Treebeard
Ranger of the North
Really just wanted to big up this game a bit.
Imagine a cross between Diablo 2, Oblivion and a Rogue-a-like and you'll be somewhere near it.
At heart its just a single player dungeon crawl (with some clever online play mixed in) but the gameplay is quite harsh in an old skool way. There is no hand holding and the tone of the game is very dark and oppressive.
It has a death penalty where when you die (and you will a lot) you are dumped back at the start of the level having lost all of your experience you had gained to that point. You can get this back by recovering your corpse and this one simple MMO mechanic sets it apart from any other game I have played for ages. Its tense and edgy and at times made me feel like those UO or early EQ days. It feels unlike any other game of recent times.
There are some brilliant online ideas. The game is played partially online in the sense that if someone dies in their game on the level you are on, they leave a blood-stain behind in your world. If you click on it you can see clues to how they died, maybe giving advance warning of a trap. Also you can leave messages scrawled on floors in your game for someone else to read in theirs (and vice-versa). Generally these messages give hints and tips for certain sections (although I've come across some purposely misleading messages
).
Your game can also be invaded by another player at certain times for some PvP goodness. You can also summon help from other players for difficult parts of the game (like the bosses).
A lot of people say its overly hard but I think its just unforgiving. It always feels fair but all of the monsters are very dangerous and any big mistake in combat normally leads to a death. Again, much like those early EQ days.
Overall its one of the most unique games I've played for yonks.
Its import only and I got mine from http://www.videogamesplus.ca/. The US version.
Review: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/demons-souls-review
Imagine a cross between Diablo 2, Oblivion and a Rogue-a-like and you'll be somewhere near it.
At heart its just a single player dungeon crawl (with some clever online play mixed in) but the gameplay is quite harsh in an old skool way. There is no hand holding and the tone of the game is very dark and oppressive.
It has a death penalty where when you die (and you will a lot) you are dumped back at the start of the level having lost all of your experience you had gained to that point. You can get this back by recovering your corpse and this one simple MMO mechanic sets it apart from any other game I have played for ages. Its tense and edgy and at times made me feel like those UO or early EQ days. It feels unlike any other game of recent times.
There are some brilliant online ideas. The game is played partially online in the sense that if someone dies in their game on the level you are on, they leave a blood-stain behind in your world. If you click on it you can see clues to how they died, maybe giving advance warning of a trap. Also you can leave messages scrawled on floors in your game for someone else to read in theirs (and vice-versa). Generally these messages give hints and tips for certain sections (although I've come across some purposely misleading messages
).Your game can also be invaded by another player at certain times for some PvP goodness. You can also summon help from other players for difficult parts of the game (like the bosses).
A lot of people say its overly hard but I think its just unforgiving. It always feels fair but all of the monsters are very dangerous and any big mistake in combat normally leads to a death. Again, much like those early EQ days.
Overall its one of the most unique games I've played for yonks.
Its import only and I got mine from http://www.videogamesplus.ca/. The US version.
Review: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/demons-souls-review