[Scottg]

Having *just* finished the game.. I found many things to like and also many things to NOT like.

From a "glass is half full" perspective:

I liked:

The graphics - they were good (attractive) and not overly intensive to graphics cards (gs 7600). They certainly were not "great" though.

The plot - its a good story line, with some unexpected twists (..not so much the "ending" but rather the "end" before the "end").

The NPC development - believable characters with different personalities, story lines, and very good voice acting. The more important NPC's were all done well. Some of the lesser NPC's were a bit "cookie-cutter" bland (..but thats to be expected).

The progression system - a good "RPG'ish" system with experience points for improvements. Practically speaking there are limits which allow for more specialized yet flawed characters. Additionally, improvements *generally* match the progression of the game. Also the various combat styles allow variety, are interesting both in effect and graphically, and work fairly well with the combat system.


From a "glass is half empty" perspective:

What I did *NOT* like:

The combat system - there are numerous problems here.

First, the game is a little to centered on combat (..and strangely when it isn't, it doesn't have enough).

Second, I absolutely *HATE* the way the game fixes an attack against one opponent. Sure, you can always turn that mode off (once combat has commenced), but that doesn't work well (and its still awkward). That leaves "flipping" though opponets manually to focus your attack on the opponent you want to. Unfortunetly, either poor remedy requires that you must physically perform an action that makes it that much more difficult to fight. In other words you should be focusing on the fight itself and not the controls to fight. (..The game Dungeon Lords, though deeply bugged, is an infinitely better combat system that is effectivly "free form" and realistic - its what the developers for this game should have done.)

Third, *MOST* of the actual attacking is (as others have said) - pretty much mindless button pushing. Where it is NOT is with a power attack to overcome a defensive block, AND an area attack, both of which are mouse button manuevers which can be executed without "thinking" about the controls of the game. Another interesting aspect of attacking is choosing the correct style for any given opponent(s) - unfortunetly you *DO* have to think about the controls here (..and even if you have a game pad, you still have only 4 styles to choose from fairly readily). (..note that thinking about the style is one thing, thinking about how to get to that style through a mediocre control system is another.)

Fourth, defensive measures in the game are not well represented. The manuver "Block" itself is poor (though perversly works rather well for your opponents). Just as a simple manuever its supposed to block anything but a power attack.. Well, IMO thats stupid - some how a blocking maneuver can block both melee AND magical attacks? It just doesn't make sense from any roleplaying game I've seen. Worse still, it often doesn't work well - i.e. it takes to long to get a block in place, and ANY opponent moves to overcome that block with a power attack rather quickly (..far better than you can). Slightly more interesting (at least conceptually) is an "attack" designed to produce a defensive measure - usually through the use of varying combat styles. Unfortunetly *most* opponents when "attacked" by a disabling effect, *VERY* quickly recover from it (even with a "maxed" duration count for that style). Practically speaking then, the defensive "attack" is only marginally useful. Finally you have "Focus" mode - which *IS* well balanced in the game and effectivly produces a competitive advantage that is more defensive in nature.

Fifth, the combat styles are not well balanced nor are they well "placed" as the game progresses. The Transformation style Jade Golem is too powerful, regardless of where it is in the game's progression. The PC specialized Martial styles appear to late in the game. In fact (in conjunction with those specialized styles), other "alignment" based styles also appear to late in the game. Worse still, many opponents are simply immune to these other styles (i.e. there are a large number of Demons and they are immune to both magic and support combat styles - and some have so many hitpoints and/or block & attack so well that they are practically immune to Martial styles - even with Chi Strike). That leaves Weapon styles as the best overall style (except against spirits which are immune), and here the game is broken.. Pole weapons are vastly inferior to swords. Additionally, the best weapons (axes) not only are available only late in the game, but also require a new skill set expenditure. (btw, the "axes" are superior "mechanically" as well - i.e. they *can* be more than simply a "button pusher" attack.) The real "penalty" here with weapon styles is that they require focus.. EXCEPT that with a fairly minor overall expenditure of points you can eliminate this penalty (..which breaks the game a bit IMO).

The plot progression - while I liked the over all plot quite a bit, there were several times where the game felt like it was "dragging" AND almost the last quarter of the game where it was "rushing" to the finish. Up through all of Tien's Landing the game progresses just about right - not to slow, not to fast. The Imperial City section however was often slow and tedious - with some sections overly developed (The Arena), and other sections woefully under-developed (The Black Lepoard School and the Scholar's Garden). The Golden Way section had little point to it except a much needed change of scenery. The Necropolis was so tedious that it felt like the plot progression was standing still. (..do this, do that, get some experience points, yawn.) In fact, other than as a very minor adjunct to the Lotus Assassin plot - the Necropolis felt like it was not only done before (and much better) in the Great Southern Forest, but also that it bore *very* little relationship to the rest of the Imperial City. Perhaps worse than this is the "whirlwind" tour that finishes up the rest of the game after the Imperial City. EVERYTHING that follows after this feels rushed, and most of it is not very original. In fact it feels as if the developers ran out of capital and had to cut a lot of corners to make a deadline.. Whats outrageous though is that this is the second time the game is released - in this second release they could have easily spent some of their initial earnings to make the game better beyond late in-game new fighting styles. Wankers.

Oh well..

Anyway, thumbs up - marginally.

(and note, this game *does* have replay value with various different combat styles to choose from and maximise, different characters, different romance plots, and different alignment choices.. still, I don't see myself playing it more than twice (once "evil" and once "good") - but it *was* enjoyable and worth the expense.)