keyser Soeze said:
And what game is better since BG2 ?
Arcanum. Bloodlines. Gothic. Gothic II. Probably the Witcher, though I haven't had the time to really get into it.
keyser Soeze said:
You get to much XP in general
Hell, compared to the system it's based on (though I should note I'm a TDE 2nd/3rd edition player, not that familiar with 4th) all the progress goes too fast. There's no way you can get a magic item before level 10 in TDE as I was used to it, they're too rare. Not to mention the heaps of gold ducats you get, ridiculous.
But it's typical for pen-and-paper-to-cRPG conversions. Developers feel the reward has to be more immediate.
keyser Soeze said:
The level system is great, much better than the D&D ruleset imo.
TDE is superior to D&D. From what I can tell, I still prefer 3rd edition to 4th edition. 3rd edition was used in the previous TDE cRPGs, the Realms of Arkania games
keyser Soeze said:
The quests in general are well done.
No they're not. As a rule, they're "go here and punch" quests. The game restricts your freedom of independent thinking way too much. I think the Thieves Guild quest and the Treasure Search quest are the only ones with real independent action involved. The quest markers might be unobtrusive, but they're still there.
Drakensang is one of those games where you don't even really need to understand the quest, you can just follow the quest marker and then kill whatever is at the end of it. Game doesn't really allow you to screw it up that way.
It's a bit better than that, thanks to some creative quests (the leprechaun puzzle, defeating the undead necromancer, "For a Fistful of Ducats"), but for the most part, the quest design is inferior to - say - Fallout 3.
keyser Soeze said:
There are few magic items/weapons etc, so you really feel pleased when you find new items/weapons.
This is the rule of the TDE setting. Because to create an item permanently imbued with magic, you have to put part of your own Astral Energy in there. You can see why most wizards don't like that prospect, so magic items are hella rare.
keyser Soeze said:
Another good thing is that the game seems to be long, very long.
Good for you, maybe, I'm trying desperately to get to the end so I can review the damn thing.
A lot of its length is artificial, caused not by a superfluity of gameplay but by how FUCKING SLOW walking is and how FUCKING MUCH of it you have to do. Major, major flaw.
But it's not really flaws that pull this game down, it's more that - besides being TDE - it has little going for it, it's just not particularly great at anything. The combat isn't great, quest design isn't great, dialogue system and writing aren't great, storyline isn't great. The only thing great about it is the p&p license they used.
keyser Soeze said:
Yea i agree to some extent. I use him for locks and traps, and all social talents. I have trained him well in parry tho, he has a mean parry! So he is good for keeping a few enemy at bay while the rest of the party concentrate on the remaining enemys. But yea there are far better NPCs when it comes to fighting for sure.
Far better? Some are way, way overpowered, like that knight-dude you meet later on. Forgot his name.
Anyway, I have a social/sneak character as well, but I figured it'd be a bit of a waste for it to be Dranor, so I took along Gladys instead. I've always loved the Charlatan class, and she's great at it. Fantastic social skills, can easily lockpick the most difficult locks (I play a dwarf sapper m'self so I take care of traps) and in combat she stays back with the combat mage, casting spells or throwing knives as me and knight-dude go and hack 'n slash up front.
Man, this game is easy.
Party
Friggin'
Hard
