The Age of Decadence

If you're up for a challenge and like text-driven narratives this might be one of the best cRPG-experiences in a long while. While Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity and Divinity: Original Sin has played a big part in the resurrection of the cRPG-genre, Age of Decadence has long since carved out it's own path. This is a niche game that's sure to be overlooked by many. In Age of Decadence your actions will have, often dire, consequences. Your choices DO matter and they will shape the story, characters and locations. There's a sense of satisfaction in persuading one of your enemies to ambush a third common enemy, thus securing a location for one of your allies. There's a feeling of dread when a dangerous situation is about to go out of hand and the only option left is to fight for your life. There's a sense of accomplishment when you finally realize the use for an old artefact. Such sensations are rarely present while playing modern RPG:s and it alone should be the reason to try out Age of Decadence. Granted it's not the best looking game, neither is it particularly welcoming to new players. Actually, even hardcore cRPG-players will have a hard time grasping how Age of Decadence is meant to be played. If you think even for a second that your wealthy merchant will be able to talk his way out of an ambush in the slum district just because you've maxed out your charisma and persuasion skills you'll be sorely disappointed. Play this game as you would if you were actually an assassin, mercenary, loremaster, trader or diplomat and you are a lot more likely to succeed. Of course you can still play as a tough merchant, but then you'll have to actually commit to that role. Carrying all that cash in your pocket while visiting a dangerous part of town without (or with...) escort is usually a bad idea. Now, enjoy a well-written story with enough branching storylines to make your head spin. And don't feel bad when you die in the first fight. It's an achievement after all.

Note: Had to shorten -> Not enough characters allowed :( Background The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Roman world. You are just one man who arrived in the small town of Teron. The game starts you out as one of eight different backgrounds. These can be: Preator, Loremaster, Assassin, Mercenary, Thief, Merchant, Grifter & Drifter Character creation You start out by creating your character in the game and allocating attribute and skill points. You may distribute these points however you want. Note that being a Jack of All Trades and a Master of None is very difficult to play in this game. Focus on a few skills. Gameplay It's an isometric-perspective mouse-controlled game. The game is text-heavy, but luckily, the text and story are well-written - and very interestingly, all of the stories interweave into one. So playing as one background will feel very different than playing as another. No single playthrough will be the same due to so many different ways of completing quests. Combat is turn-based and requires a lot of planning, so do not think your highly intelligent loremaster with zero combat skills will be able to win fights. Combat includes aimed attacks, nets, bolas, fire bombs etc. Conclusion The major selling point of this game is the interweaving story arcs. I have played the game as a Merchant and a Mercenary and the game played completely differently based on my actions. I would recommend this game to people who like turn-based combat and good stories and are not afraid of challenges. I would not recommend this game to people who dislike turn-based combat systems, reading or are too much into graphics to enjoy older-looking games. Pros: Amazing writing Lots of interweaving stories and arcs Challenging combat: with old style aimed attacks a la Fallout Lots of different skills and attributes affecting almost all questlines Interesting guilds and backgrounds to choose from Cons: Old-looking graphics Some feelings of being gated sometimes

This is a very text heavy isometric RPG - conversation skillchecks, situations resolved with choices, lots of reading. Combat is turn based, and definitely very difficult. The lore/atmosphere is top notch. Post-apocalyptic Roman Empire? That's a new one. The different classes don't just have varied skills and play styles. They go through completely different quests and plot-lines. Not since The Witcher 2 has a game had this ambitiously pursued multiple story arcs. All the above being said, this game is not for everyone. You'll have to like reading -- a lot. You have to be comfortable with difficulty. This is definitely not an action game. Not even when compared with more recent cRPGs, like Wasteland2 or Divinity: Original Sin. But if you're happy with those caveats, you'll find an impressively deep RPG, with a ton of replay value.

Pros: 1) Story being presented from different perspectives and different POVs. I don't remember anything like it in any other game which raises its value even further. Something fresh for a change instead of another "chosen one rescuing the world and fighting the dragons". 2) Combat. It actually is enjoyable and makes me want to fight instead of mindlessly left clicking on everything that moves (or sends something that moves). The challenge makes it rewarding once you win whereas in most of other RPGs you can defeat almost anyone with shitty stats and quick-save->quick-load strategy. In AoD there isn't a universal strategy for every fight. E.g. when fighting a fast and agile opponent that had very high dodge stats using a smaller but faster weapon was more wise (as it should be). You would never hit him with a big hammer but you would hit him with a small one and since he was so agile thanks to practically no armour it was enough to defeat him. 3) Replayability and Choices and Consequences. They actually do matter and you can never do every quest in every possible way without replaying the game. And that is a good thing IMO. In Fallout New Vegas for example I did practically every quest there was, investing in speech at first since I knew that I could open safes or hack into computers later. For some reason no one would do it before me. Well, not in AoD. If you won't do quests in Teron someone else will and you can't go back for them. Which makes sense and which makes me want to replay the game. I don't want to replay F:NV though since I've done everything there was to be done and walking for hours was tedious (BTW, that's why I like teleporting, although I won't make a point about it). Cons: None, even graphics are fitting and pleasant to the eye.