PC Demo - Post your impressions.

[sorophx]

you should make it, why wait for somebody ele to do it, since you know exactly how it should look and play, right? and you should consider teaming up with Renevant and P R O G Z

[Tigranes]

Enough, discuss the game not the people.

[Tale]

Did some side by side of the 360 and pc demos. They look pretty much identical. PC has a slight visual advantage of being a higher resolution on a smaller screen. Not enough for me to choose it specifically.

 

Gameplay, the control seemed to work out for me either way. Gamepad's probably the better bet. However, K&M has a huge advantage in the inventory screen. That does seem pretty minor in itself, but control pad inventory bugs me. Select slot, confirm slot, select item, confirm item. With mouse it's select slot, select item.

[sorophx]

would be cool if you could use both mouse and pad depending on the situation... ah, a man can dream

[Cyrannos]

Make the camera and controls like Diablo-Sacred-Torchlight-Previous Dungeon Siege Games.

Auto-win.

[Tigranes]

OK, played through the demo with Anjali:

 

Gameplay

I played on Hardcore and it was way too easy the first 10 minutes, but after that I was dying plenty of times. Enemies look really stupid if you're fighting mob critters 1v1, since they seem to take 5 seconds to take a single swing, but when they're in a group they really can be deadly, and you quickly learn to take out the gunners with their low rate of fire but high damage, not get in melee with the heavily armoured dudes, etc. The stances are also a great idea - it's very clearly differentiated with Anjali at least and combat gets very frenetic.

 

I do think that in the full game you'd be wanting a bit more customisation and a bit more abilities - maybe 4 per stance instead of 3, just to mix it up more. Or at least make the proficiencies and talents a bit more interesting, as they looked pretty dull to me. We'll see how this holds up in the full game, or whether it gets a bit boring. But so far the combat is very fun and that's what ARPGs are about.

 

Level design is also important - here it was mostly corridor stuff with mobs running at you, for now, no better or worse than 99% of ARPGs out there. It'd be nice to see some creative stuff in the full game, though.

 

Story

I think pretty much every Obsidian game suffers from a boring intro and DS3 is no exception - the delivery in the Estate is awful, at least it only lasts 5 minutes. An ambush setting but there's no sense of danger and you never need to hurry. The story never really gets going before the demo is over, though, so it's hard to tell whether it will get a lot more interesting once it gets going, as most Obsidian games do, or it'll stay that way. Right now dialogue and writing is just mediocre - ho hum fantasy stuff.

 

This isn't helped by the fact that the one town you get to visit in the demo is really dead. You can't go into any houses, there's one shop you access by clicking on the stall, 3 people with giant exclamation marks giving you ho hum quests (kill this, get that), then a few villagers with one-liners. It's meant to be a fast-paced ARPG where you don't sit there exploring and talking all day, so I don't mind, but jury's still out on just how much focus story is getting in DS3 and how well it will work. The demo just feels like a normal ARPG.

 

Graphics

The game looks really nice, the shadows, lighting, the vistas, etc. Not a fan of character models, though - while I can forgive them being low-poly due to the number of critters, they all look cartoony, and this isn't helped by the bloom (which I better be able to turn off in the main game). They seem to use high poly versions for dialogues, but everyone has glassy eyes and the design again isn't great. Still, for the most part you're looking at combat effects and the landscape, which look great.

 

Controls, Camera, UI

Definitely the weakest part of the game - I think the game as a whole stands up really well except for controls in particular. It's not terrible - it's playable, and once you get used to it you can do everything, but it's certainly not crisp and comfortable. You use your mouse cursor to 'aim' your rolls, facing, attacks nad abilities, use up or down to choose front or back, then the left/right keys just turn the camera. So for instance, you can't roll sideways, you have to hit A to turn left, and as you're doing so, hit up & space for forward roll. Ungainly. The good part is that using your abilities & stances is easy, and stance shift is almost instant as well.

 

Camera wasn't a huge deal for me, you choose from 2 options, then if you toggle autoadjust, it works fine, doesn't get stuck much, etc. Not sure why you can't freely adjust the height & angle in single player, but for me the standard view never gave trouble. Similarly, not much wrong with UI - certainly it snaps in very fast (unlike Alpha Protocol), all the information is there, and nothing is particularly ugly or unusable. Definitely should have given PC users an option to scale fonts though, they are massive.

 

Polish / Misc

It's only a demo so who knows, but definitely deserves props for delivering on polish - at medium settings game runs smooth, things are responsive, no bugs or crashes, even on my laptop which technically straddles the minimum requirements. Can't comment on multiplayer as the demo only offers local options and I haven't even tried that. Will see if game is easier with a gamepad.

 

In short, very fun combat, mostly good looking, polished, and should be a blast to play on buddy co-op. Main weakness is bad PC controls, then a few issues such as camera/UI that may or may not bug you, depending on the player - and finally, we'll need to wait for full game to see how the story and online co-op is.

[taviow]

The game is fine. I definitely don't like the controls though. It all felt pretty clumsy to me.

 

Other than that, I approve of it.

[Hurlshort]

Look, I love Obsidian and I will buy this, but did anyone else feel this game played and looked like something that came out 5 years ago? I was hoping they would take some of the stuff that great action games of late have done and incorporate it. I was thinking we might get a little God of War or Ninja Gaiden mixed in with an RPG to spice things up.

 

I'm just worried about the reception, I don't know how it will win folks over.

[Cyrannos]

Look, I love Obsidian and I will buy this, but did anyone else feel this game played and looked like something that came out 5 years ago? I was hoping they would take some of the stuff that great action games of late have done and incorporate it. I was thinking we might get a little God of War or Ninja Gaiden mixed in with an RPG to spice things up.

 

I'm just worried about the reception, I don't know how it will win folks over.

 

Most of my gaming buddies played the demo, they were all hardcore d2 players and were really looking forward to this and they were gonna pre-order after the demo.

Not anymore though, unless they fix the issues that most people are adressing on the forums and the previews that sites are giving.

[Digitalos]

I just signed up here to weigh in on this, I don't mind the price tag, or that it's not really Dungeon Siege at all, or even that it's about as much of a console game as it could be, as ultimately the game could be fun. But the controls and camera system are deal-breakers for me.

 

I don't really have better suggestions for them as I've not thought on it much, but the current system is about the most unintuitive and confusing setup I've used to date. I didn't finish the demo, and the singular and only reason was because the controls and camera made it a horrible experience. So I won't be buying this on release, but pending future updates to these systems I may consider it.

 

Take that as you will, just wanted to say.

 

Cheers o/

[cgerrr]

Ok, guys, after I played half of a demo I think for myself: “Nice combat system, though enemies looks bland and uninspiring and loot isn’t really unique in any way, however even with horrendous multiplayer I think I’ll give DS3 a chance”. But then I discovered one of the stupidest things ever implemented in any RPG:

 

ENEMY STRENGTH IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO YOUR CHARACTER LEVEL

 

I.e. LEVELING UP YOUR CHARACTER DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING

 

What’s the point: enemy still be as strong anyway even in first possible location (if you actually would be able to comeback to it) or in the every next location. Character poor customization as a goal of leveling up doesn’t cut it: it’s not Oblivion with its variety.

 

Ok, this just destroyed my last good will towards DS3, I’m not even considering to rent it (even virtually if you know what I mean). Not worth my time.

 

Farewell DS3.

Edited June 8, 2011 by cgerrr

[Shaz]

I was planning on purchasing this game prior to trying the demo, but I'm not any longer... not when I wasn't even interested in fully completing the demo.

 

From what I did play:

 

The UI was terrible. Oversized, clunky, sluggish. Fonts were too big. I had to check and make sure it was displaying in proper resolution, when it felt like 800x600. Inventory screens were annoying.

Movement controls were annoying. I really did not like the control scheme, at all. Maybe it will allow re-mapping after release, but as it is now, it was nothing but irritating.

Turning your character, especially while in combat, was nowhere near as fluid as it felt it should have been.

Oh...Anjali's voice was positively terrible. Inflectionless, monotone, and it sounded like it was recorded in someone's bathroom. Perhaps that's as intended, since she is inhuman, but it was highly unpleasant to listen to.

 

 

Note: I'm a PC-only gamer, so take the above in that vein. This post wasn't meant to add to any PC vs. Console debate, however. It's just my expressing disappointment at a game from a studio I've enjoyed.

 

Thank you for the demo, anyway!

[Oner]

@cgerrr: And where did you get this from?

Edited June 8, 2011 by Oner

[Pidesco]

Now that I've played a bit more of the demo, some other things stood out.

 

The soundtrack is, once again, great, the voice overs are uneven, and the game is very stable. I was alt tabbing in and out of the game with abandon, and it was quick, seamless, and not a single glitch occurred because of it. As far as technical polish is concerned, this appears to be Obsidian's best game.

 

Regarding the voices, the one that stood out negatively was Anjali's. It sounds like Obsidian wanted a magical, out of this world tone for Anjali, but the voice actress really failed to achieve it.

 

I'm probably going to be playing this a lot, both in single player and local co-op. Just Anjali and Lucas already play very differently, and they also allow, within their own customization, for a bunch of different playing styles. The combat is better than in Witcher 2, I'd say.

[gameunit]

Now that I've played a bit more of the demo, some other things stood out.

 

The soundtrack is, once again, great, the voice overs are uneven, and the game is very stable. I was alt tabbing in and out of the game with abandon, and it was quick, seamless, and not a single glitch occurred because of it. As far as technical polish is concerned, this appears to be Obsidian's best game.

 

Regarding the voices, the one that stood out negatively was Anjali's. It sounds like Obsidian wanted a magical, out of this world tone for Anjali, but the voice actress really failed to achieve it.

 

I'm probably going to be playing this a lot, both in single player and local co-op. Just Anjali and Lucas already play very differently, and they also allow, within their own customization, for a bunch of different playing styles. The combat is better than in Witcher 2, I'd say.

 

 

Just played the demo on PS3. I love it :D

[HoonDing]

Level design is also important - here it was mostly corridor stuff with mobs running at you, for now, no better or worse than 99% of ARPGs out there.

Kidding, right?

[MakeMOTB2pls]

ENEMY STRENGTH IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO YOUR CHARACTER LEVEL

Can anyone confirm this? Enemies scaling to your lvl is retarded for this kind of game.

[Pidesco]

I don't know how it works exactly but, considering that the game is mostly linear and there isn't persistent multiplayer like Diablo, you'll generally always be at roughly the same level in a given area, so it shouldn't make much difference if enemy strength is proportional to char level.

 

You won't be taking your level 5 character against the game's last bosses or anything.

[Oner]

ENEMY STRENGTH IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO YOUR CHARACTER LEVEL

Can anyone confirm this? Enemies scaling to your lvl is retarded for this kind of game.

I'm going to assume s/he read the help topics in the game. ~"The higher level you are, the tougher enemies become"

Not sure if it is in fact auto-levelling, but I don't see the problem if it is. So enemies have a bit more health and damage. And? For one, DS2 had several lvls for 1 enemy type IIRC. Secondly, you get more health too (dunno if damage scales), better gear, abilities, proficiencies, talents...

Plus it's not like you'll be fighting the same one enemy throughout the game.

[Tigranes]

I don't know how you can even check for level scaling in the demo, unless you sit and count the hit points of a single enemy (and even then, that's assuming all lescanzi bandits with the same texture, for instance, will always have the same HP unless level scaled). So I remain skeptical unless proof is given.

[WTF]

General consensus for the PC version is looking like it's going to miss the mark considerably. There are some things that ARPG players love about the genre that have completely missed the mark in this game.

 

1) Character Persistence - You want the character to be your own, completely customisable and as you level, your character should mould into your preferred play style more and more. The classes seem extremely pigeon-holed in this game.

 

2) Loot - Sure this game has a tonne of loot, but there are a LOT of duplicates. Even special weapons with different names have the exact same stats and appearance. Not sure if it's much different in the full game, but I couldn't tell the difference between the half dozen pieces of armour I cycled through in the demo.

 

3) Game World - You want it to be explorable and replayable (randomised dungeons is where it's at). The demo had you tracking through corridor after corridor with the random offshoot where you'd predictably find a treasure chest.

 

4) Responsiveness - You want combat to be fast and accurate, nearly impossible in this game with the current keyboard/mouse configuration.

 

I had very high hopes for this game

[Pidesco]

General consensus for the PC version is looking like it's going to miss the mark considerably. There are some things that ARPG players love about the genre that have completely missed the mark in this game.

 

1) Character Persistence - You want the character to be your own, completely customisable and as you level, your character should mould into your preferred play style more and more. The classes seem extremely pigeon-holed in this game.

 

2) Loot - Sure this game has a tonne of loot, but there are a LOT of duplicates. Even special weapons with different names have the exact same stats and appearance. Not sure if it's much different in the full game, but I couldn't tell the difference between the half dozen pieces of armour I cycled through in the demo.

 

3) Game World - You want it to be explorable and replayable (randomised dungeons is where it's at). The demo had you tracking through corridor after corridor with the random offshoot where you'd predictably find a treasure chest.

 

4) Responsiveness - You want combat to be fast and accurate, nearly impossible in this game with the current keyboard/mouse configuration.

 

I had very high hopes for this game

 

This isn't a Diablo clone, it's a Dark Alliance clone.

 

Oh, and randomized dungeons are horrible.

[Morgoth]

So, I finished the demo yesterday night with Lucas.

 

First thing that impressed me was how swell the engine runs and looks. This isn't some clunky NWN2 or AP, this is actually a well optimized engine, and it's even Obsidian's own. Looking forward from more titles using this tech.

 

Gameplay wise, I wasn't exactly blown away, but I understand this is a Dungeon Siege sequel, so it works. UI is very easy to understand and very transparent, controls with mouse & keyboard work very fluid (don't know why people complain about this). Overall, very good stuff.

 

Writing otoh is not exactly very stimulating, so far. Okay, it's just a demo, but this coming from George Ziets who wrote the brilliant MotB kinda left me a bit disappointed. Hope the full versions gets better in that department.

 

The game seems to be quite linear, but I understand that an open world experience wouldn't work very well for that kind of game.

 

Combat and pacing feels just right.

 

Overall, not exactly the most ambitious ARPG I've played, but certainly very fun on it's own. Will buy.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Morgoth

[sorophx]

Oh, and randomized dungeons are horrible.

blasphemy!

[Nonek]

Wondering if they'll be using any of the original dungeon sieges soundtrack (Jeremy Soule?) as it was one of the brightest points of the first game, well that and you could go and make a sarnie and a cuppa during combat.