Dungeon Seige 3 - My Thoughts...

[warcrow]

Played a few hours in coop with the final retail (PS3) last night and had a good time. It's not a perfect game by any means--it's got its issues--but at the end of the night we both agreed it was a lot of fun.

So some random thoughts of the good, the bad and the ugly:



- The graphics on the PS3 version are mediocre at best. Occasionally the frame rate dropped during busy scenes, but it was never unplayable due to this.

- We played as the duo Reinhart and Lucas. It seemed like a good match up once we started leveling up and unlocking abilities.

- My initial impression with the abilities, proficiencies, talents and deeps was...confusion. I don't think the game does a very good job of teaching the player what the everything really does. Yes, you get a wall of text during the tutorial, however I had a bit of a hard time making sense of it all. After a few hours it all makes sense though.

- This game is surprisingly deep in its RPG elements for a console RPG. And it's not on an Oblivion level, but it's much deeper than Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (my console RPG standard for fun).

- Reinhart starts off slowly and awkwardly, but once you get a few levels in he gets some really wicked spells--especially the one we called the "Pain Mat". It's a spell that not only slows down mobs that walk over it, but does damage.

- We had one boss fight that lasted a good 10 minutes, and it felt fairly epic once we downed him. The cool thing is we were totally changing up tactics, switching positions and complimenting each other along the way. It was a really good boss fight. I hope the are more like it!

- Gold is shared, doesnt matter who picks it up.

- Loot appears to go whomever the item is fitted for, no matter who picks it up.

- We played on the normal difficulty and (once we got past the demo area) we wiped a few times. Once during a mini-boss fight, once where we both got rushed in a hallway and another because we were laughing too hard (we were just having a good time with it all).

- The ability to revive someone by holding the R1 button over their body is cool and helps to avoid frustration. If you get hit by something during the rez, the meter goes back to 0.

- The chatty Mass Effect-like wheel is fine I suppose, but something about makes it feel boring. I cant put my thumb on it just yet.

- At first loot didnt appear to show up on the character, but I finally got a pretty awesome magic globe and in my characters hands you could see the fire--it was cool.

- There are side quests, they are fun, they are typical of what you'd expect for this genre (kill someone, get this lost ring, kill someone, I lost my husband, kill someone, FedEx, kill someone).

- So far the environments have been enjoyably varied.

- If you're playing local coop and the other play steps away, after 1 minute of sitting idle his player will begin to follow you where you go.

- If there is a way to give each other something we didn't see it (that doesn't mean it doesn't exist!).

- Reinhart is a badass!

- Pressing the Left Stick IN sucks up all the loot (sans items) near you. I didnt see this stated anywhere in the game, but it was in the reviews guide SE sent over.

- The really good loot is also rewarded to the players who explore.

in short: I'm having a really good time with the game via local coop despite it's issues. If you got any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[dougp]

How does it feel compared to the original?

 

[darkewaffle]

I played the demo on the PC and actually thought it was fairly fun. I could see co-op being even better, but I definitely felt the same way about the talents/abilities/specializations/etc being very convoluted. The game mechanics could use a bit more explanation so that you don't feel like you're missing something, but otherwise I liked it. Ill probably pick it up later this year or next year since the chances of any of my friends buying it are slim to none.

 

[Dumac]

How hard is the game to get into?

Is it something the SO could pick up and play easily? She doesn't like to read tutorials that much...

 

[Macamus Prime]

I demo'ed the 360 version. I grew tired of it pretty quickly.

Pass for me.

 

[havuk]

I demo'ed the 360 version. I grew tired of it pretty quickly.

Pass for me.

i agree

 

[Rage187]

i agree

Same. The demo was too linear. Torchlight had a better demo, gave that open world feeling.

For ds3, I wasn't happy with the camera angle. Whether I was zoomed in or out, it just never felt right. Btw, I play on 132" screen. So it wasn't like zoomed in was unbearable but it wasn't enjoyable.

Was really hoping this would have been good. Anyone who has played the demo and the full version, is the demo a good representation of the final product?

 

[kamikazekyle]

I've played the demo on the PC, and it actually feels a lot more adventure/RPGish than it does hack n slash. Quite surprising, really. It doesn't play like any of the other DS'es at all.

I enjoyed the demo once I realized it was more of a linear adventure/RPG game than a Diablo hack n slash. If you come in expecting a traditional Diablo 2-esque game with a skill tree, you really won't like it.

 

[Rage187]

I've played the demo on the PC, and it actually feels a lot more adventure/RPGish than it does hack n slash. Quite surprising, really. It doesn't play like any of the other DS'es at all.

I enjoyed the demo once I realized it was more of a linear adventure/RPG game than a Diablo hack n slash. If you come in expecting a traditional Diablo 2-esque game with a skill tree, you really won't like it.

I came in expecting dungeon siege :/ which was a d2 clone with some new things. Not sure where they were going for with this one.

 

[kamikazekyle]

I came in expecting dungeon siege :/ which was a d2 clone with some new things. Not sure where they were going for with this one.

True. I was looking for another hack n slash since I enjoyed the series and didn't really think they needed to differentiate by going away from their roots. It's an interesting change of pace being a bit of RPG, adventure, and hack n slash yet not specalizing in any. But, yea, I really wanted another hack n slash.

I'm still keeping my preorder, though it'll probably be worth only a single playthrough. Maybe two with co-op or something.

EDIT: Oh, and the camera angle was a smidgen weird with the mouse and keyboard control scheme on the PC. Still servicable. The over the shoulder mode was awkward with a mouse and keyboard due to the targeting, but I could see it working well with a controller. Of course, the over the shoulder/controller combo just makes it more of an adventure game than traditional hack n slash

 

[Monster_Munch]

It's a fun enough game but it has little in common with the previous Dungeon Siege games except for a few location names.

With the 4 player coop mode it plays more like a modern day gauntlet. It actually reminds me of a 1990s arcade game called Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, which was basically a Golden Axe clone with experience points.

 

[warcrow]

How hard is the game to get into?

Is it something the SO could pick up and play easily? She doesn't like to read tutorials that much...

I doubt it's a game for her. Though one could pick up and start mashing buttons, it does require some knowledge and understand of the systems in order to level up and use the new abilities.

 

[Rage187]

It's a fun enough game but it has little in common with the previous Dungeon Siege games except for a few location names.

With the 4 player coop mode it plays more like a modern day gauntlet. It actually reminds me of a 1990s arcade game called Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, which was basically a Golden Axe clone with experience points.

hmm, I liked that arcade game. Wasted so many quarters on it with friends.

 

[Monster_Munch]

hmm, I liked that arcade game. Wasted so many quarters on it with friends.

Yeah if you want a modern version of this type of game with 4 play online mode it's not bad. It's just a little too repetitive to make a great single player game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYGNgb91MwU

 

[NaOH]

My girlfriend was the concept artist for this game so I can't wait to play he full thing with her! I was a fan of the old ones and have always liked hack and slash games. Nice to see the two combined. The demo was pretty fun and my only real gripe was the camera angles.

Hope those of you who get it have a good time =) My gamertag is CuddlyWinners.

 

[Doppel]

I demo'ed the 360 version. I grew tired of it pretty quickly.

Pass for me.

I did, too. I'm not quite sure why, maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but after playing the Halo Reach demo I really wanted that game.

My girlfriend was the concept artist for this game so I can't wait to play he full thing with her!

If she's even passably attractive marry her NOW.

 

[darkewaffle]

Reviews started coming in, they're not too bad. Last I checked they were averaging around 75/100s, which I think is about right or maybe just a little low personally. Nice to see it doing alright though; there was a lot of hate on the demo if for no other reason than "its called Dungeon Siege but doesnt feel like Dungeon Siege" which is unfortunate but no reason to completely dismiss a game.

 

[smackababy]

Reviews started coming in, they're not too bad. Last I checked they were averaging around 75/100s, which I think is about right or maybe just a little low personally. Nice to see it doing alright though; there was a lot of hate on the demo if for no other reason than "its called Dungeon Siege but doesnt feel like Dungeon Siege" which is unfortunate but no reason to completely dismiss a game.

I don't see why not. That is deceiving to fans of the series and proving companies try to sell on name alone. I am sure if they made a CoD game that was just like Hello Kitty Island Adventure it would still sell well and piss most of the fans off.

 

[darkewaffle]

I don't see why not. That is deceiving to fans of the series and proving companies try to sell on name alone. I am sure if they made a CoD game that was just like Hello Kitty Island Adventure it would still sell well and piss most of the fans off.

I don't see a correlation between "what a player wants" and "game quality". It's not deceiving, it's a matter of trying to put out a game in a series that distinguishes itself from its predecessors. We have enough stagnant franchises as it is.

With that said I didn't really see what wasn't Dungeon Siegey about it, it was merely one of the criticisms I saw a lot. I mean the entire "third person action rpg" genre is pretty homogenous to begin with. Character building and the way cooldowns are used and 'charged' had some DS2 flavor at least.

The only thing I noticed is that the animation style cribs pretty heavily from Dragon Age 2, but otherwise it's mostly standard fare. But it's not poorly done, aside from the camera and convoluted character building and unrealized co-op potential I think it's fairly solid; just in a genre where there's both a lot of competition and not a lot sets this title apart. If they can make the co-op more rewarding for the non-host players I think that'd be a big step forward though, as the base game itself isn't really holding it back.

 

[Rage187]

If they wanted to re-image it, they shouldn't have put the number 3 behind which basically says "hey, this is like the others". They should have renamed it to Dungeon Siege Adventures or something similar to denote that they were taking things in a different direction.

 

[NaOH]

If they wanted to re-image it, they shouldn't have put the number 3 behind which basically says "hey, this is like the others". They should have renamed it to Dungeon Siege Adventures or something similar to denote that they were taking things in a different direction.

Why are you getting bent out of shape about the name? It's not like anyone with a half a brain is going to get fooled. Most gamers I know read reviews and PLAY THE DEMO.

 

[Rage187]

Why are you getting bent out of shape about the name? It's not like anyone with a half a brain is going to get fooled. Most gamers I know read reviews and PLAY THE DEMO.

If they put out Terminator 5 and it was western with cowboys and Indians and no robots, you'd say WTF. That's how I feel with DS3. Hmm, I sort of remember robots, hell I know there was a donkey at some point. Just feels like they used the name to have a built in fan base but then left out everything that made it Dungeon Siege.

 

[darkewaffle]

If they put out Terminator 5 and it was western with cowboys and Indians and no robots, you'd say WTF. That's how I feel with DS3. Hmm, I sort of remember robots, hell I know there was a donkey at some point. Just feels like they used the name to have a built in fan base but then left out everything that made it Dungeon Siege.

Define what makes "Dungeon Siege" Dungeon Siege without describing nearly every other 3rd person/top down action RPG.

Like I said, there isn't a whole lot that's unique to the series. The way in-combat abilities 'charge' over the course of the fight is somewhat unique to it, and the way the character's abilities are structured and then 'talented' is reminiscent of DS2. The demo doesn't let you have more than one party member, so it's hard to tell whether the party management is as player controllable as DS2 was, which at the time was fairly distinct (but less so with the advent of Dragon Age which used a very similar system).

 

[astrosfan315]

I got it for 360 and have been thoroughly enjoying it this week.

 

[Garou24]

I got it for 360 and have been thoroughly enjoying it this week.

Same here. It was great for me because I was working from home so I was able to pick it up and play. I invited my friend over for some co-op and we had a good time. I was worried because I had pre-ordered it and then I read all the reviews, but I am glad i got it.

If people did not enjoy the demo, then I would say wait on the game. The demo is close to how the game plays. I feel the game gets better as you level up and get new items and abilities. But if the general gameplay turns your off you you do not like the lack of exploration etc, then the demo is fairly close to how the game plays.