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Myra -> RE: =WF= Beta Release is Live! (7/4/2009 9:17:59)
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This is my first beta testing, and here are my first impressions. Note: Everything is personal opinion, if you don't agree with me, that's totally fine. But I will write my honest opinions, and not withhold criticism.
The beta release in General
- it took longer than expected for the beta to come out, but on the plus side, it had much fewer bugs than I expected. Probably because it uses the AQ game engine. In the first cutscene, my characters head floated for a short time, and yesterday the Medic spell froze the game, but this has already been fixed. I think it was good that the release was not rushed.
- It already feels like a game - of course it does not have much content yet, but I'm pretty impressed that there already is so much to do. Overall this release was a really good job.
Graphics and animation
- The character graphics are definitely much better than in AQ, and I like the customization. But in general, I have to say that I dislike the game graphics. This is just personal preference, but I find that in DF and MQ, the characters just look more ... anatomically correct, I guess? The art style of AQ and WF is just not as appealing to me.
- No offense, but some of the backgrounds look like something I could make in paint. Maybe that's just for beta, but I honestly did not see a real difference between AQ and WF graphics. High and low quality graphics seem mixed together. In DF and MQ, everything looks smooth and is pretty detailed, even if it's just a background.
- The animation is not as good as in DF and MQ. This is probably because it is the AQ game engine. It looks weird when characters move. I especially don't like how the player character "breathes", it looks so over the top, like she is hyperventilating (it's not that fast, but normally you don't see a person's whole body move like that when they breathe). After a while I find it quite annoying to look at.
Storyline
- Okay, it may be way to early to write something about the storyline - but I have to say that the game already has this "Devourer saga feeling" for me. I feel like everyone in the game knows a lot more about what is going on than I do.
- It was said before the beta release that it would not be necessary to play AQ and know the Devourer saga to understand what is going on. Technically, that is correct. Everything about the network and the devourer is explained in great detail. But I still don't feel like I'm a part of the story.
- It is difficult to explain ... My character met Celestra, and immediately said "you are the huntress!" and fought to protect her. And I thought "Oh great that she knows who the huntress is - because I don't." (I played a part of the Devourer saga once, but in that quest the character thought she was evil). I feel that if the game should be really independent from AQ storyline-wise, this character would need a better introduction.
Humor
So far, I did not laugh. There are probably a lot of references that I don't get, but the ones that I think I got are not funny to me. I know this game is supposed to be more serious than the others, but this was a little disappointing to me.
The only thing that made me nearly smile was "sometimes it's not so great to be lucky" (or however the dialogue was) - but that seems almost a little mean-spirited, considering that this character is injured or dead - I don't know.
Gameplay
- It does not feel different from AQ at all. That's great for people who like AQ, but people who don't like AQ will not like this game either.
- The most disappointing part for me is that the stat training is the same as in AQ. I know I have complained about this before, but it's so incredibly frustrating to go through this long fights, without gaining experience or gold - and having to pay for it. What is the point of getting no experience for this? I mean, the goal of training something is becoming more experienced, right?
-When I read in the announcement that the things that people did not like about AQ were considered when making WF, I was hoping that this system would be changed - either to the system of MQ, where you fight, but get normal XP and gold (or credits in that case), or to the system of DF, where you have to pay, but don't have to fight. I cannot imagine that anyone likes this way of training stats. But maybe that's just me.
Music
- Okay, finally something completely positive: The music is stunning, and really makes this game stand out from the other AE games. I am very impressed with Temura's song.
All in all, I would sum up this game as "AQ in space, and with less humor". I don't think that I will play it very much - I will look at the next releases to see how it develops, but I will never like it as much as I like DF. Maybe this is like being a cat person or a dog person - you can still pet the other animal and play with it - but deep down in your heart, you will never really like them. I'm a DF/MQ person, and AQ and WF will never be my thing.
I hope this doesn't sound to harsh - I know that the game designers have worked very hard on this game, and I'm sure that WarpForce will bring joy to many people. I'll just stick to DF, and I'll even shut up now [:)].
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