Review DS2 average per Computer Games

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Dungeon Siege 2

<A href="http://www.computergames.ro/">Computer Games</a> offers a <A href="http://www.computergames.ro/site/p/articles/o/review/lng/en/artid/702/page/1/lng/en/articles.html">long review</A> of <a href="http://www.gaspowered.com/ds2">Dungeon Siege 2</a>. The conclusion seems to be that it adds a lot of interesting news stuff, but many of it is questionable. Here's a bit on the story and stuff:
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<blockquote>The storyline, or better said, the lack of a proper story, was one of the main complaints of the fans regarding Dungeon Siege. For the sequel, the designers tried to create a more engaging storyline, which isn’t connected to that of the first DS: this time around, we have one very mean bad-guy, who happens to have a legendary sword in his possession, which allows him to wreak havoc everywhere he goes, and we also have an adventurer, who will try to find the pieces of a mythical shield and defeat the bad-guy mentioned earlier. Like I said, not very original, but it’s still better than nothing. However, the designers didn’t stop here and they created an entire lore for the player to learn about, by reading various books that are scattered throughout Aranna. And even though it’s not as interesting or as vast as the one found in, say, Morrowind (I know, kind of a forced comparison, but this is the first title that popped into my head), the lore in DS2 greatly contributes to the credibility and depth of Aranna.</blockquote>
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Yup, more CRPGs need books.
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Thanks, <b>Kthan75</b>!

 

[LlamaGod]

What happened to putting most of the shit in the manual and writing manuals "in character"?

Ultima 6's manual kicked ass and was pretty informative about the setting stuff.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Fallout's manual was also a great example of that. Arcanum's wasn't half-bad either, it just was organized weirdly.

 

[4too]

Virtual Manual

Virtual Manual

Virtual books.
Perhaps in this Easter Egg hunt for back story, the only trees 'rendered' will be by the graphics engine.



4too

 

[Spazmo]

Arcanum's manual was organized alright, it just needed a table of contents.

 

[triCritical]

Spazmo mentioned Arcanum which reminded me of the last best game to do literature. I am still so impressed with Arcanum's newspaper... However, its probably one of those things that takes away resources and forces a game to miss there their due date.

 

[Ellester]

Yep, manuals are getting smaller and I doubt developers want to put in the time for a large manual nowadays. Anyways I always liked books. I like reading up on something related or even unrelated to the story that helps flesh out the game world. It doesn’t make it an rpg, but it adds flavor to the setting. And they are always optional. Like you can skip them all in Morrowind, or you can read them all in IWD. No big deal, but I like it when they are in.

 

[coaxmetal]

I've always been a sucker for big boxes with big manuals inside, posters and plenty of boards, maps and whatever fitted. Especially for a good game.

The way some of today's games come packaged in DVD boxes, for some reason, is just a slap to my intelligence, taste, and fun.

so nothing new here i guess.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Who gives a shit about manuals. Are you some kind of newbie who's too stupid to learn how things work as you play?

We're not talking about hotkey memorization here, are we?

 

[EEVIAC]

Nothing beats a game manual for reading-in-the-can, except maybe for 20 year old Archie digests.

 

[coaxmetal]

the reasons that i like good manuals with my games are: the way they smell.

i like the smell of a fresh manual in the morning, when i start my rpg, and when it is loading.

 

[Psilon]

A good manual is a pleasure to read while waiting for the game to finish installing. I think Red Alert 2 was the last game I played where the installer was at all interesting. Besides, when the rule system makes no sense (e.g., much of AD&D), it's good to have some idea what's going on before starting the game.

Also, most games (the Elder Scrolls series being a notable exception) tend to put a lot of the low-level background information into the manual. Would Diablo's ending have made any sense if you didn't already know about the Soulstones and Tal Rasha?

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

Was it the first fallout that had all the effects of a nuclear strike in the manual, that was fun reading.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Who gives a shit about manuals. Are you some kind of newbie who's too stupid to learn how things work as you play?

We're not talking about hotkey memorization here, are we?

Oof, someone pissed in your pudding today.

Manuals are cool, because if they're done right (See: Ultima manuals, Fallout, Arcanum, Revenant, Prince of Qin and a shit load more) they will provide more than just basic gameplay setup and such, but background info, character bios, all that good stuff. I enjoyed reading Arcanum's manual simply because of the way it explained magic and technology, the races and it's basic premise. Same with Fallout. It's just something to read and be entertained by.

 

[LlamaGod]

I like the Ultima manuals, how they stay in character and read like a character wrote the book instead of some developer writing down the rules.