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MaxEd's avatar

One thing I absolutely hate is those MMORPG-like "+1.75% to whatever" bonuses on items and skills which you absolutely can't feel, but which can actually stack up and break the game - if you're willing to create a spreadsheet (usually by playing the game for a few months at least) and then do some advanced math analysis on that to come up with the perfect build.

My ideal for ability design is where each ability you can pick on level up makes you go "I want that because I'll be able to kill everybody in game with that!", makes you salivate over choices, makes every skill point precious. Of course, the new skills shouldn't REALLY break the game - maybe only for a little while, until you reach new enemies with new abilities.

Very few games ever try to do that, although I think Arcanum comes closest - the choice of spells or craft schematics to learn was always sweetly painful in this game for me.

That said, my own criticism of QW2 ability system would be not that it's too simple, but that it's a bit too boring. I don't EVER get a feeling that THIS spell finally will let me dominate that fight I've been avoiding for the last three levels. For example, the three attack spells - Ice, Poison and Fire - feel too similar. Yes, the damage and shape of AOE differs a bit, but neither feels too powerful - or too interesting. Contrast and compare with late-level spells in Arcanum, one of which allowed you to disintegrate basically any enemy (at the cost of also destroying his equipment, though, and you could only cast it 2-3 times before resting at best).

Or, for another example, I absolutely hate everything about combat in Dragon Age: Inquisition. It has exactly the kind of "incremental improvement for stats" skills and items that I find utterly boring. Dragon Age: Origins, on the other hand? THAT game had fun combat. I still remember the kick I've got every time I got to loose that high-level arrow ability (forgot what it was called, been too long) at an enemy, or pulled of two-spell combat with freeze and shatter, which utterly destroyed lower-level enemies. Yet, DA:O combat was also way harder than watered-down click-fest that is DA:I.

High-level spells in D&D also sound exactly like high-level spells should sound - utterly devastating. Knights of Chalice 2 gives the player a great opportunity to play with them, but it never becomes too easy even when you have a bunch of reality-altering powers, because the combat design in that game is just perfect: it gives you broken powers, and gives you enemies that REQUIRE those broken powers to defeat them.

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SimulatedKnave's avatar

I would question people going "OMG EXILE WAS SO MUCH BETTER." Including your own memory. That was thirty damn years ago, and anyone who tells you everything was better thirty years ago is either lying or has forgotten a bunch of important things.

Personally, I prefer the Nethergate-era engine to the new Avernum, but have enjoyed the QW and new Geneforge engines just fine (I found the new Avernum seemed to require a LOT of investment in skills to remain...massively weaker than I was in the old Avernums. Rather frustrating). From a game design perspective around the combat, I personally prefer a few meaningful and straightforward abilities (especially ones that were quick to use) to ones that weren't that. I hit things with basic melee attacks, use a lot of direct damage spells, and don't like summoning things. I think the older games tended to allow this more, but QW does a decent job at it, as did Geneforge. Story and worldwise, QW1 was 100% weird and unique and felt very much old-school Spiderweb - it was basically a lot of the neat old school world elements, but with quality of life elements from a much more modern game. QW2 isn't as unique, but is certainly still characterful and interesting. I really need to actually play through the final version.

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