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#498875 09/06/14 06:44 PM
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crpgnut Offline OP
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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. Where are the Maxos Temple or Lord Lovis' tower? Evelyn is not a contender and her location is as generic as we can get. Do we compare the lighthouse (all 12 feet of it) to Lord Lovis? The Watcher Statues to Maxos? Hopefully, as with DKS, all the good stuff is after Boring Cyseal.

Comparison of BV vs Cyseal:

The lovely Elsa vs. the generic "waitress". Even Fanny has more of a personality.

Stan and Ollie vs... um, Duke Ferrol maybe or maybe that one guy in a room by himself that talks about the Conduit...

Doctor Needleman vs....um, maybe that guy Alistair that talks about how great a mage he is.

Mindreading vs Pet Pal...no contest. Mindreading has some of the funniest dialogue in the whole game.

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.


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crpgnut #498877 09/06/14 07:02 PM
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Couldn't disagree more, I much prefer their time being spent on gameplay immersion, not story.

Story is something anyone can mod. The core game mechanics only Larian.

crpgnut #498878 09/06/14 07:06 PM
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So, you like the cover of the book rather than the contents....weird, but okay wink


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crpgnut #498908 09/06/14 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by crpgnut
So, you like the cover of the book rather than the contents....weird, but okay wink


TIL game-play = cover of a book.

I won't argue against DOS vs Divinity 2, complete different styles in games. Loved DV2 as well.

crpgnut #498996 10/06/14 02:37 PM
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I like this game, don't get me wrong. It just isn't in the same category as DivDiv or DKS though. It is only underwhelming when compared to its predecessors. It is above average when compared to the genre as a whole.

My hope is that they're holding all the aces past the demo area. My concern is that supposedly there is only a character level of 20. Since you can hit level 12 in Cyseal, this is going to make for much less content in DOS than in DKS, unless leveling slows to a crawl. I was level 19 before Oroboros Falls or whatever it was called. The leveling speed seems very similar to DKS so far, so it sounds like less content. Since I paid $500 for the priveledge of helping to fund this game, I'd like to see more content, not less.


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crpgnut #499152 12/06/14 05:25 AM
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Originally Posted by crpgnut
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.

-----

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. biggrin

crpgnut #499168 12/06/14 10:15 AM
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I still like it.
You are right, the story isn't great, and the overall experience can't compare to some other games (and even older ones in my opinion), but still the game gives me exactly what i wanted: Its a coop RPG.
And even better, its a coop RPG that is intended to be played in coop, and that doesn't leave the second player stuck in dialogues, unable to talk to anyone, worse than a henchman. It lets you even split the party in a reasonable way.

This game fills a niche that suffered from neglection over so many years now. There are brilliant singleplayer RPGs out there, and also some brilliant MMOs, and if you want, there are also some fun hack and slay experiences you can play together, but probably since Neverwinter Nights 2 there wasn't a game like DoS.
Every time, when a new RPG comes up, me and my husband end up asking ourselves "Can we play this together?", and mostly, the answer is more than disappointing. Either you can't, or the coop experience is that bad that you don't want to try it. We were disappointed when we heard that Drakensang and The Elder Scrolls go for a multiplayer experience - in an MMO-Way. (what we actually wanted was a new Elder Scrolls or Drakensang game with at least dual coop....)

And now, DoS appeared, shiny, good looking, and offering a dual-coop experience we did't even expect to see. Dual Dialogues, the interaction with the environment, and that you start with two equally important main characters... even if the game isn't huge, even if the story isn't that great, this is just what we wanted, and don't forget: there is the modding toolkit, so we hope that the community will use it (we will too, but its not the same playing the games you made).




Last edited by MaralDesa; 12/06/14 10:16 AM. Reason: typo
MaralDesa #499178 12/06/14 01:25 PM
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Originally Posted by MaralDesa

Every time, when a new RPG comes up, me and my husband end up asking ourselves "Can we play this together?", and mostly, the answer is more than disappointing. Either you can't, or the coop experience is that bad that you don't want to try it.

And now, DoS appeared, shiny, good looking, and offering a dual-coop experience we did't even expect to see. Dual Dialogues, the interaction with the environment, and that you start with two equally important main characters... even if the game isn't huge, even if the story isn't that great, this is just what we wanted...



You're very lucky. smile I've been married for over 30 years (and playing on computers for nearly as long) and I've still never been able to get my wife interested in playing RPGs. sad

I can see why you'd be enthusiastic about the coop aspect. Even if the story turns out not to be as good as it might be, playing as a duo with your partner would be a lot of fun. Colour me just a little bit envious.....



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