enjoying playing PoE. I'm not done, but I'm well into Act 3. It's one of the better games I've played in a while, money and time well spent, very good job of invoking IE nostalgia.

 

2. I can't actually disagree with the points he makes in the review. Yeah, it's maybe focusing too much on what doesn't work and not enough on what does. But still, I would recommend it to anyone working on a hypothetical PoE2 or expansion, because it really does nail down the weak points.

[Gromnir]

 

well, no.

I was actually referring to people that commented specifically on the article on the website.

 

fair enough

 

HA! Good Fun!

[NegativeEdge]

Good review. The ennui is so real in this game, I can't get past Act 2. I thought it was because I was picking the wrong class but it's the gameplay,

The combat is never fun or dangerous or wild, you really do use the same spells and abilities on everything. It also kind of feels like every time you think of a potentially cool synergy between spells or talents or weapons the game slaps your hand away.

Want to start a fight with that spell? combat only, sorry. Think that talents Acc bonus applies to spells? it doesn't. Want to dual wield pistols? you can't.

I don't care about engagement just give me some room to try things like that time in BG2 when my wild mage fired off so many time stops, wail of the banshees and gated in so many pit fiends through reckless dweomers that when the game tried to resolve it all it just decided to crash instead.

 

Or that lower level chaos spell that RNGs anybody in the aoe, just anything to make the combat more fun and unpredictable.

[Anaeme]

It was unproffessional and self serving review. RPG codex should be embarrassed.

 

How can anyone call a temper tantrum a review?

 

I wish he had stuck to bullet point statements so people can actually assess his points instead of clouding the whole article in a fog of negativity

Edited April 22, 2015 by Anaeme

[Yellow Rabbit]

Come to think of it, the biggest complain about PoE's main plot applies to this review even without rephrasing: "It raises valid/interesting points, but does terrible job at presenting them".

 

"Codex at its worst" © Matt516

[Volourn]

"It was unproffessional"

\

L0L Unprofessional L0L

 

 

"and self serving review."

 

K Who are they supposed to be serving?

 

 

"RPG codex should be embarrassed."

 

Nah. Not really.