Great review CB! I'm really glad that you treated the game fairly by giving us a look at things the game did well along with what they could have done better.
It really annoys me when a review will praise a game the whole time, and then only list one or two complaints at the very end. That's not a review, it's a puff-piece.
Excellent review. However on reading through it, the overall impression I took away was that the game fell short more often then it succeeded. Far, far away from your must have game synopsis.
What I'm taking away is limited linear game play, no real impact based on choices beyond quest selection. Average controls, some spotty level design and overall just kinda a gimmick RPG because you can turn into a Dragon.
What was it about this game that makes it must have for you?
Honestly, kryyst, the reason it's a must-have is because despite those flaws, which are mostly nitpicks, it was really fun to play. And in the end, that's what matters most.
Of course if any of those flaws are dealbreakers for you (they certainly weren't for me) then you might not like this one, and that's why I made sure to include them in the review.
Fair enough. Dragon Age was a similar experience for me. Lost of things wrong with it specially if you break it down. But overall it was still fun to play.
Did you manage to avoid the savegame corruption bug? It's totally game-breaking. I certainly wouldn't recommend the game in its current state. Until it's patched, it's garbage.
The bug is triggered when you overwrite a saved game via any mechanism, including quicksave. When you do that, it somehow loses your location, the savegame is permanently corrupted, and when you try to use it all of the doors in the world disappear so you can't progress, forcing you to load an earlier save.
I lost several hours of play to this bug last night and am honestly pretty ticked off about it.
We have indeed been able to reproduce the issue and will try to work out a solution as soon as possible.
As most people have pointed out, the workaround for now is quite simple:
- if the save you are loading is an autosave (this automatically overwrites the previous autosave), then quit to dashboard and load it, it will not give you any problems then.
- Try to make new savegames instead of constantly overwriting one savegame. The problem does not occur if you do not overwrite.
- If you do run out of savegame space (limit is 20), simply go back to dashboard when an overwritten savegame is giving you problems.
We apologize for any inconvenience this caused and hope to resolve this soon.
So if you use common sense and keep several save games in play this shouldn't be an issue. But it is apparently known.
Note this happens on PC also (I have the game on PC myself) so not sure how I go about quitting to the dashboard. I did try reloading the game, but my saves were still corrupted.
I played the demo on the 360 and I noticed the stuttering there big time both in cut scenes and in regular play.
After playing through the demo. It had a great sense of been there done that and did nothing to draw my interest. Graphics were Fable-esque. Combat was purely button mashing and not really interesting. It's not a terrible game. But really beyond the promise of being able to turn into a dragon nothing in the game felt new.
That being said the overall graphics were good and the world had a nice look to it. The voice acting and syncing of character models to what they were saying was well done. It's a far more better looking game then Dragon Age. But rap-a-tap-tap combat just gets dull. Fable (the first fable) really nailed down that kind of combo system. It was awesome. I really regret they dumbed it down in Fable II.
Isn't this a third-person game rather than a first-person, y'know, since first-person means you see the world through the character's eyes. I would have much loved a first-person camera mode to be able to see better when looking for all the hidden switches and little trinkets the game has everywhere - in fact the lack of it is my biggest complaint to the degree where I'd gladly paid a few more dollars for one.
Other than that, good review that portrays the game fairly, imo.
At the beginning of 2010, I think we (as an industry and as an audience) had not yet started making the distinction between 'first-person' and 'third-person over-the-shoulder'. It had the mechanics of a first-person shooter, rather than a fighter, so it got chalked up there.
Now, of course, everyone has realized that whether or not the character can be seen in the frame makes a huge difference to some people.
Comments
It really annoys me when a review will praise a game the whole time, and then only list one or two complaints at the very end. That's not a review, it's a puff-piece.
Anyway, thank you again.
What I'm taking away is limited linear game play, no real impact based on choices beyond quest selection. Average controls, some spotty level design and overall just kinda a gimmick RPG because you can turn into a Dragon.
What was it about this game that makes it must have for you?
Of course if any of those flaws are dealbreakers for you (they certainly weren't for me) then you might not like this one, and that's why I made sure to include them in the review.
I lost several hours of play to this bug last night and am honestly pretty ticked off about it.
So if you use common sense and keep several save games in play this shouldn't be an issue. But it is apparently known.
After playing through the demo. It had a great sense of been there done that and did nothing to draw my interest. Graphics were Fable-esque. Combat was purely button mashing and not really interesting. It's not a terrible game. But really beyond the promise of being able to turn into a dragon nothing in the game felt new.
That being said the overall graphics were good and the world had a nice look to it. The voice acting and syncing of character models to what they were saying was well done. It's a far more better looking game then Dragon Age. But rap-a-tap-tap combat just gets dull. Fable (the first fable) really nailed down that kind of combo system. It was awesome. I really regret they dumbed it down in Fable II.
Other than that, good review that portrays the game fairly, imo.
At the beginning of 2010, I think we (as an industry and as an audience) had not yet started making the distinction between 'first-person' and 'third-person over-the-shoulder'. It had the mechanics of a first-person shooter, rather than a fighter, so it got chalked up there.
Now, of course, everyone has realized that whether or not the character can be seen in the frame makes a huge difference to some people.