What are you playing now?

[Amentep]

So I figure I'm about halfway through with Sacred 3, and I figure I should put forth some in-depth thoughts about the game.

 

So Sacred 3 is an isometric mission based game in which you choose 4 characters and fight battles of monsters through a series of stages.  This is quite the departure from the series, but I'm not against such departures (I liked Dungeon Siege 3, for example).

 

The game play is easy to pick-up and the missions are paced well so that its relatively easy to avoid losing advancement (as the game only saves permanently between missions.  There are some development skills and equipment that the player can choose to develop to compliment or benefit their play style (or compliment a team).

 

Is it fun?  The probably depends on your tolerance for action rpg-lite games (or brawler games as some call them).  I can't imagine the the game would be satisfying to the die-hard Sacred 1 or 2 fan; much like Dungeon Siege 3 and the avereage DS fan, this game is too different from its predecessors to provide the same type of experience of the earlier series.  Skills are less than Sacred 2, the open world exploration from 1 and 2 are gone.  Instead of Sacred 1 or 2, the game reminds me the most of the Genesis game Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team.

 

One can debate whether going back to a 20-something year old game for inspiration (intentionally or not) was worthwhile, but I have a soft spot for Arcus Odyssey, and am probably a more forgiving action RPG & brawler player than most.

 

Unlike most modern action RPGs loot is negligible.  And while equipment and skills each have their own development trees, after finding a set that works for your play-style (which is easy to do as you can buy back money applied to develop skills) there's very little need to put points in anything but the ones you are using.  So that reward of seeing your gear progress as you gain levels and advance skills (like in Diablo or Sacred) is mooted.

 

With the radical departure from the past, I can't understand who Deep Silver thought the game was going to appeal to.  The mission centric focus makes it more Diablo III like so I can almost see why they changed from open world, but I can't see Sacred 3 appealing to that crowd without the loot and progression.  I doubt it'll appeal to the average Sacred fan in general as its not like that game at all. 

 

Now this isn't to say that the game doesn't do anything right; it does have its own charms.   The visuals are nice.  Combat is easy and mostly fun, although after awhile its obvious that the new opponents are going to fall into the same rough categories that all the previous ones did, maybe with different patters or wait times between special attacks.  I don't think the floating text that some reviews have mentioned detract from the game play; as the screen centers on the PC, anything off to the side is generally not as relevant as you'll see it when it gets close enough to be important.

 

While the previous Sacreds had sort of a unique sense of humor (heavy metal band's farewell tour of Ancaria, anyone?), the humor in Sacred 3 is very broad (puns, a villain who often uses malapropisms, several winks and nods to the player showing its not taking itself too seriously). 

I'm all for humor in games (there's a bit bit where the in-camp aid Aria starts talking with glee about treasure being the parties after saving the treasure from the Ashen Army only to be reminded that they're not there to loot their allies which I thought was amusing) but too often the game seems to want to keep the player at arms length from its narrative.

 

For example - one of the conceits of the game is that the villains are using "weapon spirits" - kind of like souls of the dead heroes of the past to power their army.  Through the game the player can, somehow, unlock these and add the weapon spirit to give bonus/drawbacks.  The weapon spirits correspond (more or less) to the player characters from the previous game.  But almost all of these are comedy characters (the dark elf is constantly making sexual innuendo, the demoness is constantly wanting violence; the dryad is a hippie, the vampiress (whose death, we are told, involves getting drunk and accidentally staking herself) makes comments as if she's still drunk). They are hard to take serious and seem to exist only so there's an excuse for verbal feedback in battle (above what Aria does as you're telepathic tactician). Some of these comedy elements so over-the-top that it becomes hard to take the game itself seriously. 

 

Note I said "somehow" above in unlocking weapon spirits.  The game came with a manual that explained nothing about the game.  Assuming that there would be an in-game tutorial, I've went through and picked up most of the mechanics, but some are just utter mysteries, including whether the weapon spirit unlocking is random or not.

 

And while I'm not against day one DLC (I'll never get it unless it comes packaged with the full game at a later date, but still...) similar to the two extra missions locked away by a pay window but whoever thought it was a good idea to lock away the 5th player type was wrong, particularly when the back of the box says something like "...choose from 5 powerful heroes*" with the "*" being a disclaimer in small print that one was DLC.  Yeesh.

 

If you like isometric action games I think the title delivers some enjoyment, but even with that there are probably better choices, overall, unless you're just a big whopping fan of the genre, like I am.  But for most players - particularly fans of Sacred 1 and 2 - I don't see this game offering anything in game play that you're looking for (hopefully, Unbended will deliver on that.

[HoonDing]

I'm intrigued by Sacred 3, but is it worth $50?

 

It seems to be on the level of Blood Knights, which was sold $20 on release.

 

Even Bound by Flame wasn't 50 on release.

[BruceVC]

So I figure I'm about halfway through with Sacred 3, and I figure I should put forth some in-depth thoughts about the game.

 

So Sacred 3 is an isometric mission based game in which you choose 4 characters and fight battles of monsters through a series of stages.  This is quite the departure from the series, but I'm not against such departures (I liked Dungeon Siege 3, for example).

 

The game play is easy to pick-up and the missions are paced well so that its relatively easy to avoid losing advancement (as the game only saves permanently between missions.  There are some development skills and equipment that the player can choose to develop to compliment or benefit their play style (or compliment a team).

 

Is it fun?  The probably depends on your tolerance for action rpg-lite games (or brawler games as some call them).  I can't imagine the the game would be satisfying to the die-hard Sacred 1 or 2 fan; much like Dungeon Siege 3 and the avereage DS fan, this game is too different from its predecessors to provide the same type of experience of the earlier series.  Skills are less than Sacred 2, the open world exploration from 1 and 2 are gone.  Instead of Sacred 1 or 2, the game reminds me the most of the Genesis game Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team.

 

One can debate whether going back to a 20-something year old game for inspiration (intentionally or not) was worthwhile, but I have a soft spot for Arcus Odyssey, and am probably a more forgiving action RPG & brawler player than most.

 

Unlike most modern action RPGs loot is negligible.  And while equipment and skills each have their own development trees, after finding a set that works for your play-style (which is easy to do as you can buy back money applied to develop skills) there's very little need to put points in anything but the ones you are using.  So that reward of seeing your gear progress as you gain levels and advance skills (like in Diablo or Sacred) is mooted.

 

With the radical departure from the past, I can't understand who Deep Silver thought the game was going to appeal to.  The mission centric focus makes it more Diablo III like so I can almost see why they changed from open world, but I can't see Sacred 3 appealing to that crowd without the loot and progression.  I doubt it'll appeal to the average Sacred fan in general as its not like that game at all. 

 

Now this isn't to say that the game doesn't do anything right; it does have its own charms.   The visuals are nice.  Combat is easy and mostly fun, although after awhile its obvious that the new opponents are going to fall into the same rough categories that all the previous ones did, maybe with different patters or wait times between special attacks.  I don't think the floating text that some reviews have mentioned detract from the game play; as the screen centers on the PC, anything off to the side is generally not as relevant as you'll see it when it gets close enough to be important.

 

While the previous Sacreds had sort of a unique sense of humor (heavy metal band's farewell tour of Ancaria, anyone?), the humor in Sacred 3 is very broad (puns, a villain who often uses malapropisms, several winks and nods to the player showing its not taking itself too seriously). 

I'm all for humor in games (there's a bit bit where the in-camp aid Aria starts talking with glee about treasure being the parties after saving the treasure from the Ashen Army only to be reminded that they're not there to loot their allies which I thought was amusing) but too often the game seems to want to keep the player at arms length from its narrative.

 

For example - one of the conceits of the game is that the villains are using "weapon spirits" - kind of like souls of the dead heroes of the past to power their army.  Through the game the player can, somehow, unlock these and add the weapon spirit to give bonus/drawbacks.  The weapon spirits correspond (more or less) to the player characters from the previous game.  But almost all of these are comedy characters (the dark elf is constantly making sexual innuendo, the demoness is constantly wanting violence; the dryad is a hippie, the vampiress (whose death, we are told, involves getting drunk and accidentally staking herself) makes comments as if she's still drunk). They are hard to take serious and seem to exist only so there's an excuse for verbal feedback in battle (above what Aria does as you're telepathic tactician). Some of these comedy elements so over-the-top that it becomes hard to take the game itself seriously. 

 

Note I said "somehow" above in unlocking weapon spirits.  The game came with a manual that explained nothing about the game.  Assuming that there would be an in-game tutorial, I've went through and picked up most of the mechanics, but some are just utter mysteries, including whether the weapon spirit unlocking is random or not.

 

And while I'm not against day one DLC (I'll never get it unless it comes packaged with the full game at a later date, but still...) similar to the two extra missions locked away by a pay window but whoever thought it was a good idea to lock away the 5th player type was wrong, particularly when the back of the box says something like "...choose from 5 powerful heroes*" with the "*" being a disclaimer in small print that one was DLC.  Yeesh.

 

If you like isometric action games I think the title delivers some enjoyment, but even with that there are probably better choices, overall, unless you're just a big whopping fan of the genre, like I am.  But for most players - particularly fans of Sacred 1 and 2 - I don't see this game offering anything in game play that you're looking for (hopefully, Unbended will deliver on that.

 

Wow that's an insightful and interesting post, good job

[Malcador]

I reached level 20 in WoW with my Pandaren monk, and I got a cool looking turtle to run around with.  Boy, gold is sure easier to come by now than it was when I played a decade ago.

 

I'm really enjoying the streamlined quests, there is no sense of grind right now as I move through the early areas.

Yep, the revamp of old world content made the questing a lot more straighforward. Vanilla had a problem there, early on it was easy, say for humans you went Elwynn-Westfall-Redrige-Duskwood-STV, but around 30ish up until 50ish it's fairly all over the place. Which is kind of nice as you travel, but you'd occasionally find yourself too high for most zones and locked out quests in others, which was awful.

[Amentep]

I'm intrigued by Sacred 3, but is it worth $50?

 

It seems to be on the level of Blood Knights, which was sold $20 on release.

 

Even Bound by Flame wasn't 50 on release.

Honestly, I couldn't say its worth paying full price for. There are a lot of missions (probably over 30) but many are short side missions. I don't feel cheated buying it at full price (I do love brawlers and action RPGs) but even with that, I'd probably feel more satisfied had it come out at a lower price-point. If you really like hack/slash brawlers/action fantasy games with light RPG elements then it might be worth looking at if the price drops.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Amentep

[Sarex]

Honestly, I couldn't say its worth paying full price for. There are a lot of missions (probably over 30) but many are short side missions. I don't feel cheated buying it at full price (I do love brawlers and action RPGs) but even with that, I'd probably feel more satisfied had it come out at a lower price-point. If you really like hack/slash brawlers/action fantasy games with light RPG elements then it might be worth looking at if the price drops.

 

The most important question, does it have per kill xp?

[Amentep]

 

Honestly, I couldn't say its worth paying full price for. There are a lot of missions (probably over 30) but many are short side missions. I don't feel cheated buying it at full price (I do love brawlers and action RPGs) but even with that, I'd probably feel more satisfied had it come out at a lower price-point. If you really like hack/slash brawlers/action fantasy games with light RPG elements then it might be worth looking at if the price drops.

 

The most important question, does it have per kill xp?

 

Yes it does, but the ability to alter skills/equipment that comes with level up is locked until between missions.

[Oner]

Replaying Master of the Wind because the last two arcs haven't been out when I first went through.
Gawd, the story and minigames and puzzles are still awesome.

[Labadal]

Completed the story of Muramasa Rebirth with one character, now to complete the other path. I have been playing them evenly, so that means that I am at the final chapter on this one as well.

[melkathi]

Bought Child of Light in the UPlay summer sale. Enjoying it a lot.

[ManifestedISO]

Did I miss the Mountain discussion. Just started it, and I may be fascinated, relaxed, and intrigued at the same time. It is strangely comforting, as if your PC became artistically self-aware. 

 

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/08/20/why-the-media-loves-mountain-but-steam-users-are-calling-it-a-screensaver/

 

 

 

Edit: A giant coffee cup with coffee just meteorited into my mountain. 

Edited August 21, 2014 by ManifestedISO

[BruceVC]

Bought Child of Light in the UPlay summer sale. Enjoying it a lot.

 

Hi Melk "waves "

 

Where have you been? It seems like you haven't posted in ages?

[melkathi]

 

Bought Child of Light in the UPlay summer sale. Enjoying it a lot.

 

Hi Melk "waves "

 

Where have you been? It seems like you haven't posted in ages?

 

 

Was out of town for a couple of months. Didn't remember my password and didn't have the energy for a password-recovery

Edited August 21, 2014 by melkathi

[melkathi]

Also, apropos BruceVC:

Bought Desktop Dungeons and been having fun with that. Devs are from South Africa

[BruceVC]

Also, apropos BruceVC:

Bought Desktop Dungeons and been having fun with that. Devs are from South Africa

Nice, but just to be clear are you saying the PC game of D&D or the original pen and paper game? Because you say Developers and I'm not sure how they fit into the pen and paper game?

[melkathi]

http://www.desktopdungeons.net/

 

In the process of gathering gold to unlock more stuff. Just not sure if I should unlock more classes or save up for the last remaining race unlock...

[GhostofAnakin]

Still wandering through the jungles of Kila in Risen 3.

[Lexx]

I wish I would be playing Anno 2070 right now, but I actually don't, because that shait just isn't working. First UPlay always crashed and now that I've fixed this, I get the "connection to the server has been lost"-error when launching the game.

 

This is so highly annoying. I mean, I am buying games so I don't have to play scientist to get them running... If I had simply downloaded it somewhere else, I probably would be playing aleady...

 

I can't express how angry I am right now.

[Nonek]

Is it just me or is this Holorifle from Dead Money a little OP? I'm playing as a mainly melee character but this weapon is extremely potent and economical, though the small magazine size and limited scope magnification do balance this somewhat.

 

Edit: The legendary Deathclaw went down very quickly after a few shots and a little quality time with my upgraded chainsaw.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Nonek

[Bartimaeus]

I wish I would be playing Anno 2070 right now, but I actually don't, because that shait just isn't working. First UPlay always crashed and now that I've fixed this, I get the "connection to the server has been lost"-error when launching the game.

 

This is so highly annoying. I mean, I am buying games so I don't have to play scientist to get them running... If I had simply downloaded it somewhere else, I probably would be playing aleady...

 

I can't express how angry I am right now.

 

The entire DRM approach is so ridiculously contrived - even as a big fan of Steam and Valve, I still think you should be able to at least launch the games you already have downloaded without having Steam running. You would definitely be having an easier time having gotten it elsewhere.

 

While there isn't much of a moral conundrum getting it elsewhere if you've already paid for it, there is sadly still a legal one.

[Lexx]

It's kinda funny, because pirates don't have such issues. As always, the paying customer is the one who has to deal with this crap. Really, I should just try to get my money back and be done with it. Ubisoft, never again. But who am I kidding... I've said that already after buying H.A.W.X.2 years ago.

[AGX-17]

Sort of kind of played the Warmachine Tactics beta but it was really beta and decided to just wait. Felt a lot like X-COM but with extra crap they didn't explain to me, with steam pipes.

Edited August 21, 2014 by AGX-17

[Bartimaeus]

It's kinda funny, because pirates don't have such issues. As always, the paying customer is the one who has to deal with this crap. Really, I should just try to get my money back and be done with it. Ubisoft, never again. But who am I kidding... I've said that already after buying H.A.W.X.2 years ago.

 

I think the only game I've purchased in the last five years with third party DRM is Dark Souls. For good reason, too.

[melkathi]

I wish I would be playing Anno 2070 right now, but I actually don't, because that shait just isn't working. First UPlay always crashed and now that I've fixed this, I get the "connection to the server has been lost"-error when launching the game.

 

This is so highly annoying. I mean, I am buying games so I don't have to play scientist to get them running... If I had simply downloaded it somewhere else, I probably would be playing aleady...

 

I can't express how angry I am right now.

 

 

Sorry to hear that

 

Hope you manage to fix it though as it is an amazing game.

[redneckdevil]

Witcher 1, south park stick of truth, and the PoE beta and fantasy grounds and alice a return to madness (awesome awesome sound track btw)

first time with the witcher in a long time and its like finally having chocolate when on a diet.....its just sooooo good lol.

Edited August 22, 2014 by redneckdevil