PoE Worth playing yet?

[Ovenall]

Thoughts on the state of this game. I've only sunk a few hours into it near its original release. With the new patches, etc... Is it now worth playing? What's the consensus on this game?

Thanks.

 

[Thrasher]

It was worth playing on the original release. Haven't played it recently though.

 

[CelticFrost]

Thoughts on the state of this game. I've only sunk a few hours into it near its original release. With the new patches, etc… Is it now worth playing? What's the consensus on this game?

Thanks.

Personally I thought the game was harder before all the rebalancing. I put about another 20 or so hours into the latest patch. I didn't find any bugs, your party now follows commands, all the spells I use worked.

Here is the thing though, there was nothing they could about the story. The first third of the game is great, second third okay, the last third whatever.

All and all it is a good game, I think people were hoping for the second coming of BG which it isn't. So some of the complaints I feel were do to this.

 

[purpleblob]

Not sure if this will be appropriate thread but I really didn't want to make a new one. So I restarted PoE, without the expansions. Finished Raedric's hold, on to the stronghold soon. I still don't find myself getting sucked into it. I can play it when I'm in a mood to chug along but definitely not feeling the itchy to go back.

My main problem thus far is the lack of connection to the world and companions. Every time someone jabbers on about the Saint's war or Gods etc I just lose interest. I find the info provided confusing at the best and dead set boring. I don't mind when Aeder talks, I get he is the Eathorian worshiper and that is enough for me. When Durance start to talk however, I find myself getting irritated and just skip the dialogues without reading them properly. For me, I like the feel of getting to know my companions, regardless or whether I end up liking them or not. With this guy, I have no freaking idea what he's on about.

Anyway, enough rant. So question is, did any of you felt same way and how did you overcomes this problem? Was there somewhere I can get simple understanding of the world and lore inside or outside of the game? Or is this lore thing going to make more sense as I get further into the game or perhaps these aren't as important as I think?

 

[azarhal]

A lot of things will make more sense if you finish the game. For now, you have an Cyclopedia with lore entries in your journal. It's full of information and get updated over the course of the game. There is also a lot of in-game books that cover in-game history and NPCs/companions sometimes have things to say on certain subjects. A lot of it is resumed on the wiki if you need an outside source.

In my first playthrough, I left Durance in the Stronghold as soon as I got a 7th companion because I felt like you. In my replay, I decided to keep him along and he makes more sense after a little while. I still don't like him though. Note that Durance and Grieving Mother are the only base companions with personal quest that update by having them in the party and resting. The other companions have more normal quests.

I think the game gets better once you reach Defiance Bay and Act 2 start as well.

 

[Pessimeister]

My main problem thus far is the lack of connection to the world and companions. Every time someone jabbers on about the Saint's war or Gods etc I just lose interest. I find the info provided confusing at the best and dead set boring. I don't mind when Aeder talks, I get he is the Eathorian worshiper and that is enough for me. When Durance start to talk however, I find myself getting irritated and just skip the dialogues without reading them properly. For me, I like the feel of getting to know my companions, regardless or whether I end up liking them or not. With this guy, I have no freaking idea what he's on about.

Be patient and hang in there with Durance if you can blob, he's worth the time once the layers start to peel back. He does talk symbolically often in tortured angry riddles, but I like that he's in contrast to the stereotypical bland Bioware character in that there's much hidden depth at play and not too much annoying superficiality.
Grieving Mother was also a major highlight for me; beautifully written prose and very emotionally engaging. I recommend keeping her around too, but that won't be to everyone's taste.

I'd also advise to pick up Hiravias if you haven't already. He's bound to give you some laughs banter wise to counter the intense fire and brimstone speeches of Durance. His banters with Eder are amusing too.

As far as the lore is concerned, dip in and out of it at your leisure and delve at a level you're most comfortable with. Something will hopefully arise that helps immerse you more, or at least I hope so. Keep at it!

 

[Thrasher]

Durance was a pain in the ass just to get all his conversations to unravel. But ultimately worth it in the end. He is a crazy man, so I can understand the difficulty of listening to him. I did a lot of reading ahead and skipping through the voiced stuff.

Grieving Mother was probably my favorite of all the companion interactions and dialogue. Very cool.

 

[Ovenall]

Just got both expansions and restarted the other day. What a difference. I'm enjoying this much more now.

IMO, these kind of games need to be experienced with the written NPCs because after a while some of the fights get boring. I like the unfolding stories. Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[purpleblob]

Thanks for the reply everyone! I shall continue on. I will try to keep Durance but yeah I really don't feel connection with him and Kana. Latter is pleasant enough but also dead set boring :/

Ovenall, where are you currently up to and who are you travelling with?

 

[Thrasher]

Kana is boring, Eder is too, I think. Aloth is OK. Get Grieving Mother and Hirivias and Sagani ASAP for a more interesting party.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

Ah I love Eder, he is my favorite!

 

[Ovenall]

I'm just beginning... finishing up the first town quests. Yeah I kind of dislike Kana (especially his portrait) so now I'm tempted to start AGAIN as a chanter.

Thoughts?

 

[azarhal]

The advantage with Kana is that you can finish is personal quest real fast. It's all in the Endless Path under the Stronghold and doable with a level 5 party with some rest on normal. Then you switch him with someone else and use him for Stronghold adventures. He has a couple of funny banter though. I guess if you are bored of fighting and questing, put him in the party and travel around Defiance Bay to trigger them (usually right after loading into a new zone).

I personally like Sagani, Hiravias and Pallegina a lot. Aloth is currently growing on me too. I didn't use him long in my first playthrough. Durance is awesome for lore and info about Magran and the Saint-War, but I don't like his personality much. Edèr likes cats, that's good enough for me.

Interesting fact, Aloth and Edèr are both voiced by Matthew Mercer.

 

[CelticFrost]

Personally I liked Aloth and Eder, maybe because they were the first to join up with me and for the longest time they were the only two in my party other than my character.

I really enjoyed doing the bounty hunting, plus it up's your character faster. I never finished my second play through...maybe it is time to pick it up again.

 

[azarhal]

I'm just beginning… finishing up the first town quests. Yeah I kind of dislike Kana (especially his portrait) so now I'm tempted to start AGAIN as a chanter.

Thoughts?

Not worth it, unless you really want to have a Chanter in the party. You could make a Chanter adventurer at the Inn to replace him though.

 

[Thrasher]

Yeh, I kepy Aloth and Eder around the whole time, but not for their personalities, just becasue they needed to see it through to the end and I wanted a tank and a mage.

 

[purpleblob]

Just picked up Sagani on the way to Defiance Bay. Following the recommendation, I will keep Eder, Aloth, Sagini, Hiravias, undecided about the last companion. I find Priest so useful but I'm hating Durance. Might even hire an adventurer if I don't warm up to Pallegina or Grieving Mother. I'm a cypher myself so I'm not sure on GM. Should have picked a priest as main toon :/

 

[Maylander]

I'm replaying this as well at the moment, with both expansions installed. Having a blast right now with a priest, as I don't really like Durance either, and priest is one of the most useful, powerful classes near the end (they get so many incredible utility spells).

As others have pointed out, Durance is worth it in terms of story, if you keep prodding him a bit after each rest, but he's also annoying. My problem with him is that his quest takes a long time to complete, so it just sits there in the quest log. Durance, Hiravis and Grieving Mother all have rather long quests (or rather, it takes a long time from pick up to quest completion). The others are mostly straight forward.

Edit, something of a tip: If you do play a priest, beware that they're somewhat weak in the start, but become powerhouses by the end. Might, Int and Dex are their main stats, so they can quickly cast massive, long lasting, powerful spells.

 

[azarhal]

I made a Priest for my second playthrough too. I picked the stats based on what I wanted to play (a melee Priest, aka a Battle Cleric) and to have something different from my first playthrough (a Rogue who was high Dex/Int). I went with Might, a bit of Per, Int and Res (lowest stat is 10, highest is 16 and that is Res). Fail + shield because she is a Priest of Eothas. I'm having a blast playing.

I kept Durance in the party too. Two priests are overkill, a full party of Priest must be hilarious.

I do find it interesting that people here don't really like Durance, on the PoE official forums people are going on and on how he is the best companion in the game.

 

[Maylander]

Well, in terms of min/max he probably is, simply because he's a priest, but personality wise..