Gripes and praises of a quite satisfied backer.

[Wormerine]

After 10+ hours with Deadfire I must say I am really enjoying it. As sort of spoiler free (unless specified otherwise) "first impression" post, I wanted to list the things which stuck with me for Deadfire. Initially I intended it as a fully negative post but there are couple things I just need to compliment.

Gripes:

• The well known bugs with save import. Seeing some of my choices not being recognizes properly is a shame. An unexpected series of bugs the slip through testing. I will survive Eder having a wrong backstory, but shouldn't Concelhaut be with me? If that's the case, that might sting a but more. I imagine the hotfix won't fix games in progress. Ah, too bad. Failed my will save and I shall suffer consequences of playing on day1.
• Konstanten's recruitment "quest" has been... how to say it... disappointingly brief and uneventful. I am tempted to take him in my party just to see, if this is really all that is to him. But seriously, he got less introduction, than an average recruitable crewmember. 
• Performance has been fairly uneven. I would blame it on my laptop, but changing graphical options seem to have minimal impact and players with much better machines reported similar issues. Combat can tank framerates quite a bit.
• Companion introductions can be a bit too brief for my taste. I understand that an effort was made to not drown player in conversation and exposition this time around, but it might be too much for my taste. I still don't understand, how Eder saved me, never had a chance to ask Xoti about the lantern, and I felt like Maia assumes I know more about her than I actually do. It's like characters mention people and things in the way, which suggests we talked about it. However, there is part of companion writing and design that I really love, but about it more below. I feel like returning companions would really confuse me if I didn't know already who they are (aka. play PoE1). At least for now, they really dont seem to have a reason to join me (taking of course into account, that I might learn more about them and their goals while venturing together).  

Praises:

• I love the world map. Being able to freely travel around is a wonderful addition, communicating exploration much better than empty field maps of BG1 or PoE1. 
• Liking ships alot- the resource drain is really well balanced so far. Tough enough to count my money, but not tough enough to not allow my to upgrade/buy stuff.
• I LOVE LOVE LOVE smart camera and new follow-the-mouse movemement option. Together, they make walking around smoother and more natural.
• Overall quest and level design seemed to be improved quite a bit. Especially one complex, Hitman-like area really impressed me. A wonderful use of various mechanics and gameplay opportunities. The game feels dense and rewards exploration.
• Companion interactions are a blast. They interject quite often, and get responses from NPCs
  You owe me 500 Maia

  . Looking forward to how they develop.

• Overall production value is wonderful. I wasn't too excited for full VO, but it has completely won me over. OST is lovely, and all the extra animations, barks and background noises really add a lot. 

Can't wait to set sail again and discover new adventures. 

[daven]

I have only been on a few hours but the changes to the camera are probably my favourite thing. I would have loved that in BG1/2.

[IndiraLightfoot]

I really love the new smart camera as well. Such an improvement!

[Jayngo]

I'm still not sold on the smart camera. I like the idea on paper, but I find it annoying when I'm trying to click on a barrel/loot or magnifying glass to read and i can't seem to click on it because the camera is still moving until my party gets to the set location.

 

I agree with production value. That $5 million was put to good use. Although, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the sound so far. The music has a lot of rehash from PoE and the ambient sounds just are not up to par with what I expect and love from CRPG's. Ambient sounds definitely need their own slider.

 

Still these are mostly minor gripes (although ambient sound issue does bother me a lot). I love the game so far. I just haven't had a chance to dedicate a super long play session yet. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Jayngo

[Skazz]

Konstanten's recruitment "quest" has been... how to say it... disappointingly brief and uneventful. I am tempted to take him in my party just to see, if this is really all that is to him. But seriously, he got less introduction, than an average recruitable crewmember.

 

He’s a dwarf in an Obsidian game. I’d honestly be more surprised if what you’re describing weren’t the case.

 

Oh, well. I still have Khelgar, at least.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Skazz

[Wormerine]

I'm still not sold on the smart camera. I like the idea on paper, but I find it annoying when I'm trying to click on a barrel/loot or magnifying glass to read and i can't seem to click on it because the camera is still moving until my party gets to the set location.

True, clicking on items can be a bother. I started to press pause for a bit, to accuratly aim at the item I want to interact with. Still, combined with "follow the mouse" movement walking around the city and dungeons is just more fun.

[daven]

Yes it can be in the way when you want some precise clicking, but overall I really like it. It should be retroactively added to all the IE games. Beamdog missed a trick not doing it in the so called 'enhanced editions'.