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[Retropunch]

Kana is pretty awesome. I do like all the characters so far - which I think is why it seems such a shame there are so few. Another 4-5 would have made a world of difference - mainly in so far as my will to replay it.
Also, with BG2 I had to restart it twice after I had gotten about half way through - this was only possible because I could choose a completely different party and follow completely different side stories. I can't imagine doing that with Pillars, as much as I love it.

One thing I've really started to dislike is not being able to do priest spells before combat - for difficult combat I have to just do silly baiting things so that Durance (and Kana) have time to get warmed up. I've purposefully sacrificed a character or a good chunk of health a few times to draw creatures out.

I'm also not a fan of having to scout/sneak *everywhere*. There never, ever seems to be a reason not to do that, and there are so many secret containers everywhere, coupled with the ability to assess combat and then walk away, that you just can't afford not to.

[Kanil]

Kana's comments in stealth mode make me want to send him out to do the reconnaissance by himself. If he gets torched to a crisp by a dragon, that means there's a dragon over there, and that's good to know.

[Majestic7]

Re: stealth mode, I wouldn't use it otherwise, but it is the only way to detect secret treasures. That sucks. There should be a passive detection aura around the characters that is just better while actively searching.

Re: NPCs, I agree that they are much less interesting than in Torment. Most still have something of a personality, though their personal quests seem quite lackluster. For example, the endings to Kana's and the fighter types quests are completely unsatisfactory. The way you talk about them with the characters changes nothing about them, whereas in other games you can actually have an effect on your companions. So yeah, that is...less than it could have been, really.

In general, I'm starting to feel the game is a giant fan service. They are rehearsing Baldur's Gates without putting in anything new other than somewhat different game mechanics. The writing feels a bit lackluster considering the time and money they had to put into it. The way they did those backer NPCs is just stupid; there is no reason whatsoever to read their stories. Had it been so hard to include them in the side quests? The stronghold is likewise a bit glued on, since it doesn't attach to any missions.

For example,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

there is that young elven girl who has been raped by her uncle. Why can't we choose to offer her a place in our stronghold as one way to protect her? It is what my kindhearted traveler paladin had logically done.

So yeah, the game is a sum of several parts that don't really fit together properly, while at the time being overshadowed by the masterworks it seeks to emulate.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the game, but... it is mainly because there haven't been any good party-based RPGs for a loooong time. When you are starving, even bland bread seems like a feast.

[Sergarr]

Finally, a (somewhat) negative review! I was starting to get worried for humanity, but it seems there are still critics among us.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

So I just met the Master Below. What a bullshit fight, you're basically forced to cheese it with Cipher raw damage. Kangaxx has nothing on this.

[thegoatgod_pan]

I am a little tired of sneaking everywhere (thank god for fast mode)

One thing I've really started to dislike is not being able to do priest spells before combat - for difficult combat I have to just do silly baiting things so that Durance (and Kana) have time to get warmed up. I've purposefully sacrificed a character or a good chunk of health a few times to draw creatures out.

Ituumak!  The little snow fox is fast enough to endlessly kite enemies, while Durance and Kana warm up. At least that is how I've been using him.

So I just met the Master Below. What a bullshit fight, you're basically forced to cheese it with Cipher raw damage. Kangaxx has nothing on this.

Seriously?  The only way I knew to beat Kangaxx was to hide my PC thief-mage with a few scrolls of freedom and a cloak of non-detection, in a distant corner, order everyone else to attack, reload if Keldorn dies instead of being imprisoned, read a scroll of freedom once he is imprisoned, then wait while the Keldorn, now outside my party, slowly grinds down the demilich who ignores him as a neutral mob. Kangaxx was more gamebreakingly stupid then any other fight in BG 2 (short of one-shotting the dragons with Yoshimo).  What does this Master Below bring to the table?

[Catastrophic lolcats]

What does this Master Below bring to the table?

It spams an AoE cone that can and will one-hit-kill your entire party, AoE knockdown/fear debuff, extremely powerful standard melee hit, all defence stats over 100, DR of ~30, ~500 endurance.

To cap that all off you have to fight it in a shoebox room with respawning not-kobolds. 

[Sergius]

I wonder what a party of 6 Ciphers would play like... (other than massive micromanagement that is). I know that someone tried to play entirely as a party of bears (rangers sending their bears to fight I assume).

[gimli]

Heh, it must be fun. I decided to start over once the 1.03 patch is out....the bugs are just too annoying to play on now. I am going to create some weird party I guess. Well...weird...surely not a party of 6 wizzies. 

[forsaken1111]

I wonder what a party of 6 Ciphers would play like... (other than massive micromanagement that is). I know that someone tried to play entirely as a party of bears (rangers sending their bears to fight I assume).

heh.. this got a chuckle out of me

This might surprise you, but combat-wise, being all bears is almost the same as having six different party members, with one tiny exception: instead of strategically selecting different attacks, buffs, and spells, and closely monitoring the health and endurance of your characters, you just click an enemy once and then watch as they die from bears.

[AlleeCat]

I wonder what a party of 6 Ciphers would play like... (other than massive micromanagement that is). I know that someone tried to play entirely as a party of bears (rangers sending their bears to fight I assume).

This is my favorite part.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

GREAT GUARDS

[Retropunch]

Re: stealth mode, I wouldn't use it otherwise, but it is the only way to detect secret treasures. That sucks. There should be a passive detection aura around the characters that is just better while actively searching.

Re: NPCs, I agree that they are much less interesting than in Torment. Most still have something of a personality, though their personal quests seem quite lackluster. For example, the endings to Kana's and the fighter types quests are completely unsatisfactory. The way you talk about them with the characters changes nothing about them, whereas in other games you can actually have an effect on your companions. So yeah, that is...less than it could have been, really.

In general, I'm starting to feel the game is a giant fan service. They are rehearsing Baldur's Gates without putting in anything new other than somewhat different game mechanics. The writing feels a bit lackluster considering the time and money they had to put into it. The way they did those backer NPCs is just stupid; there is no reason whatsoever to read their stories. Had it been so hard to include them in the side quests? The stronghold is likewise a bit glued on, since it doesn't attach to any missions.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the game, but... it is mainly because there haven't been any good party-based RPGs for a loooong time. When you are starving, even bland bread seems like a feast.

I feel that the secret treasure thing is ridiculous really, and it's starting to really grate on me. The treasure you find is often good enough that you can't just ignore it all, and it's often in completely random places (a brick in a wall for instance). I just feel that they could just do a constant perception test on the party and that'd be so, so much better.

Re: Fan Service, I think I went into it expecting it to be just ridiculously fan-servicey, so it beat my expectations by a mile (and I agree about the feast when starving bit!). I just think they should have worked a lot more on the companions - it's almost like they didn't realise that was the core aspect of the game.

[Sergius]

Also, whenever a companion interrupts dialogue, nobody even acknowledges his existence. I'm not sure of this but in BG/2 I think usually at least the NPC would do some sort of offhanded dismissing remark.

[umiman]

It happens very, very rarely.

Usually it involves psycho priest.

[Biowraith]

Well shortly after reading the earlier comments my level 9 party met the Master Below and nope.