Dungeon Siege 3... from Obsidian?

I'll have to mirror much of what was said. I was pretty excited for this so gave the demo a shot. For whatever reason, I just didn't care. The controls seemed weird and that "E" thing I could tell would really start to bug me after a short period of time. I didn't even play the demo all the way through.

Well, I pre-ordered, so I guess I'll be able to report on how sucky the full game is. :X

It's pretty bad on the PC which really disappoints me.

I tried the demo on console, and I didn't think it was awful. At, say, $15 I'd snap it up, but as a full price release, the production values just aren't really there. Especially with Torchlight 2/LOTR:War in the North/Diablo 3 hovering somewhere in the future.

I played a bit of the demo last night, but got distracted trying to place the voice actor for Lucas. I couldn't find anything online, but I'm pretty sure it's the same guy who voiced Prince Rurik in Guild Wars.

I actually liked the demo, but I skipped all the dialogue and just ran around killing things. I like the art and everything, but I don't see myself playing this game. Just not that interested, much like the other Dungeon Siege games.

Felt more put together than a typical Obsidian game though.

played a bit of the demo last night - they couldn't have made it more obvious this should be played with a 360 pad if they tried. Tried it again just now with the pad and - unsuprisingly - it plays much better.

And I could be wrong but there doesn't seem to be an option for jumping straight to the different menu options, so to get to your inventory you need to hit the character sheet button, click on inventory option, click on item category, scroll through a TV friendly list of oversized items, click on it to compare stats and then double click to equip.

I thought we were over that kind of interface klunk post-Oblivion. Apparently not. Even with the small amount of loot you pickup in the demo it was starting to get frustrating having to do all that every time you pick up a new item.

Stengah wrote:

I played a bit of the demo last night, but got distracted trying to place the voice actor for Lucas. I couldn't find anything online, but I'm pretty sure it's the same guy who voiced Prince Rurik in Guild Wars.

That's not a good sign. Guild Wars is <3, but the voice acting, especially in Prophecies, was awful.

I enjoyed it on my xbox. On the PC however, not so much.

stevenmack wrote:

played a bit of the demo last night - they couldn't have made it more obvious this should be played with a 360 pad if they tried. Tried it again just now with the pad and - unsuprisingly - it plays much better.

And I could be wrong but there doesn't seem to be an option for jumping straight to the different menu options, so to get to your inventory you need to hit the character sheet button, click on inventory option, click on item category, scroll through a TV friendly list of oversized items, click on it to compare stats and then double click to equip.

I thought we were over that kind of interface klunk post-Oblivion. Apparently not. Even with the small amount of loot you pickup in the demo it was starting to get frustrating having to do all that every time you pick up a new item.

Hit right on the d-pad.

F will get you straight to the inventory. I'm not 100% convinced you should be looking at it as often as you are in the demo though, the rate at which you get new equipment breaks the flow quite a bit, but I'm not sure if that's because it's the early game or because the demo may not represent the full game.

Sigh, pre-ordered this on Steam but after the demo ... wierd control scheme, blah combat, and really bad camera angles if you use the keyboard for movement.

Does anyone know if you can cancel a pre-order on steam?

Steam Support has been known to give refunds.

garion333 wrote:

Hit right on the d-pad.

Scratched wrote:

F will get you straight to the inventory. I'm not 100% convinced you should be looking at it as often as you are in the demo though, the rate at which you get new equipment breaks the flow quite a bit, but I'm not sure if that's because it's the early game or because the demo may not represent the full game.

Aha, ok that will definitely help. I'll give it another shot and see if it clicks.
So far VERY on the fence though but I'll finish up the demo properly now that I don't have to rush and see if it grabs me.

***

Ok, finished it. It's...ok.

I think so long as you go into it realising that it's basically a hi-res version of Baldurs Gate : Dark Alliance and not something with the depth of Diablo 2 then it could be pretty fun.

Also it's Obsidian, so there's more story and character interaction in this than you normally see in an action RPG. (although at least in the demo the story is probably about as cliche as it comes).

Menus are terrible on the PC though - no reason whatsoever that the character sheet should be split across three screens for a start. Also seems REALLY linear given what was shown in the demo (basically one long "FF13 style" winding corridor) - However the series has been like that from the start so that's not really a big change.

stevenmack wrote:

Menus are terrible on the PC though - no reason whatsoever that the character sheet should be split across three screens for a start.

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know how long it would take various 2D artists and flash/scaleform guys to shrink bits down the UI, put it all on one page, and reconnect up the various actions, compared to the total time it takes to maintain a build on another platform. It just seems such a depressing recurring trend when so called top developers can't be bothered designing to whatever platforms they release on, and it happens on both console and PC (see: tiny text).

stevenmack wrote:

I think so long as you go into it realising that it's basically a hi-res version of Baldurs Gate : Dark Alliance and not something with the depth of Diablo 2 then it could be pretty fun.

Except Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was fun Tried out the demo on PS3 and was really disappointed. Combat was just not fun; hard to put exactly into words why, but I really did not have any fun playing the demo. I felt like my character was just kind of floating out there, never felt connected to the world or to the enemies in combat.

MrDeVil909 wrote:
Stengah wrote:

I played a bit of the demo last night, but got distracted trying to place the voice actor for Lucas. I couldn't find anything online, but I'm pretty sure it's the same guy who voiced Prince Rurik in Guild Wars.

That's not a good sign. Guild Wars is <3, but the voice acting, especially in Prophecies, was awful.

More proof that I have bad taste, I enjoyed it. I spent a couple hours racking my brain where I'd hear his voice before. I could only remember that it was some noble that died on me.

Does the demo have access to all of the playable characters, or is it limited to one class or the like?

Stengah wrote:

More proof that I have bad taste, I enjoyed it.

+1

I played through the demo on the 360 and had a good time with it. I found myself getting interested in the story, though I found the voice acting to be a little... severe, especially when playing as the fire slingin' gal. I'm going to give it a little time to devalue and pick it up on sale, but I will definitely be playing this one.

Hypatian wrote:

Does the demo have access to all of the playable characters, or is it limited to one class or the like?

Two classes.

I'm totally not tired of the name "Jeyne Kessynder", but you know, it really could use more y.

The game's fine, but it's certainly no full price fine. I am not grabbed right now.

I got around to trying out the demo on Steam this morning. I played as whatever the female class is, and her voice acting was horrible, absolutely horrible. Add to that the weird controls and UI, and I have lost any and all interest I had in DS3 (which wasn't much, even though I was a big fan of the first game).

The one highlight I had was that the voice of the main NPC that you're trying to find during the first quest, and who gives you the next quest, sounded a lot like the voice actor for Landon Ricketts, which just made we want to replay RDR... again.

nivek wrote:
Stengah wrote:

More proof that I have bad taste, I enjoyed it.

+1

Oh, um, I was talking about the voice acting in Guild Wars. The DS3 demo was okay, but the non-standard controls were not fun.

I tried out the demo and am thoroughly disappointed. With all the progress video games have made to have a camera angle that is so restrictive is asinine. I can barely see like 20 feet in front of me. How does someone make the design decision to do this? I kept ducking my head down as if by getting low enough I might be able to see a few more feet in front of me.

The talent tree and inventory interfaces are abhorrent. Why do I have a different inventory interface for every equipment slot?

The voice acting and graphics are average at best. The combat is uninspired. The cut scenes lack creativity and effort.

I want Dungeon Siege III, not some $10 console port.

I also pre-ordered on steam against my better judgement. The demo doesn't feel like a DS game. Rather than trying to cancel my pre-order, I think I'll trick myself into thinking how fun it will be to learn this new ground breaking control scheme for a Diablo clone. Wish me luck.

I think whatever Obsidian was they are now a company that makes bad games.

Obsidian are a company with certain areas of expertise (writing), and some areas where they don't have strength (gameplay design, QA). What they're pretty good at, and why they're still around, is shipping reasonable games that sell enough. I don't remember hearing of one of their games being a sales disaster.

BassMadMadoo wrote:

I also pre-ordered on steam against my better judgement. The demo doesn't feel like a DS game. Rather than trying to cancel my pre-order, I think I'll trick myself into thinking how fun it will be to learn this new ground breaking control scheme for a Diablo clone. Wish me luck.

I salute your self-awareness. Huzzah!

Tried the PC demo last night. It has some promise but it's obvious from the start it's not a pc game. It honestly feels like a bad console port from the start. The controls are contrary to how you feel the characters should move. It also feels like there is a serious lack of information on the screen or any way to interact with the info you have. The developers had one form of interface in mind when they made this game and that just makes me sad. If I even get it, I'll have to hook up a 360 controller for it.

OK, since a) I'm a glutton for punishment , b) my bar for terrible games has been significantly lowered by DNF and c) I need SOME sort of new action RPG in my life at the moment - I went ahead and preordered it off of steam. Now that I know the tone and feel is more along the lines of BG : Dark Alliance than Diablo my expectations have been suitable tempered.

And to be honest I'm curious to see whether Obsidian can take an action-RPG story into more interesting places than usual (if anyone can do it it would be them). Should unlock tomorrow at some point in the UK, so we shall see...