More than any genre, the RPG exudes passion, sometimes to insane levels. Discussing role-playing games is not the same as discussing other games, their depth and history have created different currents of thought that have taken root over the years to create authentic
schools that collide head-on with one another. Also, its bastardization process is more pronounced than that of any other genre, being the favorite source to go to when someone wants to get their game to have more depth or interest. In the middle of this scenario,
even the very question of ” what is an RPG in the videogame?“It presents a challenge to be answered. It is a genre that awakens so much passion, that it even gets someone who decides to complicate their comfortable life to create their “ideal RPG”.
This is how Iron Tower was founded, the tiny studio that has been a whopping 11 years developing The Age of Decadence. Its founder “Vince D. Weller” (fictitious name) is a regular among some of the world’s toughest role communities such as RPGCodex. He has never offered his real name because he has an important position in a company outside the industry,
but he has been speaking for a long time about the genre at the highest level, analyzing for love of art different titles that have passed through his hands and talking about the game he has played. I have been creating together with a very small group of independent professionals.
Age of Decadence responds to the desire to create an ideal, to create a type of game that is no longer done, to follow the school of titles like Arcanum, the original Fallout, Planescape and, in particular, Prelude to Darkness, a little known RPG independent and free.
The translation of all these influences is a game in which the role is lived as the maximum expression of the decision and consequence, the classic C & C. It is about adopting a role among many possible ones, giving them some tools through our table of attributes and abilities and seeing how we develop in the world through our actions and decisions.
There is no mission that comes to us, we are not “the chosen ones” or “heroes”, there are not even guarantees that we can fulfill the first missions that are entrusted to us. It is a game in which the same can be a soldier, a mercenary, a murderer, a merchant or a historian,
among other possibilities, and each of these roles is completely different from each other despite everything happening in the same world and with the same characters. It is a title in which the C & C stands out above any other, with a large skein of possible ramifications depending on what we do and what we can do.
Before continuing, we must make clear a couple of things of a more practical nature. Who is The Age of Decadence for?Let’s be clear that we are talking about a “hardcore” RPG, in the sense that it is created by and for a certain specific audience,
without concessions. For starters, if you have played and enjoyed one or several of the references mentioned above, you will know that this game is for you. If you like to face a game meticulously, experiment, create different characters and do not mind fail from time to time and try again, this game will interest you too. If, on the other hand, you think that you are going to
arrive and you are going to become an unbeatable warrior destined to win any combat that is put on hand, this is not your game. If you expect to “win” just for the sake of playing, it’s not your game either. And of course if what interests you in a
role-playing game is fighting and you do not like long shifts and strategic combats, It’s not something you’re going to enjoy. Also, unfortunately, it requires handling well with English at the moment (although surely the Spanish translation scene moves or is already moving to translate it).
