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[MattKeil]

I pressed X thousands of times in Baldur's Gate and both Champions of Norrath games. That sounds like a silly criticism against the genre. Any real reasons to dislike it?

Counterpoint accepted, that's very true. I did like Dark Alliance and the Champions games, but LotR's failings lie in its lack of environment variety and the sameness of the characters. The rudimentary combo system does nothing to really expand the basic game, and there's none of the crisp feel of the combat in the more hack and slash oriented LotR games. There's a mushy feel to it that I dislike.

There's surprisingly little difference between the dwarf, ranger and wizard. You'd think the elf sorceress is a magic-centric character, but she really spends most of her time bashing things with her staff, much like the other two.

Projectile attacks are extremely weak, especially early on, and it's not unusual for a standard orc to take 8-10 arrows before he goes down. At no point do you feel particularly powerful, which is unusual for the genre.

The setting isn't very interesting, in part because of the extreme lack of enemy variety. You're kind of hamstrung by the Tolkienverse there, because there just aren't that many things available to use. Goblins, orcs, trolls, repeat. Every once in a while you'll run into a powerful boss type enemy which is just a damage sponge. Nothing's ever really changed up much. They also do the "major LotR character is totally bros with you and wow they're impressed with all your awesome deeds" thing that makes it feel like you're playing through someone's Mary Sue fanfiction.

If you find a way to enjoy it, awesome, but it was too simplistic and rough around the edges for my taste.

"Pressing X in The North" and "It's too long" are two of the worst criticisms ever leveraged against a game of this type.

Nonsense. A game that tries to boast of a meaningful combo-based combat system degenerating into a single button mashfest is absolutely valid and damning criticism, and "bad game takes too long to finish" is hardly a cryptic statement.

 

[mik]

There's surprisingly little difference between the dwarf, ranger and wizard. You'd think the elf sorceress is a magic-centric character, but she really spends most of her time bashing things with her staff, much like the other two.

ok, this is a much more significant concern for me. One of the things that frustrated me most about Ratchet & Clank All 4 One (weird comparison, I know--but it's apt) is that all four of the characters play the same, despite being so entirely different in abilities in all the previous games. I'd much rather the characters all complement each other and promote teamwork--otherwise, why even have classes?

 

[Skilletor]

Counterpoint accepted, that's very true. I did like Dark Alliance and the Champions games, but LotR's failings lie in its lack of environment variety and the sameness of the characters. The rudimentary combo system does nothing to really expand the basic game, and there's none of the crisp feel of the combat in the more hack and slash oriented LotR games. There's a mushy feel to it that I dislike.

There's surprisingly little difference between the dwarf, ranger and wizard. You'd think the elf sorceress is a magic-centric character, but she really spends most of her time bashing things with her staff, much like the other two.

Projectile attacks are extremely weak, especially early on, and it's not unusual for a standard orc to take 8-10 arrows before he goes down. At no point do you feel particularly powerful, which is unusual for the genre.

The setting isn't very interesting, in part because of the extreme lack of enemy variety. You're kind of hamstrung by the Tolkienverse there, because there just aren't that many things available to use. Goblins, orcs, trolls, repeat. Every once in a while you'll run into a powerful boss type enemy which is just a damage sponge. Nothing's ever really changed up much. They also do the "major LotR character is totally bros with you and wow they're impressed with all your awesome deeds" thing that makes it feel like you're playing through someone's Mary Sue fanfiction.

If you find a way to enjoy it, awesome, but it was too simplistic and rough around the edges for my taste.



Nonsense. A game that tries to boast of a meaningful combo-based combat system degenerating into a single button mashfest is absolutely valid and damning criticism, and "bad game takes too long to finish" is hardly a cryptic statement.

This is much more valid.

Thank you for the explanation. I'm on the fence right now. I've bought too many games already, and the steam holiday madness has already started.

If I buy now, it's only to support Snowblind. I do wish it was isometric view as split screen on the couch doesn't really appeal to me. I hate split screen, typically.

 

[Famassu]

Nonsense. A game that tries to boast of a meaningful combo-based combat system degenerating into a single button mashfest is absolutely valid and damning criticism

But it doesn't do this. It's a hack 'n slash game through & through, it doesn't try to make you think it's Devil May Cry or even God of War. Dark Alliance & Champions of Norrath were rarely about anything else but pressing X. Those games were fun (repetitive, yes, but hey, that's the hack 'n slash genre for ya), don't see how WitN would be much worse, especially since at least using a bow requires something else than just pressing X and the game adds dodging into your characters' move repertory, which should help eliminate the all too typical strike & run tactic that is prevelant in games of this genre.

 

[dragonflys545]

Counterpoint accepted, that's very true. I did like Dark Alliance and the Champions games, but LotR's failings lie in its lack of environment variety and the sameness of the characters. The rudimentary combo system does nothing to really expand the basic game, and there's none of the crisp feel of the combat in the more hack and slash oriented LotR games. There's a mushy feel to it that I dislike.

There's surprisingly little difference between the dwarf, ranger and wizard. You'd think the elf sorceress is a magic-centric character, but she really spends most of her time bashing things with her staff, much like the other two.

Projectile attacks are extremely weak, especially early on, and it's not unusual for a standard orc to take 8-10 arrows before he goes down. At no point do you feel particularly powerful, which is unusual for the genre.

The setting isn't very interesting, in part because of the extreme lack of enemy variety. You're kind of hamstrung by the Tolkienverse there, because there just aren't that many things available to use. Goblins, orcs, trolls, repeat. Every once in a while you'll run into a powerful boss type enemy which is just a damage sponge. Nothing's ever really changed up much. They also do the "major LotR character is totally bros with you and wow they're impressed with all your awesome deeds" thing that makes it feel like you're playing through someone's Mary Sue fanfiction.

If you find a way to enjoy it, awesome, but it was too simplistic and rough around the edges for my taste.



Nonsense. A game that tries to boast of a meaningful combo-based combat system degenerating into a single button mashfest is absolutely valid and damning criticism, and "bad game takes too long to finish" is hardly a cryptic statement.

Wow... How the hell did they go from Champions of Norrath to this... Now I'll wait for bargain bin. Way to go Snowblind.

 

[NullPointer]

I thought a staple of hack and slash combat was the two buttons for "hack" and "slash", with combos based upon those two buttons. Toss in a ranged combat button for more variety.

And honestly, considering the genre I'd expect to grade along a curve. What other games out there are similar to this, only better?

 

[Last Hearth]

This is much more valid.

Thank you for the explanation. I'm on the fence right now. I've bought too many games already, and the steam holiday madness has already started.

If I buy now, it's only to support Snowblind. I do wish it was isometric view as split screen on the couch doesn't really appeal to me. I hate split screen, typically.

The elf still uses her weapon is part of Tolkien lore, the magic aspects in his world is downplayed so you can't just have an elf shooting fireballs and lightning constantly.

Each class still have distinctive skill trees so I doubt they will all play the same.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I thought a staple of hack and slash combat was the two buttons for "hack" and "slash", with combos based upon those two buttons. Toss in a ranged combat button for more variety.

Too many buttons noob, it's one button which alternates between hacking/slashing each press.

 

[MattKeil]

The elf still uses her weapon is part of Tolkien lore, the magic aspects in his world is downplayed so you can't just have an elf shooting fireballs and lightning constantly.

Each class still have distinctive skill trees so I doubt they will all play the same.

They're all melee classes with occasional skill uses breaking up the monotony. Trouble with the elf is that she's doing the same thing the other two are doing (beating the crap out of things in melee), but she's doing less damage and taking more damage. The Tolkien world excuse doesn't work because she does have the ability to shoot energy bolts semi-constantly as her ranged attack, but since ranged attacks do so little damage you're almost always better off just whacking stuff with her stick.

She does eventually get the ability to equip a sword alongside her staff, which makes for a nice "warrior Gandalf" callback, but she's just not different enough from the other two to warrant playing. On the plus side, all three of your characters level up equally whether you play as them or not, so you can switch between them freely without playing XP catchup. Then again, I would guess some wouldn't see that as a positive feature in this genre, so YMMV.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

They're all melee classes with occasional skill uses breaking up the monotony. Trouble with the elf is that she's doing the same thing the other two are doing (beating the crap out of things in melee), but she's doing less damage and taking more damage. The Tolkien world excuse doesn't work because she does have the ability to shoot energy bolts semi-constantly as her ranged attack, but since ranged attacks do so little damage you're almost always better off just whacking stuff with her stick.

She does eventually get the ability to equip a sword alongside her staff, which makes for a nice "warrior Gandalf" callback, but she's just not different enough from the other two to warrant playing. On the plus side, all three of your characters level up equally whether you play as them or not, so you can switch between them freely without playing XP catchup. Then again, I would guess some wouldn't see that as a positive feature in this genre, so YMMV.

Isn't the elf the cleric?

Edit: yes, she is:

An Elven Loremaster, schooled in ancient wisdom by Elrond himself; yet she is no meek scholar. In her hands a simple staff becomes a deadly weapon, not only because she wields it with Elven-skill, but also because she can use it to focus her power, striking down enemies near and far. But as capable as she is in combat, Andriel’s true strength lies in her power to preserve and protect her allies, and with her arts she can create shields of light which heal and restore those within.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Counterpoint accepted, that's very true. I did like Dark Alliance and the Champions games, but LotR's failings lie in its lack of environment variety and the sameness of the characters. The rudimentary combo system does nothing to really expand the basic game, and there's none of the crisp feel of the combat in the more hack and slash oriented LotR games. There's a mushy feel to it that I dislike.

There's surprisingly little difference between the dwarf, ranger and wizard. You'd think the elf sorceress is a magic-centric character, but she really spends most of her time bashing things with her staff, much like the other two.

Projectile attacks are extremely weak, especially early on, and it's not unusual for a standard orc to take 8-10 arrows before he goes down. At no point do you feel particularly powerful, which is unusual for the genre.

The setting isn't very interesting, in part because of the extreme lack of enemy variety. You're kind of hamstrung by the Tolkienverse there, because there just aren't that many things available to use. Goblins, orcs, trolls, repeat. Every once in a while you'll run into a powerful boss type enemy which is just a damage sponge. Nothing's ever really changed up much. They also do the "major LotR character is totally bros with you and wow they're impressed with all your awesome deeds" thing that makes it feel like you're playing through someone's Mary Sue fanfiction.

If you find a way to enjoy it, awesome, but it was too simplistic and rough around the edges for my taste.

I wish you'd written the review.

The review on the site has a lot of hyperbole in place of details, almost contradicts itself (one paragraph complaining about too much loot that isn't balanced, the next paragraph states the game has a complete lack of loot) and I was baffled by the complaint that the game should have been built for 2 or 4 player co-op, almost as if unaware of the the fundamental co-op RPG design trope the devs embraced of a Tank/Ranged/Healer trinity.

The only thing covered well in the review on the site are the bugs, which are obviously of major concern.

What you've spell out here is good info, and is largely what I expected and or feared about the game. I'm sure if I expected something better than a LotR fanfiction plotline I'd be upset, but the franchise is not the reason I'm going to be playing the game. It's a shame for those invested in the franchise though. The bugs however I wasn't expecting, and hope Snowblind can fix up with patches.

I have to argue one point with you though, and that's that I never remember feeling powerful in any of the Champions games, I always felt like no matter what I was wearing or what spells I had I was going to run into baddies sooner than later who were going to kick my ass. This was a major part of the charm of the co-op, imo.

 

[Xane]

Graphics are pretty nice, check this out: http://www.abload.de/img/image00158wn.jpg

No shadows? :<

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I wish you'd written the review.

I disagree considering he just characterised the cleric class as useless without even mentioning her support abilities.

 

[Slaylock]

You'd think the elf sorceress is a magic-centric character, but she really spends most of her time bashing things with her staff, much like the other two.

I was mildly interested in this game, especially with the $20 Amazon credit, but I like playing this type of game as a pure mage and it doesn't sound like that's possible in this one.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

So I just got done playing for 3 hours and am gonna give some impressions. I'm not the type will be disingenuous with this stuff and not be critical because I made an OT for the game or try to justify the purchase or anything like that, so these are honest thoughts...

Cons:
* There is significant stuttering in Bree when moving from area to area. It's like the game is loading/streaming and it stutters. When on quests and in combat (90% of your time) I don't really notice much. Not my PC either as a guy on my buddy list has the same issue.

* I agree with MattKeil about the 3 classes being a bit too much alike. I thought the Loremaster Elf would use more abilities and magic but most of the time I'm just meleeing enemies with the staff.

* To elaborate on the sameness a bit... all 3 classes have AOE melee attacks, seem to have charge up ranged attacks (human uses the bow, dwarf the xbow, elf the staff), but it's not carbon-copy or anything... the Dwarf is clearly the tank/melee character with his war cry ability tree. The elf has a tree dedicated to support (an AOE heal bubble, for example). The ranger/human has a tree dedicated to "evasion" which is an ability where he becomes stealthed. They are kinda samey but a lot of the reason for that could be due to the basic nature of the combos used in combat.

* The combos are very basic, like Matt said. There's not even stuff like: XXY or XY or XXXY o YYX... no knockups or any real combos that feel different. All you do is press X and then when the little arrow above the enemy turns yellow you press the heavy attack (Y) and do a critical strike/brutal hit/finishing blow. With that said, it's very satisfying... the black blood of the orcs looks great, the limbs and heads getting chopped off are awesome, there's a THUD THUD THUD feel to the combat that makes it feel satisfying, despite its rudimentary nature. You can also build up streaks and get a little extra XP from them, as well as headshot bonuses and such.

* I'm not sure how much this matters but the starting town hub Bree is pretty small and linear. There's a handful of guys you talk to and a few gated off areas. I wonder if the gates will open eventually...

* A issue issue I'm having is giving items to the other 2 characters in my party. For example, I gave the dwarf a crossbow and dwarf-only shield and then after I finished that part of the chapter and a prompt comes up asking if you want to switch characters...I did that and switched to the dwarf and none of the items were there. He had his starting xbow and gear. Is this a bug? Or am I doing it wrong. Why can't we even switch characters in the town hub? I can't change their equips or anything unless it's at the end of a mission/gameplay segment. Can't level them up or use their skill points...nothing. This is a big issue.

* The loot is what saves this game. It really is a good loot system that's addictive and fun...you find a ton of loot of varying rarities and best of all, each individual piece changes your character's look.

* The story is pretty standard stuff, although I do enjoy the references to the LotR main group...Frodo's journey takes place during the same time.

* Graphics are pretty solid overall, save for the stuttering issue. The game is pretty linear so far and has lots of invisible walls in nooks & crannies.

Lots of complaints, right? Yet I'm still having fun with it, yet I still put 3 hours straight into it and am only stopping now because I'm starving and wanna make a turkey sandwich and maybe catch up on Breaking Bad.

The combat is fun, the loot is great, the co-op is probably really fun too... overall I'm happy with my purchase and don't regret the $38. If I had to predict, I'll probably put around 40 hours into the game and have a fun time doing it - well worth the price of admission...

Edit: guess I combined the pros and cons lol.

 

[NullPointer]

Thanks for the impressions Heavy.

 

[Lord Phol]

I have to argue one point with you though, and that's that I never remember feeling powerful in any of the Champions games, I always felt like no matter what I was wearing or what spells I had I was going to run into baddies sooner than later who were going to kick my ass. This was a major part of the charm of the co-op, imo.

Yeah CoN and RTA could be pretty unforgiving, one mess-up and you'd go from full health to zero in mere seconds. Blocking and attacking at the right moment were the fundementals for advancing, as well as knowing how to approach the enemy. Not like you everday dynasty warriors where enemies are nothing but paper to be sliced through.

Of course, I seem to recall from Champions that most classes mashed melee and mixed in spells.

This is also true, magic became pretty useless at the later difficulties (most skills/spells didn't scale that well or at all).
Hopefully, this has at least been partially fixed for this game.

 

[FoeHammer]

Nonsense. A game that tries to boast of a meaningful combo-based combat system degenerating into a single button mashfest is absolutely valid and damning criticism, and "bad game takes too long to finish" is hardly a cryptic statement.

I'm only an hour in but so far the combat has been a rhythm based x button attack followed by a heavy y attack at the right time for extra damage.

I wasn't discrediting your impressions, it just seems that button mashing is a pretty heavy part of these types of games. Harping on the "mashfest" is like ragging on Batman for using too much stealth.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I disagree considering he just characterised the cleric class as useless without even mentioning her support abilities.

It's written better than what's on the site.

Factually inaccurate is another issue. I got 3 more hours before I'll find out for myself if the classes don't offer what they were supposed to, or if G4 was "playing the game wrong."

Of course, I seem to recall from Champions that most classes mashed melee and mixed in spells.

Edit:Thanks for the impressions Heavy, I think that'll help a lot of people who were on the fence one way or the other.

 

[garath]

I would want to say yes, since it's the same idea of combat / loot systems (just with a more third person action game camera for WitN). However, BG DA2 was not made by Snowblind. It was made by Black Isle Studios. Snowblind made Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance1, Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms.

They also made Justice League Heroes but I've never played that one and thus can't say how close or not it resembles the previous 3 games I mentioned.

Ack. Good clarification. I totally forgot it was Black Isle that did DA2.

While I did like BGA1 and the Champions games. They didn't hold a candle to DA2 imo.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

It's written better than what's on the site.

Factually inaccurate is another issue. I got 3 more hours before I'll find out for myself if the classes don't offer what they were supposed to, or if G4 was "playing the game wrong."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that the conclusion that the classes feel too similar is incorrect as I haven't played the game, it just doesn't inspire confidence in the impressions of the person giving their opinion when they don't comment on the support abilities of the support class and instead talk about how bad they are in combat.

 

[larvi]

I guess I have a different approach to RPGs and don't understand why people would want combos in this type of game? Combos are for fighting games and rhythm games and not ARPGs. Your damage dealt should be determined by your chars stats/skills/reflexes/equipment etc. Combos should flow from you executing skills or using items in the right order to maximize your damage.

But if there is no depth to the skill system and not a lot of variety to the classes that is a big turn off for me. Hopefully I can still have some fun playing co-op with my daughter though.

 

[lunchtoast]

Good OP and impressions, thanks Heavy. I should get this game around Thursday for PS3. PSN lunchtoast if anyone is up for playing.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Not sure if this rings true for the console versions (probably) but do NOT give your AI party members items because they don't seem to receive and you lose the item. People have lost pre-order armor and weapons from this, lol. This is a bug and will be patched.

 

[Valnen]

(for some reason, Diablo 3 will have all of those but still review 95+)

You have no clue what you're talking about.

Anyway, I want to try this game. This will be a definite rental for me.

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

For whatever reason the PC version only allows you to manually configure the KB+M controls, leaving me to guess what all the buttons did when using a 360 controller (which the game otherwise fully supports and shows icons for in game). So, I went through the control list for Keyboard and here is what I could figure out are the equivalent controls when using a 360 controller:

Action = 360 / KB+M

Move = Left Stick / ADWS
Sprint = RB / Left Shift
Dodge = B / Space
Attack = X / Left Mouse Button
Special Attack = Y / Right Mouse Button
Block = LB / Left Ctrl
Aim = LT / Left Alt
Aim Toggle = ??? (I think this is exclusive to KB+M) / Mouse Wheel Up or Mouse Wheel Down
Aim Zoom = Click Right Stick (while Aiming) / Right Mouse Button (while Aiming)
Ranged Attack = RT (while Aiming) / Left Mouse Button (while Aiming)
Skills = Varies, see the picture bellow for more info / 1, 2 and 3
Call Eagle = RT+A / 4
Health Potion = D-Pad Right / 5
Power Potion = D-Pad Left / 6
Ally Attack Mode = D-Pad Up / C
Ally Defend Mode = D-Pad Down / Z
Context Action = A / E or Enter
Context Action (Secondary) = ??? / R
Character Menu = n/a / TAB
Equipment Menu = Back / U
Skills Menu = n/a / K
Stats Menu = n/a / O
Quest Menu = n/a / L
Item Menu = n/a / I
Via controller you always open the menu to the Equipment tab and then can cycle through them, whereas via KB+M you can instantly jump to the tab you want).
Current Quest = Click Right Stick / Q
Chat = ??? (I think this is exclusive to KB+M) / T

Other controls that aren't configurable via Keyboard Configuration:
Camera = Right Stick - Move the Mouse
Pause Menu = Start / Escape

Edit: I just got access to the PS3 version of the game and took this screencap. The buttons are the same for 360 controllers, just different button names (of course).




_____



How do the stats work for Andriel's magic bolts? Does increasing Dexterity make them deal more damage, or is that only for the Bow / Crossbows of the other class and increasing Will will make her blasts stronger?

 

[MattKeil]

I disagree considering he just characterised the cleric class as useless without even mentioning her support abilities.

Because in several hours of play with her, her cleric abilities were mostly pointless. The bubble shield is a nice idea but too small to effectively fight inside. The other two characters are survivable enough that my basic impression is that she's probably more useful if you go down the staff combat tree to make her more effective as a fighter and only use the support tree to work your way down to the group heal spell for the times its needed. Really the healing seemed superfluous considering the totally invulnerable roll move, which will get you out of 99% of the situations in which serious damage could be inflicted.

I get it, you're determined to like this game. Great, don't let me stop you. But I have played many, many dungeon crawlers, and this is not one of the good ones.

Not sure if this rings true for the console versions (probably) but do NOT give your AI party members items because they don't seem to receive and you lose the item. People have lost pre-order armor and weapons from this, lol. This is a bug and will be patched.

Yeah, they do seem to upgrade their equipment on their own as you progress, but they do not make use of anything you give them. I don't know how they upgrade themselves, it may just be automatic and related to the fact that every player in co-op gets his/her own loot drop from every chest. They might just be automatically gaining loot as I pick it up and they're auto-equipping the best stuff as the game progresses.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Because in several hours of play with her, her cleric abilities were mostly pointless. The bubble shield is a nice idea but too small to effectively fight inside. The other two characters are survivable enough that my basic impression is that she's probably more useful if you go down the staff combat tree to make her more effective as a fighter and only use the support tree to work your way down to the group heal spell for the times its needed. Really the healing seemed superfluous considering the totally invulnerable roll move, which will get you out of 99% of the situations in which serious damage could be inflicted.

I get it, you're determined to like this game. Great, don't let me stop you. But I have played many, many dungeon crawlers, and this is not one of the good ones.

What the hell? I mean thanks for the reply, that was actually the info I was after in the first place; but the last part is just absurd.

I usually play healers in co-op RPGs so the fact that this game had a cleric class stood out to me when I first heard about it, hence why I pointed out that you never even mentioned the fact that she's the support class and has healing/shielding spells. That's why I was disagreeing with FHA, because I would have expected that you would at least mention the fact that she has support abilities, briefly describe what they were, and how they stacked up in the grander scheme of things.

Of course you won't pay any attention to this feedback since apparently I'm just some random manchild who is determined to like a game.

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

Are items like the Urns, Goblets, Bracelets, Horns etc... useful for anything besides selling?

Potions have Useable in the description and other items say they are Craftable or Slottable. I'm guessing the only purpose for items without any designation is to be sold, would I be correct?

 

[Lord Phol]

I get it, you're determined to like this game. Great, don't let me stop you. But I have played many, many dungeon crawlers, and this is not one of the good ones.

Out of curiosity what games do you consider good "dungeon crawlers"?
Since most of your cons for this game also applies to snowblinds earlier ones, I assume we can count them out.

 

[Ken]

An hour into Fornost and I''m having fun with the combat. While it's not the best (how I wish it could be something like Arkham City with swords) it's enjoyable. Of course, I enjoy Dynasty Warrior games so that might have something to do with it.

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

I am enjoying the game, the combat is simple, yet satisfyingly smooth, with a 6 hit combo that then repeats flows back into hit 3 so it's continuous (at least that's how it is for Andriel, who is all I've played so far). You can use heavy strikes to deal critical damage with the enemy has a yellow arrow over their head (getting extra Exp). However, the game is certainly far from perfect.

Random criticisms from an hour or so of gameplay:

- As I mentioned before, in the PC version you can't customize controller inputs, only KB+M.
Edit: This carries over to the console version too. I just checked the PS3 one and this is shown when you go to the "Controller Layout" option (which is Keyboard Configuration option on PC).



- Since you can easily revive partners, in addition to the fact that the scope of her healing / guarding bubble is so small, I can see how the Andriel's clerical abilities can be useless at times.

- I hate when games like this don't show you you're current equipment when you are looking at new ones in a shop. It nice that it tells you if it will increase or decrease your stats, but it sucks to have to exit out and check your equipment to directly compare them. Then again, most of the time, the best equipment in these types of games are found as loot anyways so it's not TOO important, just more of a pet peeve.

- What I find is more of an annoyance is that when crafting items it tells you the name of what will be created but not what that item is. Ex: Hithlas + Elanor = Potion of Quickness, Hithlas + Carandol = Healing Cake and Hithlas + Naurivor = Victor's Brew. I know what those will make, but I have no idea what any of the 3 are until I actually make it and read it's item description.

- Lastly, your partners can block your movement. Ex: I'm in a pub and I want to go talk to someone, but they are in a small area and inbetween me and them is one of my partners. If there isn't enough space to walk around my partner then I have to move away from the area to get my partner to stop blocking my path.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

The shop thing sounds pretty annoying but the solid co-op buddies sucks. Even playing with mates that got old pretty fast in Dead Island.

 

[Mattdaddy]

Ok about an hour in and I'm enjoying it so far. It's easy to get into and the gear is a lot of fun to find and sort through. Combat is simple but has nice impact and bloodshed and umph to it, so its actually really satifying. Kinda reminds me of Space Marine in that regard.

My only complaint is this... as far I can tell you cant mute people or turn off incoming mic noise. I just played a game with a guy that I was having fun with, but I could hear all the sound from his game coming through about 2 seconds after mine. EVERYTHING, every whack, scream, line of dialogue, I had to hear it all repeat. Plus I could hear a kid talking in the background and some TV show going on. After about 15 minutes I had to turn it off cause it was driving me nuts, which sucked cause we were kicking ass.

Anyway, if there is a way to mute this please let me know! If not, Tina please tell them to work it in! Other than that I like it!

 

[Curufinwe]

I get it, you're determined to like this game. Great, don't let me stop you.

Could you be any more condescending?

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

Mattdaddy, I assume that was for one of the console versions right? Does anyone know if the PC version even has a built in voice chat or will I have to use something else when playing with some friends? I won't be able to test this until later tonight or tomorrow.

I ended up getting the PC version because of uncertainty from this so to answering my question from before about PS3 couch co-op:
- When the second player joins they select a system profile to use. While on the main menu they then can press square to select which of their own saves to load their character from and triangle to drop out.

- No trophies are earned by P2 when playing Split Screen.

 

[TouchMyBox]

GameInformer hated it, and they give 8s out like candy.

Aren't you confusing them with Eurogamer?

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Are items like the Urns, Goblets, Bracelets, Horns etc... useful for anything besides selling?

Potions have Useable in the description and other items say they are Craftable or Slottable. I'm guessing the only purpose for items without any designation is to be sold, would I be correct?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're just for selling. When you're at a vendor and go to the sell there's an option on that screen to "Sell all unessential and unusable items" and it automatically sells all that stuff.

 

[Mattdaddy]

Mattdaddy, I assume that was for one of the console versions right? Does anyone know if the PC version even has a built in voice chat or will I have to use something else when playing with some friends? I won't be able to test this until later tonight or tomorrow.

This was indeed the PC version, got it on Steam. I went through all the menus but I couldnt find any way to mute people or turn off incoming mic noise. I looked through the Steam forums and people were saying that the mics are always on, but I don't know if thats true or not. Anyway, Im not that familiar with using a mic so there may be some other way to get it turned off, but I couldn't figure it out. But getting barraged by peoples background noise got old quick haha. But to answer you question, yea there is built in voice chat, cause im not running any kind of program and I could hear everyone fine.

Other than that... if anyone is curious the drop in drop out is great. You basically create a game and start playing from where you left off, then people can search games in progress and see where you're at. Then they just drop in, pick a character not taken, and the action never skips a beat. It's really seamless and easy. Lots of loot so far, about an hour and a half in. You can trade loot to other players with a simple button press, so thats nice. Combat has a certain rhythm to it, but once you get it figured out arms and limbs and heads start flying and I did make the Commodus tongue roll face a couple times. Good stuff so far.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

The online co-op is great. I'm really enjoying the game. Put almost 5 hours in today, the last hour and a half with 2 other people. The game is actually pretty hard at times... like we die and need to get revived and stuff, and one time all 3 died and had to restart the area. The loot is still awesome. I don't think most people will regret their purchase... don't take my word for it or anything but I think most will like the game, especially if you play some online co-op but solo is good too. Overall, I don't agree with MattKeil about it being a bad game, not at all. He made a few good points that I agreed with but it's a good game and I'm having fun.

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

Anyone know what the 1.01 patch for the PS3 version did? Does it fix something that was a PS3 only issue or should there be a PC and 360 patch incoming shortly too?

 

[SnowblindTina]

Anyone know what the 1.01 patch for the PS3 version did? Does it fix something that was a PS3 only issue or should there be a PC and 360 patch incoming shortly too?

360 had a Title Update that pushed with launch as well.

It was bug fixes on all sides.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Tina, will the inventory bug be fixed or is that how the game was designed? I'm referring to giving items to your AI-controller party members and the items disappearing... I figure it's gotta be a glitch.

 

[SnowblindTina]

Side Note:

I'm not usually one to promote contests in Gaf, but we have one forum "contest" up here: http://www.warinthenorth.com/forums/showthread.php?14113-War-in-the-North-Show-us-how-you-play.

It's essentially a "take a picture of your rig or of you playing" thread and post it. So far, over 150 people have viewed the post but we are still submission-less.

The prize is a copy of our soundtrack on CD, so if it stays like this until Friday when it's over, just throw something in there... and bada bing, you've got yourself a free soundtrack.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Just saw the post at the official forums... apparently the inventory thing is not a bug:
http://www.warinthenorth.com/forums/showthread.php?14103-Serious-Inventory-Bug

There are three things in play here:
1) As Blair85 says, your player inventory is always your player inventory.
2) Also - the AI inventory is always the AI inventory. Giving an item to the AI inventory is like giving an item to a human player's inventory. It belongs to them now.
3) The other characters will always work in their best interest when the AI controls them. If you give your AI Dwarf a cool crossbow, but he finds an awesome crossbow, he will drop the cool one and use the new better stat item on his own.

I'm augmenting the FAQ with details on how this works, and should have it up by noon PT tomorrow when I'm back in the office.

I'll post it here (and in other item related threads) as soon as I get it up.

So be careful when giving the AI stuff...it's probably better to just sell it to the vendor. People have lost their pre-order bonus equipment this way, which must suck.

 

[.hacked]

My copy arrives tomorrow, I'll post a pic playing coop with my brother =)

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

360 had a Title Update that pushed with launch as well.

It was bug fixes on all sides.

Was there a PC update too then? I don't remember getting one when I played it.

 

[Yaboosh]

Just saw the post at the official forums... apparently the inventory thing is not a bug:
http://www.warinthenorth.com/forums/showthread.php?14103-Serious-Inventory-Bug



So be careful when giving the AI stuff...it's probably better to just sell it to the vendor. People have lost their pre-order bonus equipment this way, which must suck.

Oh man, losing your preorder items like that is nuts. There is no way to get it back?

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Oh man, losing your preorder items like that is nuts. There is no way to get it back?

no idea

I read something on the forum about plugging in a 2nd controller and doing this and that but that's only for consoles which can have local split-screen co-op...won't work for the PC version, and it's also a hassle to have to do that in the first place.

 

[Ken]

Oh man, losing your preorder items like that is nuts. There is no way to get it back?

I found a better sword than the Orc Greatsword from Amazon about 2 hours in so it's not a huge loss.

Some of the skill placements seem weird. Going down what seems to be the melee DPS tree for Eradan, there's a skill that gives a bonus to armor based on dexterity; this skill seems more suitable for the ranger tree than the champion (?) tree where I'm pumping STR instead of DEX.