tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56729883156685573212024-02-18T22:46:09.852-08:00Hell Gates 2 - Valadur´s BlogDirectly from the creator of Hell Gates 2 - Valadurs Erbe, this blog delivers insight into the design decisions behind the game. This blog has its focus on the combat system, character building and dungeon design. I will also present other games and investigate their approach on these 3 core features.Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-29158853051003866182019-10-30T00:55:00.002-07:002019-10-30T00:55:54.868-07:00Hell Gates 2 Version 1.6 is now available and offers the full English Translation of Chapter 1As you certainly noticed, Hell Gates 1 was a game that was developed under pressure (3 months) and heavy restrictions (no words). For Hell Gates 2, all this was removed. The scale was upped considerably and this is the most ambitious thing I did in my life. It took well over a decade of my life, sitting at home, planning out dungeons and class abilities. I really hope that Hell Gates 2 can captivate you as much as it captivated me.<br />
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You can download <a href="https://hell-gates-2.fandom.com/de/wiki/Downloads_und_Links" target="_blank">Hell Gates 2 from the official Wiki</a>, for free of course. Also, if you had fun with Hell Gates and want to support this game series in
general, it is possible to do so on the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Hell Gates patreon page</a>.<br />
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So here are the things you can look forward to the most in Hell Gates 2:<br />
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1. The continuation of the Hell Gates story </h3>
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Since Hell Gates used no words, the things that happened there were entirely shrouded in mistery. What does the world outside of the island look like? Who is the blue-haired boy? What are these strange crystals that give him so much power? It was a perfect opportunity to expand upon in the sequel. Hell Gates 2 opens up with a recap of the events of Hell Gates before concentrating on our new protagonist in the first chapter.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z3Mi2U9z6zU/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z3Mi2U9z6zU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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The connections between them become more clearer in the later chapters. If you are a Hell Gates veteran, you should watch the Trailers for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bodwCGFAIts" target="_blank">Hell Gates 1</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgi8W88EZdc" target="_blank">Hell Gates 2</a>. You will notice that the cuts alternate between the two protagonists, showing where their paths cross (although the world is in a much more desolate state later on).<br />
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2. Deep and flexible character customisation</h3>
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There are many, many different and meaningful choices for you to make when growing your character into a hero. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGSzCF-ys0y5fpQmNijyIxyMCVdrBPZuOIiTlFsjkMX628nCl1FC0st03i0eXCYUD0f2lBPhAY6JGtZQRmHvKJAjuwwT3YQkM2T1F4kVPEzjX5eM1AoSDaemr9NH5EHqnMOG75qaq480/s1600/CrystalMenu.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kristallmenü aus Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGSzCF-ys0y5fpQmNijyIxyMCVdrBPZuOIiTlFsjkMX628nCl1FC0st03i0eXCYUD0f2lBPhAY6JGtZQRmHvKJAjuwwT3YQkM2T1F4kVPEzjX5eM1AoSDaemr9NH5EHqnMOG75qaq480/s1600/CrystalMenu.PNG" title="Kristallmenü aus Hell Gates 2" /></a></div>
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For example, there are <b>25 different skills</b> you can learn. Every skill can be improved with talent points and later on you can become an apprentice, expert or master in that skill. This unlocks new benefits from that skill, effectively giving <b>you 100 different skills to toy around with</b>. Hell Gates 2 was also ahead of its time and got rid of weapon specialization skills since they are basically the same and just limit your free choice of weapons instead of increasing your freedom of choice. Instead you get<b> combat styles</b>, some focus on damage and some on precision or something else. You are free to mix and match all combat styles since they work with all weapons.<br />
Also, to keep all attributes (strength, intelligence, etc.) appealing for all classes, there are <b>powerful class abilities</b> to keep all options relevant. Even a brawny warrior can do with some intelligence because of his class skill „Tactical Advantage“ which gives him a small heal after being hit, based on his intelligence. <br />
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3. A creative crafting system</h3>
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In many games, crafting is really bad and boring. You have no control over the outcome and often you just get to collect a bunch of random materials for your blacksmith. <b>This degrades crafting to a fetch quest in disguise.</b> In <b>Hell Gates 2 you have full control over what the blacksmith creates</b> for you. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1E-PknOGki4i8TtNh16U9SWEZ7eCHd9rymQ_ufLmkpb8pJAzlDH5nD_SUcKoNJ3NsYjX30pBjnFZZgtmv_VPCu4Hj-ly17csdY4K_FRBGBA2w2TNPjL8WXbAKYj61uK3G89R7JU2HoYc/s1600/Crafting.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crafting Menu from Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1E-PknOGki4i8TtNh16U9SWEZ7eCHd9rymQ_ufLmkpb8pJAzlDH5nD_SUcKoNJ3NsYjX30pBjnFZZgtmv_VPCu4Hj-ly17csdY4K_FRBGBA2w2TNPjL8WXbAKYj61uK3G89R7JU2HoYc/s1600/Crafting.png" title="Crafting Menu from Hell Gates 2" /></a></div>
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You choose a blacksmith plan, from the plain shortsword (less materials required) to the brutal kingslayer (way more powerful but you need more materials). Then you give him enough material of your choice. Mithril shortsword, copper kingslayer, anything goes (except for making a sword out of leather). <b>The materials differ in quality but they can also have better magical properties.</b> Iron is more durable than gold, leading to a sword with higher attack power. But gold has better magical properties so once it is enchanted by your crafter it will be housing a much more powerful enchantment.<br />
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4. Complex dungeons</h3>
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In Hell Gates 1 were a bunch of puzzle rooms. It was a nice change of pace but I was inexperienced. In Hell Gates 2 <b>the dungeons are way bigger</b> with a strong theme and lots of creative mechanics to tease your brain. They were the hardest thing to design, some of them <b>taking months and months to create</b>. I would love to tell you more about them, but I think it would spoil the fun of discovery so I will keep my mouth shut on this one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UApOA5AwHd5Av8iJdYXAcioZ-yGDNobIVLKIhgfzDtNpG6BmoIImOqmhWMYczn-Y77iHQgBORzm9y2X3WC8mvHaT3R7wJWdsOC6JenMmhgpHhhTSnY2YKLWx1RWEGhHC9n06vX9TrhM/s1600/Rockbeetle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rock Beetle Grotto from Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UApOA5AwHd5Av8iJdYXAcioZ-yGDNobIVLKIhgfzDtNpG6BmoIImOqmhWMYczn-Y77iHQgBORzm9y2X3WC8mvHaT3R7wJWdsOC6JenMmhgpHhhTSnY2YKLWx1RWEGhHC9n06vX9TrhM/s1600/Rockbeetle.JPG" title="Rock Beetle Grotto from Hell Gates 2" /></a></div>
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5. So much to explore!</h3>
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Hell Gates 1 offered an open game world, but when you walked off the intended path, you were quickly overwhelmed by the enemies there. Hell Gates 2 is a bit more structured in that regard since you are accessing new regions one after another. To keep things interesting, all regions were created with <b>tons of optional stuff to do</b>. Just take a look at the first area: Paradise Valley. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1szd5AHRRuzKVqAu4ciuAZfyv4ipvl8ERbLTnNqpyO43ke3JftJbyil9gXdX9VVLCKaa50SJKarUja6wLrNHoNARggrGJR0g32-4828B3wKwo3GWGIF1yYDz-8whZQMK-mKYovTuLLu8/s1600/Valley.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Paradise Valley from Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1szd5AHRRuzKVqAu4ciuAZfyv4ipvl8ERbLTnNqpyO43ke3JftJbyil9gXdX9VVLCKaa50SJKarUja6wLrNHoNARggrGJR0g32-4828B3wKwo3GWGIF1yYDz-8whZQMK-mKYovTuLLu8/s1600/Valley.bmp" title="Paradise Valley from Hell Gates 2" /></a></div>
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All story-relevant events take place in the northern part of the valley. You can spend your entire time of chapter 1 there without ever noticing that there is also a southern part for you to explore, full with ancient ruins, deadly caves and strange people to meet. <b>The fun of exploration and the thrill of discovery are things that were very important to me when creating the world of Hell Gates 2</b>.<br />
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<h3>
Please visit <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Hell Gates on Patreon</a></h3>
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Hell Gates and Hell Gates 2 are both available for free via download. Forever. No strings attached. No DLC or whatever the big companies can cook up.<br />
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And if you enjoyed Hell Gates 1 or 2 and want to support this game series in
general, it is possible to do so on the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Hell Gates patreon page</a>. If you don´t know what patreon is, here is a brief explanation: it is a platform where all kind of creative content creators gather and present their work. People who like their work, can decide to support their favorite artists and become a patron of their work (1$ or more, it is entirely up to you).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-eOZSYCEixVpx2h6wS1yPhwm2IeDuSOc1asHO7VI68jBCZu1wctVNBqkjyLu3W0fDKqVia6vKzt-ZYN41GvtPhNuvSCnijx_XSwR1RJojcI6nR0besetbfdltAZq4QLBoZMVcgue9c8/s1600/DONATIONBANNER3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Donation banner fro Hell Gates" border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="831" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-eOZSYCEixVpx2h6wS1yPhwm2IeDuSOc1asHO7VI68jBCZu1wctVNBqkjyLu3W0fDKqVia6vKzt-ZYN41GvtPhNuvSCnijx_XSwR1RJojcI6nR0besetbfdltAZq4QLBoZMVcgue9c8/s400/DONATIONBANNER3.png" title="Donation banner fro Hell Gates" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Please visit the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">official Patreon page</a></td></tr>
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<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-35317304071766198062018-03-17T10:54:00.001-07:002018-03-17T10:54:33.453-07:00Hell Gates 2 Translation Progress Report 03/17/2018<div class="_2TO-components-SimpleRichTextEditor--paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="cd2pc" data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0">
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<b><span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true">It has been quite a while since the announcement of the Hell Gates 2 translation project. Let us find out how well the project progresses.</span></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkVdE3-Q7skYLfi5CeWU182uTTzw_KRw2p6OjJ2otEudx1ItuvELo7NEtiDyYOjlGK2R9gCtaBOC_WKwiAmWuzpmUdqt4ia2Cn1hkzgESVKdMWSji7yJ_9RX6irPT_-nQjzl7HgE8YMc/s1600/Ortskunde.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hell Gates 2 Paradise Valley Entrance" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkVdE3-Q7skYLfi5CeWU182uTTzw_KRw2p6OjJ2otEudx1ItuvELo7NEtiDyYOjlGK2R9gCtaBOC_WKwiAmWuzpmUdqt4ia2Cn1hkzgESVKdMWSji7yJ_9RX6irPT_-nQjzl7HgE8YMc/s1600/Ortskunde.JPG" title="Hell Gates 2 Paradise Valley Entrance" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering the lush plains of Paradise Valley. </td></tr>
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="fkpbg-0-0"><span data-text="true">Currently, I am
working on translating all menu screens in Hell Gates 2. This turned
out to be a tremendous task. For one, there are over 30 menus in the
game. To make matters worse, most text is hardcoded into the game so I
had to create new graphics and new maps for the English version.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="fkpbg-0-0"><span data-text="true">Reminder: Unlimited Early Access </span></span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="fkpbg-0-0"><span data-text="true">Remember to check out the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Patreon page of Hell Gates 2</a>! You will find the latest progress reports and status updates. <b>Supporters of Hell Gates 2 can even get early access to </b></span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="fkpbg-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="4ebh0-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>to the latest work-in-progress version of the translation project</b>.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true">Milestone #1 on 10/03/2017: Crystal Menu translated </span></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4g8Bwp5cyjlGo3odvJ-ORHWvHVwvH6VCNgRm4ruFh2x7q6TwDm15Xl6Qim2spXEFXWj7nP2NPqqqdsa8C5_hkYqaK_q2ct0GYsNgzXR_HHELudYbNNoq1XDT7XPhVCkLE9j3KkxSkBI/s1600/CrystalMenu.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Crystal Menu from Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4g8Bwp5cyjlGo3odvJ-ORHWvHVwvH6VCNgRm4ruFh2x7q6TwDm15Xl6Qim2spXEFXWj7nP2NPqqqdsa8C5_hkYqaK_q2ct0GYsNgzXR_HHELudYbNNoq1XDT7XPhVCkLE9j3KkxSkBI/s1600/CrystalMenu.PNG" title="Crystal Menu from Hell Gates 2" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ancient crystals will lend you their strength.</td></tr>
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<span data-offset-key="6t4fv-0-0"><span data-text="true">The Crystal Menu is now fully translated. This is the place where you empower your character. You can raise attributes, spend skill points and unseal the mysterious Books of Force that will grant you unique powers.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="5noim-0-0"><span data-text="true">Milestone #2 on 10/22/2017: Backpack Menu finished</span></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSx48MoCDc3TuCjr8GhfTu2PAKEEBLgBnEQf__D8woQESIVsjrqHi00BRXWz4lbse85qmX70ATnz0w4CBk7z1hT3zU0eqvp27KRy6T5xLE5luUDeGfRhzfEnbMeXsq_8s7cguIU-YNKQ/s1600/Backpack.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Backpack menu from Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSx48MoCDc3TuCjr8GhfTu2PAKEEBLgBnEQf__D8woQESIVsjrqHi00BRXWz4lbse85qmX70ATnz0w4CBk7z1hT3zU0eqvp27KRy6T5xLE5luUDeGfRhzfEnbMeXsq_8s7cguIU-YNKQ/s1600/Backpack.PNG" title="Backpack menu from Hell Gates 2" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The backpack contains a wealth of items and information.</td></tr>
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="4cqgj-0-0"><span data-text="true">It may look
like not much work, but all letters had to be manually redrawn. It was
quite a pain but now the menu is completely translated. Also, the item
sub-menus are finished, too. Here you will find all your precious loot and artifacts that are required to reach the end of your journey. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="4cqgj-0-0"><span data-text="true">Milestone #3 on 03/17/2018: Notes Menu finished</span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="4cqgj-0-0"><span data-text="true"></span></span> </span></span></h3>
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<span data-offset-key="9fetc-0-0"><span data-text="true">I have now completed the Notes Menu. This may sound tiny, but in reality this is a huge archive where every enemy, every teacher location, every key item location and many many more things are written down to help you out in your epic quest through the world of Hell Gates 2.</span></span></div>
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<b>Up next:</b> the character status screen. Lots of statistics and lots of tooltips to translate! </span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="ae5t3-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="5noim-0-0"><span data-text="true">Want
to try out the game for yourself? The German version can be downloaded for free.
To try out the early version of the English translation, <a href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=4597104" target="_blank">please check out the options for becoming a Patron of Hell Gates 2</a>.</span></span> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUT9-4diM7detAH5t8mOPswetfCqh0SXn5D4rhdhDWE1QzYdY1rYnYRMH-kvtnFGcvIgPJyv2X919_ThAvRqI_NsMAA6T9SoH5B6us9pcA3CRGqjorPusGJ9NyEGqMocgQ802rR2yFjrQ/s1600/StatusScreen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Menu screen from Hell Gates 2" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUT9-4diM7detAH5t8mOPswetfCqh0SXn5D4rhdhDWE1QzYdY1rYnYRMH-kvtnFGcvIgPJyv2X919_ThAvRqI_NsMAA6T9SoH5B6us9pcA3CRGqjorPusGJ9NyEGqMocgQ802rR2yFjrQ/s1600/StatusScreen.JPG" title="Menu screen from Hell Gates 2" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This menu is still in German. There is still lots of work ahead.</td></tr>
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Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-24880712929458202972017-11-12T03:16:00.001-08:002017-11-12T03:16:58.816-08:00The Sequel to Hell Gates is getting an English Translation<b>Hell Gates 2 - Valadurs Erbe is a direct sequel to the action RPG Hell Gates. Until today, it was only available in German and anyone else was missing out on this 20+ hours epic tale. But as you can see in the video below, I am currently translating the game into good old English.</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BM1aUpvcy2o/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BM1aUpvcy2o?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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Hell Gates 2 is a<b> complex action RPG with Zelda-like puzzle dungeons</b> and a combat system that is very reminiscent of the Secret of Mana series.<br />
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<h3>
Current State of the Translation Project</h3>
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The introduction chapter is already completely translated (approx. 30 minutes of gameplay). I am currently translating the systems and menu screens. When this is finished, the game will already be playable from beginning to end for non-German speakers, although you will miss out on the story and dialogue. As you can guess, once the story is translated, you can enjoy the complete experience that Hell Gates 2 offers.<br />
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The complete experience? Well, almost. There is a sub-game within the game that is hard-coded into the engine. There is no way to have this part available in both languages. What can we do here? I decided to completely remove this sub-game and create a new one (the old one wasn´t too good, so it is not a big loss).<br />
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<h3>
Be the first to play the English Version</h3>
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A lot of time and work is still required until completion of the Hell Gates 2 translation project. If you are curious and want to try the English Version while it is still in the making, there is a certain way to do it, continue reading to find out how.<br />
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<h3>
Please visit me on patreon.com</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNq36TKiJt7qbRJfSBFpbdzGJOikfVnd69uJ0Wzo6QNWlrqe_0FovG1jJHR_lWx82nBJost94xbDPxPIGuAvSw0ad0TqZztSt-ixsoEDHka1s6qIfrPgyhDHF58R9YedspX_zJtxCQW8/s1600/PatronWerbung2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Please support Hell Gates 2 on patreon" border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="608" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNq36TKiJt7qbRJfSBFpbdzGJOikfVnd69uJ0Wzo6QNWlrqe_0FovG1jJHR_lWx82nBJost94xbDPxPIGuAvSw0ad0TqZztSt-ixsoEDHka1s6qIfrPgyhDHF58R9YedspX_zJtxCQW8/s320/PatronWerbung2.png" title="Please support Hell Gates 2 on patreon" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Patreon </a>is a website where artists and supporters gather.</td></tr>
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<br />
Hell Gates and Hell Gates 2 are both <b>available for free</b> from the <a href="http://de.hell-gates-2.wikia.com/wiki/Downloads_und_Links" target="_blank">Wiki Download Archive</a>. Forever. No strings attached. No DLC or whatever the big companies can cook up. <br />
If you want to support this game series in general, it is possible to do so on the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Hell Gates 2 patreon page</a>. If you don´t know what patreon is, here is a brief explanation: it is a platform where all kind of creative content creators gather and present their work. People who like their work, can decide to support their favorite artists and <b>become a patron</b> of their work (1$ or more, it is entirely up to you).<br />
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Since the Hell Gates games are for free, there is not much that I can offer you as a reward if you become a patron. So I came up with this idea: every patron gets <b>access to my private download archive where the latest work-in-progress version of the Hell Gates 2 translation is available</b>. Don´t worry, saves are fully compatible between version updates and the versions are always fully playable (minus the incomplete translation). <br />
If you don´t want to spend money, that´s entirely fine. You can still see the latest progress reports on the Hell Gates patreon page.<br />
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<h4>
Important Links:</h4>
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<a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4597104" target="_blank">Hell Gates 2 on patreon</a><br />
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<a href="http://de.hell-gates-2.wikia.com/wiki/Downloads_und_Links" target="_blank">Download Hell Gates and Hell Gates 2 for free</a><br />
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<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-81678413722300143552016-10-23T10:23:00.001-07:002016-10-23T10:23:24.956-07:00Guest Blogging: Why 'Final Fantasy 14' And 'Path Of Exile' Beat Their CompetitionMaybe you have already noticed, but in the comment section of my latest article I was contacted by a site called <a href="http://creators.co/">creators.co</a>. That is a website with lots of blog articles by fans on different topics. The stuff was mainly movie-related but they are branching out into video games. After a few mails sent back and forth, I decided to give it a try and posted a few articles there. So I guess I am guest blogging now.<br />
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<h3>
1. Why 'Final Fantasy 14' Is Totally Different To 'World of Warcraft', And Why It Is A Good Thing</h3>
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<a href="https://creators.co/@ValadursErbe/4100035" target="_blank">The first guest blog entry is a review of Final Fantasy 14</a>, an MMORPG that tries to distinguish itself from the top dog World of Warcraft as much as possible. Which makes the game great but also hard to get used to.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaN76WZ8FQZy69NmKUf8pAZKLjPMVodMVYU3AJWgiyjezxOmVpzARJ8RLsYdyYWygdW_sA3gD9iGABFzNw8OZPFso4Rya4AxlaMUGMCstDXx56ZYltJet4h9V869fvdYz6CguwbLBSVk0/s1600/Panorama_ruins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Final Fantasy 14 dragoon class in front of dungeon ruins" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaN76WZ8FQZy69NmKUf8pAZKLjPMVodMVYU3AJWgiyjezxOmVpzARJ8RLsYdyYWygdW_sA3gD9iGABFzNw8OZPFso4Rya4AxlaMUGMCstDXx56ZYltJet4h9V869fvdYz6CguwbLBSVk0/s320/Panorama_ruins.jpg" title="Final Fantasy 14 dragoon class in front of dungeon ruins" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dragoon in light clothing.</td></tr>
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<h3>
2. 'Path Of Exile' Is The True 'Diablo 3'?</h3>
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<i>Diablo 3</i> marked a big departure from many features that were present in <i>Diablo 2 </i>and beloved by fans. This resulted in a whole lot of games that claimed to be the true spiritual successor to <i>Diablo 2</i>. Almost enough to create a new sub-genre. You can discover more about "True Diablo 3" games <a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/04/my-top-5-true-diablo-3s.html" target="_blank">in this article</a>. Path of Exile stands out as one of the best in this area and <a href="https://creators.co/@ValadursErbe/4101351" target="_blank">the blog article demonstrates why.</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgPaqd7y3Mh1xIIyp5ibnfaLkz6QVOXhY-F05tcqJ9hGn9eYwX0CXHEypE-B9MSmzUHqHKzrKRVlBpjnzupoybA6d9WyCYLOi0JqzM1JJc2hDCbmIvqKPHW5ebDJi88MGtRHzfTdTLEw/s1600/PoE_MassKill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bloody results of a daily quest by Elreon, the Loremaster in Path of Exile" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgPaqd7y3Mh1xIIyp5ibnfaLkz6QVOXhY-F05tcqJ9hGn9eYwX0CXHEypE-B9MSmzUHqHKzrKRVlBpjnzupoybA6d9WyCYLOi0JqzM1JJc2hDCbmIvqKPHW5ebDJi88MGtRHzfTdTLEw/s320/PoE_MassKill.jpg" title="Bloody results of a daily quest by Elreon, the Loremaster in Path of Exile" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of enemies to kill, as expected by a respectable hack and slash game.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-40863692288132333872016-08-01T05:26:00.002-07:002016-08-20T07:15:44.820-07:00Review: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fire Emblem (J-Pop Overkill for Wii U)<b>It is funny how almost every Westerner reacts with determined rejection at Japanese stuff. I am pretty sure it has something to do with cultural differences but when it gets too noisy and colorful, many people turn around in disgust.</b><br />
<b>Luckily, I was born without such a reflex and this puts me in the position to actually enjoy a game like this that revels in the Japanese culture. And trust me, you are missing out on something really good here.</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxA1FcmZfF_GTChSQMTqZS1LfFJmlw1zfoMf6NWofHJNeQ9ghjvoURjK014IFlZtsiBgqMtGQz1nM38AQGB0h7NPHrDyp7iJ0zysuGTgBT-7XhtZsU1OqNrfhRdgJrY5OZAQvR40WfhLk/s1600/TMS_Brofist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Chrom and Itsuki from Tokyo Mirage doing a fistbump in heaven" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxA1FcmZfF_GTChSQMTqZS1LfFJmlw1zfoMf6NWofHJNeQ9ghjvoURjK014IFlZtsiBgqMtGQz1nM38AQGB0h7NPHrDyp7iJ0zysuGTgBT-7XhtZsU1OqNrfhRdgJrY5OZAQvR40WfhLk/s320/TMS_Brofist.jpg" title="Chrom and Itsuki from Tokyo Mirage doing a fistbump in heaven" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super Fist Bump in Heaven!</td></tr>
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<b>Game Title:</b> Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE</div>
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<b>Created by:</b> <a href="http://atlus.com/" target="_blank">Atlus </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Genre:</b> Turn-based RPG</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Difficulty:</b> Medium</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Multiplayer:</b> No</div>
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<h3>
1. General setting: An overdose of Japanese pop culture</h3>
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Did you play any of the bigger RPGs from Atlus? More specifically, one of the Persona games? If so, you got the setting covered pretty much as this game takes a huge chunk of inspiration from this series. On the surface, you lead your daily life in a rather peaceful version of Tokyo as a part of the entertainment industry. But when you´re not pursuing daily life activities, you enter bizarre nightmare versions of Tokyo to battle evil spirits/ghosts/whatever (this time they are called Mirages) in turn-based combat. Oh, and characters from the Fire Emblem make an appearance but the Persona portion of this supposed cross between Shin Megami and Fire Emblem clearly outweighs everything else.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeTDEeYN8EI6InivlbModpcOAtMQf9cImdHDYmbpuLRezYsL89XJWaUQRyFgR5ou4D_y58wL00-HtoFmrNLBjdRAIDXLMa3RoBfQK2yD5rpNvLHSBcdm7Rxx6Y90exc9RoCkKbZPMJcA/s1600/TMS_Archer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Virion from Fire Emblem Awakening as he appears in Tokyo Mirage" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeTDEeYN8EI6InivlbModpcOAtMQf9cImdHDYmbpuLRezYsL89XJWaUQRyFgR5ou4D_y58wL00-HtoFmrNLBjdRAIDXLMa3RoBfQK2yD5rpNvLHSBcdm7Rxx6Y90exc9RoCkKbZPMJcA/s320/TMS_Archer.jpg" title="Virion from Fire Emblem Awakening as he appears in Tokyo Mirage" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is supposed to be Virion from Fire Emblem Awakening.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Unlike the Persona games you don´t need to go to school and have no schedules so you are free to go wherever and when you like. I guess that the money you earn in the entertainment business is enough to never ever have to worry about education...<br />
There is a whole lot of conversations going on and they look great with detailed character models and expressions. The game is also fully voiced, but they didn´t bother to translate it so you have to put up with the Japanese voices. My guess is that they didn´t expect it to sell well in the Western market so they didn´t even attempt. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKgiwnrSdXLKOTyBHyi_gGcT9mFlL1xXwb3sdgfk4CNeKp-4pfxOFjqxUPXFTn8iX5cUGN-RSSB7kLuGDlHRh9SuuYIq77Wm7RcqGxjhAWqcvNCI9TlcPspfekgd3rn_M4tud2NOtuD0Y/s1600/TMS_Expressions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Touma and Kiria from Tokyo Mirage looking shocked." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKgiwnrSdXLKOTyBHyi_gGcT9mFlL1xXwb3sdgfk4CNeKp-4pfxOFjqxUPXFTn8iX5cUGN-RSSB7kLuGDlHRh9SuuYIq77Wm7RcqGxjhAWqcvNCI9TlcPspfekgd3rn_M4tud2NOtuD0Y/s320/TMS_Expressions.jpg" title="Touma and Kiria from Tokyo Mirage looking shocked." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dialogues are a joy to watch and... read because I don´t understand Japanese.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
2. Combat: Turn-based perfection with a bit too many dice rolls</h3>
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Combat in Tokyo Mirage Sessions feels like a J-Pop concert. The battle arena is even a stage and comes with a crowd that cheers you on frenetically. Combat animations are as flashy as it gets and it creates a wonderfully energetic feeling. <br />
Just like in the Persona series, your main goal in combat is to exploit enemy weaknesses. The only difference here is the name change for the 4 types of physical damage. Instead of the rather vague bash, pierce etc. you get the weapon types from the Fire Emblem series together with its rock, paper, scissor gameplay (e.g. swords beat axes). This is much more intuitive since you can see your enemies wearing weapons and you can make an educated guess about their weaknesses.<br />
Once you hit a weak spot, you initiate something that is called a "Session". Other characters with the appropriate passive skills will join your attack and deliver some free hits to the enemy. Later in the game this can get pretty ridiculous with Session hit counts of 15+. Of course, it means that you spend much time passively watching your characters pummel the enemy opposition. This has been a major point of criticism but for me it didn´t get old because of the nice animations and the chance to get additional goodies and skill points during Sessions. The option to speed them up a bit would still be welcome if they plan to do a sequel.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEl6SYhShkGelTv3vK7Vi-1kzbf-V-ppOwztG5Qkr-if4R4KlJbdYZC095lY6uCJCkXfqiiQ0lFLIUz89a6uQTXKDKBDuE-4IuWPyAEEejVCJhcydcNAR9ivAsMh6o07ao_0cMnVWr5TQ/s1600/TMS_Session.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Touma from Tokyo Mirage doing a Session attack." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEl6SYhShkGelTv3vK7Vi-1kzbf-V-ppOwztG5Qkr-if4R4KlJbdYZC095lY6uCJCkXfqiiQ0lFLIUz89a6uQTXKDKBDuE-4IuWPyAEEejVCJhcydcNAR9ivAsMh6o07ao_0cMnVWr5TQ/s320/TMS_Session.jpg" title="Touma from Tokyo Mirage doing a Session attack." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Session attacks are your bread and butter in combat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Exploit enemy weaknesses and get 15 additional attacks? Sounds like a
lot of damage in a single attack! And that is true. Like all Persona games,
the nature of combat is very bursty. Especially since the enemies can
also perform sessions, going from 100% health to almost dead in a single
attack is no rare sight. This will keep you on your toes as a single wrongly prioritized action can have dire consequences. That is also a reason why Sessions remain exciting: you constantly think about whether the remaining attacks will be enough to finish the enemy. And once you realize it won´t be enough, you know that punishment is imminent.<br />
To shake things up a bit, your characters will learn powerful Special Performances. Each character gets his own set with a huge variety of effects and powers. They can turn around a seemingly lost battle but their use is restricted as the special energy slowly builds up during combat.<br />
Then there are the so called Ad-lib Performances and Duo Performances like this one: <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lCy4aHpL0CGD09qx2BO-QLkPfXO4H1Kp0TYfezilc9xaMjDXqI5PArYv_z4B2Z5QCnClFfOh1sQN-g5Y5c6cG1ekYoths584A2VqCjK3YXHGxU64YXPXit6yGb0C-tYD1wssy6_P0OE/s1600/TMS_Adlib.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kiria from Toky Mirage Sessions performing an Ad-lib" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lCy4aHpL0CGD09qx2BO-QLkPfXO4H1Kp0TYfezilc9xaMjDXqI5PArYv_z4B2Z5QCnClFfOh1sQN-g5Y5c6cG1ekYoths584A2VqCjK3YXHGxU64YXPXit6yGb0C-tYD1wssy6_P0OE/s320/TMS_Adlib.jpg" title="Kiria from Toky Mirage Sessions performing an Ad-lib" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saved my sorry ass many times.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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These can randomly trigger from your conventional actions and provide you with significant advantages. I can understand that these things keep combat fresh and engaging since you never know when one of them activates. But I dislike so much randomness in my combat since it takes away from the feeling that I outwitted my enemy. It also leads to a notable difficulty spike in chapter 2 where you simply lack other powerful means to keep your enemies in control. Curious to see the combat system in action? Why not check out my combat demonstration video:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Hek87LKf0kU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hek87LKf0kU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<h3>
3. Character growth: Learn from your weapons</h3>
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Level ups and attribute growth are done automatically without input from your side. There is also an alternate level system called Stage Ranks. Each Stage Rank will give you access to new passive skills for that specific character and also unlock side-stories that will lead to unique new skills (Special Performances or Ad-libs). It helps greatly in diversifying your characters because when they start out there is little diffrence between them besides their elemental affinities.<br />
Then there are your weapons. Each weapon holds a few skills (passive or active) that you will learn while you use the weapon in combat. Every character has a limited amount of slots where you can fit in these skills so you have to choose carefully which skills are the most beneficial. Learning a skill you already have will also allow you to upgrade that skill. For example, the spell cost of a healing spell may get reduced. As you might expect, crafting weapons with desired skills is a major factor in strengthening your characters.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFsFjre9SIjjWa2VzNNaLFFoX-Jx0D2qGEmWDZSZ-nxZ9L873VS0a6qfnULfAOo1LDCQYXsZsEwynQ5mXu7r3jD2AIOqf-IWzQZBs8Irqg-Br6SXNP03CjXvfexKXW3czmSW4BuBNQp-0/s1600/TMS_WeaponSelection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Equipment selection for Itsuki in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFsFjre9SIjjWa2VzNNaLFFoX-Jx0D2qGEmWDZSZ-nxZ9L873VS0a6qfnULfAOo1LDCQYXsZsEwynQ5mXu7r3jD2AIOqf-IWzQZBs8Irqg-Br6SXNP03CjXvfexKXW3czmSW4BuBNQp-0/s320/TMS_WeaponSelection.jpg" title="Equipment selection for Itsuki in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An ample weapon selection, available skills are listed in the bottom left.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It also completely replaces the demon fusing concept from the Persona / Shin Megami series. And I honestly like that since the system has been overused in the past. It may mean that your main character has to contend with a handful of weapons instead of hundreds of different demons, but what the main character lost in versatility was instead added to the other characters. They get their own array of weapons and skills instead of the fixed sequence in the Persona series. And since inactive party members eventually learn to participate in Sessions, you are encouraged to keep the whole cast in good fighting shape.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVyapQhL4Tvp42n-6n9w7uwNZSvvBcCPZ9_m5qfvrcPXUKzyEGDGcaGRSZcIwaHRPqh5rgQJRvfuAVkYJH_p8Klyc59KubiSof7cYE8MDVPfT3RGoI-5FfYfcsnd2iWTN5r94Zp693bV0/s1600/TMS_Menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Menu screen from Tokyo Mirage Sessions" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVyapQhL4Tvp42n-6n9w7uwNZSvvBcCPZ9_m5qfvrcPXUKzyEGDGcaGRSZcIwaHRPqh5rgQJRvfuAVkYJH_p8Klyc59KubiSof7cYE8MDVPfT3RGoI-5FfYfcsnd2iWTN5r94Zp693bV0/s320/TMS_Menu.jpg" title="Menu screen from Tokyo Mirage Sessions" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most beautiful menu screen ever.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Character growth starts out pretty shallow but the game adds new features at a comforting pace (hint for Fire Emblem fans: class change is in here) and it even manages to keep this up to the very end of the game. At no time I had the feeling that the added features broke the balance (maybe a bit in chapter 2) because the enemies would soon catch up to my newfound powers. This delicate balance is by no means an easy feat for a game that takes roughly 70 hours to beat.<br />
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<h3>
4. Exploration: Entertaining side-stories, good dungeon design </h3>
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Well, there are side-quests in this game but they are forgettable and mundane. Luckily, the rewards are also forgettable so I accepted them but never went out of my way to complete them.<br />
The side-stories play in a different league. A side-story revolves around one of your party members and will offer you some insight into their background and you will witness their personal growth. Sometimes you are even treated with anime clips that are reminiscent of music videos. Rewards include new powerful attacks that open up new opportunities in battle. While the tasks during side-stories remain a bit uninspired, it is clearly seen that a lot of effort went into the dialogues and rewards. The videos alone are a strong motivation to tackle these side-stories.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz-PHrZZJMLvYLwwcgRgxn6-jfRWVRQhxdsd0ieoKZ8tozS8nfvm7QIoIcUhQHPIZ_eVhFZSik0hAN9mARMvD-B-LudbExtc8v1zFUG_YWaGcKZI7qsevYjoRBC52FHidkE7wFV6hdd4/s1600/TMS_sidestory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Side-story from Mamori in Tokyo Mirage Sessions" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz-PHrZZJMLvYLwwcgRgxn6-jfRWVRQhxdsd0ieoKZ8tozS8nfvm7QIoIcUhQHPIZ_eVhFZSik0hAN9mARMvD-B-LudbExtc8v1zFUG_YWaGcKZI7qsevYjoRBC52FHidkE7wFV6hdd4/s320/TMS_sidestory.jpg" title="Side-story from Mamori in Tokyo Mirage Sessions" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The events that unfold during side-stories are an interesting watch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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You will only visit a few small places in real-world Tokyo. Most of the action takes place in the Idolaspheres which are twisted versions of Tokyo and they act as the dungeons of this game. The dungeons have seen a major improvement over the previous Persona games. Instead of a random assortment of corridors and rooms, you get distinctly designed and cleverly structured dungeons with small puzzle elements. The enemy encounters are easily avoided so navigating the puzzles is not a pain in the ass. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFE_v9U-DWYLuKhzCynmUQSx7qfdZPsnD5rlN76likwrPEWbmTYIFoZ8MKzr48M7zHnNRXPRZn7c3Goytay93ZyT-2sPVlC7Ac1i3zShxuM5T9QWSztNTEo5ls_J4T_w8T5OTJx45eQc/s1600/TMS_Dungeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dungeon from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Shibuya)" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFE_v9U-DWYLuKhzCynmUQSx7qfdZPsnD5rlN76likwrPEWbmTYIFoZ8MKzr48M7zHnNRXPRZn7c3Goytay93ZyT-2sPVlC7Ac1i3zShxuM5T9QWSztNTEo5ls_J4T_w8T5OTJx45eQc/s320/TMS_Dungeon.jpg" title="Dungeon from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Shibuya)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You may not believe it, but there is a method to this madness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u><b>Conclusion:</b></u><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbsiAsIIWdCo9x5htaljsH3vMYnLk-PkApGWzh_MwXIK24RB0376p5XVnWWIF7aw6k9ArtBqtTM7H7uvWSAYn3wZxgd72RPNSz4Sa9cTKMz7UA3sBB49CEBbmfReSRsZM4RzghrnYH7o/s1600/TokyoMirage_Rating.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbsiAsIIWdCo9x5htaljsH3vMYnLk-PkApGWzh_MwXIK24RB0376p5XVnWWIF7aw6k9ArtBqtTM7H7uvWSAYn3wZxgd72RPNSz4Sa9cTKMz7UA3sBB49CEBbmfReSRsZM4RzghrnYH7o/s1600/TokyoMirage_Rating.png" /></a></div>
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Do you want screenshots without the blog logo? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Follow the blog by e-mail</a> and get access to the archive. Find articles in pdf format, exclusive articles and screenshots.<br />
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<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
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<a href="http://tokyo-mirage-sessions.nintendo.com/" target="_blank">Official Site</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Mirage_Sessions_%E2%99%AFFE" target="_blank">Wikipedia entry for Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE</a> <br />
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<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-35007991455392821592016-06-26T10:09:00.000-07:002016-07-01T12:32:51.115-07:00A Call to Arms: Hell Gates Combat Video TutorialStepping on an unknown island and immediately getting eaten alive by a giant crab is not exactly a pleasant experience. To prevent such a thing from ever happening, I prepared a video tutorial that will teach you basic fighting lessons in Hell Gates.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JH5SXXp4TX8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JH5SXXp4TX8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Interested in playing Hell Gates? You can <a href="https://rpgmaker.net/games/7818/" target="_blank">download it for free from rpgmaker.net</a>!Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-23117434608433251132016-06-19T09:28:00.001-07:002017-04-18T12:05:31.162-07:00Review: The incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut<b>Neocore Games, the developer behind this game, is such a generous company. Everyone who owns parts of the original trilogy gets the Final Cut at a reduced price. As a proud owner of all three games (that´s how many belong in a trilogy) I got it for free. It is hard to say no to this temptation so I travelled back to the inky lands of Borgova. </b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHpwFbYdjuXAe_qY66ulzOPc2tUx_bfTVX7KuwNwgnJmgeeHD_niOV8xnhfvVAe8lJuwSD2hH4KcAEvcUpmqJNSJb9SZheExBEIJZ5sxFpy3uaS2cDEKKC9OpSwUWQa1Lq7RsbZAstq6g/s1600/Helsing_CharacterSelect2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Van Helsing character selection screen with Umbralist class shown" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHpwFbYdjuXAe_qY66ulzOPc2tUx_bfTVX7KuwNwgnJmgeeHD_niOV8xnhfvVAe8lJuwSD2hH4KcAEvcUpmqJNSJb9SZheExBEIJZ5sxFpy3uaS2cDEKKC9OpSwUWQa1Lq7RsbZAstq6g/s320/Helsing_CharacterSelect2.jpg" title="Van Helsing character selection screen with Umbralist class shown" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>Game Title:</b> The incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Created by:</b> <a href="http://www.neocoregames.com/" target="_blank">Neocore Games</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Genre:</b> Action RPG</div>
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<b>Difficulty:</b> Medium to high</div>
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<b>Multiplayer:</b> Yes</div>
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<h3>
1. General setting: Down with science!</h3>
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It´s the famous monster hunter Van Helsing and he is going to an ancient town to fight evil beings! So far so generic. But The incredible Adventures of Van Helsing comes up with a lot of twists to that well-known story. First, the evil undead have already been defeated by your father, so you are "only" the son who is returning to investigate a mysterious call for help. Second, you get a lovely companion named Lady Katarina that is sworn to protect you. But she is a beheaded ghost who loves to get on your nerves. Third, your common creatures of the night are the victims in this story and you will fight the dangerous inventions of Weird Science (yes, that is an official branch of science practiced in the land of Borgova). <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIBvozaVTMx3jmr_sWJLfLLSHlQdcyRv14Vdhz2laNB_NKl_S-sNaCERJCj508l3tVJ1IJMIR9E3YVsvpxyJpi2_ZE3FiLygqmeSab6JhR3rlhJNHJX0eDPoSHjLsO9UFID8SMpRbDTw/s1600/Helsing_Down_with_science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Resistance Guard from Van Helsing shouting "Down with Science!"" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIBvozaVTMx3jmr_sWJLfLLSHlQdcyRv14Vdhz2laNB_NKl_S-sNaCERJCj508l3tVJ1IJMIR9E3YVsvpxyJpi2_ZE3FiLygqmeSab6JhR3rlhJNHJX0eDPoSHjLsO9UFID8SMpRbDTw/s320/Helsing_Down_with_science.jpg" title="Resistance Guard from Van Helsing shouting "Down with Science!"" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That´s the spirit!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
2. Combat: It could be better</h3>
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The game has a few deficiencies in this area. You don´t get much feedback when you hit an enemy, making the combat feel floaty. It can´t compete with the energetic and satisfying combat from Diablo 3. Grim Dawn has demonstrated that it doesn´t require a AAA-developer to deliver but Van Helsing can´t keep up with these two. The second problem is the wonky difficulty curve with high, unpredictable damage spikes. If you can swallow your pride you can adjust the difficulty setting on the fly to suppress the problem. Or you install <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/400170/discussions/0/490125737479241823/" target="_blank">a mod that flattens the difficulty curve</a>. Depending on your frustration resistance, this can be a major gamebreaker for you.<br />
But let us also take a look at the good aspects of Van Helsing´s combat. The number of enemies that the game throws at you is impressive. Especially during the tower defense quests you face dozens of enemies while your traps shoot lasers, fireballs and werewolves (yes werewolves) through the hallways. It gets pretty crazy. You <a href="https://youtu.be/Q7uzSjsEXYk" target="_blank">can watch a video on my YouTube channel</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oJWsEJWtoRdUlP2fTI707gEduZFFWr8V8tFiuIbiHxXaZ4rmhnEGdHC4l0I4aqmWpU1BJu-16y20wJscoCUsFN_86PJutdb8Aaf9Il0aUw_EaYY107t4vrTZo1zV_Tdnt-3TG-LqAYg/s1600/Helsing_Combat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Combat in a graveyard from Van Helsing" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oJWsEJWtoRdUlP2fTI707gEduZFFWr8V8tFiuIbiHxXaZ4rmhnEGdHC4l0I4aqmWpU1BJu-16y20wJscoCUsFN_86PJutdb8Aaf9Il0aUw_EaYY107t4vrTZo1zV_Tdnt-3TG-LqAYg/s320/Helsing_Combat2.jpg" title="Combat in a graveyard from Van Helsing" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you find all the enemies on this screen?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Furthermore, the six available character classes offer very distinct playstyles and lots of variety. Among them is the Umbralist, one of the best interpretations of a stealthy assassin in any actionRPG. You can see my Umbralist build in action in the following video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FBeu_39hVXQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FBeu_39hVXQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<h3>
3. Character growth: The quintessence from 3 games</h3>
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As already mentioned, the six available character classes offer their unique core mechanics that result in very different gameplay styles. You power up your character by conventional means: gain experience and spend attribute points and skill points. Your skill tree is a very intriguing construct. There are three circles that are unlocked as you gain levels. Each circle offers 8 skills. In theory, this means you have 24 skills at your disposal but sometimes it is just an upgrade of a skill from the previous tier. In order to not make these inferior skills obsolete, they passively increase the efficiency of higher-tier skills. The so-called synergies may be familiar to players of Diablo 2. Each of your skills branches further into possible modifications for that skill (e.g. add a poison cloud, make you invulnerable for a few seconds after use). Then you have a selection of skills that are not connected to the skill tree (called auras, for some reason). Oh and let´s not forget your lovely ghost companion Katarina who offers her own skill trees and builds.<br />
This system achieves something most games can only dream of: it stays
relevant and your skill points remain precious up to level 100. Many
games arrive at a point when you just fill out the gaps and no longer
look forward to your next skill point. This rarely ever happens here.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyl6Vj_tEZMrwLacgKTIscBPDDw93XPSkT8hCiRGM4XgI9tA3iSQdvyFL_dLaa6MJTZVFhTrIyf5x6I6gJvNkmIFWLmUTj8sz-xdTszECvJmW9ccJPu1i8V8RePKPQEpU8bdPa4PkbdbE/s1600/Helsing_Skilltree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Skilltree from Van Helsing Umbralist class build." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyl6Vj_tEZMrwLacgKTIscBPDDw93XPSkT8hCiRGM4XgI9tA3iSQdvyFL_dLaa6MJTZVFhTrIyf5x6I6gJvNkmIFWLmUTj8sz-xdTszECvJmW9ccJPu1i8V8RePKPQEpU8bdPa4PkbdbE/s320/Helsing_Skilltree.jpg" title="Skilltree from Van Helsing Umbralist class build." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Branches and sub-branches everywhere. The Umbralist skill tree is shown as an example.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The loot system is equally vast. Color-coded loot is a given, with an additional tier called "godlike" to keep you going even after completion of the story (see also "adventure mode" in the next chapter). Once you take that stuff into your secret lair you can apply a frightening amount of methods of tweaking the loot to complement your playstyle: enchanting, socketing, upgrading, reforging, transmogrifying, renaming, gambling. It takes some time to wrap your head around all this but it feels much better than being entirely dependent on random drop luck.<br />
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There is one negative thing I have to say: the character classes have a very unique, steampunky look to them. Which is great. But wearing different equipment changes your appearance so little that I can´t tell the difference between a level 10 and a level 100 character.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgr2mDh9e8O3AOaWhY94uBjFrI2SaqMiWyqX6Csp00hPBaU7nbkn4NUdbdEEvaRWGKRGiRziPqvn272lblWPn_KY3SfEFsmREApaEVNdS7VbenU_SR75BF6NfxTVYpGrp_CfVD3icIXo/s1600/Helsing_CharacterClose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Close-up screenshot of an Umbralist character from Van Helsing" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgr2mDh9e8O3AOaWhY94uBjFrI2SaqMiWyqX6Csp00hPBaU7nbkn4NUdbdEEvaRWGKRGiRziPqvn272lblWPn_KY3SfEFsmREApaEVNdS7VbenU_SR75BF6NfxTVYpGrp_CfVD3icIXo/s320/Helsing_CharacterClose.jpg" title="Close-up screenshot of an Umbralist character from Van Helsing" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minor texture variations and maybe a spike here and there on an Umbralist character.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
4. Exploration: Atmospheric, quirky and a huge amount of content</h3>
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The Final Cut is a combination of the whole trilogy. The games were moderately short but when stitched together into one campaign, the game becomes massive. It can take up to 50 hours to beat the final boss and bring peace to Borgova. It is important to note that you don´t have to play through this game multiple times with the same character. I am very thankful for that because it´s a relic from the past that was used to artificially increase the length of a game without offering anything substantial to the player.<br />
The areas in this game are not randomly generated and generally look very pretty and distinct. The excellent music plays also an important role in making your stay enjoyable (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLdSlwIxqtc" target="_blank">listen to the main theme</a>, it´s outstanding). I just wish Van Helsing would run a bit faster since he seems to be worse on foot than in the original games and the maps didn´t shrink in size to compensate for it. There are many points of interest scattered throughout the maps with easter eggs, side quests and permanent rewards. It encourages you to look into every corner instead of just running to the next exit. The reactions from your two protagonists can also be hilarious. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-p1rR7eKj6WvSVl4h3U8tkrqPFSmEphpAeGlI-0WQnA4ZEgZgtilVQWVXDHPKN4uWIfLsFWnI8YieZy9bGT2Z36pVtHN0tx3OLKniSQsSAtmVNObWxtWQrWe8oZ3wijsw71KEQIniMY/s1600/Helsing_MontyPython.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Monty Python reference in Van Helsing" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-p1rR7eKj6WvSVl4h3U8tkrqPFSmEphpAeGlI-0WQnA4ZEgZgtilVQWVXDHPKN4uWIfLsFWnI8YieZy9bGT2Z36pVtHN0tx3OLKniSQsSAtmVNObWxtWQrWe8oZ3wijsw71KEQIniMY/s320/Helsing_MontyPython.jpg" title="Monty Python reference in Van Helsing" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A classic Monty Python reference.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As you make the move from the first game to the second one, the side events become more and more elaborate. You get caught in a civil war and start to deploy elite troops, play tower defense (<a href="http://www.neocoregames.com/games/deathtrap/overview/" target="_blank">even a spinoff game was created from this</a>) or jump into the fray when two opposing factions battle each other. The third game starts out strong when your companion ghost lady begins to reveal her troubled past but it then fizzles out as the maps get more and more linear and you basically just walk forward until you arrive in the lair of the final boss.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Z6VUfIgZUllqxoyxgeiVQsVDblJOT950QjNq7Z9DmBlsBQKw2OFAhrlRd-hinirgmyZ_MaSc4fDISOk30uxjEPB9U0OfeOPP8-wq0ryarfMTxgGLL5Vx-jpSC4jWCY9xazMtIs6Iq_4/s1600/Helsing_Panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Desolate, snowy are in Van Helsing" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Z6VUfIgZUllqxoyxgeiVQsVDblJOT950QjNq7Z9DmBlsBQKw2OFAhrlRd-hinirgmyZ_MaSc4fDISOk30uxjEPB9U0OfeOPP8-wq0ryarfMTxgGLL5Vx-jpSC4jWCY9xazMtIs6Iq_4/s320/Helsing_Panorama.jpg" title="Desolate, snowy are in Van Helsing" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The world breaks apart as you move towards the finale, but so does the game.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After beating the game you can continue to play in adventure mode. You are confronted with a random array of scenarios and bonus objectives. It is extremely similar to <a href="http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode" target="_blank">the adventure mode from Diablo 3</a> but not as long-lasting because the number of different activities is small in comparison. See a video of an example scenario:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L5M3gTc_OQE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L5M3gTc_OQE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Conclusion:</b></u><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZD21u0zRQLGxG_tmitqJUGx8c0b2MhNIAdwuaTxbT2yDEO2grk3aCIjJdoB31aRQoNCaXZGicGLqdSKirqMO3fe3VVNK-XAVvXoIRkzMMvE79Z4ygoS7I4n0PlefcMkud44k6k4MSR24/s1600/Helsing_Rating.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZD21u0zRQLGxG_tmitqJUGx8c0b2MhNIAdwuaTxbT2yDEO2grk3aCIjJdoB31aRQoNCaXZGicGLqdSKirqMO3fe3VVNK-XAVvXoIRkzMMvE79Z4ygoS7I4n0PlefcMkud44k6k4MSR24/s1600/Helsing_Rating.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/04/my-top-5-true-diablo-3s.html" target="_blank">The top 5 "true Diablo 3"s</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.neocoregames.com/games/the-incredible-adventures-of-van-helsing-final-cut/overview/" target="_blank">Homepage of the Creator</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZEm5q_5qFM" target="_blank">Trailer of the game</a><br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-38970978146481576822016-05-31T11:19:00.000-07:002016-06-15T09:43:12.806-07:00Photographing Final Fantasy 14 #1: Cooking Time in Limsa Lominsa<b>Finally I was able to make the move from my unworthy laptop to something you could call a gaming PC. Still not the best one but I prefer it to the previous "all minimum" settings. I can barely recognize the areas I already visited. Now that´s what I call a Realm Reborn!</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClsEnFTlM8111psg6V85UfaIPeQv45WZZZQyBIV4DR6U6rbt3RK44LHTMJL14GF3ZEJvBvByOfrX6sNbE9Cao4DRgBD0Om99W3oFL5k5oXM11myunqTMCM_IBWr0q5P3iBTW4sNNvYac/s1600/FF14_monk_pose.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Elezen monk in Mor Dhona." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClsEnFTlM8111psg6V85UfaIPeQv45WZZZQyBIV4DR6U6rbt3RK44LHTMJL14GF3ZEJvBvByOfrX6sNbE9Cao4DRgBD0Om99W3oFL5k5oXM11myunqTMCM_IBWr0q5P3iBTW4sNNvYac/s320/FF14_monk_pose.png" title="Elezen monk in Mor Dhona." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whoa! Shadows and dynamic lights!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>To start off this screenshot series I put up a few pictures that try to tell the story of a Monk that became a Culinarian. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhgc8GM0DxRTzwNwvzZNcLpqr0i-Bw73ltT9DbZ6E3TkH16aN-IW6f6E4F_ecNemK7zlLH2Mi1iTVM3XgBD8SNf1g8oZm3BtnQtb7bjhY04dEVkjDS0oNt0PmLXGPboLYwj7NkkZubaI/s1600/FF14_monk_in_kitchen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Monk observing cooking in kitchen in Final Fantasy 14." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhgc8GM0DxRTzwNwvzZNcLpqr0i-Bw73ltT9DbZ6E3TkH16aN-IW6f6E4F_ecNemK7zlLH2Mi1iTVM3XgBD8SNf1g8oZm3BtnQtb7bjhY04dEVkjDS0oNt0PmLXGPboLYwj7NkkZubaI/s320/FF14_monk_in_kitchen.png" title="Monk observing cooking in kitchen in Final Fantasy 14." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What are you doing? Looks interesting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Seems he was afflicted with severe food envy.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAJVh-3bfzyOTaSk8Y6c9hE5sEqksQRMIpRXSQ1_ALRrSwvEK8xHJi-I86qPCLMFeILCh5z1Sjt01HZYHs1_UDrUEWukOba3n31DZBB1RrF4u5XuE6xrwiVmZozHzteAYGsvwL_5TSXU/s1600/FF14_eating.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Culinarian staring at a eating thief" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAJVh-3bfzyOTaSk8Y6c9hE5sEqksQRMIpRXSQ1_ALRrSwvEK8xHJi-I86qPCLMFeILCh5z1Sjt01HZYHs1_UDrUEWukOba3n31DZBB1RrF4u5XuE6xrwiVmZozHzteAYGsvwL_5TSXU/s320/FF14_eating.png" title="Culinarian staring at a eating thief" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I want some too!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As he soon found out, cooking is not as easy as it looks.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAiHWyErLNRTZ0wdLZSCRhjt7pTWx8jfFKYVSAQKrFToLyLLxuR5tBNDShijfDgyvxIO-fNZzn64Ysi-Gk5BtcEw5MqHjCWxw7A_clLejmRFSg0GJqV2mtGsEYIpFYtL6pQVvBxw5TWs/s1600/FF14_cooking_frustration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Culinarian doing crafting in Final Fantasy 14" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAiHWyErLNRTZ0wdLZSCRhjt7pTWx8jfFKYVSAQKrFToLyLLxuR5tBNDShijfDgyvxIO-fNZzn64Ysi-Gk5BtcEw5MqHjCWxw7A_clLejmRFSg0GJqV2mtGsEYIpFYtL6pQVvBxw5TWs/s320/FF14_cooking_frustration.png" title="Culinarian doing crafting in Final Fantasy 14" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The look of pure concentration.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You need soooo many different ingredients. And prices at the market board can soar pretty high.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZpVNgrI6qlWd-tBUOqIHBYq8D3sV-3YRvi6-UV8UTubdH7T_k_59LxUJYa1u9UeGzqUvU0j68P8HVjVRUKhSoJZqcKghHUYGj5vHkrEuaf7xgw2SYpln-YnzDAwmFy9tUMZLkAL6Mt8/s1600/FF14_auction_frustration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Crafter in front of market board, looking shocked" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZpVNgrI6qlWd-tBUOqIHBYq8D3sV-3YRvi6-UV8UTubdH7T_k_59LxUJYa1u9UeGzqUvU0j68P8HVjVRUKhSoJZqcKghHUYGj5vHkrEuaf7xgw2SYpln-YnzDAwmFy9tUMZLkAL6Mt8/s320/FF14_auction_frustration.png" title="Crafter in front of market board, looking shocked" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are they serious?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But in the end, patience and perseverance will pay off.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDET40_G0fIWlZ4SrMt0hPln_K4kofGZlaVLw1tD2-JFFYzDMS5mqe0OXC9aXPmy5nZ4-EtyhFYc6Y1ldTtO5bOqWPmWPfmR8Zy7VjLNNuAjH1sqgVG-mwAVXiOX0TxbfR_GdNL8-8YOw/s1600/FF14_cooking_success.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cooking activity in Final Fantasy 14" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDET40_G0fIWlZ4SrMt0hPln_K4kofGZlaVLw1tD2-JFFYzDMS5mqe0OXC9aXPmy5nZ4-EtyhFYc6Y1ldTtO5bOqWPmWPfmR8Zy7VjLNNuAjH1sqgVG-mwAVXiOX0TxbfR_GdNL8-8YOw/s320/FF14_cooking_success.png" title="Cooking activity in Final Fantasy 14" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I did it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And you will feel like the king of the world.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnjzx7e5P3XPahmaILD6Y4tW9XWYJr-hqciKtsT4K7uKJfc80sONEDvHi5SGfedFc0uGvy5VnwcyB_N1UfczL4E-dhxpmxthK-0IPNaoSarn1zkY8IpOHqcN8VgyZWSBd4jtx5Pwu8oM/s1600/FF14_Limsa_Lominsa1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Crafter in sunny Limsa Lominsa from Final Fantasy 14" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnjzx7e5P3XPahmaILD6Y4tW9XWYJr-hqciKtsT4K7uKJfc80sONEDvHi5SGfedFc0uGvy5VnwcyB_N1UfczL4E-dhxpmxthK-0IPNaoSarn1zkY8IpOHqcN8VgyZWSBd4jtx5Pwu8oM/s320/FF14_Limsa_Lominsa1.png" title="Crafter in sunny Limsa Lominsa from Final Fantasy 14" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Praise the Sun!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And that´s it for today. I enjoyed the shooting sessions but I am not satisfied with the picture quality. I use no additional software to capture them and they look really pixelated when zooming in. Do you mind this quality loss? Any advice for post-processing the pictures after they have been taken? Thanks in advance.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<h3>
You may also find interesting:</h3>
<a href="http://www.ffxivguild.com/ffxiv-cul-culinarian-leveling-guide-ffxivarr/" target="_blank">Culinarian level guide by ffxivguild</a><br />
<a href="http://de.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/" target="_blank">Official Website of Final Fantasy 14</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39j5v8jlndM" target="_blank">Trailer on YouTube</a><br />
<a href="http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/FF14_Wiki" target="_blank">Final Fantasy 14 Wiki </a><br />
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<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-42617695961499287782016-05-26T02:36:00.000-07:002017-01-30T13:27:16.372-08:00Discovering Elder Scrolls Online #2: Skyrim Remastered<b>After adventures in Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind and the Ebonheart Pact, the journey continues southwards and into the swamps of Shadowfen before finally arriving in the regions of Skyrim.</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUUCzvu6L2w9C8P7emiAHbQMJJgmWIL6Cx3x4g06HOwxTtlTOqpltdFYtZnXuq_Bj_J7uktSa2ZCBeHWzatPVG_stM7anlu0l8HKgMx4ChxVeexSz8Y7cLx4zEfW0vTORpjmGrqSWOgQ/s1600/ESO_Shadowfen_village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Village in Shadowfen, Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUUCzvu6L2w9C8P7emiAHbQMJJgmWIL6Cx3x4g06HOwxTtlTOqpltdFYtZnXuq_Bj_J7uktSa2ZCBeHWzatPVG_stM7anlu0l8HKgMx4ChxVeexSz8Y7cLx4zEfW0vTORpjmGrqSWOgQ/s320/ESO_Shadowfen_village.jpg" title="Village in Shadowfen, Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Less glorious than the capital.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a><br />
The vegetation in Shadowfen is more swamp-like than what we are used from the earlier regions of the game. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-cdgub36flPWfAFTN9SlUgK6jsYk03tyvRoi8JF4ZMz7lzPbGrJKwEiD55KcVgTbbk0czs4Xkk90eJswDQgTproNnvVSJceWvRlzM3I8YguD_MZtNlGf8W8erYlTTUFTjzh8H0QXDQQ/s1600/ESO_Shadowfen_swamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Swamp wilderness in Shadowfen" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-cdgub36flPWfAFTN9SlUgK6jsYk03tyvRoi8JF4ZMz7lzPbGrJKwEiD55KcVgTbbk0czs4Xkk90eJswDQgTproNnvVSJceWvRlzM3I8YguD_MZtNlGf8W8erYlTTUFTjzh8H0QXDQQ/s320/ESO_Shadowfen_swamp.jpg" title="Swamp wilderness in Shadowfen" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lush vegetation and twisted forms dominate Shadowfen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My urge to do screenshots was a bit lower at this time, so the next screenshot that looks halfway decent is already from Eastmarch, a region in the eastern part of Skyrim.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVYYcD0isXuaRFULqnbPRaWrnNXYfCZMMD1xEP9ZwG5sDDrzqFfqxDIXB93_fJsWUUT154wN9eCczl5vF_vkZ2j6-KxW1PfqCmztyBNx4zT-554wWpubgHmG6m9sM-P8VVLg2OPg_GsI/s1600/ESO_Skyrim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eastmarch landscape in Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVYYcD0isXuaRFULqnbPRaWrnNXYfCZMMD1xEP9ZwG5sDDrzqFfqxDIXB93_fJsWUUT154wN9eCczl5vF_vkZ2j6-KxW1PfqCmztyBNx4zT-554wWpubgHmG6m9sM-P8VVLg2OPg_GsI/s320/ESO_Skyrim.jpg" title="Eastmarch landscape in Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful landscape, the corpse disturbs the mood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Did you play Skyrim? Remember these guys that kicked your corpse into the clouds? Well they are back but with less kicking power.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbAzKtUpimw3PM84dcJEAdWayMaS74-3XLegIv3JD6H5lUTJua7eycmaScrWigAO6FqIlRzD2HkxbUlZbKCzLFsuKlpikcemn-bEzR5rghGvoS19PT7HX1HW9Rq5xWKsFG8iLJBQE8f8/s1600/ESO_giant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Giant from Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbAzKtUpimw3PM84dcJEAdWayMaS74-3XLegIv3JD6H5lUTJua7eycmaScrWigAO6FqIlRzD2HkxbUlZbKCzLFsuKlpikcemn-bEzR5rghGvoS19PT7HX1HW9Rq5xWKsFG8iLJBQE8f8/s320/ESO_giant.jpg" title="Giant from Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There is indeed one giant that will kick you very far.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
They put a lot of heart into the interior design. This is a place you barely spend five minutes in.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMAogCPdaUnwQ8rgA_7pYNSqEsEyU6j0m8E60F2mQFQFk6xSXPOLX7Ny6QBaxDegD071nlIyZ8EnmJh0BcM1Fpbqev7tWutrSChv0Cefj0sSY6TevVCpzGRmOv_iOf9rJsArEXxEDNNY/s1600/ESO_Dungeon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Elaborate architecture within a mini-dungeon" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMAogCPdaUnwQ8rgA_7pYNSqEsEyU6j0m8E60F2mQFQFk6xSXPOLX7Ny6QBaxDegD071nlIyZ8EnmJh0BcM1Fpbqev7tWutrSChv0Cefj0sSY6TevVCpzGRmOv_iOf9rJsArEXxEDNNY/s320/ESO_Dungeon1.jpg" title="Elaborate architecture within a mini-dungeon" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What an elaborate architecture. Such wow!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
This place looks like nature reclaimed most of it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2VzGerpWuwLSttroegTyYEHBj3tcBjoyyRU-1Tt5EUlK1_xhLmEIcAxMg6nh616q1g0afjhpmCcaHoF_HAKrf7Qe82isXgqf3rLl00JI6oe5NMClEQPmJK2Wyxq_qLAghjHmjdEMjBM/s1600/ESO_Dungeon_icy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Destroyed hall in Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2VzGerpWuwLSttroegTyYEHBj3tcBjoyyRU-1Tt5EUlK1_xhLmEIcAxMg6nh616q1g0afjhpmCcaHoF_HAKrf7Qe82isXgqf3rLl00JI6oe5NMClEQPmJK2Wyxq_qLAghjHmjdEMjBM/s320/ESO_Dungeon_icy.jpg" title="Destroyed hall in Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hall was destroyed and nature crept in. This is a forgotten place.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Skyrim is not covered entirely in snow. In fact, there is not too much of it to be found. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DHCL3Z0jOOubjDJeJqio46piGyaIrQOOOnG5VShhOvaZ6AXfiyHNj7QXglypJOAWc2eidhuRgSulCvKRoBtvhhAHoiQwLaqEMX3XlFFtZGIHgMZjqvdl_UIAfGRD3XJIiA7xUTpYRVk/s1600/ESO_Fortress_Skyrim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Castle in Eastmarch, part of Skyrim" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DHCL3Z0jOOubjDJeJqio46piGyaIrQOOOnG5VShhOvaZ6AXfiyHNj7QXglypJOAWc2eidhuRgSulCvKRoBtvhhAHoiQwLaqEMX3XlFFtZGIHgMZjqvdl_UIAfGRD3XJIiA7xUTpYRVk/s320/ESO_Fortress_Skyrim.jpg" title="Castle in Eastmarch, part of Skyrim" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good enough to be my summer residence.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As every MMORPG, Elder Scrolls Online offers non-combat pets to collect. They are rather hard to come by, though. Vanity items like that are commonly bought with real money.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil99MYEgtWJ0QopODqlOExOtNIwgKro2Yp78x1ZWTbDLZsl4gkZRnzq81oI-dabv7Tyowdlw16o4R-1gv3m2XXryQpZIt2gj9pImItK8Fa9j2p2rWXWcvWseAL2LCRaJp0mrwz5dHsXBM/s1600/ESO_pet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A cat pet from Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil99MYEgtWJ0QopODqlOExOtNIwgKro2Yp78x1ZWTbDLZsl4gkZRnzq81oI-dabv7Tyowdlw16o4R-1gv3m2XXryQpZIt2gj9pImItK8Fa9j2p2rWXWcvWseAL2LCRaJp0mrwz5dHsXBM/s320/ESO_pet.jpg" title="A cat pet from Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute kitty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/05/discovering-elder-scrolls-online-1.html" target="_blank"><< Go back to the previous part</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://de.pinterest.com/Valadursblog/discovering-elder-scrolls-online-blog-screenshots/" target="_blank">See the complete gallery at Pinterest</a> <br />
<br />
<h3>
You may also find interesting:</h3>
<br />
<iframe border="0" frameborder="0" height="240" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=valablog-21&o=3&p=15&l=st1&mode=video-games-de&search=elder scrolls&fc1=000000&lt1=_blank&lc1=3366FF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="border: none;" width="468"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/home" target="_blank">Official Website of Elder Scrolls Online</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuHWWC9xxmk" target="_blank">Trailer on YouTube</a><br />
<a href="http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Elder+Scrolls+Online+Wiki" target="_blank">Elder Scrolls Online Wiki </a><br />
<br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-59772783940506701252016-05-21T13:44:00.000-07:002017-02-05T08:16:42.304-08:00Discovering Elder Scrolls Online #1: Morrowind overhauled<b>I have quite a soft spot for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. I haven´t dipped into the multiplayer content too much, but the solo part is vast and beautiful. So beautiful indeed that I decided to give the "share" button of my PlayStation 4 a try.</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSflHr6lO737vDgo_6T0Soyjg8m3l3CJTRSXqzq5POXViosgYQjx684migGRyNQm5oWb-I4NKKp4dDmguM_iKfZZ33JNCXRFGu6swZRwPu80HHtmEQCHevvJlklhM66UrfxxXzNResoI/s1600/ESO_Lizard_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Argonian templar from Elder Scrolls Online besides a lizard" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSflHr6lO737vDgo_6T0Soyjg8m3l3CJTRSXqzq5POXViosgYQjx684migGRyNQm5oWb-I4NKKp4dDmguM_iKfZZ33JNCXRFGu6swZRwPu80HHtmEQCHevvJlklhM66UrfxxXzNResoI/s320/ESO_Lizard_small.jpg" title="Argonian templar from Elder Scrolls Online besides a lizard" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They almost look like brothers...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
My main character is an Argonian Templar. Argonians are lizard-people as evidenced by the huge tail that sticks out of my character´s back.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEEztStUWPriTdWnVgIrm-IGUuwU6xE1wCPNCEF7DuItVJ44A3dj0y26EqNEmJVQhZgfB-adxRaimm3nyBZUKL2hfspudvGi9evAXFWicZ8owAMXlo8uVWDonaz4YWaSNT92Hebk0cKI/s1600/ESO_Mount.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Argonian templar on mount" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEEztStUWPriTdWnVgIrm-IGUuwU6xE1wCPNCEF7DuItVJ44A3dj0y26EqNEmJVQhZgfB-adxRaimm3nyBZUKL2hfspudvGi9evAXFWicZ8owAMXlo8uVWDonaz4YWaSNT92Hebk0cKI/s320/ESO_Mount.jpg" title="Argonian templar on mount" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riding on my trusty horse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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He is part of one of three available factions, called the Ebonheart Pact. Argonians as well as Nords and Dunmer (dark elves) are part of the Pact. The later two were prominently featured in Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. These are also the areas that I will visit on my journey to maximum character level. The Dunmer territory looks quite alien, with huge mushrooms and weird, floating tentacle-creatures.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUmxSOXqYusfd8B_2FksXaLln8hozTVvlsRjTtCL9RZ-v2kM36LxYaGAULG50upJ3D9MX294Ktz_R4FP2d2F-tFjUIsiLJvzxNzu1YL2d2n_ls-MW6xlx-XsfCyWX2nPkSnUivkXiTAo/s1600/ESO_Deshaan_Wilderness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Deshaan wilderness from Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUmxSOXqYusfd8B_2FksXaLln8hozTVvlsRjTtCL9RZ-v2kM36LxYaGAULG50upJ3D9MX294Ktz_R4FP2d2F-tFjUIsiLJvzxNzu1YL2d2n_ls-MW6xlx-XsfCyWX2nPkSnUivkXiTAo/s320/ESO_Deshaan_Wilderness.jpg" title="Deshaan wilderness from Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge mushroom to the left, weird floating octopus to the right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As expected from an Elder Scrolls game, you can find many mysterious places to explore if you take a break from the main story quests.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WdzUBnWiXWdIhwDeHLgsY5BbZcOOY91yoGe06-UlO65ZlVyMEOZzxAIGv6YFQEu5mqT4Kgp4DjTn8UxoA1A1HEZyZZump5ABnVON6SviS2yI7GkZqBiBDwxq60wCeYSgcOlNv_yJsac/s1600/ESO_explore_Ruins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Optional ruin to explore in Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WdzUBnWiXWdIhwDeHLgsY5BbZcOOY91yoGe06-UlO65ZlVyMEOZzxAIGv6YFQEu5mqT4Kgp4DjTn8UxoA1A1HEZyZZump5ABnVON6SviS2yI7GkZqBiBDwxq60wCeYSgcOlNv_yJsac/s320/ESO_explore_Ruins.jpg" title="Optional ruin to explore in Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What secrets are hidden in this place?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You can also find so much attention to detail if you take your time. This light source is pretty funny, I think.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9nPPn0yr7VCH4mYopgSegZgKVP0URWBIO18DFDw1on9EV1Dz9KRbFL_JqJ6M3Qa8IRyqSm9uliWKEjTwpCES1E7xO_ml6wskez5iP6ETYeHkf20qmQO5ceYEEcJS1UL9cl9l2vy5IcM/s1600/ESO_Torchlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Skeleton holding a candle above water level" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9nPPn0yr7VCH4mYopgSegZgKVP0URWBIO18DFDw1on9EV1Dz9KRbFL_JqJ6M3Qa8IRyqSm9uliWKEjTwpCES1E7xO_ml6wskez5iP6ETYeHkf20qmQO5ceYEEcJS1UL9cl9l2vy5IcM/s320/ESO_Torchlight.jpg" title="Skeleton holding a candle above water level" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is some dedicated candle-holding!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There is also crafting in Elder Scrolls Online although it takes quite some time to level up. Just be sure to grab something to eat now and then or else...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__kccqX3aTrCy5IlZo8UKNy5iC64XqzfufPayoS-t7d_VBMerov0OdCfJ2-RjSinxx-b8kVt6gJHAXNzku7jo4eGN6yy5-4De5-YfAtPfq_7umshw2QZ3usuxZYqDLkcT1SS7_4SM4JY/s1600/ESO_Crafting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A skeleton at the crafting bench in Elder Scrolls Online" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__kccqX3aTrCy5IlZo8UKNy5iC64XqzfufPayoS-t7d_VBMerov0OdCfJ2-RjSinxx-b8kVt6gJHAXNzku7jo4eGN6yy5-4De5-YfAtPfq_7umshw2QZ3usuxZYqDLkcT1SS7_4SM4JY/s320/ESO_Crafting.jpg" title="A skeleton at the crafting bench in Elder Scrolls Online" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost some weight during crafting...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/05/discovering-elder-scrolls-online-2-road.html" target="_blank">>> Go to the next part</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://de.pinterest.com/Valadursblog/discovering-elder-scrolls-online-blog-screenshots/" target="_blank">See the complete gallery at Pinterest</a><br />
<br />
<h3>
You may also find interesting:</h3>
<br />
<iframe border="0" frameborder="0" height="240" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=valablog-21&o=3&p=15&l=st1&mode=video-games-de&search=elder scrolls&fc1=000000&lt1=_blank&lc1=3366FF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="border: none;" width="468"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/home" target="_blank">Official Website of Elder Scrolls Online</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuHWWC9xxmk" target="_blank">Trailer on YouTube</a><br />
<a href="http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Elder+Scrolls+Online+Wiki" target="_blank">Elder Scrolls Online Wiki </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-24067879874953882352016-04-30T14:16:00.000-07:002016-10-22T00:54:36.785-07:00My top 5 "The true Diablo 3"s<b>Ah, Diablo 3. A game that strayed so far away from its predecessor that it created something like a sub-genre for action RPGs. Numerous games followed and tried to capture the spirit of the old Diablo games that many fans couldn´t find in Diablo 3. And they did capture it quite well, outstanding action RPGs are all over the place. And this is the list of my personal top 5.</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XzIGzlahy_aFan3zIQOALfzvbbInpPmDf7-WQOOsohAYLLdMwwe47-KPggP-fWPhpBC-f6q1BhEs7YB29mv1kcHgoR544NJOoecKL6h_F943fL4mrG3vwb6NVcdgWBhkF-_ZZ7e4hDU/s1600/Diablo3_Login.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Error 37 from Diablo 3" border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XzIGzlahy_aFan3zIQOALfzvbbInpPmDf7-WQOOsohAYLLdMwwe47-KPggP-fWPhpBC-f6q1BhEs7YB29mv1kcHgoR544NJOoecKL6h_F943fL4mrG3vwb6NVcdgWBhkF-_ZZ7e4hDU/s320/Diablo3_Login.jpg" title="Error 37 from Diablo 3" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A common sight for Diablo 3 players.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
Place 5: Din´s Curse</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8s1YvpYHmCqpGb7HXTnnkrg96ksfMlBwQosrJlHYFbKLrPQKL1ET6aPWxjSXx6xR0XPpYnpwYLZ69E53GiV2XlytiSd5SfjGme8WNuwc1Y910F0N_45z5DfVZhMgxF_4XbioXK6hzZQ/s1600/Combat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Combat scene from Din´s Curse" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8s1YvpYHmCqpGb7HXTnnkrg96ksfMlBwQosrJlHYFbKLrPQKL1ET6aPWxjSXx6xR0XPpYnpwYLZ69E53GiV2XlytiSd5SfjGme8WNuwc1Y910F0N_45z5DfVZhMgxF_4XbioXK6hzZQ/s320/Combat.jpg" title="Combat scene from Din´s Curse" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Definitely not the prettiest game around</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It doesn´t look like much but this is a fascinating game with deep mechanics and unique ideas that you won´t find in any other action RPG out there. Your duty is to defend a randomly generated town from the horrors that lurk below. But unlike other games the monsters don´t stay around and wait for you. They build traps, train and can even invade your town and threaten the villagers you are bound to protect.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/12/review-dins-curse-add-on-demon-war.html" target="_blank">Read my detailed review</a><br />
<a href="http://www.soldak.com/" target="_blank">Homepage of the developer</a><br />
<a href="https://www.gog.com/game/dins_curse" target="_blank">Buy the game at gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqzfCMHwH8E" target="_blank">Trailer of the game</a><br />
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<br />
<h3>
Place 4: Diablo 3</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bRwGHsIgtOgiSGCpyp-_JaU3Hxlf1W0FUtPd1oFKvJWVYzmOpQx8IRhapAwlzR4Nk21J9UzNNDufKaRyLimqYC1IyI35g1e6yxOderzCVTWdQIGh-4ehaQd6Lp_P-MxM-DUBp9I4l38/s1600/Diablo3_Wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wallpaper of Reaper of Souls" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bRwGHsIgtOgiSGCpyp-_JaU3Hxlf1W0FUtPd1oFKvJWVYzmOpQx8IRhapAwlzR4Nk21J9UzNNDufKaRyLimqYC1IyI35g1e6yxOderzCVTWdQIGh-4ehaQd6Lp_P-MxM-DUBp9I4l38/s320/Diablo3_Wallpaper.jpg" title="Wallpaper of Reaper of Souls" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One addon later, the game has improved significantly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Are you surprised to find it on this list? I was one of the unfortunate souls that played it right from release day. But I have made my peace with the game. After all the adjustments made, it is a fun but short-lived brawler with an excellent console port. It is also very accessible so if you want to introduce your friends to the world of action RPGs, this is a very good starting point.<br />
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<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/?-" target="_blank">Official Game Site</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPJsW_Qm9o0" target="_blank">Cinematic Trailer on YouTube</a><br />
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<h3>
Place 3: The incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (the whole trilogy)</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcba64IKXQSX8svBpTfw4JjyLz2hT-Cf_8bDn2Eun0Mb3_Cxzs_yMvef4CBQzF7Y40cLFBzHePbJrTliYonMBod6uCfadcE4meHVA6pZg3bqzVTXlCXhX6J0Whr08yx9hUxLKLwVYZ3c/s1600/the_incredible_adventures_of_van_helsing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Van Helsing art from the incredible adventures of Van Helsing" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcba64IKXQSX8svBpTfw4JjyLz2hT-Cf_8bDn2Eun0Mb3_Cxzs_yMvef4CBQzF7Y40cLFBzHePbJrTliYonMBod6uCfadcE4meHVA6pZg3bqzVTXlCXhX6J0Whr08yx9hUxLKLwVYZ3c/s320/the_incredible_adventures_of_van_helsing.jpg" title="Van Helsing art from the incredible adventures of Van Helsing" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The son of the famous Van Helsing is the main character</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This game offers an enjoyable combat system and an avalanche of mechanics to modify your equipment and powers, all neatly organized in your own personal hideout. There are even some side-activities like tower defense (where you can still take matters into your hands and fight among your deadly towers). But the real star here is the charming atmosphere. Especially the dialogue between the main character and his undead sidekick. Action RPGs usually don´t have much story going on but this one does it quite well.<br />
Special note: I recently played the Final Cut which combines the trilogy into one whole game, <a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/06/review-incredible-adventures-of-van.html" target="_blank">read the review here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.neocoregames.com/" target="_blank">Homepage of the developer</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoUedBPQUBU" target="_blank">Watch trailer for Final Cut on YouTube</a><br />
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<h3>
Place 2: Path of Exile</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcgQs299biVG0Nhg8mb_IilJ1NEelZIwM4y8xqMgmExZ7rfTkvD3SFFA4asdNGw-YWYBsr1urT20u3fckl3Hal4tc0JApUm6GJu-uBjrQcYkq_nn5c2B-dF1nyM1taDP7xOfT2Mg-BS0/s1600/PathofExile_Skilltree.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Skill tree from Path of Exile" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcgQs299biVG0Nhg8mb_IilJ1NEelZIwM4y8xqMgmExZ7rfTkvD3SFFA4asdNGw-YWYBsr1urT20u3fckl3Hal4tc0JApUm6GJu-uBjrQcYkq_nn5c2B-dF1nyM1taDP7xOfT2Mg-BS0/s320/PathofExile_Skilltree.png" title="Skill tree from Path of Exile" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, this IS a skilltree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Definitely more of a hardcore experience. The huge and complex character building, the dark and threatening atmosphere and the unforgiving difficulty of Wreaclast make this game unique. And it never stops growing as the developers add new mechanics with every season. This is the biggest, deepest but also hardest action RPG in existence (and you can even play it for free). Recently I wrote a <a href="https://creators.co/@ValadursErbe/4101351" target="_blank">guest blog entry for creators.co which happened to be a review of Path of Exile</a>. <br />
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<a href="https://www.pathofexile.com/" target="_blank">Homepage of the developer</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwCGT8ttfWE" target="_blank">Watch trailer for Ascendancy (latest expansion) on YouTube</a><br />
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<h3>
Place 1: Grim Dawn </h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKEZFUDc2Ang9lHkJPjp5ML2nqL3kupssSST6pUs7rLjKeyf4OEcnJUQmBId4EvJD0qCl3va9cUddC4cbCs-_mAAr5RGOOnOJVI0Bbe4St55QYWjoYotfpmN_4i8r3XzKy9G7A_anULo/s1600/GrimDawn_Combat1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Combat against Dermapterans in Grim Dawn" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKEZFUDc2Ang9lHkJPjp5ML2nqL3kupssSST6pUs7rLjKeyf4OEcnJUQmBId4EvJD0qCl3va9cUddC4cbCs-_mAAr5RGOOnOJVI0Bbe4St55QYWjoYotfpmN_4i8r3XzKy9G7A_anULo/s320/GrimDawn_Combat1.png" title="Combat against Dermapterans in Grim Dawn" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Capturing the frenzied combat in a picture is really difficult</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Perfection! From the energetic and deeply satisfying combat to the endless possibilities for character builds. This is the only game that can compete with Diablo 3 in terms of fluid and dynamic combat. There are only 6 character classes but you can combine two of them and so far I did not find a single combination that didn´t work and each offered a twist to the combat. Throw in a huge and detailed world full of secrets to explore and you will surely understand why I am playing through the game with my fifth character already.<br />
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<a href="http://www.grimdawn.com/" target="_blank">Homepage of the developer</a><br />
<a href="https://www.gog.com/game/grim_dawn" target="_blank">Buy the game at gog.com</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfABNZqU-PA" target="_blank">Watch trailer on YouTube</a><br />
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Are you interested in reading more about these games? What are your top action RPGs? As usual, I would be glad to know. So thanks in advance for any comment.<br />
<br />
Do you want more screenshots? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and get access to the exclusive archives with unused content, PDF articles and more. <br />
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<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-81929518227784503622016-02-06T12:51:00.000-08:002016-06-17T14:22:05.103-07:00Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Chapter 4: Exploration)<b>Now we arrive at the heart and soul of the game. Exploration was cleverly included in the game´s main goal since you need to locate the countless fragments of your spaceship and this is achieved by charting and taming the unexplored land. And what a blast this charting is!</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXgUW91ExzJP1WbS7W-OYQT-YG_sS0q2JfYeklMesx9OkRVKBNDQa_fjxj_chgvLIO3H7xQ0YlgRbmZ8pPkK6mq4Q6dqgjV7dP-fsvGtE6AXX6VzXOq_oYNoVTTUyCKx-OAcV4dakky1I/s1600/Xeno_Exotic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXgUW91ExzJP1WbS7W-OYQT-YG_sS0q2JfYeklMesx9OkRVKBNDQa_fjxj_chgvLIO3H7xQ0YlgRbmZ8pPkK6mq4Q6dqgjV7dP-fsvGtE6AXX6VzXOq_oYNoVTTUyCKx-OAcV4dakky1I/s320/Xeno_Exotic1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
4.1 A dangerous place to be</h3>
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You start pretty low in the food chain of planet Mira and will feel small and overwhelmed by the dimensions and the sheer size of landscape and monsters. In each of the huge areas you have to pick your fights carefully and avoid the deadly creatures that will kill you easily. For now. Explore the world, gather ressources, develop new technologies. And soon you will be able to tackle bigger beasts. But don´t get reckless since even in the starting areas you will find towering monstrosities that will kick your high-level ass. This ties in wonderfully with the many different ways to improve your character as it offers a constant source of motivation to hone your skills and equipment.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IFx8l-eRgAL8I2K17R843tHH8Mh9M1ViHbrf7PdVTEVxvPSTTSZycDwAKmb9p-5NomNBTbt_uu1KrmVaHWPTRaBmu-LDl01gEKkGs5ejxwY47Gx8Cs5O5EunryIF3UjGIls6ze1UfhY/s1600/Xeno_Monsters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Huge monsters from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IFx8l-eRgAL8I2K17R843tHH8Mh9M1ViHbrf7PdVTEVxvPSTTSZycDwAKmb9p-5NomNBTbt_uu1KrmVaHWPTRaBmu-LDl01gEKkGs5ejxwY47Gx8Cs5O5EunryIF3UjGIls6ze1UfhY/s320/Xeno_Monsters.jpg" title="Huge monsters from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge monsters roam the land.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There is also no level range assigned to the areas, you find low-level critters and high-level death traps everywhere. You can even swim over to the final area of the game and find some reasonable encounters as early as character level 8.<br />
It is indeed a primordial and savage world and the way to the top of the food chain is long. (I was at 45% completion after 100 hours of play). And yes, you will die. Anger a sleeping beast with an ill-placed area of effect attack or get distracted by trivial enemies while a skyscraper-tall hungry beast is slowly approaching you from behind. Fortunately, you don´t lose your precious progress if such a thing happens. The frustration level remains low.<br />
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<h3>
4.2 Incredible freedom </h3>
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Later in the game you will unlock new ways to travel across the land, this will make it far easier to reach and discover exotic places. This is tied to your skell robot and while they are not healthy for the combat they are a blessing for the exploration part. By the way, the word exotic is a bit of an understatement. The creators were a bit lax with physical laws here and created some of the most breathtaking landscapes in gaming history.<br />
Certainly the most impressive way of travelling is the skell´s flight module. You can fly everywhere you want. No loading screens, no artificial backgrounds. Okay, you can´t fly to a different planet. There are hardly any games out there that will offer such an incredible degree of freedom.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJ09IwtCNH9Dp4YdTeiqb_JqSM0fRLL6VBiUi-ncyZG_P7YWpZU3Ldntkz31VuJsOeY7Voi4YB8pJ2VvaABWtZHViTj6_UWh2Ps1oOCdsoA1bzK9RpQiGg-jt-f-BB9BTvuQmY8wyc1U/s1600/Xeno_Explore1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Skell flying around in New Los Angeles" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJ09IwtCNH9Dp4YdTeiqb_JqSM0fRLL6VBiUi-ncyZG_P7YWpZU3Ldntkz31VuJsOeY7Voi4YB8pJ2VvaABWtZHViTj6_UWh2Ps1oOCdsoA1bzK9RpQiGg-jt-f-BB9BTvuQmY8wyc1U/s320/Xeno_Explore1.jpg" title="Skell flying around in New Los Angeles" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rule of thumb: if you see something weird in the background...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQ68orKWMUKBLDQt2-nH_bCwjpyVc46WHl8fsd_Jcbiccmre1nNP8wMx5bSdoOCQDI59-rgKIZINridw5H7WDU1uv7OEXAYCwZkFJHWH0hUCwS7qHvptpZQsZOZd_4uTe3bOnBC0VFvI/s1600/Xeno_Explore2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Panorama view of New Los Angeles" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQ68orKWMUKBLDQt2-nH_bCwjpyVc46WHl8fsd_Jcbiccmre1nNP8wMx5bSdoOCQDI59-rgKIZINridw5H7WDU1uv7OEXAYCwZkFJHWH0hUCwS7qHvptpZQsZOZd_4uTe3bOnBC0VFvI/s320/Xeno_Explore2.jpg" title="Panorama view of New Los Angeles" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... you can travel there! Great view over your hometown.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
4.3 The gamepad is your friend </h3>
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To aid you in your exploration, the Wii U game pad offers many functions. It is similar to the PiP-Boy from Fallout but you have it always at your fingertips. The most important feature is the detailed <a href="http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Segment_Map">map</a>. It divides the world into lots of small segments and marks each segment with an icon that gives you a rough idea what you have to do there until this certain segment is declared as completely explored. This may be a mission, a treasure or a powerful named monster. If you want more specific information you have to look out for rumors in town that will update your map with the specific objective. With this trusty map you can explore the game little by little and work towards your greater exploration goals.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOph1-rKjdB53ApSD66_fHClBfxli_sfNLFNEzzZiXhGfwR5eV5fp082ySOmEj0Ca8roZhoZ7NaLESbbZWrJIzdvoT6KMkRzfVwX_gr7P6BPluPJFZbDy98ZS4ZUBvorGQqdwmQEMrRxY/s1600/Xeno_Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Map screen of Primordia from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOph1-rKjdB53ApSD66_fHClBfxli_sfNLFNEzzZiXhGfwR5eV5fp082ySOmEj0Ca8roZhoZ7NaLESbbZWrJIzdvoT6KMkRzfVwX_gr7P6BPluPJFZbDy98ZS4ZUBvorGQqdwmQEMrRxY/s320/Xeno_Map.jpg" title="Map screen of Primordia from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost completed the first area, Primordia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
4.4 About the quest design </h3>
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The quests are fairly standard for Japanese RPGs. They are not as fancy and elaborate as in RPGs like Witcher 3. They can still be very interesting. For example, the alien races have elaborate backstories and very... alien cultures that you will get to know over the course of many quests.<br />
By the way, the mission and quest design has been significantly improved over Xenoblade Chronicles. This is the one important point where X demolishes its predecessor really, really bad. Quest givers are easily located by the use of your map and you will no longer need to waste countless hours looking for specific persons in the incredibly huge town.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0emeeumMj5R8sAnBV0S_3cbHi0JjtCWhBrV-RefcbfI_kSXzR45k9gBZlrckuT9fpwPcnC5Y6Gfxodx6qn3VB6PqopkIxQ-2pX5b1vLFXWn7Es-eOBaLF5SGNuxpSOi2oS7qt1frP-TM/s1600/Xeno_Map2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="World map of Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0emeeumMj5R8sAnBV0S_3cbHi0JjtCWhBrV-RefcbfI_kSXzR45k9gBZlrckuT9fpwPcnC5Y6Gfxodx6qn3VB6PqopkIxQ-2pX5b1vLFXWn7Es-eOBaLF5SGNuxpSOi2oS7qt1frP-TM/s320/Xeno_Map2.jpg" title="World map of Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Usually, you can see the next quest goal on your map.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Besides the essential story missions you will encounter so-called harmony missions. A lot of effort was put into these and they offer substantial rewards like new skills, new party members and new alien races that arrive in your hometown. Harmony missions can´t be cancelled and sometimes it can be frustrating if the game wants you to bring an item and you have no idea where to find it.<br />
Luckily, there are mechanics to help you out: reward tickets act as a wild card and can be traded for any enemy drop you can imagine.<br />
There are also conventional missions and side-jobs. Especially the side-jobs are very simple fetch and kill quests. They will very often ask for very specific items with no direction to help you or send you to kill an unbeatable enemy. You shouldn´t be afraid of putting them to the backlog... you will usually stumble upon the required things by accident during your explorations.<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Table of Contents</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-1.html">1. General </a></span><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-2.html"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Combat </span></a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-3.html"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Character growth</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">4. Exploration (you are here)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">5. Verdict</span><br />
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<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
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Do you want screenshots without the blog logo? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and browse the archive <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUK1b_ysTnI">Survival Guide: Your New Home</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5GMD_-y6Iw">Survival Guide: Mining</a><br />
<a href="http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Segment_Map">Segment Map explained in the Xenoblade Wiki</a> <br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-25149672312938514142016-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:002016-06-17T14:22:33.112-07:00Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Chapter 3: Character growth)<b>When you start out in Xenoblade Chronicles your character is very vulnerable and you need to hide away from most of the wildlife. As your characters develop their abilities this will gradually change, of course. This is a RPG, after all. The following lines will investigate the oddities of levelling and solve the question whether you can rely on your AI partners.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K3iaseoN8NaU5lV8EnhLgVkq-3LObSng2wtcippkgy5Lt4p1GRyDc-ccXq8WRypaPqBatxeRsPsfqdJFZbmjuv9nsAmEjP_QS872unugu8h-hD6pCjA1p6gh5QmciZIdq4XJomvtYHI/s1600/Xeno_Self.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Character from Xenoblade Chronicles X in full heavy armor." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K3iaseoN8NaU5lV8EnhLgVkq-3LObSng2wtcippkgy5Lt4p1GRyDc-ccXq8WRypaPqBatxeRsPsfqdJFZbmjuv9nsAmEjP_QS872unugu8h-hD6pCjA1p6gh5QmciZIdq4XJomvtYHI/s320/Xeno_Self.jpg" title="Character from Xenoblade Chronicles X in full heavy armor." width="320" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
3.1 A versatile but silent Main Character</h3>
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In Xenoblade Chronicles your main protagonist was a charismatic young boy with a distinct signature weapon. In X you are a generic and silent nobody (you can customize your appearance, though). But you now have the potential to learn every skill and weapon type in the game! This is achieved through a class system with a total of 16 classes. Collect experience with one class and you will gradually unlock its skills and weapons. Even if you switch your class, you will be able to keep all learned skills and build some interesting cross-class combos. Active skills are linked to specific weapon types and you need to equip the corresponding weapon type to use them (but you can learn to wield any weapon type with any class). If you need even more variety, you can learn 2 unique skills from each companion when doing missions for them.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6wuPXQtL1wAVbsUlb9nS9h7_6uC_e8gXY4bv48XjKpisZnSMiH8H6UwJVGnJECxPFugXHHUYjKy54fD71c4TskCYGkM1TvaBc1Ic7rLOG3V_5KbO59Yd56ozzgv1yNZHI6KBUfPA4bc/s1600/Xeno_Classes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Class selection screen from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6wuPXQtL1wAVbsUlb9nS9h7_6uC_e8gXY4bv48XjKpisZnSMiH8H6UwJVGnJECxPFugXHHUYjKy54fD71c4TskCYGkM1TvaBc1Ic7rLOG3V_5KbO59Yd56ozzgv1yNZHI6KBUfPA4bc/s320/Xeno_Classes.jpg" title="Class selection screen from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Class selection screen. I have mastered 10 classes at the time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In spite of this vast ocean of skills, the selection for each individual weapon is a bit limited and left me wanting. There are too few skills that spark ideas for different builds so most people will end up with the same selection of skills. This is most obvious for the Longsword which is very popular due to its versatility and high offensive and defensive potential. This lack may be attributed to the fact that your characters always need to be equipped with one ranged and one melee weapon. You can swith during combat with a single button press. In theory the skills of both weapons should complement each other. In reality, you will drift towards either melee or ranged because stats and talents usually are melee or ranged only. This often results in the attempt to almost exclusively use melee or ranged Battle Arts and to banish the other one from your active skillset.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlkgZbuVxjoYqr1vRORjeJd9fKCLjTSJqbjW_Hmj8vmaUV59dfueiW_jzEElFLXm_I-lEmNkKbxvWT7ti9nWCHc_3riueqptuOsAo1l9SLZfiIGmJGHjt78oWPs1o_NyllF7P9SX1zYU/s1600/Xeno_Gun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Main character from Xenoblade Chronicles X holding a gatling gun" border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlkgZbuVxjoYqr1vRORjeJd9fKCLjTSJqbjW_Hmj8vmaUV59dfueiW_jzEElFLXm_I-lEmNkKbxvWT7ti9nWCHc_3riueqptuOsAo1l9SLZfiIGmJGHjt78oWPs1o_NyllF7P9SX1zYU/s320/Xeno_Gun.jpg" title="Main character from Xenoblade Chronicles X holding a gatling gun" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice idea but it didn´t work out well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Another concept that I do not understand is the level cap at 60. Most RPGs have realized how poisonous it is to player motivation if RPGs stop to hand out experience. Games like Diablo 3 then introduced other goals (see <a href="http://www.diablowiki.net/Paragon" target="_blank">Paragon Levels</a>) to reach with your excess experience. X doesn´t have anything like this although it would have been easy to offer reward tickets (kind of a wild card for monster drops) or other goodies for your experience over level 60. Fallout 4 even completely removed the level cap known from the previous games.<br />
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<h3>
3.2 Party Problems </h3>
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Your companions are another big disappointment. You get twice as many partners as in Xenoblade Chronicles but they can´t switch weapons and are stuck with a very limited selection of skills. Your first "tanky" shield companion doesn´t even have the passive skill for extended taunt duration. And she will be mandatory for all story missions. Compare it to the diverse and unique skill palettes of each character from the previous game and you will find X to be a big letdown in that regard. To add insult to injury, your companions don´t act very clever in combat and the AI is not very good at using the best Battle Arts for any situation. Positional requirements for attacks are one of the more obvious weaknesses.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ak_p9ZBIGNg3mcsPo5aELeCUAlYH_fp0DWlFwtk4Od2I0QKdqeSXHtu7UmD1p4syyqox9n_tt7wXRiIIOI1cz2xtYkLFr2k-iG4ZGMPB5KmDYStg4rvbJDxpWjQQip9BEbOL_S3V3Tg/s1600/Xeno_party.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Party members from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ak_p9ZBIGNg3mcsPo5aELeCUAlYH_fp0DWlFwtk4Od2I0QKdqeSXHtu7UmD1p4syyqox9n_tt7wXRiIIOI1cz2xtYkLFr2k-iG4ZGMPB5KmDYStg4rvbJDxpWjQQip9BEbOL_S3V3Tg/s320/Xeno_party.jpg" title="Party members from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sons, I am disappoint...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Changing your party composition was also made as obnoxious as possible. Every character stands in another area of the huge home city and you need to go to the correct companion every time you want to switch him in. Inactive characters will also not gain any experience. And being underlevelled is a death sentence in this game. On the other hand the game wants you to group with as many different people as possible to build your relationship and unlock their special missions and skills. But doing so will put you at a huge disadvantage as your partners will level much slower than you because you are always in the active party. Stick with the main characters and miss many interesting missions or switch around and get dragged down by dead weight, pick your poison!<br />
There is also an online portion to the game with a few missions that can be done with human companions. You can also hire their avatars for your team. Online play offers good rewards, is fairly detached from the main game but can offer some fun, for more details you can watch the official video guide:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ysOVrn5wj-k/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ysOVrn5wj-k?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<h3>
3.3 Shopping!!!</h3>
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The equipment section fares better than the disappointing companion system. There is a huge array of stats and abilities that you need to consider to optimize your crew. From the basic attack and defense values to more advanced stuff like TP gain (ressource needed for powerful skills) and clip size of ranged weapons. Then there are equipment abilities like "Melee Strength up" or "Harder to detect by Enemies" that you will find on your equipment. These abilities can even be upgraded in exchange for enemy drops.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLlwbufBk2s6LAIdt1ZJvrDL7AL3VGG6TiMVk25paxQvJDCF4cfUTkQrgT3Xhkg_Kgqjj6p4eAhFHUBICMeK77yffAX7tr-5_cVgca392iroX_NWv30SxztoXJX357WfBqOIY2b8vR94/s1600/Xeno_Shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Shopping terminal from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLlwbufBk2s6LAIdt1ZJvrDL7AL3VGG6TiMVk25paxQvJDCF4cfUTkQrgT3Xhkg_Kgqjj6p4eAhFHUBICMeK77yffAX7tr-5_cVgca392iroX_NWv30SxztoXJX357WfBqOIY2b8vR94/s320/Xeno_Shop.jpg" title="Shopping terminal from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For such a huge game, the shopping area is surprisingly... compact.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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On top of that there can be sockets on the equipment and later you gain the option to add sockets for a (relatively) small price. The augments that fit into these sockets can have significant effects that may even change your entire combat strategy (increased taunt duration for your incompetent companion, for example). There is even the option to replace the look of one piece of equipment with another one if you can´t stand some of the designs. You can spend loads of time tinkering with the equipment of your crew.<br />
And when you thing you are done you can continue with your skells. They use slightly different equipment but every mech represents 15 more equipment slots that are waiting for you to fill them. Skells can carry around a whopping 10 weapons at the same time, and they are all visible on your skell, which adds a lot to the fun.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-j7e9eYGyHe7mtGB69Jw6R-SDWjB-wYKsejyn04y62iiqwgGBhKT-WuJYupo-PlirMK1Sr2sCgiLRawmdnaKQMwvbWnDI2PgeSHT8Gf7L6K2W1bI8dq-DJdjkj7BoNB81WyxZPc_Qzg/s1600/Xeno_Skellweapons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fully armed skell from Xenoblade Chronicles X." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-j7e9eYGyHe7mtGB69Jw6R-SDWjB-wYKsejyn04y62iiqwgGBhKT-WuJYupo-PlirMK1Sr2sCgiLRawmdnaKQMwvbWnDI2PgeSHT8Gf7L6K2W1bI8dq-DJdjkj7BoNB81WyxZPc_Qzg/s320/Xeno_Skellweapons.jpg" title="Fully armed skell from Xenoblade Chronicles X." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A walking fortress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
3.4 It is all so cryptic</h3>
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The game doesn´t waste much time trying to introduce you to the more complex mechanics. You have to consult the manual quite frequently. The worst part are the buffs and debuffs. You get nothing more than a few tiny icons. No explanations at all. This affects battle and character customization as it is quite difficult to guess which buff will benefit your strategy more.<br />
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<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
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Do you want screenshots without the blog logo? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and browse the archive<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Table of Contents</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-1.html">1. General </a></span><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-2.html"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Combat </span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">3. Character growth </span><span style="font-size: small;">(you are here)</span><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/02/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-4.html"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Exploration</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">5. Verdict</span>Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-194733290948809232016-01-30T12:28:00.000-08:002016-06-17T14:22:53.783-07:00Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Chapter 2: Combat)<b>There is a lot of depth to the combat in Xenoblade Chronicles X. In fact, it is so deep it will be certainly overwhelming at first and stay like that for quite a long time. But that is okay, you have ample time to get familiar with the mechanics due to the sheer size of the game. If combat was designed less complex, it would lose its appeal and may not be able to support the length of the game. So let us take a look at all the different layers you have to consider for your optimal strategy.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GuAUmroD5l7OOmsPoyI6kFECId_J7UaEeN0vBASu0yksmb2a0yQY_tkd_7wuYOLv736n3xqSly83sjxxTvpKFvs2mQdh4uPU05sfh9Fus6NRzOWy3djvwR4Qqa4hnZc8iTJzlJf2pqU/s1600/Xeno_Combat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Combat scene from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GuAUmroD5l7OOmsPoyI6kFECId_J7UaEeN0vBASu0yksmb2a0yQY_tkd_7wuYOLv736n3xqSly83sjxxTvpKFvs2mQdh4uPU05sfh9Fus6NRzOWy3djvwR4Qqa4hnZc8iTJzlJf2pqU/s320/Xeno_Combat1.jpg" title="Combat scene from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
2.1 Basic Combat</h3>
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The basic combat system reminds me of World of Warcraft. You lock onto a target and your character will hit the enemy at defined time intervals. Collision detection is pretty generous here, a direct contact between weapon and enemy is not required to land a hit. This leads to a few hilarious situations like hitting an enemy on a rooftop with your knife while standing on the street. This inaccuracy is sorely needed though, since the game likes to throw ridiculously huge enemies at you and too often you will be fighting against the twitching toenail of some moving mountain-thing. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZmX5sdIAzrS_2QjbA51uq6a0XJdm-rHa7H0f_-GYlhyphenhyphentPrXYL6SKMCW7dIviE4TRZhBBPnDaxXx70xLj6yo8QpvOeb5MDiynwCok0fUByGoHg-l9zFm_0r6fvRhHGdOyc8TzctvJekk/s1600/Xeno_HugeEnemy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Huge enemy in Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZmX5sdIAzrS_2QjbA51uq6a0XJdm-rHa7H0f_-GYlhyphenhyphentPrXYL6SKMCW7dIviE4TRZhBBPnDaxXx70xLj6yo8QpvOeb5MDiynwCok0fUByGoHg-l9zFm_0r6fvRhHGdOyc8TzctvJekk/s320/Xeno_HugeEnemy.jpg" title="Huge enemy in Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well, you COULD attack it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Your character can also carry up to eight active skills ("Battle Arts") into battle. These skills deal considerable damage and usually have conditions that you try to fulfill to make the hit stronger. Examples are positional requirements (additional damage from behind) or the execution within a chain of melee or ranged skills. This will keep you permanently thinking during combat about what skill should be used next to squeeze out the most from your Battle Arts.<br />
When a skill is used, it goes on cooldown. But when it is NOT used, a second charge can be accumulated. Unleashing a double-charged skill has considerable benefits. To sum it up, the use of Battle Arts promotes strategic thinking and creates a whole lot of tactical depth in combat.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAYuFee8fmQ2_LpAt2NVR7Beej-XQz9QtoSON-qQpM5j0-TmjHMExkwTdnFFafuNM4ZgFq-CezeFxfupUVlqTfinjOuUBvhhvap0ZZwm3WPtBOXqrXaqOlII41Rxnfl1DjRS1h6v1oNw/s1600/Xeno_Combat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAYuFee8fmQ2_LpAt2NVR7Beej-XQz9QtoSON-qQpM5j0-TmjHMExkwTdnFFafuNM4ZgFq-CezeFxfupUVlqTfinjOuUBvhhvap0ZZwm3WPtBOXqrXaqOlII41Rxnfl1DjRS1h6v1oNw/s320/Xeno_Combat2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your available battle arts. The green circle around the icons represents the progress of the second charge. The huge icon in the middle activates overdrive, see next chapter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
2.2 Tension and Overdrive</h3>
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There is no mana in Xenoblade Chronicles X and Battle Arts usually don´t cost resources with a few exceptions. Characters earn Tension Points (TP) mostly for auto-attacking and can spend them on a few powerful skills. Alternatively, you gather a lot of them and activate overdrive. For a short period of time your skills will recharge faster and can even generate a third charge for even more power. Using Battle Arts will also grant additional bonuses based on the color of the Art icon. This can get really powerful later on and serves as a basis for many gamebreaking builds. Personally, I don´t like this overdrive mechanic very much. The color matching is very unintuitive, you would need a guide to go for specific bonuses, and I prefer the solution from the previous Xenoblade game where every character had a unique special skill instead that added a lot to the desire to play different characters.<br />
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<h3>
2.3 Soul Voice and Soul Challenge</h3>
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Besides a new layer of strategy, the next feature is chance-based and helps to keep combat fresh even if you engage in battles that would otherwise play out identical. Actions in combat have a certain chance to trigger a battle cry. If your partners do it, it is called a Soul Voice and will grant a strong boost to a few of your Battle Arts. The associated Battle Arts will flash and you have to be quick to seize the advantage. If you perform the battle cry, it is called a Soul Challenge and you will need to hit the b button at the right time to get the full effect.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2GeldxVhm9wIbCcmL5-lU5YLvnLh40QP9YpqeHcZvCPdcpfl7Hi1UcHnvfemoiLDAGOqXd4yC-sW1KVCUoHyqG-BoqkA6_V9NoNWr8XSfLT4azCuzvI0rjhP4ojPpkTj-hZNDin-O24/s1600/Xeno_SoulChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Soul Challenge button press in Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2GeldxVhm9wIbCcmL5-lU5YLvnLh40QP9YpqeHcZvCPdcpfl7Hi1UcHnvfemoiLDAGOqXd4yC-sW1KVCUoHyqG-BoqkA6_V9NoNWr8XSfLT4azCuzvI0rjhP4ojPpkTj-hZNDin-O24/s320/Xeno_SoulChallenge.jpg" title="Soul Challenge button press in Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The button prompt and target circles of a Soul Challenge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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These battle cries are also one of the few ways to heal your characters up during combat. You can even customize the configuration of your main character´s battle cries. But you will also do just fine with the preset configuration, as the customization options can look a bit intimidating.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6URSzUYqbKPPWiqlQL6Yi5B2Gm9L8l00Kx-Af3Wk7E04PaYSOjQLUHVa5CXsXBiJpeuSDadEAS7lQZTyqmMWY63uiAzq88MbcavLnvPd5536w-JKjTNamkMtZ8oAfFzzyD3_JrDVYkY/s1600/Xeno_Shouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Soul Voice configuration menu in Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6URSzUYqbKPPWiqlQL6Yi5B2Gm9L8l00Kx-Af3Wk7E04PaYSOjQLUHVa5CXsXBiJpeuSDadEAS7lQZTyqmMWY63uiAzq88MbcavLnvPd5536w-JKjTNamkMtZ8oAfFzzyD3_JrDVYkY/s320/Xeno_Shouts.jpg" title="Soul Voice configuration menu in Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soul Voice configuration menu, have fun!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
2.4 The thing about healing</h3>
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If you win a battle your heroes are healed to full almost instantly. This is a very dangerous thing from a designer perspective. To make normal enemies even slightly challenging, these mundane critters must possess the ability to take a hero from 100% to 0% health within a battle. This leads to many frustrating encounters and sudden difficulty spikes. But otherwise the entire fight would be pointless since the heroes are immediately restored to full. In games with limited health and mana it is more like an endurance test over many battles and wasting a bit too much health in the first can make the second one a high risk. Xenoblade Chronicles X solved the issue well, life bars go down slowly but steadily. Healing skills, like the Soul Challenges, are sparse and only grant a small percentage of health back. If you receive a strong hit you have to slowly crawl back to good condition. Health bars move back and forth and represent the tide of the battle. Frustrating one-hits do happen but they are usually reserved for super bosses or when you draw the attention of a monster that is way out of your league.<br />
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<h3>
2.5 Skells </h3>
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The skells are giant robots you can mount and fight with. They have been advertised pretty heavily and the game teases you for a long time before it finally grants you permission to use them.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9CYecw9CtcOZqSgKkRP1Imz8t-_iuB4Z_GXZb_pV0emBM-xr4wS5F4Bpbl6zQrFPysTTF6Cc-CyiqnwP2f2Bb7fHKTxYZuBqA9c1rO9RIEhyphenhyphenYvQk2nyB_WPw-FBnmrrxs-MpsQ19rjA/s1600/Xeno_Skells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Skells from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9CYecw9CtcOZqSgKkRP1Imz8t-_iuB4Z_GXZb_pV0emBM-xr4wS5F4Bpbl6zQrFPysTTF6Cc-CyiqnwP2f2Bb7fHKTxYZuBqA9c1rO9RIEhyphenhyphenYvQk2nyB_WPw-FBnmrrxs-MpsQ19rjA/s320/Xeno_Skells.jpg" title="Skells from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autobots, roll out!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Their combat system is slightly different in comparison to your ground units. Skells have only 1 charge for their skills so you can fire at will and their version of overdrive is way more subtle. They also have a "cockpit mode" that is triggered randomly when using a skill and that grants you invulnerability and cooldown reduction. In theory this should also give you a dramatic close-up perspective of the action but it doesn´t center the enemy so it just looks confusing most of the time.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKF_mDM6YGcCc9KLwFF7OvknDuuTKXqTPVTd31lCJheB-pqxYGdVtmfJaxpOeZuOQp6fIPxL4d6KWO35_JpUU9Yu88RscjHZ3b74Pk3l76r86yHYFDufZeEkQwBgwM7pBHfyEWdibewk/s1600/Xeno_Cockpit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cockpit mode from Skell combat from Xenoblade Chronicles X" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKF_mDM6YGcCc9KLwFF7OvknDuuTKXqTPVTd31lCJheB-pqxYGdVtmfJaxpOeZuOQp6fIPxL4d6KWO35_JpUU9Yu88RscjHZ3b74Pk3l76r86yHYFDufZeEkQwBgwM7pBHfyEWdibewk/s320/Xeno_Cockpit.jpg" title="Cockpit mode from Skell combat from Xenoblade Chronicles X" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have no idea what I´m seeing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Skells are an incredible jump in power in comparison to your ground units. But to tell you the truth, I really disliked skell combat and the feeling of empowerment vanished after a few hours and was replaced with utter confusion. I invested countless hours into building my ground units and learning the deeper strategies and suddenly it is all for nothing and replaced by killer robots? They are vastly superior and easier to use as their combat mechanics are much simpler. They are forbidden only in a few places and battles and there may be a few endgame builds that will not need them, but I really had to abandon them sometimes to spend some "quality time" with my ground units before I would forget what they looked like.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Table of Contents</span></b></u><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-1.html">1. General </a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">2. Combat </span><span style="font-size: small;">(you are here)</span><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-3.html"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Character growth</span></a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/02/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-4.html"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Exploration</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">5. Verdict</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
<br />
Do you want screenshots without the blog logo? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and browse the archive<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOm842H-rac" target="_blank">Official Combat Trailer</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix87NDXnM_w" target="_blank">Official Survival Guide with Combat Basics</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwT-S0Fb4LM" target="_blank">"Uncontrollable" Tyrant Battle Theme</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwOvEZzbFWI" target="_blank">Combat demonstration on YouTube by PlayerEssence</a>Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-43618323927926574572016-01-30T12:27:00.000-08:002016-06-17T14:23:11.728-07:00Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Chapter 1: General)<b>Back in the days when Xenoblade Chronicles was released in Europe, it was such a joy that it even banished the recently released Skyrim from my daily schedule. It was a surprise hit for me since it came without much advertisement and was so unexpectedly good. So now we get the brand-new Xenoblade Chronicles X. And it is again released back-to-back with one of Bethesda´s finest: Fallout 4. Will it be able to hold its ground against the overpowering competitor?</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlZ15x8nfVxh923Tg-Ww_D-yYHdXW6iutbWC_U_RLuKhDrlxJn0gpM91MA0ut3tJ2OUD1EBRaBTQrjrCDzdb0PFessNMTrli2NPNB6N4ywYS9KqgaYZGA-mGTL8OsaxmJXVnjw5XoNFI/s1600/Xeno_Scenery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Scenery of Primordia from Xenoblade Chronicles X." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlZ15x8nfVxh923Tg-Ww_D-yYHdXW6iutbWC_U_RLuKhDrlxJn0gpM91MA0ut3tJ2OUD1EBRaBTQrjrCDzdb0PFessNMTrli2NPNB6N4ywYS9KqgaYZGA-mGTL8OsaxmJXVnjw5XoNFI/s320/Xeno_Scenery.jpg" title="Scenery of Primordia from Xenoblade Chronicles X." width="320" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Game Title:</b> Xenoblade Chronicles X<br />
<b>Platform:</b> Wii U</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Created by:</b> <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_Soft" target="_blank">Monolithsoft</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Genre:</b> Action RPG</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Difficulty: </b>Medium (but high complexity)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Multiplayer:</b> Only for a few missions</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<h3>
1.1 General remark: This is not Xenoblade Chronicles 2!</h3>
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Fun trivia: the developers of Xenoblade Chronicles X decided to <u>not</u> name their new game Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Too big were the differences to Xenoblade Chronicles. However, nineteen letters are identical in the name of the two games so the X doesn´t matter much and the comparison will still be made. While the first game was more of a classic Japanese RPG with huge areas to explore, X is more of an MMO experience with an enormous open world and the plot missions are quite rare. As a fan of the first one, this is a fact you need to be aware of.<br />
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<h3>
1.2 The Setting: Humans in Space</h3>
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The story plunges you, one of the last survivors of the destruction of our beloved earth, onto a wild and untamed planet. You now gather what is left of the last spaceship of humanity and try to settle in this place that is teeming with dangerous wildlife. Sneaking by the deadly creatures you can explore to your heart´s content from the get-go. A huge uncharted land awaits you, probably even bigger than games like Witcher 3 or Fallout 4.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3uTv-Y4gXsb3N0amiF7QudXFXn5QcdugHGmDYvcz6FgP9m6piuccs0Goo14j_pu88iY2ItBstfcCGkmUOOdaI2OUezz3cixXT8n4bGUMiwIBG2CfnJ8Ha9vAlEVH8TPija_7fSwoxWg/s1600/Xeno_Panorama1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Panorama of Primordia seen from New Los Angeles." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3uTv-Y4gXsb3N0amiF7QudXFXn5QcdugHGmDYvcz6FgP9m6piuccs0Goo14j_pu88iY2ItBstfcCGkmUOOdaI2OUezz3cixXT8n4bGUMiwIBG2CfnJ8Ha9vAlEVH8TPija_7fSwoxWg/s320/Xeno_Panorama1.jpg" title="Panorama of Primordia seen from New Los Angeles." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The land of Primordia, viewed from your hometown. Yes, you can explore anything!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Eventually you will meet other humanoid beings. The nice aliens you can invite to your city, unlocking potential quests, crafting companies and so on. The nasty ones will become your sworn enemies and in the end it is up to you to prevent humanity from going extinct.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNn-Ylx9Hqjy8FddJtW6THXkaibGN2OXj91bcCUbZj4JKOQsBsrotVBn0o-g2N1poxJX4os5pHMI0xiauPQi1FAF1jKPlCR72Kry-wZfVp5WUteMHThgeDPlwyNHp1UbxMcHFv4F4vww/s1600/Xeno_Alien.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A Prone alien from Xenoblade Chronicles X." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNn-Ylx9Hqjy8FddJtW6THXkaibGN2OXj91bcCUbZj4JKOQsBsrotVBn0o-g2N1poxJX4os5pHMI0xiauPQi1FAF1jKPlCR72Kry-wZfVp5WUteMHThgeDPlwyNHp1UbxMcHFv4F4vww/s320/Xeno_Alien.jpg" title="A Prone alien from Xenoblade Chronicles X." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is he a friend, or a foe?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Fans of Xenoblade Chronicles will immediately notice that the story is not as creative as the setting of the last game. Well it is hard to trump a world that is made of the two corpses of gods where humans crawl on them like ants and every area is situated on a limb or other body part of a dead deity. Another problem are your companions who are a bit lifeless and can´t compete with the colorful cast of the previous game.<br />
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This is a really huge game. 100+ hours just to reach the end of the main story is not uncommon. 100% completion may require well over 200 hours. And it is filled to the brim with mechanics and content. We will take a look at combat, characters and exploration. And since it is so much to cover I will split it up in several articles.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
<br />
Do you want screenshots without the blog logo? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and browse the archive<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Table of Contents</span></b></u><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">1. General (you are here)</span><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-2.html"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Combat</span></a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-3.html"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Character growth</span></a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2016/02/review-xenoblade-chronicles-x-chapter-4.html"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Exploration</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">5. Verdict</span><br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-31145310380323374122015-12-16T15:00:00.001-08:002016-01-16T18:21:05.340-08:00Review: Din´s Curse (+ add-on Demon War)<b>The current action-RPG genre looks like that: you have two gigantic mammoth trees called "Diablo 3" and "Path of Exile" that pretty much get all of the sun. And not much can grow below in the dark. Surprisingly enough, some strange but beautiful flowers still manage to blossom down here.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyH9J7GzJ29U8xW5nu4JYRT3BKSmjctjwUjJUeOHrtmdQksqdluq8XQbhu_suj8eQIvqHlZMNTWDgjS7mgiRXFLKjoHVsYq6qRbxnNy7cjfyl6xXjtzlAaaFb8DyydcwHQCatDJpaBCJI/s1600/DinsCurse_Title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Title screen of Din´s Curse with Demon War Expansion" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyH9J7GzJ29U8xW5nu4JYRT3BKSmjctjwUjJUeOHrtmdQksqdluq8XQbhu_suj8eQIvqHlZMNTWDgjS7mgiRXFLKjoHVsYq6qRbxnNy7cjfyl6xXjtzlAaaFb8DyydcwHQCatDJpaBCJI/s320/DinsCurse_Title.jpg" title="Title screen of Din´s Curse with Demon War Expansion" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Game Title:</b> Din´s Curse (add-on: Demon War)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Created by:</b> <a href="http://www.soldak.com/" target="_blank">Soldak Entertainment</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Genre:</b> Action RPG</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Difficulty:</b> High</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Multiplayer:</b> Yes</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<h3>
1. General setting: Divine errand boy</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdB9owSmBLkJHH5jbKL9cr6AY4Cy6zcYXwWg9s3wZ68rf10IuhcgYhSxT-4uS4XNuy5RmWUOdJeAG0SPhoyaNw-85CdG9XORGbhRQzDvM66fW01tl2CcrdQoHfXP_HFecj7JSJ7hWpEg/s1600/Din_the_God.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screenshot of Din the God from Din´s Course." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdB9owSmBLkJHH5jbKL9cr6AY4Cy6zcYXwWg9s3wZ68rf10IuhcgYhSxT-4uS4XNuy5RmWUOdJeAG0SPhoyaNw-85CdG9XORGbhRQzDvM66fW01tl2CcrdQoHfXP_HFecj7JSJ7hWpEg/s320/Din_the_God.jpg" title="Screenshot of Din the God from Din´s Course." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Say hello to your new god and slave driver.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Din´s Curse is an action-heavy hack&slay game that takes most of its inspiration from Diablo 1 and 2. Your character appears to have lived a sinful life because after his death he is tasked by Din, the god of justice, to protect settlements from evil monsters and be a good and nice guy overall if he wants to be granted salvation.<br />
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<h3>
2. The Twist: Dungeons strike back</h3>
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Every town is structured much like Tristram from Diablo 1. It is a place where you can buy and sell your junk and receive quests for the dungeon halls below the town. Unlike Tristram, these randomly generated towns are no safe havens. The monsters below will regularly sent up troops to raid the town or install devices that will make the life for the townspeople miserable. Especially if you let them go unmolested for some time, hell might break loose in the town and the city may even be lost to the monster armies.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZAeV-fLZuq_JSVW1GutRpiO6kNhVQc8VBln7DIsAexf9QatUISgPxow2rtEVFw_IfVUbVWMjyK_S93k_MxZt7pjU4FHNClne9ipa0C95Zf3v9fAor7Z-s73uGBZ73EAIjy5EP92Cg_g/s1600/Dying_Town.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A town under attack from Din´s Curse." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZAeV-fLZuq_JSVW1GutRpiO6kNhVQc8VBln7DIsAexf9QatUISgPxow2rtEVFw_IfVUbVWMjyK_S93k_MxZt7pjU4FHNClne9ipa0C95Zf3v9fAor7Z-s73uGBZ73EAIjy5EP92Cg_g/s320/Dying_Town.jpg" title="A town under attack from Din´s Curse." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The town is invaded, innocent people are being killed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<h3>
3. Combat: Looks crude, feels good</h3>
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Din´s Curse is developed by a tiny indie studio. Make no mistake, the game looks very ugly. Blocky characters, textures that don´t mix well and a poor variety of sound effects. It takes a while to get into.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUoBBAqS_bIvLvHJTxnhttuYEa3Qhyphenhyphen0mbOfZF7SqrEZrTraozQR4t_tMoUt7PBSKUYd9uozUE3s0mjh8QdmxY-1xA444CQu6XqBskt-lYebwbPVvSqnOSIgk0vhlpr_Bbr8nd6bZX8QM/s1600/Combat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A screenshot of the combat in Din´s Curse." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUoBBAqS_bIvLvHJTxnhttuYEa3Qhyphenhyphen0mbOfZF7SqrEZrTraozQR4t_tMoUt7PBSKUYd9uozUE3s0mjh8QdmxY-1xA444CQu6XqBskt-lYebwbPVvSqnOSIgk0vhlpr_Bbr8nd6bZX8QM/s320/Combat.jpg" title="A screenshot of the combat in Din´s Curse." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The game is not very pretty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_1956955371"></span><span id="goog_1956955372"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Under this rough surface, the combat is surprisingly fun. It controls much like any other action rpg, left-click to move, right-click to attack. And a few hotkeys for additional abilities. Unlike other action rpgs, your character is not locked in place when he performs an action. He pauses for a brief moment, then you are free to move again while the animation plays out. It looks pretty weird but gives you way more mobility than you would expect. By using hotkeys for your abilities, you are even able to pull off tricky shots while sidestepping.<br />
Combat has one major flaw, though. Like most indie games, Din´s Curse leans towards higher difficulty. In action rpgs it usually results in tough boss monsters that can easily kill you with one or two hits. This is especially painful for melee characters who have not many choices besides soaking up all the hits. Ranged characters have the advantage although Din´s Curse also has a nasty surprise for them: running around monsters drains your stamina, fast. And when it´s gone you slow down to a crawl. Although you can influence the difficulty everytime you enter a new town, you should prepare to die. A lot.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyyKn6T9HNysPZ0zz66g9bEc-XWI-EvcnNp49SwppOXO8r2l0Np_GR9iwRtNp7LUcOyEg8pjQtiMgeqKHkAdXS_5Zx9O2hzN1XbSyVYXZrin3DOm4ECiUX4xDWYhMQK08MX9fpWUPt1A/s1600/Death.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Death screen from Din´s Curse." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyyKn6T9HNysPZ0zz66g9bEc-XWI-EvcnNp49SwppOXO8r2l0Np_GR9iwRtNp7LUcOyEg8pjQtiMgeqKHkAdXS_5Zx9O2hzN1XbSyVYXZrin3DOm4ECiUX4xDWYhMQK08MX9fpWUPt1A/s320/Death.jpg" title="Death screen from Din´s Curse." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get used to it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</tbody></table>
<h3>
4. Character growth: Diablo 2 with some World of Warcraft</h3>
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Killing monsters and solving quests grants the hero experience that is needed to advance in level. Each level grants you attribute points and skill points to further strengthen your hero. <br />
Surprisingly, the attribute system is more elaborate than in many other action rpgs. The developer intended each attribute to be useful for every class in some way. Intelligence, a typical attribute for caster classes, also grants you increased critical strike chance with all your attacks. Instead of focusing on one or two primary stats and neglecting everything else, Din´s Curse attempts to make you think about your attribute distribution everytime you look at the character sheet. This is one of the many strong points of its character development system.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4ZjGv_Psv8V3Plzwnv98gWrkFCU0ZY4nE4XrxgCZF_x7z4oV3DNmwohlS7LeZtTsO0E9_rR6RsBxddgm0drE-zNbJQ4kYxFo9csZHQ4J9GBXMwzgJMD6zRyYhNqn3_A9nnQg7dIpcpg/s1600/Attributes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screenshot and description of the attribute Intelligence." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4ZjGv_Psv8V3Plzwnv98gWrkFCU0ZY4nE4XrxgCZF_x7z4oV3DNmwohlS7LeZtTsO0E9_rR6RsBxddgm0drE-zNbJQ4kYxFo9csZHQ4J9GBXMwzgJMD6zRyYhNqn3_A9nnQg7dIpcpg/s320/Attributes.jpg" title="Screenshot and description of the attribute Intelligence." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The attribute "Intelligence" in detail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Each starting class comes with three skill trees where you can spend your skill points on passive and active skills as well. For added variety, you can create a hybrid class out of 2 skill trees of different classes, this adds lots of replayability to the already strong line-up. The skill trees take heavy inspiration from the World of Warcraft skill trees (which were kicked out of WoW some addons ago, to my dismay). For example, the warrior class comes with an weapon (arms), a gladiator (fury) and a defender (protection) skill tree. This is not neccessarily a bad thing since the skill trees from WoW offered strong themes and varied gameplay, which is still the case here. Another good idea in the skill system is an increasing cost for each talent for the next higher rank. This makes diversification and investing into different talents instead of only focusing on a single one a viable option, since the single talent may become too expensive. Again, this makes you think about your talent choices more carefully than in other action rpgs.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKyZ0ZKQTf0Gliw5CX7cYPhcvyZUlWeeY9R6fX_NyCA1p9L_FGnIwU22xyQlRc7fF2MWwKmFR9Lb8YSoqPtV6soAiAw9R-F30Dtm0hWx5b8qLNYBX6dJi38003S7OGcjKyNV3OKseJkI/s1600/Talent_Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screenshot of a talent tree of the Demon Hunter class." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKyZ0ZKQTf0Gliw5CX7cYPhcvyZUlWeeY9R6fX_NyCA1p9L_FGnIwU22xyQlRc7fF2MWwKmFR9Lb8YSoqPtV6soAiAw9R-F30Dtm0hWx5b8qLNYBX6dJi38003S7OGcjKyNV3OKseJkI/s320/Talent_Tree.jpg" title="Screenshot of a talent tree of the Demon Hunter class." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A talent tree of the Demon Hunter class.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
With all the thinking going on, it is pretty easy to invest into the wrong attributes or talents. But Din´s Curse is very forgiving about that. There are no full resets of your character but every choice can be undone, for a small fee. This allows you to constantly trim your character and cut off unwanted or less useful things. Again, adding up to the fun and strategic thinking involved with character progression.<br />
Gear and equipment is another big part of character progression. Din´s Curse offers a solid variety of items of varying quality and different enchantments (even some enchantments that trigger different abilities). But there are no real crafting options to influence and tailor your loot. There is definitely some room for improvement in this area.<br />
Overall, the character growth is impressively deep and it is also very accessible. Din´s Curse can easily compete with the two mammoths of the genre in this regard.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
5. Exploration: Race against the clock</h3>
<br />
A town and a dungeon with a random size. This is your playground to explore and solve quests in order to save the town. It is all randomly generated but the variety of towns, dungeons and quests is limited. It repeats pretty fast. It gets better when you install the add-on Demon Wars as it expands the variety of quests greatly. But the limited random generator remains a weak spot.<br />
But there is a pretty good chance that you won´t notice it. There is something that will hold your attention: there is a chat box that informs you about events in the town or dungeon. These messages usually are bad news for you. Raids on the town, outbreaks of the plague, new bosses arriving in the dungeon. There is so much to keep an eye out for, you usually have more pressing matters to care for than complaining about quest variety. It is a captivating and exciting feature.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Conclusion: </b></u><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpi8qDT35i6Me9xtf0L2JEmzdMMD12SAQHvx-dUtGD1Z-Bxg8Day4HGi1L3v_gJeEY2RHA8BSNdJkS208cPyjQvF93-Y0JiRRCJwJT_VLv_r42gKFHZfKQj0hJ4sVGw4yow6lNpmJF-w/s1600/Rating_Dins_Curse.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rating table for Din´s Curse" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpi8qDT35i6Me9xtf0L2JEmzdMMD12SAQHvx-dUtGD1Z-Bxg8Day4HGi1L3v_gJeEY2RHA8BSNdJkS208cPyjQvF93-Y0JiRRCJwJT_VLv_r42gKFHZfKQj0hJ4sVGw4yow6lNpmJF-w/s1600/Rating_Dins_Curse.png" title="Rating table for Din´s Curse" /></a></div>
<br />
So do you think that melee is much more punishing in action RPGs? Or do you prefer to stay at range? Sharing your oppinion in the comments below is definitely not punishing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Useful links:</b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.soldak.com/" target="_blank">Homepage of the Creator</a><br />
<a href="https://www.gog.com/game/dins_curse" target="_blank">Buy the game at gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqzfCMHwH8E" target="_blank">Trailer of the game</a><br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-57835240636612229232015-09-10T12:03:00.000-07:002016-10-18T14:13:36.414-07:00Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (6): Experience and Money<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJsdZW2qWk6W-yhApEVzzQBwQMOyyCRFyheIZSUk7jOe0E84dpgD_VdgRaxrH3iTOOaepW9mtVUdDan4pyUz54hSwCtq3IQmSISGhS-4RZ8r1elugZKPz57K52SWUffMIBdMt6LITP1g/s1600/Posing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJsdZW2qWk6W-yhApEVzzQBwQMOyyCRFyheIZSUk7jOe0E84dpgD_VdgRaxrH3iTOOaepW9mtVUdDan4pyUz54hSwCtq3IQmSISGhS-4RZ8r1elugZKPz57K52SWUffMIBdMt6LITP1g/s320/Posing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
One last time we return to the world of Geralt to discuss the 2 fundamental gameplay features of gaining experience and money. Amassing experience and advancing in level is the most important aspect of character growth. It is a strong motivation for the player to keep on going. The same holds true for money.<br />
In essence, they are both currencies, or numbers, that need to be adjusted by the game designer to prevent 2 things from happening: giving the player not enough of them leads to frustration and repetitive grinding. Giving them too much will sooner or later make the player too powerful and trivialize the content, leading to boredom. So how does Witcher 3 fare in this regard?<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
7. Experience and money gain</h3>
<br />
<u><b>Power creeps</b></u><br />
<br />
It is an issue that plagues many RPGs and the more open the game, the worse it gets. At the start, when the player can´t reach many locations, these games are brutally punishing and reloading is frequently. Once the world opens up and the player has more opportunities to strengthen his characters, the balance tips in their favor. This can go on until the player becomes almost invincible, no wonder that so many open world RPGs feature anticlimatic last bosses. <br />
Since Witcher 3 allows so much freedom, you will eventually also face this time point when any deadly encounter is only a trivial matter of a few button presses. Just because you were a bit too busy doing the excellent sidequests and you grew in power. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SiV-aUg8ZgxuPUhUGcCfIlPXNRfJafUUvzAKUc0WefPCTgBCLnOMjjS4RCTntzCtYqInc46laGkdAYnFvE0BzoFe_i8YigmksJ9LCFaIoJoSES_9Q-EIcjjeNK0d2qp7Qu8yZZcf-T4/s1600/Scary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Close-up picture of a Drowned from Witcher 3" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SiV-aUg8ZgxuPUhUGcCfIlPXNRfJafUUvzAKUc0WefPCTgBCLnOMjjS4RCTntzCtYqInc46laGkdAYnFvE0BzoFe_i8YigmksJ9LCFaIoJoSES_9Q-EIcjjeNK0d2qp7Qu8yZZcf-T4/s320/Scary.jpg" title="Close-up picture of a Drowned from Witcher 3" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were scary for the first few hours.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A possible solution to this problem would be level-scaling of enemies so they never become trivial (or always stay ahead of you on higher difficulties). Some people will now want to pull out their pitchforks and lit their torches, I suppose. There are more than enough negative oppinions about the level-scaling concept and how it is considered a cardinal sin by RPG veterans (<a href="http://www.lordsofxulima.com/2013/05/13/balancing-in-non-linear-rpgs/" target="_blank">you can read more about it in this blog</a>). I think this mainly comes from the emotional scars left by <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/oblivion/" target="_blank">The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion</a> which featured one of the worst level-scaling environments of all time. This may be shocking news, but there are games out there with excellent level-scaling that keeps you motivated for endless hours even when you already played through the game.<br />
For Witcher 3, I would suggest using level-scaling only on a few select encounters. Namely the Witcher contracts where you usually hunt down some famous, named and powerful beings. Ending these fights with 3 sword swings if your level is too high has always felt like a letdown. Making them grow in power would help in making these encounters memorable and a test of all your skills accumulated so far. <br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>I´m rich, witch!</b></u><br />
<br />
With all the loot lying around in the Witcher world, players usually collect items and sell them frequently. Becoming wealthy is just a matter of hours. And it becomes really hard to see the point in haggling with poor villagers to get 20 more coins for your contract when you have 10000 of them lying in your backpack. It certainly blows things out of proportion. <br />
To make money relevant and something desirable for the player even in the later game, the principle of "gold sinks" was introduced in many games. Some games keep them purely cosmetic but I think we can all agree that we can´t imagine Geralt walking around and buying fancy sunglasses and beautiful rags for his chamber in Kaer Morhen.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIcOzd63PR2z_YZhpApIzG3OAf0zLo5X6lMZkd6SVNZFwXmUcYRXJAZ05IGuHI8-wYy5KTICDcUJiMggNQqD2dh9b0I1XONqlqn6vDs2dNW4IHmKoXdC3wHHqTjWOBUVW1US5X1hDOCs/s1600/Rich_Witcher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Witcher with sunglasses" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIcOzd63PR2z_YZhpApIzG3OAf0zLo5X6lMZkd6SVNZFwXmUcYRXJAZ05IGuHI8-wYy5KTICDcUJiMggNQqD2dh9b0I1XONqlqn6vDs2dNW4IHmKoXdC3wHHqTjWOBUVW1US5X1hDOCs/s320/Rich_Witcher.jpg" title="Witcher with sunglasses" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Errm... no, thanks to the Witcher with sunglasses.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Another approach would be a possibility for the player to invest in something that makes him stronger but money costs would have to grow steeply while the return diminishes. My suggestion would be a special kind of runestones (the little things you socket into your equipment) that come with a level attached to them. The power of the effect of the runestone would be linked to its level and you could pay some crafters to improve the level. It is cheap at the beginning so you can get the base effect but as you improve it again and again it always gets more costly.<br />
Example: the runestone of Devana improves the chance to cause bleeding by 1% at level 1. Then you go to the crafter and improve it to level 2 for 200 crowns, now it grants you 2% chance to bleed. Again, you consult the crafter and improve it to level 3 for 500 crowns, now it grants you 2,5% chance to bleed, etc.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCm6Qu1Nu3Pw6QGCokiqZwSDA896oYO1ElX-ubwokQu2xwMSl_JbWasaKZi9DUB4t-KOqEBtS4r8J88Zs7WmJ08nQCRuvD914Fvoqo18PnrIxPFenDaFKA5sIS_wRQgQoJcrswqAE90VE/s1600/Runestones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Inventory screen from Witcher 3 with runestones" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCm6Qu1Nu3Pw6QGCokiqZwSDA896oYO1ElX-ubwokQu2xwMSl_JbWasaKZi9DUB4t-KOqEBtS4r8J88Zs7WmJ08nQCRuvD914Fvoqo18PnrIxPFenDaFKA5sIS_wRQgQoJcrswqAE90VE/s320/Runestones.jpg" title="Inventory screen from Witcher 3 with runestones" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inventory screen with a typical runestone collection.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<u><b>The end is now... </b></u><br />
<br />
And so we reach the conclusion of my long list of suggestions, I thank you very much for all your patience reading it... and seeing the weird things like a Witcher with sunglasses. I would be glad to see you back on another topic in the blog, for example the <a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/08/crosscode-020-first-impressions.html" target="_blank">discussion about CrossCode</a> might be worth your attention.<br />
<br />
Do you want more screenshots? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and get access to the exclusive archives with unused content, PDF articles and more. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_30.html" target="_blank"><< Go back to the previous part of the list</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Interesting links: </b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">Official website of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_preorder" target="_blank">Buy the PC version on gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QoEUqadW4" target="_blank">Game review on YouTube by AngryJoe</a><br />
<br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-24583816133734895062015-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:002015-08-23T11:46:25.573-07:00CrossCode 0.2.0: First impressions<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lyf5yazfitg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lyf5yazfitg?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
Attention: this is an in-depth discussion of CrossCode from the early
build version 0.2.0. General Information about the game is found on the <a href="http://www.cross-code.com/en/home" target="_blank">official Website</a> of this promising action RPG or from <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/06/22/crosscode-review-early-access/" target="_blank">review sites</a>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
1. The atmosphere </h3>
<br />
The game is trying to emulate a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMO RPG) and while this setting is quite unique, I think that it is a bit underused right now. Of course, levels and classes are mentioned quite frequently, but they are not exactly something unique to MMOs… With all the random bits of technology protruding from the landscape, the atmosphere reminds me more of a Phantasy Star game.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZg6pIM3GpFzT_jz90MtWw4vuB8RhfZXqErbUu7z9qkq10XKAfaUHuJGIKRTK764-cD7boxvRE0bu0h6CK-xS1jkm20FAZ2AJoRBXFKxtHUOZt8eRZVQUNM9_5_eOo1WA7IWIeqUezJs/s1600/Phantasystar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="City scene from Phantasy Star" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZg6pIM3GpFzT_jz90MtWw4vuB8RhfZXqErbUu7z9qkq10XKAfaUHuJGIKRTK764-cD7boxvRE0bu0h6CK-xS1jkm20FAZ2AJoRBXFKxtHUOZt8eRZVQUNM9_5_eOo1WA7IWIeqUezJs/s320/Phantasystar.jpg" title="City scene from Phantasy Star" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But how to make it feel more like a MMO without relying on less than subtle jokes about already existing MMOs, that is a difficult question.
A few ideas: <br />
<ul>
<li>In MMOs, player characters are usually displayed with their name, title and guild above their head.
Even if there is an option to turn it off, that is usually the default settings in MMOs. </li>
<li>The loading icon in the lower right corner could display messages like “Waiting for response from server…” </li>
<li>In the pause menu, above the message boxes from the previous conversations, the words “Chat log” could appear. </li>
<li>A “Combat log” with messages about found items, defeated enemies, earned money etc. would also be a cool feature. </li>
<li>In big cities, player characters should log in and out constantly. Maybe with a less flashy “Initializing avatar” message than the main character to prevent epileptic seizures. </li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1J6K6lcdo3bM0L4Aa0qi0MVUJiz_rbfPytmOxEK30fqk8iY8mR4GJkGjM6gQpxSsKB9QZgff_Ty6Sefw3iuCcH062e9if8CwRsId4ybyyYoQ0zvGkYaZW5eDLNkVoViANCbi7dXhEhE/s1600/FF14_City.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Limsa Lominsa Plaza from Final Fantasy 14" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1J6K6lcdo3bM0L4Aa0qi0MVUJiz_rbfPytmOxEK30fqk8iY8mR4GJkGjM6gQpxSsKB9QZgff_Ty6Sefw3iuCcH062e9if8CwRsId4ybyyYoQ0zvGkYaZW5eDLNkVoViANCbi7dXhEhE/s320/FF14_City.png" title="Limsa Lominsa Plaza from Final Fantasy 14" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A city from the MMO Final Fantasy 14, full of other players.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
2. Controls </h3>
<br />
The controls are very responsive and the
jumping mechanics are fun and easy to use once you get the hang of it.
I was playing with a Xbox controller and found the shoulder buttons for
dodge and attack difficult to get used to. They are small, hard to push
and make very loud clicking noises. I guess a Playstation controller
would be a better choice as the L1/R1 shoulder buttons look more robust.
Changing the keybindings for the controller did not work, only for
keyboard. Maybe this is not implemented yet.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUy7eNfnX081k81A18ZfLCfUvI6JM7jYkXmFnZTsYPIqYCO5Pa1WaSbyWTeJAbHpXLiNw4lxmSDLhDGvkhOQ_06tNbKjKGp2ULcc9JUxt8IZWnOVuhrosPv6PLbkB59uWUWz5daj8PAgg/s1600/CrossCode_Options.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Options from CrossCode" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUy7eNfnX081k81A18ZfLCfUvI6JM7jYkXmFnZTsYPIqYCO5Pa1WaSbyWTeJAbHpXLiNw4lxmSDLhDGvkhOQ_06tNbKjKGp2ULcc9JUxt8IZWnOVuhrosPv6PLbkB59uWUWz5daj8PAgg/s320/CrossCode_Options.jpg" title="Options from CrossCode" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only keyboard settings can be changed at the moment.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The
D-pad is used to switch elements and you need to let go of the left
stick to do so. This makes changing elements during combat dangerous.
Maybe a button that cycles through all the elements could help here.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
3. Ideas for the options menu </h3>
<br />
As a game opens up to a wider public, requests for exotic features will arrive. These are a few of the more common ones:<br />
<br />
- color-blind mode (color-based puzzles, enemy mechanics or interface elements can be a real trouble for some people)<br />
- left-handed mode (since I am right-handed I don´t know exactly what needs to be changed here, maybe switch button configuration around?)<br />
- support for dual-monitor setup (many games have lots of trouble if the player is using more than one monitor for his PC)Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-75029407540589291442015-07-30T09:22:00.001-07:002016-06-15T09:41:20.003-07:00Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (5): SignsGeralt´s magic arsenal consists of 5 different signs and each one of them has its own mechanics and purpose. This creates the favorable situation that no spell is entirely worthless as there is a niche for every spell and they don´t have to compete against each other that much due to their different functionality. The Quen damage shield is surely the most useful of them but figuring out nasty tricks with the other spells is totally possible. While the balance is okay for the most part, 2 particularly nasty spells and a few underwhelming talents do stand out.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLC6ukvX_zbm6ELfH6UFbU5hzacLs7szaojBRlBbS1ITvyLT2Nlm3cb4IS56T1ge32KrQktLeK5dXQiQkyR2RHK33NbcJgIhJ3rOMvxcKdHTPQM6fR0dvMIBTuLGtp0gx9V9mbXt2GJ3Q/s1600/Skellige_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt knocks down an enemy using the shockwave spell." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLC6ukvX_zbm6ELfH6UFbU5hzacLs7szaojBRlBbS1ITvyLT2Nlm3cb4IS56T1ge32KrQktLeK5dXQiQkyR2RHK33NbcJgIhJ3rOMvxcKdHTPQM6fR0dvMIBTuLGtp0gx9V9mbXt2GJ3Q/s320/Skellige_1.jpg" title="Geralt knocks down an enemy using the shockwave spell." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An enemy falls flat on his ass after being hit with a shockwave from the Aard sign.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
6. Signs and the skill tree</h3>
<br />
<u><b>Quen</b></u><br />
<br />
As I mentioned, Quen is by far the most useful of the signs. It allows people that are not perfect at dodging (like me) to not die in every second fight. However, the problem with Quen is the alternate mode, which allows you to instantly heal yourself based on the damage it absorbs. Completely refilling your health bar is no issue with this spell. Considering how stingent the game is with instant healing abilities, this healing effect seems oddly out of place. I consider it the second biggest balance issue that is currently in the game (version 1.07). At least on higher difficulties, the healing should be reduced significantly.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEh1l1wUjpDA__3uSQYi65gjrmOcWDj5OdEEmNNVAcOM-BJBZLbud0BYRrfwt1Qg_3hszf6Ph_5guZmn_lCX9q58ptFko-y8Sma1Ty7mF2Q0Xa4WjPvEykLysabBNS-qmOX2W_B3I3mI/s1600/Velen_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt using the Quen sign to protect against an attack." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEh1l1wUjpDA__3uSQYi65gjrmOcWDj5OdEEmNNVAcOM-BJBZLbud0BYRrfwt1Qg_3hszf6Ph_5guZmn_lCX9q58ptFko-y8Sma1Ty7mF2Q0Xa4WjPvEykLysabBNS-qmOX2W_B3I3mI/s320/Velen_3.jpg" title="Geralt using the Quen sign to protect against an attack." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Going back to full health in the middle of a battle is easy with this shield.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><b>Igni</b></u><br />
<br />
The Igni sign itself is not that spectacular. It deals low to moderate damage in a cone in front of you. What makes the sign so powerful is the chance to ignite your enemies. Ignited enemies can´t act, giving you more time to prepare your next spell or attack, and on top of that they take incredible amounts of damage. Every second. Until I accidentally hit them or until they die. It also works on most bosses. And some have a weakness against fire.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyw4abLYeyfvS5WCoz2g39ZCpPP80B8YRmjhHOmQvQ4jyifm40dEM1NIQGajvE3yeRI4L4dqsfKFdKmaGfIPQqJBMw1b47NH434pjnpoS2xJk_hvaD-EENW6ijaN66-cug4HrRadpo-qo/s1600/Skellige_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt using Igni to make enemies burn." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyw4abLYeyfvS5WCoz2g39ZCpPP80B8YRmjhHOmQvQ4jyifm40dEM1NIQGajvE3yeRI4L4dqsfKFdKmaGfIPQqJBMw1b47NH434pjnpoS2xJk_hvaD-EENW6ijaN66-cug4HrRadpo-qo/s320/Skellige_2.jpg" title="Geralt using Igni to make enemies burn." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting enemies on fire is a guaranteed win.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To bring the spell in line, either damage or crowd control have to be reduced. Ignition could either continue to tick for high damage but stop after something like 2-3 seconds, or retain its duration but the damage would have to be greatly reduced, maybe up to -90%. Personally, I would prefer the first solution because there is already long-lasting crowd control (Aard and Axii signs) and damage over time (poison and bleed) in the game, and a short but dangerous ignition would help to keep things different from each other. <br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>The magic skill tree, tier 3</b></u><br />
<br />
The third tier in the magic skill tree stands out as the most uninteresting set of skills in the whole game. Each of the talents here increases the sign intensity of a single sign by 25% when maxed out. It appears especially weak when compared to "Synergy" from the alchemy skill tree, which can net you 20 - 80% increased sign intensity for all your spells at once.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErAOs87D3PUTn1U2oUytDT8idoJfvk3SaAzZzaSOBZqP4JtRBytpHzAXb2rMSaCognjuy5BiW1vqJBtqyFma2lMdP4zylcZXgxUIoIzdvAjO22PV-yauCv7MIasm9fm9ZP0tc-aXE8C0/s1600/White+Orchard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The talent "Igni Intensity" from Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErAOs87D3PUTn1U2oUytDT8idoJfvk3SaAzZzaSOBZqP4JtRBytpHzAXb2rMSaCognjuy5BiW1vqJBtqyFma2lMdP4zylcZXgxUIoIzdvAjO22PV-yauCv7MIasm9fm9ZP0tc-aXE8C0/s320/White+Orchard.jpg" title="The talent "Igni Intensity" from Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably the weakest skill tier from all trees.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I would not suggest to increase the intensity bonus from the magic talents. This would make them better, of course, but it will encourage the player to stick with a single sign. But combat in Witcher 3 is the most fun when you chain together a healthy mix of different attacks, spells and potions. And I feel that the skill tree should put a bigger emphasis on this. Due to this reasons, I suggest to rework the tier 3 talents of the magic tree to something like that: "every time you use a particular sign, you will get a bonus for the next cast of a different sign". Example talents:<br />
<ul>
<li>"Borrowed Time" After using the Yrden sign, your next spell other than Yrden will have its duration increased by 50%.</li>
<li>"Strength of Earth" After using the Quen sign, your next spell other than Quen will only consume 50% stamina.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
</ul>
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_29.html" target="_blank"><< Go back to the previous part of the list</a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/09/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft.html" target="_blank">>> Continue to the next part </a><br />
<br />
<u><b>Interesting links: </b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">Official website of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_preorder" target="_blank">Buy the PC version on gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QoEUqadW4" target="_blank">Game review on YouTube by AngryJoe</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-60060622760285543902015-07-29T04:14:00.001-07:002016-06-15T09:41:04.754-07:00Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (4): MutagensMutagens are organs and body parts of all different kinds of monsters that can be used by the Witcher to enhance his abilities. While this sounds rather gory, they are shown as little spiky spheres instead of hacked off limbs and entrails. So no butchering to enjoy here.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2L948piIOIOiIq_KPG52i5PbJt2erIs5LZywRPXV6J3ajIoq5-HXhSgbQomQkTGXX0Ogvzrb14FWqC0hm0Sn5m8fyUD6E4yPWxcLFRNJZ_PYioN9jsWRfiudU_rdUmQ2jrMmSrl86_28/s1600/The+Skellige+Isles_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt from Witcher 3 in front of 2 defeated enemies." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2L948piIOIOiIq_KPG52i5PbJt2erIs5LZywRPXV6J3ajIoq5-HXhSgbQomQkTGXX0Ogvzrb14FWqC0hm0Sn5m8fyUD6E4yPWxcLFRNJZ_PYioN9jsWRfiudU_rdUmQ2jrMmSrl86_28/s320/The+Skellige+Isles_3.jpg" title="Geralt from Witcher 3 in front of 2 defeated enemies." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Any monster can drop mutagens.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
5. Mutagens</h3>
<br />
<u><b>Mutagen variety</b></u><br />
<br />
When you hear that every monster type drops its own mutagen, you automatically assume that there will be a big variety of different effects found on these mutagens. But it turned out that there are only 3 different effects on mutagens (more attack power, more magic power or more health). It came as a surprise for me that the mutagen of a werewolf has the same properties like that of a wyvern or an undead water hag.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Hl87-fsNpiCuqGamiHaA8h6REFlALqwvb4tS8NORS0zUVuOgkiq0E9MvBuQw82_bCxQFN0rjxjVdeYyUhbqEa1wmYSufPR1aWktmQXIIcLd0pUcB6p_kFEl7EF_95l-EuV0373G8sy0/s1600/Skellige.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Inventory screen from Witcher 3 with mutagens." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Hl87-fsNpiCuqGamiHaA8h6REFlALqwvb4tS8NORS0zUVuOgkiq0E9MvBuQw82_bCxQFN0rjxjVdeYyUhbqEa1wmYSufPR1aWktmQXIIcLd0pUcB6p_kFEl7EF_95l-EuV0373G8sy0/s320/Skellige.jpg" title="Inventory screen from Witcher 3 with mutagens." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mutagens will soon flood your inventory. They don´t stack although they are mostly the same.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In my eyes, this is a missed opportunity. If mutagens had a broader spectrum of effects, it would have been an additional motivation for the player to hunt after the mutagens that suit his playstyle the most. There could even be some randomness involved into the properties of the mutagens, so that not every werewolf has the exact same mutagen like any another werewolf.<br />
<br />
While the item hunt would be a nice added incentive for monster hunting, in the current state of the game it would be very dangerous to implement from a balance perspective. Through mutagen linking (see next section) you can greatly enhance the effect of a mutagen. Witch this great impact on player power, tossing in additional mutagens would have to be carefully balanced and the risk for breaking balance is immense.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Mutagen linking</b></u><br />
<br />
You can link a mutagen to up to 3 of your talents with the appropriate color and each link will double the effect of the mutagen. With correct talents, this can go up to multiplying the mutagen´s effect by 6 times. Keep in mind that doubling anything is already dangerous enough for a game´s balance.<br />
It is most apparent for the attack / magic power mutagens. In my case, I have 2 magic power mutagens (out of 4 available mutagen slots) fully supported. This grants me 120% additional sign power. In comparison, equipment and other talents only add a total of 62% to that number. This makes blue and red mutagens the most powerful tools to improve your character.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGA0u9r8Rksx0Feu1Fu953tXh5p07Gb0CRL5h6zZgmuuHWkxH-j1vSUceFFdnYKwR3Yza-hft7dEqToMUpQ_KNqr6ZWgfe8ftt7gFYKSLeIoaxz1BAAcqZMBVBvzy5NYEBhdGq4HUHjzg/s1600/Kaer+Trolde+Harbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mutagen linking in Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGA0u9r8Rksx0Feu1Fu953tXh5p07Gb0CRL5h6zZgmuuHWkxH-j1vSUceFFdnYKwR3Yza-hft7dEqToMUpQ_KNqr6ZWgfe8ftt7gFYKSLeIoaxz1BAAcqZMBVBvzy5NYEBhdGq4HUHjzg/s320/Kaer+Trolde+Harbor.jpg" title="Mutagen linking in Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Correct mutagen linking is not a bonus, it is mandatory.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Because mutagen linking is so powerful, it makes using any off-color talents a huge punishment to the player as he drops so much of his power by doing so. The talent system of Witcher 3 already has a strict limitation of a maximum of 12 active talents, forcing you to deactivate many of your acquired talents. The color limitation imposed by mutagen linking further adds to the restrictive nature of the talent system and might be overdoing it.<br />
My suggestion here would be to reduce the bonus provided by mutagen linking but increase the base effect of the mutagens. In the end, you would arrive at similar values when the mutagen is fully supported, but it would feel less punishing if the player uses an off-color talent because the linking bonus would not be that huge.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Mutagen decoctions</b></u><br />
<br />
These alchemical products are touted to be very potent, but during my playthrough I tested each newly available decoction and was always underwhelmed by the effect. I rarely used them a second time. Until I found the Ekhidna decoction (regenerates health when you spend stamina, and yes, jumping counts) which was so overpowered I also decided to not use it to preserve the challenge of the game.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCt0yYgoZ4AeMqDw6Hngs_h1ey1DIHP51y8cWS_x0r8VsbCxGJ57B_KwFGlG95M3ESqpV_50Gbhmn0yNczOqK-2nqTIIj9vELhhDdLE6Ev9IOG56t2N0hgLrP6Xf3m8YSGK_QL3u4R3E/s1600/The+Skellige+Isles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt from Witcher 3 doing a short hop." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCt0yYgoZ4AeMqDw6Hngs_h1ey1DIHP51y8cWS_x0r8VsbCxGJ57B_KwFGlG95M3ESqpV_50Gbhmn0yNczOqK-2nqTIIj9vELhhDdLE6Ev9IOG56t2N0hgLrP6Xf3m8YSGK_QL3u4R3E/s320/The+Skellige+Isles.jpg" title="Geralt from Witcher 3 doing a short hop." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hopping around is your best healing strategy while under the effect of Ekhidna decoction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My problem with mutagen decoctions is the inconsistency of their power level. Some are just gimmicky (more damage in mounted combat), some have a barely noticeable effect, some are situationally very powerful and some are so strong that they render all other decoctions useless (e.g. Ekhidna). <br />
Due to the sheer number of decoctions (approx. 28), a rebalancing would be a monumental effort which I don´t think is possible any more for Witcher 3. It is pretty obvious that the Ekhidna decoction could need a nerf, e.g. health regeneration should be based on the amount of stamina consumed (so the ridiculous hopping is no longer the most effective method of healing), and the healing should not apply instantly but as a healing over time effect that is replaced when you perform another stamina consuming action.<br />
I also dislike the decoctions where a small passive bonus increases as the fight goes on. Combat in Witcher 3 is usually a quick and brutal affair where the biggest danger are the first few moments of a fight when you are outnumbered or don´t know the enemy attack patterns too well. Having a decoction that slightly increases health regeneration with each enemy killed but stops at soon as combat ends, is not exactly well-tailored for my needs. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVHGcPcq7NiDhqfLIpzVqUxjjDMLGR9ilTegqgEZIqrAJlesmsfdzSi7t9qngPqCQL07QTXijlLoUuUn_FN91pOE1LZDS-lA0g8Qaa542dtACe4MFNDuVh4qQpu6rP5s_LVrGF-XBRBs/s1600/Oxenfurt+Gate_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Picture of inventory screen from Witcher 3 with mutagen decoctions." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVHGcPcq7NiDhqfLIpzVqUxjjDMLGR9ilTegqgEZIqrAJlesmsfdzSi7t9qngPqCQL07QTXijlLoUuUn_FN91pOE1LZDS-lA0g8Qaa542dtACe4MFNDuVh4qQpu6rP5s_LVrGF-XBRBs/s320/Oxenfurt+Gate_1.jpg" title="Picture of inventory screen from Witcher 3 with mutagen decoctions." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sheer number of different decoctions is staggering.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In general, having gimmicky and situationally powerful decoctions is acceptable when the decoctions that are useful in all situations, like Ekhidna, do not outshine them in all cases. Because being stuck in a tight spot realizing that a certain decoction that you never cared about will help you greatly in this particular situation, is a very rewarding feeling. When I think of it, designing the effects of mutagen decoctions with the goal to counter specific powerful enemies would be a good design strategy.<br />
<br />
Do you want more screenshots? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and get access to the exclusive archives with unused content, PDF articles and more. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_26.html" target="_blank"><< Go back to the previous part of the list</a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_30.html" target="_blank">>> Continue to the next part </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Interesting links: </b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">Official website of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_preorder" target="_blank">Buy the PC version on gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QoEUqadW4" target="_blank">Game review on YouTube by AngryJoe</a><br />
Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-85257638745994067712015-07-26T07:11:00.000-07:002017-04-18T11:52:18.957-07:00Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (3): Alchemy Progression and BalanceI was very surprised after discovering that in Witcher 3 potions and other alchemical products don´t really go away when used and their charges can easily be refilled. Before I realized that, I was very hesitant to rely too much on alchemy. The thought of needing to pick empty one or two flower gardens after any serious fight sounded very tiresome in my ears. But alchemy in Witcher 3 works more like an unlocking mechanic and once unlocked, you can consume potions without much restocking. While not very realistic, it made the alchemy a whole lot more fun.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcncyFOYE3FrSF2SKBwAcBzCuCQjs9VYEc4dFXSBoy8-h9tPM35vMoi9OOVX3vSPmX1EmQJXPkPH36ajnDjut7RgFuek1jcspBPapQ9aD74XPI0nZJPJ1KR1xlvh6c-WrM10g2DIXEfw/s1600/Novigrad_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt at the market of Novigrad, looking at some herbs." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcncyFOYE3FrSF2SKBwAcBzCuCQjs9VYEc4dFXSBoy8-h9tPM35vMoi9OOVX3vSPmX1EmQJXPkPH36ajnDjut7RgFuek1jcspBPapQ9aD74XPI0nZJPJ1KR1xlvh6c-WrM10g2DIXEfw/s320/Novigrad_6.jpg" title="Geralt at the market of Novigrad, looking at some herbs." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Restocking potion ingredients sounded like a lot of work, but surprisingly Witcher 3 handled it completely different without the need to return to the market every other fight.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
4. Alchemy: Progression and Balance</h3>
<br />
<u><b>Random elements in progression</b></u><br />
<br />
Unlike melee combat (relies on finding a good weapon and good reflexes from the player) or magic (always good), alchemy progression is a very unpredictable thing because you rely on finding good recipes which brings a big random factor in the equation.<br />
For example, I was mostly using magic spells, but I was completely unaware of the existence of the magic-boosting potion Petri´s Philter. Only after finding the second upgrade for the recipe, I learned that I missed out on something. This happened although I virtually left no stone unturned, checked every question mark on the map and robbed every poor peasant´s house. Can´t imagine how messy the recipe issue may become for a player who does not do every side-activity.<br />
Buying the missing recipes would be OK, but that would take away a reward for exploration, which is something I don´t want to miss. An intelligent loot system where you always find the currently needed upgrade version of a recipe would help a lot.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1TnazDavPoEwb3AE7gZmCs6pyznSj-DK_tJX3b4sLD_ahQGCB-HcWu63yzUMJHS9p701pqdkL71Kt0gXn_bz4hgTwl99GbxxaLgxAPzIOfy5E8FycuJGV3QFYyZrG_eINFF3BH6frZ8/s1600/Blackbough_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Alchemy recipe of Petri´s Philter from Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1TnazDavPoEwb3AE7gZmCs6pyznSj-DK_tJX3b4sLD_ahQGCB-HcWu63yzUMJHS9p701pqdkL71Kt0gXn_bz4hgTwl99GbxxaLgxAPzIOfy5E8FycuJGV3QFYyZrG_eINFF3BH6frZ8/s320/Blackbough_2.jpg" title="Alchemy recipe of Petri´s Philter from Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After reaching level 31, I still haven´t found the standard version of the recipe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><b>Superior alchemy products become too strong </b></u><br />
<br />
Speaking of upgrades, I had the impression that the upgrade progression for the potions and weapon oils was a bit too steep. They start fairly weak, especially the weapon oils (+10% damage, 20 charges) and make a shockingly huge jump at the superior quality level (+50% damage, 60 charges): triple duration, five times the effect. Such big jumps are dangerous for game balance as they add up in different areas, ultimately leading to the feeling that combat is no longer challenging or even "broken". A more sensible progression would be +20% damage, 30 charges at standard and +40% damage, 50 charges at superior quality.<br />
Similar issues arise for potions, where the superior quality introduces a new and extremely powerful effect. Superior Blizzard, for example, reduces stamina costs by 100% when you have 3 adrenaline points. From a balance perspective, reducing anything by 100% is even more dangerous for game balance than increasing something by five times of its original value (see the weapon oil progression). Now it is too late, but a more sensible solution would have been an effect like "reduces stamina cost by 15% per adrenaline point".<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwpMhF0U0nPLHdU8Wb8sEvWRy8BILrVd6gNp0ob8unlCbLy6icpguuEiJA1KTjiI2IaNmseoVpxi0zsBPHvfcHKgIybjcPyz7oU9CpdElKvR8LLZnGplNDM-t6E2wmhppPCrlZVblvXY/s1600/Blackbough_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Alchemy recipe for Superior Blizzard in Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwpMhF0U0nPLHdU8Wb8sEvWRy8BILrVd6gNp0ob8unlCbLy6icpguuEiJA1KTjiI2IaNmseoVpxi0zsBPHvfcHKgIybjcPyz7oU9CpdElKvR8LLZnGplNDM-t6E2wmhppPCrlZVblvXY/s320/Blackbough_1.jpg" title="Alchemy recipe for Superior Blizzard in Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superior Blizzard potion rises some balancing concerns.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><b><br /></b></u>
<u><b>Item quick-selection</b></u><br />
<br />
I already talked about the power progression of potions and weapon oils. Now we move on to a minor complaint about ease of use. Geralt has a wide array of potions in his arsenal. Some are quite situational like Black Blood (damages undead and vampiric enemies). But the item quick-selection only has 2 slots for these consumables. And if you want to have food in the quick-selection, your available potion slots are limited to 1.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmE8gkRY-o-NFYdVWkK5BjA8BOL6_hK4W0WlfQNZhCneOVRKM3UZWis6cY8nULG-U8Dv0TYZpd4-nL31vEp9zxo2A0DGjule1d2A6bSK6ZJ2TDGB5FYBAiDAS7kUAle5v_CwncQU2s7E/s1600/Blackbough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The quick-select wheel from Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmE8gkRY-o-NFYdVWkK5BjA8BOL6_hK4W0WlfQNZhCneOVRKM3UZWis6cY8nULG-U8Dv0TYZpd4-nL31vEp9zxo2A0DGjule1d2A6bSK6ZJ2TDGB5FYBAiDAS7kUAle5v_CwncQU2s7E/s320/Blackbough.jpg" title="The quick-select wheel from Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The quick-select wheel is a way to comfortably pick spells or items, but there are only 2 slots for consumables and items.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Interestingly, it is possible to go to the menu during combat and consume any potion you like from your inventory. This does not work for weapon oils so I think using different potions mid-combat is working as intended. Browsing through your huge inventory in the middle of battle does work, but it is tedious and clunky. Even worse for weapon oils, where you theoretically have to reapply them after every battle. Another quick-selection wheel that includes all available potions and weapon oils would make the process less cumbersome.<br />
<br />
That was another chapter entirely dedicated to alchemy. And since it is so much to talk about, the next one will also cover alchemy woes. But it will be the last one, I promise!<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_25.html" target="_blank"><< Go back to the previous part of the list</a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_29.html" target="_blank">>> Continue to the next part </a><br />
<br />
<u><b>Interesting links: </b></u><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">Official website of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_preorder" target="_blank">Buy the PC version on gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QoEUqadW4" target="_blank">Game review on YouTube by AngryJoe</a><br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-86938581701135299132015-07-25T06:19:00.002-07:002017-04-18T12:04:59.923-07:00Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (2): Alchemy Skill TreeNote: The following suggestions mainly adress the complaints about the alchemy skill tree being unattractive and full of boring passive stat increases.<br />
<br />
The alchemy makes a really weak first impression for a player that eagerly awaits to spend his first skill point. While the first tier in the other two skill trees is fairly straightforward (improve your favorite attack or spell), the alchemy skill tree starts out with talents that are confusing at best and useless at worst.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
3. The Alchemy Skill Tree</h3>
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<u><b>Heightened Tolerance (increases overdose threshold):</b></u> A very confusing talent for a new player. Overdose threshold is hardly explained in the game and it is not the same thing as the toxicity level. I needed some time to figure out that it happens after excessive potion usage but while you are still within your toxicity limit and that it slowly drains your health. But the negative effects are so hard to figure out because the detailed player stats in the menu screen give no feedback about it. I am playing the PS4 version and I found that the menu always displayed a toxicity level of 0 and my health regeneration listed in the menu also never changed.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iYQ8CJpG6R4h2eUaxmYjdQr-_KUkTxhygZdlkiIBfG_y4LZxZJU7DPFTnPg-xBZmhY66JlabwV-LPa85enjyHJ_TnDuX4D0DfM6U05EoiXw9TNWfFpWKkf9-mK1Yse8ZRxVrTfG1p74/s1600/Novigrad_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Toxicity and potion overdose in the Witcher 3 menu screen." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iYQ8CJpG6R4h2eUaxmYjdQr-_KUkTxhygZdlkiIBfG_y4LZxZJU7DPFTnPg-xBZmhY66JlabwV-LPa85enjyHJ_TnDuX4D0DfM6U05EoiXw9TNWfFpWKkf9-mK1Yse8ZRxVrTfG1p74/s320/Novigrad_3.jpg" title="Toxicity and potion overdose in the Witcher 3 menu screen." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The menu gives absolutely no feedback on toxicity and overdose.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So this talent was super confusing but also downright useless because at a character level 2 you will hardly have enough potions to run into overdose issues. Thus, making many players skip the alchemy tree and go for the more obvious and attractive skill trees. My suggestion here is pretty simple: switch the talent with "Refreshment" (gives you health back when you drink a potion). This is way more self-explanatory and also attractive because of the lack of healing options in early levels. It also gives the player an opportunity for self-education because if he abuses the healing effect he will run into overdose problems and suddenly he will realize the worth of an increased overdose threshold all on his own.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0iM-zVtL1BZHQzF-uvWwGqhGw88QFLw7nvaefHSBKW6VBRtEMv2OOcPGKZBLz5zxnJVb2CXWKOU0XFoTZpJtACB-c3ugJ_NqrbQyajR2-d64DMaDvCtJGzRZcefJvKf_RjIeDbhZWUo/s1600/Oxenfurt+Gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt from Witcher 3 suffering from potion threshold overdose." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0iM-zVtL1BZHQzF-uvWwGqhGw88QFLw7nvaefHSBKW6VBRtEMv2OOcPGKZBLz5zxnJVb2CXWKOU0XFoTZpJtACB-c3ugJ_NqrbQyajR2-d64DMaDvCtJGzRZcefJvKf_RjIeDbhZWUo/s320/Oxenfurt+Gate.jpg" title="Geralt from Witcher 3 suffering from potion threshold overdose." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overdose changes the color of your health bar and slowly drains health. Don´t mind the sick look of Geralt, this is a side effect of mutagen concoctions.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><b>Poisoned Blades (small chance of poisoning when using weapon oils):</b></u> The placement as well as the effect of the talent are not ideal. Weapon oils start with a very low amount of charges and Geralt himself does not start with a wide variety of weapon oils. Consequently, there will be many fights when you don´t have the correct weapon oil against the enemy type and even when you have, it is well possible that the poisoning does not work due to the slim chance.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelPMIpFcl5fDAwAdMDgzwqElW7pLPCyUp4iQKG_w34x6S19vx32AYwGnN5XTZSgIWj73EQj6rhnx1n7SQ3vlU2zWciPMDXduHENZm5gMfnSvQ4ypxFGVmYVxGfUoZNM7V8w5vftTtGs8/s1600/Novigrad_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Weapon oil from Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelPMIpFcl5fDAwAdMDgzwqElW7pLPCyUp4iQKG_w34x6S19vx32AYwGnN5XTZSgIWj73EQj6rhnx1n7SQ3vlU2zWciPMDXduHENZm5gMfnSvQ4ypxFGVmYVxGfUoZNM7V8w5vftTtGs8/s320/Novigrad_5.jpg" title="Weapon oil from Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weapon oils add a damage increase against a certain type of enemy for a limited number of charges.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Compare it to tier 1 talents in the other skill trees like increased damage on light attacks (always active, always useful) and you realize how disappointing this talent turns out. I suggest that this talent switches places with "Fixative" (increases charges of each weapon oil). Standard oils start with 20 charges which are consumed at a surprising pace and Fixative will help with that, it is also less conditionally than Poisoned Blades. Another suggestion would be an entirely new talent in its place, a talent that makes oils work on any type of enemy but consume more charges than on the correct enemy type. <br />
The next problem with Poisoned Blades is the effect of the skill. A tiny chance to inflict the least useful of all status ailments is pretty depressing, especially with such powerful debuffs as burning out there. Plus, combat in Witcher 3 is usually about high bursts of damage and a slow ticking, hard to notice poison debuff is hardly of any use. It is also part of the issue that the alchemy skill tree is boring and less flashy than the other skill trees. A few possible solutions to this problem:<br />
<ul>
<li>let the skill inflict a random status problem instead (more variety, more fun)</li>
<li>let the skill cause an explosion similar to breaking an improved Quen shield (definitely more flashy and impactful, skill would need a new name though)</li>
<li>entirely new skill: increases the effect of each rune socketed into the sword as long as the weapon oil is active</li>
</ul>
<br />
<u><b>Adaptation (increases duration of mutagen decoctions):</b></u> This is a very disappointing talent in the last tier of the alchemy skill tree. Mutagen decoctions already have a decent duration and every skill in the alchemy tree has a built-in duration increase for all your potions and decoctions, making this talent seem rather obsolete and misplaced. I would vote for a complete redesign of this talent, I suggest to add a defensive option like "while under the effect of any mutagen decoction, every time you receive a direct hit, your stamina bar is instantly filled".<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQ6_FQC_qgmv_8kxjCupYQX6DMSG3BwqI4vRV-_uM5mYIHAJRN3ipBEAyk91MJ0Q2eethqckvNwtPkg59dQ1XVdT6ie_N_PO2dKBtnPV1n136J-VUc_V9VPKoYPW9job50BxP3cwMW9c/s1600/Novigrad_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The adaptation skill from Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQ6_FQC_qgmv_8kxjCupYQX6DMSG3BwqI4vRV-_uM5mYIHAJRN3ipBEAyk91MJ0Q2eethqckvNwtPkg59dQ1XVdT6ie_N_PO2dKBtnPV1n136J-VUc_V9VPKoYPW9job50BxP3cwMW9c/s320/Novigrad_4.jpg" title="The adaptation skill from Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adaptation is one of the last talents in the tree, but hardly worth the skill points.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So much for the three worst talents in the Alchemy skill tree. But there is more to come about balance and ease of use of alchemy in the next part of the feedback list...<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft.html" target="_blank"><< Go back to the previous part of the list</a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_26.html" target="_blank">>> Continue to the next part </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Interesting links: </b></u><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">Official website of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QoEUqadW4" target="_blank">Game review on YouTube by AngryJoe</a><br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-90855732355882929582015-07-24T07:41:00.001-07:002016-06-15T09:40:25.061-07:00Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (1): Introduction and Quality of LifeComing up with constructive feedback for the Witcher 3 is a huge effort. Yes, it is a crazy good game and everything, but pessimists like me will always come up with something to complain. The intimidating part comes from how huge the game is. Spending way more than 100 hours with a game and there will be quite a lot of things swirling through your mind. So grab some food and follow me on a journey of relentless nitpicking.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
1. Cheerful opening words</h3>
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Since this list will consist mainly of criticism and making up ideas for improvements for Witcher 3, the overall tone will gravitate towards the negative side. Which may give the impression that I dislike the game. This is as far away from the truth as possible.<br />
With this in mind, I want to start the list with a positive note and a thing that deeply impressed me during my adventures with Geralt. Every time you stop running and move the camera around for a bit, you are guaranteed to catch a beautiful sight of your surroundings worthy of a postcard picture. Like this:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qaIQutkJwk9IhqPRTP_7K22PZTnfUdh0YQNERl7-Y9HQDmdBzaM0_hx8lZ-138w1xbIYMKZktUo25uk-Mv7UiDor8HkMeN8JP_UvhNfPDjBn94Ax_LJBC0RyvUxZr7GmhVFu2ViE-xM/s1600/Alter+Wachturm.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="View on mountainside in Witcher 3." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qaIQutkJwk9IhqPRTP_7K22PZTnfUdh0YQNERl7-Y9HQDmdBzaM0_hx8lZ-138w1xbIYMKZktUo25uk-Mv7UiDor8HkMeN8JP_UvhNfPDjBn94Ax_LJBC0RyvUxZr7GmhVFu2ViE-xM/s320/Alter+Wachturm.jpg" title="View on mountainside in Witcher 3." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountains on Skellige are a peaceful and tranquil area. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Although a mere picture will do the game no justice as everything is constantly moving and has a very organic feel to it. Especially the trees bending in the wind (the world of the Witcher is pretty windy by the way) and the sun looming over the hills at dusk or dawn create a wonderful atmosphere.Very few games manage to pull off such a feat and instead rely on fixed set pieces and viewpoints to emulate a similar effect. In Witcher 3, it is firmly implanted into the DNA of the game and is found everywhere. For more breathtaking pictures, check out this <a href="http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/38877-Share-your-screenshots!" target="_blank">thread in the official forums</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1p_yJJIik0ZCyYyMJ_4nr2DfHsOJW2qmUBiyG4KiYC46k9WoCoU2ar-D2WNe29B6WUOmPD1icZ_zMwYZUvS64ohSpq04KxaEaaH9c0fc4uhtTanHmoyuzPmRioXeuO_teoHk8ANinkEs/s1600/Velen_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt from Witcher 3 standing beside his horse." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1p_yJJIik0ZCyYyMJ_4nr2DfHsOJW2qmUBiyG4KiYC46k9WoCoU2ar-D2WNe29B6WUOmPD1icZ_zMwYZUvS64ohSpq04KxaEaaH9c0fc4uhtTanHmoyuzPmRioXeuO_teoHk8ANinkEs/s320/Velen_2.jpg" title="Geralt from Witcher 3 standing beside his horse." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geralt and his (mostly) trusted horse. Unfotunately, the effects of rain and wind are hard to see on a still picture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
2. Quality of life improvements</h3>
<br />
Inventory management and it´s user-friendliness were not the strongest points of Witcher 3. This is painful since you can easily add 100 or more items to your inventory every hour, especially if you can´t resist peeking into every crate and barrel. One function that would help to combat messy inventories would be the ability to mark unwanted items as "trash". They would be moved to a separate tab and no longer clutter the important inventory tabs. Another possible functionality is an option for an auto loot filter. For example, you could specify that only yellow or better quality items are picked up when you use the "take all" command while looting. And now that I talk about "take all", how about a command in the loot window to "directly send to stash"?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsxX5_Jet2WWHn6Q6XIpzoNMsu-Japw16XgUblRctI2go3Bu962KR8m5wpEjvNBxsbpcblmskXxxriQKPc9aM9vA_12izkXsqGH2wGryQaEp_ybQ3Az3mUcEw5Y7A2YhufKtWl5zxlc64/s1600/Wyzima.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt from Witcher 3 is looting bags." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsxX5_Jet2WWHn6Q6XIpzoNMsu-Japw16XgUblRctI2go3Bu962KR8m5wpEjvNBxsbpcblmskXxxriQKPc9aM9vA_12izkXsqGH2wGryQaEp_ybQ3Az3mUcEw5Y7A2YhufKtWl5zxlc64/s320/Wyzima.jpg" title="Geralt from Witcher 3 is looting bags." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring the world, slaying monsters and looting every bag and barrel are common activities in a Witcher´s life.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Speaking of trash loot, who else thinks that selling it to vendors is more convoluted than it needs to be? Merchants refusing to buy certain item types, merchants running out of gold, merchants that are not willing to trade except during a few hours of an in-game day, the list goes on... It is fine for a few hours but it quickly becomes a big stop sign for stopping to have fun and instead walk back and forth between at least 3 different merchants (if they happen to have enough money to buy your legendary swords).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4G94-BO2xj6wB_qvrAuU2hDJV5lrbQuGoDZIrRj6IiqGoW2602Z1ZsPaNJ2r_lBJUuH1DF0cByiiPl0MxzV36emuqJhJH9z3IPZ3LvZ6klULW1MYuyzrTFrYoMUh9tw3XQ4-i7saSVuQ/s1600/Platz+des+Hierarchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Geralt behind a market stand, trying to sell vegetables." border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4G94-BO2xj6wB_qvrAuU2hDJV5lrbQuGoDZIrRj6IiqGoW2602Z1ZsPaNJ2r_lBJUuH1DF0cByiiPl0MxzV36emuqJhJH9z3IPZ3LvZ6klULW1MYuyzrTFrYoMUh9tw3XQ4-i7saSVuQ/s320/Platz+des+Hierarchen.jpg" title="Geralt behind a market stand, trying to sell vegetables." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you want to buy something from me? Please...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Turning every merchant into a 24/7 vendor machine with unlimited money supply would be an obvious solution. But there also seem to be lots of people with a liking of the more complicated system. So let´s try to combine both worlds: there could be one type of merchant who is willing to buy everything but for a reduced price. The other merchants would stay as they are now. It is up to the player whether he wants to pay the price for the added convenience or still go from house to house to sell all the junk and make more profit in return. To counteract the issue that this merchant would be the only one to have a neverending money supply to buy your goods, this particular merchant would only pay you after he sold the goods (no fancy economy involved, just some hidden timers for the sold items). Bonus points if this merchant would display some of the items you sold to him in his shop.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2LobKwpZwFlRZRBZvF33q317TzHyMYyVXzILwr02tgabBCNZ2V3ge_2VMaKhPcXdI6RmhF9Z-HOAxF-emN1YN_WWA8lMbmC7IRdvbhPrxdV1l1VaU60gGnUis3J0gcgFJYVu021CYmI/s1600/Novigrad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2LobKwpZwFlRZRBZvF33q317TzHyMYyVXzILwr02tgabBCNZ2V3ge_2VMaKhPcXdI6RmhF9Z-HOAxF-emN1YN_WWA8lMbmC7IRdvbhPrxdV1l1VaU60gGnUis3J0gcgFJYVu021CYmI/s320/Novigrad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A shady dealer and his display in the big city of Novigrad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And that is all for today, see you in the next episode where we will talk about the alchemy skill tree.<br />
<br />
Do you want more screenshots? <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a> and get access to the exclusive archives with unused content, PDF articles and more. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/07/improving-witcher-3-would-be-witchcraft_25.html" target="_blank">>> Continue to the next part </a><br />
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<br />
<u><b>Interesting links: </b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/38877-Share-your-screenshots!" target="_blank">Forum with beautiful pictures from the game</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">Official website of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_preorder" target="_blank">Buy the PC version on gog.com</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QoEUqadW4" target="_blank">Game review on YouTube by AngryJoe</a><br />
<br />Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-91011356137025651792015-02-15T02:10:00.003-08:002015-02-15T02:22:10.292-08:00Fanart from Hell Gates 2Fanart, these cool drawings from dedicated fans that also sometimes surpass what the original creators had to offer. Since Hell Gates 2 is not the biggest blockbuster out there, chances are slim to find many inidividuals among the playerbase that are gifted in the ways of drawing. In this article I present you the works of such a person. This fanart was submitted by Vanessa.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jWaF5ebYCZe-eRuR2RMDDllTjtbxsFMJ8Q43SDrmePjXknliEyDvFUcNzM0z-5G4s6_YTb-CGgV70mB8bLWUWj21iLuU36ofqxOLDWYPByToEmNzeQWQGaE7EmE1mEY5CDZ9AaZN348/s1600/Fortes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Drawing of Lord Gent from Hell Gates 2 by Vanessa." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jWaF5ebYCZe-eRuR2RMDDllTjtbxsFMJ8Q43SDrmePjXknliEyDvFUcNzM0z-5G4s6_YTb-CGgV70mB8bLWUWj21iLuU36ofqxOLDWYPByToEmNzeQWQGaE7EmE1mEY5CDZ9AaZN348/s1600/Fortes.png" height="320" title="Drawing of Lord Gent from Hell Gates 2 by Vanessa." width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord Gent from the opening sequence of Hell Gates 2, drawn by Vanessa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>As you can see from the picture above, Vanessa added lots of detail to the rather simplistic appearance of Lord Gent in the game (see below).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJ3usioKyOmGZ7WHagEBjmfQbllGq_UNvy59Bv3pVmv53u_W34VXjwjz0H2pA57yIRCvx_JuZ6U3kCr18zs1wyEmTTawbiYrg0gA6JInOTCYmwN6MfBILJTfSW6jD_7RTHVosbJvf0_U/s1600/HellGates2_Gent.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Opening sequence from Hell Gates 2 with Lord Fortes and Lord Gent." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJ3usioKyOmGZ7WHagEBjmfQbllGq_UNvy59Bv3pVmv53u_W34VXjwjz0H2pA57yIRCvx_JuZ6U3kCr18zs1wyEmTTawbiYrg0gA6JInOTCYmwN6MfBILJTfSW6jD_7RTHVosbJvf0_U/s1600/HellGates2_Gent.png" title="Opening sequence from Hell Gates 2 with Lord Fortes and Lord Gent." /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guy to the right is Lord Gent as he appears in Hell Gates 2.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Since Vanessa likes different fantasy races to be more than just color swaps and more pointy ears, her interpretation of the playable Goblin race looks a bit different than a human with green skin.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaZ3N8pChF0d4mbBZT-725SNpJNZRNuS5PcmFnKNV1zG8NUE2l2lC5dR5oZTBa4cOapM76rnSKx7YSiQX3d-bDmrD1xtX8_oXcaOvwzot5AnzG4AnGx1fqKzhRgHGuJONINgQ0JOQm6A/s1600/HellGates2_Goblin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Interpretation of the Goblin race of Hell Gates 2, drawn by Vanessa." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaZ3N8pChF0d4mbBZT-725SNpJNZRNuS5PcmFnKNV1zG8NUE2l2lC5dR5oZTBa4cOapM76rnSKx7YSiQX3d-bDmrD1xtX8_oXcaOvwzot5AnzG4AnGx1fqKzhRgHGuJONINgQ0JOQm6A/s1600/HellGates2_Goblin.png" height="320" title="Interpretation of the Goblin race of Hell Gates 2, drawn by Vanessa." width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hero of the Goblin race.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Her next drawing is a pretty big one. It depicts the hero of the game as he rests in Paradise Valley, admiring his newfound treasures while being stalked by stone beetles. Due to the immense detail, it is quite a challenge to present it in the simple blog format. But let´s give it a try:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyFpkTRN58RuchKXjb4-ZdhU5kw_epbar2UG0yQxgvcr0yXOBJ3It6ZKsBph2ysGstBC0RLbj1D2QsFQ0UhQOLjCeH8ZzweOG9UDEHA0nrr33vMW0rWFdNz_A8lnf3dYTeXso_qLqBLY/s1600/HellGates2_ParadiseValley.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Unsuspecting hero from Hell Gates 2 is chased by stone beetles, drawn by Vanessa." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyFpkTRN58RuchKXjb4-ZdhU5kw_epbar2UG0yQxgvcr0yXOBJ3It6ZKsBph2ysGstBC0RLbj1D2QsFQ0UhQOLjCeH8ZzweOG9UDEHA0nrr33vMW0rWFdNz_A8lnf3dYTeXso_qLqBLY/s1600/HellGates2_ParadiseValley.png" height="184" title="Unsuspecting hero from Hell Gates 2 is chased by stone beetles, drawn by Vanessa." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The unsuspecting hero is chased by stone beetles in Paradise Valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That´s all for now but if you want to leave some comments on the drawings, I will make sure to forward them to Vanessa.<br />
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Speaking of art, the character artworks in Hell Gates 2 are scheduled to be reworked. You can see a side-by-side comparison in <a href="http://youtu.be/KBZ_s9hpDuo" target="_blank">this video on YouTube</a> (left: old, right: new). I am still a bit undecided on which portraits to keep, so any oppinion on that matter would be highly appreciated.Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672988315668557321.post-39191191005883781312015-02-01T11:36:00.000-08:002016-10-22T15:58:51.146-07:00Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 9The long journey is coming to an end. The last chapter of the big wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2 will cover little details from the classic Might and Magic series that were somehow lost in the course of time. Nice little touches that I would like to see return.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6rTZBhAkPem106w2WH_jmgSkkY6Bbsatv5a9K_WT3iJwrO0AJWkyJqr5eOgG1R106lB4Kc7AFgsHBm2kz1ppkbuV29v3zLPv3Y_6oUAp63e0kopyGLGCEbtTdHmj9sFzU3JdufDS6J4/s1600/Xulima_MightandMagic6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Title screen from Might and Magic 6" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6rTZBhAkPem106w2WH_jmgSkkY6Bbsatv5a9K_WT3iJwrO0AJWkyJqr5eOgG1R106lB4Kc7AFgsHBm2kz1ppkbuV29v3zLPv3Y_6oUAp63e0kopyGLGCEbtTdHmj9sFzU3JdufDS6J4/s1600/Xulima_MightandMagic6.png" title="Title screen from Might and Magic 6" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title screen from Might and Magic 6</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
11. Wishes from a veteran Might and Magic player</h3>
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<b>Paper dolls</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2YfvoTcfZK5FBhEkMuNwBSTFVGpVhuUIJwRw3n0uwKEPsMPEPNj20F1QOR92Af3fjmiRIsuozlWEsdHZCNdMF8j226Ni0lMGTegAriKDdfUPIdq4UuXelkjQkbsHihZr3UaeWqryq9k/s1600/MightandMagic_paperdolls.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Paperdoll in Might and Magic 7" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2YfvoTcfZK5FBhEkMuNwBSTFVGpVhuUIJwRw3n0uwKEPsMPEPNj20F1QOR92Af3fjmiRIsuozlWEsdHZCNdMF8j226Ni0lMGTegAriKDdfUPIdq4UuXelkjQkbsHihZr3UaeWqryq9k/s1600/MightandMagic_paperdolls.png" title="Paperdoll in Might and Magic 7" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoltan the Knight, not very intimidating.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In Might and Magic 6 to 8, your inventory screen showed a representation of your character wearing all his equipment. What made this paper dolls so special is the fact that they were more than just functional previews of your character´s appearance in-game. They were larger and more detailed 2-D portraits of your characters. There were also no equipment slots, you simply put the gear on your hero and he dresses up as required. It was a bit of added interaction with your characters. Plus, it increased the feeling of accomplishment as your characters went from poor rag-wearing peasants to heavily armed mercenaries. <br />
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<br />
<b>Companions</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7Hxa85ki8iHkQ_Zf4w_FjRKTOnGAs4E0Oww8JPQ9QGGuxt3Svcy88K1NxlVkkOojv3LStPXZpy3JF_2Qj50MZlAM5szLDcOYemo1a8dBrL0s3MN51IqRoNDerhqkTmx4ysnU2osW4nI/s1600/MightandMagic_companion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hiring a companion in Might and Magic 7" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7Hxa85ki8iHkQ_Zf4w_FjRKTOnGAs4E0Oww8JPQ9QGGuxt3Svcy88K1NxlVkkOojv3LStPXZpy3JF_2Qj50MZlAM5szLDcOYemo1a8dBrL0s3MN51IqRoNDerhqkTmx4ysnU2osW4nI/s1600/MightandMagic_companion.png" title="Hiring a companion in Might and Magic 7" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiring a companion in Might and Magic 7</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pre-made or custom characters. Still a hot debate today. But there is also a lesser known step-brother: the companion. These brave souls follow your hero and his party into all the dangerous places without (much) complaining. In some games they actively participate in battle, in other games they just offer useful support. My favourite companion from Might and Magic 7 was the guy that identified all your equipment. For Lords of Xulima, adding companions with more personality would open up the opportunity for more party chat, since Gaulen´s travel companions were unnervingly silent in the first game.<br />
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<br />
<b>Class promotions</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDFbFwjCK30YkEFa5cP9ycpIohpclulPwWtyCJC7DK8RSBD79CIuZNONlyxbn7-djsDfo1Rm9aJBQ7z05ZZRfVBj-A1wNIfDwWqR12br-gq4XS_8L6DF8APOAzVQfMTr5_nxEhbCk5as/s1600/MightandMagic_classpromotion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Class promotion for Paladins in Might and Magic 6." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDFbFwjCK30YkEFa5cP9ycpIohpclulPwWtyCJC7DK8RSBD79CIuZNONlyxbn7-djsDfo1Rm9aJBQ7z05ZZRfVBj-A1wNIfDwWqR12br-gq4XS_8L6DF8APOAzVQfMTr5_nxEhbCk5as/s1600/MightandMagic_classpromotion.png" title="Class promotion for Paladins in Might and Magic 6." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paladin class promotion in Might and Magic 6.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sometimes, being a knight for your whole life isn´t satisfying enough. Working on your career and getting promoted to warlord or first knight can be very exciting. Especially if the promotion also grants you access to new abilities and opens up new possibilities in combat. Wouldn´t it be awesome if you would start into Lords of Xulima 2 with the same classes as in the first game, only to realize that there would be so much more diversity several hours into the game? Bonus points if there were branching career options to further tailor your party to your specific needs. <br />
<br />
Interested in testing Might and Magic for yourself? You can get t<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/might_and_magic_6_limited_edition" target="_blank">he sixpack with Might and Magic 1-6</a> as well as the other parts at <a href="http://gog.com/">gog.com</a>. <br />
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<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Browse the complete wishlist </span></span></h3>
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2014/12/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-1.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Part 1: The food system and non-combat skills</span></span></a><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2014/12/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-2.html" target="_blank">Part 2: Getting loot, item enchantments</a></span></span> </span></span><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2014/12/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-3.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Part 3: Side-quests</span></span></span></span></a><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/01/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-4.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Part 4: Hits, misses and critical fails</span></span></a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Part 5: This one is found in the subscriber-only area</span></span></span></span></span></span>. <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=HellGates2-ValadursBlog&amp" target="_blank">Subscribe to the blog</a><br />
<a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/01/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-6.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Part 6: Gaulen the Explorer, the main character</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/01/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-7.html" target="_blank">Part 7: Difficulty settings</a> </span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/01/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-8.html" target="_blank">Part 8: Game balance</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://hellgates2.blogspot.com/2015/02/wishlist-for-lords-of-xulima-2-part-9.html" target="_blank">Part 9: Wishes from a veteran Might and Magic player</a></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<br />
<h3>
Useful links</h3>
<br />
<a href="http://www.lordsofxulima.com/" target="_blank">Homepage of Lords of Xulima</a><br />
<a href="http://www.lordsofxulima.com/forum/" target="_blank">Official forums of Lords of Xulima</a><br />
<a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/lords-of-xulima" target="_blank">Metacritic</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gog.com/game/lords_of_xulima" target="_blank">Buy the game from gog.com</a><br />
<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/296570/" target="_blank">Buy the game from Steam</a></div>
Valadurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407286309292589607noreply@blogger.com0