I really, really hope that Larian is saving all the good stuff for after the demo area because this game is a much lesser creative effort than DKS or even Ego Draconis before the million patches/changes.
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Here's to hoping there is a game past the very dull Cyseal area.
If not, maybe they ought to delay it again and start writing.
Sadly, I have to agree with your summary. The game I've played so far has been surprisingly dull. It feels as if Larian have put all their focus on building an engine that can display all the technical achievements that they've dreamt about in the past, and then had little time or energy left to create a fresh and engaging world.
I guess that different things appeal to different players - some want to be wowed by impressive visuals, some like to read detailed lore, others want plenty of action, others prefer to spent time on crafting, alchemy or whatever. But, no matter what our preferences, I think we all hope to be engaged and charmed by a game. And charm is hard to pin down. Something about the style and atmosphere should draw you in and make you want to spend more time exploring the game world and interacting with a well written range of friends and enemies.
The build of DoS I played was a bomb in that regard. It felt like it was cobbled together from recycled ideas and leftover bits from other rpgs. As you say, no characters that seemed to amount to anything much, just the usual parade of stereotypes to interact with. It flapped up and down the runway but, for me, never looked like taking off.
But we're not at the final build yet and I still have hopes that the public Alpha and Beta phases have been all about testing and developing the engine without revealing too much about the actual game. I hope that the eventual release is both well written and engaging and that the rather lame stuff on offer at the Cyseal we've seen isn't representative of the game as a whole
We all know that Larian is capable of creating a great game - so fingers crossed! Let's hope we're all beaming broadly on release day.
