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Originally Posted by Siberys  ...it's for the PSP, and even though we've come a long way in handheld systems, as Buck said, I have no doubt that the game will have severe limitations compared to the actual DND game or many other computer/console based representations. |
I actually went out and bought a PSP specifically for this game and, having never used one before, I'm very surprised at how well a D&D game works on the system. The biggest drawbacks are that it is fairly time-consuming to do simple tasks like trading items between your party members and many of the spell, feat, and magic item names have been truncated to fit on their appropriate listing screens. If you go into greater detail on any of these, though, you're then able to see the full name, description, and all other appropriate information.
The game reminds me a lot of the old SSI Gold Box games except all of the exploration happens in the same top-down strategic point of view as the combat does. The animations, special effects, and sound are all very good, at least for what I would have expected from a handheld device. There are also little additions that I find myself appreciating a lot, such as the inability to identify a creature when it's lurking in a dark cave. You actually have to bring up a party member with a lit torch or an active Light spell to find out what type of monster you're up against. Up until that point, you can only make a guess at what it is by the sound of its growling, gurgling, etc.
Overall, the game is much better than I expected it to be. With a level cap of 20 and all of the classes/races represented (with the addition of psionics), it's a solid D&D RPG with a lot of content to take advantage of.