ShadowPaladin V1.0

Ok got a question. Anyone played an RPG where the "intro" (first couple of hours) is the best part of the game ?

Well if you are going to do some chopping it's best done in the middle where it's less noticable.

According to GAME it's not released in the UK till May 12th.

There is nothing particularly wrong with the begining. Just like any RPG the further in you get the more things you have to play around with. The end, well it's well known that the end wasnt as intended so you it's not really anything you can relate to another product. People said the same thing about Irenicus' dungeon in BGII and Telos as they did about Peragus. It's one of those RPG things.

Drakengard II was like that. Each completion would open up new items areas and endings. Which sounds great in theory. But since the first time through took me 80 hours I wasnt really in the mood to play the game for another 160. Although thats not to say I wont go back an play the extra levels at some point. It is nice to know they are there if I want them. Kind of funny that had the game been more in the 20-30 hour region I'd have been more likely to play the "extra's" but I was perfectly satisfied with the game anyway. That many hours for an action RPG totally blows away the cost/value ratio.

Growth and development ?

Well there are sure to be more interviews before the game is released and the subject of how long is it will come up in everyone of them I expect.

DQ VIII Phoenix Wright.

Black was excellent. I'd have been miffed if I had bought rather than rented it though.

Well if thats the limit of your talents more time isnt going to suddenly make you better. But you do need time and space to introduce complexity. Take Spirits Within. Too much for a 2 hour movie, but would have made a fantatastic game.

Well more good stuff is better than less good stuff. :D You are more likely to finish a short crap game than a long crap game though.

Anything is ok if it makes for a more dramatic story. PC's dying at the wrong times were always a pain. Not only because no one wants to have a "useless" death. But also the break in gameplay needed to roll up a new character and come up with a background. You could think of it a little like the reaper trait. You may escape a kobold sticking a bolt through your head in the first encounter. But that would put you on borrowed time. As a DM you should never just kill someone. Not only is that no fun (too easy when your DM too) it's also an abuse of your responsibilities. But offestting someones death to a more dramatic moment. It's good for the story and it makes the player feel like they died for a purpose.

Are they keeping the technology ?

Anything under 40 will always be short. Good stories need time to be told. So unless you go around skipping through the dialogue 40 is a good core time. The best games give you a good story and plenty of other activities (which contribute to it). Funny thing is. It's only since the former PC developers have gotten in on the act that console RPGs have become short. Appart from the odd exception they tend to average 60 hours unless you rush them. Find all the extra's and secrets and you can double that a lot of the time. I'm not sure I would count Oblivion, since yes its big. But there isnt much variety or any real point to the exploration. So 500 hours of wandering for no purpose ,not my idea of fun.

That got put back so many times I lost track of it. There was another one set in space that was supposed to have been released the same week too (survival horror). edit. It's called Echo Night Beyond.

Not likely that SEGA is the publisher. I'd expect something PNJ related to crop up though. Could even be a PS3 launch title considering how long it's been in production.

Don't actually have a problem with his "opinion" except that it's based on very little playtime to make those sorts of claims. It would be like proclaiming the OC as complete crap having only played the prologue. And Volo would be the first to jump on anyone who said that. All RPGs take time to come up to speed. A 100 hour + one will take longer to do so than a 20 hour one.

Which game was it? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> DQ VIII

Same. Well at least until chapter III anyway.

Maybe they are cashing in on the Oblivion thing.

Third Age could have been very good if they had actually focused on the characters and not just stuck in some LOTR clips every 5 minutes. Sandbox games, really not my thing. Oblivion was my first and last for a while.

Same.

How would you even know?