I'm sue that in a year this game will be fully fixed. What worries me is the lack of meaningful content most reviews are pointing to. A sale buy for me, if even that. All that insane hype really came back to bite them, imho.
@Jew1: Very sorry further Imperial Commandos books were canceled due to creative differences between the writer (can't remember her name, for the life of me) and Lucas. As a result Republic Commando/Imperial Commando series became non-canon even before Disney bought SW.
This business model needs to die in it's infancy. Yeah, €4 for all these games sounds great. It's not a lot of money and you get to play them all. But what if you don't want to pay one month because you just don't have the time to play and there is no point in wasting money? You lose access to the entire library until you start paying you subscription again. Now you're forced to pay monthly just to access any of the games you were playing. Better to buy the game once and play it whenever you wish. You'll pay more initially but access to your game library won't be conditioned on continued payments to digital distribution site.
This could work as a way to try several games for a little money, but let's not kid ourselves here, if data shows EA that we are accepting this payment model, they'll shut down sales of their games in a heartbeat and mace Access the only way to play games on Origin. After that, what's to stop Steam or other sites from doing the same if it brings them a steady stream of income over an indefinite period of time?
While I do agree with repetition/grinding part of the review wholeheartedly, and that is the exact reason why I could never play Souls games, everything else in this review is a clear example of modern day gamers being conditioned to demand that games always tell them everything with blaring markers on screen, railroad them in the right direction and provide 'obstacles' which require no effort to overcome. God forbid players needing to think for themselves.
Dark Souls titles target a certain niche of players. From Software isn't trying to please everyone like most other developers. They have my respect for that, even if I'll never finish any of their games. I love challenging games with no hand-holding, in fact I actively seek challenge when playing something. I also like a good story and lots of lore. But grinding, staple of every Japanese developer, and the reason I could never get into JRPGs, is a big no.
Sadly I couldn't get far because bugs were making the game unplayable. It's hard to believe that this is Source engine game. As I understand, they've added dynamic lighting and that is the chief cause of most problems. I'd love to have the option to disable that particular feature and play glitch free. While I like eye candy in my game I can forego that for good gameplay and well written story.
Funny you should mention Mass Effect as the main influence because from the first screenshot to playing the game myself (what little of it I did) I was thinking "System Shock 2". Something about the plane simply evoked the atmosphere of that game.
Great game so far. Pulls you in and doesn't let go. Rare few games manage that today. As for the plot disappearing for Kevin? I suspect that has more to do with his choices than with the game itself. There are simply too many possible ways any given situation might be resolved. Some of those end up being quiet disastrous. Maybe not right away, but I guarantee you will feel the weight of every misstep in due course. It might also be the fact that this is planned as a trilogy. I've read that somewhere.
I'd recommend this game to everyone, especially those enjoying turned based titles like Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, XCOM and games with lots of choice and consequences. Graphics will not melt your brand new graphics card, but you will be charmed by the crisp and clear look of the game. You might even feel the chill creeping up your body as you look upon your caravan traversing frigid landscapes. There is no voice acting and this game doesn't need it. What it has is an abundance of interesting lore for players to immerse themselves in.
Combat is also very nuanced. Simple yet intricate in its mechanics of armor and strength attacks with great importance placed on positioning, special abilities, hero roster and tactics. At €23 this game offers a lot enjoyment. Hope we see a lot more of The Banner Saga in the future.
@be_ashketchup @dark_sith_ I don't know about that. I've been playing CoD since 2003 until 2009 (MW2). Tried a few later titles on a friend's computer. It was basically the same game. WWII had some nice set pieces of historical battles, but game mechanics were always exactly the same. MW was a breath of fresh air, bringing new setting and that 'Black Hawk Down' feeling. But after novelty wore off, you could see through the cracks that it was the same game as before, with imaginary set piece battles (much less interesting than historical ones), reskinned weapons and uniforms and Axis replaced by Arabs and Russians.
Multiplayer community struck me as juvenile and very toxic, and no matter how good MP is if the community is like that, I can't enjoy the game.
Everything written is my subjective opinion. Some people love all of the above. So they buy the game every year. I don't. And I steer clear.
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