Reviews can reveal a lot about the biases and experience of the author. This review constantly refers to Diablo II, which arguably is not an RPG in the true sense, and has a very shallow storyline, quest system, and character development. Why does he not compare the Divinity games to the genre that they belong in? That genre, IMHO, is the Might&Magic/ Ultima / Wizardry type games. Those series of games were rich in storyline, quest systems, and character development.
Well, I read this far in your post, Grim and had to stop because I think your opinion is spot on. I've played almost all of the M&M series and all of Wizardry's. The only difference is that BD is not turn based whereas those are. (I haven't played Ultima yet. I have it, but haven't played it.)
*Faralas finishes reading the rest of Grim's message*
I was laughing so hard at this point in the review. So the Diablo series (what series? There was the original and 3 expansions if you count Hellfire) shaped a gamer in what to expect from an RPG? It seems like such a shallow shaping.
While I did not laugh at the reviewer's statement about how Diablo II shaped him as a gamer, my eyes did pop out of my skull. I have never considered Diablo as an RPG. It falls into the category of an action/adventure without the massive puzzle-solving and hot spot, click fest of a true 'adventure' game. RPG, IMHO, means something completely different to me than it does to the reviewer.
It's clear that Stephen Macek is not an afficianado of RPGs nor does he know the critera of a proper review. I think he was given an assignment at the last minute, played a minute or two of the demo and drew on his limited knowledge. What came out was the swill he and rpg.dot call a 'review'. It's a 'comparison' and a bad one at that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" />
@Tovi: The thought occurred to me to respond to his review, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that someone actually read it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Faralas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />
