Chia's EXTENSIVE Review! (WIP)

Writing this as i play along:

Played on patch 0.9.2g as of 22th Oct.2011


(++) - awsome
(+) - nice , can be improved
(-) - May need some reworking
(--) ^&*% is this


Specs:
Phenom II x4 955BE (B50 UL) @3.6Ghz
Biostar TA790GXE 180m
KVR 2x2GB
CF5850 (Removed 1 for testing purposes)
Seasonic Hx850w non-modular
Seagate 500GB
Acer S243HL (1900x1080)

getting 195-200FPS on FRAPS
[note from future me]GPU usage always at 99% ; not overheating , getting 100-150FPS.

First impressions[menu]:
Start screen music is too loud on default , edges of the ship could be brighter , overall nice feel of destitute
with fitting ambient music.


First impressions[options]:
Not many graphical options to fiddle on , nice mix of gameplay options though.Basic but effective.

First impressions[character selection screen]:
Nice transition from the bottom of the ship , characters NOT actually wearing end game armor(++) , nice

presentation of each charater with their own animation , overall 'humble beginnings' of each character represented

[improvements]
-Could be better if panning down the hatch of the ship
-Duelist looks too nice for someone being shipwreked


[Overall]:
Nice presentation for someone starting into the game for the first time , really sets the tone for the game (++)

Tone (++)
Menu animation (++)
Character presentation(++)


Verdict:
8.5/10


Going into the game with Duelist as my character.Invalid characters not using numerical or alphabetical listing (-)

no point doing this.

EPILOGUE[Story]:
Could use some driftwood/barrels/destoryed wooden stuff or seaweed in the water where you spawned since you
actually came crashing into an island.

EPILOGUE[Gameplay]:
Nothing too difficult for the new player , would be nice for the hillock to drop a blue weapon of your class (i.e
wands for witch , dagger for duelist etc.)Holding the middle mouse button should allow you to scroll through your map (-).Able to see average mob level (+)

EPILOGUE[Presentation]:
Still pretty dark and gritty with the hillock pulling a sword out of his chest and mauling the player (++)
UI is sleek and effective ; non-intrusive.Hot women chained to balls? OH YEAH(++).Should be able to zoom out to a farther POV (--).Skill tree should have a zoom out option (-)

[Overall]:

Hillock(++)
POV(--)
Skilltree(+)
UI(++)

Verdict:
8/10


-Shore Encampment-

[Presentation]:
6 bodies on the floor (++) , minor signs of thriving life.Barely barricaded against the mass of zombies and mobs trying to kill you.

[Improvements]:
Quest-giving guys could use some lines of 'Hey you , come over here' when in proximity of the player.Maybe a "(Q)" next to the dialog where a quest is given.Would be nice to include a few barely equipped guards just outside of both entrances.

Store:
Could use a compare option to what you already have.
((Future me: This section will be merged together with other sections so that it will be easier to identify
suggestions))
[Overall]
Presentation looks good , with people either dying or dead with little to offer.

Presentation(++)
Dead bodies(++)
Feels empty(-)

Verdict:
8/10



-Terraces-

[Presentation]:
Exploding barrels and seagulls (+) , same presentation as epilogue but with lots of unnaturally forming cliff-sides extending past the shore line which makes it look a little weird.


-MudFlats-
[Presentation]:
Nice change of scenery from the beach area with the always welcome addition of NEW ENEMEY TYPES , though it didn't really seem to require any kind of sophisticated method to beat it at this point other than brute force(+).Found it interesting that there are waterfalls in a swamp , its probably just scenic though.

[Story]:
At this point i have to collect shells to activate something on the wall , though i guess the inherent disadvantage of this would be that you could have missed the first few and have to backtrack all the way just for them (-).

[Gameplay]:
Upon finding said glyphs , it occupies some inventory space which could be a hassle later into the game where i would need those spaces to hold something else(--)
Improvement:
Quest specific inventory

[Latency]:
I've found the game starting to have lags that are larger than 4s which is big enough to result in teleporting enemies (myself included) and immediate health loss.I assume this is going to improve overtime so i guess its not a big deal right now.

[overall]
changing environments(++)
no quest specific inventory(--)
enemy types(+)
latency(--) [not considered in overall score]

Verdict:
7/10

-Tidal passage 1/2 ; flooded depths-
[Story]:
I think i WAS supposed to fight mirvel here , though this may be changed in the current build.(Notes from future me: Mirvel is the boss at the end of the first act)

[Presentation]:
The caves themselves carry a particularly 'hollow' feel to them , probably literally ; i didn't find anything
particularly there for decoration purposes in a place where stalagmites/stalactites would be a prime choice(-) ; adding the sound of dripping water would also be a nice touch.

Also lacking in animals such as snakes and bats (enemies or not) in a place where it SHOULD be more dangerous than the outside world.The caves themselves seems to be disproportionate to your own character either because they seem too small in places where you can walk or because your own model is too large for your own good(-).

Oh and the most criminally offensive thing you can leave out from this type of game is BACKGROUND TRANSPARENCY
because if you can't see high priority archetypes(mages , archers) , you would probably be dead soon after on
higher difficulty settings(--).

[Gameplay]:
The reducing light source as you get lower and lower on health was a nice touch.Though i forsee it being a little annoying if you are playing a 'tank' role as your health keeps getting higher and lower in a party(+).A shared FoV would probably fix this.

[Bugs]:
I've found on some instances where Tidal passage lv 2 would not be generated on the map , but resulted in 2
entrances/exits to mudflats(--) , needs to be fixed ASAP.It also seems that i am able to level up an active skill (Cleave) without using it , may be a bug(-).

[Overall]
Disproportionate(-)
No background transparency(--)
Bugged map generation(--)
hollow and cramped(=)
Reducded light source proportional to health (+)

Verdict:
4/10

-The ledge/rocky climb-
[Presentation]:
Not much i'd expect from a cliff-side area though it didn't give me the level of dread reminiscent of the previous

areas except for new enemies(and enemy types) trying to kill me and take my brains.Though it could use a few more decos such as encampments (roasting fire , half eaten food , shredded tents etc.) to give it a more mercenary feel.Maybe even a small outpost near the entrance to the lower prison , though the 'skeleton in cage' thing does serve the backdrop of the next area well(++).

If you look closely , the minimap actually has an outline of the building which was a nice touch(+).

-Lower Prison/The prison/Upper prison-
[Presentation]:
This is probably my favorite part since it included basically everything that was needed to be there , the sound , the design in each map 'chunk'(inc. mass halls , prison corridors and torture chambers) together with an
appitizing number of zombies roaming each corridor trying to convert you into their ranks(++).

Though i guess it could use more lightsources other than your own LoS since this IS a place where it would make
sense for some places to be illuminated with the small albeit still-burning candles/torches/shinystuffles of
yesteryears(-).

[Gameplay]:
Here we fight the second boss of Act 1 , Brutus.Though not as cool as his cousin the hillock , he does score style points by beating you to DEATH with his masochistic BDSM suitspiked fist gauntlets(+).Though not terribly challenging , he gets bonus points for whipping you to death with his own blood(+).

[Overall]
Everything a prison should be(++)
Esoteric feel(+)
ITSSODARK(-)
Brutus(++)

Verdict:
9/10

-Road to ship's graveyard-
[Presentation]:
It was as though i was telepathically speaking to one of the devs that abandoned campsites should be included ; and alas it was there!(+).Though the lack of the sense of 'barely escaping' was disappointing considering you just went through 3 level of prison without dropping your soap still alive and well chugging potions like a madman.

Maybe you could go all shawshank redemption style and escape through a hole in the wall which would DEFINITELY
persuade me to buy a Tim Robbins skin from the store.Was also hoping to find a gullitone somewhere along the road
with a box load of skulls though.

-Ship's graveyard-
[Story]:
Im supposed to get Wriggles Lantern for Gangplank(or equivalent) which would in turn somehow cause him and the rest of his to seek vengeance upon your soul unlike the once great captain that he was.(+)

[Presentation]:
SPOOOKY! That is all.Not really , the presentation hits the spot with your classic entourage of ghasts , wraiths , skeletons and all sorts of nasty stuff inbetween with pieces of wrecked ships and debris lying all around
(++).Although it sorely lacks in portraying the fact that its been there for a LONG TIME , the wood on most ships looks rather clean(albeit dark) when it would have made more sense for them to be decaying(-).

A nice addition would probably adding the "semi-transparent cloth effect" you would see in haunted houses which , in that case , is used to portray cobwebs.In this case , it could be anything ranging from worn out clothing from long-dead pirates or the torn white masts of ships that got destroyed here in the past century by violent storms off the coast of Wraelcrast.

[Overall]
Gangplank(+)
Atmosphere(++)
Art Direction(-)

Verdict:
8.5/10


To be continued after i can be assed to type another 1000 word essay on the game!Also , comments about balance will be for patch 9.3 onwards , which i will specify.

PICTURES TO BE ADDED SOON!

SCREENSHOTS!

Nice review Chia!

Maybe post some pics to go along with some of your claims?

Keep up the good work =)

-Foe

Nice stuff

Thanky for the review.

"

kj404 wrote:

I do not want to sound like a grammar Nazi or something, but why do you have too few or too many spaces after the dot's and the (,)? Maybe there was a error when/if you pasted your text into the forum?

Yes this happens because the area of the text is larger than the size of the notepad i had just copy and pasted to , i fixed it but apparently there are still some of them sticking up.

"

FoeHammer87 wrote:

Nice review Chia!

Maybe post some pics to go along with some of your claims?

Keep up the good work =)

-Foe

Eventually , i didn't take a lot of pictures during my play , but i will get to this though!

Yea but if you tried that, then you might have to go under the other thing.