quote:

---

Originally posted by Arcadia
I'd actually left Wiz 8, and instead replayed Atari's Greyhawk TOEE. Later, I found out abt the patch I cud download (thx)

Do that, it cetainly don't demand so much strategic challenges as W8

and I agree with both ur comments abt Arnika Rd. Actually, I wud go further - that not only is Arnika Rd unbalanced, it's so right from the Monastery to where I find myself now - Marten's Bluff. The battles are not necessarily tough, although a few of them are - strangely, I find some of the boss fights surprisingly easy, while those with lesser creatures can be more challenging.

Instead of complaining about a unbalanced game, then try to see it as a challenge instead, where everything doesn't have to be like a walk in the park. Arnika road can be tough the first time you enter it for newbies, as your party is still low level and have to be more carefull about which fights to pick. But with just a little skill in party movement (running) and Compass observations, you can avoid almost all fights on the road, i've travelled through Arnika Road or the Swamp many times without a single fight, just by manoeuvering around the monster groups.

No, what bugs me is the gameplay - personally, I find it skewed. First, there's the spawn rate - u often can't walk 100 yds (maybe less) w/o running into something. And, on many occasions, u find as soon as u finish a battle, another grp of monsters set upon u, giving u no opportunity to find camp, or for that matter, to explore. Does anyone honestly want to crush bats, wasps, and golems every other minute? I find I just quit and reload the game when it gets too grindingly repetitive.

Spawning rate is fairly high on certain places, and it's normally not an good idea, just to walk out in the middle of an area, unless you want to fight your party up a couple of levels, instead you should sneak around the borders of the area. Personally I find it much much more interesting that you sometimes have to make the more cautious approach in an new area, instead of just wandering concernless into the middle, and be able to fight everything easily off. I recommend playing diablo2, TOEE, PST if you don't want to be bothered with to challenging fights.

Then, there's this other thing - playing catch up. Sometimes, the last surviving baddie in combat will flee, or when u inflict say, blind status on them, they most certainly will. It then takes an eternity to catch and kill them off. Monsters here can basically run forever, and hv inexhaustible stamina (ur party doesn't). One can of course abandon pursuit, but then, the beastie is just probably going to be lurking around the corner, sneaking up on u shud u camp. Personally, I like to finish them all off in one go.

Yes, strange behavior that a baddie would flee from a battle, where he/it/she is wounded and outnumbered. Annoying, yes!?

Another thing is. though, I find this more amusing than annoying - anyone noticed that the bad guy's spells can somehow reach around corners, damaging ur party, while ur spellcasters can't do the same to them?. In fact (I really hv a good laugh over this), on occasions, my spellcaster's spell wud backfire spectacularly (magic missiles, I think) and fried herself and half her party?! LOL The other status effects spell can be just as suspect too. And yes, I've invested a good no of skill points in those spell classes.

Some spells are "area" spells, and don't need direct targets, but will work in a certain radius around spell target, like fireballs etc. Unless you choose a green coloured power degree for you spell, there are always a change that a spell will backfire.

I don't know, maybe I'm missing something here. This isn't a bad game, certainly not the worst. Perhaps it wud grow on me the longer I play, and I hope it does, but right now, I wudn't call it great.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joeman
Well, since microsoft is forcing everyone to make console games, I doubt that will ever happen any time soon.

---