icemann on 5/8/2018 at 04:32
Your forgetting the more important DLC which came out a few days ago, which is the Beast of Winter. This adds a whole new section to the game.
Malf on 22/1/2019 at 16:03
Okay, Pillars of Eternity 2 just jumped from "Maybe I'll buy it at some point in the future" to "You have my full and undivided attention!"
(
https://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-eternity-2/pillars-of-eternity-2-turn-based) Pillars of Eternity 2 is going turn-based, eight months after launch
One of my major problems with the first game (apart from it being one long and tedious lore-dump), was the fact it's RtWP. I know it's their own system, but it's heavily reminiscent of D20 rules, and these rules were never
meant to be played in real-time. The most obvious problem being that if you start casting a spell in turn-based, it'll land exactly where you want. In RtWP, the enemy may have moved out of the AoE by the time the spell's cast.
I also can't be arsed to learn system and character nuances in the clusterfuck that is RtWP, and feel like I'm missing out on most of the rules. But turn-based gives me the opportunity to evaluate all of the tools at my disposal on an individual character basis.
Definitely excited, especially given that the one major thing missing from Pathfinder: Kingmaker is turn-based combat.
Renzatic on 23/1/2019 at 01:31
I might actually buy this for the Switch now.
Playing a real time with pause RPG isn't an ideal fit for a console. It's a genre that all but demands a keyboard and mouse to be remotely enjoyable.
But a turn based game? Yeah, I could play that on the go. I think I might try it out there.
Ostriig on 24/1/2019 at 10:18
Quote Posted by Malf
Definitely excited, especially given that the one major thing missing from Pathfinder: Kingmaker is turn-based combat.
Man, you've got Divinity and Wasteland and all that, let us RTwP peasants have some Pathfinder cake.
Jokes aside, I'm curious how this will turn out even though I've no interest in TB or in replaying Deadfire any time soon, for that matter. The issue isn't breaking up the combat order or reworking the UI, but primarily how they've rebalanced encounters - if Sawyer can successfully ballpark an RPG mold which can fit both RTwP and TB in an Options drop-down, maybe we could see future titles addressing both demographics at once.
More realistically, however, I expect that regardless of how well this implemented, if Deadfire sells a boatload more copies with this gimmick, on consoles
and PC, it will just drive another nail into RTwP's coffin and I'll be left pining for a Shadows of Amn ripoff nowhere in sight.
Malf on 25/1/2019 at 00:27
Meh, Divinity 2 really botched things for me and put me right off of their flavour of turn-based combat. Too many ill-conceived rules and badly balanced systems. And Wasteland 2 is functional at best. It doesn't have the tactical depth of something like ToEE.
As for BG and other RTwP D&D / OpenD20 games, they really make no sense in that format if you've read and understand the P&P rules. So many things break, and lots of interesting rules don't get implemented at all, because there's no realistic way to implement them.
While I enjoyed the Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights games, I tolerated their combat, always aware that if they'd been turn-based instead, the games would have played so much better.
But enough griping; I have been playing Deadfire tonight, and so far, it's looking to be exactly what I was hoping for. Admittedly, I'm still low level, so my toybox isn't that expansive yet; but I'm already appreciating being able to take my time over abilities. I played a bit of PoE 1 earlier today before the TB patch landed, as I realised I'd never finished it, just got bored and frustrated near the end. So I whacked the difficulty down and ploughed through the last few encounters to ensure I had a save for import; and ye gods, the combat is a complete mess. So back-to-back, PoE2's turn-based mode compares incredibly favourably. I'm already feeling that I'll be better able to understand the subtle differences between PoE's rules and classic D&D now that I have time to make choices and properly evaluate them.
Sulphur on 25/1/2019 at 11:07
As someone who actively enjoys both RTwP and TBS and who doesn't really care about format purity (which can bite me, fuck oldschool AD&D class and AC restrictions), all that matters is that the base game remains interesting to play.
icemann on 25/1/2019 at 12:52
Second that. The base game is fine as is.
Ostriig on 25/1/2019 at 14:39
I'm familiar with P&P and I totally get why many prefer Turn-Based over RTwP, some encounters in Throne of Bhaal or Icewind Dale will drive that point well home, but I'd still take the latter in RPGs as a matter of overall pacing. Admittedly, I'm more casual and that pacing does rely on a steady stream of trash mobs punctuated by tough encounters. I like turn-based better in strategy, though even there I love Disciples II most, with its quicker, no-movement fights.
But when it comes to Pillars of Eternity, I'm not particulary charmed by its combat even though it's RTwP - funnily enough, I also just tolerate it. I do think Deadfire's ruleset is improved over the original and I tried to pay it more attention, but it still felt overengineered and overly-balanced. Some core concepts are quite different to D&D, I'd say more so than 5E is to 3.5E, maybe they'll suit you better in turn-based but I wasn't smitten. I've been enjoying Kingmaker's combat a lot more and not just because it's familiar.
Malf on 4/2/2019 at 09:49
Still playing through this myself, and it's utterly compelling. It really is a successor for the Baldur's Gate and Fallout series. The writing's of an excellent quality, and isn't bogged down by the lore dumps of the first game. It looks absolutely stunning, and really does evoke those old Infinity Engine games; seriously, it makes me happy just looking at it, evoking all sorts of good nostalgia.
And the turn-based mode makes every battle enjoyable. It really is the best turn-based RPG combat for me since ToEE. It suffers a little through some of its systems being unfamiliar and not being sign-posted properly, but it's otherwise a massive success. There's a grumble on the Obsidian forums from RtWP advocates about having all battles take ages, even the trash. But I don't see it as such. The easier fights just serve to illustrate how your team are progressing, and serve as useful test-beds when you're trying out new abilities.
It also does gear fantastically, which is always a bugbear of mine in modern RPGs. In most, you're constantly recycling gear, forever waiting on the next best thing. In PoE2, you can very easily take the gear some characters start with all the way through the game thanks to a level-up system for some equipment. At it's simplest, it straight-up improves gear power, but every item that can be upgraded always has an interesting set of diverging, unique and mutually exclusive upgrades to choose from too.
And aside from those pieces of gear, you'll get a very few soul-bound items, where improving the gear's abilities involves achieving certain goals, such as doing a certain amount of damage to a particular species, or dishing out a certain amount of afflictions to enemies. And while you're levelling a soul-bound item, it can't be used by another character, so it influences how you play and can force you out of your comfort zone.
It's absolutely massive too, but not overwhelmingly so. I'd read someone say that Pathfinder: Kingmaker is bigger, but that's certainly not the case from my experience with both titles. There may be many more explorable nodes on Kingmaker's map (although I find even this debatable), but a huge quantity of those are tiny, one-fight encounters that often recycle maps.
Every last explorable area in PoE2 is unique, and feels sufficiently full of interesting things to do, but without overstaying its welcome. Dungeons are filled with secret doors, traps and loot, but never take too long to play through, making the game easier to digest in meaningful chunks.
Overall, highly recommended for anyone who loves the old Infinity Engine games and anyone wanting a deep and interesting turn-based combat system.