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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
So I got the game last week.
Not being impressed much by the demo (now is the right time to ask me why did I get the game) it just ... was there for several days, until last Friday I got bored by Disciples - Rise of the Elves and decided to give it a go.
Now I just finished it (I have 1 or 2 minor quests to finish, as well as reload, and try the other endings, but the major part is over) and I still wonder on this topic - Why did I enjoy this buggy and unoptimized game?
Don't get me wrong - the game turned out pretty good, unlike the demo. The atunement system actually is quite nice (there's plenty of attunements even for ranged combat), the grafics are pretty good (I still think that 2D with isometric view is the right thing for an RPG of anykind) and the storyline is at least acceptable.
On the other hand we have the worst inventory I have seen in an RPG for quite some time. So we have a basic inventory with 18 (or 16 I'm not entirely sure) spaces , and for further maximisation - containers, varying from 4 spaces to some quite huge. Basically, that's not bad, but given that at any given time the items in the bags and other inventory containers are not accessible by the quick buttons, quest items are not being regocnized by NPC and, worst of all, you cannot access this containers at a merchant, makes the whole inventory management a quite tedious job. To further the problem, there are some bugs definately, and at somepoints, the whole bags are wiped out of the items inside, after you load a quick save. It happened ot me once, in Kyalisar, and at least twice (the 2nd time being right after I returned from the Reliquilary with a one and a half Sura bags full of loot, and that made me not having the whole 100 000 GPs for the last Warlord Attunement) at the Black Root (or black whatever it was) Fortress. In the major bugs secttion, an honorable mention is devoted to the sweet bug, that crashed me to desktop, when I was trying to save my game the normal way (not a quick save), the bug, that crashed my game when completing quests in the Black Root Fortress (happened twice, I think this one is related to the prevous bug, but I am not sure, but both have happened in that fortress).
(edit - just found out that there is a patch that is supposed to fix the inventory bugs)-
Continuing on the negative side, the engine is terrible. The game looks good, but at what cost? On my system (not very good, I admit, but it is not supposed to be that good to run Kult) with all grafical optioned turned off, it is still lagging hard, the loading times are unbearably long, the average FPS was between 5 and 15 (if I can rely on the ingame FPS counter).
On a another side note, the game is rather short. I was able to finish through the main quest in less than 30 hours on the 1st difficulty, and that includes the loading times (no, I am serious, when in Kyallisar the loading of the main city area is about 2 minutes, and the changing of areas is quite often), all the trading (selling 4 full Sura bags in the fastest way that I discovered - drop the full bag on the ground near the merchant and then pick up everything again, and then sell it) takes about 20 minutes). I doubt that it will wield more gameplay on higher difficulty.
Also, there is the lack of any map, except that of the continent.
Nevertheless, the game was enjoyable. The quests are rather interesting, although some are rendered tedious due to the already mentioned loading times (what's the point in reloading b/n different areas of Kyallisar for 20 minutes for a ring that is common drop 20 minutes later?). The combat mechanics (all skills except magic spells are passive, and magic spells cost no mana, just take time to recharge) are nice, and the combat is rather enjoyable.
The verdict - the game is nice, but definately not worth 40 Euros. Wait for the bargain edition. |
Tue Oct 26, 2004 9:19 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
My copy only arrived yesterday, so I still have a LONG way to go. However, I have no problem selling things from bags to a merchant. Perhaps that was fixed too by the patch. I did have one CDT when resting. Still, I'm finding it an enjoyable game. I think with more money and resources, this could have been a classic.
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If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Wed Oct 27, 2004 8:28 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Until the patch, the bags were a pain in the ass.  Also agree with the rest but I had no crashes or slow-downs.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:59 pm |
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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
Maybe you got a better machine than me, Dhuin. |
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Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:31 pm |
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GokYabguHan
Head Merchant
Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 62
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Try to disable dinamic lights in the graphics menu. This makes a very big difference in performance. |
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Sun Oct 31, 2004 9:47 pm |
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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
I did disable all grafical options (I even forced 16-bit textures or whatever) except run it in a window.
Another thing i start wondering is where are my 6 endings. I got only 3 (depending on the three choises at the end of the game SPOILER -
Spoiler:
destroy the sword/become High Inquizitor, give to Cantrissa/become the High Priestess, keep it/become the 2nd Theocrat.
End of SPOILER Any insight on how are the rest of the endings are unlocked (in my opinion there are virtually no choises in the quest in the game, but I may be mistaken, so that they may influence anything. |
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Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:55 pm |
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crpgnut
Captain of the Guard
Joined: 22 May 2002
Posts: 197
Location: St. Louis |
I ran this game on a fairly old system and it ran fine. I ran it at work on a P4 1.5 ghz machine with a generic sound card and a generic 64 meg video card.
It runs nicer on my home machine, but it ran fine on this setup too.
The 1.1 patch definitely fixes the container issue except that merchants and questgivers still don't recognize quest items if they're in a bag. You can sell from the containers though, which is nice.
This game was a nice surprise. It's not the greatest thing out there but it is fairly well done. I just wish they could find an American/UK publisher.
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'nut |
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Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:41 pm |
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