Preview Dungeon Siege III Previews

[Jaesun]

Tags: Dungeon Siege III; Obsidian Entertainment

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<p>Square Enix and our good friends at Obsidian have been working on the Action RPG, Dungeon Siege 3, and as expected a few Gaming Magazines got their hot little hands on this game and have some preview thoughts to share with us: &nbsp;</p>
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<p><a href="http://uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com/e0/dungeon-siege-iii---hands-on-0cc9e0.html">Yahoo Games</a> wrote:</p>
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<p><em>For the benefit of those that don&rsquo;t know, the &lsquo;Dungeon Siege&rsquo; series falls under the Action category of role-playing games. This is the same bracket as Blizzard&rsquo;s popular &lsquo;Diablo&rsquo; or broadly similar to Nintendo&rsquo;s popular &lsquo;Legend of Zelda&rsquo; games. More in keeping with &lsquo;Diablo&rsquo; though &lsquo;Dungeon Siege&rsquo; is a very deep and challenging experience rewarding lots of battles with countless treasures.</em></p>
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<p><em>Our first (hour) glance at &lsquo;Dungeon Siege III&rsquo; showed that narrative and cinematic presentation tops the list of priorities to attract the console crowd. We spent time with the PlayStation 3 version, and can readily say that &lsquo;Dungeon Siege III&rsquo; holds its own visually, even with such titles as &lsquo;Killzone 3&rsquo; and &lsquo;Uncharted 2&rsquo; out there to distract potential buyers.</em></p>
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<p><em>But this is an action (RPG) game we&rsquo;re talking about, so the main consideration has to be with the controls.</em></p>
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<p><a href="http://totalplaystation.com/ps3/dungeon-siege-3/previews/9722/">Total Playstation</a> wrote:</p>
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<p><em>Dungeon Siege is traditionally a straightforward action roleplaying series; the core of it is composed of tactical real-time combat, character progression and loot. It is not driven by wanderlust and social maneuvering, though the Obsidian stamp is visible here in the form of a greater emphasis on story and dialogue. Dungeon Siege III is peppered with well-written and well-acted conversations in which the (fully voiced) protagonist will have many opportunities to be a jerk or not, making decisions that will tangibly impact the unfolding action.</em></p>
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<p><em>The player's choice of character impacts the narrative, as the story is (at least to some degree) unique for each, with multiple endings to boot.&nbsp;</em></p>
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<p><em>Dungeon Siege III should arrive on May 31 in the US, and promises to provide fifteen to twenty hours of monster-thrashing gameplay, with substantially more for those completionists who feel compelled to do every little side quest. If your compulsions are more on the kleptomaniacal side of things, then look forward to over 15,000 loot items for the pilfering. Based on what I played, it seems that Obisidian is delivering a solid, polished dungeon crawler with engaging narrative elements to keep players hooked in case a giant hoard of spoils isn't enough.&nbsp;</em></p>
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<p><a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/115/1155578p1.html">IGN</a> Wrote:</p>
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<p><em>If you're a fan of killing monsters, grabbing some serious loot, and pimping out a warrior of your choosing, then Dungeon Siege III was designed with you in mind. This multiplayer role-playing game from the developers at Obsidian Entertainment is all about collecting loot. With a decidedly old-school feel, Dungeon Siege is scheduled to launch on the PC, 360 and PS3.</em></p>
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<p><em>What is Dungeon Siege III?&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em>It's a role-playing game with an action-oriented combat system. Dungeon Siege III was designed for multiplayer support, though the developers at Obsidian want it to be a satisfying single-player game, too.&nbsp;</em></p>
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<p><em>How's it play?&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em>Like many old RPGs, Dungeon Siege III is played from a top-down perspective. There are ample customization options for those of you that want to tweak your character to your liking. During your quest, you'll progress the main story, make choices that affect the plot, and collect new items and weapons to equip.&nbsp;</em></p>
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<p><em>What's the craziest thing in Dungeon Siege III?&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em>Probably the character Anjali. According to a report by IGN's own Cam Shea, Anjali is a "mythological creature that's able to call upon fire at will, encapsulated -- in this case -- in the body of an attractive girl."</em>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Top down perspective, multiple endings, dialogue choices, attractive girls and tactical real-time combat in my Action RPG? All this and more heading our way on May 31st.</p>
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<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/101990-dungeon-siege-iii-previews.html">GameBanshee</a></p>

 

[Medic]

That's Anjali for you:

I see some hope for DS3, after the DS2 disaster trainwreck, but why do they insist on calling it an ARPEGE?

 

[IronicNeurotic]

I see some hope for DS3, after the DS2 disaster trainwreck, but why do they insist on calling it an ARPEGE?

They never did. Obsidian always talked about DS in the form of action rpg/hack n' slash and compared it to games like Dark Alliance/Diablo/Secret of Mana and such. The rest are dumb journalists.



Also nice to see IGN are still the biggest dumbfucks around.

 

[felipepepe]

For the benefit of those that don’t know, the ‘Dungeon Siege’ series FAILS under the Action category of role-playing games.

Fixed.

Both games were bad & boring, the only thing noteworthy was the nice donkey carrying countless shit for me. If they can make the third one at least as fun as Champions of Norrath, would be a great improvement already.

 

[Ogg]

I see some hope for DS3, after the DS2 disaster trainwreck, but why do they insist on calling it an ARPEGE?

They never did. Obsidian always talked about DS in the form of action rpg/hack n' slash and compared it to games like Dark Alliance/Diablo/Secret of Mana and such. The rest are dumb journalists.

OK, I see. But then, why are there news about this game on the prestigious RPG Codex?

 

[The Ninth Circle]

I see some hope for DS3, after the DS2 disaster trainwreck, but why do they insist on calling it an ARPEGE?

They never did. Obsidian always talked about DS in the form of action rpg/hack n' slash and compared it to games like Dark Alliance/Diablo/Secret of Mana and such. The rest are dumb journalists.

OK, I see. But then, why are there news about this game on the prestigious RPG Codex?

Don't kid yourself into thinking a lot of us don't like Diablo and similar titles.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

I still can't believe somebody, much less Oblivion, made a sequel to Dungeon Siege. That's shit! Why make a sequel to that? How about some new idea instead? What the fuck? Uwe Boll made a movie about it, that's how much it sucks.

Seriously. Of all the things you can do, why not make a sequel to a failed piece of shit game some other people made.

 

[Jaesun]

Very true The Ninth Circle, we seemed to really enjoy Divinity II. Just wish Saint P was here, as just the sheer mention of Dungeon Siege would cause him un-controllable rage.

I'm still kind of meh on this. I kind of highly doubt it will have as awesome of a fun skill system that Divinity II had (Which I really liked alot) and a few other things. But I am curious about:

1. We finally get to see the much talked about Onyx Engine. Granted we could have seen this BEFORE THE MOTHERFUCKING DUMBFUCKS AT SEGA CANCELED Alien: Crucible. Fuck you SEGA. Fuck you.
2. We get to see if Zeits still has that MotB Magic, or if it was a fluke, or it it was that even the sheer presence of our beloved MCA writing 2 NPC's + Zeits are what makes magic happen at Obsidian. (Please take notes Obsidian).
3. HOW BAD WILL THE CAMERA SUCK? Seriously, hire a lituanian hitman and go steal the programmer who did the Witcher camera and lock him up at your HQ.
4. Curious how the combat will actually be. Divinity II fun or a pure train wreck.

 

[Metro]

But then, why are there news about this game on the prestigious RPG Codex?

If the only news posted was about pure RPG's you'd have maybe three stories a year.

 

[Black]

Yahoo Games who don't have anything but ps3 games to compare it to, Total PS (more like bs, mirite) and IGNorant?
Seems like we're gonna have to wait for some previews with actual info.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Yahoo Games who don't have anything but ps3 games to compare it to, Total PS (more like bs, mirite) and IGNorant?
Seems like we're gonna have to wait for some previews with actual info.

Gamebanshee posted a big and good one

http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/101 ... e-iii.html

 

[Kosmonaut]

I still can't believe somebody, much less Oblivion, made a sequel to Dungeon Siege. That's shit! Why make a sequel to that? How about some new idea instead? What the fuck? Uwe Boll made a movie about it, that's how much it sucks.

That's a... freudian slip I suppose.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

I still can't believe somebody, much less Oblivion, made a sequel to Dungeon Siege. That's shit! Why make a sequel to that? How about some new idea instead? What the fuck? Uwe Boll made a movie about it, that's how much it sucks.

That's a... freudian slip I suppose.

Actually,.... IGN made that mistake too in a previous article.....

Demnogonis Saastuttaja works for IGN?

 

[J_C]

I still can't believe somebody, much less Oblivion, made a sequel to Dungeon Siege. That's shit! Why make a sequel to that? How about some new idea instead? What the fuck? Uwe Boll made a movie about it, that's how much it sucks.

That's a... freudian slip I suppose.

Actually,.... IGN made that mistake too in a previous article.....

Demnogonis Saastuttaja works for IGN?

Probably he wrote that article. Demnogonis is an agent of the enemy, lurking on the Codex.

 

[Jaesun]

Yahoo Games who don't have anything but ps3 games to compare it to, Total PS (more like bs, mirite) and IGNorant?
Seems like we're gonna have to wait for some previews with actual info.

Yeah if you read this Yahoo Games guys article it really is a WHAT IN THE FUCK AM I READING™ experience.

 

[Jaesun]

Yahoo Games who don't have anything but ps3 games to compare it to, Total PS (more like bs, mirite) and IGNorant?
Seems like we're gonna have to wait for some previews with actual info.

Gamebanshee posted a big and good one

http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/101 ... e-iii.html

You can always click the contact us button at the top if you find news you think is worth reporting to us. Just FYI.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

I still can't believe somebody, much less Oblivion, made a sequel to Dungeon Siege. That's shit! Why make a sequel to that? How about some new idea instead? What the fuck? Uwe Boll made a movie about it, that's how much it sucks.

That's a... freudian slip I suppose.

Oh man there's so much shit I can't tell it all apart anymore so much shit everywhere

I have to take a break. I mean, a shit.

 

[Shannow]

Anybody care to explain what was "actiony" about DS 1 and 2?
(VD's "all you do is combat like in Wizardy and ToEE so it's an aRPG" need not apply but I'm genuinely interested what one could consider actiony about them.)
Diablo at least had the player constantly clicking (so it can be considered a bad action game) without the chance of pausing, considering options, queuing up commands and un-pausing. Hell, DS1 practically played itself... What about that kind of gameplay is actiony?
Not that I mind DS3 turning into a "real" aRPG.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Yahoo Games who don't have anything but ps3 games to compare it to, Total PS (more like bs, mirite) and IGNorant?
Seems like we're gonna have to wait for some previews with actual info.

Gamebanshee posted a big and good one

http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/101 ... e-iii.html

You can always click the contact us button at the top if you find news you think is worth reporting to us. Just FYI.

I'm pretty sure you guys already posted it.

 

[turn_based_fanboy]

Yahoo Games who don't have anything but ps3 games to compare it to, Total PS (more like bs, mirite) and IGNorant?
Seems like we're gonna have to wait for some previews with actual info.

Gamebanshee posted a big and good one

http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/101 ... e-iii.html

You can always click the contact us button at the top if you find news you think is worth reporting to us. Just FYI.

I'm pretty sure you guys already posted it.

Yeah it was already discussed.

 

[Vault Dweller]

VD's "all you do is combat like in Wizardy and ToEE so it's an aRPG" need not apply but I'm genuinely interested what one could consider actiony about them.

There is more to both Wiz and ToEE than combat, so they are not action RPGs. Wiz is heavy on exploration and had a pretty advanced NPC interaction system. ToEE, while being mostly a combat game, had a lot to offer in the multiple solutions and paths department. Hommlet sucked; everything past it was pretty damn good.

Games like DA2, AP, IWD offer nothing but action.

 

[circ]

What made DS 1 interesting was the big group running around hacking up shit with no load times and in highly detailed environments. DS 2 still had a few groupmates and more detail but it tried to overdo the story. DS 3 is a solo adventure, and that's where I completely lost interest.

 

[Shannow]

Dungeon crawlers and roguelikes offer nothing but action.

Whatever you say

Now somebody make a case for what's actiony about DS1/2's gameplay. Or don't, I'm not that interested and I'd much rather file it under "people are stupid". Yeah, I'm lazy like that.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Dungeon crawlers and roguelikes offer nothing but action.

Whatever you say

Do they now?

Roguelikes are as much about killing monsters as they are about surviving and interacting with environment. To see the difference better, compare ADOM to Diablo, which is a roguelike stripped of most features. If you didn't play it, here is a link:

http://www.adomgb.info/adomgb-toc.html

Dungeon crawlers is an old term that can include quite a lot. Daggerfall was often called a dungeon crawler, but the game clearly offers more than just killing monsters.

It's nice that you keep trying though.

 

[Shannow]

Games like DA2, AP, IWD offer nothing but action.

I suggest replaying IWD, Wiz8 and ToEE (with a lawful good party full of paladins that aren't meta-gamed).
Then come back and tell me that IWD is "only about combat" whereas Wiz8 and ToEE are about deep story and character interaction. You're treading a fine line here and you'll never get me or any reasonable person to unconditionally agree with you, Voll....VD.
Then go and play Gothic 2 and tell me it's not an action game because its strong point (next to the action gameplay, duh) is exploration and character/environment interaction. Not even close to a fine line. You're simply wrong. Unconditionally so.
Then switch back to IWD again and tell me it's not about surviving encounters and interacting with the environment. (ADOM sucks btw, Incursion FTW) You should have included the word "random". Wouldn't have made the point any more valid, but at least I again would have had to go the road of simply not accepting your definition instead of simply being able to stomp all over your silly beliefs.

Do the Gothics, Blooddlines, ME(2), TW, DKS, etc offer nothing but combat? Are the not aRPGs? The mind boggles.
Seriously, defining an action game via "combat" instead of "gameplay" is not only stupid it also goes against any "standard of genres" the industry might have. "Action RPG" comes from a mix of the "action" genre with the "RPG" genre (however fuzzy that may be), not from some random fuck's opinion on whether a game "offers more than combat" or not.
Yeah, I let myself get pulled like a noob, I know. Won't happen again! Flipflopper's honor oath