RPGWatch Forums - Age of Decadence

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Age of Decadence - December Update

Vince has kicked up the December update for The Age of Decadence, announcing they will miss their target of getting the demo out in December - the good news is it's only a few weeks away, so it should be January.
Instead, we have some testimonials from the testers, so here's a snip from GhanBuriGhan:

Quote:

Age of Decadence surprised me. As I wrote in the forums earlier, I was expecting a classic, Fallout-style RPG. I feel that at its heart, AoD is something different, although a lot of inspiration is certainly derived from these classics. It is, for me, a hybrid of classic RPGs and interactive fiction, and strikes me in some ways as a re-imagination of RPGs from the P&P template, tossing away many of the tried and true conventions of the genre – sometimes to great effect, sometimes to its own detriment.

Where I feel that AoD excels over any other game I played so far (admittedly there are some classics I still haven’t played), is the sheer amount of alternate paths it provides through the game. A lot of love and thought have gone into that aspect, and I have very much enjoyed trying out different characters and skills just to see where it would take me. The Teron demo alone provides a lot of entertainment in that respect. However to appreciate it, you HAVE to replay. Some single playthroughs may be very short (I think you can breeze through the demo in < 30 minutes, maybe less, for some paths) and doing so may leave you wondering what the fuck just happened. It will only be after multiple playthroughs (both different backgrounds and different skillsets) that you start to see the whole story, and have a chance to appreciate the love and care that went into the branching story design.

More information.

Interesting insight, Ghan. I have long thought there is a tension between RPG elements such as dialogue skill checks (which I personally enjoy) and engaging gameplay. For most games (even Fallout), it's still a very limited part of the gameplay landscape. It will be fascinating to see how a game with a tight focus on this goes overall.

Nice to hear something about AoD. I'm still very much looking forward to this one. Nice to hear about the depth of character development, something that is sorely lacking in games, even ones i enjoy, these days. Everything is being dumbed down, including Skyrim, which I very much enjoy. It's just easier to do. As many folks here know better than I, it's hard to balance an actual roleplaying ruleset. It's much easier to come up with gimmicky abilities and perks and whatnot.

Looking forward to seeing some real character development. Take your time, devs, as far as I'm concerned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlaCarcuss (Post 1061116074)

Goty: 2014

Optimistic, eh?

VapourWare of the Year, 2007 - 2014.