I don't use the summons. I'm a skald, my Chanter deals damages and paralyzes enemies.
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PoE2 Thoughts so far of POEII
- Thread starter CelticFrost
- Start date
Pillars of Eternity II
I don't use the summons. I'm a skald, my Chanter deals damages and paralyzes enemies.
Free DLC next week:The Rum Runner's Pack.
And the best drunk NPC that everyone though was supposed to be a crew member is actually going to be a sidekick. She already has a spot in my party.
Also, the patch was pushed to the end of the week (some info on the todays Q&A)
And the best drunk NPC that everyone though was supposed to be a crew member is actually going to be a sidekick. She already has a spot in my party.
Also, the patch was pushed to the end of the week (some info on the todays Q&A)
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https://steamcommunity.com/app/560130/discussions/0/1693795812289242805/
.
Anyway, default AI. I find it very good for the most part of the game where you don't have to micromanage anything much (normal diff). Once you unlock highest level devastating spells, the stupid AI won't care but will cast those on top of your party.
Who'd think Aloth is a homicidal maniac.
Hints to "fix" it for those who still want to use AI on two highest levels and not micromanage:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/560130/discussions/0/1693795812288829960/
Someone should make a video with live actors similar to "how I play Skyrim".
.
Anyway, default AI. I find it very good for the most part of the game where you don't have to micromanage anything much (normal diff). Once you unlock highest level devastating spells, the stupid AI won't care but will cast those on top of your party.
Who'd think Aloth is a homicidal maniac.
Hints to "fix" it for those who still want to use AI on two highest levels and not micromanage:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/560130/discussions/0/1693795812288829960/
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It's relatively easy to just wait it out, and it doesn't matter that often - if only needed to wait something out barely 10 times, and more than half of those was waiting for the stupid Vaillan Trading Company to open.
And I just realized why there's not fast travel to that location.
Overall, I kinda like the game (so far). Companions are stupid and all want to sleep with you (this is a new level of ridiculousness), not to mention how mostly laughable their quests are, itemization is real bad (and not only cause there's one golden sword for each golden other type weapon there is) and the overall class system sucks big time (at least for caster classes) but the exploration is kinda fun, combat mostly autoplays itself (normal difficulty, but I see a lot of people complaining about the higher difficulties) and many quest have non-violent solutions. There were also 2 no combat, all "puzzle" dungeons (1 small floor each, but still)!
Ship stiff on the other hand is so atrocious, it's not even funny and merits a paragraph of it's own. You either spend like half an hour on every single combat, or just continually press 1 until you're close enough to board without the penalties and let the autocombat resolve itself. I would have prefered if they gave us a giand flying bird at some point, Final Fantasy style, to just not bother with the whole thing. Or some kind of one-button click quick autoresolve.
I also mostly like how relatively problem free they've gotten the engine - and mostly bug free. Or at least the release seem without major game stopping ones. There's still bugs - one hilarious one had my character still on the ground as a corpse after a combat he died in - I actually found a higher level quest by chance at one end of the map and didn't want to go back - and at least it was a small level and he was back to normal on the next floor.
Overall, it's not a bad game, quite enjoyable actually, maybe a tad more than the first one at launch, but nothing special. A mostly by the numbers sequiel, nothing more nothing less, most certainly not the 90% or 5 star game.
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Complains about companions disposition being bugged (romance triggers comes too fast) and then goes saying the game is mostly bug free. lol.
I find itemization to be pretty good, especially being able to upgrade magical items. Too many swords is the end results of most magical weapons being the result of a certain pledge tiers (there was 35 create an item). Just like most of the new portrait being human or elven males.
The auto-boarding was added for whinny people who didn't want tb ship combat. I tried both ship boarding and tb combat and the end result is comparable in term of damage, crew hurt and rewards so pick which ever you prefer.
People hating on spellcasters in POE2 have no idea how to use spellcasters (outside Priest who do sucks because they have like 3 useful spells total and all at low levels). My wizard Aloth is way more fun in POE2 than in POE1 where I barely used spells because I didn't want to rest all the time. Pull of Eora + Minor Blights or Fireball = group of enemies dead.
I find itemization to be pretty good, especially being able to upgrade magical items. Too many swords is the end results of most magical weapons being the result of a certain pledge tiers (there was 35 create an item). Just like most of the new portrait being human or elven males.
The auto-boarding was added for whinny people who didn't want tb ship combat. I tried both ship boarding and tb combat and the end result is comparable in term of damage, crew hurt and rewards so pick which ever you prefer.
People hating on spellcasters in POE2 have no idea how to use spellcasters (outside Priest who do sucks because they have like 3 useful spells total and all at low levels). My wizard Aloth is way more fun in POE2 than in POE1 where I barely used spells because I didn't want to rest all the time. Pull of Eora + Minor Blights or Fireball = group of enemies dead.
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I'm not saying the game is bug free, quite the contrary, just that there are no game breaking ones - like how in POE release you could be stuck in Raedric's hold and unable to leave.
Ship combat is really, god awful - TB is a waste of time, while auto-boarding is wasteful. Ship Management is also a complete waste - the crew barely matters, morale is not even used as it takes literally at least 4 round trips of the whole map at 1/100 and no food and water to trigger all the events up to a mutiny. Also - even when event say some crew member/s should be dead, they aren't. Not sure if but or feature. Overall - complete waste of resources and time that could have been used somewhere else. Not even sure any parts of it are salvagable.
If too many swords is the result of a pledge tier, it could have been easily avoided, either by simple suggestions to backers (hey, would you like to do some other item type?) or better distribution, or something. By 2/3 of the game I had found barely a handful of non-weapon/armor items, once again, every cape/cloak/boot/etc is stuffed into the last part.
Enchanting was way better than the previous game, mostly how available it is, compared to previously where there were barely enough mats for the max upgrades. It doesn't really solve the problem of itemization, since you could probably finish the game with mostly the party's starting equipment. Also, at this point, why bother with enemies dropping craptons of useless blue loot you're never going to touch them except pawning it off at the next shopping spree? Either increase their gold or just rethink the whole thing. The first game had that going for it - a blue supreme item with enchantments could really do the job, particularly with weapon types that had little or no variety, not to mention you could literally not upgrade more than 3 items to supreme quality.
Soulbound items btw, were a complete waste of effort and it shows - I think I got like 4 out the 5 in game, 1 was useless (not legendary), 1 was not really soulbound, 1 was barely unlockable (the 2nd requirement was for damage to primals? and I found a couple of elementals to do the trick quite late), and the last one was found too late to begin with. The final one I did come across but was unable to obtain, again, quite late.
Speaking for once again, I still find it ridiculous that I reached the level cap well before the endgame. Not as bad as 1, where you could easily hit halfway through, without the mega dungeon or expansions, but still. It's just wasteful, if anything there should be no, or at least a soft-cap, any experience after the arbitrary max should go towards something - very expensive (in XP) power levels?
Voice acting everything seems overly wasteful, Deadfire is no mainstream RPG that requires such frivolities. Also, supposedly VO work is damn expensive, so those were funds that could have been used to improve other aspects of the game. Or at least produce more.
Speaking of endings, the end-game is laughably bad. The Watcher has zero impact on the outcome of the story and the whole thing turns from mildly interesting to barely worth it. It just feels rushed, kinda unfinished and slapped on at the last minute because.
This rant turned longer than I wanted.
In the end, I had the most fun in the beginning to middle of the game - exploration seemed promising, running around the city was fulfilling in all the right ways, and most of the problems were not quite showing. Slightly worse than the first one - which had the shiny new-ness going for it. If there's ever a third one (sign indicate against it, but who knows) I might not even bother, at this rate. Unless they embrace the Choose Your Own Adventure segments (also, the art in those, along with the conversation portraits, was phenomenal), and make the whole game that.
Ship combat is really, god awful - TB is a waste of time, while auto-boarding is wasteful. Ship Management is also a complete waste - the crew barely matters, morale is not even used as it takes literally at least 4 round trips of the whole map at 1/100 and no food and water to trigger all the events up to a mutiny. Also - even when event say some crew member/s should be dead, they aren't. Not sure if but or feature. Overall - complete waste of resources and time that could have been used somewhere else. Not even sure any parts of it are salvagable.
If too many swords is the result of a pledge tier, it could have been easily avoided, either by simple suggestions to backers (hey, would you like to do some other item type?) or better distribution, or something. By 2/3 of the game I had found barely a handful of non-weapon/armor items, once again, every cape/cloak/boot/etc is stuffed into the last part.
Enchanting was way better than the previous game, mostly how available it is, compared to previously where there were barely enough mats for the max upgrades. It doesn't really solve the problem of itemization, since you could probably finish the game with mostly the party's starting equipment. Also, at this point, why bother with enemies dropping craptons of useless blue loot you're never going to touch them except pawning it off at the next shopping spree? Either increase their gold or just rethink the whole thing. The first game had that going for it - a blue supreme item with enchantments could really do the job, particularly with weapon types that had little or no variety, not to mention you could literally not upgrade more than 3 items to supreme quality.
Soulbound items btw, were a complete waste of effort and it shows - I think I got like 4 out the 5 in game, 1 was useless (not legendary), 1 was not really soulbound, 1 was barely unlockable (the 2nd requirement was for damage to primals? and I found a couple of elementals to do the trick quite late), and the last one was found too late to begin with. The final one I did come across but was unable to obtain, again, quite late.
Speaking for once again, I still find it ridiculous that I reached the level cap well before the endgame. Not as bad as 1, where you could easily hit halfway through, without the mega dungeon or expansions, but still. It's just wasteful, if anything there should be no, or at least a soft-cap, any experience after the arbitrary max should go towards something - very expensive (in XP) power levels?
Voice acting everything seems overly wasteful, Deadfire is no mainstream RPG that requires such frivolities. Also, supposedly VO work is damn expensive, so those were funds that could have been used to improve other aspects of the game. Or at least produce more.
Speaking of endings, the end-game is laughably bad. The Watcher has zero impact on the outcome of the story and the whole thing turns from mildly interesting to barely worth it. It just feels rushed, kinda unfinished and slapped on at the last minute because.
This rant turned longer than I wanted.
In the end, I had the most fun in the beginning to middle of the game - exploration seemed promising, running around the city was fulfilling in all the right ways, and most of the problems were not quite showing. Slightly worse than the first one - which had the shiny new-ness going for it. If there's ever a third one (sign indicate against it, but who knows) I might not even bother, at this rate. Unless they embrace the Choose Your Own Adventure segments (also, the art in those, along with the conversation portraits, was phenomenal), and make the whole game that.
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Just finished POE1 and just blown away. Such an awesome game. I had never completely finished it and finally did and wish I hadn't waited so long. Really enjoyed the ending a lot.
So now ready for POE2, officially, and excited to really did into it this weekend. I only played around on the first island to get some impressions and now ready for the real thing
So now ready for POE2, officially, and excited to really did into it this weekend. I only played around on the first island to get some impressions and now ready for the real thing
Did anyone come across mentions of the PoE 1 companions? Just curious why the game insisted on determining their fate in the histories.
In my playthrough, I had the following mentiones - I think I choose the "best" outcomes for everyone, as l was trying to recreate my original playthrough where I think I did all the quests and I didn't finish the expansion when I played it last, but still chose what sounded like the best outcomes.
Maybe spoilers? Even though it's so unconsequential I don't consider it that way.
Somewhere in the opening there was a passing mention of Durance, but just barely.
The barbarian woman (forgot the name) turned up at some point at the pirate island as as a generic townie NPC with a name.
Kana showed up at the end of a quest to exchange a couple of generic lines with the Watcher, also his sister mentioned him a time or two.
I don't think I saw anything else about any of the other companions anywhere, though I came across someone saying if you chose the bad outcome for the rogue (also forgot the name) she turns up as equipment pieces in the shops.
And another thought, if teh Deadfire Archipelago is generally to the (supposedly far) south of the original game, why does Eothas start at the bottom of the map?
In my playthrough, I had the following mentiones - I think I choose the "best" outcomes for everyone, as l was trying to recreate my original playthrough where I think I did all the quests and I didn't finish the expansion when I played it last, but still chose what sounded like the best outcomes.
Maybe spoilers? Even though it's so unconsequential I don't consider it that way.
Somewhere in the opening there was a passing mention of Durance, but just barely.
The barbarian woman (forgot the name) turned up at some point at the pirate island as as a generic townie NPC with a name.
Kana showed up at the end of a quest to exchange a couple of generic lines with the Watcher, also his sister mentioned him a time or two.
I don't think I saw anything else about any of the other companions anywhere, though I came across someone saying if you chose the bad outcome for the rogue (also forgot the name) she turns up as equipment pieces in the shops.
And another thought, if teh Deadfire Archipelago is generally to the (supposedly far) south of the original game, why does Eothas start at the bottom of the map?
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Equipment pieces I haven't seen - only the armor in Neketaka shop (you don't have to buy, it's possible to steal it). Except three comapnions from Eternity1, others appear just as props exactly as you've noticed already.
I did write already a few times. The whole companions from Eternity1 thing with them all reverted to level 1 or not recruitable even as sailors, plus none of them three are romancable - is idiotic design as this is supposed to be a standalone sequel and not an expansion. Some will disagree with me, their problem.
Eternity2 ends with "a bang" and opens so many new possibilities for Eternity3. Sure, the third game can, if will take place on the same sea, depend on your faction and ending giant choice. But if Eternity3 will take place elsewhere yet keep these same companions while demoting them all back to initial level where you'll be choosing their class again - I will just not buy it.
Also mentioned ME trilogy before where you choose in ME1 who lives and who dies between a soldier with tits and a biotic with no tits. Who survived between the two didn't matter in ME2, but in ME3 the soldier was still equally useless soldier but with tits and biotic was still capable of biotic combos with another biotic redeeming his no tits "feature". However other companions from ME1 that appeared in ME2 didn't suddenly change class nor were brought back to level 1. Also Tali and Garrus from ME1 were romancable in ME2. On top of that, ME series companions could die based on your choices, but none would ever leave your side just because you blew up something, nor would leave you for mundane reasons if you were romancing any of them. The threat felt just too big to follow personal egos and whims.
Except the threat to whole life, Eternity 2 made everything opposite from ME series and sorry, but I hate what they did there.
Returing watcher is okay, the giant is also okay, but everything else that links 1 & 2 is fail.
IMO
I did write already a few times. The whole companions from Eternity1 thing with them all reverted to level 1 or not recruitable even as sailors, plus none of them three are romancable - is idiotic design as this is supposed to be a standalone sequel and not an expansion. Some will disagree with me, their problem.
Eternity2 ends with "a bang" and opens so many new possibilities for Eternity3. Sure, the third game can, if will take place on the same sea, depend on your faction and ending giant choice. But if Eternity3 will take place elsewhere yet keep these same companions while demoting them all back to initial level where you'll be choosing their class again - I will just not buy it.
Also mentioned ME trilogy before where you choose in ME1 who lives and who dies between a soldier with tits and a biotic with no tits. Who survived between the two didn't matter in ME2, but in ME3 the soldier was still equally useless soldier but with tits and biotic was still capable of biotic combos with another biotic redeeming his no tits "feature". However other companions from ME1 that appeared in ME2 didn't suddenly change class nor were brought back to level 1. Also Tali and Garrus from ME1 were romancable in ME2. On top of that, ME series companions could die based on your choices, but none would ever leave your side just because you blew up something, nor would leave you for mundane reasons if you were romancing any of them. The threat felt just too big to follow personal egos and whims.
Except the threat to whole life, Eternity 2 made everything opposite from ME series and sorry, but I hate what they did there.
Returing watcher is okay, the giant is also okay, but everything else that links 1 & 2 is fail.
IMO
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The Deadfire Archipelago is pretty long and far east, it goes from the equator to the South Pole. The Dyrwood is around the equator. Eothas walked south from Caed Nua to the ocean to go around the rest of the continent (aka the Vailian Republics) and then climbed back up the Archipelago on the other side.
Something like:
D
---V
------Port Maje
For the returning companions, I can add that if you killed Kana in POE1 you can tell his sister. Also the blood pool sacrifice gives you a tiny buff after a certain point in the game.
And while joxer is crying that the companions are their own person with their own agenda that gets angry at you for going against their factions and beliefs and tus aren't just there for ego-massaging reasons like in every BioWare games, I personally think it adds to the game.
and I suspect POE3 will have a new MC, I know of at least 3 ways to die in POE2 via plot choices.
Something like:
D
---V
------Port Maje
For the returning companions, I can add that if you killed Kana in POE1 you can tell his sister. Also the blood pool sacrifice gives you a tiny buff after a certain point in the game.
And while joxer is crying that the companions are their own person with their own agenda that gets angry at you for going against their factions and beliefs and tus aren't just there for ego-massaging reasons like in every BioWare games, I personally think it adds to the game.
and I suspect POE3 will have a new MC, I know of at least 3 ways to die in POE2 via plot choices.
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What giant ending choice? You're saying there is one?
Bringing back those 3 kinda made sence they were the most memorable of the bunch (except Durance and Grieving Mother, but no surprice they didn't bring back those two, and thank someone they didn't). Since Deadfire is billed - uncessary, if you ask me - as a direct sequel, they kinda had to. Also, I don't quite get why you expected them to be back at their former max level, since 1) 2 of them are starting companions 2) game mechanics don't really support it, since the party joins at your current level. So while Eder joined as a lvl 1, Aloth joined as several levels above that, and (at least in my playthrough) Palladina joined quite late (maybe 7-8 or something). And like that is the biggest problem with the continuity.
I think that Deadfire could have worked as a standalone sequel, I mean I did enjoy the occasional plot use of the Watcher abilities, and the supposed connection with the gods, but the last part was again, a major dissappointment for me. I again made the mistake to play as a Priest of Wael (I think in PoE I though she sounded intriguing) and, as in the first game, got zilch dialogue options anywhere. The whole importing a save/choosing a history seems also a complete waste of everyone's time, since apart from giving some flavour at a couple of places, there was zero point in the whole excersice. I'd rather they just chose some outcomes at random as cannon, and went with that, this way they probably wasted resources that could and should have been put to better use elsewhere. And there's plenty of places where the game could have used improvements.
The whole game would have been much better, I think, if the main character was a random-ish ship captain, that is roped at being a pirate? and can choose to the support of the other 3 factions. Or not, and go for the lone pirate ruler of the area. I would also have skipped the whole Eothas thing - really half assed, particularly the ending, but if I had to include it, made the Watcher an NPC you need to cart around in the ship.
Or something like that. Writing the previous paragraph made me wish I played that game instead.
Btw, I'm kinda doubtful at this point we'll get a PoE3. I think the Watcher story is exhausted, at the very least. And if they really have to, I'd rather see a one of the hinted more interesting squares of the world.
Bringing back those 3 kinda made sence they were the most memorable of the bunch (except Durance and Grieving Mother, but no surprice they didn't bring back those two, and thank someone they didn't). Since Deadfire is billed - uncessary, if you ask me - as a direct sequel, they kinda had to. Also, I don't quite get why you expected them to be back at their former max level, since 1) 2 of them are starting companions 2) game mechanics don't really support it, since the party joins at your current level. So while Eder joined as a lvl 1, Aloth joined as several levels above that, and (at least in my playthrough) Palladina joined quite late (maybe 7-8 or something). And like that is the biggest problem with the continuity.
I think that Deadfire could have worked as a standalone sequel, I mean I did enjoy the occasional plot use of the Watcher abilities, and the supposed connection with the gods, but the last part was again, a major dissappointment for me. I again made the mistake to play as a Priest of Wael (I think in PoE I though she sounded intriguing) and, as in the first game, got zilch dialogue options anywhere. The whole importing a save/choosing a history seems also a complete waste of everyone's time, since apart from giving some flavour at a couple of places, there was zero point in the whole excersice. I'd rather they just chose some outcomes at random as cannon, and went with that, this way they probably wasted resources that could and should have been put to better use elsewhere. And there's plenty of places where the game could have used improvements.
The whole game would have been much better, I think, if the main character was a random-ish ship captain, that is roped at being a pirate? and can choose to the support of the other 3 factions. Or not, and go for the lone pirate ruler of the area. I would also have skipped the whole Eothas thing - really half assed, particularly the ending, but if I had to include it, made the Watcher an NPC you need to cart around in the ship.
Or something like that. Writing the previous paragraph made me wish I played that game instead.
Btw, I'm kinda doubtful at this point we'll get a PoE3. I think the Watcher story is exhausted, at the very least. And if they really have to, I'd rather see a one of the hinted more interesting squares of the world.
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So, going at the final area at level 14 with mostly exceptional gear is not exactly a good idea…
I finished the game with probably half the content not done and a large part of the map unvisited (keeping that for replay when all the DLCs are released). I didn't side with any of the factions, in fact, didn't talk with any of the leaders outside of forced plot meetings. Strangely, I expected awful endings for companions like in POE1 if you didn't do their quests, but it wasn't that bad. The status of the Deadfire though…outch.
I hope that POE3 is going to have gods as party members. I find them to be a riot.
I finished the game with probably half the content not done and a large part of the map unvisited (keeping that for replay when all the DLCs are released). I didn't side with any of the factions, in fact, didn't talk with any of the leaders outside of forced plot meetings. Strangely, I expected awful endings for companions like in POE1 if you didn't do their quests, but it wasn't that bad. The status of the Deadfire though…outch.
I hope that POE3 is going to have gods as party members. I find them to be a riot.
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ElderGnome
Gnome of the World
Thoughts of the Gnome - after playing to level 12 or so:
*** I love this game. I like the companions, I like the sidekicks. I like it at least as much as I liked Pillars of Eternity I, and that is saying a lot. That having been said... ***
The good:
1) Exploration is fun, I really feel like this is more "sandboxy" than PoE I, and I can just go off exploring.
2) Mobs and ships don't re-spawn. Excellent.
3) Enchanting items is better in this game; more materials to enchant stuff, just overall easier.
4) Returning figures as foes, etc... I won't give a spoiler but one very powerful mage I killed in PoE I came back and I thought the entire scene was hilarious.
5) Returning companions - I'm not upset they start at level 1. Hey, after some time off the job you go soft.
6) Quests are really fun and different and varied.
7) NPCs are fun. I love Xoti lol.
The bad:
1) I hate the ship to ship combat system and always just try to board the ship. This whole invention was a lame addition to an otherwise cool game. I haven't seen anyone go thus far, "Man, that ship to ship combat really MAKES this game!" - I have heard a lot of complaints.
2) DAY AND NIGHT TIMERS FOR NPCs... ugh. Like hitting the "wait" button is adding to my experience of the game and not just my frustration. This was one thing in Ultima 6 where you could watch merchants walk to and from their shop to their house but in PoE it just seems annoying.
3) Did I mention I have ship to ship combat?
4) Magic item distribution seems... weird. Lots of magic swords. Not many "fun" items you get in the beginning of the game but a TON in the later game. I haven't finished the game yet so I'll save my opinion for the Endgame when I get there.
Enjoying it a lot so far. Going back to play it, in fact.
*** I love this game. I like the companions, I like the sidekicks. I like it at least as much as I liked Pillars of Eternity I, and that is saying a lot. That having been said... ***
The good:
1) Exploration is fun, I really feel like this is more "sandboxy" than PoE I, and I can just go off exploring.
2) Mobs and ships don't re-spawn. Excellent.
3) Enchanting items is better in this game; more materials to enchant stuff, just overall easier.
4) Returning figures as foes, etc... I won't give a spoiler but one very powerful mage I killed in PoE I came back and I thought the entire scene was hilarious.
5) Returning companions - I'm not upset they start at level 1. Hey, after some time off the job you go soft.
6) Quests are really fun and different and varied.
7) NPCs are fun. I love Xoti lol.
The bad:
1) I hate the ship to ship combat system and always just try to board the ship. This whole invention was a lame addition to an otherwise cool game. I haven't seen anyone go thus far, "Man, that ship to ship combat really MAKES this game!" - I have heard a lot of complaints.
2) DAY AND NIGHT TIMERS FOR NPCs... ugh. Like hitting the "wait" button is adding to my experience of the game and not just my frustration. This was one thing in Ultima 6 where you could watch merchants walk to and from their shop to their house but in PoE it just seems annoying.
3) Did I mention I have ship to ship combat?
4) Magic item distribution seems... weird. Lots of magic swords. Not many "fun" items you get in the beginning of the game but a TON in the later game. I haven't finished the game yet so I'll save my opinion for the Endgame when I get there.
Enjoying it a lot so far. Going back to play it, in fact.
I still kinda don't get the hate for Day/Night NPCs, since it inconvinienced me only a handful of times by itself, and was like feature in a single quest, to the best of my memory. Also, it's very fastly overcomed with the wait button, as cumbersome to use as it is.
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People complains about it because they suck at it (doesn't help that the boats compass is wrong). Once you realize you just have to keep pushing 1 until your are in boarding range and that result in less damage than the auto-boarding...Also, you want to board, that gives the most loot.
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I caved in and started taking a peek myself over the weekend. I imported a save game from PoE which was my first character through the game. I'm only 5 hours in, playing on Veteran. I'm saving my Path of the Damned run for when everything is fixed and when all of the DLC are ready. I've basically just left the first island and repaired the ship.
Pro's:
- Nice jovial quasi low level AD&D adventuring atmosphere.
- Relatively smooth performance, no issues
- UI improvements and options to change its appearance are welcome.
- Highly accessible, easy to get into, definitely makes me want to keep playing.
- Plenty of variety in exploration options. Much to uncover, ability to avoid main quest.
- I like the resource management with ship travel, though this is definitely subjective. Some planning of voyages feels required.
- Combat is visceral and reactionary; giving decent feedback and a better sense of damage being done.
- Fun feeling of building your ship crew and figuring out how it all works.
Cons:
- I had several crashes in the prologue, some noticeable lack of polish.
- Much weaker combat so far; simply too easy with no real thought needed yet - unlike the first game where even the starter dungeon could be troublesome. I'm also already fifth level with a full party complement of 5 as well. All too soon!
- No real tension developed on the island in comparison to the first game.
- Strange changes to the magic/grimoire system which I still haven't come to grips with.
- Too much repetition of the soundtrack and over reliance of themes from the original game. For me this really gets on my nerves and is certainly not something you could accuse Baldur's Gate 2 of doing. Bit disappointing, but it is still early days. Hopefully it grows on me...
Glad to hear others enjoying it and I look forward to reading more detailed impressions.
Pro's:
- Nice jovial quasi low level AD&D adventuring atmosphere.
- Relatively smooth performance, no issues
- UI improvements and options to change its appearance are welcome.
- Highly accessible, easy to get into, definitely makes me want to keep playing.
- Plenty of variety in exploration options. Much to uncover, ability to avoid main quest.
- I like the resource management with ship travel, though this is definitely subjective. Some planning of voyages feels required.
- Combat is visceral and reactionary; giving decent feedback and a better sense of damage being done.
- Fun feeling of building your ship crew and figuring out how it all works.
Cons:
- I had several crashes in the prologue, some noticeable lack of polish.
- Much weaker combat so far; simply too easy with no real thought needed yet - unlike the first game where even the starter dungeon could be troublesome. I'm also already fifth level with a full party complement of 5 as well. All too soon!
- No real tension developed on the island in comparison to the first game.
- Strange changes to the magic/grimoire system which I still haven't come to grips with.
- Too much repetition of the soundtrack and over reliance of themes from the original game. For me this really gets on my nerves and is certainly not something you could accuse Baldur's Gate 2 of doing. Bit disappointing, but it is still early days. Hopefully it grows on me...
Glad to hear others enjoying it and I look forward to reading more detailed impressions.
I had a bunch of crashes with GOG, but they all pretty much went away after I disabled the overlay.
Also, very few people have crashes from what I understand.
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2007
- Messages
- 7,313
Thrasher
Wheeee!
My first impressions follow. I am ready to leave noobie island, at level 5 now, so haven't gotten very far yet. Have a party size of 5. Playing on classic and level scaling everything. I think I regret this last choice, as I can't go back to no level scaling... Beware!
- I've enjoyed the game so far. The writing is high quality I think. Not too discursive. Not silly. Still getting a feeling for the content and the characters.
- It looks good.
- It is stable. No crashes yet. It runs smoothly. This is the Steam version on an almost 3 year old laptop.
- Nice exploration.
- Itemization already more interesting than its predecessor.
- Easy. I am playing on classic mode. And the last battles of the zone were pretty much a pushover with a party size of 4 at level 4. I just let the AI control combat without my input. Will change the difficulty to veteran and see if it it gets any harder. It could be level scaling is making it too easy.
- The new mage spell system is strange. You don't learn spells from the grimoire anymore. You can only learn a couple of spells from the full set at each level up. You can equip a grimoire and cast spells from it as well. Grimoires augment your learned spells. You can equip different grimoires for different spells.
- Armor is still boring.
- Haven't tried enchanting yet as mats seem scarce and expensive.
- I will let you know what I think about ship to ship combat once I've done a few.
Minor annoyances:
- Pause on cast means your game is constantly pausing in town because all the NPCs are constantly buffing themselves with passives even though they are not in combat. :/
- Stacking items doesn't always work.
- I've enjoyed the game so far. The writing is high quality I think. Not too discursive. Not silly. Still getting a feeling for the content and the characters.
- It looks good.
- It is stable. No crashes yet. It runs smoothly. This is the Steam version on an almost 3 year old laptop.
- Nice exploration.
- Itemization already more interesting than its predecessor.
- Easy. I am playing on classic mode. And the last battles of the zone were pretty much a pushover with a party size of 4 at level 4. I just let the AI control combat without my input. Will change the difficulty to veteran and see if it it gets any harder. It could be level scaling is making it too easy.
- The new mage spell system is strange. You don't learn spells from the grimoire anymore. You can only learn a couple of spells from the full set at each level up. You can equip a grimoire and cast spells from it as well. Grimoires augment your learned spells. You can equip different grimoires for different spells.
- Armor is still boring.
- Haven't tried enchanting yet as mats seem scarce and expensive.
- I will let you know what I think about ship to ship combat once I've done a few.
Minor annoyances:
- Pause on cast means your game is constantly pausing in town because all the NPCs are constantly buffing themselves with passives even though they are not in combat. :/
- Stacking items doesn't always work.
I'm almost done with my 2nd run now, and I agree on the boat thing that several have mentioned: The best thing to do is to simply buy the fastest sails/hull/etc to boost combat speed and then 1 -> 1 -> 1 -> board (no point in ramming). The max seems to be 105m per turn, which means it'll be over pretty fast.