Terry
Sentinel
@Andrew I have the same curse I get 3/4 through and then burn out or wander off to another game or book or ..... well I'm sure you get the idea.
He's probably trying to compete with NeverKnowsBest to see who'll get the longest review
The difference is that his reviews are not good, especially when compared to NeverKnowsBest.
I found this review pretty on point. He knows his stuff.
He generally does but I'm surprised by some reproaches. For example the character build that he claims doesn't allow him to see the result.
A player never really knows with 100% what the game will be, that's the point and the pleasure of discovering. The purpose is not to follow a blueprint to the letter and build something without any spark of creativity, like he would have us believe with his comparison. When I played with similar toys, I quickly made designs of my own to learn and discover, that's what toys and games are for.
Sure, one needs some understanding of how it works first, but there's more than enough in Pathfinder. The UI presentation is crystal-clear, you can see the class evolution and plan for your build since the start. And most of the information is available in-game, with tooltips and the encyclopedia. Then there are ample interactive tutorials. I can't imagine how they could have improved it further.
The game is often criticized for having a steep learning curve, this is mainly due to the ruleset. It's true that it's not for everyone, but blaming the game and saying it's not clear is very subjective. He should at least make it plain or take a more mature approach about it.
It was better handled in other of his videos. He usually says it's bad or good but he hates or loves it, and elaborates a bit on both sides.
So basically you didn't like his humour and didn't have an issue with the complexity yourself. He seems to have played plenty of these games so I wouldn't necessarily say his take is subjective although players experiences with games can be apples to oranges because we value different things. He is able to contrast and compare to plenty of other games in the genre, which he does.
I never said that. Merely that, while his humour generally makes me laugh, he tends to pour more and more of it every time. Just look at how long it takes to get to the subject.
I never said I didn't have an issue with complexity myself either, just that I'm surprised at his take on the lack of clarity.
The fact he's played many of those games like many of us has nothing to do with being subjective or not. Statements like "a game that challenges your tactical skills should be easily to learn and hard to master" is subjective, it's his view of a tactical game. Other people prefer something deeper, and he admits it himself, but the single sentence is lost in a 1h20 video that present that as a flaw.
He's also obsessed to get the perfect build to face any situation, which is not at all what those games are about, just how he wants to play it. Then he blames the game for not making it clear and easy, which I've already shown was incorrect. It's meant to be too complex, there's objectively nothing wrong with not mastering everything and unexpected outcomes.
What I got from the tactics angle was that many combats were trash mobs with little monster variety.
The rock, paper, scissors appears to require correct prebuffing which he thinks is not very interesting sometimes.
So your issue with the humour is there is too much of it? What I got from the tactics angle was that many combats were trash mobs with little monster variety. The rock, paper, scissors appears to require correct prebuffing which he thinks is not very interesting sometimes. Itemisation he thinks is very good but it is also very easy to muck up your build which is honestly true for lots of rpgs.
As for making things clear he says that the game is like racing a car with a instrument panel of an aircraft. Meaning its appears complicated but you can get by with tank and spank most of the time. I get the average gamer getting confused why he needs fortitude to make a save as compared to having iron skin etc but that would be hard to communicate for any game based on tabletop.
He's also obsessed to get the perfect build to face any situation, which is not at all what those games are about, just how he wants to play it. Then he blames the game for not making it clear and easy, which I've already shown was incorrect. It's meant to be too complex, there's objectively nothing wrong with not mastering everything and unexpected outcomes.
Going to try skald in upcoming DLC - I think its perfect for its story, an ordinary citizen with bit of combat skill + bard buffs
I've never felt at ease with bard builds, never took the time to try and understand how they worked. Something new to discover one day.
Have you already played a similar class?
You can also play on easier mode so you don't have to constantly buff, can enjoy exploring and focus on the story and content without every fight being a PITA. You can also make a custom difficulty like I do mainly for QOL.
For example I start with hard and make sure enemies have the same critical damage, that we give and take the same percentage of damage (equal), and some other hard things. But the negative abilities and debuffs that are just a time sink to run back some place to rest … nah I set those to end after battle or a rest, for all of them. Also use Death's Door, again QOL.
Also means I don't have to worry about the perfect build that can do every thing like this video person seems to want. I can focus more on RP then always being the optimized build.