I think I may have just entered the most combat heavy phase of this brilliant game and I'm having to think of all sorts of beautifully cunning strategems to survive which is making this RPG all the more dear to my cantankerous heart...
It is so vastly ironic to be immortal and yet still fear death!
I love it!
Yet, if I ever die, I feel an utter compulsion to reload, always...cheating death for me erodes somewhat that fine boundary between fearing death and confidence in your alter-ego's life.
So are there many of you out there who will continue to play without reloading if they do indeed, meet their apparent death? Have there been any noticable effects on your character? (The Nameless One!)
Traditionally back in good ol' second ed D&D (Big thumbs up to oldschool role playing incidentally) you would lose con, each time you die...
I was inching my way through the Prison complex....took me a good couple of hours to clear and get to the inner circle areas. (erm, did I say Possible SPoilers?) The Curst Guard number you face is very daunting indeed, and in groups enmasse, they can be quite brutal. I've been experimenting with different methods to kill them as you do and have found Viper's Kiss and the gorgeous Cone of Cold to be quite effective.
But eventually, I got up to Cassius. But I made a seemingly foolish choice. I chose to fight him, not even considering wits, since I undertook the fighter's path as a class profession. First he killed me in two hits. Second, after directing my characters back into his approximate area, encountered more dire Curst Guard! Scratched and pulled on my beard in dismay...then tried to reload, only to discover I'd forgotten to save.
This rarely happens to me with the conveniency of a quick save but when it does, I usually smile, acknowledging that a game has sucked so hard on my conciousness that I'd forgotten to do so, living it as if it were life!
But yes, I think I'll try wits next time and hope to get some kind of riddle which relies on my wits, rather than my particular Nameless One's intelligence!
[img]smile.gif[/img]
Ahh yes, another point for discussion:
Also, how many NPC's which can join the party are to be found in this game?
I am only slightly disappointed that there don't seem to be as many as Baldur's Gate. My party consists of:
The Nameless One
Morte (of course, the lecherous little sod!)
Dak'Kon (Who I am growing to love and become more reliant upon since entering the Prison) His stoicism is to be commended...and one must say, he has a cool sentient sword!
Fallen-From-Grace (Lulling british accent ^sigh^...come on, admit it lads, how many of you haven't tried taking her armour off?
And thats all the characters I have...although I did meat Anna, but unfortunately in a fit of rage, killed her very early on in the game. She may have said something which hit some kind caveman defense instinct, I don't remember! [img]smile.gif[/img]
But I think story wise and wholistically, RPG wise, it is definitely on a par with the BG series. Great philosophical factions and moral and existential dilemma's to be found!
Cheers,
CerebroDragon
((((((OO))))))) UDIC