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[Rat Casket]

i will say that inventory management in this game is a disaster

[HöllenKobold]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-08-13-what-european-developers-need-to-know-about-american-online-gamers

"Americans know who Steve-O is but not Stalin"

Steve-O...?

[s-spooky g-g-ghosts]

"Americans know who Steve-O is but not Stalin"

Steve-O...?

I'm sure this was used as a general idea, but come on, who doesn't know Jackass?

[Mauricio Gomes]

I bought the game and I am really liking it so far...

But it has some issues...

First, the inventory management is terrible, to the point that I only bothered with crafting so far once (I made a sword, out of curiosity if I could, it was better than my own, so I am used the new sword), and the only shopping I made so far was buying the crafting tools...

That said, I am now finding the game stupidly hard... maybe because of the previously mentioned issues, I am level 4, and stuck trying to advance west of the main city, I killed a couple enemies already, but I stumble in some areas where I get my ass handed to me really fast, even against level 3 enemies, mostly because their amout (I am with 3 characters, there are some areas that trigger about 10 skeletons coming from the ground around you... then the archers pound me with explosive arrows and kill me in 3 turns).


Also the controls are annoying... I dunno if maybe is because their "indecision 3D", that makes it feel like a half-assed Baldur's Gate, entering buildings is hard (frequently I close the door instead, or click on areas that pathfinding cannot go), the zoom level is too close (yes, you can scroll around, but it is MUCH easier to control holding the left mouse button, that forces the camera to center), and sometimes you have to interact with stuff that no matter how much you zoom and rotate you still cannot put them inside the camera field.

Also the combat controls have problems... Frequently I end walking when I intended to  attack (move obvious with archer, since archer don't need to walk to melee range of a enemy...), and there are difficulties aiming some stuff, it feels like pixel hunting of those old adventure games, but instead you are hunting what pixel don't have a stupid prop blocking your line of sight to a enemy that you intend to cast teleport on.


But I still think the game is one of the most interesting ones I ever played... The environmental effects are particularly fun, specially in more puzzley areas and combats (and sometimes teleporting a barrel of oil in front of a enemy you want to see burn is just fun...), they are also easy to forget (I once stunned my whole party after using electricity in a area where I hacked lots of people, and once I blew up my entire party in a mishap involving bleeding zombies and fire arrows... the explosion was quite violent, killed all enemies, and killed my entire party too... although I was upset I needed to reload I had a laugh )

[tieTYT]

Spoilers?:

I got to this point where I'm kind of stuck.  I have two choices of bosses to fight.  One is these "twin" fire guys, the other is this King/Queen skeleton.  They both seem a little too difficult for me to kill at my current level.  I don't know where else I can go to level up.  Is it possible to get to a second town at this point, or are 1-2 of these guys blocking the path?

The crafting system is a mystery to me.  I can't imagine how anyone could ever figure it out without reading an external tutorial.  I drop an item on a whetstone... but I can't see that it's having any effect. 

Also, on many quests, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next.  Jake's dog is telling me to get items off the suspects so he can smell, but after I collected items from their houses and talked to him, nothing new happened.  Perhaps I need to pickpocket items?  I don't have a high enough skill to do that.   

[Rat Casket]

Spoilers?:

I got to this point where I'm kind of stuck.  I have two choices of bosses to fight.  One is these "twin" fire guys, the other is this King/Queen skeleton.  They both seem a little too difficult for me to kill at my current level.  I don't know where else I can go to level up.  Is it possible to get to a second town at this point, or are 1-2 of these guys blocking the path?

The crafting system is a mystery to me.  I can't imagine how anyone could ever figure it out without reading an external tutorial.  I drop an item on a whetstone... but I can't see that it's having any effect. 

Also, on many quests, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next.  Jake's dog is telling me to get items off the suspects so he can smell, but after I collected items from their houses and talked to him, nothing new happened.  Perhaps I need to pickpocket items?  I don't have a high enough skill to do that.   

What level are you? be like 7-9 for those bosses.

Crafting recipes are laid out clearly in the books you find. If you try to craft something and nothing happens, a message will pop up over the character that is trying to craft telling you that x skill is not high enough.

There are like 15 ways to complete that quest. Just get a shovel. 

[tieTYT]

What level are you? be like 7-9 for those bosses.

I think I'm at level 7 right now.  Maybe 8.  I think i'll try to equip more water spells.

Crafting recipes are laid out clearly in the books you find. If you try to craft something and nothing happens, a message will pop up over the character that is trying to craft telling you that x skill is not high enough.

Right, I meant the experimenting side of it.  It's weird how I can put a shield ON the anvil.  I'm not sure if there's a next step, or if that's equivalent to dropping a shield on the ground.

There are like 15 ways to complete that quest. Just get a shovel. 

Got one, dug him up, and there are 4 suspects.  I dunno what to do next.  None of them have any new conversation options.  Any chance I'm experiencing a bug?

Thanks for the help.

[joseph ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Tietyt: have you ever peeled an orange with your bare hands? Just shred that motherfucker. Having trouble with the combat? nuke the shit out of everyone. having trouble with the quests? Talk the shit out of everyone.

The game is highly susceptible to brute force.

That, also, is my review of Divinity, Original Sin: Satisfying, like peeling an orange with your hands, but not as good as actually getting to eat the orange would be.

[Blademasterbobo]

peeling an orange with your hands over and over and over and over and over and over and over [...] and over again

a pile of peeled oranges, but you never get to eat them

[s0]

Tietyt: have you ever peeled an orange with your bare hands? Just shred that motherfucker. Having trouble with the combat? nuke the shit out of everyone. having trouble with the quests? Talk the shit out of everyone.

The game is highly susceptible to brute force.

That, also, is my review of Divinity, Original Sin: Satisfying, like peeling an orange with your hands, but not as good as actually getting to eat the orange would be.

ok so this post is interesting to me b/c im on the fence about buying this game. the brute force thing doesnt seem like that much of a problem from the way you describe it because i would try to "roleplay" the game anyways. does it have any other glaring flaws?

also how is the co-op (ive been hearing some good things about it)

[Nillo]

The co-op is interesting to me because you and your buddy's characters will often have arguments with each other (both about trivial and serious topics). It's unusually interactive in terms of dialogue.

That said, both of the buddies I've tried multi-playing this game with so far were bored halfway through the first town, because there is so much talking to do and so little combat. So your mileage may vary.

[joseph ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Tietyt: have you ever peeled an orange with your bare hands? Just shred that motherfucker. Having trouble with the combat? nuke the shit out of everyone. having trouble with the quests? Talk the shit out of everyone.

The game is highly susceptible to brute force.

That, also, is my review of Divinity, Original Sin: Satisfying, like peeling an orange with your hands, but not as good as actually getting to eat the orange would be.

ok so this post is interesting to me b/c im on the fence about buying this game. the brute force thing doesnt seem like that much of a problem from the way you describe it because i would try to "roleplay" the game anyways. does it have any other glaring flaws?

also how is the co-op (ive been hearing some good things about it)

Co-op is a lot more satisfying than SP, because:

a- The combat is based around pulling out these ridiculous tactical wombocombos, right? So In SP it's like, okay, how do I solve this puzzle? blah.

In MP it's like motherfucker, i *had* them, why the hell did you cover the whole battlefield in smoke? Now I don't have line of sight! Don't you understand what this means!?

So the game becomes about dealing with your partner more than it does the enemies and that's 10000x times more fun.

b- The dialogue/quests are kinda blah and the quests tend to have interesting solutions on paper (multiple different clues/cues you can use to progress) but it can feel a bit bland to do alone.

BUT YOU CAN SPLIT UP, and conversations are independent, so having two players lets you control the pace much better. I cracked the case WIDE OPEN while nathan was dicking around comparing prices on swords, or something. Later, while I was breaking and entering and solving a puzzle in someone's obnoxious-ass basement, he was out learning about the local happenings in some cave.

[tieTYT]

I got past these bosses after realizing there are many more places I could go before I have to face them.  I feel like the map must be slightly buggy or something.  There was a lot of the map without a fog of war on it that I had never gone to before. 

My next question is, is there a whetstone in silverglen?  If not, that seems like really stupid design.  It's not fun to have to go back to cyseal and walk for 30 seconds to craft.

[s0]

@catguy and nillo: thanks that sound cool, maybe i'll get it for my birthday.

[Mauricio Gomes]

Finished the game...

I feel disappointed.

First, the maps after the first are kinda... incomplete, not really half-assed, but they have a strong feeling that the devs ran out of time, the farther you go, the worse it is, the balance then is even worse (with fights get lots of spikes of being too easy or too hard, mostly for the too easy side, specially if you manage to over-level), also lots of areas have just non-sensical stuff, clearly result of being unfinished (Example: there is a place that devs seemly slapped a minefield just to make your progress harder, the thing is that 2 different peaceful NPC groups also cross that same field, and promptly explode, and clear the field for you, and you get free loot, and there is no comment about it, it is like if it never happened, noone is bothered with people getting blown up... also there is a group of evil NPCs that decrease you reputation if they die fighting when you are nearby, no matter who started it first or even who actually killed them, and clearly this was not intentional by the devs, it is just the NPC type that trigger the reputation loss, the devs forgot to make a exception for those particular NPCs)

Also crafting suck, there is ONE recipe that is overpowered (putting rubies into armour, at level 20 you can get immortal by doing that, with resists nearing 200%, meaning enemy attacks can heal you absurds amounts), and all others are underpowered or utterly useless (for example crafted level-20 weapons have less base damage and effects than any found weapon AND you cannot improve them with anvil or other boost items).

Also the near-ending homestead upgrades just suck (some don't even have a NPC, and one of them is buggy), and homesteaded characters don't react to your homestead (there is one character you can optionally send to the homestead that complains that your homestead don't have stuff that it DOES have, it is very silly at least).

And finally, consumables on this game are terrible, they are almost always useless, healing too little (in case of stuff that heals) or having too short duration (specially bad because you cannot use them outside combat to solve puzzles or use to pre-buff yourself), it is easier to just figure how to out-damage the enemy (ie: kill it before it kills you).

also talents are very broken, or they are absolutely overpowered, or useless, sometimes both (ie: leech... if someone is bleeding near you, or yourself is bleeding, it means full-heal, but if you see that HUUUUUUGE multi-screen pool of blood and touch it, it is entirely gone and you get some few amount of HP...).

Still, it is a better game than many I have seen recently, hats off to the devs... but they now need to use the money they are earning in boatloads on steam to actually finish the game properly.

[tieTYT]

homestead upgrades

What are these and how do you get them?

[Mauricio Gomes]

homestead upgrades

What are these and how do you get them?

They are necessary to complete the main quest, so explaining is not necessary (ie: you WILL come across them, and you have to, otherwise you cannot fight against the final boss, also the backstory is explained as you get the upgrades, either in cut-scenes or new characters that talk to you about it) and also a spoiler (ie: it will spoil the main quest storyline).

[tieTYT]

I'm starting to get sick of this game's shit.  Originally I didn't mind that it plopped you in the middle of the world with no idea where to go next.  But lately I feel like the levels are intentionally laid out to make you feel lost.  I feel like I have to google for faqs or waste 1-2 hours wandering hoping I stumble upon the next thing I'm supposed to do.

As an abstract example, you'll discover a new map by entering at the lower left.  You'll travel your way to the upper right and explore along the way.  In the middle of the map you'll enter this place that NPCs are *saying* you should visit because that's your overarching main quest goal.  You get there, and get stuck with no clue as to what to do next.  Turns out the next thing you're supposed to do is really at the upper right part of the map but all signs point to the middle. 

What really, really exacerbates this problem is that you clear the fog of war further than you've actually traveled.  This can reveal large parts of the map that you've never even visited before.  As a result, when you feel like you should explore to progress it's very difficult to discover the places you haven't visited yet.  It often looks like you've traveled a path until it hits a dead end when the reality is you haven't even traveled that path yet. 

[Mauricio Gomes]

I'm starting to get sick of this game's shit.  Originally I didn't mind that it plopped you in the middle of the world with no idea where to go next.  But lately I feel like the levels are intentionally laid out to make you feel lost.  I feel like I have to google for faqs or waste 1-2 hours wandering hoping I stumble upon the next thing I'm supposed to do.

As an abstract example, you'll discover a new map by entering at the lower left.  You'll travel your way to the upper right and explore along the way.  In the middle of the map you'll enter this place that NPCs are *saying* you should visit because that's your overarching main quest goal.  You get there, and get stuck with no clue as to what to do next.  Turns out the next thing you're supposed to do is really at the upper right part of the map but all signs point to the middle. 

What really, really exacerbates this problem is that you clear the fog of war further than you've actually traveled.  This can reveal large parts of the map that you've never even visited before.  As a result, when you feel like you should explore to progress it's very difficult to discover the places you haven't visited yet.  It often looks like you've traveled a path until it hits a dead end when the reality is you haven't even traveled that path yet. 

I don't think it is intentional... On the first map it took me a while to understand where I need to go, but after I understood it was easy, it has some logic, in fact the first map after you understand it is actually very linear, probably most players finished it in the very same way as I did with minor variations.

I think they just ran out of time and started to smash stuff where they should be in the way that they could, the second map has a very distinct feel regarding that (for example that random area in the northwest that has nothing to do with the rest of the map, also it is a buggy area, the trigger related to it might trigger in other places, but the characters speak the same dialogue, even if it results in utter non-sense)

[tieTYT]

I can't tell if you're relating with me or disagreeing. When you start and get to the first city there are at least 4 ways you can go.  Only one of these ways is sensible as the others have enemies so powerful you'd have little chance defeating them.

I do agree that the "necessary" path in the first map is very linear.  I have no problem with linear.  But giving you 1 right direction and 3 wrong directions is not, IMHO, good level design.  I don't enjoy "bumper car"ing my way to the right path.  I like an indication that I'm headed in the right direction.

Current situation without spoilers: I've found this cave with enemies in it that are literally invincible.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to find some magic item in another quest that makes them vulnerable.  I'm not sure if that quest is outside or inside this cave.  I'm not even sure if this quest actually exists!  Maybe I'm supposed to use sneak to avoid these characters all together. 

I tried the last option and got very far avoiding them.  But along the way for 20 minutes (!) I never felt like I was doing the right thing.  This feeling got so uncomfortable I eventually returned to a save before I sneaked passed them. 

BTW, I'm not saying they should hold my hand.  I'm saying they should provide in-game ways to find the next path *if* you're going to make a linear game.  If I were to have a take away from this, it would be, "be wary of creating a linear game with a non-linear map AND a sub-par journal system."

This game reminds me of some of the worst qualities of point and click adventure games I've played.  You get stuck and you start trying every combination of options to proceed.