What they need to do before releasing DLC is patch the PC version so it doesn't crash after 20-30 min of play, and have full screen support for another resolution higher than 640x480.
I'm playing through this game now, and I have to say, I'm slightly disappointed. The game went from ridiculously easy to frustratingly hard in a matter of a mere hour or two. Puzzle Quest definitely has one up on this game, in my humble opinion. No DLC for me.
How far did you get? I just passed the Jaena battle and it wasn't too hard. Did you move straight to the objective or cleared the map first? (to collect more stage rewards)
@ThisCharmingMan:
I hear you about the Idle penalty.
I just passed the the Hart sequence (was a nice change of pace), and tried the challenger's arena using one of those lock-based ants. Got kicked by a Cait Sith! :(
I understand that games are a business and all, but when companies make decisions like this, it just makes them seem like cartoon villains. Their every thought must be "Money, money, money, money, money, GIVE US YOUR MONEY!!!!"
I was under the impression that games are supposed to be fun. Work on that before throwing your customers to the dogs of marketing.
This is such a massive turn-off. I just can't stand greed of this degree and it should most definitely not be rewarded with a purchase. Up yours, Square Enix!
The game isn't that good to compel me to want to even finish it much less buy more stuff.
Compared to Puzzle Quest it...just wasn't as good of a game. I played PQ for days at a time, many hours per day before I grew tired of the gameplay.
You know, it's just...honestly Bejeweled Twist (which the gameplay here is based on) isn't that fun for me I think. The pacing is slower than other match 3 games which some will say (and I will agree) that it adds a sort of ponderous layer to the moves you make and there's that extra layer of "tactical" choice. But what it gains in 'skillful' play it loses in pacing.
I really thought this game would improve on the idea of puzzle based rpg style games but after all I just feel that this entire little "niche genre" has never improved on the original Puzzle Quest and has just been regressing steadily.
For the record Mike, the "Gyromancer Map Pack" was released before the actual game!
I was camping the game on my xbox, early wednesday morning, waiting for it to be out! So, I was diving through the marketplace, trying to find a way to it, and I was able to view all the related downloadable items, even though the game wasn't there, and lo and behold, the map pack was there with no game! So I downloaded the Map Pack before the game was in place! 10 minutes later, the game finally showed up.
DLC before the game is released! It's the wave of the future!
For the record: I'm not a fan of day one DLC release, and I probably should not have bought it on principle, but I thought it was just too funny to have DLC before a game existed.
@ryoshi: The issue is a bit more complex.. It's a bit like ordering a four cheese pizza, paying your bill, and the second your pizza gets served, they ask if you want a fifth cheese grated for you by your waiter.
But it costs $1 extra. :(
I'm not sure why it's bad though, the game starts out cheaper and you get options. Buying items to enhance yourself in a singleplayer game - I don't really see how it's much different from buying a strategy guide.
@ryoshi: These extra options are purely designed to rape the consumer's pockets. Sad thing is, people buy into it, and more worrisome yet, people like you don't see a problem with it.
There's no other way about it. It's blatant profiteering and if people continue to buy and not be bothered by it; it's going to get much, much worse and soon entire levels will be day one DLC and real features.
It's just like The Sims 3 undoing 90% of the Sims 2 and its expansions just so they can re-release it for the Sims 3 as DLC and more expansions.
I honestly don't understand how it's tolerated or are all gamers Doctors and Lawyers now?
@masshuum: Here's a major hint for life: businesses? Those things that release videogamese? Yeah, they exist to create profit, not to dispense fun. Call it "blatant profiteering", I'll call it "what companies do". Continue to be pissed off that Square Enix hasn't heeded your pleas and become a charity, I guess.
And your comment is offensively off-base - comparing offering DLC to rape is pretty fucking sick. Guess what? Nobody's forcing you to buy DLC.
@ryoshi: Actually I'd say that the average person working on games is doing it because they love it, not just to make money.
You're right about the business side of it though. Sadly that is life. However it's only "Life" because people like you continue to say it is and accept it. What would happen if companies pulled this and no-one bought the DLC? There wouldn't be any (unless it was something substantial that could only be added after release for proper, good reason) and tiny little things like this which obviously could have been put in the original game would be thrown in and not put out as paid DLC.
The reason people bitch about it coming so close is because it gives the impression (and it's probably a correct impression) that it's not something that's been worked on post release, it's just something that's been held back and charged extra for. The problem with this is it will creep and creep like everything does and before you know it they will be giving you an FPS with 2 guns and selling you the other 8 as paid DLC on release date.
This sounds unrealistic but as you said they are businesses, and they will push as far as they can. THATs why people moan, they are simply trying to do a little to push back however fruitless it may be.
@dhimango: They're fun, but they're also products. Where the hell do you live that you get products for free?
Think of it this way - you can't walk into a store and walk out with a loaf of bread without paying for it, and you need food to live. What entitles you to extra options on a videogame for free?
@ryoshi: You're kind of missing the point. Nobody's mad at Square Enix for trying to make money. Notice nobody's up in arms over Harmonix making mad bank on their treasure trove of DLC. The problem is they're selling you pieces of a game that you should've gotten whole when you paid their asking price for it. If they wanted $20 for the game, they should've charged that. Selling it for $15 and charging for $5 missing features is disingenuous and insulting to the consumer.
Also, I'm absolutely certain the people responsible for these decisions would rape someone without a second thought if they thought there were money in it. They are in marketing, after all.
Here's your hint for life. Words have multiple meanings and uses. There's this book based on such a notion called a THESAURUS. Perhaps you've heard of one?
Rape is not just relegated to sexual deviancy. Just like stupidity isn't relegated to just you.
And again, apparently you can not foresee trends in business or how they even work. You're exactly right it's a business and do you really want said businesses to find that it's a great profit model to ship unfinished games? That the first meeting be about any new game is how to make DLC the main platform?
If you give ANY company leeway they'll run with it until it's too late. I am not against all DLC and optional content is perfectly fine.
To be perfectly clear, I don't really care about the DLC in this article, but it still needs to be kept in check. It's a few items now in one game, then another but later it'll be like the Sims 3 where it's a few hundred and it's all fine and dandy because we don't have to buy it. So instead of leading the industry towards a positive future we're leading them down a destructive one simply because people like you would HATE to question them, and when everyone else is sick of it, you'll act like you were against it from the start.
@meowmixx: To me it sounds more like buying a chessboard, and then as you start to play against someone, you find out that they've bought a couple of extra rooks - but it's "fair" because you can pay more and buy them too.
@ThisCharmingMan: Ignore this one, then. It's an arcade game - it'll be 1200 points for years to come, unless Microsoft maybe decides to dock 400 points for a weeklong sale that's only for gold members. #xboxlive
@spiderweb1986: Wouldn't that be a reason to get this one instead? Then once you're finally done with it, all those other games will be cheaper. It's a win win! Heck, you may not even have to buy any other games ever again! #xboxlive
@Yiffy Curry: That's actually a good point. Wait a few months, and the holiday games will begin dropping. The beginning of next year is packed, so we might see some early markdowns to compensate. #xboxlive
On one hand, Gyromancer looked interesting, pretty fun.
On the other hand, Gyromancer looked like a soul-sucking demonic hell-spawn that will pull you in with it's simple gameplay but never let you leave. Ever. Like Peggle. #xboxlive
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
How far did you get? I just passed the Jaena battle and it wasn't too hard. Did you move straight to the objective or cleared the map first? (to collect more stage rewards)
11/20/09
#speakup
11/23/09
I hear you about the Idle penalty.
I just passed the the Hart sequence (was a nice change of pace), and tried the challenger's arena using one of those lock-based ants. Got kicked by a Cait Sith! :(
#speakup
11/20/09
I was under the impression that games are supposed to be fun. Work on that before throwing your customers to the dogs of marketing.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Compared to Puzzle Quest it...just wasn't as good of a game. I played PQ for days at a time, many hours per day before I grew tired of the gameplay.
You know, it's just...honestly Bejeweled Twist (which the gameplay here is based on) isn't that fun for me I think. The pacing is slower than other match 3 games which some will say (and I will agree) that it adds a sort of ponderous layer to the moves you make and there's that extra layer of "tactical" choice. But what it gains in 'skillful' play it loses in pacing.
I really thought this game would improve on the idea of puzzle based rpg style games but after all I just feel that this entire little "niche genre" has never improved on the original Puzzle Quest and has just been regressing steadily.
11/20/09
It is nice to find out that it doesn't compare. That and this paid for DLC makes this game an easy one to skip for me.
11/20/09
Should try it out for yourself first (yay for XBLA trials) instead of just basing on one person's word.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
But Puzzle Quest was just the deal a few months ago. You're going to be waiting years for that, probably.
11/20/09
I was camping the game on my xbox, early wednesday morning, waiting for it to be out! So, I was diving through the marketplace, trying to find a way to it, and I was able to view all the related downloadable items, even though the game wasn't there, and lo and behold, the map pack was there with no game! So I downloaded the Map Pack before the game was in place! 10 minutes later, the game finally showed up.
DLC before the game is released! It's the wave of the future!
For the record: I'm not a fan of day one DLC release, and I probably should not have bought it on principle, but I thought it was just too funny to have DLC before a game existed.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/22/09
11/22/09
11/20/09
Way too slow Square Enix. Way too slow.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
...
Wow, I now realise how incomplete my life was until I saw this picture.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
But it costs $1 extra. :(
I'm not sure why it's bad though, the game starts out cheaper and you get options. Buying items to enhance yourself in a singleplayer game - I don't really see how it's much different from buying a strategy guide.
11/20/09
11/20/09
There's no other way about it. It's blatant profiteering and if people continue to buy and not be bothered by it; it's going to get much, much worse and soon entire levels will be day one DLC and real features.
It's just like The Sims 3 undoing 90% of the Sims 2 and its expansions just so they can re-release it for the Sims 3 as DLC and more expansions.
I honestly don't understand how it's tolerated or are all gamers Doctors and Lawyers now?
11/20/09
And your comment is offensively off-base - comparing offering DLC to rape is pretty fucking sick. Guess what? Nobody's forcing you to buy DLC.
11/20/09
11/20/09
You're right about the business side of it though. Sadly that is life. However it's only "Life" because people like you continue to say it is and accept it. What would happen if companies pulled this and no-one bought the DLC? There wouldn't be any (unless it was something substantial that could only be added after release for proper, good reason) and tiny little things like this which obviously could have been put in the original game would be thrown in and not put out as paid DLC.
The reason people bitch about it coming so close is because it gives the impression (and it's probably a correct impression) that it's not something that's been worked on post release, it's just something that's been held back and charged extra for. The problem with this is it will creep and creep like everything does and before you know it they will be giving you an FPS with 2 guns and selling you the other 8 as paid DLC on release date.
This sounds unrealistic but as you said they are businesses, and they will push as far as they can. THATs why people moan, they are simply trying to do a little to push back however fruitless it may be.
11/20/09
Think of it this way - you can't walk into a store and walk out with a loaf of bread without paying for it, and you need food to live. What entitles you to extra options on a videogame for free?
11/20/09
Also, I'm absolutely certain the people responsible for these decisions would rape someone without a second thought if they thought there were money in it. They are in marketing, after all.
11/20/09
Here's your hint for life. Words have multiple meanings and uses. There's this book based on such a notion called a THESAURUS. Perhaps you've heard of one?
Rape is not just relegated to sexual deviancy. Just like stupidity isn't relegated to just you.
And again, apparently you can not foresee trends in business or how they even work. You're exactly right it's a business and do you really want said businesses to find that it's a great profit model to ship unfinished games? That the first meeting be about any new game is how to make DLC the main platform?
If you give ANY company leeway they'll run with it until it's too late. I am not against all DLC and optional content is perfectly fine.
To be perfectly clear, I don't really care about the DLC in this article, but it still needs to be kept in check. It's a few items now in one game, then another but later it'll be like the Sims 3 where it's a few hundred and it's all fine and dandy because we don't have to buy it. So instead of leading the industry towards a positive future we're leading them down a destructive one simply because people like you would HATE to question them, and when everyone else is sick of it, you'll act like you were against it from the start.
Brilliant.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
(i.e., For the love of all that is holy, don't have Puzzle Quest's terrible, terrible, terrible Enemy AI.) #xboxlive
11/16/09
11/16/09
1200 makes it really tempting. I should just stay away and dip into the Overlord bundle I bought on the cheap from Steam this weekend. #xboxlive
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
On the other hand, Gyromancer looked like a soul-sucking demonic hell-spawn that will pull you in with it's simple gameplay but never let you leave. Ever. Like Peggle. #xboxlive
11/16/09