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Post by Ex on Apr 21, 2019 20:44:44 GMT -5
Kudos to you Sarge for sticking with it. I know how hoary these old PC FPDCs can be.
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Post by Sarge on Apr 21, 2019 20:55:36 GMT -5
It's not as hoary as some of them, but it's definitely starting to wear on me. I don't know if it just feels like it, or actually is, but I feel like I'm well over the 15 hour runtime.
I'm sure folks already know this, but this was Westwood's followup to their work on Eye of the Beholder after they were bought out by Virgin. As you can guess, the similarities are quite strong. Strong enough that, while I may give EotB a go one day, it won't be after this!
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Post by Ex on Apr 21, 2019 21:01:14 GMT -5
As you can guess, the similarities are quite strong. Strong enough that, while I may give EotB a go one day, it won't be after this! I personally really don't like the real-time combat in tandem with multiple party members thing. I'm fine with multiple party members if it's turn-based. I'm fine with real-time if it's a single party member. But frantically clicking on little sword, bow, and wand icons over and over just isn't fun to me.
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Post by Sarge on Apr 21, 2019 21:28:48 GMT -5
As you can guess, the similarities are quite strong. Strong enough that, while I may give EotB a go one day, it won't be after this! I personally really don't like the real-time combat in tandem with multiple party members thing. I'm fine with multiple party members if it's turn-based. I'm fine with real-time if it's a single party member. But frantically clicking on little sword, bow, and wand icons over and over just isn't fun to me. That's my biggest gripe, too. It seems... inartful, and rather technique-less. I expressed it before, but this is a game that I feel would have been better served with a semi-turn-based battle system. Something along the lines of Final Fantasy's ATB would work pretty well.
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Post by Ex on Apr 22, 2019 12:13:32 GMT -5
SargeLate last night I was reading through RPGCodex's " Top 70 PC RPGs" list, and LoL came in at #66. Each entry had quotes from stuff members said about the games. Here's what people said about LoL:
Aeschylus: The first game is the Lands of Lore series, and also the only one worth playing, Throne of Chaos is a fun first-person real-time RPG that is fairly unlike most other entries in the genre. There is no party creation, for one, with you only able to choose between four different main protagonists (split between the 'fighter'/'speed'/'mage/'everyman' archetypes) and all the other characters joining you at various points during the story. There is not a lot of character building complexity involved either - the game contains a very simple classless system where performing any action in combat will slowly level up your fighter, mage or rogue abilities.
Where the character system is fairly simplistic however, the game's main strength lies in exploring the large above ground and dungeon environments. The later game dungeons in particular are some of the largest and most challenging - from both combat and puzzle perspectives - to appear in any game. There is a surprising amount of depth to this seemingly simplistic game, and it's well worth a look for anyone who enjoys a good dungeon crawler.
Broseph: Westwood Studios' 1993 opus Lands of Lore is pretty much the best introduction to the real-time blobber subgenre you could ask for. A sort of spiritual successor to the Eye of the Beholder games, LoL had high production values for the time, and its colorful graphics and excellent music still hold up today. LoL is a very simplistic game and it's almost more of an adventure game than an RPG, but that doesn't stop it from being incredibly fun and even downright challenging at times. It's fully-voiced too and most of the actors here aren't half-bad. Patrick Stewart(!) even does the voice of King Roland. Overall, an excellent little real-time "blobber" and one of my top recommendations for younger people looking to get into computer RPGs.
Gozma: Lands of Lore: Throne of Chaos is a Westwood Studios game following the Dungeon Master style real-time grid-based dungeon crawler design that they developed for SSI's AD&D licensed Eye of the Beholder 1 and 2. The presentation was highly notable in 1993 both for the way Westwood succeeded in making that graphical era look good and for some early nerd celebrity voice acting on the new CD media - Patrick Stewart, fresh out of Star Trek TV, played his first, but not last, corny fantasy videogame king in LoL. The setting is highly cartoony and forgettable fantasy with some slight Dark Crystal type moody undertones and a straightforward uncomplicated story.
With D&D jettisoned, the character system is highly simplified. You begin by picking one of four starting characters that generally major/minor in the methods by which you kill stuff - melee, ranged, or magic. After character creation and into the game proper it's learn-by-doing and new NPC party members coming and going as you progress the story. The gameplay is a generally pleasant mix of simple, slow, low-reflex combat and dungeon exploration based on such classic tricks as buttons hidden in wall textures or pressure plate puzzles similar to those found in Eye of the Beholder. Unlike Eye of the Beholder, however, there is a powerful automapper in LoL that will even show things like secret switches you may have passed over, meaning you will never miss a secret for long and will have to abstain from using the automap heavily if you enjoy the search.
The game was clearly meant as a "broaden the appeal" simplification by Westwood, then working for a new publisher. The overall contemporary effect is a light, quick game suitable for a relaxing playthrough.
Based on these snippets from that spoilered text I can see what you meant now by "not as hoary" as some other PC FPDCs: >the game contains a very simple classless system where performing any action in combat will slowly level up your fighter, mage or rogue abilities.
>LoL is a very simplistic game and it's almost more of an adventure game than an RPG
>powerful automapper in LoL that will even show things like secret switches you may have passed over, meaning you will never miss a secret for long
>a straightforward uncomplicated story
>The overall contemporary effect is a light, quick game suitable for a relaxing playthrough.All that sounds like it was meant to bring QoL improvements to make LoL a smoother more streamlined play VS EotB.
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Post by Sarge on Apr 22, 2019 12:22:50 GMT -5
Those are fair. I can see where folks would enjoy it, and it certainly simplifies a lot of elements. To be honest, and I may have said this already, but I feel like this would have been the perfect sort of CRPG to put on consoles. The control scheme could have been adapted pretty easily to work well with a gamepad.
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Post by Sarge on Apr 23, 2019 10:38:38 GMT -5
I made a little progress last night in LoL. I'm now through the dungeons, and in the final area. I've already been met with ghost knights, which killed me because I had to remove all my armor from the last area. See, those aliens spit acid that will destroy your chest armor. Whee! They can kill you quick if you're unlucky landing blows, so definitely save a lot.
Without looking at details, it seems from the guide that this last area might be quite complex. Unsurprising, of course. But from what I've read as well, it shouldn't be as hard as the third floor of the White Tower.
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Post by Ex on Apr 23, 2019 10:51:55 GMT -5
I'm rooting for you Sarge!
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Post by Sarge on Apr 27, 2019 0:02:46 GMT -5
I've done it. Words to come later. Suffice it to say, I have no hunger for Eye of the Beholder currently. I think LoL is a 6.5, tops.
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Post by Ex on Apr 27, 2019 0:58:48 GMT -5
I've done it. Words to come later. Suffice it to say, I have no hunger for Eye of the Beholder currently. I think LoL is a 6.5, tops. Congrats on your fortitude. I don't recommend EotB from what I've played of it; at least LoL had an auto-map!
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