Review Dungeon Lords re-nailed by Worthplaying

[Naked_Lunch]

I am going to kill you.

 

[Dogsoup]

Ultima 7, just like Final Fantasy 7, is one of the pillars of the RPG genre!

Final Fantasy VII sucks big time. I prefer "Wasteland" and "Dragon wars". But then to each his own.

 

[Dogsoup]

I am going to kill you.

No you're not. Unless you possess the powers of the scanners as shown in the Cronenberg movie.

 

[aweigh]

Ultima 7, just like Final Fantasy 7, is one of the pillars of the RPG genre!

Final Fantasy VII sucks big time. I prefer "Wasteland" and "Dragon wars". But then to each his own.

u do not sense teh sarcasm1

 

[RuySan]

give the guy a break. he's right

Wizardy 8 was an huge disappointment for me. The first dungeon was indeed fine, but the rest of the world was so empty and lacked dungeons. Not to mention the stupidity of some NPC don't wanting to go to some places, and you stayed with their equipment...(well, who played this game knows what i'm talking about).

Anyway, i thought the game was rushed, there was some parts that were really empty...

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Wizardry 8 did seemed rushed and rough in some spots, but I still had fun with the game. The lack of dungeons wasn't really much of a problem contentwise because the progression of enemy and loot was still found in all those battles across the game's locations, and it did just fine without dungeons. For people that missed dungeons they could always try to find the retro dungeons, even if there weren't that many. It could use some more locations, especially more lively ones.

I always felt that the real problem with the game was transposing its old gameplay conventions into a context that didn't support them; more especifically, the forced formation circle which locks characters close to each other in movement and controlling one entire party of characters from a firstperson perspective. This was just fine in the old titles because movement was confined to limited passageways and small areas in a sort of grid, party placement was made in rows, and party movement was made one step at a time. In Wizardry 8, with enemies letting go of rigid formations, with true freedom of movement and wide open spaces, it stops making sense that these things are still used; worse, some even bring frustration to the gameplay.

I have to disagree on that NPC bit, though; it was just a different way of showing some of them had an agenda of sorts and wouldn't become mute meat cannons the second they entered my party. Thankfully they also warned you when they couldn't enter a place, so its up to players to decide that.

 

[theverybigslayer]

I always felt that the real problem with the game was transposing its old gameplay conventions into a context that didn't support them;

Like the constant monster respawning in Dungeon Lords. The same respawning system was in Bard's Tale, Fate: Gates of Dawn, Wizardry 6-7 .

the forced formation circle which locks characters close to each other in movement and controlling one entire party of characters from a firstperson perspective...In Wizardry 8, with enemies letting go of rigid formations, with true freedom of movement and wide open spaces, it stops making sense that these things are still used; worse, some even bring frustration to the gameplay.

You may be right, but I do not know about a better system.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

You may be right, but I do not know about a better system.

They could have allowed players to move characters independently across a given combat situation at their will. Not entirely different from what you'd get from old Infinity Engine games, Fallout, or Silent Storm to name a few. They could have made it so players could decide to lock characters in a formation at will and availability, for situations such as travelling or having the stronger characters surround weaker ones for protection; and to allow the formation to be 'unlocked' for other situations such as battle and moving characters into other positions, or allowing a character to scout ahead (which would have been useful for Rogues, for instance).

 

[Voltare]

one thing that irritates me about dungeon lords is that when you go into these purdy buildings....there ain't no damn furniture in them. i did a quest for the oriental-looking elves, and had to go find a girl in a room in a tavern/inn thing. I checked all the rooms---no furniture.And another thing---- the spawned thief that sometimes attacks you? the hooded guy? i think i've seen that very same model in some quake 3 model repository somewhere......( as soon as i find the link-----i'll post it)Very original, DW.


right from the beginning, when you fight the goblins outside the city, i had to follow one up the wall---he was standing IN the wall---- to kill him.What? the couldn't afford decent collison detection?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Proverbius, you are full of shit: Wizardry VIII is not a great game.

Okay, please show me where I said Wizardry 8 is a great game.

 

[theverybigslayer]

Proverbius, you are full of shit: Wizardry VIII is not a great game.

Okay, please show me where I said Wizardry 8 is a great game.

It's between the lines.

 

[theverybigslayer]

one thing that irritates me about dungeon lords is that when you go into these purdy buildings....there ain't no damn furniture in them.

"And I don't give a shit about furniture. Buy a fucking table."

 

[theverybigslayer]

You may be right, but I do not know about a better system.

They could have allowed players to move characters independently across a given combat situation at their will. Not entirely different from what you'd get from old Infinity Engine games, Fallout, or Silent Storm to name a few. They could have made it so players could decide to lock characters in a formation at will and availability, for situations such as travelling or having the stronger characters surround weaker ones for protection; and to allow the formation to be 'unlocked' for other situations such as battle and moving characters into other positions, or allowing a character to scout ahead (which would have been useful for Rogues, for instance).

Yes, this is a very good idea. There is only one nuisance for the developers, they have to render the party members.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Proverbius, you are full of shit: Wizardry VIII is not a great game.

Okay, please show me where I said Wizardry 8 is a great game.

It's between the lines.

It's very, VERY between the lines, since D.W. Bradley didn't work on Wizardry 8.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

It's very, VERY between the lines, since D.W. Bradley didn't work on Wizardry 8.

Which is why it's the best one.