The Age of Decadence (now that it has been released)

[Philippe]

I've played a bit less than half a story line on one type of character, and played a little bit of the story line on several others to get a feel for the difference.

I've also been to all of the other towns in the game, and if I had to actually live in one of them, it wouldn't be Teron, which is a bit of a backwater.

I've also seen several of the mysterious/secret locations that you need to visit to advance the plot and solved their mysteries.

When there are visuals during a dialog sequence what you usually get is a very nice high resolution portrait of whoever is talking in the upper left-hand corner if he's a major character, and a slice of a screenshot (that moves a bit) to the right of the dialog box. The slice shows your character and whoever he is talking with in situ.

The guys who made this game didn't have the time or money to dump into big budget scene illustration, so for the most part they rely on sections of screenshots from where the action is taking place.

In these first screens that I've posted there's not much to look at, because the action is taking place inside of small dingy rooms.

Because the graphics aren't bleeding edge first world, that can make things look a little on the drab side, even when the decor is more elaborate and interesting. 

And the scenery can get very interesting, because of the well-studied use that gets made of Greco-Roman art (some of my favorite frescoes from Boscoreale are hanging on the walls in peoples' rooms in the ritzier surroundings).

You end up encountering some pretty wild stuff as it gradually begins to dawn on you what you are really dealing with.  I would say that the graphics are really there to provide a framework and prod your imagination, not to do all the work for you.

Don't expect visuals like Fallout 4, because it ain't gonna happen.

But if you liked playing Fallout 1 or 2, you're going to be in for a treat.

As for the dramatic resolution of suspense, I've never been dissapointed.  And they do such a good job with the build-up that people don't mind playing different kinds of early characters over and over again, just to see what kind of character build will get you through a particular impasse.  The designer of the game often makes himself available on the Steam website to suggest builds that might work a little better for different types of characters.

I've gotten stuck a few times, but never too badly. But when that [censored] comes to life halfway through the second chapter, it feels a bit like that moment in Foucault's Pendulum when the protagonist breaks into his friend's computer by answering 'no'  when the computer asks him if he knows the password.

You don't spend all of the game in the dialog screens.  You're probably there about a tenth of the time.  Most of what you're looking at and wandering around in looks like that very early screenshot where Feng is yelling 'Apprentice, come here'.   Combat, when it takes place, is also resolved in that same space rather than in the dialog screens.

I should mention that combat in Age of Decadence is extremely brutal and unforgiving.  So unforgiving that they give you a tutorial that you can keep going back to that lets you figure out how to fight multiple opponents with just about any combination of weapon and armor that you're likely to encounter in the game.  When you eventually master the tutorial and have dispatched all five opponents, what you'll have really learned is that if you're in a bad part of town and turn a corner and see four thugs loitering around at the end of a dark alley, don't go there, even if you're Jarhead.  Unless, of course, you enjoy reading varied and somewhat amusing descriptions of your death scene (it's so easy to get killed in so many different ways that a lot of effort was put into making the descriptions of your demise entertaining).

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Did you finish it or are you still playing, Philippe?

I bought the game from GOG during their summer sale but I'm having troubles getting it to run.  I can play the tutorial but the game freezes when I start the main campaign unless I run the 32 bit version.  From what I've read, this is an issue with some AMD video cards.  I've started the refund process through GOG and now I've got to decide whether I want to return it or keep it. 

[Greybriar]

The Age of Decadence is on sale at GOG.com for 50% off.

[Philippe]

I can't really speak to the issues you're having getting the game to run.  I play it on Steam, don't have an AMD, and haven't had any problems with it.  Vince hangs out pretty regularly on the Steam forum, so you might try asking him about it there.

There are eight different character paths that give different experiences depending on which path you choose.

The key question is whether the experiences are to your taste or not.

On Steam you can figure that out by playing the demo, which is similar to the full game but is restricted to a few of the character classes and you only get the first town.

I've played a bit more than half on one of the character paths (a non-fighter) and have really liked it.  I intend to finish that path and play several of the more violent types: the combat is entertaining once you figure out what you can do without getting killed in two seconds flat. 

I often go back to the training portion of the game, not to learn how to get one character to kill five opponents (which I know how to do), but to figure out what tactics work with each weapon.  There are a lot of them, and it almost seems like you have to play differently with each one.

What I find impressive about the game is how many different branches there are on each path, so if you play the same kind of character slightly differently, the story will start to develop in a different direction. That's why I haven't finished one of the character paths yet, because I'm having trouble deciding exactly how I want the story to develop:  I keep trying to figure out a way to see it all, and that probably isn't possible on one playthrough with a single type of character.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Thanks.  I ended up taking the refund as I was unable to get the game to run in 64-bit mode. 

[Boggit]

Great recommendation Philippe. I'll add this to my wishlist. O0

[gameleaper]

I loved the Map travel feature, if you want to go to the main gate just choose it from the map and your there, same for the other locations, but the good thing is if you want to walk there you can, it take all the boring bits of travelling out.

I loved the combat being so hard, in real life you would not take on 3 thieves with knives alone when you have no weapons etc.. the real life rather than Hero gameplay is what hooked me into buying it, and the combat is turn-based so well worth mastering.

Ive not played lots but what Ive seen I love

[Nefaro]

They're reportedly in the process of finishing a dungeon crawler RPG with the same combat.

[gameleaper]

They're reportedly in the process of finishing a dungeon crawler RPG with the same combat.

that would be good .

[Tuna]

This is 50% off on Steam today.. Worth getting?

[Nefaro]

This is 50% off on Steam today.. Worth getting?

I didn't put a ton of time into it.  Like the deadly & dastardly feel of it.  But I also get the impression that there are few branching paths available and it's not very open. 

Strict story branching, guess I would say.  You can approach things different ways, depending on your character's skillset, but I'd imagine you'll learn the plot branches after a couple play throughs.  Maybe not a big deal if a game takes you 40 or 50 hours to get through (such as KOTOR) but I think this one is estimated to be around 15, maybe 20.  So if you enjoy it, you will end up having to run through it anew more often than others.

The engine is also pretty archaic.  It looks like hell, but that doesn't bother me so much as long as it works and the UI is decent.   

My opinion was split.  It's nice to be able to have a more balanced spread of options, along with combat so deadly it makes your decisions matter so much more than usual.  But the rest was kinda Meh.   I bought it on a decent sale, though, so it wasn't a regret at around 12-15 dollars.  Not sure I'd do it again, though, with so many options out there.

[Tuna]

Thanks.. the Combat looks tempting, but not a fan of heavy dialog. Looking at YouTube it seems to lean that way. Who knows I may break.

[Asid]

not a fan of heavy dialog. Looking at YouTube it seems to lean that way.

Very heavy..It's like reading a book...  ::)

[Gusington]

I dig that when the stories are good. Pillars of Eternity, Skyrim, the old Bard's Tale game, etc...