Best part is the start

[KingNee]

They need to add and remove stuff from the base game in the expansion, imho. Plenty of people have posted here and elsewhere that they grew bored with it and abandoned it before finishing. (For lots of different reasons such as; Lack of urgency to the story, level cap hit way before the end, uninteresting loot and so forth.)

 

They need to trim the fat and make adjustments so that all those people that never finished the base game, will be more likely to try out an entirely new playthrough when the expansion hits. 

 

I want a "Diablo 2: Lord of destruction" expansion rather than merely another adventure tacked on to the end of the first one. This isn't the movies, they can polish the original release while simultaneously expanding on it.  

[Zenicetus]

I thought the beginning was the best part of the game too, but that's how I usually feel about CRPG's that typically start you out as a farm boy venturing out from his village, or a prisoner escaping their cell, or any of the other usual tropes where you're weak and powerless at the start. Everything in the world is a potential threat. Anything you meet can kill you quickly. At the same time, you're slowly collecting better gear, with a hint on the horizon about increasing power for your character/party.

 

That's always been more interesting to me than mid to late game phase of a CRPG story, where I'm usually steamrolling everything except boss fights, while the game world does't actually react very well to how powerful my character/party has become. 

 

In this particular game, it may be due to the Prologue being finished last. But still, as a general rule in CRPG's, I think it's just easier to write quest lines and game interactions for weak player characters at the beginning. The potential is wide open. Once a game gets rolling, it's harder to write good quests for powerful parties outside the main story line (which is usually "save the world"), so side quests soon feel ridiculous for the power level of the party.

 

 

 

[WebShaman]

No, in this game, the prologue is absolutely-****ing-fantastic spot-on adventuring!

 

It gives you EVERYTHING that this game is capable of.  It is magnificent.

 

And then...you get floored by the rest, because it is utter crap.

 

It is like a totally different team did the prologue.

 

Everything makes sense.  You actually can change things (for positive!!!!!!) in the prologue according to what you do!  You are afflicted, but not out-of-the-blue with some off-the-wall bollocks, but with something very, very normal : you were bit by one of the insects of the area and you have gotten ill.

 

This is soo good.  It makes sense.  And as your health is at stake, you of course are going to be motivated to do something!  And your companion is IMHO great.  She is not doing it out of any love for you - she is doing it because...she is told to.  Yeah.  It makes sense, all right.  That is what is great.

 

And then the events that come, hey, they are all ok.  And the dungeon crawl is not bad.  But after that, every-****ing-thing goes right down the ****ter.  Like Niagra Falls.

 

 

I really wanted to keep these two companions. I was emotionally attached, because they came across as so real. And then they were killed off for no apparent reason other than the Devs wanted it to be so.

 

[Frenzy-kun]

During every game development there is always a limited budget. Which means, there is a limit to the quantity and quality of the content. In any game, the critical point is always the beginning because that is what is going to hook the player into the game or drop it for something else.

 

That is the reason why the beginning is always much more intense and well done than the rest of the game.  I know no game whose midpoint is better than the beginning. Quallity comes through the iteration and experience. That's why the beginning is the last part to develop, but also that's the party that requires the most work.

 

And you could think, "then, reduce the content and improve the quality". Yep, you can do that, but you can also keep improving the quality of the beginning, and then, the mid part will be also of a lower quality than the rest of the game. It's always more interesting to focus in the early game than in the late, no matter how long the game is or how big the budget is.

[archangel979]

That is not true. Many many games had better middle or late game including most IE games.

[WebShaman]

You know, I am really tired of the Obssheep and their bleating apologies.

 

Keep the game as it is.

 

I'm done.

 

One more backer gone. Good job.

Edited April 24, 2015 by WebShaman

[b0rsuk]

I was disappointed you can't play the game with Heodan and/or Callisca. Not because they're terrific companions, but because it felt like my choice mattered. Having to choose between two mutually exclusive companions right at the start (they aren't really, but let's pretend) would be interesting. The hard choices are those where you are giving up something.

[Arumaxx89]

Raedric's hold is easly the best dungeon of the whole game. You have different ways to break into the castle and you have many ways/paths to move and reach raedric.

 

The other dungeons are tendentially linear.

 

Why aren't there more dungeons/areas like this?

[Teioh_White]

I would agree Raedric hold is the high point of the game for me. Also I agree with topic in general, with the first Act I by far being the most fun I have in the game. Of my dozen or so playthroughs, only 3 have ever actually made it to the end. The majority die out in Act 2 ,or after the chain of bounty quests that start Act 3.

 

It doesn't bother me overly much though, as a better beginning is fairly common in RPGs. Even classic Baldur's Gate 1 has my interest always take a hit when I reach Cloakwood, and normally completely derailed in the city of Baldur's Gate. (For similar reasons why Defiance Bay always sinks my interest.)