So here is the short and quick version of my initial review and why I've mentioned the game as
being one of the worse gaming experiences of my life. I've got faith in Larian to make some adjustments to ensure no one goes threw such a miserable experience like this again (unless they really want a challenge).
NOTE: For replies about the combat issue, please go to my already existing thread at
http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=491994&gonew=1#UNREADas this thread is meant for an over-all first experience, not my main problem area which is combat.
Music: nothing short of fantastic!
General NPC dialog: Needs a touch more humor to feel like the other games that I'm used to.
Books: Bunch of them have no text in them at all. And no concept art which I loved seeing in Sword of Lies.
Road to First Town:Initial "dungeon" (should be called a hidden crypt as it isn't a dungeon which is really a prison) was very lacking in a tutorial that made learning spells, figuring combat out, etc very difficult. Please remove the mentioning of this as a dungeon, RPG's have beaten the word dungeon up and call everything underground a bloody dungeon and it is really
annoying.
Town:Couldn't figure out how to use a bucket with water and then throw it on the burning boat, nor find NPC's to help put out the fire. I hope the fishermen had insurance on the boat
Once NPC outside the main bar was particularly annoying going on about this Fabulous Five. I was happy to just "take my leave" and move on. Want to finish up a bunch of my already started quests before taking on any more and getting totally lost in it all.
Jake Murder: Fun! though I can't find the secret laboratory. Couldn't get any help from Arhu on "his monstrosity". Couldn't find it going to the Lighthouse or the beach where the level 7 Orc's are. Gave up (due to issues with combat).
Combat: Found out on the forums I missed finding people to hire and there were no hints prior to going outside the town that I needed a larger party. The guards just said regular civilians cannot leave town and let me go threw the gates. This is where the game really sucked as I really tried to enjoy myself. It took over 8 hours to get up to the light house with failing fights and trying to figure out why the game was so damn hard. I'm not sure how it took this long, but the clock doesn't lie...
Swen, I think your awesome but after the experience I just had... some major work in the beginning needs to be done or this game will fail. If I didn't know you for over 10 years, I wouldn't even attempt playing this game again over the experience I just had. Combat in this game had me really miserable and irritated as I had forgotten you could even hire NPC's to join you. I'll play the game again when a new build is released.
Even if a super noob "tutorial mode" is enabled until going outside of town to ensure one has hired mercenaries has to be added. I'm sure a pop up can offer to disable it if "you truly are experienced with this game!"
