I played the demo in SP this evening. My first impressions are a mixed bag, but overall mildly positive.
-Game seems rock stable.
-Character creation is ok, it seemed weird that the portrait is apparently totally disconnected from the race or gender you pick
Some of the attributes are hard to tell apart - Here a better in game help would have been great.
- I like the extensive feel of the game world. I haven't been around much, just in an out of Trinsc (?), but it certainly feels like it could satisfy my exploration craving for a while, with far flung landscapes, little points of itnerest, and all those zones...
I'm a sucker for exploration so that's definitely a big plus. Nice skies, weather effects, all decent.
- On highest detail the graphics are passable, although the world seem to lack a certain shine, it has a muted quality. On lower settings a lot of the textures are very blurry. Certainly not up to date, but only a few year back it would have been quite passable. Unfortunately my fears about interior design were partly fulfilled: Lots of large empty rooms (although a few do have some furniture), and some furniture etc. you clip right through. A bit more clutter would help the visual style and immersion a lot. The buildings etc. themselves are nice to look at, though.
- Quest were of the simple kill stuff variety so far, but it's a bit early to judge - it's typical beginners fare, after all. The info for the quests is a bit unoganized, it shows up partly in the dialogue window, partly in the tome, and partly in the log window. Easy to miss stuff.
- The interface is easily cluttered, and complex. but very adjustable. Some things seemed redundant: why a party AND individual member windows, AND a separate macro window?The in game help is pretty good in some respects, but it certainly doesn't quite replace a good manual. It tells you where things are, but not always how they work together. I am still very unsure how character progression works (seems a combination of skill use and XP based), how macros are used correctly (one button triggers every party members action with that number???) etc. etc. The encyclopedia, that made my heart beat higher when I discoverd it, unfortunately is a mere list of loot and spawns - where is the lore info? Is there an in game world map???
- I certainly encountered hints of a fairly complex system - there is obviously crafting of weapons and armor, alchemy, pets, multiclassing, etc.
- Combat is ugh. It's too bad that only one character of your party is shown. It's too bad that combat consists only of hitting animations - it doesn't even matter if I am facing the enemy. It's too quiet - no weapon swooshing, no clanging swords except if you hit. It has neither tactics not action - I guess MMORPG players are used to it, but it was dissapointing to me. Only magic seems to require any kind of input from my side.
- Sound is a very weak point. Little ambience, no foot sounds, not talking, (except very weird laughs and grunts when you initiate dialogue or solve a quest). This needs a lot of work, IMHO. The music is pretty good though!
Too early for a summary or recommendation. I think I might give it a chance as an exploration game for a while, and just to see if I can get into the MMOG thing - never tried one before.
