Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Preview
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Sacred 2 goes beyond most such games by also giving you choices about how you progress individual spells and attacks. The aim is to create a game with so many combat options that it'll be rare for any two players to have the same character and play style; the developers are somewhat disparaging, in fact, about games where there are obvious, universal strategies for each class in the end-game.
The common example of how they're combatting this is the humble fireball spell - a staple of action RPGs since time immemorial (oh, alright, the mid-eighties - but can you remember much about the mid-eighties?). In most games, you can boost this spell's power as you progress; in Sacred 2, however, you can make choices about how you do so. One player may choose to advance to a fireball that shoots out three fireballs in front of you; another may opt for a single, powerful attack; a third may decide to invest in the homing capability for the attack.
Other new systems introduced in Sacred 2 ably demonstrate Ascaron's determination to deliver a game which actually innovates, rather than just slapping a layer of glorious digital polish on its existing gameplay. It's fairly rare to hear action RPG developers talk about AI in glowing terms, but Sacred 2 seems to have some pretty complex systems in place to deliver interesting encounters. Groups of enemies will promote a "leader" from within their ranks, and taking out the lead monster will send them into disarray - even sometimes prompting a temporary retreat while they find a new leader. Pressing the advantage in these situations will be a key tactical option.
