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It was yesterday that I downloaded the Throne of Darkness Demo (110+ MB). I was looking forward to give it a try, but my disappointment was much higher then my expectations were. If you like Diablo, you won't like ToD. If you didn't like Diablo, you won't like ToD either.
What's wrong with what I saw in the demo? Well, basically the most obvious problem is that going with a group that you can barely control is no fun at all. You are in control of one character at a time, and while there are options to adjust the AI for the rest of the group, they will - in most cases - wander away from you into deadly situations. The readme doesn't tell you a lot about how to control them efficiently, and thus you run into problems pretty often.
The second grief I have with the game is that you probably should know a lot about japanese culture to know what you are picking up. I don't. I know that a dagger is weaker than a sword, but could I tell the difference between thing I can hardly pronounce? Nope. Again, this might get better with the manual, but it isn't something I'd call user friendly.
It takes some time until you get used to the interface, and it takes time to get used to the graphics. Sometimes it is hard to tell what you can pick up and what not, but the ALT key comes in handy here. Some aspects (like donations to the priest) didn't make sense to me even after reading the readme that came with the demo, so this again spoiled the game for me. And there are things that don't make sense in regards to gameplay. Sure, it takes time to fix things at the blacksmith - but does it really make sens that you'll have to wait more than 10 seconds for a robe to get fixed? It only breaks the flow of the game, and it doesn't add something to gameplay at all in the demo (since you only call the blacksmith when you are save, never during battles).
The graphics are quite pretty, but animations are a tad too fast for me. Opponents seem to fly like they are on speed, and it's hard to track things on screen sometimes.
All in all I have to say that I was disappointed by the demo. Maybe it takes some time to get into the game, but my first, initial impression is that I will be able to live without Throne of Darkness. Your mileage may vary - try the demo yourself... |
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Rend's Rants: Throne of Darkness
