Role-Playing Games: General

[KloudShun]

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InfiniteStates wrote:

I finally got around to watching that series of 4 trailers on the PSN store...

Some of the effects when bodies get splattered look a bit weak, but this game is looking awesome

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It really is looking awesome

Eurogamer have a video of footage from the demo, which you can find here.....

http://www.eurogamer.net/videos/dragons-dogma-demo-gameplay-footage

[OmegaPyrate]

Played the demo just a little while ago.  I just wish I was sober enough to judge proiperly. 

Seemed brill though- I'll decide again tomorrows

[Mikal_Drey]

I just played the demo and my overall impression is a little mixed.

Graphics : On the whole its a well presented game and there is no glaring issues with the look of it. No invisible walls and the effects are smooth and implemented as expected.   In the initial fight with the chimera there was a floating whirlpool which felt a bit disjointed (cast spell effect)  but it did not hinder game play.

Sadly there was nothing outstanding and it had no real wow factor.  Good implementation is still a strong design choice as wow effects and graphics often hide poor game play.  Its clean and as expected from a next gen game

Both quests were set in darkness (griffin felt like it was a bug ?) and the lamp was a realistic implementation (local illumination not magically illuminated the whole room)

UI : Probably one of the most important factors of a RPG and from what is available in the demo everything looks to be as expected. The menu system all feel fluid and intuitive enough to satisfy most users. 

The onscreen UI is pretty intrusive but it can be customized. However; the customization needs to be done from the main menu and not during game play. this is a shocking oversight and will most likely generate complaints as you will need to jump in and out of the game to get yourself set up. 

Mini map is good and no obvious issues. It can be rotated but there is only squad markers. I almost missed an npc but I still prefer to have npc's removed (not sure on enemy markers)  as it adds to the exploration and skill of an RPG. 

There are combat icons for your squad and the usual health bars. You cannot heal a squad member which is frankly quite odd but pawns and npc use their own items. The AI appears to be a little stupid when it comes to self preservation though.

Combat :  THERE IS NO AUTOLOCK !  Whilst this adds to the skill of the player there is a lot of onscreen data and with such a large group it becomes a huge untraceable melee. The camera (dual stick controls)  can also cause combat issues and I had to fight with the camera just to fight the griffin/goblins.  If there was a target lock without a weapon lock then it would make a huge difference. the griffin simply disappeared at times and I spent more time trying to track it than fight it :/

I liked the L1/R1 control as it made combat more fluid. The "rain of arrows" attack is awkward and will get a few complaints I reckon.  Pawn behavior is a bit odd and I never once felt like I was part of a team. I certainly wasn't the leader. Pawn Control is limited to Help, Go, Come. Pawns look to be heavily reliant on the AI.

General : Overall it was positive but there is a few things that have been implemented badly. 

To use anything from your inventory (think potions etc) you have to effectively pause the game. there is no single button press to drink a potion or turn your lamp on/off. 

You will need to keep the controls onscreen presence as item collection and world interaction gives you a subtle button highlight. This is nice but without it you will miss LOADS of stuff. Loot is pretty much invisible unless you notice the circle button highlight (very easily missed) 

There is the usual crafting (combine items) but the demo had very little to offer, although I crafted some dessicated herbs) Its hard to determine anything from the demo.

Character customization should be enough for most but again there is nothing new here. I assume clothing, skills, career etc is determined by in game choices and the customization is purely cosmetic.

Everything is pretty much as expected. There is no wow factor and this game will rely solely on the AI and success of the Pawn implementation.

[InfiniteStates]

Nice review Mikal, cheers. I can't wait to get home and try the demo for myself.

I really hope this game sells well and Capcom think there may be some point to a full blown next gen Monster Hunter for Western release. I like the fact that there is no lock. Monster Hunter doesn't have one either and it adds to the skill required IMO.

I'm a bit disappointed to see the demo only runs in a dark internal area. The real graphical pull from this game seems to be outside vistas and I think they wasted an opportunity there. Maybe they have draw distance issues they're still trying to iron out of the engine...?

[Dr_Kung]

Will give the demo a whirl in a moment.

[Dr_Kung]

Well, I'm sold. I seriously need a new TV though to play these things because I was straining my eyes trying to read the text on my 14" jobby.

I really liked the climbing things Shadow of The Collosus style. I really liked the character creation in it too, you can make anything from a bootleg Susan Boyle to your very own Wily Kit.

[Mikal_Drey]

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Dr_Kung wrote:

I really liked the climbing things Shadow of The Collosus style. I really liked the character creation in it too, you can make anything from a bootleg Susan Boyle to your very own Wily Kit.

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I didn't get that impression from the demo. Character creation felt basic but it certainly had a decent array of options.

My pawn offered to launch me at the griffin but I never got more than a feeble push (strength related maybe ?)   I never managed to climb anything either :/

I'll give the demo a few more runs and its been on my rental list for a few months )

I never saw any skill options or pawn AI options either the demo is very limited.

[InfiniteStates]

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Mikal_Drey wrote:

Both quests were set in darkness (griffin felt like it was a bug ?) and the lamp was a realistic implementation (local illumination not magically illuminated the whole room)

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Really? The second quest started in bright daylight for me... Although one time I took ages and it turned to night over the course of the fight which was pretty cool.

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Mikal_Drey wrote:

You will need to keep the controls onscreen presence as item collection and world interaction gives you a subtle button highlight. This is nice but without it you will miss LOADS of stuff. Loot is pretty much invisible unless you notice the circle button highlight (very easily missed) 

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It tells you what item you are standing over in a reasonably sized notification, so you are not purely reliant on the highlighted circle option. Items also glow although it isn't hugely noticable, I agree. Plus, just running around corpses spamming circle works

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Mikal_Drey wrote:

Everything is pretty much as expected. There is no wow factor and this game will rely solely on the AI and success of the Pawn implementation.

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The first room with the big dragon in was cool, and the Griffin arriving at the goblin fight was also very cool. But I guess it's all subjective.

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Mikal_Drey wrote:

My pawn offered to launch me at the griffin but I never got more than a feeble push (strength related maybe ?)   I never managed to climb anything either :/

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I couldn't even get the pawn to interact, but I didn't try very hard - I was too busy shooting arrows, stabbing, healing pawns or running sideways.

To grab the monsters, jump at them and press (and hold) R2 I think it is... It works great on the Chimera, but don't do it for long on the Griffin...

My minor gripes: I think the pawns are far too chatty and often just talk over each other. I find then mid-action cutscenes can be annoying too. And the subtitles are pretty intrusive and inconsistent. But all told, it's a pre-order for me.

P.S: any MH fans should feel right at home here - same rules apply: monster facing you - run sideways, monster not facing you - slap it

[Animavore]

The demo was a bit weak I thought. I was hoping for a KoA style demo to really get a feel for the game.

The lack of a lock-on system bothers me slightly. They could easily give it a[i]Dark Souls[/i] style lock system on R3. It would be nice if I could roll too.

I like the graphical style. It may not 'wow' but what RPG does?

Going by these excellent vids from OXM explaining the pawn system and skill sets I probably will be getting it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEsVmmXQqWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c8krHCKHDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrCiV4LOYk4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYToNIOIA3o

[Animavore]

From what I can make out from the website, trailers and previews there appears to be a very small number of enemy types. Now I may be spoiled by Dark Souls but I would expect at least 60 different enemy types. This seems to have a third of that.