Just finished game

[Renevent]

Ok so just finished the entire game so wanted to make a little review/feedback topic

 

(before I begin just wanted to say I tried looking at the game on it's own merits and not bring other games in the genre into it too much)

 

Graphics - Ranges anywhere from ok to very nice. Overall I would say the game looks solid. Occasionally there's a muddy texture, or certain areas look drab, but the skills look nice and there's definitely a nice art style going for the game. Character models were visually impressive though a big disappointment was there was only a few graphics for each character armor wise. That's kinda going back in time really...but...what is there does look good so it doesn't detract too heavily.

 

Sound - Thought the music was really good, and overall sound effects were good too. Only complaint is there was very little in the way of environmental sound effects and other ambient or dynamic sound.

 

Story/Dialog - I am not a fan of heavy story telling in video games, though I think what Obsidian did here was excellent. I enjoyed the story and the decisions you were presented with made sense and had interesting effects. Most video games go kinda nuts when they introduce twists and turns, but DS3's plot made sense and the motivations behind most characters was reasonable. I enjoyed most of the side quests too...they were a bit too conveniently placed along the main path but ok...it's a linear game. Many of them fit into the overarching plot too. So big thumbs up from me here...you got a guy who usually just skips through dialog to actually read and invest in the story

 

Gameplay - Combat was definitely the other highlight of the game. Fast, furious, and there was a nice amount of tactics one needed to deploy on the battlefield. Between dodging, blocking, getting hits in, and using skills the combat kept me interested through the entire game. I would have liked more control over my party members though, but they were capable enough (I think the game cheats here though ).

 

Leveling mechanics were fairly standard (for a console game). By level 15-20 I really didn't care about getting a new level though...at that point your character is pretty much fleshed out and after you unlock your final skill you are just left with tiny % increases/chances to certain stats/effects. Classes do feel distinct in some ways, but in they end they are ALL damage dealing self healers. I would have liked to see a little more dependance on your AI companion...it is a party game after all.

 

Item system is also just average....but definitely not bad and finding items was fun. There were too few item stats, anemic types (would have loved to sets), few real options and variations...overall just wasn't a very deep item system and considering it's pedigree this was a major let down for me. Also did not care for the fact each class had pre-determined weapons/armor they and they alone could use, just a very simple and yet restrictive system.

 

Level design was VERY linear to the point where the majority of the game was basically a corridor. Towards the end it got a little better, but not much. Best dungeon in the game is hands hero's crypt but even that was pretty short. I could have lived with the fact the main game world was so linear had there been a lot more side dungeon like that too explore. There is however a nice amount of scenery and even some cool vistas...it's along the straight and narrow but at least the game give you some nice visuals.

 

Re-playability - Practically zero. Biggest issue with the game imo...especially for a game series that I previously put a good couple hundred hours collectively into. I *might* replay the game once more with a different character and try the opposite decisions, but that's about it. Even then that's about 20 hours total...my first run through was just under 10 hours and I really tried to do every single quest. I don't think I missed anything and if I did it probably wouldn't add much. The online doesn't have persistent characters so don't have a whole lot of motivation to play it, and even if it did there's no new game+ and I can't continue my characters past the ending. It's not absolutely necessary for a game like this to have extensive MP, but if it doesn't, I really think it should have provided a little more content in the SP.

 

Conclusions - Dungeon Siege 3 is a good game that benefits from fun combat, great narrative, and a tightly woven game experience that stays fresh throughout. It's really a different animal than the previous games though which is disappointing. It lost a lot of depth and variety in exchange for story telling and action...fine...but I really wish it could have beefed one or two areas of complaint up and not played it so safe. With all that said I did have fun...and in the end it's a game and that's all that really matters. I just REALLY hope that if Obsidian is to ever make DLC for DS3 that they at least look at these complaints and try to improve the formula further.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Renevent

[Bakercompany86]

Plus or minus one or two things, I pretty much agree with your review.

 

I would have loved more loot diversity, I can't tell you how many pairs of Heroic Trousers I ran through. The loot system is still good, but it could certainly use more. I'm a big fan of sets also and would have loved to see a few even if they had to be purchased entirely in stores (the game is too short otherwise to collect an entire set and get use out of it).

 

What I enjoyed past earning all of the abilities, was perfecting my talents and also gaining all of the empowered abilities.

 

While beautiful, this game is one long corridor. The random exploration chests you might find are in a little alcove or a slight deviation from the main road. Certainly not the open world most would have liked to see, but it was definitely still a very fun game. Perhaps future DLC might involve a bit more exploration.

 

Replay value is perhaps the saddest part of DS3. After I beat the game on Hardcore with all 4 characters there will be little else to do but tag along in my friends adventures to increase the difficulty. That will certainly still be loads of fun, I just hope the DLC paces well enough that the original adventure won't grow stale too fast.

[Alpha]

Zero replay value ??? the replay value is not high but is moderate IMO.

[Renevent]

Zero replay value ??? the replay value is not high but is moderate IMO.

 

Well I said practically zero...anyways in comparison to other arpg's yeah the replay just isn't there for me. I could see myself playing once more through...maybe.

[ShadowScythe]

There's actually a fair bit of replay value thanks to the diversity of the characters. Also the Choice and Consequence, while light for an Obsidian game, is pretty heavy for a hack n slash. So there's a little bit of variation in story there as well.

 

Also, was the 10 hour count from in game or Steam? Cause the in game timer is way off.

[Renevent]

In game, and how do you know the in game timer is way off? I played the game for three or four days and honestly 10 hours sounds about right just thinking about my approximate play time each day.

 

Honestly I really don't think there's a whole lot of diversity between the character tbh...they are all heavy damage self healers. Looking at the skills there was a lot of redundancy between them too. If there was a little more dynamic between which party member you chose that would be cool...but there really isn't since they are all self reliant.

 

I do think the different choices are worth at least checking out though, so there's some re-playaility there.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Renevent

[ShadowScythe]

I know it's off cause my in game timer said something like 10-11 hours. But according to steam it's actually 17 hours, and I'd believe Steam because they've been right for me so far that's how long it personally felt.

[Matt-C]

Zero replay value ??? the replay value is not high but is moderate IMO.

No it's not, it's a game you can be completely done with in a couple days... it comes down to simply being a weekend game. There is no aspect of the game that makes you want to come back and give it another go. There is no multiplayer mode to extend the life of this game, no way to continue building your character after the main quest is over (whether this be new game+ or simply replaying parts of the game with your char), etc. So that's why it's practically zero, to call it moderate would be saying there is replayability for 2-3 months after release for the core game... there is not.

[Renevent]

Well I have the game on the 360 and I see no reason to believe it's lying to me lol.

[LadyCrimson]

In game, and how do you know the in game timer is way off?

 

The save game timer (on PC anyway) doesn't seem to take into account all the times you're in your inventory/menu screens (paused). For me save game said 18hrs but I know I was "playing" for closer to 25 total. But if you don't spend lots of time staring at item menus etc. doesn't add too much I'd think.

 

I agree with a lot of your general assessments, except I think the replay value is a bit higher. I'm playing Anjali a 2nd time and it's actually been more fun than the 1st. But that's subjective....also, for me, the original games didn't have tons of replay either (the campaigns that is, DS1 had a separate multiplayer world that I did play in a lot for a while).

 

To me campaign-replay feels about the same for all three. I'll play it 2-3 times, maybe test a few things to the half-way point in the game a couple times, and that's about it until I have an urge to replay it a year from now, perhaps. Which doesn't mean I don't like them. I like all three very much.

Edited June 30, 2011 by LadyCrimson

[Bakercompany86]

I'll definitely play the game through all 4 times with each character. Each one is very unique and lots of fun.

 

I just hope the first DLC is out by then =D

[Renevent]

25 hours? What exactly did you do to extend the game so much? I'm pretty sure I did everything that was available. The ONLY quest I know I didn't finish was the one of the side quests in the mines (clear all monsters). Wasn't because I didn't want to do it though, I guess I stepped past a "point of no return" unwillingly and the main story progressed, the way back was closed, and the quest auto-failed. I didn't want to reload a saved game though and I did explore the entire area anyways.

 

Even if there was a few quests I missed, I can't possibly see another 10-15 hours content there.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Renevent

[LadyCrimson]

25 hours? What exactly did you do to extend the game so much?

Oh, I'm notoriously slow when it comes to going thru any game the 1st time, sometimes even the 2nd time. It's just my nature. I don't mean to imply that the game can't be completed in 10-15 hrs or whatever, if you just go from point A to point B as the plot/quests dictate, using what you pick up. It most certainly can.

 

I spend a fair bit of time testing things out when I level up, or get a new item I'm curious about, so I'll stay in one area and beat up on respawning monsters for a bit to check numbers/effects with various gear set-ups (for both me & the companion) before I continue following the plot. A lot of time spent in the gear menus, or the skill menus, thinking about those percentages etc. and what path I want to take with those. That sort of thing. I'm a number cruncher. Well, sort of. Used to be more of one, not so much these days.

 

(edit for more clarity)

Edited June 30, 2011 by LadyCrimson

[Renevent]

25 hours? What exactly did you do to extend the game so much?

Oh, I'm notoriously slow when it comes to going thru any game the 1st time, sometimes even the 2nd time. It's just my nature. I don't mean to imply that the game can't be completed in 10-15 hrs or whatever, if you just go from point A to point B as the plot/quests dictate. It most certainly can.

 

I spend a fair bit of time testing things out when I level up, or get a new item I'm curious about, so I'll stay in one area and beat up on respawning monsters to check numbers and various gear set-ups before I continue following the plot. A lot of time spent in the gear menus, or the skill menus, thinking about those percentages etc. and what path I want to take with those. That sort of thing.

 

Well I do tend to play around with gear and think pretty hard about builds (although I did loose slight interest in that later in the game)...so it's not like I just ran from a to b. With that said I was genuinely curious and just wanted to make sure I didn't miss some huge chunk of gameplay somewhere hidden in the game

Edited June 30, 2011 by Renevent

[LadyCrimson]

To be honest, I'm not always sure exactly where the time went/how it went myself. Sometimes it's because I'm trying to get video so I might re-do something. Or other times it's because I'm just having too much fun beating up on things w/a chr. or companion and stop caring about moving the game forward much. I doubt you missed much.

 

I was pretty sure I hadn't missed anything - even one quest I thought I couldn't finish, when I went back much later I discovered I could - altho some of the voice files make me wonder if I did miss a little somewhere, but perhaps it's because I haven't played using the other chrs. as the "main" yet.

Edited June 30, 2011 by LadyCrimson

[metamag]

Zero replay value ??? the replay value is not high but is moderate IMO.

 

Well I said practically zero...anyways in comparison to other arpg's yeah the replay just isn't there for me. I could see myself playing once more through...maybe.

 

Perhaps replayability would be greater if there was more exploring involved, if not all the terrain was corridor-like.

Some people even complained about the ultra-efficient quest system(press R), similar to how people very angrily complained about the yellow highlighting in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, things like that eliminate exploration.

[Tigranes]

I doubt most people would get 25, but yeah, the in-game timer is completely wrong.

[LadyCrimson]

I doubt most people would get 25, but yeah, the in-game timer is completely wrong.

Hehe.

 

From reading around I have the sensation that maybe 15-16 hrs. might be a decent average number for normal people. Give or take a few hours either way I guess.

[Amentep]

I think it took me about 16-17 hours all told to beat it. (Actually a little more since a third of the way through when I felt I understood the system a little better I went back and started over).

 

To me its a fun game, a nice hack and slash. I do wish there'd been a carry-over game option (game+) just because sometimes on hack and slash games I just want to hack and slash and not worry to much about stats and stuff.

 

The real replayability seems to be in trying out the other characters or other choices (or in trying to use different skills to go through the game I guess).

 

It was fun, it left me wanting more. So overall I don't have any complaints. Oh and only one bug this time (a minor one where one of the characters stopped animating for movement so for a short time just scooted along).

[Bakercompany86]

I wish we had the opportunity to repeat the story (new game+) to give us the opportunity to hit the level cap, master all abilities, and play through on an even harder difficulty meant for a fine tuned level 30 character.

[LadyCrimson]

Oh and only one bug this time (a minor one where one of the characters stopped animating for movement so for a short time just scooted along).

I've had that happen too, but only in the Causeway. And only about 1/3 of the time I go in there. It's strange. Dragging their feet and stuttering jerikly along.

[Renevent]

I think 10 hours is more accurate than 15. I know basically how long I played each day and there's no way it was 15 hours...at most it was 12 hours and even then I don't think that's accurate.

 

Honestly I see no reason to believe the timer is off anyways...

[Tigranes]

Honestly I see no reason to believe the timer is off anyways...

 

...because (a) My Steam says 44 hours, whereas the sum of my savegames say 20-25; (b) I play for 3 hours and then the save I make before I quit is less than an hour?

 

It's not even like it's 5 or 10% off, where you'd attribute it to player confusion. There's no 'believe' here, it's quite obviously wrong for some people at least.

[Renevent]

Who knows what could account for the extra time...maybe steam is inaccurate. Maybe you have left the program running at the menu screen. There's more than one explanation.

 

Either way, I don't even have the steam version I have the 360 version.

[Sannom]

Honestly I see no reason to believe the timer is off anyways...

It's not 'off', it just counts weirdly. It pauses when the menus are up, and apparently it doesn't count reloads. Meaning that if you defeated a boss in 10 minutes but spent 35 minutes reloading to try and figure out how to beat him, the game would only count ten minutes.