Starwars

I think DS3 has my favorite end-game stuff of any Obsidian game so far (excluding NWN2 expansions but they're... well, different). Mostly due to the fact that I find the core gameplay to be just really fun an engaging. But would agree that it goes on for too long. Think that's pretty much a beef I have with 90% of RPGs though. I understand that they want the epic finale but it almost never ends well IMO. Short and interesting is what I want. But again, at least I find DS3 combat fun which helps a lot. I was back to playing New Vegas a bit to have a char for Old World Blues (finished a replay of Honest Hearts) but then they announced that it's not coming until next month. Gonna try out Reinhart in DS3 instead for now.

Just finished a replay of Honest Hearts. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around, I think this was partially due to the fact that I took my time this time around. First playthrough I kinda rushed through it. One thing I don't like (that I imagine many people who enjoyed F3 a lot, and NV maybe not as much) is that there are a lot more enemies around. A bit too much fighting for my taste, though I think it does make some sense for the DLC and its tone. I do like the overall difficulty of Honest Hearts though, think they did a pretty good job balancing easier and tougher mobs. Fighting the tribals is pretty fun IMO and they can be deadly if you're not careful. The first time around I think the writing was a bit sparse but again, I enjoyed that part a lot more this time around. Expectations and all that maybe. Also, the Survivalist entries are really golden. One of my favorite "journal stories" of all time I'd say.

I obviously think bugs should be pointed out in reviews and whatnot, and devs should obviously try to have as bug-free games as possible. But it's not something that bothers me a whole lot unless it's actively preventing me from actually playing the game. Perhaps that comes from growing up during a time with games where it was considered a success to get them installed and running at all, hehe. But yeah, I'll much rather take buggy but ambitious games that push the limits a bit over "polished products" that play it safe. So the whole "omg Obsidian's game are so buggy" thing has never bothered me personally. Same with Troika when they were around.

One of the conversations near the end also seems to hint that he's Azunai (I think it's a convo with one of the Archons). Pretty nice character but his voice-acting annoyed me a bit which kinda ruined the impact.

I wonder how potential DLCs will be handled. Seems like it could be a good route to "plug in" new areas or sections to the main game. Though that will of course mean the whole level cap debate will flare up, will the cap be raised or not, will the game be balanced and yaddayaddayadda. I would prefer a full on expansion/new campaign of course but I doubt we'll see that. What I hope they will *not* do is those boring item packs, I want something that feels substantial.

I didn't keep track of my playtime but just purely length-wise, I don't think the game feels too short when I completed it. However, I think the linearity of it makes it feel shorter or a bit lacking in content. Especially the Stonebridge section where I would've really hoped for more of a "hub" like structure with quests taking off in different areas (moreso than there is I mean). Just speaking of structure, I wouldn't have minded cutting off some of "end-game" bits and pushing more content into Stonebridge. But yeah, I found Stonebridge to be the most fun and interesting part of the game so it's natural that I'd want more there. The replayability feels a bit two-fold. I think the linearity and tightness of the areas hurt the replayability quite a bit. And since the game progresses in this fashion, the loot never feels like it has a real *impact* either. But I really enjoy that the characters feel so different from one another and they are extremely fun to try out and play IMO. The slight differences in the dialogues, choices and endings is some icing on the cake. But yeah, the length overall was alright by me. I'm not a huge fan of extremely long games though, unless we're talking open-world games like New Vegas. I think DS3 paces itself really well, areas don't outstay their welcome. The game doesn't feel like it gets bogged down which often happens with longer RPGs if you ask me.

While it's great to see reviewers really liking the game for the most part, most of these reviews are terribly written.

Yup.. cutting (literally) Sean Bean was a disappointment. Maybe they couldn't afford him anymore. It'll quickly turn into crap if they just fill it up with geeks and pr0n-actresses.. J. It follows the story of the books, hence Sean Bean getting chopped. As much as people hated the Stark's being stupid and putting honor in front of everything and all that, I felt that was kinda the point the books as well (though it's more nuanced because... books). I always felt Martin was poking at the "honorable hero wins the day", I think that was rather nice. Noone is really safe in the story, you don't know who'll be getting chopped or not.

I think some of the stuff in the Villa could've been cut down in Dead Money. On the other hand, I think Operation Overlord could've basically cut away everything except for the very final sequence (which was indeed cool). The Shadow Broker was probably the most overrated DLC I've ever played (not that I've played that many, but...). Dead Money demanded rather a lot of the player I think, which can make it tough to go through. But I found it to be very rewarding and the only DLC I've played that made me actually feel like I've been through something rather extraordinary. I liked Honest Hearts but it didn't feel as significant.

After playing more of the demo, I feel pretty comfortable with the controls as they are. I don't think they're quite as horrendous as some claim, as long as you don't expect it to control exactly like Diablo or what have you. Starting to use the right mouse button for movement (though I still use W as well) has made it a pretty smooth experience for me. I suggest trying to use it for anyone having problems because it will allow you smoother movement to the sides as well without needing to swing the camera around. Two main things though. 1) The camera rotation direction switching when you turn around is a killer. Nathaniel said that they were fixing this on the SA forums so hopefully that'll be in an early patch. 2) The game still really needs keybinding, I'm hoping this can be added somewhere down the line though I'm not holding my breath. I don't think the game needs click to move controls at all, perhaps it could work in the demo areas. But judging from vids, the combat later on looks much too action-oriented for it to make sense. It's just not that type of game.

I've done the Legion storyline but I didn't really go to "war" with the NCR until after you meet Caesar and all of that. It's true that the Legion has far less quests than the NCR but I never felt it was a huge problem since the game has a lot of quests period. And there are some that can be done the "Legion way" (like Helios One for example). Never tried going the route of literally shooting every NCR soldier from the get-go though.

Never stop being who you are LadyCrimson! On another note, I really dig some changes the last patch introduced. Specifically introducing Grenade Rifles to some of raiders earlier on in the game, it adds some good excitement to some of the encounters when 1 or 2 raiders in a gang are equipped with them. Furthermore, it makes it a lot more fun for an Explosives character earlier on because even though the ammo is fairly scarce, it's just great to lob a grenade into a group of enemies and watching them fly.

Don't really see auto-leveling as much of a problem (though I do prefer set levels). It'll all depend on how it's executed. Didn't bother me much in New Vegas for example.

People liking the game, IMPOSSIBLE! We can't link to scans of the magazines because that's generally frowned upon in official forums.

Interesting note in the last interview is that Alvin mentions that there are parts of the game that are more "open" than what we see in the demo. Whether that means the areas themselves, or just options on where you want to go at any given time is unclear though. Thanks funcroc.

Tried playing through it once as Lucas on the hardest difficulty. I think my first playthrough will probably be on Normal just to get used to everything but it seems like the real fun will be had at the highest difficulty. Seemed pretty challenging and I died several times throughout the demo.

Why would this be a surprise to anyone? There are a lot of people who couldn't care less about dialogues or words in their games. Most gamers' heads would explode when seeing the text for one Planescape: Torment conversation (probably even gamers who *do* like story in their games). This doesn't mean that story and lengthy dialogues should be abolished from games. Hell, I think pretty much every convo in the DS3 demo had a "quick way out" option for those who don't want to see it. I don't require stories in my games personally speaking but I'll gladly welcome it for hack'n'slashers *if* it doesn't force you to sit through long dialogues and cutscenes. I also think that later parts in the game will have sections that are much more focused on the combat (the Foundry as was showcased in one preview for example was a lot more combat-heavy overall, with not much dialogue at all in it).

Your mission is to be ignored by people? I guess we all need a goal in our lives. Anyways, the thing I probably liked the most in the demo was the stance system. Think it works very well and is fun to use. I also liked the abilities and skills a lot, though I find Anjali's to be a great deal more interesting than Lucas'. Game has gorgeous art direction in terms of its environments. Liked the fleshing out of the lore and think the story (what little we've seen of it) has a lot of potential. Music is great.

I'm not sure anything has been mentioned by devs themselves, but there has been speculation that it will have effects for the Legion down the line. Like (and this is complete speculation here, so don't scream spoilers) maybe there's an ending slide and whether you have demanded money or not from people will affect how the Legion is viewed by the commoners or somesuch.

I actually can't think of a game more fit for the epithet "some random game" than the old Dungeon Siege games.

Played through a bit with Anjali as well. I liked playing Lucas but on the whole, I found Anjali a lot more fun. Especially enjoy the switch you do from ranged to close combat, as well as using stuff like the Fire Jackal and Aura of Immolation. Feels a bit more "refined" than playing Lucas. I also found that I liked using the right mouse-button moving a lot more for just moving around in the world, think the camera feels better to use when doing the right mouse-button moving. In combat, I think the WASD works better though. You can pick up loot using the E key when close to it, you don't need to aim with the mouse.

Good but needs some tweaking. I think it works pretty well overall (and the game itself is fun IMO) but controls could've been handled better.

All the graphical stuff was developed simultanously I believe, the control scheme for PC was developed later on. Obsidian has handled it all I believe, no mention of any other studio being involved. Judging from the demo, I'd say the UI works pretty well for PC as well. Controls are a bit more up in the air. I think it worked pretty well myself but I don't think there's any question that the game was designed for a controller first and fore-most. Some things feel more clunky than they should when on the PC version. Not really sure on the technical terms, but I had everything maxed on the demo (on a computer that's not top-of-the-line) and from what I can see, it's definitely prettier than the console versions.

I think the stance-switching, special abilities etc work really well as it is now (though yeah... options for customizing our keys anyone? yes please). The movement feels a bit wonky though (due to the camera on the A and D keys), as well as targeting with the mouse. It feels more clumsy than it should for an action-RPG where you're supposed to feel like you're in complete control. Had the same problem with Witcher 2 (though in different areas). I know there were a lot of people who get pissed with the myriad of options regarding the NWN2 camera but I loved that and would've definitely wanted something more customizable for DS3. Again though, I think it felt pretty good once I got used to it. Just not optimal. Perhaps one should try the right-mouse movement style a bit and see how that feels.