Game of Thrones Previews
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Game Rant:
In terms of gameplay, the experience will feel very similar to the Dragon Age series -- with careful thought given to how each of the characters in a player's party interact and work together. Much of the standard RPG foundation is present -- such as inventory, leveling and skill tree systems, etc.
A stand-out feature of the combat system -- the careful choice of '˜Action Slots'. These slots are activated by pressing L1 and selecting an item or skill from the (Belt.) As more skills are unlocked and learned, they can be added to the belt and used in combat -- provided the character has enough energy to do so. When pausing to choose which action to perform next, time will slow down, enough to give the player a chance to think, while still moving forward with the action at hand.
We Got This Covered:
Most of the pre-release screenshots we've seen from this game haven't done it justice, because they've been quite dark. Although cellars and dungeons will play their darkened role, the employed visual engine handles their lack of light quite well. In action, this iteration of Game of Thrones manages to capture not only the dark themes of its source, but also its beauty. The environments I saw (and sometimes walked through thanks to a Dualshock 3 controller) were both detailed and colourful, with a lot of the latter pop coming from flowers.
As I watched and played, the amount of choice made available to fans became noticeable. Conversations could be altered based on selected responses, greatly affecting their results. For example; upon finding lawbreakers, I was able to decide whether to be forgiving or ruthless. By choosing to not let them get away with their misguided deeds, a combat situation was created. However, that's just one time where choices affected gameplay, as several others were noticed. I don't want to get into too many specifics though, because spoilers suck. Just know that the straight-forward conversation system of yesteryear is not employed here, leading to a more personalized experience.
