It seems like it wasn't long ago when PC RPGs were dead in the water, around the mid-90s. Then came BioWare, Black Isle, Bethesda, Looking Glass, and a few others... and then the cycle of popularity turned once more, to be reborn later in the form of console hybrids and World of Warcraft. I found myself playing a Star Wars RPG on the Xbox and having more fun with an RPG than I had for a while on my own PC. Now my old school love is deep in the moat of financial reality, in a maturing industry where dollars must be made on blockbuster, multi-platform projects. So when I sit down with Dungeon Siege II, the context has change dramatically from when a game could be hardcore, only on the PC, and last for a ridiculous amount of gameplay hours. Given the straightforward, action RPG design of DS1, I was expected nothing more than a brief diversion from the summer doldrums -- a game that would probably be good enough to last me a little while until the holiday flood. Instead, I found myself knee-deep in an adventure that draws influence from my favorite games and butts heads with the new reality of heavily marketed, shorter experiences. All that said, Dungeon Siege II is not without its flaws. But at its core, it's quite a hoot.