Should I buy this game?

[Infernal Machine]

I'm a big fan of Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age Origins, and other CRPG's. This game seems to be similar in a lot of ways, but I've heard its kind of wonky in some areas. Is it worth my time, or should I just play a different CRPG?

[ed]

It *is* a little wonky, but if you've played old RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Planescape and NWN - especially NWN - OOAM's unpolished surfaces may not bug you as much as people who get worked up if every game they play doesn't look like the latest high-budget thing.

Don't get me wrong! I love BG and PS:T and NWN a whole lot, but they're older games and the actual engines and gameplay could be a wee bit clunky. So, if you can still forgive older games for that, I don't think OOAM is any worse. The battle is basically PS:T/NWN in that you can pause freely and set up moves and coordinate party members and then let it run until you want to pause again. You can also cancel moves from the list before they happen, like spells in NWN.

The dialogue is awkward in a few places, but I don't think it's worse than some old classic RPG translations. Other scenes flow pretty well, and after the earliest parts of the game I personally hardly notice any serious issues.

If you can forgive its flaws, it's a pretty fun game that's literally a buddy movie set in a dark fantasy universe. I love it.

[DethzHed]

this game was a lot of fun. check out my review

[Bogart99]

6/10 only buy in a sale.
The combat system is what brings this game down from a solid 8 to a medium six. If there had been action bars that I could have maped a lot of pain and anoyance would have been missed.

The levels are all just corridors you run from one end to the other with a few fights in the middle . There are no real sectrets you just run into loot as you go and it's in bright shiny sacks in most cases.

The story is a little disjointed in places and struggles.

The characters of Styx and Archi are what make the game worth it.

Over all I get the feeling that the devs had an idea but didn't know how to a carry it through.

Not a bad game but not great either.

[Phantom]

Just finished the game, the story had me intrigued the whole way.
It's a rlly good game, so happy that I got it on sale
The 2 main characters are amazing especially Styx
One of my favorite action rpgs of all time for sure, I rlly didn't expect this when I started to play...

[Malaficus Shaikan]

It is a good timewaster.
It isnt the next big thing but it does one thing right.
It remembers that it is a game.

If you want to play a game and not a movie trying to be a game.
Then you shoud definitly try it just for the sake of the experiance.
No complicated plots, no 300000 dialog about why you do what you do.
Nope you are just an orc beserker and his backstabbing goblin ally.
Have fun.

[ZombieHunter]

Story is fine.
Graphics are ok.
Combat sucks. Should have never left the studio with this awful combat system. If you like reloading a billion times to pass an area this is the game for you. That is one mechanic this game does well - reloading a billion times that is. It forces you to reload b/c either your orc got stuck in some animation and couldn't do anything else or b/c he went into a fit of rage like an idiot and died. Dumb game mechanic.

[DamonHunter99]

Personally I loved the game. The story line was really cool, I'm a big fan of NVN Diablo, and a lot of other older games so I didn't even notice any graphics issues. The combat does take some getting used to, but if you liked Dragon Age Origins I think you'd be just fine with it. It simply takes a bit more strategy then many other games of it's genre. After the first few levels you'll probably get the hang of it, might even like it more then other combat styles.

[ZombieHunter]

The combat does take some getting used to, but if you liked Dragon Age Origins

It is nothing like DAO. DAO combat is much deeper and you have more control over it and the general AI is much better.

[ed]

Originally posted by falcon_x:

Combat sucks. Should have never left the studio with this awful combat system. If you like reloading a billion times to pass an area this is the game for you. That is one mechanic this game does well - reloading a billion times that is. It forces you to reload b/c either your orc got stuck in some animation and couldn't do anything else or b/c he went into a fit of rage like an idiot and died. Dumb game mechanic.

Why are you letting Arkail rage when the game specifically tells you it's risky and can end up just getting you killed, and gives you a stance and abilities for NOT going into rage mode? I've done multiple entire playthroughs and rarely end up having Arkail rage more than once or twice in the entire game. If that much.

His horrible rage problems are a part of his character, and I appreciate this game for actually making it a problem he has to struggle with/overcome, one that can get him into trouble rather than being a superpower with no downsides except for occasional grim, manly angst during a cutscene.

[ZombieHunter]

The rage mechanic isn't awful but its implemented poorly and I think the only reason for it being there is b/c the AI is too braindead to offer a challenge without it. What I normally do is use Styx and let Arkhail do his thing since he sucks at everything. Then when he gets pummeled I revive him and run around with Styx some more. Ridiculous but it works for every fight b/c the AI is pretty stupid. I can beat like 20 dudes by just running Styx all over the area while Arkhail gets beaten to a pulp, revived, he then kills one or two and gets beaten to a pulp, wash, rinse, repeat. Once the AI decides its target you can literally beat the crap out of them until their 'volley' is over and then you just run around some more. Your characters and the AI both suffer from having to finish every single animation in a move before they can do another which opens up a lot of issues with control in the game.

[ed]

I think you'd be less frustrated if you actually built/controlled Arkail rather than letting him get pummeled to death constantly and therefore rage a lot more. ;) I control Styx most of the time too, but Arkail's still pretty good at his role as tank.

I don't remember exactly what I did with stats except that it was probably mostly hit points and mind. Defensive stance all day every day, with deflection upgrade. Many of his skills in this stance have parry reduction or stun upgrades, and I personally like his AOE taunt for dragging people away from Styx. He also has a lot of options for really cheesing out deflection, although I haven't gone that route myself.

He's always been pretty good at locking down the battlefield for me while Styx dances around carving everything up. A well-built melee Styx is a beast IMO, I only touch ranged for the stun bomb.

[Psychic_Flakk]

Originally posted by falcon_x:

The rage mechanic isn't awful but its implemented poorly and I think the only reason for it being there is b/c the AI is too braindead to offer a challenge without it. What I normally do is use Styx and let Arkhail do his thing since he sucks at everything. Then when he gets pummeled I revive him and run around with Styx some more. Ridiculous but it works for every fight b/c the AI is pretty stupid. I can beat like 20 dudes by just running Styx all over the area while Arkhail gets beaten to a pulp, revived, he then kills one or two and gets beaten to a pulp, wash, rinse, repeat. Once the AI decides its target you can literally beat the crap out of them until their 'volley' is over and then you just run around some more. Your characters and the AI both suffer from having to finish every single animation in a move before they can do another which opens up a lot of issues with control in the game.

Wow I don't think I'd enjoy the game either if I played that way.
My current tactics are to use Styx to weaken and stun selected enemies so Arkhail can squash them.

[ed]

Originally posted by Plague_Dog:

Wow I don't think I'd enjoy the game either if I played that way.

Essentially this. You are definitely making it unnecessarily hard on yourself and should not have to reload nearly as often as you say you do.

[Britannic]

Yes I can recommend this game as can most here.

[ODTech]

+1

The combat turned me off on my first attempt at a playthrough but this time round i'm hooked. I get why they made the combat they way it is though, so you can have full control of both characters during combat and line up their attacks.