Flo wrote on Feb 15, 2025, 07:56:

_Cory wrote on Feb 14, 2025, 11:40:
It's starting to look like New Vegas was a flash-in-the-pan moment that Obsidian will never be able to re-capture.

???
Pillars of Eternity
Outer Worlds
Pentiment (one of the greatest)

ALPHA PROTOCOL, ANYONE!?

I'm going to guess that he didn't love them as much as we do. Different tastes and all that...

_Cory wrote on Feb 14, 2025, 11:40:
It's starting to look like New Vegas was a flash-in-the-pan moment that Obsidian will never be able to re-capture.

???
Pillars of Eternity
Outer Worlds
Pentiment (one of the greatest)

It's starting to look like New Vegas was a flash-in-the-pan moment that Obsidian will never be able to re-capture.

VaranDragon wrote on Feb 14, 2025, 07:50:
Someone compared Avowed to Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and I quote:

It's like Rings of Power, to Lord of the Rings....

If that has any truth to it, then yeah, stay the fuck away from this game....I expected more from Obsidian...the writing for their games was always their strongest point, and apparently Avowed's writing is about as deep as a rain puddle.

Totally disagree after a couple of hours but then again I LOVED Outer Worlds. I don't need Oscar-level writing but I know that DA:Veilguard's writing sucked and as far as I can see it's way better in Avowed. Can't comment on KCD2 but probably that game is not for me. I don't need that level of realism. I want to play a game and not go grocery shopping.

Someone compared Avowed to Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and I quote:

It's like Rings of Power, to Lord of the Rings....

If that has any truth to it, then yeah, stay the fuck away from this game....I expected more from Obsidian...the writing for their games was always their strongest point, and apparently Avowed's writing is about as deep as a rain puddle.

ShadowofWard wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 21:20:
"IGN gave it a 7/10 after giving Veilguard a 9/10.

Hope that helps your purchasing decision."

Clear as mud thanks, LOL. It's a good point illustrating how untrustworthy reviews are.

Prez wrote on Feb 14, 2025, 03:28:
Well I don't know if I would give Avowed a 7 since I haven't played it, but IGN isn't exactly known for consistency or reliability in review scores. There are memes all over YouTube that a '7' from them is basically a 'zero'. It's a clear illustration as to why scores should have been abandoned decades ago. They never will be, but there ARE reviews out there that you actually have to read instead taking a quick glance at the 1-sentence summary and the score at the end. People STILL debate the '7' that a reviewer gave 'Breath of the Wild' years ago without ever looking past the meaningless number to read her opinion. She supposedly got death threats and is still the subject of ridicule today by some gamers. Over a '7'.

EDIT: just for clarity, she wasn't an IGN employee. I was making a point about the outdated use of review scores in general. It provides very little value while being a disservice to everyone involved.

I'm fine with numbers, I actually prefer them. I look at them first actually and use it as measurement of the author's bias. If they rate the game low, I them try to fine commonality with other reviews that do the same to see if there's consistency or just a bias. Conversely, high reviews I try to find the faults because usually they are glossed over due to bias.

The real issue is hiring unqualified people to do the job but what do you expect from unqualified people doing the hiring? Oh you picked up a PS2 controller when you were 5 years old? You must be a natural gaming expert! You also have a degree in geology, that is very useful for a career in writing. You're hired! Not excusing death threats, just making fun of the state of gaming, "journalism".

Prez wrote on Feb 14, 2025, 03:28:
EDIT2: I am aware of the somewhat brief and dubious posting history of the person I quoted. I don't care, thanks.

Funny you feel you need to justify this but a nice gesture. I'll do the same and not care either as the behavior reflects one of my personal mantras: Even the stupidest person can have a great idea sometimes. Not saying this person is stupid, I'm not even aware of their posting history. Mostly that I try to listen to anyone, even the orange tyrant, but that doesn't mean I will believe everything I hear.

I'm still incredibly invested in KCD2, so much so that I think I'm addicted. I literally want to call in sick for work, neglect all my responsibilities, sharpen my father's blade and seek out rebel camps or Sigismund scum and stick it through their necks. Speaking of which... I feel a headache coming on...

When it comes to Avowed, I don't think I'll fully grasp what it's trying to be until I experience it firsthand. Is it Skyrim meets Dark Messiah of Might and Magic? Is it a simple game that tries to be more like Rise of the Argonauts did, and struggle to truly take off like that game did? I need to know -- and the only way to find out is to play it myself.

After I'm done with KCD2, that is.

First 3 hours from yesterday evening:
I love it but I also loved Outer Worlds.
Veilguard: not so much.

The introduction is great, I like the combat and the not-open-world with little secrets hidden everywhere.
Also the dialog is - as expected from Obsidian - not written by a 12-year-old.

So far I do not regret the advanced access money I spent.

ShadowofWard wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 21:20:
"IGN gave it a 7/10 after giving Veilguard a 9/10.

Hope that helps your purchasing decision."

Well I don't know if I would give Avowed a 7 since I haven't played it, but IGN isn't exactly known for consistency or reliability in review scores. There are memes all over YouTube that a '7' from them is basically a 'zero'. It's a clear illustration as to why scores should have been abandoned decades ago. They never will be, but there ARE reviews out there that you actually have to read instead taking a quick glance at the 1-sentence summary and the score at the end. People STILL debate the '7' that a reviewer gave 'Breath of the Wild' years ago without ever looking past the meaningless number to read her opinion. She supposedly got death threats and is still the subject of ridicule today by some gamers. Over a '7'.

EDIT: just for clarity, she wasn't an IGN employee. I was making a point about the outdated use of review scores in general. It provides very little value while being a disservice to everyone involved.

EDIT2: I am aware of the somewhat brief and dubious posting history of the person I quoted. I don't care, thanks.

This comment was edited on Feb 14, 2025, 04:25.

chickenboo wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 12:38:

_Cory wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 12:16:
Obsidian's new stuff looks so generic to me. This and that other space RPG from a few years back. They have no focus in the art direction department.

Honestly that's my takeaway too. This game lacks character.

+1

I'm sure I will get Avowed on sale one day (pretty steep discount) as I loved Pillars 1 +2 but it is all looking very bland, mediocre and forgettable from here. I wish they would have focused more on better world building with a living breathing world, NPC schedules and a dense atmosphere. Everything I have seen just looks bland and uninspired. Like they wanted to make a Skyrim clone but are over a decade late for that kind of game.

Hello, Obsidian. It is 2025. Players want to see some progress and advancements in RPGs. If not on a technical level, then al least content-wise with great story-telling and choices & consequences out the wazoo. This ain't it. You're not going to get me to spend more than €20 on a complete edition one fine day in a couple of years or so.

"IGN gave it a 7/10 after giving Veilguard a 9/10.

Hope that helps your purchasing decision."

Does is have any replay value? Seems rather limited in that sense. Maybe mods will be able to add enough new content to make it have legs.

Just skimmed a gameplay review from IGN on YT and he gives it high praise. It does look beautiful and the art direction and maps look amazing. He said the big caveat is the lack of different enemies to fight and they get pretty repetitious - bears in particular. For for no reason he can discern there are bears freakin' everywhere. I'm sure I'll pick it up eventually no freakin' way I'm paying $90 for a base game. I'm just not. I may give it a run through on XGP instead as 50 hours sounds to be completionist for it. And besides, I have so much on my gaming plate right now. Doing a new playthrough of BG3 - still haven't finished a complete playthrough. Need to restart and play through Warhammer Rogue Trader as well. Need to finish Pentiment. Need to play Against the Storm - thanks Prez! Need to finish Warhammer Chaos Gate. Need to finish Zoria Age of Shattering. Need to finish Dying Light 2. Still playing lots of Enshrouded and that's still not out of EA, such an awesome game! Still dabbling with Dredge and Mines of Moria. And I'm playing a ton of the Dune Awakening beta. And I'm mulling over giving Subnautica a new playthrough as well. So yeah, zero shortage of games to play atm.

Here's the IGN Video Review of Avowed. Good review.

And is it just me or do spellcasters seem very underpowered in this game? I'm of the old school that wizards should be glass canons.

This comment was edited on Feb 13, 2025, 18:15.

I'll come back when the game ships and we see some real reviews. I can't stand all the two-bit philosophy and the constant comparisons with 14-year-old games, etc. At one point I was certain the reviewer thought that Obsidian had developed Skyrim...;) These reviews tell me almost nothing about the game--one says, "Great mysteries and puzzles" but then fails to provide a single example of either. It's all very superficial stuff, as if Obsidian stated that the initial reviews had to eschew any sort of detail. If so, the reviews should have said so. Also, was this version only for xBox? If so, then that would explain my frustration with it. So I'll wait until the 18th to see what happens. One review gave it a 6!

Darks wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 14:05:
And just what was wrong with DS2? It had a story unlike the first one. I think you are getting your DS games mixed up. becasue DS3 was absolute trash!

DS2 was actually not bad at all.

And yes I know that was made by Gas-powered. He was referencing the nostalgia of playing older games. which I agreed about.

DS2 was fine. DS3 was trash. I assumed you were talking about DS3 since that was Obsidian. Just a misunderstanding.

chickenboo wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 12:38:

_Cory wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 12:16:
This game lacks character.

That made me laugh. I lost interest in this game a while back when I saw that there is pretty much no character creation. You can only play as one race, and the only customization is picking from one of a few backgrounds. I haven't read any of the review yet, maybe they've changed that.

"You can either want something to be true, or you can want the truth. Pick one." - Mr. Diety

Jim wrote on Feb 13, 2025, 14:11:
I was wanting to pick this up, but as I am playing KCD2 and this is at a high price point and no preorder incentives and a premium bundle that is a joke there just is not any reason to do so now. I will get this eventually but I think they could have marketed this better. I believe initial sales are boosted by cheap prices and that creates buzz which leads to more sales. For examples, look at enshrouded. $25, 160k peak, ~20k playing daily. Compare to The lords of the fallen: $60, 32k peak, ~700 daily. Deadfire, 23k peak, ~600 daily, $40. A $70 price point just seems stupid.

It's a Microsoft game, they want people subscribing to Game Pass to play it cheaply. But I am also still neck deep in KCD2, with many other new-ish games on the back burner besides... I can wait.

I was wanting to pick this up, but as I am playing KCD2 and this is at a high price point and no preorder incentives and a premium bundle that is a joke there just is not any reason to do so now. I will get this eventually but I think they could have marketed this better. I believe initial sales are boosted by cheap prices and that creates buzz which leads to more sales. For examples, look at enshrouded. $25, 160k peak, ~20k playing daily. Compare to The lords of the fallen: $60, 32k peak, ~700 daily. Deadfire, 23k peak, ~600 daily, $40. A $70 price point just seems stupid.

This comment was edited on Feb 13, 2025, 14:24.

And just what was wrong with DS2? It had a story unlike the first one. I think you are getting your DS games mixed up. becasue DS3 was absolute trash!

DS2 was actually not bad at all.

And yes I know that was made by Gas-powered. He was referencing the nostalgia of playing older games. which I agreed about.