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Nice piece of fish posted:Could... could that even be possible? If you could search the back of Feng's house I bet you could find crumpled papers with rejected ideas for conning Antidas including one that just says ".... ancient aliens?"
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Sep 8, 2017 00:54
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There are basically only two likely enemies for fantasy Romans, and that's fantasy Chinese and fantasy Aztecs (Mayans, Incas, same thing, really). Feng is apparently fantasy Asian and not really a demon, so there's only one guess as to who the demons across the sea are. ... Can you play through the entire game with a low-lore character who never asks questions / explores, and end up convinced this is a simple fantasy world?
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Sep 8, 2017 02:25
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It seems like we're headed for a serious dungeon crawl, which is odd given how little combat is needed to get to this point.
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Sep 8, 2017 04:03
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Xander77 posted:There are basically only two likely enemies for fantasy Romans, and that's fantasy Chinese and fantasy Aztecs (Mayans, Incas, same thing, really). In regards to the Qantari, I am trying to remember some bits of lore and it never really gives good details on what or where they came from exactly although its been awhile since I played through the game all the way. I don't think we ever get a definitive answer on what the Qantari we're exactly. They could be Sunset Invasion esque super Aztecs, or they could be a splinter faction of the Fantasy Rome or they could be Alien Space Bats or some combination of all three. Yes very easily, the game handles lore pretty well if its really low you won't even be able to ask questions that will open up options. If you have poor-moderate lore skills you can piece together some pretty imperfect truths to varying degrees. In contrast a high lore character can answer more accurately and the master characters can do some pretty cool and crazy poo poo with the artifacts you can uncover which does include that ghost hand. Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 07:20
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Think there's even an achievement up on steam for not having any idea what any of this stuff does. Edit: Yup. And the most common achievement is apparently "die in your very first fight".
Avalerion fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 07:37
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Xander77 posted:There are basically only two likely enemies for fantasy Romans, and that's fantasy Chinese and fantasy Aztecs (Mayans, Incas, same thing, really). Depends on how you view it, and what side quests you end up getting into. And even then, I think by the endgame, even if your character is as smart as a sack of bricks... you'll know there's a bit more then simple fantasy world going on. Jack2142 posted:In regards to the Qantari, I am trying to remember some bits of lore and it never really gives good details on what or where they came from exactly although its been awhile since I played through the game all the way. I don't think we ever get a definitive answer on what the Qantari we're exactly. They could be Sunset Invasion esque super Aztecs, or they could be a splinter faction of the Fantasy Rome or they could be Alien Space Bats or some combination of all three. I want to say the Qantari are basically like the Aztecs, I think. Brown-skinned, came across the ocean, and I think you can actually get a Qantari Sword which vaguely resembles a macuahuitl. From some looking around, if the game sold well enough, they had a sequel in mind to involve an expedition to go across the ocean and see whats going on in the Qantari lands. Avalerion posted:Think there's even an achievement up on steam for not having any idea what any of this stuff does. Edit: Yup. And the most common achievement is apparently "die in your very first fight". Without a doubt. It's like when you first play an Elder Scrolls game, you'll probably be immediately killed/thrown in jail for picking up everything you see. I still remember playing a mercenary first and being shocked at how brutally some thugs beat my face in and murdered me. I'm the player character! I'm supposed to be like, awesome and invincible to mooks like that! This thread actually got me to crack the game open again. Played legit as a Preator for a bit, but then got a bit bloodthirsty and busted out some console stuff to try... things. Got a pretty awesome ending that was completely worth it. I'm not going to say much about it for now, because its a kind of obscure/hidden ending, and would spoil a ton of things.
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Sep 8, 2017 07:58
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Yea, I'm temped to give it another go and just say screw it and cheat myself max combat stats or something to avoid the trap deaths.
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Sep 8, 2017 08:18
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Jack2142 posted:Yes very easily, the game handles lore pretty well if its really low you won't even be able to ask questions that will open up options. If you have poor-moderate lore skills you can piece together some pretty imperfect truths to varying degrees. In contrast a high lore character can answer more accurately and the master characters can do some pretty cool and crazy poo poo with the artifacts you can uncover which does include that ghost hand. drat I really want to see some of that poo poo. Maybe I should just buy the game and try some of this myself, I'm a fan of the genre after all.
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Sep 8, 2017 09:37
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Xander77 posted:Can you play through the entire game with a low-lore character who never asks questions / explores, and end up convinced this is a simple fantasy world? Basically yes. Although they can still just use basic logic to conclude the stories everyone says about the fall of the Empire are probably not on the up and up. Glazius posted:It seems like we're headed for a serious dungeon crawl, which is odd given how little combat is needed to get to this point. There are actually no dungeon crawls in this game. To make up for it the devs made AoD spinoff / prequel Dungeon Rats, which is JUST one long dungeon crawl. If you think the combat in AoD is harsh.... Avalerion posted:Think there's even an achievement up on steam for not having any idea what any of this stuff does. Edit: Yup. And the most common achievement is apparently "die in your very first fight". A lot of people joke about this, but is it really so uncommon? I remember being unable to get past the first wolves you encounter in Baldur's Gate 1 when I first played that game, for example (hey it doesn't help that wizards start with like 4 hp). Nice piece of fish posted:drat I really want to see some of that poo poo. Maybe I should just buy the game and try some of this myself, I'm a fan of the genre after all. I actually skipped picturing an example of this. In the Library a no lore character can't figure out the messages left on the stones at all, a moderate lore character can vaguely figure out they're some sort of warning, and a high lore character can just decipher them. Janissary Hop fucked around with this message at 13:45 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 13:42
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Janissary Hop posted:A lot of people joke about this, but is it really so uncommon? I remember being unable to get past the first wolves you encounter in Baldur's Gate 1 when I first played that game, for example (hey it doesn't help that wizards start with like 4 hp). Yea it happens, even PoE has the badly placed Temple of eothas (dungeon with teleporting enemies who ignore tanks right after the tutorial, when most players are probably just learning to grasp positioning and the engagement system). But instead of looking at that and concluding "yea our bad, lets see how we can do better and avoid this next time" aod doubles down - here it seems to be absolitely deliberate.
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Sep 8, 2017 14:29
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Part 12 - Abysmal Luck
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Sep 8, 2017 17:36
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Avalerion posted:Yea it happens, even PoE has the badly placed Temple of eothas (dungeon with teleporting enemies who ignore tanks right after the tutorial, when most players are probably just learning to grasp positioning and the engagement system). But instead of looking at that and concluding "yea our bad, lets see how we can do better and avoid this next time" aod doubles down - here it seems to be absolitely deliberate. It is definitely deliberate because the idea is to get it into the player's head that they don't have to man up and fight every fight. There's no penalty for walking from the fights in the opening vignette. And if players are going to man up, then they should be prepared to do everything possible to win, like use the nets the game starts you equipped with.
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Sep 8, 2017 17:40
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It really is aliens, isn't it.  Not a complaint though, this whole sequence was good.
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Sep 8, 2017 18:15
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Ahahahaha that's hilarious. Better than megaton, certainly.
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Sep 8, 2017 18:34
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By the way, if I wasn't clear, the game does continue after the segment in the NON CANON presentation. Those aren't game over screens at the end. Obviously I won't be continuing that route, I just wanted to show it off.
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Sep 8, 2017 18:45
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Avalerion posted:It really is aliens, isn't it. nah, even julius says he thinks that was a man once. the sarcophagi in the second major dream sequence implies that there was some sort of radical transformation procedure that the old ones had to make demigod-like heroes to fight whatever war they're in, potentially/probably stolen from the notAztecs. this jives with what Thorgul was telling us about the demigod his notMongols killed, and also provides a very good reason as to why the empire would attack the notAztec scouts and as to why the notAztec scouts could hold them off while waiting for reinforcements -the notAztecs had some hard core technology and the empire wanted to steal it. the empire managed to get some of it, and the arrival of the main fleet forced its hasty integration and use. people played with fire and they got burned on a continental scale. world war 3, world war 4, sticks and stones, etc. this is starting to make a lot of sense and while aliens could be a whole part of it, it's increasingly looking like such a handwave won't be required. also, i'm sad you don't get like +10k body count for destroying the city.
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Sep 8, 2017 19:47
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The things they've been merged/transformed/possessed by is what makes me think aliens. Or yea maybe it really is gods/demons/cthullu or something supernatural like that.Coolguye posted:also, i'm sad you don't get like +10k body count for destroying the city. Technically he didn't.
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Sep 8, 2017 20:01
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it's a pretty normal sci fi fiat that when you're modified to such a degree in terms of your capabilities, you stop being human on some level or another. blah blah limitations blah blah humanity yes thank you we're all very deep and philosophical here. i again do not see the fractured view of the world, nor the Dreamer's intense rage at humans as parasites, as necessarily requiring influence from a truly alien thought process. if you perceived a ton of things nobody else could you'd end up feeling pretty alienated all by yourself.
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Sep 8, 2017 20:05
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What about this bit then, though? This seems to be painting a pretty consistent picture so far. .Psychic aliens would also be consistent with Aztecs, or maybe I just have that association because of Kingdom of the crystal skull. 
Avalerion fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 20:11
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It's the Great Powers Beyond, and they were summoned into heavily modified human bodies, except something went wrong.
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Sep 8, 2017 20:40
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...well yea, and I'm musing about the nature of the Great Powers Beyond. That's who I'm theorizing might be aliens. 
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Sep 8, 2017 20:53
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Coolguye posted:it's a pretty normal sci fi fiat that when you're modified to such a degree in terms of your capabilities, you stop being human on some level or another. blah blah limitations blah blah humanity yes thank you we're all very deep and philosophical here. i again do not see the fractured view of the world, nor the Dreamer's intense rage at humans as parasites, as necessarily requiring influence from a truly alien thought process. if you perceived a ton of things nobody else could you'd end up feeling pretty alienated all by yourself. The Dreamer's gone, the thing in the tank is the soldier he inhabited who has somehow retained at least a portion of the Dreamer's powers. He isn't mad at humans for being parasites, he's made because he's been stuck in a half coma for centuries by the Magi and forced to listen to the simultaneous thoughts of all the people in Maadoran by his uncontrollable power. Janissary Hop fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 20:58
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It's nice of the game to give you multiple chances to stop what you're doing as you warm up the machines, really driving home what a terrible idea you are doing
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Sep 8, 2017 22:41
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lenin posted:It's nice of the game to give you multiple chances to stop what you're doing as you warm up the machines, really driving home what a terrible idea you are doing This is, interestingly, one of the few 'perks' to being really evil in this game. The Mind Shield perk has a niche use, but its a useful niche use for a thing. Also, personal theory here but. Pretty sure these 'gods' are basically Old Ones sort of things. Aliens by some definition, but without a doubt otherworldly creatures.
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Sep 9, 2017 01:41
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Avalerion posted:What about this bit then, though? This seems to be painting a pretty consistent picture so far. oh yeah i forgot about that part, fair enough.
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Sep 9, 2017 02:02
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Okay, that was a pretty keen-lookin' journey, all told.
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Sep 9, 2017 03:31
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That was...pretty hardcore actually. So are the Qantari actually human or is the fleet a fleet of spacecraft?
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Sep 9, 2017 05:40
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:So are the Qantari actually human or is the fleet a fleet of spacecraft? They're human, apparently Fantasy Aztecs. It is revealed at some point that they were the first to make contact with the "Gods", and came to the Empire in order to get the Magi to help with bringing them into the physical world. Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Sep 9, 2017 |
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Sep 9, 2017 11:59
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Part 13 - Distant Voices
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Sep 9, 2017 19:26
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Janissary Hop posted:Part 13 - Distant Voices You should have taken that conversation option with the demon, once you have his remote. He explains a lot of backtory. You could have killed him afterwards. What a waste.
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Sep 9, 2017 20:04
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Savy Saracen salad posted:You should have taken that conversation option with the demon, once you have his remote. He explains a lot of backtory. You could have killed him afterwards. What a waste. Conversation's too on point for my taste for just saying plainly what happened in a big exposition dump. I don't think he has anything to say that hasn't already been revealed or won't be revealed elsewhere later to boot. Janissary Hop fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Sep 9, 2017 |
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Sep 9, 2017 20:06
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I am very sad there's no option to bring the demon on your adventures with the remote.
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Sep 9, 2017 20:44
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That skill check for lore you failed requires 10/10 Lore and Intelligence, I.e I think it is the hardest skill check in the game, also the charisma check you failed I think it just gives you bonus points for Lord Meru's faction rep andf makes Ganezzar a little more friendly. Also spoilers about an alternate Arch scenario If you let Esbenus live in Teron, he is at the Arch with a new gang, but despite not double crossing him he is a dick and makes you pay money. Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Sep 9, 2017 |
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Sep 9, 2017 20:47
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:I am very sad there's no option to bring the demon on your adventures with the remote. You CAN recruit a demon in Dungeon Rats. His stats are: 10/10/10/10/10. It does require 10 charisma, in a spin-off that's 100% focused on combat.
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Sep 9, 2017 20:49
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Janissary Hop posted:You CAN recruit a demon in Dungeon Rats. His stats are: 10/10/10/10/10. It does require 10 charisma, in a spin-off that's 100% focused on combat. Is dungeon rats any good?
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Sep 9, 2017 20:52
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Jack2142 posted:Is dungeon rats any good? It's 100% AoD combat, basically a more or less linear series of combat encounters. You can do it solo if you're insane, or you can recruit party members based on your CHA skill. It's interesting for seeing AoD combat with a party since their next game is party-based as well. I dunno, if you really liked AoD combat you'll like it, if not you'll probably hate it because that's all there is. It's really hard too, you have to very carefully manage your stat/sp allocation and long term resource usage. There's also a brief part in the middle where you're just fighting rad plants and animals that's kind of a slog since they're not as interesting as fighting human opponents. It does have some AoD tie ins, the biggest being the Qantari have managed to replicate the god process and now have their own otherwordly being again. It also makes it 100% explicit that the Qantari are Aztecs/Mayans. Fun fact about Dungeon Rats: enemies can use bombs against you. I wasn't kidding when I said it was hard.
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Sep 9, 2017 21:00
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quote:Someone has told me it is possible to get to the Temple of Tor-Agoth (who we now know is actually Agathoth) from here, but I think that's in a "my uncle works at Square and told me you can bring back Aerith" kind of way. It is possible, you find the access codes to do it in the Castle Crassus Library.
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Sep 9, 2017 22:00
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Jack2142 posted:That skill check for lore you failed requires 10/10 Lore and Intelligence, I.e I think it is the hardest skill check in the game, also the charisma check you failed I think it just gives you bonus points for Lord Meru's faction rep andf makes Ganezzar a little more friendly. lenin posted:It is possible, you find the access codes to do it in the Castle Crassus Library. drat I'm learning new things in my own LP.
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Sep 9, 2017 22:10
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Janissary Hop posted:It does have some AoD tie ins, the biggest being the Qantari have managed to replicate the god process and now have their own otherwordly being again. It also makes it 100% explicit that the Qantari are Aztecs/Mayans. for some reason i thought you got teleported to the past instead of over to qantari land. that makes much more sense.
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Sep 9, 2017 23:43
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Roobanguy posted:for some reason i thought you got teleported to the past instead of over to qantari land. that makes much more sense. It can't be the past because the Qantari never had a means of doing the god process until they worked with the Magi.
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Sep 10, 2017 00:10
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