• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Pillars Of Eternity: Complete Edition Coming To PS4/XB1, Launching August 29

Staf

Member
"Concern trolling"? Really now? Do you even know what that is?

Anyway, you come in this thread where people are discussing a game, and start off by calling posters out for completely non-existent "shots" and trying to be "cute" when simply answering questions. I don't remember you as a particularly annoying poster, so I assumed you are simply having a bad day.

If not, and this is your standard, then that's ok and I'll update my journal.

Translation:
full
 

Staf

Member
So i'm gonna stay up until midnight in 4 hours to play for 1-2 hours before bed. I usually makes wizards/mages in these types of games. Are they any good?
 

mindatlarge

Member
Hoping this is a good port. After getting burnt on PC to console ports recently, I'll wait and see how this shapes up. Would be day one otherwise.
 

Bizzquik

Member
Very disappointed at 30 fps will skip this port.

I outright need 60fps more than the vast majority of people on GAF. I can't imagine playing any first-person game in 30fps - or choosing a console version of any genre at 30fps when there is a controller-supported PC version at 60 fps.

But cRPG's are different; this is old-school. Additional frames add little, so their exclusion loses little. Don't hesitate to be like me and break your 60fps rule on this genre. Give it a chance tomorrow by watching some videos when the reviews come out and see what you think. ...Just my 2-cents.
 

Durante

Member
So i'm gonna stay up until midnight in 4 hours to play for 1-2 hours before bed. I usually makes wizards/mages in these types of games. Are they any good?
There are multiple Mage-type classes in the game. They are all pretty neat, but you should be aware that the main Wizard class itself uses Vancian spellcasting mechanics.
(This means that you need to select spells before resting, and only have a limited number of casts between each rest)
I'd say it's not the most beginner-friendly class.

Also, if you are like me in these games, with only 1-2 hours you can only just finish character creation :p


Translation:[...]
Nah, it's not that easy to go from the "good poster" list to the list.
 

Anno

Member
So i'm gonna stay up until midnight in 4 hours to play for 1-2 hours before bed. I usually makes wizards/mages in these types of games. Are they any good?

Wizards are arguably the best class in the game, and almost inarguably top 3. They're pretty complicated as a first time class goes, though, so be prepared for a lot of reading tooltips to learn everything early on. If you have experience with genre norms it'll help. Also they take more levels than most to really become powerful.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
So i'm gonna stay up until midnight in 4 hours to play for 1-2 hours before bed. I usually makes wizards/mages in these types of games. Are they any good?

Yea, they are great and very versatile. One of the first party members that joins up is a really strong wizard as well, so if you decide to make your avatar one, you will have the option to really differentiate their spellcasting. (There are other NPC's to join as you progress if you only want one wizard on your team, or just create companions yourself at the taverns)
 

Alebrije

Member
Currently playing Torment : Tales of Numenera. And although enjoying it the game feels excessively slowly and almost no battles. I like reading but also battle.

Does Pillars is similar to Torment or more like Diablo 3?
 

Durante

Member
Currently playing Torment : Tales of Numenera. And although enjoying it the game feels excessively slowly and almost no battles. I like reading but also battle.

Does Pillars is similar to Torment or more like Diablo 3?
It's more like Torment than Diablo 3 I'd say, but that is a huge range ;)
Pillars is a lot more combat-heavy than Torment. (And its combat is also much better)

Generally, there were three "styles" of Infinity Engine games:
  • Planescape: Torment, which was very story-heavy with a small focus on battles and mechanics.
  • Icewind Dale, primarily focused on battle mechanics and dungeon crawling.
  • Baldur's Gate (1, 2 and ToB), which was a balanced mix of story, dungeon crawling and battles.
The new Torment tries to emulate Planescape, and it goes even further in the low/no battles direction.
Pillars of Eternity is designed to emulate Baldur's Gate, and that's what it accomplishes in terms of balance (maybe a bit in the IWD direction actually).
 

Lister

Banned
Currently playing Torment : Tales of Numenera. And although enjoying it the game feels excessively slowly and almost no battles. I like reading but also battle.

Does Pillars is similar to Torment or more like Diablo 3?

Toment is 90% dialogue 10% combat (at least so far, I'm only about 40% in - and I'm grateful, jeez the combat in that game SUCKS), Pillars is more like %60 combat, 40% dialogue and combat is way better.
 

Alebrije

Member
Toment is 90% dialogue 10% combat (at least so far, I'm only about 40% in - and I'm grateful, jeez the combat in that game SUCKS), Pillars is more like %60 combat, 40% dialogue and combat is way better.

That sounds fine , a better mix.

Nice we have those games now on consoles once relegated exclusively to PC.
 

Alebrije

Member
It's more like Torment than Diablo 3 I'd say, but that is a huge range ;)
Pillars is a lot more combat-heavy than Torment. (And its combat is also much better)

Generally, there were three "styles" of Infinity Engine games:
  • Planescape: Torment, which was very story-heavy with a small focus on battles and mechanics.
  • Icewind Dale, primarily focused on battle mechanics and dungeon crawling.
  • Baldur's Gate (1, 2 and ToB), which was a balanced mix of story, dungeon crawling and battles.
The new Torment tries to emulate Planescape, and it goes even further in the low/no battles direction.
Pillars of Eternity is designed to emulate Baldur's Gate, and that's what it accomplishes in terms of balance (maybe a bit in the IWD direction actually).

Thx, it seems Pillars has the best of both worlds.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
I'd say on a scale of player impact on the main story where the average modern Bioware game is a 2 and Fallout: New Vegas is an 8, PoE is just a 3-4. That's not one of its major strengths.

Nothing changes beyond ending slides.

Stop trying to be cute Durante.

Its basically the same style of Bioware games - choices that might affect the epilogues but which don't have much affect in game.

Wow, I admit that I am rather surprised by this. Considering Fallout New Vegas and similar games like Divinity (and what I have seen, Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenora) tend to give player rather significant control over various narrative beats.

I am surprised to hear that this is apparently much more linear than I thought it would be. Not too much replay value, then?
 

Staf

Member
There are multiple Mage-type classes in the game. They are all pretty neat, but you should be aware that the main Wizard class itself uses Vancian spellcasting mechanics.
(This means that you need to select spells before resting, and only have a limited number of casts between each rest)
I'd say it's not the most beginner-friendly class.

Also, if you are like me in these games, with only 1-2 hours you can only just finish character creation :p

So Wizard = Mage in Baldur's gate then. Only made about 10 of those since the release of that game lol. Is there any equivalent to Sorcerer in Baldur's gate?
 

Durante

Member
Yeah, Ciphers are the closest Sorcerer equivalent.

So Wizard = Mage in Baldur's gate then. Only made about 10 of those since the release of that game lol. Is there any equivalent to Sorcerer in Baldur's gate?
I was trying to explain the basics since you might get someone totally new to the genre in this console thread ;)

I am surprised to hear that this is apparently much more linear than I thought it would be. Not too much replay value, then?
Not really, no. I'd say they are sticking to what they promised in that regard, which is a game in the vein of Baldur's Gate.

Personally, I wish I had the time to contemplate replaying a 100 hour+ game :p
 

Staf

Member
Yeah, Ciphers are the closest Sorcerer equivalent.

I was trying to explain the basics since you might get someone totally new to the genre in this console thread ;)

Not really, no. I'd say they are sticking to what they promised in that regard, which is a game in the vein of Baldur's Gate.

Personally, I wish I had the time to contemplate replaying a 100 hour+ game :p

Reasonable assumption :).
 
Wow, I admit that I am rather surprised by this. Considering Fallout New Vegas and similar games like Divinity (and what I have seen, Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenora) tend to give player rather significant control over various narrative beats.

I am surprised to hear that this is apparently much more linear than I thought it would be. Not too much replay value, then?

As someone who's put entirely too much time into PoE, there's some reactivity. Different stats/reputations you build up through the game/your class can get you different quest outcomes, different people live/die etc, but the main story will be pretty much the same.

The real replay value is in the mechanics. Building different gimmick parties, and seeing how they stack up against the enemies; make a paladin who uses exclusively guns, or run with 6 priests, or make a rogue who's crazy good at casting spells from scrolls. That sort of thing. If that sounds good to you, I think Pillar's battle system/encounter design post-patches makes it the best of the modern CRPGs for that (Divinity fans may disagree).

Yeah, Ciphers are the closest Sorcerer equivalent.

But still pretty different, they're kind of like psionicists who build up power through a fight by causing weapon damage then use that power to do mind magic.
 

Anno

Member
I kinda wish every OT title wasn't some in-joke but it's hard to avoid. I'd name it something dumb like "I'm gonna pet him anyway" cause Eder is my boy.
 

ResourcefulStar

Neo Member
So Wizard = Mage in Baldur's gate then. Only made about 10 of those since the release of that game lol. Is there any equivalent to Sorcerer in Baldur's gate?
Druids and Priests in PoE cast spells exactly like D&D Sorcerers. They don't prepare specific spells in advance and can spend all spell charges of a given level either on the same spell or on different spells. They're even more flexible than Sorcerers, actually, since they know their class' entire spell list (just as D&D Druids and Clerics) instead of having to pick spells from it at level ups. Spirit Shamans and Favored Souls are a good comparison point if you're familiar with Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.

Ciphers are completely different beasts. They have no per-Rest abilities at all, as far as I remember.
 

Ascheroth

Member
lol, I have no idea, I'm just helping some brotha's out here.
Reminds of the Atelier Sophie PC OT
which didn't exist because everyone just kept posting in the announcement thread.
Then a mod locked the thread hoping that someone would mak a proper OT.
No one made one and so the mod had to reopen the announcement thread and everyone continued merrily posting as usual.
Lol. That was amusing.
 

The Wart

Member
So i'm gonna stay up until midnight in 4 hours to play for 1-2 hours before bed. I usually makes wizards/mages in these types of games. Are they any good?

One of the nice things about this game is that it is hard to irreparably screw up your build. There are very few, if any, hidden "traps" where it turns out you dumped all your points into a totally useless stats and skills and that's that. Even classes that are considered suboptimal are perfectly viable. Make a character that seems appealing to you, and except on the hardest difficulty you'll be able to find a viable way to play them.

Another thing to note is that mages are less "nukey" than they are in other cRPGs, in that they are not spectacular damage dealers right out of the gate (though I'm sure they can be built that way). Their most natural role is crowd-control, applying debuffs and status effects to groups of enemies. This is super useful, but it may not be what you're looking for if your idea of a wizard is blowing enemies to bits with a meteor strike. If you prefer the latter, I think Druid is actually the better choice (though I never used one myself).
 

Uthred

Member
Haven't played since completing at launch does the complete edition by any chance do anything to rewrite the embarrassingly one dimensional Act 4? It was like the game fell of a cliff.
 

Staf

Member
Druids and Priests in PoE cast spells exactly like D&D Sorcerers. They don't prepare specific spells in advance and can spend all spell charges of a given level either on the same spell or on different spells. They're even more flexible than Sorcerers, actually, since they know their class' entire spell list (just as D&D Druids and Clerics) instead of having to pick spells from it at level ups. Spirit Shamans and Favored Souls are a good comparison point if you're familiar with Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.

Ciphers are completely different beasts. They have no per-Rest abilities at all, as far as I remember.

Oh boy am i.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Can anyone post a screenshot of the controls layout? I'm curious how this all works on the PS4. (I haven't played Torment on PS4 either so I genuinely have no idea :))
 
Top Bottom