GameBanshee Forums

The Gone Gold notice was postedhere by bgaum from DC, in which he noted a May 4th release date ...

Excellent!

Mike

...Or at any rate, it will be interesting to see how things turn out. I have severe reservations about yet-another action RPG, especially one by a developer whose last effort was, IMO, pretty poor. But as I say--we'll just see.

Well from what i have heard about the game and from the shops i have been trying to get here in NJ, seems that there is no hype about the game. 3 of the shops i go to won't carry the game. Another 2 say i can order it and they may have a limited supply of it.

Over all it seems people either echo Fable's concerns or that the media blitz has been non-existant.

In all fairness, I should point out that Buck has an entirely different perspective on the developer. But apparently the publisher for the title isn't giving it the kind of push that Bradley had for his last product--and that didn't sell well, at all.

I have no doubt it will be a good game. Thus i want to play it though i haven't played any other Action RPGs out there. I just feel that even though it may be a great game it isn't going to get the acclaim in needs. Games like TOEE were very hyped up about and well it sucked. It was a waste of my money really.

[quote="fable]Anyone else tried the demo?[/quote"]I have played the demo a bunch. And I like it - I like the 'Gothic' feel of the environment combined with the 'Jedi Knight II' feel of the combat. There are many things wrong with the demo - it is unfortunate that they were forced to repack the 'press build' into a demo, without calling it a 'test demo' or something.

I will be grabbing it when it hits my local EBGames tomorrow ... and will certainly give my impressions here.

Mike

Does the game feel more like an action title, with plenty of twisting, turning, running and attacking, or is it more like Morrowind: stand still, think your moves over with the inventory screen up, then hit with a sword or whatever? Is it a twitchfest, or an RPG in terms of combat?

I ordered two copies of Dungeon Lords today sent overnight, so I'm hoping to have it tomorrow. Several of the stores in my area aren't carrying it, so I figured online ordering is the best way to go.

It's too bad it isn't being marketed better - I have yet to see one online advertisement for it and the game is starting out at a budget price of only $39.99. While it could certainly fall short of its "claimed" 40 hours of play time, why would it sell for $10 cheaper than other RPGs that only have 10-20 hours of play time? I personally feel the reduced price just makes it look like a low budget title and won't get it any more sales than $49.99 would... maybe even less.

The demo certainly had its share of problems, but it was compiled months before it was even released, so I'm hoping the final product has a lot more polish to it. I'm due for a good fantasy RPG fix, so I'm willing to give Dungeon Lords a shot. It has a lot of features that I like, especially the multiplayer cooperative aspect, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be the first to admit it if I was wrong, though =).

[QUOTE=Buck Satan]It's too bad it isn't being marketed better - I have yet to see one online advertisement for it and the game is starting out at a budget price of only $39.99. While it could certainly fall short of its "claimed" 40 hours of play time, why would it sell for $10 cheaper than other RPGs that only have 10-20 hours of play time? I personally feel the reduced price just makes it look like a low budget title and won't get it any more sales than $49.99 would... maybe even less.[/quote]

This makes me uneasy. Whenever a publisher releases a game from an outside developer at a budget price--especially a bigname item--from past experience an alarm goes off in my head that says "Not all is okay at the ranch, pal." If the title was molten gold, it would be promoted heavily and sold at premium price. Still...

There have been articles about how many good games have moved to the '2nd tier' price scale - like Rid****, and others I can't think of right now. It isn't a bad sign.

BTW - I have it, and just played a bit.

Mike

[QUOTE=txa1265]There have been articles about how many good games have moved to the '2nd tier' price scale - like Rid****, and others I can't think of right now. It isn't a bad sign.
[/QUOTE]

When they're just being released, *and* with practically a complete absence of publicity?

Well, I received the two copies of Dungeon Lords I ordered and was planning to play the game for just a few hours last night. After loading up a co-op game with a friend of mine, though, addiction set in and we didn't stop playing until the early hours of the morning (much to the disappointment of my wife...). Now, I don't know what everyone's RPG interests are, but I was pleasantly surprised with this game. In fact, I'd take a gaming session with Dungeon Lords any day before the action-title-that's-advertised-as-an-RPG, Jade Empire.

Why aren't more developers making non-massively multiplayer RPGs? Dungeon Lords feels like an MMORPG but without all of the drawbacks. You can actually play through the game's storyline, affect the game world, and build up a completely unique character from a large variety of skills with up to seven friends as your party members. I think eight players would be a little much for anything but a PvP session, but two players going through cooperatively is a blast.

After Wizards & Warriors, I was expecting quite a few bugs. While the game does have a few quirks, I haven't seen anything show-stopping so far. The multiplayer aspect feels very solid - we didn't have a single crash in eight hours of playing over the LAN last night. I did notice that you can sell certain items to shopkeepers and they don't get removed from your inventory, but I don't consider the ability to obtain massive amounts of gold a terrible bug since you can simply choose not to do it.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good fantasy RPG, give this game a try. Don't let the real-time action-oriented combat scare you off. The character customization is very good, the class system is exceptional, and the storyline is more than enough to keep you interested.

Even though I can't tear myself away from this game (it's extremely fun), I have definitely noticed a few more bugs. It appears that the automap feature doesn't work at all and my loading times between "zones" seems to be increasing on a regular basis. Also, while tinkering with a new character, I realized that changing a character's appearance is impossible. The slider bars are present during character creation to change your character's features, but you can't click on them. It seems very strange that the game would ship without the automap and character customization features enabled.

Regardless, though, that isn't stopping me. If they release a patch right away to take away these initial problems, this game is golden. I haven't enjoyed this much freedom to roam about a huge RPG fantasy world since Ultima VII. It's enormous! This game should not be overlooked, especially for those who prefer nonlinearity.

Thanks for the short review Buck, this really changes my opinion. When I played the demo my first impression was: "Another Diablo II-Clone turning 3D". Nevertheless I'm going to wait for the more detailed GB review and some other reviews. 39 $ is 39 $....and I'll have to pay 39 €, which is even more.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good fantasy RPG, give this game a try. Don't let the real-time action-oriented combat scare you off.

So those of us who are twitch-challenged and don't like lots of fast action aren't going to have problems?

[QUOTE=fable]So those of us who are twitch-challenged and don't like lots of fast action aren't going to have problems?[/QUOTE]
The combat isn't terrible, but there is no pause functionality so you have to be on your toes to an extent. I don't think you'll have any problems fighting the game's regular beasts, but the tougher adversaries (like the Fire Drakes) require some fancy footwork to dodge their fire breath. Of course, you can you the 1-8 keys to pull up spells and to use potions and the "Q" key to switch between melee and ranged, which makes it a little easier to play real-time.

And as for the spell system, I really like it. There are different types of magic - Arcane, Celestial, Nether, and Rune, all of which are cast a little differently. For example, Nether Magic requires you to either buy or find reagents (from shopkeepers and defeated monsters) and combine them together in particular orders to make the spells. There are a LOT of different reagents and you don't know which combinations make which spells until you learn them in your travels. It's definitely a game of discovery.

I can't wait to get my own copy and my PC back. Thanks for the reviews though i am waiting for to arrive here so i can start playing.

How is the story line so far? As good as it is said to be? The level of the quests standard like the same old boring stuff in other RPGs or are they some new and unqiue stuf? Nothing spoilerish please

[QUOTE=fable]So those of us who are twitch-challenged and don't like lots of fast action aren't going to have problems?[/QUOTE]
How did you do with Gothic I/II, Morrowind, Blade of Darkness and Jedi Knight II? I know the last two aren't RPG's, but they are the 'combat inspiration' for DL.

I like the game, and see a game I could love ... but there are needs for fixes, which I know are being worked on ...

Mike

[QUOTE=txa1265]How did you do with Gothic I/II, Morrowind, Blade of Darkness and Jedi Knight II? I know the last two aren't RPG's, but they are the 'combat inspiration' for DL.
[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't say they were. All of them are action RPGs, but Morrowind is a simple "stand and swing." I manage that perfectly well. On the other hand, I gave up in disgust on Gothic I and II; I like both games for their dialog and feel, but I simply couldn't do the combat. It's very different from MW's. And I'm completely unfamiliar with Blade of Darkness, or Jedi Knight II. From what I've been given to understand, the latter is completely action-oriented. I play RPGs. So within the field of what I know, there is a wide divergence in the way combat is applied.

Note, too, that Morrowind stops the game if you open the inventory. Dungeon Lords does not. That's a second big difference.

[QUOTE=fable]Note, too, that Morrowind stops the game if you open the inventory. Dungeon Lords does not. That's a second big difference.[/QUOTE]
I know that in Single Player mode Dungeon Lords *does* pause in any menu screen. But the combat action is pretty hectic and hairy at times.

Mike