txa1265 Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I have just finished playing this, and was wondering if anyone else here had played and completed it? In general I liked it, but I'll be left with a somewhat bitter taste for it and will not likely ever touch it again. Why? 1. Magic System - I tried playing as a Mage, and casting spells on the fly was an absolute pain. The system was pretty finicky about drawing runes, and so I had to run away, 'store' my spells and then rejoin battle. 2. 'The Jump' - if you've played you know the one. To have it take >150 reloads to make it across 2 jumps (the other 2 were trivial) is bad design. 3. Final Boss - apparently the choice of a pure mage was stupid in light of the final boss. A fighter or archer make it pretty easy, or so I'm told. But given that I've made it through 99% of the game, hitting a single enemy that I'm pretty much unable to beat is frustrating. I love a challenging boss - like the 'element guards' in Sacred - but there is a 'diffficulty ratio rule' that should exist, whereby the boss should only be so much harder than the normal enemies. Or something. 4. Lack of Direction - I don't like it when I have to use forums or usenet for a game. I'll forgive once or twice, as sometimes it is easy to overlook something. But I really don't like using a walkthrough. I used both for this game. I don't remember my 'walkthrough moment' in Arx, but my love went down from there. For comparison with other recent games, I used the forum once for Gothic 2, and nothing at all for Sacred, CoD, Tron and Morrowind ... What has your experience been? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Never heard of it. But sounds interesting. How is the game and like, what is it based on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manoman81 Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I saw it in the store. It looked interesting. I take it would not be a wise purchase then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 Originally posted by sabretooth Never heard of it. But sounds interesting. How is the game and like, what is it based on? It is a first-person RPG, somewhere between Gothic 2 and Morrowind in terms of play. Whether it is a bad idea to get ... probably not. I had been warned not to play a Mage in Gothic 2 the first time, and I had a pretty good run as a Paladin. If you were to play this, I would give the same advice - play a fighter, and keep a good bow. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow_Nest Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I have it, it came with my new graphic card i got last year. I tried installing it but got stuck at like 77%. Didnt got to play it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I have the game, and the little I've played of it so far has been enjoyable. I can understand your frustration with the magic system, though. I bet it sounded like a great idea on paper having 'runes' you draw on screen with a mouse, but in practice - well, it leaves a lot to be desired. They should have allowed an option to toggle between drawing runes, or simply having a more traditional spell book so you can just quick cast any spell (dependent on your mana pool). I suppose I'm lucky in that I always try a game as a fighter/thief type character the first play through - which allows me to go toe to toe in combat, and open some locked chests and disable nasty traps along the way. So far I like the game's 'stealth' system - being a Thief fan I feel right at home with the light gem, and a 'stealth icon' is a nice addition so that you know you haven't inadvertantly moved too fast or walked out of a concealing shadow. It's a shame that the sound of your footfalls doesn't seem to soften when being stealthy, though. Anyway, I can't say I'm very far into the game as yet, but then I haven't dedicated a great deal of time to it at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 Originally posted by StormHammer I have the game, and the little I've played of it so far has been enjoyable. I found it very enjoyable - to the point of it being my primary game for a while ... right up until I got stuck with that one jump I alluded to. Then when I finally got past that, all was forgiven up to the end. They should have allowed an option to toggle between drawing runes, or simply having a more traditional spell book so you can just quick cast any spell (dependent on your mana pool). Apparently that is exactly what they do with the XBox version - there is a 'quick-cast' mode, where you just choose the runes. That would have beeen nice. But honestly, aside from the final battle there wasn't really any time I needed more than 3 spells without a 'reload' (yes, my casting powers *were* that mighty ) I suppose I'm lucky in that I always try a game as a fighter/thief type character the first play through I blame KotOR. Let me explain. I used to always play a 'Paladin' (fighter with light magic). When getting ready for KotOR, I had decided I'd go Scoundrel/Consular, so I chose to play a Sorceror in NWN to prep. Since then I've mainly played Mages in games. Except for Gothic 2. But I still always play 'lawful good', which precludes the thief part. Until later this week, I suppose So far I like the game's 'stealth' system - being a Thief fan I feel right at home with the light gem, and a 'stealth icon' is a nice addition so that you know you haven't inadvertantly moved too fast or walked out of a concealing shadow. It's a shame that the sound of your footfalls doesn't seem to soften when being stealthy, though. Yeah - from what I've heard the stealth system isn't fully implemented, but is pretty decent. I know there are a few quests I had to miss out on because they required more than my paltry thieving skills. I would still recommend it - just make sure to buy strength and dexterity ... and a good bow. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Originally posted by txa1265 I would still recommend it - just make sure to buy strength and dexterity ... and a good bow. Mike I've already invested in all of those. Anyway, the game rocks simply because you can bake an apple pie. I mean...I went fishing, with a rod, and caught some fish, barbecued them, had a couple of carrots and a leek, cooked some bread to go with it, and had an apple pie for afters, all washed down with some wine. I swear I could smell the pie and fish cooking! Any game that satisfies the stomach has to be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 Originally posted by StormHammer I swear I could smell the pie and fish cooking! What - you didn't have any ribs to go with that?!? There are lots of great touches like that in the game, which is what makes it interesting and fun. And why I still recommend it ... Perhaps they really didn't intend full mages in the game design ... but the thing is, for the most part they work. Unlike what I've heard about Gothic 2, which is that Mage power doesn't scale like melee or ranged. In other words, in Gothic 2, a level 1 fighter and a level 42 mage casting a fireball do *exactly* the same damage, unlike the strength and dex bonuses to damage for melee and ranged fighters. But in Arx I was killing almost everything with a single 'hit' (I can think of only one enemy other than the final boss whoi was a true challenge). So it might be worth replaying at some point. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Haven't played it, but as i understand it their aim was to basically recreate Ultima Underworld (still widely regarded as one of the best games ever). As far as i can tell they nearly succeeded, but the problem with games that are as wide ranging as this or morrowind is that the freedom can sometimes become a lack of focus. Especially to the players of today who are used to being lead through games by the nose with automaps, radars and arrows pointing at their objectives. Never did finsih ultima underworld as i got distracted... what i did play was fun though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Dravis Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 It looks interesting, but I don't like my games with a whole lot of gore/blood flying around. Is there a way to shut that off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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