Game News Sacred demo hits the interweb - Part II

[Whipporowill]

Tags: Ascaron Entertainment; Sacred

Yes kids, what you have been discussing these last few days has come true! The english version of Ascaron's Sacred is upon us. Wheter this is the reported europan english gorefest, or the nerfed american english walk in the park, remains unclear at the time of this post.
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Head on over to <A href="http://www.rpgdot.com" target=_blank>RPGDot</A> for a conclusive list of <A href="http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php#25773" target=_blank>demo mirrors</A>.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</A>

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Awesome. Thanks for the scoop. Downloading now. Opinions will be forthcoming.

 

[Trash]

Been trying to get that friggin german version all day....and now I find the english one on a dutch mirror. 21 minutes and counting!

I heard some comparissons between this game and divdiv, we'll see.

 

[Whipporowill]

Whadyaknow... this is a pretty decent game after all!

But... when I tried to take a screenie of my l337 gladiator, he wound up without a head! Freaky rendering... :shock:

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

I'm pretty pleased with it so far. The thing that gets me is there is an option to turn off the gore in the game itself. Why can't they just have it default to off for the american release so that those of us who are not afraid of blood can turn it on?

I really like the dress up system too. Nicely done. Definitely a gorgeous game. And fun as hell. I wish they would have let us choose the mage though so we could see some serious magic in action.

 

[Barghest]

I liked the demo. Reminded me of Divine Divinity...

It'll be interesting to find out how they implement the 'evil' characters in the storyline (The Dark Elf & the Vampiress)

 

[Whipporowill]

I'm having fun - just realized horsies have different running speed, so I bought a faster pony. Giddeap!

Hm. Btw - the demo is HUGE, with a guaranteed 10ish hour play, considering I've played for 4 and there's supposedly a whole different part for the Seraphim, but maybe that's just the quests? Hm.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

From what I've seen so far, the two different characters have sort of a main/side quest that is different depending on who you choose. That's a nice little touch really. And, yes, I've managed to put alot of exploration in. Looking at the main map, the world is actually quite huge. Especially considering the map doesn't include the volume of dungeons that are sure to be there. I'm really liking this game alot. It's nice to see something come along that can actually contend with D2. This one has my vote.

 

[Peacedog]

If you head west long enough, the shareware demon attacks you and the game ends. You can't do a certain escort quest as far as I know (but myabe that one is more northernly).

The Seraphim has one different quest - the "why you are here" I guess. For her, you have to rid the monastery of some nasty pirates. The Gladiator is actually fighting in the arena, and you have to win a fight. The Seraphim's first combo she gets seems waaaaay to powerful. It delivers multiple hits to several enemies if they are in range. Much, much better than what the Gladiator got.

I found these weird "wings" for my Seraphim: it looks like half the glaive from krull (more spines) and when you equip it energy shots out in a straight line. When you run, it trains behind you, showing that the world of Whatever-it's-called has differnet laws of physics than our own. Anyway, she looks weird with it on, kind of like a peacock. But they're better than the first things I had.

The skill system looks interesting, but I wonder how elaborate it is since the combat moves/spells are the bread and butter. You pick a new skill every 3 levels and you get 2 skill points a level to spend (1 attribute point).

Equipment slots are character dependant slightly. The gladiator had 2 spaces for arm gear, I think. The Seraph has the wing slot. The rest were the same near as I could tell.

The AI is subpar. Several times I'm fighting several baddies, and something near by just sits there (nevermind several of the baddies I am fighting ran from farther away, and the general direction of the moron). Not the end of the world.

Also, there are some bugs in the demo. I found a "test 1 slot" weapon and an "unused" weapon. Several "magic hiding places" I could not access despite my best efforts (and much clicking). Some descritiptions seemed out of wack (charisma for example).

 

[Oyarsa]

Really? I actually found it somewhat tedious, what with all the "hold left mouse button down to continue attacking with the occassional right-click-for-combo". It is pretty and there seems to be a wealth of stuff-n-junktm, but nothing drew me into the world. None of the quest seemed compelling. The "chicks-in-chainmail" look of the seraphim is ridiculous except for pin-up art. And character dev didn't seem to offer much flexibility.

Then again, I'm not a fan of the action-rpg genre and think Diablo, et al, are an enormous bore compared to their rogue/hack/moria forebears.


Horses are a plus, though. Its about time for that.

 

[Peacedog]

Why do people actually care about mounted combat? Unless there is serious tactical depth added because of it (and the fact that I can't uyse some skills on a horse here doesn't qualify necessarily, nor does improving a skill that makes me fight better from horse back), what's the point?

Give me a means to zip around the world quicker (horses in U5, magic carpet, etc), and don't bother outside of that.

People who liked Diablo 2 will probably like it. It exceeded my low expectations, but I'm not overwhelmed. But then I'm familiar with the D2 mechanics, and not with these, so part of my not being overwhelmed is because I see items and go "well, it looks powerful, I guess" and that's it. In D2, I can look at something and immediately understand the impact an item will have on my character.

I didn't get any special feelings from the drops, which might have been a presentation issue. I did find several rare/unique equivalents (hard to sy which they were, and I don't know if the game will have rare equivalents).

 

[Voss]

Liked it. Obviously a D2 clone, but not quite the rushing around on crack feel of diablo, and the world feels a bit more alive (having townsfolk actually going about their lives, and more quests contributes to that)

I actually found the gladiator to be way more powerful than the seraphim. Mostly its those rings of the gladiator with +40 physical damage bonuses that I got after the first fights... Dual wielding with two pushes damage up above 100.

Peacedog- first combo? or first combat skill? I actually got the same thing for both (the multiple attacks, not the multiple foe one, which didn't seem to do anything) The combos (once I got to the combo master) seems rather pointless- I was killing everything in one or two hits away, chaining multiple attacks didn't add anything see my foes were already splattered.

 

[Peacedog]

First combat skill/ability. I haven't made a combo yet. The gladiator had a pretty good multihit. But the Seraphim's multihit did multihits to multiple enemies (I've killed 3 at once before). It was crazy.

I never saw a ring like that. I wonder if drops were not properly balanced for the demo? The unique/rare/whatever wepaons I've found were interesting but definately not unbalanced.

The combat is definately slower paced than Diablo 2, but not a whole heck of a lot. And I didn't feel like there was any added tactical depth in the trade off (to be fair, I know very little of the game mechanics at this point). It seemed really easy, save for a couple of enemies in a certain cave. I'm sure the full game will be different (anyone know if there will be difficulty levels?).

 

[Astromarine]

the gladiator's multihits ALSO gets multiple enemies. The deal is that it works like DnD's Cleave - you hit one until it dies, then the next, etc.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

That's how the Seraphim's combo works as well. She attacks the enemy you clicked on until they are dead or until the combo is over. If they die before the combo is over, she carries it over to the next closest enemy. The game is rather easy (unless you immediately rush down to the graveyard and start waking the dead. WOO! ), and I certainly hope that changes. So far, I like it better than I did D2 simply because of the openess of it all and the 'living world' feel it gave. Wildlife was a nice touch as well.

 

[Voss]

Speaking of which, I found a recipe for quail/chicken... was anyone able to attack the wildlife?

And no, the drops don't seem balanced- I found 4 seraphim combat ability books(?) as a gladiator, that I didn't find as a seraphim, in the same areas I explored as a seraphim.

Oh, horse equipment was mentioned in one of these threads- I did find a saddle (in a shop) that could be used on a horse to boost its stats- but I didn't buy it.

And yes, the combat seems really easy- my seraphim did get killed by a sorcerer in the cave beyond the graveyard- had pathfinding trouble amoung the pillars in the room and got repeatedly nailed with spells that did 80+ damage. Yeeouch. It forced a respawn, but I"m not sure if I lost experience or suffered any consequences.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Speaking of which, I found a recipe for quail/chicken... was anyone able to attack the wildlife?

I found the same recipe. And, no, I have not been able to attack the wildlife no matter how hard I tried. And I did try, trust me. I'm wondering if they plan on implementing that in the full version. If not, then I think the recipes might just be something added for a bit of flavor, or possibly as an inside joke or something. Those do make their ways into games from time to time.

All in all, I'm sold. They just need to make the combat a bit harder. I just hope to god Encore gets the stick out of their ass and decides to keep the "M" rating after all. I zoomed in on a fight and watched as I cut this brigand up and blood began squirting out his neck as he fell to the ground. And then it continued to gush out for a short while afterwards. I'm no sadistic freak, but that was fucking cool to witness. :twisted:

 

[Peacedog]

the gladiator's multihits ALSO gets multiple enemies. The deal is that it works like DnD's Cleave - you hit one until it dies, then the next, etc.

Strange, I neve observed it. Maybe it's because I usually had swirl attack ready when I fought groups.

Multhi-hit looks unbalanced, but it's hard to comment on game balance when you see so little of the action game.

And no, the drops don't seem balanced- I found 4 seraphim combat ability books(?) as a gladiator, that I didn't find as a seraphim, in the same areas I explored as a seraphim.

That isn't a balance issue (droping uber gear that can be used at low levels would be, though). It's a random drop issue, most likely. I don't have a problem with it.

The combo master will exchange runes/abilities/whatever with you (I have no idea what to call them). 2 will get you a random ability, 3 a random ability of your class, and 4 will let you pick an ability for your class. Don't sell those abilities for other classes, trade them in.

Also, in multiplayer, they're more likely to find a home. I haven't noticed any respawn consequences myself. I wonder if the multiplayer will have a hardcore mode.

Also, does anyone have any idea what kind of randomization to expect from the game? Any random dungeons? Random monster placements in some areas? Not having either would be a detriment I think.

Using a level 2 lightning strike and a bow, I killed a really huge freakin spider across a river. It wasn't worth the effort.

 

[Benedikt]

Speaking of which, I found a recipe for quail/chicken... was anyone able to attack the wildlife?

I was. There are some weapons (i bought one from trader) which have ability to attack animals.
ben

 

[Whipporowill]

Speaking of which, I found a recipe for quail/chicken... was anyone able to attack the wildlife?

I was. There are some weapons (i bought one from trader) which have ability to attack animals.
ben

Yeah, I noticed that too. Any use besides the pleasure of inclicting carnage on poor wabbits and deer? Any xp or loot?

 

[Crimson]

Well so far i have liked it.

Actuly i rember seing a horse skill i havent tested it but i know that ther is one. plus charge is fun.

The ider whit the combat sytem is to put more random power into things i belive.
Gather a lot of no good runes go op change it to a skill you belive you need, ther you have a chanse of geting somthing you need or you can buy waht you need.

Also knocking a skeltons head of then taking it and beet the rest of his body to a pulp is FUN!!!

AND ALL THE BLOOD!!! CUTING A HEAD OF AND BLOOD IS EVRY WHER!!! MAUAHHAHAHAHAH!!!

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Yeah, I noticed that too. Any use besides the pleasure of inclicting carnage on poor wabbits and deer? Any xp or loot?

You're expecting some rabbit to drop a Ring of Vorpal Bunnies of Doom +3? :shock:

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Just got through the demo: This game is gonna be a keeper I think. When is it coming out?

 

[Whipporowill]

In a month in german, as for the english version... or the "gutless" (ho hum) north american version. Dunno? Soon, I hope - so we have something to play until BeDiv is out... heh.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Mar 23, I believe