"maybe the poor performance of the console versions have already sealed that franchise's fate."
Poor performance? Well, feck. I was hoping for the best with that game, since good console games in that particular genre are rare as hell. I think the last one was actually Diablo on the PS1.
Was hoping it'd get an expansion as nice as the first game's (which included the absolutely awesome demoness class).
Sigh. And Blizzard might just use this as further reason to not make Diablo 3 on consoles.
This is actually very high on my want list. I've played the PC version but it runs like crap on my antiquated box. A true hack n slash in the vein of Diablo hasn't been done on consoles properly in a very long time (I'd dare say since Diablo on PS1) and I'm jonesing for it. It's a shame marketing hasn't been better for it. Sleeper hit I'm betting. I just hope they get it right and I don't have to wait for 15 patches to get it working.
@tk.: Technically, the true hack&slash genre is always dominated by Koei. Be it Samurau Warriors or Dynasty warriors, That is hack and slash. Baldurs Gate: DA2 i think qualifies as an action rpg, and yes, it was one of the better action rpg's. But many more action rpg's were awesome on PSII. Remember Rogue Galaxy...good god, best real-time combat mechanics ever!!! (Turn-based prize goes to Golden Sun)
This games still looks like it was designed for a web-browser MMO. Lets hope the time they didn't put into presentation will be used to polish things for a smooth running game. I remember that this dev team is small and I'm understanding of that... it's just that the graphics really do burn my eyes :(
Is this gonna have online co-op? i've been looking for a good rpg that i can plan with my friends... and do you have to have played the original to appreciate the story?
@Archaotic: It wasn't panned by critics. It's a pretty decent game. Not stellar but by no means average. It's packed with content to say the least.
Every piece of armor, weapon or item, no matter how small, is unique in the game. It's a pretty awesome concept. If you're into looting Diablo-style, this game is for you.
@Archaotic: I'm in for one of these. I enjoyed the similar looting aspects of Too Human, though the deaths were a little too frequent. I guess I'm a sucker for shiny auras and flashy graphics :(
This generation, they're certainly not pushing any boundaries in storytelling. The last WRPG with a story I found even remotely engaging was KotOR (and, to a lesser extent, KotOR 2).
Never was a fan of the old Baldur's Gate games. The dialogue was clever and well-written, but the combat was so terrible I could hardly play them for 10 minutes at a time. I'm just not a D&D fan, so any game that plays like it drives me up the wall.
That's always one plus for console games. No ass-backwards DRM "solutions" that make the games harder to play for legitimate customers without actually hindering piracy in any way.
@Archaotic: I've heard good things on "The Witcher" in terms of storyline. It's been said it's multi-layered, well structured and consistant. Needless to say I was the one saying it, but i give credit where credit's due. The best thing to come out of Poland since cheap vodka and woman. Which are usually in a 2pack anyway.
I would have liked to play the Witcher, as I had heard good things about the story as well. Sadly, the cancellation of the console version seems to have put the kibosh on that for the time being, as I'm a MacBook Pro owner whose 250GB external hard drive just went belly-up a month ago. Gotta LOVE when a $250 piece of hardware dies for NO reason whatsoever.
"Best storylines" is entirely up to the player's interpretation. I don't like "create your own character" RPGs. I find them wholly unengaging because the character never actually develops, grows, or matures. The only barometer for the player's progress is their level. I like dialogue, and I like the player character to be part of that dialogue, not just endless swathes of text responses to be chosen from.
Also, If your game's battle system is based on or influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, I'm going to hate it. I vastly prefer menu based combat over dice rolls and area of effect spells.
Clearly, we have different criteria for what makes an RPG good.
Yeah, I'm way too broke to worry about wasting money on new PC hardware right now. Consoles will be where it's at until I can find full-time employment, or until OLC monetizes.
@Archaotic: I disagree, while a majority of games don't put story on their priority list, there has been some games that have some of the best story lines in all of gaming:
None of those games had particularly captivating storytelling. Oblivion's narrative was painfully bog standard fantasy fare. Shivering Isles on the other hand was CONSIDERABLY more engaging because Sheogorath was such a well-written nutcase it was believable.
Mass Effect? Eh, it's Star Trek. Nothing special.
And GTA4? Really? Niko's characterization was some of the most inconsistent, wavering bullshit I've ever seen. He'd whine for 10 minutes straight about not wanting to kill anybody, but then someone could offer him two bucks and a hot dog and he'd shoot his own brother.
KotOR is the top of the line for Western storytelling, without question. I also hear good things about Planescape Torment, but alas, the Baldur's Gate combat style is about as approachable to me as a hooker with a penis. No matter how pretty the face might be, I'm not touching it.
You play a captain of a ship who traipses around the universe, pisses off all sorts of aliens, and has sex with blue women.
As far as I'm concerned, it's Star Trek without the license. It's definitely not a gold standard in terms of narrative writing like people are saying. Aside from Wrex, who I must admit is the man, none of the characters were relatable or even likeable (Ashley's racism was not charming, and I was GLAD to watch her die), the story itself was recycled sci-fi tropes out the wazoo, and it felt completely unfinished.
It's not a carbon copy, sure, but it had enough in common with Star Trek that it didn't engage me at all. Seriously, the dialogues with Wrex were the best part of the entire game.
The combat and sidequests sure as shit didn't help it. =/
yea...I'll agree with the sidequests being shitty...and the combat needed help...and maybe i haven't watched enough star trek...but i felt more engaged with this than any episode of star trek/star gate/etc..
I'm definitely not a huge sci-fi fan, and I don't like D&D either. That really didn't help Mass Effect. I was able to forgive it in KotOR because the combat was better and I like Star Wars, but Mass Effect had very little to redeem itself, especially when I was forced to redo the Benezia fight FOUR TIMES IN A ROW due to UE3 glitches causing me to get Force Pushed INTO A WALL. X_X
@Robotic-Richard-Simmons: I was thinking the same thing. I could really go for some dark alliance/champions of norrath/D&D Heroes right now. I play Untold Legends Dark Kingdom on PS3 and it was good, but didn't quite scratch the itch the way BG:DA does. Another good but underappreciated one was The Bards Tale, lots of good dungeon crawling and VERY funny too. And I think it's on the 360 BC list so you can play it on your current machine with no problems.
@Komrade Kayce: Hero of Soviet Kotaku: If you've played the first Sacred, you know what to expect, because it doesn't look like they've revolutionised the original formula.
Which is a good or a bad thing depending on where you stand.
If I keep saying "Please Don't Suck" then it could come true right? I kept saying it with Too Human, in a similar genre fundamentally, and I think it half came true.
Oh god that was awful. The trailer IS a 15 year old kiss fan. Tries hard to imitate awesome trailers, just winds up making an ass of itself when it's mom walks in and tells it to stop jumping on the bed and playing the air guitar in its underwear.
The generic music and sound effects. The generic skeleton enemies. The generic characters. The laser cannon.
06/19/09
Poor performance? Well, feck. I was hoping for the best with that game, since good console games in that particular genre are rare as hell. I think the last one was actually Diablo on the PS1.
Was hoping it'd get an expansion as nice as the first game's (which included the absolutely awesome demoness class).
Sigh. And Blizzard might just use this as further reason to not make Diablo 3 on consoles.
06/19/09
06/19/09
Otherwise, why spout meaningless nonsense unless you're going to back it up? "ZOMG this game is SO terrible! The HUMANITY!"
What's so bad about it. It has a few glitches, but NONE as crippling as Diablo 2 had when it first came out (of course that's all been fixed by now).
Maybe you just don't like games in this genre?
06/19/09
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It has drop in drop out 4 player co-op and you don't have to worry about the story cause it's a prequel to Sacred 1. Hope that helps. : )
05/05/09
05/05/09
05/05/09
Every piece of armor, weapon or item, no matter how small, is unique in the game. It's a pretty awesome concept. If you're into looting Diablo-style, this game is for you.
05/05/09
05/05/09
71? That's not too bad. I had guessed it was going to skew a lot lower.
@Jandlecack:
Hm, maybe I'll rent it then. I'm still praying for a console port of Diablo 3 though.
05/05/09
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05/05/09
Yeah, a Western RPG, which means it'll distract me for about three days until something with an actual story comes out.
05/05/09
Are you seriously implying "western" RPG's lack stories? Have you played any of the games by Black Isle?
05/05/09
This generation, they're certainly not pushing any boundaries in storytelling. The last WRPG with a story I found even remotely engaging was KotOR (and, to a lesser extent, KotOR 2).
Never was a fan of the old Baldur's Gate games. The dialogue was clever and well-written, but the combat was so terrible I could hardly play them for 10 minutes at a time. I'm just not a D&D fan, so any game that plays like it drives me up the wall.
05/05/09
I plan on getting this for PS3.
05/05/09
That's always one plus for console games. No ass-backwards DRM "solutions" that make the games harder to play for legitimate customers without actually hindering piracy in any way.
05/05/09
05/05/09
I would have liked to play the Witcher, as I had heard good things about the story as well. Sadly, the cancellation of the console version seems to have put the kibosh on that for the time being, as I'm a MacBook Pro owner whose 250GB external hard drive just went belly-up a month ago. Gotta LOVE when a $250 piece of hardware dies for NO reason whatsoever.
05/05/09
And they feature decent gameplay, and not random fight using repetitive battle systems D:
05/05/09
"Best storylines" is entirely up to the player's interpretation. I don't like "create your own character" RPGs. I find them wholly unengaging because the character never actually develops, grows, or matures. The only barometer for the player's progress is their level. I like dialogue, and I like the player character to be part of that dialogue, not just endless swathes of text responses to be chosen from.
Also, If your game's battle system is based on or influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, I'm going to hate it. I vastly prefer menu based combat over dice rolls and area of effect spells.
Clearly, we have different criteria for what makes an RPG good.
@tk.:
Yeah, I'm way too broke to worry about wasting money on new PC hardware right now. Consoles will be where it's at until I can find full-time employment, or until OLC monetizes.
05/05/09
Oblivion, Mass Effect, GTA 4/L&D to name a few.
05/05/09
None of those games had particularly captivating storytelling. Oblivion's narrative was painfully bog standard fantasy fare. Shivering Isles on the other hand was CONSIDERABLY more engaging because Sheogorath was such a well-written nutcase it was believable.
Mass Effect? Eh, it's Star Trek. Nothing special.
And GTA4? Really? Niko's characterization was some of the most inconsistent, wavering bullshit I've ever seen. He'd whine for 10 minutes straight about not wanting to kill anybody, but then someone could offer him two bucks and a hot dog and he'd shoot his own brother.
KotOR is the top of the line for Western storytelling, without question. I also hear good things about Planescape Torment, but alas, the Baldur's Gate combat style is about as approachable to me as a hooker with a penis. No matter how pretty the face might be, I'm not touching it.
05/05/09
Mass Effect?...Star Trek?...wow. Just Wow...
05/05/09
You play a captain of a ship who traipses around the universe, pisses off all sorts of aliens, and has sex with blue women.
As far as I'm concerned, it's Star Trek without the license. It's definitely not a gold standard in terms of narrative writing like people are saying. Aside from Wrex, who I must admit is the man, none of the characters were relatable or even likeable (Ashley's racism was not charming, and I was GLAD to watch her die), the story itself was recycled sci-fi tropes out the wazoo, and it felt completely unfinished.
05/05/09
I still think you are grossly generalizing.
Sure the writing isn't the best of the best...but it isn't a carbon copy of star trek either.
05/05/09
It's not a carbon copy, sure, but it had enough in common with Star Trek that it didn't engage me at all. Seriously, the dialogues with Wrex were the best part of the entire game.
The combat and sidequests sure as shit didn't help it. =/
05/05/09
yea...I'll agree with the sidequests being shitty...and the combat needed help...and maybe i haven't watched enough star trek...but i felt more engaged with this than any episode of star trek/star gate/etc..
maybe you just dislike sci-fi/d&d? :/
05/05/09
I'm definitely not a huge sci-fi fan, and I don't like D&D either. That really didn't help Mass Effect. I was able to forgive it in KotOR because the combat was better and I like Star Wars, but Mass Effect had very little to redeem itself, especially when I was forced to redo the Benezia fight FOUR TIMES IN A ROW due to UE3 glitches causing me to get Force Pushed INTO A WALL. X_X
04/17/09
04/17/09
That made me laugh hard, I doubt I'll ever be able to take it seriously after that.
04/17/09
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03/17/09
Which is a good or a bad thing depending on where you stand.
03/17/09
@Komrade Kayce: Hero of Soviet Kotaku: If that's the case, I think all of us will be in! We'll be so in that it'll be like a pornstar's hooha!
Is it ok to use hooha? Or is it outdated?
03/02/09
02/16/09
02/16/09
The vast majority of their songs are so freakin' epic.
A Night At The Opera (Battlefield is track 2 on that album) is actually one of their weaker releases.
02/16/09
I just got interested in it!
02/16/09
Seriously.
02/16/09
Anyway, the game sucks big time. Wait for D3.
02/16/09
Does D3 have Blind Guardian? No it doesn't.
11/05/08
11/05/08
The generic music and sound effects. The generic skeleton enemies. The generic characters. The laser cannon.