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Agree (minor spoiler for new post-game Act)
04/10/2015, 19:32:38

    Ossie writes:

    I eventually got bored & started another playthrough of this about a month ago. I'm almost done with the new post-game Act. It's a shame because the early stages of the game really are fun, the graphics around the lighthouse are suberb, and there's so much promise. But it falls short. I'll ignore the mainline-quest-killing bugs because I know how to avoid them & wasn't prepared to risk it, so I can't comment on whether they have been fixed. Although I note that no fixes are mentioned in the online forums.

    Referring to Elf's points: the infrequent & weirdly-placed teleporters are probably good enough for a freestyle game, but they are just a waste for tile-based. The teleport function of the Obelisks was only added in a very late patch too - well after I first stopped playing, which was months after release.

    The fact that only one character can cast the secret-door-finding spell (in fact the entire Dark school) remains a huge minus as they are otherwise undetectable. Money is once again scarce in the early stages & it's just unecessary aggravation to keep having to buy scrolls, especially when you get stuck in combat & they run out. A better idea would have been two active spell timelines: one for real time spells like secret-door-finder, light etc; and one for combat buffs. The real time spells only run down when you move rather than every round during combat. Spike is useful but he's a wasted Hireling slot just to keep one spell active which is only useful in dungeons - especially when these dungeons can be so long that you need the extra inventory space of the Pack Horse. Having to leave loot behind because you've run out of space is also unecessary aggravation. Of course, you also get the spell permanently active when you defeat the last elemental boss but by then the secret doors aren't as crucial.

    The lack of ability to complete all quests is also just unecessary. Would "Honorary War Priest" etc really have been that hard to implement?

    Relics are largely useless, but I do like the fact they level with you. Not capping this at level 4 would have gone a large way to ensuring the benefits stay relevant as your party advances.

    The new post-game Act is actually quite good, and uses one of my favourite cheap tactics for challenging high level parties in late game - take away their equipment. Having to actually think to defeat opponents rather than being able to slash through everything at this point is a nice change. My only suggestion would have been to take away the money as well. Apart from the realism (why would you take their sword when you lock them up but not their 700,000 GPs?), it meant that once I finally found the merchants, I could immediately buy them out of whatever I needed. The equipment available was not nearly as good as the stuff I lost, so some challenge remained, but it still would have been nice to have to go right back to carefully building the bank again & having to be choosey about what you bought (for instance, potions, as your battles are now far harder without your main equipment). Then getting all the equipment back at the end was a nice quest reward.

    Overall, my rating has probably improved to now agree with Elf: from Don't Bother, to Buy On Discount. There are still some poor choices which are more disappointing because they are unnecessary, but it's good enough for the most part & the new post-game Act is a solid upgrade. I would learn about the two mainline quest killing bugs (that I know of) before you start, however, to avoid wasting 100+ hours.





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