It doesn't actually release here until Tuesday, and I'll be playing the PC version shortly thereafter. You can also anticipate a staff review for the game somewhere around the time of release, so if no one is ready to talk about it just yet, at least that will soon change.
..the first two games, and all the spin-offs as well are kind of.. completely different, no? And set in different ages, with barely any connection between the stories..
..ok.. been playing a few hours more, and ended up in Stonebridge. No spoilers... but there's some branching in this game. Actually there's a lot, compared to.. you know.. modern rpgs... And it all ties into the overarching role of the Legion (which you are part of) as it is resurrected again.
I mean, it's really well written. Careful vocabulary (not simple, but careful), pacing is perfect, music loops and mixes gently, levels switch without loading, etc.
And you can try to lure someone else to play with you if they want (even if they can't build their own character at the same time - it's a ghost-character at the same level as the main). You're in for a treat, Jason. ..possibly, anyway.. :) Only thing so far is possibly the camera. A bit too top-down sometimes, and you maybe miss them using the camera more in scenic events (instead of just during the cutscenes.. but..)..
Yeah, it has no relation to the first two games and plays a lot differently. Maybe that’ s why I wasn’t liking it. The first two were dungeon crawlers similar to Diablo, Torchlight, Fate, Titan’s Quest, etc, while this is more of an action RPG along the lines of BG: DA or X-Men Legends. It seemed pretty shallow and way more casual & user-friendly compared to the first two and other games in the genre. Based on what I played in the demo it appears that more work went into the story and dialogue – which is good on its own – but the DS games were never really about that anyways. I’m not too sure why they called it Dungeon Siege III; it seems more like a spinoff of the series rather than the third entry.
Also Venter I’d get it for the consoles over the PC since the PC controls were horrible (or at least in the demo). Either that or use a 360 controller when you play. And this is coming from a PC gamer so that should definitely mean something. ;)
hehe ..well, it's certainly more complicated than ds1&2..
But I'm most impressed by how well it scales. I.e., in diablo 2, you either kick ass, or else you're chugging healing-potions to counter unavoidable damage from similar enemies with more violent colours, etc.. In titan's quest, there's the interrupt and the endless running away. Lots of games have escapes like that simply because the abilities at some point or other won't help you, or they're not really enough to make you win. So there's always some cheesy trick.
DS3 manages to stay balanced (at least halfway into the game so far) without having healing potions. Basically, you block incoming attacks, or roll away, and then counter the attacks. Then when you've attacked enough, or taken enough damage/blocks, you can spend power-spheres (rare enough not to be spammed). Or else you use focus for special abilities (which might leave you open, because you can't block). Specially for the bosses, it's actually possible to fight neatly on normal (and then struggle like hell on difficult) - without ending up in some endless run away to drink potions scenario..
It looks very smooth, is what I'm saying. Trust me, I hate console-games as much as anyone. But I think this actually works.
The same for inventory and items - Diablo wasn't so bad on this one - it had varied gear with different abilities. But it never ended up with actually allowing you to choose a particular strategy and focus on it together with the abilities you upgraded. And DS3 has that.
Example: you have an ability that turns the will-power stat into a damage bonus for abilities. So if you pick gear with high will-bonus, you could completely offset the smaller amount of damage on normal attacks. Or you could focus on status change abilities, and favour gear with direct damage. Since all characters have some switch between wide area attacks and single enemy attacks, you can combine these as well. On defence, you could focus on damage reduction, or you could make it difficult to get through your block.
So.. in a sense, it's much more complex than your typical PC dungeon crawler.. in a different sense, it's a very smooth and easy game.
I'm sure it has a.. somewhat steep difficulty-curve, though. That people are going to get wasted on the first couple of bosses, and so on :D.
...but don't think I'm excited about this because it's a console-game.. I've... you know.. made NWN campaigns to play with friends, that kind of thing..
Imagine you'd get something like.. a very short version of Planescape Torment - except the controls are smooth and the fighting system is actually good. :p
I don't know.. anyone played Lionheart? It reminds me vaguely of that, except it's 3d.
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honestgamer Staff Jun 18, 2011
Halon Jun 18, 2011
fleinn Blogger Jun 18, 2011
In what way, do you mean..?
fleinn Blogger Jun 19, 2011
I mean, it's really well written. Careful vocabulary (not simple, but careful), pacing is perfect, music loops and mixes gently, levels switch without loading, etc.
And you can try to lure someone else to play with you if they want (even if they can't build their own character at the same time - it's a ghost-character at the same level as the main). You're in for a treat, Jason. ..possibly, anyway.. :) Only thing so far is possibly the camera. A bit too top-down sometimes, and you maybe miss them using the camera more in scenic events (instead of just during the cutscenes.. but..)..
Halon Jun 19, 2011
Also Venter I’d get it for the consoles over the PC since the PC controls were horrible (or at least in the demo). Either that or use a 360 controller when you play. And this is coming from a PC gamer so that should definitely mean something. ;)
fleinn Blogger Jun 19, 2011
But I'm most impressed by how well it scales. I.e., in diablo 2, you either kick ass, or else you're chugging healing-potions to counter unavoidable damage from similar enemies with more violent colours, etc.. In titan's quest, there's the interrupt and the endless running away. Lots of games have escapes like that simply because the abilities at some point or other won't help you, or they're not really enough to make you win. So there's always some cheesy trick.
DS3 manages to stay balanced (at least halfway into the game so far) without having healing potions. Basically, you block incoming attacks, or roll away, and then counter the attacks. Then when you've attacked enough, or taken enough damage/blocks, you can spend power-spheres (rare enough not to be spammed). Or else you use focus for special abilities (which might leave you open, because you can't block). Specially for the bosses, it's actually possible to fight neatly on normal (and then struggle like hell on difficult) - without ending up in some endless run away to drink potions scenario..
It looks very smooth, is what I'm saying. Trust me, I hate console-games as much as anyone. But I think this actually works.
The same for inventory and items - Diablo wasn't so bad on this one - it had varied gear with different abilities. But it never ended up with actually allowing you to choose a particular strategy and focus on it together with the abilities you upgraded. And DS3 has that.
Example: you have an ability that turns the will-power stat into a damage bonus for abilities. So if you pick gear with high will-bonus, you could completely offset the smaller amount of damage on normal attacks. Or you could focus on status change abilities, and favour gear with direct damage. Since all characters have some switch between wide area attacks and single enemy attacks, you can combine these as well. On defence, you could focus on damage reduction, or you could make it difficult to get through your block.
So.. in a sense, it's much more complex than your typical PC dungeon crawler.. in a different sense, it's a very smooth and easy game.
I'm sure it has a.. somewhat steep difficulty-curve, though. That people are going to get wasted on the first couple of bosses, and so on :D.
...but don't think I'm excited about this because it's a console-game.. I've... you know.. made NWN campaigns to play with friends, that kind of thing..
Imagine you'd get something like.. a very short version of Planescape Torment - except the controls are smooth and the fighting system is actually good. :p
I don't know.. anyone played Lionheart? It reminds me vaguely of that, except it's 3d.