The Dark Spire - First Impressions and Previews

[SickleCellAnemia]

What the title says:
http://ds.ign.com/articles/948/948560p1.html

[stalepie]

Basic equipment menus keep things extremely mysterious, having a whole slew of items to equip but very little instruction on who should wear them; it's all about trial and error. A mage, for instance, can equip a sword of they'd like, but the wrong items will in turn cause negative attributes or status changes. In the case of that overly-ambitious mage, the spellcaster would lose the ability to… well… spell cast. The sword will in fact work, but smart players will watch their team closely, assigning equipment to only the right classes and leveling up the correct skills based on their strategy.

interesting -- is that how Wizardry was?

[Kakizaki]

^Yes, in some instances. :)

edit - While I think that was a pretty positive preview overall, I do have to take issue with the statement regarding "visual charm".

I love EO, but from the get go I wasn't overly fond of the art style. While it did grow on me, I still craved something with a darker or more serious tone for this type of game. With that in mind, I found DS's art quite attractive. I don't think that DS's contrasting art style should be necessarily labeled as a detracting factor.

[stalepie]

I agree, DS's dark "American" art style is a breath of fresh air. I think it's so cool that a team in Japan is trying to make it look like something that was popular in about 1986. But I'm not that into that whole "retro throwback" thing. I just want a good game, and that's what I consider Etrian Odyssey and hopefully The Dark Spire to be.

[Enzeru]

The over-stated "only hardcore RPG fans" is starting to scare me off. xD

[Tivor]

Oh god, reading that preview article makes me drool even more now.

Atlus sure has $60 (Dark Spire + Tokyo Beat Down) coming their way from me on March 10.

[faithfulfanboy]

While I don't think this game will be on the level of depth and difficulty as Etrian Oddysey, you can't knock it's art style, presentation, or old school Wizardry charm. Another commendation to Atlus for bringing fantastic dungeon crawlers over to North America for a reasonable price.

[jeffx]

WOW! That battle theme is pretty good.

Is there an "auto" battle mode like EOII, or at least a way to skip all battle messages by holding a button?

[poiuiu]

The over-stated "only hardcore RPG fans" is starting to scare me off. xD

Funny, that is exactly what is drawing me towards the game. :D

[jeffx]

Welcome aboard poiuiiuuiuiuiuu or however you write that.

Atlus Canada grows stronger.

[cj iwakura]

This doesn't use hand-drawn maps like EO1, I'm guessing?

I figure Atlus has that feature trademarked or something.

[poiuiu]

Map drawing was really only added in at the last minute of EO1's dev, according to reports; so that's merely a gimmick that only a few loved (like myself). And maps are automatically filled as you walk around, which IS a step up from how fans of the genre is used to. :)

And ahoy, jeff part 10.

[Enzeru]

The over-stated "only hardcore RPG fans" is starting to scare me off. xD

Funny, that is exactly what is drawing me towards the game. :D
Well, let's hope I like it. xD I'm hoping for something a step or two above Etrian Odyssey 2; if it's under that, that's fine too.

Map drawing was really only added in at the last minute of EO1's dev, according to reports; so that's merely a gimmick that only a few loved (like myself).
That was (is) one of my favorite parts.

[stalepie]

New preview here at Games Radar:
http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/the-dark-spire/preview/the-dark-spire/a-20090203161520985064/g-20081218172959531054

[Birdpoopman]

1UP has just recently posted their impressions of the Dark Spire on their RPG blog, and here it is! :D

http://www.1up.com/1upblogs/5/1ups_rpg_blog

[Kakizaki]

Merging all of the media outlet impressions into one thread. ;)

[Pibbman]

1UP has just recently posted their impressions of the Dark Spire on their RPG blog, and here it is! :D

http://www.1up.com/1upblogs/5/1ups_rpg_blog

Was a good read, I'll be keeping an eye out on reviews.

[stalepie]

(Slightly off-topic, but did anyone check out that game Parrish mentioned, ZPC? Looks pretty great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98vuEmgYm9k, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx3M3230Tik&feature=related. A game like that ought to have received more attention. )

[JGray]

So far, its reminding me a lot of a graphical rogue-like. Which is a neat idea, honestly. A rogue-like on my DS? Rock.

[Kakizaki]

^Hrmmm? Reminds me a lot of old dungeon 1st person crawlers like Wizardry and Might and Magic or of newer ones like Etrian Odyssey. ;)

[Tivor]

Not to mention that DS hasn't been in shortage of roguelike games anyway, what with Shiren and Izuna and even Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and whatnot.

[Foryth]

I feel this game could be my GOTY 2009. Can't wait. :seesaw:

[poiuiu]

Not to mention that DS hasn't been in shortage of roguelike games anyway, what with Shiren and Izuna and even Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and whatnot.
The DS is heaven-sent in terms of dungeon crawling and rogue-likes, even compared to the PS2. Short of PC fanmade games, there's no comparison.:)

[JGray]

A Pokemon rogue-like.

That disturbs me on levels I didn't know could be disturbed.

[jeffx]

^ It's from Chunsoft and it's actually very solid.

There are much more disturbing things out there.

[poiuiu]

Everyone's favourite toasted frog did a write up for the game:

The Grind (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8981076&publicUserId=5379721)


A Pokemon rogue-like.

That disturbs me on levels I didn't know could be disturbed.
The games rock; stfu. >:p

[Foryth]

A bit off topic, but if I thought Pokemon Mystery Dungeon was one of the most boring games I ever played is there a chance I will like Shiren or Izuna?

[Kakizaki]

^I guess it depends on what bored you. If you liked the game but felt it lacked challenge, then Shiren may still appeal to you.

[Foryth]

^I guess it depends on what bored you. If you liked the game but felt it lacked challenge, then Shiren may still appeal to you.

Yeah, I found it very easy. I also thought it lacked a bit in action and ways to customize my character. I think I'll give the snes version of Shiren a try to see if I might like it enough to purchase the DS one. I liked Baroque as a roguelike, though it felt very different from my experience with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (rescue team red or whatever).

[Kakizaki]

^I might suggest Torneko the Last Hope for PSX as well.

[dungeon_man]

FWIW, Orcs and Elves looks like a first-person dungeon crawl, but plays like a roguelike. It's cheap and might be worth checking out for those interested in roguelikes or fp dungeon crawls.

...

I get tired of previewers/reviewers saying "hardcore fans" when talking about games. It seems like they're just trying to scare people off, and I think it's ridiculous. People in my generation got started on hard-ass games like Wizardry and Ultima: Exodus because that's all there was. I find it ludicrous that professional game journalists think you have to be "hardcore" to play these newer games when harder and cruder games were fine for newbies in the 80s.

It does a disservice to the people who still make these types of games.

...

Wizardry is way harder than Etrian Odyssey, and I expect The Dark Spire will be at least marginally more difficult than EO.

[Olethros]

FWIW, Orcs and Elves looks like a first-person dungeon crawl, but plays like a roguelike. It's cheap and might be worth checking out for those interested in roguelikes or fp dungeon crawls.

...

I get tired of previewers/reviewers saying "hardcore fans" when talking about games. It seems like they're just trying to scare people off, and I think it's ridiculous. People in my generation got started on hard-ass games like Wizardry and Ultima: Exodus because that's all there was. I find it ludicrous that professional game journalists think you have to be "hardcore" to play these newer games when harder and cruder games were fine for newbies in the 80s.

It does a disservice to the people who still make these types of games.

...

Wizardry is way harder than Etrian Odyssey, and I expect The Dark Spire will be at least marginally more difficult than EO.

Amen, brother. Amen. I've been singing this song (as have many others here) forever and a day. Bravo!

[jeffx]

Orcs & Elves was a lot of fun but it also lasts about 2 hours. At least it has some replayability. Here's hoping its sequel also makes it to the DS.

PS my first Ultima was VI!!!! I think I also got Eye of the Beholder that year (1990). I should replay that one someday...

[Kakizaki]

FWIW, Orcs and Elves looks like a first-person dungeon crawl, but plays like a roguelike. It's cheap and might be worth checking out for those interested in roguelikes or fp dungeon crawls.

...

I get tired of previewers/reviewers saying "hardcore fans" when talking about games. It seems like they're just trying to scare people off, and I think it's ridiculous. People in my generation got started on hard-ass games like Wizardry and Ultima: Exodus because that's all there was. I find it ludicrous that professional game journalists think you have to be "hardcore" to play these newer games when harder and cruder games were fine for newbies in the 80s.

It does a disservice to the people who still make these types of games.

...

Wizardry is way harder than Etrian Odyssey, and I expect The Dark Spire will be at least marginally more difficult than EO.

Amen, brother. Amen. I've been singing this song (as have many others here) forever and a day. Bravo!

Yeah, in a way, this is what I was trying to get at when I commented earlier in this thread regarding "visual charm". I just didn't articulate it this well. ;)

[Camanche]

I don't even have a working DS right now but I'm still going to pick this up.

[Olethros]

Good call, Cammy. I'm getting a bit of a possible "shortage" feel on this one. Pre-ordering might be wise.

[Decept]

I get tired of previewers/reviewers saying "hardcore fans" when talking about games. It seems like they're just trying to scare people off, and I think it's ridiculous.

It does a disservice to the people who still make these types of games.

+1 :agree:

They either say it's too niche, or it's too loyal to the fanbase, or it's too difficult, or it's not innovative enough. I used to follow reviews until it made me mad when most of the time I'd end up liking the game, yet it got bad reviews. Now I just read them with a grain of salt as to find out where their weak points might be depending on the type/genre of game I am buying. Sometimes they make a mountain out of a bad feature, when I usually am forgiving, feeling as if it wasn't as bad as they made it out to be.

[dungeon_man]

^ What I find most irritating is when the reviewers criticize a game for things that I consider to be positive points. For professionals, they often fail at being objective.

[Kakizaki]

^ What I find most irritating is when the reviewers criticize a game for things that I consider to be positive points. For professionals, they often fail at being objective.

Ditto.

[TheMagicHat]

In my view, objectivity is a lie. There is ALWAYS going to be some kind of personal preference or opinion, no matter what the subject is. Now whose preference or opinion it is will be up for debate, but in the case of this review it was obviously not someone who was a fan of this style of gameplay.

[Tivor]

In my view, objectivity is a lie. There is ALWAYS going to be some kind of personal preference or opinion, no matter what the subject is.

Indeed. I mean, it's a "review." It's an OPINION. And by definition, it's never going to be totally objective.

The whole trick to reading a review is not to be too hung up on review score or whether the reviewer liked it or not, but to derive from the reviewer's description and opinions whether *I* would like the game or not. On several occasions, I've read a positive review and went "yeah, but it sounds dumb to me," and read a negative review and went "ok, but it still sounds like a lot of fun!!" I'm sure we've all done that too.

I mean, where's the fun if everyone agreed with my tastes all the time? (or conversely, if I agreed with everyone else's tastes all the time?)

To me, a good reviewer is someone who elaborates well why he did or did not like the game, not someone who gives a score that I always agree with.

[Dwarfthief]

here check this out

Epic-Geek (http://epic-geek.blogspot.com/2009/04/dark-spire-history-lesson-for-modern.html)

I'm kind of proud of my work

[Manly Biceps]

Nice. Thanks for the shout-out.

[stalepie]

Nice "impressions" video here by PeteDorr. Shows a bit of gameplay footage (including level 2 -- nice graphics), and goes over the controls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q9n9zBJDLc

love how you can hold down the button to skip through the fights fast'. Now if just my Amazon order would hurry up and ship...

[PeteDorr]

Nice "impressions" video here by PeteDorr. Shows a bit of gameplay footage (including level 2 -- nice graphics), and goes over the controls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q9n9zBJDLc

love how you can hold down the button to skip through the fights fast'. Now if just my Amazon order would hurry up and ship...

Hey thanks for plugging my video, glad you enjoyed it. I am still having fun figuring out the elements of the games challenge and am in the process of possibly restarting my characters that would benefit from better stats (like not being able to level a secondary class because I do not have 11 of a certain stat)

[stalepie]

Oh, didn't realize you posted here. :)