Just Say NO!
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 3:43 pm
I am just wondering if anyone else feels as violated by this bastardization of the Forgotten Realms RPG series as I do? It appears as if the developers spent little time, money, or effort in building this continuation of the Icewind Dale story.
Prepare for Random Rant.
5 4 3 2 1
Music - In non-combat it plays for about 6 seconds in two or three spots and then stops. While playing you wish they had expanded it to the rest of the gameworld.
Voiced Dialogue - Good Voice Acting, but giving a massive amount of it all at once in only a few widely spaced encounters is terrible! I wanted to listen but when you see the paragraphs of text, and the story line was so weak, it was agony.
Story - What story, we can string a bunch of useless sites together and end with the same areas as the first game. Trust me, it'll work.... NOPE!
Maps - Quantity will dazzle them from realizing that they are overly simplistic, useless single path, linear setups.
Game Design - A poor adaptation of the 3rd edition rules to say the least. So many holes, that all the quality leaked through. They seem to forget that each +1 "to hit and damage" bonus equates to a +2 in STR. This lack of balance is exemplified by the +5 Rings of Wisdom (Every GOD Ring - a ridiculous concept!) but only a lousy +1 to Int (multiple, non-stackable items).
No real ARMOR until the end! WTF!!!!????? Oh ya, if you look at the #s (to hit, and actual hits on opponents) in the game you will realize that the enemies are cheating all the time. They have stats that are not possible with their equipment level.
NO MAGIC FOR WIZARDS. Ok, this is not exactly the truth, but I was constantly getting two or three levels above being able to cast a spell before finding ANY spell at that level. I was able to cast 8th level spells before finding my FIRST 7th Level Spell! I did not 'build' my characters up with non-'story' encounters, and ended this POS at approx. Level 16.
No decent magic items until the last chapter. Then you get dumped on! Somebody feeling guilty??? Went from +2 to +5 (or better!) in about 1 hour.
Motivation - If you played the earlier game you were probably hoping to see statues or some mention at least, but no... in fact you were almost forgotten!!! Wandered into the tundra and were never seen again (probably killed by kobolds!). Really makes you feel good about taking the paladinic path (good).
Teleporting Waves of enemies - How to turn your PC into a console in three easy steps! Pathetic DMing!
Ambushes (almost omnipresent) at the start of the map so that you (only) cannot have a horde to balance out the odds. The enemy is often waiting for you at the start of a new map and they are ready to go.
Fighter/Cleric/Mages - Most of your named enemies seem to be about level 20 in all three of these classes! 200+ HP with full arsenals of spells?!?! in HEAVY PLATE???!?!?!?! (based on their AC)
All the crap - All the crap that you have to pick up (gems and arrows/bolts). Talk about wasted time - but you need to do it for the money. I want my time back!
EVERTHING IS TRIGGERED AREAS - most of the game is set up with triggered areas. Enemies just appear (not teleports as covered above) once you get to that trigger (even if you are invisible and non-detectable!!). POS
Cut Scenes - 1) Non-escapable 2) Boring 3) Mostly containing useless info 4) SLOW
Modified Spells - Wizards are useless in this game! Aside from the above-mentioned lack of spells, and the lack of Int. boosting items, Druids and Clerics can now cast the same spells (or ones that approximate them). Yep, that's a good idea...
Lack of basic equipment in the early game (cannot even buy it), lack of anything remarkable in the center of the game, and about 80% of all new items in the last few hours.
Oh ya, Animate Dead, haste them (if you wish), cast improved invisibility on them, then cast invisibility (sphere) on all your PCs (the enemies know where you are - no perception checks! unless you are INVISIBLE). Have one character travel with them so that you can see the enemy, and the Army of Invisible Darkness will rip them apart with no retaliation. Just sit back and collect the XP. Play-testing anyone?
Little XP for role-playing. Almost all for the hack and slash.
No role-playing opportunities. With a 15+ diplomacy I could not actually influence any of my discussions! It was always a fight! Boring...
Finally, and the best, NO XP FOR MINIONS! The petulant children that designed this game decided to throw waves of NO XP creatures at you and then not reward you for them. The logic that one monster is the same as an army of them is about as twisted as the logic that is displayed in story of the game. This is even more annoying when they use them as the vanguard for powerful enemies casting in the background. There should be a cumulative bonus to XP based on the number and relative strengths of enemies. A 1000 goblin army can still kill a 20th level fighter, but he will not get any XP for it?
I could go on, but I have wasted enough time on this game already. I am writing this to see if other feel the same so that we can send a message that this will not be tolerated, especially since this is essentially just a MOD on the original game. BG2, Neverwinter, IWD, they all had decent game development even if they had a few bugs in the code. So are we going to let them regress to this or are we going to demand a return to the quality of the previous games?
Prepare for Random Rant.
5 4 3 2 1
Music - In non-combat it plays for about 6 seconds in two or three spots and then stops. While playing you wish they had expanded it to the rest of the gameworld.
Voiced Dialogue - Good Voice Acting, but giving a massive amount of it all at once in only a few widely spaced encounters is terrible! I wanted to listen but when you see the paragraphs of text, and the story line was so weak, it was agony.
Story - What story, we can string a bunch of useless sites together and end with the same areas as the first game. Trust me, it'll work.... NOPE!
Maps - Quantity will dazzle them from realizing that they are overly simplistic, useless single path, linear setups.
Game Design - A poor adaptation of the 3rd edition rules to say the least. So many holes, that all the quality leaked through. They seem to forget that each +1 "to hit and damage" bonus equates to a +2 in STR. This lack of balance is exemplified by the +5 Rings of Wisdom (Every GOD Ring - a ridiculous concept!) but only a lousy +1 to Int (multiple, non-stackable items).
No real ARMOR until the end! WTF!!!!????? Oh ya, if you look at the #s (to hit, and actual hits on opponents) in the game you will realize that the enemies are cheating all the time. They have stats that are not possible with their equipment level.
NO MAGIC FOR WIZARDS. Ok, this is not exactly the truth, but I was constantly getting two or three levels above being able to cast a spell before finding ANY spell at that level. I was able to cast 8th level spells before finding my FIRST 7th Level Spell! I did not 'build' my characters up with non-'story' encounters, and ended this POS at approx. Level 16.
No decent magic items until the last chapter. Then you get dumped on! Somebody feeling guilty??? Went from +2 to +5 (or better!) in about 1 hour.
Motivation - If you played the earlier game you were probably hoping to see statues or some mention at least, but no... in fact you were almost forgotten!!! Wandered into the tundra and were never seen again (probably killed by kobolds!). Really makes you feel good about taking the paladinic path (good).
Teleporting Waves of enemies - How to turn your PC into a console in three easy steps! Pathetic DMing!
Ambushes (almost omnipresent) at the start of the map so that you (only) cannot have a horde to balance out the odds. The enemy is often waiting for you at the start of a new map and they are ready to go.
Fighter/Cleric/Mages - Most of your named enemies seem to be about level 20 in all three of these classes! 200+ HP with full arsenals of spells?!?! in HEAVY PLATE???!?!?!?! (based on their AC)
All the crap - All the crap that you have to pick up (gems and arrows/bolts). Talk about wasted time - but you need to do it for the money. I want my time back!
EVERTHING IS TRIGGERED AREAS - most of the game is set up with triggered areas. Enemies just appear (not teleports as covered above) once you get to that trigger (even if you are invisible and non-detectable!!). POS
Cut Scenes - 1) Non-escapable 2) Boring 3) Mostly containing useless info 4) SLOW
Modified Spells - Wizards are useless in this game! Aside from the above-mentioned lack of spells, and the lack of Int. boosting items, Druids and Clerics can now cast the same spells (or ones that approximate them). Yep, that's a good idea...
Lack of basic equipment in the early game (cannot even buy it), lack of anything remarkable in the center of the game, and about 80% of all new items in the last few hours.
Oh ya, Animate Dead, haste them (if you wish), cast improved invisibility on them, then cast invisibility (sphere) on all your PCs (the enemies know where you are - no perception checks! unless you are INVISIBLE). Have one character travel with them so that you can see the enemy, and the Army of Invisible Darkness will rip them apart with no retaliation. Just sit back and collect the XP. Play-testing anyone?
Little XP for role-playing. Almost all for the hack and slash.
No role-playing opportunities. With a 15+ diplomacy I could not actually influence any of my discussions! It was always a fight! Boring...
Finally, and the best, NO XP FOR MINIONS! The petulant children that designed this game decided to throw waves of NO XP creatures at you and then not reward you for them. The logic that one monster is the same as an army of them is about as twisted as the logic that is displayed in story of the game. This is even more annoying when they use them as the vanguard for powerful enemies casting in the background. There should be a cumulative bonus to XP based on the number and relative strengths of enemies. A 1000 goblin army can still kill a 20th level fighter, but he will not get any XP for it?
I could go on, but I have wasted enough time on this game already. I am writing this to see if other feel the same so that we can send a message that this will not be tolerated, especially since this is essentially just a MOD on the original game. BG2, Neverwinter, IWD, they all had decent game development even if they had a few bugs in the code. So are we going to let them regress to this or are we going to demand a return to the quality of the previous games?
