Info about The Age of Decadence:

Official game description:
The Age of Decadence, our first but hopefully not the last RPG, is now available. If you've been following it or playing it in Early Access, you know what to expect. If you've just discovered it, "stay awhile and listen". The most commonly asked question is:
**What Kind of Game Is It?**
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It’s a very different game than anything you’ve ever played. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the RPG genre hasn’t really been explored yet and most RPGs follow the formula that didn’t change in 20 years. While there were always games that strayed off the beaten path – Darklands, Planescape: Torment, King of Dragon Pass – such games were the exceptions that only reinforced the rule.  
The Age of Decadence is an experiment, an attempt to explore a different direction, taking you back to the PnP roots of the genre. It doesn’t mean that the game is awesome. In fact, there is a good chance that you won’t like it, precisely because we took too many liberties with the established design.  
So What Sets The Age of Decadence Apart From Other Games?
**1\. The Setup**
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Traditionally, many fantasy RPGs are about killing things, clearing up dungeons, and being a hero. There is nothing wrong with mindless fun and wish fulfillment, but we want to offer you something different. To quote Tom Chick (Quarter to Three's game critic):  
"But Age of Decadence wants nothing to do with kobolds, just as it wants nothing to do with Doo-dads of Unimaginable Power. The overarching idea is a crumbling society divided among three noble Houses, each fumbling around in its own version of darkness to comprehend what destroyed the world. That’s the central mystery. It plays out like noir in that you are the detective, piecing together what really happened from differing accounts, all vividly written with clear voices and efficient prose. And like a detective in a noir yarn, you can’t help but become part of the central mystery, effecting an outcome you might not have intended."  
The Age of Decadence is not a game about killing monsters or exploring mystical lands, but rather, surviving amid the greed and brutality of your fellow humans and carving out a name for yourself. Good and bad are purely relative. It’s a world of scheming and backstabbing in which your words and actions have the potential to forge alliances and sow discord, and your path is never certain.  
You get to play with seven different factions: three Noble Houses and four 'professional' guilds: merchants, assassins, thieves, and the army, all fighting for power or influence; over 100 named characters, over 750 ‘generic’ characters with unique IDs taking part in violent take-overs, assassinations, and power grabs, and over 600,000 words of dialogue: a well-developed and thought through world, believable characters, realistic motivations, but no elves, dwarves, magic, and wizards in fashionable, pointy hats.
**2\. Combat difficulty**
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Another design aspect worth mentioning is combat difficulty. It’s a hard game.  
Combat difficulty is integrated into the setting. You can’t say that the world is harsh and unforgiving and then let the player kill everyone who looks at him or her funny. The game has to be hard, dying should be easy, and you should have reasons to pick your fights.  
You aren’t a powerful hero who can defeat anyone and save the world and it is the difficulty that reinforces this notion. Make the game easier and we’re back to the powerful hero setup. So unless you’re a natural born killer, watch what you say and think before you act or you’ll end up dead before you can blink.
**3\. Choices & Consequences**
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Choices are what the game is all about - crafting your own narrative via a variety of choices that alter the story, playing field, and your options down the road. From multiple quest solutions to branching questlines you'll have plenty decisions to make and consequences of said decisions to deal with, which is what makes the game incredibly replayable.  
Starting the game as a mercenary and joining the Imperial Guards will give a completely different experience, different quests, different content and points of view than, say, playing the game as a merchant (less buying low and selling high, more scheming and plotting to gain advantages for the guild), a praetor serving a Noble House, or an assassin.  
The questlines are interwoven, forming a large, overarching story, so playing the game only once will be like witnessing events from a single perspective, which is limited by default. You will have to play the game several times to better understand what’s going on, piece everything together, and see the full effect of the choices you make.
**The Big Question: Should You Buy The Game?**
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Try before you buy. Even if everything I said sounds exactly like your kind of game, try the demo first. That’s what it’s there for. It gives you access to the first Chapter, consisting of 3 locations and about 30 quests split between mutually exclusive questlines and decisions.

Release date: Oct 14, 2015

Categories: Turn-based Combat, Choice-based Narrative, Dialogue-based Puzzle Solving, Faction Management, Skill-based Mastery, Non-linear Storytelling, Role-playing, Tactical RPG


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- High replayability and choices (weight 0.99): The game offers immense replayability due to branching storylines, faction-based paths, and meaningful player choices. Each playthrough feels distinct, with multiple endings, character builds, and non-combat options (e.g., pacifist or merchant playthroughs).
- Rich lore and world-building (weight 0.7): The game features deep, well-written lore and world-building, often compared to classics like *Fallout* and *Dune*. Players praise its unique post-apocalyptic Roman-inspired setting, intricate factions, and puzzle-like storytelling that unfolds across playthroughs.
- Strategic turn-based combat (weight 0.55): The combat system is tactical, challenging, and rewarding, with mechanics like body-part targeting, consumable use, and weapon-specific animations. Players appreciate its depth and old-school CRPG feel, though it can be brutally difficult.
- Brilliant writing and dialogue (weight 0.54): The writing is frequently described as top-tier, with witty, immersive dialogue, morally gray characters, and a narrative that avoids clichés. Players highlight its depth, realism, and philosophical themes, often comparing it to literary works.
- Meaningful consequences for actions (weight 0.49): Player decisions have irreversible, world-altering consequences, from faction alliances to quest outcomes. The game punishes reckless behavior and rewards role-playing, with no 'chosen one' trope or hand-holding.
- Gritty, immersive atmosphere (weight 0.24): The game’s grimdark tone, inspired by *The Black Company* and historical Rome, creates a bleak yet immersive world. The soundtrack and setting enhance the atmosphere, making exploration and role-playing deeply engaging.
- Unique genre-blending experience (weight 0.16): The game blends RPG, visual novel, and quest mechanics, offering a rare isometric focus on single-character role-playing. Its non-linear quests and fragmented storytelling encourage experimentation and multiple playthroughs.
- Attention to detail and craftsmanship (weight 0.08): Despite dated graphics, the game excels in artistic direction, dialogue depth, and world detail. Minor events and NPC interactions are vividly written, contributing to its immersive quality.

Common complaints:
- Unforgiving and frustrating combat (weight 0.53): The combat system is widely criticized for being overly difficult, RNG-dependent, and poorly designed. Players report frequent deaths, reliance on save-scumming, and artificial difficulty spikes that make progression frustrating rather than rewarding.
- Outdated and unpolished graphics (weight 0.31): The game's visuals are described as dated, rough, and lacking polish, even for mid-2000s standards. Poor animations, weak engine performance, and graphical glitches further detract from immersion.
- Punishing skill checks and progression (weight 0.26): Skill checks are rigid, arbitrary, and often gate critical content, forcing players to min-max or restart. Failed checks can lead to dead ends or softlocks, making progression feel unfair and poorly designed.
- Poor first-playthrough experience (weight 0.24): The initial playthrough is often ruined by excessive difficulty, RNG, and lack of guidance, leading to disappointing endings. Players must restart multiple times or use guides to understand mechanics.
- Unbalanced difficulty and design (weight 0.11): The game's difficulty is artificially high, with only one setting that feels masochistic. Developers' dismissive attitude toward criticism exacerbates frustration, as the design prioritizes punishment over fun.
- Technical issues and bugs (weight 0.09): Numerous bugs, crashes, and technical glitches (e.g., screen flickering, corrupted saves) detract from the experience. Some issues remain unpatched, affecting playability.
- Frustrating navigation and UX (weight 0.08): The map system is poorly designed, with unclear NPC locations, no hover-to-find mechanics, and frustrating controls. Saving/loading mechanics are also cumbersome, lacking autosave or clear save points.

Gameplay feedback:
- Deep skill-based progression (weight 0.51): The game features a skill-based progression system where players allocate points to stats (e.g., Strength, Intelligence) and skills (e.g., persuasion, stealth) without traditional leveling. Choices are meaningful and often irreversible, shaping character specialization and playstyle.
- Multiple branching endings (weight 0.4): The game features numerous endings based on player choices, skill investments, and faction alliances. Replayability is high due to mutually exclusive paths and morally ambiguous outcomes.
- Dialogue-heavy with skill checks (weight 0.38): Dialogue and persuasion mechanics are central, with skill checks (e.g., Charisma, Persuasion) determining outcomes. Players can bypass combat entirely through dialogue, offering non-combat playstyles like diplomacy or deception.
- Faction-based storytelling (weight 0.24): Eight distinct factions and professions (e.g., Assassin, Merchant) offer unique questlines, perspectives, and alliances. Faction choices significantly impact the narrative and available paths.
- Non-combat playstyles viable (weight 0.17): Pacifist, merchant, and diplomatic playstyles are fully supported, allowing players to avoid combat entirely. Skills like persuasion and craftiness are as viable as combat-focused builds.
- Old-school CRPG mechanics (weight 0.1): The game embraces hardcore CRPG elements, including punishing difficulty, deep roleplaying, and a pen-and-paper feel. It appeals to fans of classic isometric RPGs with tactical depth.
- Post-apocalyptic Roman setting (weight 0.08): The game is set in a unique post-apocalyptic world inspired by the Roman Empire, blending sci-fi and fantasy elements. The setting is rich in lore and influences gameplay mechanics.
- No hand-holding or quest markers (weight 0.07): The game encourages exploration and attention to detail by omitting quest markers and companions. Players must rely on memory and immersion to navigate the world and quests.

Performance notes:
- Flickering and lighting bugs (weight 0.08): Players report frequent screen flickering and lighting issues, particularly on modern systems. Adjusting lighting settings to LOW or tweaking Lighting Quality often resolves these graphical glitches.
- Frequent crashes and instability (weight 0.06): Crashes are a common issue, occurring during gameplay, fights, or when accessing menus. Some players report no crashes, but the majority highlight this as a significant problem.
- General technical and graphical issues (weight 0.05): A broad range of technical problems, including graphical glitches, keyboard/sound/resolution issues, and bugs requiring file integrity checks or language switches to resolve.
- Long loading times (weight 0.04): Players experience excessively long loading screens, even when using SSDs. This issue is widely reported and impacts gameplay flow.
- Interface and resolution scaling (weight 0.01): Interface scaling problems are reported on 4K displays, making the game difficult to navigate or play at higher resolutions.
- Corrupted saves and beta issues (weight 0.01): Saves are occasionally corrupted and listed as 'beta saves,' leading to lost progress and frustration for players.
- Slow alt-tab performance (weight 0.01): Players experience slow performance when alt-tabbing out of the game, which disrupts multitasking and overall usability.
- Runs well on low-end hardware (weight 0.01): Despite its issues, the game is noted for running well on low-end hardware, making it accessible to a broader range of players.
- Screen glare issues (weight 0.01): Some players report screen glare, which can affect visibility and immersion during gameplay.
- 32-bit version availability (weight 0.01): A 32-bit version of the game is available, which some players use to mitigate graphical issues on older or less capable systems.

Recommendations:
- Must-play for CRPG fans (weight 0.49): The game is widely recommended for fans of classic CRPGs, deep roleplaying, and narrative-driven experiences. Its strong writing, replayability, and consequence-heavy decisions make it a standout title in the genre.
- Niche appeal for hardcore players (weight 0.36): The game is not suitable for casual players due to its punishing difficulty, restrictive mechanics, and steep learning curve. It is best enjoyed by seasoned RPG veterans who appreciate complexity and challenge.
- Patience and persistence required (weight 0.33): The game demands patience, frequent saving, and a willingness to fail. Players are encouraged to stick with it despite initial difficulties, as the experience becomes rewarding over time.
- Best purchased on sale (weight 0.08): While the game is praised for its content, some reviewers recommend waiting for a discount due to its flaws or niche appeal. It is considered a great value at reduced prices.
- Demo recommended before purchase (weight 0.07): Many reviewers suggest trying the free demo to gauge whether the game's mechanics and difficulty align with personal preferences. This helps avoid frustration and ensures a better fit for potential buyers.
- Frustrating mechanics for some (weight 0.06): Players who prefer internal logic and realism may find the game's mechanics restrictive or frustrating. Poor execution in certain areas can detract from the overall experience despite its ambition.
- Roleplaying flexibility and specialization (weight 0.06): The game accommodates diverse playstyles, including non-combat roles like merchants or scholars. This flexibility allows players to tailor their experience to their preferred roleplaying style.
- Supports indie development (weight 0.02): Purchasing the game is seen as a way to support indie developers who create high-quality, ambitious projects. This sentiment adds value for players who prioritize backing independent studios.
- Guides and community resources helpful (weight 0.02): Reviewers recommend consulting community guides for optimal start paths, builds, and strategies. These resources can enhance the experience, especially for players new to the game's mechanics.
- Accessible with basic English (weight 0.01): The game is playable with basic English comprehension or machine translation, making it accessible to a broader audience despite its complexity.

Other player notes:
- Unique and engaging premise (weight 0.02): The game’s premise—playing as a character seeking wealth and power during political instability—is highlighted as fresh and compelling by players.
- Generous demo content (weight 0.02): Players appreciate the inclusion of an entire act in the demo, allowing for a comprehensive trial experience. This helps users make informed purchasing decisions.
- Tone mismatch in humor (weight 0.01): The comedy quips and puns in character sheets and descriptions clash with the game's dark theme, breaking immersion for some players.
- Demo accessibility praised (weight 0.01): Personal experiences of playing the demo without purchasing suggest the demo is effective in attracting players and showcasing the game’s value.
- Comparisons to established IPs (weight 0.01): Players draw comparisons to *Pathfinder* and *Re:Zero*, suggesting the game appeals to fans of tactical RPGs and dark fantasy narratives.
- Soundtrack limitations noted (weight 0.01): Some players criticize the soundtrack for not meeting expectations, attributing this to developer choices. This impacts the overall immersion and atmosphere of the game.
- Nostalgia for niche genres (weight 0.01): Players express sadness that games of this kind may not be made in the future, highlighting concerns about the decline of unique or experimental game genres.
- Beginner-friendly resources (weight 0.01): Guides for beginners are available and linked in reviews, indicating strong community support and accessibility for new players.
- Cross-platform ownership concerns (weight 0.01): Players mention owning the game on another platform with significant playtime, suggesting potential issues with cross-platform progression or replay value.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.27): Players experience frustration primarily due to the game's punishing difficulty, rigid mechanics, and technical issues. Key causes include unforgiving combat, arbitrary skill checks, and progression locks that force repeated restarts or reliance on guides. Bugs, softlocks, and outdated systems (e.g., clunky UI, poor camera controls) exacerbate the problem, while scarce resources and RNG-dependent fights add to the trial-and-error gameplay.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.15): Satisfaction stems from the game's depth, replayability, and meaningful player agency. Players enjoy overcoming challenging combat, mastering strategic systems, and experiencing unique narrative outcomes based on their choices. The freedom to explore non-combat playstyles, impactful roleplaying, and the emotional reward of conquering difficult scenarios contribute to a rewarding experience.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement is driven by the game's rich world-building, high replayability, and immersive mechanics. Players are engaged by the chaotic setting, tactical combat, and the ability to experiment with diverse character builds and playstyles. Discovering unexpected narrative twists, unique faction interactions, and the game's depth fuels enthusiasm for multiple playthroughs.
- Disappointment (weight 0.08): Disappointment arises from unmet expectations, particularly regarding shallow RPG systems, outdated design, and lack of polish. Players criticize the game for rigid skill dependencies, underdeveloped quests, and repetitive combat. Technical issues (e.g., bugs, crashes) and the absence of features like modding support or mature content further diminish the experience.
- Appreciation (weight 0.08): Players appreciate the game's rich storytelling, immersive world, and unique mechanics despite its flaws. The depth of lore, impactful choices, and the developer's dedication to creating a non-power-fantasy experience are frequently praised. The game's ability to evoke a Fallout-like atmosphere and its teleportation feature are also highlighted as standout elements.
- Admiration (weight 0.05): Admiration is directed toward the game's ambitious design, brilliant writing, and tactical depth. Players commend its limitless options, realistic NPC behavior, and the absence of a 'chosen hero' narrative. The game is often described as a masterpiece, setting a high standard for RPGs with its atmospheric setting and dynamic storytelling.
- Curiosity (weight 0.04): Curiosity is sparked by the game's layered storytelling, hidden lore, and faction-based narratives. Players are motivated to explore different character paths, unravel mysteries, and experiment with endings. The unique approach to quest-solving and the ancient history of the game world encourage repeated playthroughs to uncover secrets.
- Immersion (weight 0.03): Immersion is achieved through the game's atmospheric music, rich world-building, and realistic interactions. Players engage deeply with the post-apocalyptic setting, philosophical themes, and gritty survival mechanics. The detailed narrative and NPC reactions create a sense of realism, making the world feel alive and reactive to player choices.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.03): Nostalgia is evoked by the game's old-school CRPG design, reminiscent of classics like Fallout, Arcanum, and Baldur's Gate. Players familiar with turn-of-the-millennium RPGs appreciate its dated graphics and mechanics, which harken back to a time of deeper roleplaying and tactical combat.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.02): Enjoyment comes from the game's challenging yet rewarding gameplay, unique setting, and morally gray characters. Players relish the freedom to explore the world, engage in tactical combat, and experience non-linear storytelling through dialogue choices and impactful decisions.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Enthusiasm is fueled by the game's reactive narrative, replayability, and depth. Players strongly recommend it to RPG lovers, praising its flexibility, unique setting, and the ability to shape the story through meaningful choices. The game's writing and world-building are frequently cited as highlights.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement arises from the game's witty writing, unconventional outcomes, and humorous mechanics. Players enjoy the sarcastic tone, grotesque consequences of failed skill checks, and NPC reactions (e.g., thanking the player after betrayal), which add levity to the otherwise dark setting.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game stems from its unique challenge, deep RPG elements, and the niche it fills in the genre. Players appreciate its long-term engagement, tactical depth, and the sense of accomplishment from overcoming its punishing design.
- Awe (weight 0.01): Awe is inspired by the game's immersive world, epic narrative moments, and ambitious scope. Players are captivated by its sense of mystery, danger, and the unexpected twists that arise from its dynamic storytelling and layered lore.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is directed at the game's unfair difficulty spikes, combat imbalance, and developer attitudes. Players criticize forced reloads, unrealistic mechanics, and the perception that developers blame players for design flaws rather than addressing them.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): Sadness arises from the studio's financial struggles and the fear that games of this kind may not be made in the future. Players feel constrained by the developers' rigid design philosophy, which prioritizes challenge over accessibility.
- Recommendation (weight 0.01): Recommendations are based on the game's engaging story, turn-based combat, and unique gameplay elements. Players who enjoy challenging RPGs with deep roleplaying mechanics and impactful choices often suggest it to others.
- Hope (weight 0): Hope is expressed for more games like this from Iron Tower Studio or similar developers. Players desire to see the studio's vision continue, appreciating its dedication to creating deep, challenging RPGs with rich storytelling.
- Disgust (weight 0): Disgust is triggered by overly inconvenient mechanics, such as terrible music in specific areas or combat systems that feel unnecessarily punishing. These elements disrupt immersion and frustrate players.
- Surprise (weight 0): Surprise comes from the game's unexpected narrative outcomes and early-game deaths. Players are caught off guard by the consequences of their choices, which can lead to shocking or unanticipated story developments.}