RPGWatch - Game of the Year Awards 2017 - Most Promising RPG

The only thing with this top 3 list is the only game guaranteed to be out is POE 2. Bards Tale is likely but I have yet to see a Kickstarted game out on time. So BT and Pathfinder are most likely to slide to 2019.

I *think* I voted for Phoenix Point, Bard's Tale IV and Kingdom Come Deliverance (not necessarily in this same order)

Originally Posted by Drithius
If you can look past the wannabe D&D mechanics, chaotic combat, and horrible launch issues, PoE 1 was indeed a wonderful game. I enjoyed it a heckuva lot more than D:OS2 - but only w/ the expansions and a year of patches.

So, PoE 2 is definitely my #1 for 2018 (although Bard's Tale holds promise if inXile don't suck the life out of it).

I had no issue with the mechanics or the combat; it was mostly an improvement on the Infinity Engine game system. As for the release, well I normally wait until it's properly patched anyway so for me it wasn't a big deal.

I also enjoyed the first eternity much more than I did the second original sin. Maybe this time eternity the second will come out of the gate much better than the prior version, in any case I'll be waiting for quite a few mandatory patches before delving in.

I had no issues playing POE without patches on release.

I'm still looking forward to playing D:OS2. I've been holding out for some patching, which is my standard practice, and I'm particularly hoping they'll do something about loot vs levelling situation. I think that could be a bummer.

I wouldn't hold out for that. It's a great game as it stands.

Originally Posted by rjshae
To me the PoE nay-sayers are a noisy minority. Not everybody agrees with you that PoE was a disappointment; quite the opposite in fact. Even the Editors had it at #3, rather than off the list entirely. I'm rather looking forward to PoE2, particularly with all the enhancements and lessons learned.

Big difference between saying PoE was a disappointment, and saying PoE was bad. Personally I enjoyed PoE. But it didn't come anywhere close to the hype/expectations. I think the vast majority of people agree on that - it's not a "minority". By the way, I believe I put PoE 2 as #3 on my own list, so pointing out that the editors put it there too isn't counter to anything I'm saying, either that or I haven't said it well. In any case, the point is, why would PoE 2 be the "most promising" when PoE 1 didn't really live up to its promises. If it does this time though, well, that's great.

Originally Posted by Stingray
But it [PoE] didn't come anywhere close to the hype/expectations.

How could it? Short of the second coming of Christ, nothing could have placated the legions of nostalgia-happy Black Isle fans. Nothing is ever going to measure up to a childhood experience 20 years ago.

Of course, Obsidian didn't do themselves any favors by doing an utterly fantastic job on their pitch video (which took advantage of said unrealistic nostalgic hopes with enough namedropping to give even an eternally pubescent Codexer a wet dream).

Originally Posted by Drithius
Nothing is ever going to measure up to a childhood experience 20 years ago.

Judging by the age polls, I don't think very many people here were in their childhood when BG came out

But really, the primary complaint about PoE is the mediocreness of its RPG system compared to D&D. That's not nostalgia-related.

While I would agree that the mechanics in PoE are lacking compared to D&D, I think that's an unfair comparison to make. D&D has had 40 years to evolve its systems.

Also, I wouldn't rate mechanics as my [personal] primary complaint about PoE. That would have to probably be the chaotic combat, where you can't see what the hell is going on with all the spell effects, and you can't see what debuffs/buffs your characters may have because relevant information is shrunk down to the size of a pinhead.

With all the feedback Obsidian has received, I am very hopeful for PoE 2.

Originally Posted by Drithius
That would have to probably be the chaotic combat, where you can't see what the hell is going on with all the spell effects, and you can't see what debuffs/buffs your characters may have because relevant information is shrunk down to the size of a pinhead.

Actually that would probably be my primary complaint too, but I chalk a lot of that up to the unavoidable clusterfuck generally inherent in RTwP. Perhaps I'm not giving RTwP enough credit, though. I mean, I suppose it's true that the Infinity engine games weren't nearly as much of a clusterfuck.

I was fairly happy with PoE combat, but there were some issues for sure. However I'm sure that they will do better in PoE2 after receiving so much feedback.

I think one of the problems with PoE combat was that all those numerious status effects didn't really stand out due many of them having such short durations. Whats the point of removing some debuff if it lasts 6 seconds or something? I'm kind of exaggerating somewhat here, but at times it felt like that during those big battles.

I can't say I'm too hyped about 2018 when it comes to RPGs. Of the ones listed here, Underworld Ascendant would be my #1 by far. Vampyr would probably be my #2.

I think my votes were Sacred Fire, Copper Dreams, & No Truce With the Furies.

Also really looking forward to Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond (not to be confused with Realms Beyond which I'm also excited for but don't think it will come out this year), Odd Gods, Vigilantes, Prisonscape, and a few other indie RPGs that may or may not get released this year.

Out of the top ten the only game I'm at all excited for is Battletech… At the very least I expect the campaign / story mode will be good, given how much I liked their SR games. Just hope the combat offers a decent challenge my biggest complaint w/ SR games is they're too easy.

Maybe Kingdom Come or Vampyr will end up being something I like but right now getting a feeling they're going to be too consolely (i.e., mainstream action game) for my tastes.

If my top 3 meet my expectations it will be a great year. In the meantime I'll be playing NWN modules which seems to be best option for my enjoyment and my wallet.

Originally Posted by Dez
I was fairly happy with PoE combat, but there were some issues for sure. However I'm sure that they will do better in PoE2 after receiving so much feedback.

I don't think PoE2 will be turn-based, which would be the only realistic improvement.

Didn’t POE have a speed setting that would pause on each PC’s turn? Effectively turn-based I believe.

RTwP pausing on each turn isn't really all that much like real turn-based combat.

We have enough turn-based games to choose from. I'm glad PoE is RTwP.

Some games suit RTwP better. I didn't had a particular issue with it in PoE, and I imagine they've improved it for PoE2 based on all the feedback they've had. I've got high hopes for the game.