Volourn

"Well, whenever you finish your mod Volourn I'll try to borrow my friend's NWN collection and give it a try. Do you have an idea of how large a download it will be?" About 5-10MB. "and here, all along, i thought you respected me..." I respect you (you ar eone of the few netters thqt i do - don't let that go to your head though " ); but those who don't have both NWN expansions just aren't in my mod's 'customer' base. It's for "real" NWNers.

SOU was okay. Ch3 sucked horrible though. One of my worst experiences with RPGs - just above the puke known as MW, DTU, or POR2. Still, if you don't NWN, SOU, and HOTU; you are nothing to me as far as NWN goes. Nothing. Just a pretender trying to be cool by fitting in; but just a silly outsider.

Only as long as you understand that many of the usual Bio style is in the game. I don't wanna hear you whining about stuff that you whined about in KOTOR.. in NWN... in BG2... in BG1... You see the picture?

"So are you gonna release it anytime soon ?" 2-3 months since I just finished a week vacation while play JE. Now, that i'm finished I can bo back to work. "Do you need both SoU and HoTU to play it?" Yes. This mod is for fans of NWN who still have the real version of it; not pretenders to the throne.

"Ah, another one of those situations. Say no more, say no more." Don't worry! Another crappier mod is being made so all can bash it!

"Let's just say that kooky NPCs, evil betrayer chicks, Fedex quests and schools for adventurers are things that would put me off." Expect all these things except possibly schools is DA. And, please, tell me about ONE RPG that doesn't have fed ex quest so I cna laugh at you. "I realise that we're probably getting the normal stuff when it comes to story department, but I'm still hoping that Bioware has finally got the idea of not making the players party the center of the freaking universe." You lose. the PC will be the focus of DA. Period. You don't like that kind of game than you shouldn't bother playing BIO games. "I am not really expecting BioWare to change any time soon, perhaps when the current staff is replaced we start to see diferences but its another thing I dont see being done any time soon." Nope. As longas the Doctors are running the show this is what youa re gonna get. Dave Gaider did NOTHING on JE yet it didn't change the Bioware way of developing games. "Like it or not BioWare found a system that so far have given then awards and sales, they are not likely go exploring other options." That system also makes good games so I'm all for them keeping it up. "I can understand that, what I dont really like is their attitude ..." Horrible attitude, indeed. proud of their work and accomplishments. Allowing peopel to post negative opinions about their games on their baords as long as its done civilly. Inetratcing with board members. Having contests to reward community particiapation. Not always kissing the behind of players who suggest retarded thinsg and weant things their way and claim theys peak for every player in existence. You all whine about BIo yet you all will buy their games like little lemmings then have the gall to wodner why they don't change their way of developing games. Go figure. R00fles!

Yes, by the sounds of it thoguh, DA will break the 'start as a student' trend... It works in JE; but it's time for something new... Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if JE2 uses the student scenario as that kinda of dynamic fits in a game centered around marital arts role-playing...

Meh. He's betetr off practicing and leanring how the characetr system works. Even, if's just downlaoding one of the level up mods just to practice. Using the reccommended stuff would likely just be a recipe for disaster since you basiclaly playing a characetr someone else made... and not knwoing how it got there and why the computer chose certain skills and feats over others...

"Reminds me of Fable ... " Good trolling. Can you please repeat that another 20 times minimum. I still don't getw aht youa re trying to say. Words of Advice for You Drakron: Don't buy BIO games. You won't like 'em.

This review will be long, boring, fanboyish, critical, and full of spoilers! It will tackle each chapter individually as well as combat, story, role-playing, characters, and things I feel didn't work. Thy have been warned.... *WARNING* !!! SPOILERS !!! *WARNING* -------------------------- ------------------------------- Chapter 1: Great opening chapter. I love the interaction with the various fellow students. Gao the Lesser was an awesome main villain for the chapter. There was a part of me who felt pity for him; because it was obvious he was raised in a horrible manner. I could also feel his pain because he was always second fiddle to the PC - both with the Master, and Dawn Star the Objection of his Obsession. Fantastic chapter that sets the mood. Pretty much perfect. Chapter 2: The folks of Tien's Landing had me invisioning the Great Flood of 20 years ago. Their pain, sorrow, and loss. The various ghosts - even the locked up criminals - did this well. The Ghost Children and their revenge plot was a sad, poigant, and rather eery momen. Extremly well done and mature considering the subject matter. I love the rat demons. It's too bad rat demons forgot how to talk later on.. The whole pirate island and the forest was awesomely done. Another great chapter. Chapter 3: WOW! Imperial Cityrocks. The Arena was awesome. It alone cost me several hours of my time as it was deep both combat and role-playing wise. It is eaisly the best arena/tournament type quest ever in games. The Lotus Assassin Hideout was accomplished. I actually felt cool playing their games and loved hopw bloodthirsty they were to each other. The Ghosts of Necroplis were touching in their sob stories espicially the mother who died in childbirth as well as the man who was 'murdered' by his wife. The doctor and his fatally injured duaghter was also poignant... This makes the game 3/3 as far as quality chapters go, and I haven't even touched other awesome chapter. Ch3 is eaisly one of the best gaming expeirences ever (as were the first 2 chapters). Chapter 4: The first let down. the only wortwhile happening here was the confrotation with the Emporer, and Master Li's betrayal. Other than that, I didn't care for this chapter at all. I seriosuly believe this should ahve been the conclusion to ch3 (more on that later). Chapter 5: Same as above. While the atmosphere here was top notch; not much else was worthy. I actually wish the Great Evil from beyond had appeared. It was a major letdown. I hope this will be something major in JE2. In fact, this Major Evil would be awesome as a new threat to the empire... Still, ch5 felt lacking to me. Chapter 6: This was better, and it is one of the few games that made playing npcs fun. That said, I don't know what happens if you die as one fo them; but if you do; I hope the game wouldn't end (but, I'm sure it would). That's too bad...The chapter 6 Final with Death's Hand and the new Emperor Li was absolutely sweet and made the chapter a plus. it was masterfully done. Even though it was apparant through flashbacks that death's Hand was as evil as his brothers in life (if not less powerful); I had no chocie but to morally let him go 'into the light' espicially when he pleaded for mercy. I truly hope the lost soul can now find peace... Chapter 7: Quick, and relatively painless. Two important choices and some cool combat was what made this chapter. A good ending; but I do wish there was more to the good ending. Perhaps, a scene of you and your romance getting married would have been a cool addition with Black Whirlwind as the Maid of Honour... LOL The Full Game: Obviously, you can tell i prefer chapters 1-3 the most; but chapter 4-7 were good in their own right. Plus, they were only like 5 hours total of my 28 or so hours spent in the game so they only hurt the game experience a little. Combat: I love the combat. It was very challenging, and very varied. The controls, once I got use to the controller (before JE I played the x-box for a grand total of a couple of hours - most of which was a NHL 2005 tournament at EB). Anyways, awesome combat. My biggest beef was the overpwoeredness of Jade Golem. And, the second half of the game I rarely died if at all. Why? that's simple. Whenever I found myself overwhelmed, I'd just transform into JG and kick butt. Didn't matter the enemy. that's too bad. Role-playing: Totally awesome. Seriosuly, every quest had multiple ways to complete it and even though I only played the game once (so far), it's obvious they'd effect the grame greatly. I actually felt the decisions mattered both persoanlly as the character and in the game world. Good stuff. Atmosphere: Breathtaking. Graphics, music, the mood. The music is the best ever. Only HOTU, FF8, and Acanum's theme music comes close to the magic of it. WOWSERS! Minigames: I love the shooter. And, it actually fit the game and the world. I'm actually kinda disspaointed in the one quest involving them with that guy in Imeprial City. I lost the first mission, and think that I could just replay it, and finding when i returned to IC; he was unfortunately missing. Damn. A minigame that hasn't been touched on is the dice game by the fellow at the Arena. I wish there wer eother ways to continually increase his max bet. I played this a few times as it was pretty fun.. I was dissapointed that the PC couldn't take part in those two masters' game in Tien's Landing in ch2. That would likely have been a fun mini game as well. JE2, perhaps? Story/Characters: Poor Wild Flower. Sick and Twisted Judge Pervert. Diabloical Gravekeeper. Whiny Rat Demon. Overly Violent Whirlwind. These characters, and more were some of the best ever. Only BG2, PST, and BL cna match them in depth and soul. The story was simply fantatsic. Master Li's plan was near perfect. near perfect. His only mistake was trying to control the uncontrollable - the PC. I also love the subtle touch of a deep and complex relationship between the Brothers Three. I wish more background on that was added. I also like the touch were Master Li expalins his reasoning behind his quest for power and that it wasn't *just* about power. Li beleived he was doing the right thing even though he wasn't. The fact that he didn't feel the need to apologize was magnificant. Character Creation/Development: Deceptively simple is what I say. With three stats, multiple styles to level, techniques, 3 secondary stats, and 3 dialogue skills; there's alot to fool around with to make your character 'special'. The limited models doens't bother me one bit. A few things could be added (like more non combat skills like sneak, pick locks, and the like); but overall well done... Complaints: Jade Golem way too powerful. Battle zones shouldn't be treated like a mini Arena. I actually felt more constricted in actual battles than the arena at times. Load times were too long for my taste. Do all x-box games have such long load times? If they do; gah. Robes, and rings to wear could have been added as 'loot' and still fit with the game, I think. Multiple followers and followers that actually *do* things in combat would be nice. They're just way too passive for my taste. Conclusions: This is ana wesome game with few flaws. It is in my top three games. It migh thave been number one if some of my falws were fixed; but otherwise sweet. Rating: 92% Standing (In comparison): BG2/FO2: 95% BG1/FO1: 90% FF8: 88% FF6: 85% PST/KOTOR1/ARC: 82% KOTOR2/BL/FF2: 80% NWN/IWD1: 75% Other Thoughts: This game is awesome, and anyone who claims this isn't a role-playing game doens't know what a role-playing game is. Period. Final Warning: In a few days, I will make a topic with my suggestions on how I feel could have made JE an even better experience (arrogance am I, lol) and ideas for JE2 including combat styles and other stuff... Enjoy the review... or not... Good job, Bioware.

I believe there's at least one henchmen that can regen chi, focus, or helath for you. Slowly they do; but this only occurs during combat not inbetween combat. SPOILER: There's also one that you get for one specific chapter that boosts all three...

"Does it at least regenerate when you sleap or rest?" Nope. there is no actual resting or sleeping in the game and definitely nothing that auto regenerates your stuff.

"They use arcade game style mana power ups by the looks of it. How the hell does that fit in a role playing game?" Play the game and find out.

I told you... the 'mana' like stuff chi, fcous, and health don't naturally regenrate. You either have o use powers to regnerate them or collect power glboes from killed enemies... And, they're relativelt rare drops so youa ren't always at full and have to conserve. This is unlike most games that use mana for magic and you just have to wait a few minutes if desperate to get back to max.. Awesome.

But, they using stupid mana. Bah. As long as it's JE like 'mana' system; not the usual self regenerating mana garbage most games have...

Overall great game. Chapter 4-7 should have been more compacted me think. Ch4 should have been part of part 3, chapter 5 should have been combined as ch4. A new ch5 should have been added as another free form chapter. Ch6 could have been the Finale... Either way. The game is better than the OC, SOU, HOTU, KOTOR, and BG. And, oh, SPOILER BELOW: Death's Hand is the most sympathetic 'villain' ever.

"And volourn I can't agree with you, both Fenthick and Yoshimo weren't characters of big importance" Good for you. But, they were. "Bastila's spontanic betrayal was projected to show that females are unstable and ever-changing, and thus should not be trusted." Proof? It's also nice you seem to ignore all the strong, capable, and loyal females in BIO games. WOWSERS!!

The biggest problem with that plot twist is the fact everyone was looking for a plot twist. I thought of a way BIo could have done the twist in a more unique way which I'll share in a spoiler thread when I'm officially finished. I just started ch7...

Yes, almost eevryone has. However, it isn't gonna be out til 2007 at the earliest and other than the basics; not much is know about it. That's why no one is talking about it except at the DA boards themselves...

I say Obsidian has leanred from KOTOR2. Afterall, Feargus has alredy said they are gonna hire some in company QAers. That's a wise move and a must for developers.

I was talking about him being so retarded that only a sexist who hates males could even think about making him. As a male, I'm insulted to have the same gender as him.

"The entire game not just the OC,that means NWN+Hall of Fame" No game does as I don't see me playing JE 3 years from now as much as I do NWN 3 years after its release...

OC? Absolutely. And, BG1. And, FO1. And, PST. And, KOTOR2. bUT, mw BEATS IT! R00fles!

It's nice that people forget about Youshimo, and his betrayal. And, ket's not forget Fenthick. Are we males supposed to be insult by him? Afterall, he's friggin' retarded, and as a male I don't want to be associated with such a retard! BIO is sexist against males! Boo!

JE rcoks! Even if the later chapters are shorter than they should be! JE destroys KOTOR! Destroys!